Caporegime
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I was never baptised a baby. According to my mum, my dad thought they cost money and was too tight to pay for it lol
England and Wales are no longer Christian nations...
- Thread starter VincentHanna
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Associate
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I love those stories in the bible where the easter bunny gives everyone at the resurrection chocolate eggs, or when Joseph was putting his christmas tree up in the stable and plucked the turkey for stuffing later.
Good times.
Soldato
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Easter? Dont you mean zombie day?
Not to mention the feasting on the flesh of christ and drinking blood.. err i mean wafer and wine..
Man of Honour
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Personally I could never be atheist as absolutes don't sit well with me. I think it's pretty arrogant to be so confident that nothing else can possibly exist outside of our own plane of imagination and knowledge. That said the other extreme of absolute conviction of your religion is also something that I difficult to understand. However interestingly I have mild admiration for people who are dedicated and committed to their religions as it takes a lot of faith to keep it up in this day and age.
On a similar topic, spirituality for me is something that doesn't have to be based on religious materials but can be guided or influenced by them. I consider myself probably closer to that. I was brought up in a Christian and Muslim environment (middle east initially) so that's probably been hardwired somewhere deep inside. That said whilst I don't regularly attend church I do enjoy speaking to my local priest (we grab lunch and a beer from time to time) and they've always been good and interesting company.
I don't think the number of atheists are necessarily growing as fast as people who just don't follow organised religion. I think deep down a lot of people aren't 100% sure but they're 99.999% happy to just crack on with their lives without needing to overtly take part in a religion. I think that's the way of the world as technology and scientific advances happen our critical thinking expands and allows us to try and rationalise certain things.
I think the freedom of expression and belief is sacrosanct and should never be abolished. I personally love visiting mosques and synagogues and getting a feel for different elements of society and the world. Just like I love visiting other parts of the world and enjoying the difference they bring to the world. I don't think celebrating the down turn if Christianity/Religion is something I can do, but I also understand why it's happening. Not sure if I'm sad about it per se, but I think it is just a sign of the times. Who knows maybe in several thousand years a new belief structure will fall in place?
I'm personally waiting for an alien invasion which will put an end to all this worry!
On a similar topic, spirituality for me is something that doesn't have to be based on religious materials but can be guided or influenced by them. I consider myself probably closer to that. I was brought up in a Christian and Muslim environment (middle east initially) so that's probably been hardwired somewhere deep inside. That said whilst I don't regularly attend church I do enjoy speaking to my local priest (we grab lunch and a beer from time to time) and they've always been good and interesting company.
I don't think the number of atheists are necessarily growing as fast as people who just don't follow organised religion. I think deep down a lot of people aren't 100% sure but they're 99.999% happy to just crack on with their lives without needing to overtly take part in a religion. I think that's the way of the world as technology and scientific advances happen our critical thinking expands and allows us to try and rationalise certain things.
I think the freedom of expression and belief is sacrosanct and should never be abolished. I personally love visiting mosques and synagogues and getting a feel for different elements of society and the world. Just like I love visiting other parts of the world and enjoying the difference they bring to the world. I don't think celebrating the down turn if Christianity/Religion is something I can do, but I also understand why it's happening. Not sure if I'm sad about it per se, but I think it is just a sign of the times. Who knows maybe in several thousand years a new belief structure will fall in place?
I'm personally waiting for an alien invasion which will put an end to all this worry!
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That's not what atheism means. Atheism is not believing in God because you don't think there's any compelling evidence that supports the idea.
It doesn't mean that you don't think anything else can possibly exist outside our realms of knowledge.
Man of Honour
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I thought that was "agnostic"?
That's my interpretation.
Atheists believe absolutely that there is no God / higher power whereas agnostics believe there may be something in play we can't possibly understand , such as a God.
Soldato
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Yes and even agnosticism comes in flavours, hard agnostics consider the answer unknowable. Atheism is a belief system in my mind because they assert the unprovable.
