IMO, regarding what Andrew and AEN are discussing, it all comes
down to defining the terms 'god' and 'believe'.
For monotheistic religions such as Abrahamic religions
(Judeo-Christian/Islamic), they define their one and only God as
the creator of all things and has the characteristics of being
perfect, omniscient, omnipotent, and omnibenevolent.
For Buddhism (and other polytheistic religions), the term 'god' is
a term for supernatural entities, aka deities, which are usually
NOT omniscient nor/and omnipotent.
Also, i noticed the use of the term "believe (in God/gods)" might
be mis-understood. 'Believe' may be used by some people to have the
same meaning as having faith and worshipping a certain entity,
while to some other people, 'believe' may only mean having the
confidence in the existence of the entity.
Buddhists do "believe" that gods/devas exists, just that they do
not worship these supernatural deities. In this sense, saying a
person "believes" in the existence of god(s) does not mean the
person worships the god(s).
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As for me, an Atheist, the god in Abrahamic religions is out of the
question - there is no way the characteristics of an entity that is
all-perfect, omniscient, omnipotent, and omnibenevolent can exist
at all without conflict at any time. Even if the Creator God does
exist, he cannot be the same as described in their holy scriptures,
which brings us to the question of the accuracy of their
scriptures.
As for the Buddhist term of definition of gods as supernatural
deities, my personal opinion is again how to define 'supernatural'.
Can someone with much superior technology or knowledge appear to be
'supernatural' to those who are less superior? A magician and his
tricks can appear to be 'supernatural' to the spectators - but of
coz, we 'know' and are told that magicians are just normal people
who uses tools to help them conjure tricks. Imagine how magicians
can be worshipped in ancient days.
Similarly, the use of superior technology can appear to be
supernatural to a culture of lower technology. If a 'god' is deemed
'supernatural' to us becoz of tools or gadgets (tools which are
beyond our understanding), then i believe that it can be very
possible. If we're talking about spiritual superiority (if
spirituality exists), then unless it can be proven beyond doubt, I
cannot bring myself to believe it.
Conclusion - I'm a:
Strong Atheist against Judeo-Christian/Islamic religion
Weak atheist against 'gods' which are NOT
all-powerful/knowing/perfect