easter-does anybody actually still believe in religion

Arguments to the contrary: A magic man in the sky did not impregnate a young virgin CHILD and cause her to give birth to his magic son. Unless of course God is a paedophile of some sort?

 

If you go to the place of the earth today where there is no NHS, you'll find those with nothing being tended to by Christians, the ranks of the atheists tends to thin out somewhat. The Catholic Church re-directs more money from the rich West to the poor South then any other NGO on the planet, and provides clinics and hospitals in places most people wouldn't dream of going on holiday, never mind to serve those with nothing.

 

I know of an atheist who is in africa right now tending to the locals who have nothing.

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anecdotal_evidence

 

Anecdotal evidence. Such as the bible for example?

 

Jesus's teachings, which are an amalgamation of the views of what the apostles understood to be inherent human and societal values of what was right and wrong at that time. You seem to imply that these parables were revelatory to people and not simply a reinforcement of a moral code as they understood it. That is why the principles on all religions are broadly the same, because they mirror the human condition.

If your point was that all religions can serve as a tool for teaching moral values then you would have a stronger argument. But to suggest that humans only have any sense of morality because of Christianity is clearly not true.

 

Ok, as we appear to have entered the realms of childish Reductio ad absurdum, I'll take my leave at this point. Thanks.

 

I don't think it's that childish to state that a CHILD was not impregnated by a mythical god. Even Matthew and Luke disagree on the story

 

i think after reading all this that most of you could do with some kind of religious education.

I have learnt alot since meeting my wife who is jewish.

take this holiday which is called passover, it would do some of you good to sit down at a passover sedar and ask questions and read about the story of the israelites.

Im no way religious and never went to church, but find the story very interesting.

Nobody says God is a man or a woman infact God is an entity not a person.

does god exist who knows and we will probably never know.

are the stories in the bible believable, dont forget that the bible is a reproduction of evidence and translations from thousands of years ago so things will not translate to a literal english meaning.

Did jesus exist, visit bethlehem and the area where jesus was born. Im telling you there is something special and you get a feeling like youve never had before.

and it wasnt just me that had that feeling either it was all 60 who were going in and coming out of the crypt.

Please dont ever knock someones religious beliefs.

 

I could not agree more.

 

Yes and plenty of us too !

 

Aren't Muslims religious then?

 

I think you're missing the point. He was saying that people being nice to others, caring for the sick and having hospitals etc was down to christianity and christianity alone. I argued that this cant be the case as muslims have hospitals too so compassion is nothing to do with religion.

 

So first you say that it shouldn't be forced on a child but then state it will make no difference to them!

How many people on here will have taken their kids to watch Barnsley? I guess they shouldn't do that either?

 

No, you stated it had nothing to do with religion because Muslims also had hospitals!

I'm not saying you are wrong in that compassion exists outside of religion, but the example was contradictory!

Many of our laws stem from Judeo-Christian philosophy, now I believe that the bible was written in order to control the masses. Tell them that they are being watched by a god that will judge them, so they are more likely to behave. I think we have moved on from that point but maybe not altogether in a good way.
I saw an interesting interview with a Rabbi, and there belief over God and the Devil place God as an entity and the Devil being within people. I've long held a similar thought on this - that God and the Devil are merely an allogorical reasoning for what is the Good and Evil within everyone, it's no coincidence that there is only 1 letter difference in God and Good, and in Devil and Evil.

The problem with these sort of debates is that they end up coming down to people calling others stupid, or saying "how can you believe in this being" - well, unless folks ram it down others throats why does it matter? Live and let live. Many prominent atheists, such as Richard Dawkins, seem to have an almost religious zeal to them, they push their belief down peoples throats as well. Whildt I might agree with much of what he says I can stand his evangical approach to it.

 

the comment by arabian ian and others about being baptised/christened.

having your child baptised/christened is a must and i dont think other than churches/chapels you can do it anywhere else,maybe that needs altering.
like the wedding ceremony rule was.

by law you cannot get married without be christened or baptised. so when some one says it wont make a difference oh yes it will.

 

the same belief that i too have and as stated in the old testiment man is gods image.

so people take this that god was actually a person.

after several hundred/thousands of translations, it could be man is what god imagined him to be.

since meeting my wife,who is jewish i have been to synagogue on all the jewish holidays,not because i have to,but because im interested to learn more.

if one day i had to chose then maybe i would chose judaism,over chistianity. All the jewish celebrations involve been with family and eating and drinking coupious amounts of wine and food.

at the moment until tommorow night we are eating unleavened bread and all our food and drink has to be Kosher for passover,we had to deep clean the kitchen for this event too getting rid of all the old crumbs from everywhere,that includes taking tooth picks and cleaning around the edges of appliances.

At home we keep kosher but when i eat out i dont, it takes a little getting used to but it does no harm.

 

That is very interesting redarmy. I am a grandfather of 4 grandchildren and none have been baptised. Why would they have to be? I can understand should they wish to be married in the church they may have to be but these days no one gets married. Well my kids have not made that commitment.
Can you enlighten me?

 

i have a niece who is 20 and she hasnt been christened/baptised.

she was told in school and quite often since that if she doesnt she wont be able to get married.

but i will look into it and let you know

 

Cheers mate.
TBH I would think it may just a rule that should you wish to marry in a church you must be christened. A bit of a membership card LOL.
I very much doubt that the registry office would have the same rules.