Religion

[scooter]

Originally Posted by tifosi

I was brought up as a good little CofE boy. Though my mother told me later they only packaged me off to sunday school so they could have some 'alone time'.

I view all organised religions - of any persuasion - as abhorant. I'm a militant atheist and proudly so. I don't go bombing people, killing, maiming or persecuting for my cause I just bring the verbal fight to them if they start a discussion on the subject. One of the laws I detested the most from the last government was that of incitement to religious hatred. Then again I don't insite hatred I just refuse not to force people to question faith in all its forms. We stop children beliving in fairy tales and father christmas. Shouldn't stop there.

I like richard dawkins discussion on the topic of muslim children or christian children. When really they're not. They're the children of muslims, or christians. Forcing your own brang of crap on your children is just propagating the virus to the next generation. Child abuse. As the jesuit say... give me the boy until he's seven and I'll show you the man. Anyone who can shrug off the virus of religion as an adult has my admiration and respect. It's the hardest thing to do. The religion you follow is generally the result of geography.

Spirituality is nothing to do with doctrine. Then again I don't believe in heaven, hell, or the hereafter. Or souls. That's just a repackaged consciousness.

I got blacklisted by the Jehovas Witnesses once. That's only cos they knocked on the door and thought they could get a free ride with their branch of supertition. Over an hour later they were begging to go!

Real meaning of christmas! Phaw. Don't get me started. If you want the real meaning of christmas then go out into a field in 5days and dance around welcoming the winter solstice and the start of the new year. It's only another hijacked pagan festival the same as Easter... which is still fixed according to lunar cycles!

My mother said once she was disapointed with my heathen views. I wasn't brought up that way. Actually I told her you brought me up better than that, and to constantly learn and question. Thats the key. The right education is the only anti-virus.

Next!

^ ^ great post ^ ^

[The Ferryman]

The rudest, most obnoxious person who ever darkened my doorstep was a Roman Catholic nun. She thrust her collecting can at me and in a demanding voice requested money for the children.
I asked what children I would be paying for and she just kept saying the children, the children. I managed to get out of her that they were orphan children in the childrens home. I said fine, I was happy to donate to help the children, provided they were not discriminating against any particular children, but it turned out they would only help their own Roman Catholic children, any other poor orphan children would be turned away at the door.
I suggested that wasn't very kind and I wouldn't like to encourage that sort of behaviour, at which she took a huff and stormed off.
Many years later the home was closed down by the authorities after the nuns were convicted of the most appalling catalogue of abuse of the children, over many years.
I am glad I didn't help to fund that!
Bruce

[BREWSTERS]

"If you could reason with religious people, there wouldn't be any religious people left".

Apparently that's a quote from 'House', the Hugh Laurie program.

[websaway]

Originally Posted by BREWSTERS

I was brought up Catholic - used to be an alter boy for years - went to church every Sunday until I was about 18 and decided it wasn't for me.

I believe there was a guy called Jesus who had a certain outlook on life and had a few followers. Don't believe he changed water into wine (if he could, he'd have been a millionaire!) or any of that nonsense. The issue I have is the organisation which sprung up in his name.

The catholic church is riddled with corruption and all the stories that are coming to light around the world of abuse is sickening - meanwhile, seemingly nothing is being done in Rome. The Murdochs are at the sharp end of the phone-tapping enquiry, why isn't the Pope being openly questioned on the church's stance?

Anyway...the upshot of this, is that I want to officially 'resign' from the catholic faith, but it seems that there is nothing you can do, like a baptism reversal. Other than being excommunicated (which would be the church's action, not yours) the only way is to swap to another bloody religion.

I have a plan.

Seeing as the whole organised religion mullarky (IMO) is nothing but fiction (as someone on acorn said, based around a 'made up sky fairy') why not make up an official system of renouncing your faith?
What do you reckon? £10 a pop and they get a certificate saying they no longer wish to be regarded as a catholic (or whatever) and from then on will not be affiliated with any organised religion (aka cult).

Has this got legs? Anyone fancy a JV on this?

A militant athiest, sounds more abhorant than the religions you refer to, but I must congratulate you for not as you say, "bombing people, killing, maiming or persecuting", that's a really kind gesture.

