to be saddened when people tick the 'no faith' box.

[Funsponge]

on forms when there is a Religion or Faith box and people put none.

No faith.

Realy?

No faith in anything?

It makes me feel sad for them. How empty and meaningless and small they must feel. Poor things.

So telling your DCs the truth is a Horrid though ?

Wow.

I hope one day you get real.

twinkletwirl Have I correctly understood that your argument is: there must be an afterlife because I really, really want there to be one?

t

I put Pastafarian....does that mean I have faith. :o

Genuinely twinkle whereabouts exactly did you 'find' your faith?

Was in anywhere more tangible than just thinking reality was a bit scary?

Why would you hope I find something that horrifies me? That's absolutely no different than an atheist telling you they hope you lose your faith!

FWIW, a lot of what is called psychology is also woo bollocks

mrsbugsywugsy

I think your interpretation of the argument can be extended to run along the lines of:

There must be an afterlife because other people told me there is.

twinkletwirl your message sounds as if you CHOSE to have faith in a religion and afterlife because otherwise death is horrid.

But how can you just chose to believe something that makes you feel better, don't you have to genuinely believe it?

I'm sure it would be lovely to believe all loved ones and pets go to heaven and live happily ever after death, but if you just don't think its true, you can't just decide to believe it, any more than you can decide to believe in Father Christmas and the tooth fairy again as an adult because it's nicer...

Your post actually reads to me as if it is much braver to admit agnosticism to yourself, and believing in an afterlife is a way of looking through rose tinted glasses at death, loss, disease, grief. My dad is religious and loves to trot out the trite phrase "Everything happens for a reason" - sounds like a cop out to me, and a way not to deal with things...

A friend of mine lost a child to cancer a few years ago. Another 'friend' with the light of jesus shining out of her arse relayed a story to us of her neice who 'survived so called terminal cancer because god answered her prayers'

Well you know what, if there is such a god, he can go and fucking swivel.

agree with badtaste. If there is a god, then he/she/it apparently has the power to end all suffering and yet chooses not to. That's not a god I would worship.

My faith is no-ones business so I don't tick the box.

To hell with their statistics and monitoring.

Actually, I have an extremely inquisitive mind and read countless books on religion , lives of people of faith, saints.
I'm 41, so honestly, I am talking hundreds if not thousands of books/ articles on religion. Reports of miracles beyond count, those that happened 500 years ago and those that are happening now. Scrutinised from every angle, sworn by etc.

Things happen in the world that you have just no idea about.
But I would need to write an essay for a week to write excatly why my faith is not just a wishful thinking of a person scared to death, but is actually closer to a kowledge and certainty than belief.

I don't actually obsess about death as my post seemed to imply . I was just replying to bonkerish IMHO posts about atheistic ways of dealing with death.

I am not an Atheist, I don't have religion.

How do you think I deal with death?

Interpretive dance?

Death and the cruelty of science as it is, was not the intention of God, that I believe in , when he created people and the universe."

Hold on a second here. Are we talking about the same God that destroyed Soddom and Gomorrah? Flooded the Earth and left only a handful of survivors? Tortured Job for shits and giggles? Ordered the deaths of the first born of Egypt?

What God are you talking about? Because the God in the religious texts I've read is a right twat.

If there is a God, I very much doubt that he'd be offended by someone taking the piss out of him.

Stewart Lee did a really funny documentary about religion and why he takes the piss out of it. For me, it was very true, accurate, but still respectful of religion. The first part is for anyone who's interested.

Your OP was deliberately inflammatory, I think Hully was just surprised that so many people go to church.

It's somewhat different when people take the piss out of Muslims because it's generally tied up with racism.

twinkletwirl: good to see that you've read so much. Could you answer the following questions?

1. Do you believe your dog or cat (if you have one) will go to heaven when they die? If not, why not?

1. Do you believe in hell? If not, why not? If yes, who goes there? e.g. is it atheists, bad people, people who believe in the wrong religion, or all or none of the above?

CrunchyFrog
'Death is not horrid. Sadness is not terrible. Grieving is not bad '

Fits very nicely with a horrible story from Polish papers last week.
A very tragic woman lost her three year old daughter and her mother when hit by a car. The grandma went to a park with the girl and her six year old brother, they were hit on a pedestrian crossing, only the boy survived.

Four months later, the poor grieving mother of the girl, daughter of the woman killed, having failed to cope with her grief, gassed her six year old son to death and also her sleeping father who lived with her, and then she killed herself but jumping from the roof of the house.

Yeah, grief is really not that bad.

at Carameltree

Not as sad as I feel when I see people ticking boxes that mean they have bought into superstitious nonsense. How thoughtless and unimaginative and afraid of reality they mist be.

Terrible thing to happen, twinklet. How could a benevolent god allow such a thing?

Hmmmm, sounds like the poor Polish woman should have gotten some counseling for a psychiatrist and some anti-depressants. Damn that science for coming up with tangible things that help us cope with grief.

I'd for sure rather believe that I've been left alone because of the whim and fancy of some "benevolent" God.

cake I spat lemonade on my screen laughing at that dog!

Religion shouldn't be a crutch, just in case something bad like someone dying happens. When you are a part of a religion and a child dies than the community support you, and you faith gives you strength. And if an athethiest or an agnostic loves that child too than they grieve along side and with the religious community. Anyone feeling righteousness, smug or sorry in the outsiders nativity is a cock who seeks solace in heaven because they do not know how to belong in the world.

twinke

A very tragic woman lost her three year old daughter and her mother when hit by a car. The grandma went to a park with the girl and her six year old brother, they were hit on a pedestrian crossing, only the boy survived.

Four months later, the poor grieving mother of the girl, daughter of the woman killed, having failed to cope with her grief, gassed her six year old son to death and also her sleeping father who lived with her, and then she killed herself but jumping from the roof of the house.

And you worship a god who would let that happen?