Getting christened today
- Thread starter fastwunz
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I'm not judging anybody, all I'm saying is that practising Christians (which excludes people who were just "Christened at birth") are few in number & that many people get married in churches hold no beliefs at all.
Hardly surprising stuff.
I'd suggest you get off that high horse before you fall off.
Thats better!
See now if you'd just said that in the first place I wouldn't have passed comment, I have no issue with you expressing an opinion as you are above I only object to you presenting this as fact.
Few in number is certainly a term open to debate, many on this forum believe we have a huge problem with the number of Muslims in this country yet this 'small number' of practicing Christians absolutely dwarfs them.
I wasn't aware I was involved in an equine pursuit but fear not I shall ensure thatt all the necessary health and saftey precautions are followed.
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I see, so because someone (and you have no idea what the op believes) wants to get married in a church (and that doesn't require baptism btw, just following the Banns) because they are cultural rather than practicing Christians that gives people the right to bully them.....
The op asked a specific question....there was and is no need whatsoever to turn it into an attack on either him or religion....
And fyi Christians are not required to attend church to be Christians......belief is all that is required.
I don't think elmarko was saying it's ok for anyone to bully the OP or anyone else, he was instead pointing out that those who post "Paraise the Lord" type comments are no less being bullies than those who post the "lolgod" type comments.
In fact, I don't see elmarko attacking religion at all in this thread...
Very true there were quite a few braking the old don't judge rule.....
I don recall saying anything different, or accusing elmarko of being a bully, in fact his question doesn't really have anything to do with what I posted becasue I posted long before jmc007 (who is a JW if I recall) got involved in the thread....and Pate apologised if you read the thread. .....so when I posted only those who froth at the mouth at the mere mention of religion were attacking the OP and his reasons for baptism, neither of which had anything to do with the question he asked in his OP.
Elmarko is also saying that it is hardly surprising that he is being attacked.....which implies a degree of acceptance becasue of the OP's perceived stance, a stance he has specifically not divulged. I would disagree with that..maybe elmarko can clarify his position, although I never accused him of being a bully or attacking religion...only questioning his last sentence and it's implication.
Bullying is not acceptable regardless of your beliefs, and my post was aimed at all those who think it is...which I would have though needed no explanation.
What are you talking about?, since when did I say it gives anybody the right to bully anybody & when did I bully anybody either?.
I was making a point that the negative comments regarding the OP actions have come from both sides, I'm unsure exactly what point you are trying to counter.
The only other thing was mentioning was that people getting married in churches (without religious beliefs) is common - meaning the op's situation should be hardly surprising (as people often get married without being into god if that is the case (as many here have taken it).
Edit - Read a few posts above, I think you mis-read the original comment & seemed to read it as an acceptance (not sure how or why exactly) - the hardly surprising was regarding how common people fake beliefs to get into school/get married.
Double Edit - To add a further note, I would quite happily attack religion - because personally I do have many problems with it, I just don't think it's right to attack individuals or bully people for holding viewpoints which I disagree with (on that note I don't think it's acceptable for the "Go Jesus" crowd to preach at the OP either - hope that clears it up.
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Having looked through this thread tbh the only posts that even seem to be of a bullying nature (as opposed to the making a joke out of anything nature that is basically a GD norm) are from a religious point of view. So I think your first statement in the thread was misguided, you probably need to save your Defender of the Faiths role for threads that actually require it!
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This.
However, the OP hasn't really convinced me he's taking it seriously so the debate was bound to start.
Having looked through this thread tbh the only posts that even seem to be of a bullying nature (as opposed to the making a joke out of anything nature that is basically a GD norm) are from a religious point of view. So I think your first statement in the thread was misguided, you probably need to save your Defender of the Faiths role for threads that actually require it!
I disagree. At the time I made the statement, very few people had attempted to actually answer his question instead prefering to call him a troll or simply mocking him......
I make no differentiation between those with or without faith.....and although I realise your last comment was done in a humorous way it is disingenuous as I do not defend faith, but oppose ignorance..be that from the faithful or faithless......
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Soldato
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My brother in law got baptised to marry my sister, i still suspect he only did it to get laid but he goes to church every week and at least carries on like he enjoys it.
I would prefer a baptism of fire if i had to have one.
I would prefer a baptism of fire if i had to have one.
This.
However, the OP hasn't really convinced me he's taking it seriously so the debate was bound to start.
If he is happy to do it just to jump through a church's hoops simply to get married there, then I say fair play to him.
You do realise you can enjoy going to church without being religious? There is an awful lot more to it than just a Sunday service and the community that is built around the church can actually be an enjoyable warm and friendly place?
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True I guess, and good on him for doing it for what he and his future wife want - but it does seem a somewhat disingenuous to do all this and then almost trivialise it.
However, I'm sure a lot of people would marry in a church hypocritically.
"I have wanted to be christened"
Why?
"...getting married....seems like a good time."
Again, why?
Also if you have questions, it is normal to speak to the person conducting the ritual, and they should usually be friendly enough to explain it.
That said, if you don't know what it entails, you're wasting your time. Spiritually and literally.
You'll still burn in hell, matey.
'attacking' religion is not the same as 'criticising' religion. I think that is a vital difference that people ignore.....I did not accuse you of attacking anyone, only expressing doubt over the relevance of the statement you made in reference to mine on bullying.....basically as my original post had no reference whatsoever to the op's reasons or beliefs...neither has the op given any.....I failed to see what relevance your statement about 'faking it' had to my statement if not as an justification of why people will attack someone.
However you have clarified that now.....but it does raise another point...
The concept of 'faking it' also ignores the whole concept of cultural christianity and that a fair few people while being skeptical of the whole divinity aspect of Christianity do identify with the cultural aspects of it and thus wish to get married in a church or watch their children in a nativity and so on.....they are not faking it, they are simply expressing their identification with it. Not to mention that it is not required to attend Church to be a Christian, there is no specified ritual requirement in Christianity, so even if you are not attending church that doesn't necessarily mean you are not a Christian.
That makes sense, it seems it was a case of wires crossed & all.
One small point, while criticise & attack are not synonyms the use of attack is more relevant as I don't believe in holding punches when picking apart an idea or concept as people have the right to be respected, not ideas or beliefs (in my opinion).
I agree, the only reason I referenced "faking it" was because Christians on here accused him of being dishonest & faking it.
The other part about faking it was in reference to the part where I mentioned school admittance (catholic in this case) in which some friends of mine have had to "fake it" to get there children in - just to highlight that people faking religious beliefs to fit into various cultural & societal traditions is not an usual or rare thing.
Also as you mention, not necessarily a bad thing either.