To wonder how anyone can believe in a religion?

Yes, which still speaks to my earlier point that people who try to make Christianity inclusive to gays and say that women are equal to men are deluding themselves. They are not, and it says so right in the bible. (I don't mean I think they're not, of course!)

Very interesting thread. I know of some C of E clergy who also have doubts about organised religion. It's common enough to need a support group.

Really interesting thread 👍

It's how your brought up ,it's a set of beliefs your whole family believe in ..for some religions you can loose your whole family for going against your religion .
Faced with that ,a lot of people choose to fit in

I genuinely envy you that, that is an amazing way to look at life. For me, when people are dead they're dead, I don't really miss them or feel much of anything. It'll be me one day and so what? That's partly what I don't like about religion, Christianity especially. It offers a solution to a non problem (death)

Jesus (and John the Baptist) didn’t want gentiles (non-jews) in the new form of Judaism that for example Jesus’ Qumran community adhered to; Jesus was focused primarily on the Lost Sheep(le) of Israel whilst also having compassion for non-jews.

It was Paul (who wasn’t even an apostle) that wanted to take Jesus’ teachings and make a new broader inclusive religion from them. Original Christians including the apostles were anti-Rome and followed Jesus’ brother James after the death of Jesus; they despised Paul. Modern Christianity goes against the actual teachings of Jesus in many ways including divorce, wealth accumulation etc.

We know that the name of IS-RA-EL comes from the 3 dieties ISis, Ra and EL. El was the Canaanite creator God that became merged with Yahweh a Canaanite Storm God as the Israelite faith gradually became monetheistic. Before the time of Jesus, the Jewish people had a tendency to fall back on the very popular multiple Canaanite dieties so migration to a singular diety had taken a long time.

I agree with that.

Well clearly it can. Because it does

@Gahr

I can respect that you say you don't know enough about them to have an opinion. However, since that is the case, then I think it would only be only fair for you to exempt Pagan religions from your criticism of other faiths. Because if you don't know much about them, as you say, then you can't really form a negative opinion or judgements about them.

Regarding the afterlife in general, I personally think it's a bit more complex than some people think. Many mediums operate in good faith and believe they are able to communicate with the spirits of deceased individuals, and while some are deluding themselves, I think there are some who have an ability to connect. I also think this is an ability that anyone can develop if they put in the work; it's not some special kind of skill, and mediums (usually) don't claim that it is.

And when it comes to research into psychic abilities and the paranormal, I personally find some of the studies compelling. There is experimental data which suggests the possibility of an afterlife (experiments with mediums.)

There is of course no conclusive proof, but I believe that if one is going by the basis of research alone, a belief in the possibility of an afterlife is reasonable.

It's perfectly logical to want comfort and community.

It’s also about control and power.

See the Catholic Church and it’s treatment of unmarried mothers. I was brought up catholic you. And detest organized religion as a consequence

can reality truly exist without a common story

Reality is that which, when you stop believing in it, doesn't go away.

how does a society exist without a common story
It doesn't.

1. Community.

1. Most religions offer a reward to believers (eg entry into Heaven) which non-believers are denied. So nothing to lose if you're wrong and everything to gain if you're right.

Ok, I wasn’t familiar with this verse off the top of my head so I looked it up,

It says

17 “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.

this is apparently part of the Sermon on the Mount and it is Jesus talking.

it seems to me to mean that Jesus has come to fulfill the prophecies of a messiah.

obviously you see a different meaning - could you explain?

I have loads of friends who are religious, relatives too, but they know I'm an atheist and we're all cool with each other.

I don't know enough about them to have an opinion. There are some aspects of them that I find attractive, like the Wheel of the Year. I like the division of the year and the acknowledgement of the different energies that those times of year can bring/enhance in us.

I'm with @InterestedDad37. Apart from one friend of mine from way back (whom I love dearly) I do not have Christian friends, as it is a fundamental incompatibility with how we see the world. And I would never, ever get into a romantic relationship with a theist of any description. (I would date a Jewish man if they were secular, as Judaism is a race)

Or you could rejig this as 'religion is as much about groupthink, oppression and wishful thinking as it is about faith.'

And lots of people have very much been part of a religion. It's precisely why we recognise how damaging they can be.

I developed a belief in God during my teenage years and felt inclined to find out more about Christianity, seek out fellow believers and come together with them to worship, discuss and celebrate.

If I had been born in Russia and not England, I probably would have joined the Russian Orthodox Church and not the Church of England, you are right about that.

I have done some study of theology, although I'm not an expert. I try to live my life in a Christian manner. I am aware that a lot of the 'rules' have been put in place by humans, like a lot of Christians I don't slavishly follow every single line of the Bible.

You'll be pleased to hear I'm yet to kill anyone for having different beliefs to me.

@Gahr

What do think about Pagan and Neopagan religions? (Wicca, Modern Druidry, Celtic Paganism, Norse Paganism, Hellenic Paganism, etc, etc.)

These religions are tend to be free of most of the things that you seem to object to.

I’m quite confused by this.

i’d count myself as Christian.

what else does one follow if not the New Testament?

Maybe they go to a knitting circle as well? Most religious services are only once a week, so there are a lot of evenings to fill. Plus knitting doesn't give you that sense of 'belonging to the club' that claiming a specific religious identity does.

why do certain people of one religion seem to think they have a need to kill people not of that religion
This is religion being used as a thin veneer and excuse for what is actually culture and politics. It is not that they want to kill people of another religion - just that they want to kill people of another culture. I believe chimpanzees do this too - warfare between chimp tribes.
The Christian wars between dominations were an example - the challenge to the political and financial power of the existing church, plus the new Christian denominations quickly developed cultural symbols such as modes of dress which signalled their group, triggering fighting.