Atheism simply means "does not believe god(s) are real". You can believe that at a softer end where you simply think the balance of evidence is against it, or you can believe that gods are logically impossible or meaningless, or you can believe that the evidence of the world around us points to a godless universe to an extent we may as well talk about it as a fact. It doesn't matter. If you don't believe god(s) are real, then you're an atheist.
Agnostic is mostly used these days by people who don't want to admit their atheists. Originally the agnostics were people who believed it was not possible possible to know whether there God was real or not (I say 'God' here rather than gods since these positions were mostly developed in the tradition of Western Christian belief, although the idea equally applies to the other supernatural conceptions of deities), but the idea has been diluted to simply be a synonym for the softer end of atheist positions.
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Man of Honour
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That's a bit of a sweeping statement isn't it? How do you know agnostics are aethists? Maybe some people are 99% sure there isn't but if the evidence were presented to them they'd be happy to believe in something?
I think any extreme belief (either anti or pro religion in this case) is a little close minded personally.
In all honesty I find this rather sad. We were always a Christian country. A good Christian country full of good Christian people. We've lost our values, and our traditions which made this nation great.
And now, look at us. Diversity, why do we need that? Like there's no diversity in Christianity? Look at the psalms [150 of them], the hymns [different notes!] all the wondrous colours in stained glass windows and the grape types in communion wine.
Diversity, schmiversity. Give me an affectionate vicar and an early night any time.
And now, look at us. Diversity, why do we need that? Like there's no diversity in Christianity? Look at the psalms [150 of them], the hymns [different notes!] all the wondrous colours in stained glass windows and the grape types in communion wine.
Diversity, schmiversity. Give me an affectionate vicar and an early night any time.
That's an atheist position, which is why I say "mostly" agnostics are atheists who don't want to admit it. Of course, I have no data on that, it's simply based on the discussions I've had with people I know and people on the internet. A low-confidence belief if you will.
I think any extreme belief (either anti or pro religion in this case) is a little close minded personally.
What does "close minded" mean? It's not close minded to base your beliefs on what you observe in the world around you.
Can you truly put a price on everlasting bliss in heaven? I think thats what they promise you. As long as you say sorry after you do bad things at least. Probably?
Honestly I have no idea. All these religions can't seem to agree on what the magic sky lizard actually does.
No. An agnostic is still open to the idea and that we can't know either way.
An atheist goes further by not believing at all, based on the current evidence. However if new evidence were to come along we could change our stance.
That is true. I feel like there should be some sort of expo for religions where they all pitch their benefits to you.
"Ok, OK, i'll do you a deal. 73 virgins and 10% off admission to St Pauls on weekdays"
Caporegime
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I don’t believe in heaven and hell and all that, but I’ve always been intrigued by the idea of reincarnation.
The idea of dying and reawakening as a new person is much more comforting than an eternity of blackness.
Maybe I should become a Buddhist, they believe in all that game. It must make life a little more enjoyable if you firmly believe in reincarnation and don’t have to spend your life worrying about death.
The idea of dying and reawakening as a new person is much more comforting than an eternity of blackness.
Maybe I should become a Buddhist, they believe in all that game. It must make life a little more enjoyable if you firmly believe in reincarnation and don’t have to spend your life worrying about death.
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Yeah only reason religion is even a thing is the promise of a lush afterlife.
Few would bother being religious if it was a given that death is the end within said religion.
Come to [religious building] donate money, do all this stuff on [religious day(s)] and all this other faff.
And you'll have this amazing forever after.
Sounds better than
Yeah but when you die you die. That's it.
I'm agnostic I guess as I just don't know. What I do know is it isn't like Islam, Christianity etc etc. I certainly don't believe in concepts such as heaven and it being a test of good/bad whilst alive.
Few would bother being religious if it was a given that death is the end within said religion.
Come to [religious building] donate money, do all this stuff on [religious day(s)] and all this other faff.
And you'll have this amazing forever after.
Sounds better than
Yeah but when you die you die. That's it.
I'm agnostic I guess as I just don't know. What I do know is it isn't like Islam, Christianity etc etc. I certainly don't believe in concepts such as heaven and it being a test of good/bad whilst alive.
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