20080730

Stupid quiz time - with rebuttal.

I ran across one of those online quizzes, “What Religion Do You Fit In With?” I couldn’t help but try it. It keeps telling me I’m an agnostic. I keep disagreeing. You see, there are a lot of problems with this quiz. It is heavily biased in favor of religion, some questions are irrelevant, and one is almost nonsensical.

Here is how I would answer the quiz, if I were allowed to elaborate:

Do you believe that man was created in the form of God, or that man evolved from other species?

Easy question: humans are the product of evolution by natural selection.

Are you a believer that you should try everything at least once?

What does this have to do with religion? Of course no one should try everything at least once. Many activities are harmful to oneself or others. Others would violate your sense of morality or ethics. My answer is “no”.

What do you trust more, your feelings/intuition or your logic/rational capabilities?

Fair enough: logic/rational capabilities. However, there are some situations in which you should trust your feelings or intuition, so long as those are based on sound, rational premises.

Do you plan to recant on your deathbed?

No.

Do you often find different ways of expressing your own spirituality?

This is one of those really problematic question. I do not accept the validity of the term “spirituality”, and I cannot express something that does not exist. There is therefore no way to provide a “yes” or “no” answer to this question without introducing bias in favor of religiosity.

Do you believe in any kind of afterlife?

No.

Do you believe in capital punishment?

Again, what does this have to do with religion? Is the quiz author assuming that religious people would oppose the death penalty, despite its solid support among conservative Christians? Or is the author assuming that those without religion would oppose the death penalty, given that less religious people tend to skew politically liberal, and there is solid opposition to the death penalty among liberals?

Here is my answer. As far as I am concerned, there is no reason that the most depraved of humans should not be executed. However, I do not support capital punishment, because it is enormously wasteful, provides no deterrent effect, and disproportionately targets minorities. Furthermore, the posthumous exoneration of an innocent person is meaningless.

Would you prefer a career in the arts, or in something technical?

I suppose I’m supposed to answer “technical”, because atheists have no “souls”. My answer, however, is the arts. Art can be based on rationalism, after all.

Do you feel that you can be spiritual without having a religion?

Another invalid question. If the concept of “spirituality” is meaningless to me, then how can I be spiritual? Again, this question is biased in favor of religiosity.

Do you believe that eventually, science will be able to explain everything about our existence and the world?

Yes.

Do you believe that your own redemption lies in your own hands or those of a superior power?

What redemption? I do not accept the concept of “sin” as valid, and I have committed no crimes; I have no need of “redemption”. Another question biased in favor of religiosity.

Do you believe that you are more right brained (creative, random), or left brained (logical, mathematical)?

Acceptable in the contest of a quiz, but a false dichotomy in real life. I would answer “left brained”, though I prefer to express myself in a “right brained” fashion.

Do you feel that you need to have a spiritual side?

Lay off the “spiritual” stuff, will you! Again, biased in favor of religiosity.

Do you consider yourself gullible, even a little bit?

What does this have to do with religion? Everyone would have to honestly answer this question “yes” because of that “little bit” caveat, but I answered “no”, since I had an idea where an honest answer would take me.

If you were about to jump off of a cliff, with only a bungee cord attached to you, what would you be thinking?

The options are “I feel alive” and “I wonder how many people have died doing this”. I suspect bias: religious people are more optimistic and would choose the first answer, while the irreligious are more pessimistic and would choose the latter. I disagree with the premise, but maybe I am pessimistic: I choose the second answer.

Until what age did you believe in the Easter bunny?

The choices are “10 or older” and “9 and younger”. A valid question; I choose the latter. Now ask me when I stopped believing in Jesus.

Do you actively work out, and try to maintain physical health in all aspects of your life?

Again, what does this have to do with religion? I suspect bias, but I think the bias is wrongheaded. Religious people have less reason to keep themselves healthy, since God will fix everything for them in the end. The irreligious recognize that this life is the only one they get, and will try to maintain their health so they can live it to its fullest. I tried both answers.

Do you believe that the path to enlightenment/God, is within yourself?

I reject the premise, and find the question biased in favor of religiosity.

Does your opinion of something differ from that of your religion (if you dont have a religion, have you actively questioned other religions)?

This is the almost nonsensical question. Since only the parenthetical question applies to me, I must ask what it means. Does it mean, “Have I considered other religions?” or, “Have I been critical of other religions?” I’ll forgive the premise that I have a religion to establish the word “other” as valid, but cannot answer the question because it is too vague – though I could answer in the affirmative if my second interpretation is correct.

Is it important in this life to live every moment to its fullest, and try to do everything that interests you even if some people consider it immoral?

No, because of that “immoral” caveat. However, in order to get a result of “atheism”, you pretty much have to answer “yes” to this question. Hmm, so atheists are immoral, are they? Who wrote this quiz, the idiots at Conservapedia?

It is almost impossible to get a result of “atheism” on this quiz – the correct answer, by the way. In order to get that result, I had to choose answers that I do not endorse. The author is using a highly stereotypical and biased definition of atheism.

Ironically, however, the description given of atheism is quite good; I just wish those ideas had been reflected in the quiz itself.











You fit in with:
Atheism



80% scientific.
60% reason-oriented.


Your ideals mostly resemble those of an Atheist. You value objective proof over intuition or subjective thoughts. You enjoy talking about ideas and tend to have a lot of in depth conversations with people.

Take This Quiz at QuizGalaxy.com



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