Active discussions

Please or to access all these features

Talk
Mumsnet classics

Relive the funniest, most unforgettable threads. For a daily dose of Mumsnet’s best bits, sign up for Mumsnet's daily newsletter.

Original poster

Honest question. Is this site a religious site?

843 replies

follderol · 26/01/2009 18:01

It seems to me there's a large amount of Christian posts. I've also noticed a fair amount of disapproval for other religions.

I am an atheist. I don't really want to be part of a christian site posing as a parenting site.

So is this actually a Christian place?

OP posts:
onebatmother · 28/01/2009 15:56

but that's a very specific uncertainty Ruty. I would say that that hinterland is where anxious Christians exist ,which is a rather different animal, no?

IorekByrnison · 28/01/2009 15:54

I had an ex who did something very similar, ruty. Think it's quite common for people who don't have a particularly good ear to switch key automatically whenever the song goes to low or too high so that it always stays in the part of the voice that feels most comfortable. They could probably be trained out of it though - the fact that they can hold at least part of the tune means they are not really tone deaf. But anyway, yes, I reckon someone brought up on a lot of Bach is less likely to suffer from this.

But if it's a choice between being like this and being like Kay's friend I'd go for the tuneless one every time.

Leeza2 · 28/01/2009 15:53

love the way that open minded aetheist does not want to be around people with different views

ruty · 28/01/2009 15:53

ah no i'd disagree with that onebat. I think agnostics are more comfortable with unanswerability [is that a real noun?] and uncertainty. We positively embrace it, I myself spend rather too long in the dark chasm between 'Yes God loves me' and 'There is no God so fuck it'

KayHarkerIsNotAnAuthority · 28/01/2009 15:52

I'd agree with that OBM. One of the things I find attractive about atheism is the simple acceptance of the reality of chaos and meaninglessness. It's very zen in some ways.

onebatmother · 28/01/2009 15:49

That's very well put Iorek. Though in terms of the questions respectively asked, I would say that Atheists ask similar questions, but their questions place humanity at the centre.

So my questions is more likely to be something along the lines of 'How do I know that you and I exist?' or even more practically 'what informs my decision that you and I exist?'

If anything, atheists are more constitutionally at ease with the concepts of unanswerability, uncertainty, and chaos.

In some respects (and this is very personal to me: many atheists would disagree I think) atheism could be perceived as the attempt to live comfortably with those things.

ruty · 28/01/2009 15:31

that is tedious, agree.

KayHarkerIsNotAnAuthority · 28/01/2009 15:30

I don't know about tone deafness, but I have a friend who feels the need, in every sappy ballad to stop, point and say 'key change' before the big crescendo of the song. Drives me insane.

ruty · 28/01/2009 15:27

change key when he sang i mean. And he sang a lot.

ruty · 28/01/2009 15:26

well i had an ex who would only listen To Frank Sinatra [vom] and would change key every four notes and genuinely could not tell the difference between that and the song played in one key only - is that tone deafness or no?

AMumInScotland · 28/01/2009 15:26

I'd be quite happy to be labelled a "God-botherer", wouldn't feel the slightest bit insulted. Most of us worry that we are bothering God, so it feels like a fair enough name.

KayHarkerIsNotAnAuthority · 28/01/2009 15:22

God botherer, bible basher, religious nut, fundy, I don't care, I've been called much, much worse. I call myself a Christian, but that's rather a loose label nowadays. If Godbotherer works for people, I don't mind, and it's probably accurate, I do pester Him rather a lot these days.

IorekByrnison · 28/01/2009 15:21

hello ruty. lol at fig roll.

I think that genuine tone deafness is extremely rare.

justabouttohaveacuppa · 28/01/2009 15:16

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

IorekByrnison · 28/01/2009 15:15

Hello, justa! V well put.

ruty · 28/01/2009 15:14

does that mean though, that someone who is tone deaf wouldn't be if brought up listening to Bach?

KayHarkerIsNotAnAuthority · 28/01/2009 15:13

Ah, we have a case of Mutual Suspicion, then, Justa?

And who are you calling 'otherwise normal'? I'm not normal at all.

I'm exceptional

ruty · 28/01/2009 15:12

hmm interesting Iorek. [btw my dad is reading that very book at present, will ask him to pass it on to me]

ruty · 28/01/2009 15:11

biscuits and feminism - i present to you the.....Fig Roll.

IorekByrnison · 28/01/2009 15:11

ruty, yes that's true, although even in the same family each child will vary in their experiences and exposure to different pieces of music. But yes I'm sure you are right, and I think that Oliver Sacks book might contain some interesting stuff on this.

Onebat, I'm not sure that unknowingness about consciousness requires a different approach exactly, but agnostics (as opposed to proper atheists who would likely be disinclined to speculate) tend to find themselves drawn to questions like "why should we or anything exist at all" which are not answerable by rational enquiry, and these questions concern being and consciousness. Probably the difference between an agnostic and an atheist is simply the urge to ask these questions, despite the fact that the answer is always going to be "I don't know".

WilfSell · 28/01/2009 15:09

Is it officially OK for atheists to use the term god-botherer around believers, or would that be only re-appropriated for yer own use, like? Like the N word by black rappers etc?

justabouttohaveacuppa · 28/01/2009 14:52

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Habbibu · 28/01/2009 12:10

hello m'dear. What a lovely greeting!

phdlife · 28/01/2009 11:02
onebatmother · 28/01/2009 11:00

snooort!