Theism and Skepticism

[MaddLlama]

Does being a "skeptic" have negative connotations? What does it mean to you?

Can one believe in God, or the supernatural and be a skeptic at the same time? Is there a point where the two cannot overlap?

 

[Sonic247]

Not really there is a diffrence between being a sceptic and a scoffer, a sceptic is careful and looks into everything a scoffer scoffer looks for everything bad about something but follows something just as or even more ridiculous.

 

[painted wolf]

Many people think of scepticism as negitive but I think everyone needs to be a sceptic. If you don't think critically about all aspects of your life you will never grow.
Even faith needs critical thinking.... blind faith is still blindness.

wa:do

 

[neves]

Many people think of scepticism as negitive but I think everyone needs to be a sceptic. If you don't think critically about all aspects of your life you will never grow.
Even faith needs critical thinking.... blind faith is still blindness.

wa:do

well said...

 

[MaddLlama]

Many people think of scepticism as negitive but I think everyone needs to be a sceptic. If you don't think critically about all aspects of your life you will never grow.
Even faith needs critical thinking.... blind faith is still blindness.

wa:do

Do you think there's a point where too much skepticism destroys faith? Can skepticism turn a theist into an atheist?

 

[FatMan]

Does being a "skeptic" have negative connotations? What does it mean to you?

Can one believe in God, or the supernatural and be a skeptic at the same time? Is there a point where the two cannot overlap?

As with most things, it depends on the context in which the term is being used. One can be skeptical about topics unrelated to religion. And it can be much more complex than we think. One can believe in god and/or believe in the supernatural, but be skeptical about certain aspects of Faith, like whether or not there was an ark, or one can believe in UFO's, but not Bigfoot or vice versa.

Unless a person is completely skeptical about all things and demands factual evidence to back up claims, there will be many different layers of complexity.

 

[Sonic247]

.. or the other way around.

 

[Scuba Pete]

I am incredibly skeptical. I started out as agnostic, moved to atheism and then I was promoted to being a theist.

 

[djackson]

I would have to agree that skepticism can damage theism. From personal experience, even the few times I tried to follow a path of faith, by doubts were always at the forefront, eventually leading into following a different path. I have always said that I could doubt God to his face.

 

[djackson]

I would have to say too much skepticism leads away from theism. Speaking from personal experience, the few times I tried to follow a path of faith, my doubts were always in the forefront before "true believer" so I eventually chose another path. I have always said that I could doubt God to his face. Meaning that we can question our own existence to the point of never accepting anything, but we can achieve enlightenment by always being in search of answers, just not necessarily the "truth".

 

[Nanda]

Does being a "skeptic" have negative connotations?

I associate skeptic with people like Derren Brown, Mary Roach and Harry Hudini, so for me, the connotation is awesome. :yes:

 

[painted wolf]

Do you think there's a point where too much skepticism destroys faith? Can skepticism turn a theist into an atheist?

it can, but I would personally rather have an informed believer than an uninformed one. The same goes for disbelief.
A true sceptic would look at all the evidence, not just that which conforms to his/her worldview.
I honestly think that rather than being driven from faith a true sceptic would more likely be driven to being agnostic.

wa:do

 

[djackson]

Historically, skeptics are looked up to. Look at Socrates. Skepticism in my world view strengthens my belief that the accepted world view of organized religions are just masses of blind followers with no real understanding of god/gods or their and our place in the universe. To search for enlightenment and spirituality usually has nothing to do with any institutional belief system.