You say "We stop children believing in fairy tales and father christmas"

I say, no we don't ,who stops people believing in Father Christmas ? I don't.

You say "Anyone who can shrug off the virus of religion as an adult has my admiration and respect. It's the hardest thing to do"

I say,no it's not, it's far harder to continue it, anyone can easily disbelieve in God, it's far harder to believe and continue to believe.

You say, I got blacklisted by the Jehovas Witnesses once.

I say, come on now nobody gets off that easy.

If believing in something brings help and comfort to ones life, then believe.
If it helps not to believe, then don't, it's each persons prerogative.
Believing or not believing satisfies an equivalent need in each person.

[BREWSTERS]

Originally Posted by websaway

A militant athiest, sounds more abhorant than the religions you refer to, but I must congratulate you for not as you say, "bombing people, killing, maiming or persecuting", that's a really kind gesture.

You say "We stop children believing in fairy tales and father christmas"

I say, no we don't ,who stops people believing in Father Christmas ? I don't.

You say "Anyone who can shrug off the virus of religion as an adult has my admiration and respect. It's the hardest thing to do"

I say,no it's not, it's far harder to continue it, anyone can easily disbelieve in God, it's far harder to believe and continue to believe.

You say, I got blacklisted by the Jehovas Witnesses once.

I say, come on now nobody gets off that easy.

If believing in something brings help and comfort to ones life, then believe.
If it helps not to believe, then don't, it's each persons prerogative.
Believing or not believing satisfies an equivalent need in each person.

Hey, you can believe whatever you like...I have no issue with that.

The issue is with the systematic abuse and cover up of the worst of crimes by the leaders of the church. When abuse came to light, the church swept it under the carpet and the perpetrators were moved to another congregation to start over again.

It's all bollocks...why can't catholic priests marry? They could hundreds of years ago, why not now? When did God change his mind on that one?

[GreyWing]

When in the Marine's the guys used to say that there will be a great war between Christians and Muslims....

I always told them they were wrong, the next great divide is between atheists / agnostics and next world believers.

Rather than Christians, Muslims, Jews splitting and going further apart... they will eventually group together as the non believers start to be the majority.

I'm always of the view that anyone that says god doesn't exist is being a closed minded as those that says he does exist. Because there is no evidence either way. I think a few people in the media confuse not believing in religion as being an automatic atheist of some sort, when that isn't true.

God is about belief, religion has always been about control.

[websaway]

Originally Posted by BREWSTERS

Hey, you can believe whatever you like...I have no issue with that.

The issue is with the systematic abuse and cover up of the worst of crimes by the leaders of the church. When abuse came to light, the church swept it under the carpet and the perpetrators were moved to another congregation to start over again.

It's all bollocks...why can't catholic priests marry? They could hundreds of years ago, why not now? When did God change his mind on that one?

Undefendable.

[websaway]

Originally Posted by GreyWing

When in the Marine's the guys used to say that there will be a great war between Christians and Muslims....

I always told them they were wrong, the next great divide is between atheists / agnostics and next world believers.

Rather than Christians, Muslims, Jews splitting and going further apart... they will eventually group together as the non believers start to be the majority.

I'm always of the view that anyone that says god doesn't exist is being a closed minded as those that says he does exist. Because there is no evidence either way. I think a few people in the media confuse not believing in religion as being an automatic atheist of some sort, when that isn't true.

God is about belief, religion has always been about control.

I do believe that people who passionately defend their religion at any cost are missing God. On the other hand people who hate religion and the concept of god, for whatever reason, are just looking for a cause, as so many people are at the moment.

[Alien]

Anyone watching the Comedy, 2nd Series of, 'Rev' on BBC?

I'd love to have a Vicar like this down the road, what a fab character!

[newguy]

I do think that the fact that we are part of the universe (we are a conscious part of it, we're not simply in it) is amazing. So in a sense I can see why people go down a spiritual route. I feel that that power that religious instituations have wielded over the ages have led people to try to revolt against it to the extent where they dismiss ways of looking at the world that they wouldn't have otherwise. Religion, in the US especially, has been very much injected into politics too. Instituations have hijacked peoples' personal belief systems for their own gain.