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.

We don't know where the universe came from. That's why we search, and investigate, and try to reason, and look for evidence. Of course, we could just say that a big boy made it and ran away, which you seem to be happy with as an explanation. Some people want to delve deeper than that.

Music appears to have an evolutionary advantage in the case of bird song , for instance, because it's used to attract a mate. (Or maybe it's a tiny tiny angel with a tiny harp, in the bird's throat, singing the praises of God.Who knows?)

Twinkle how do you know Jesus was more good and innocent than MrsHelsAunt?

I had a bad experience with religion during my childhood years. Now I have a faith but I don't recognise organised religions. I see ticking 'no faith' as a positive and empowering choice.

"Suffering can be redemptive".

What a handy excuse for all of the evil things- murder, torture, wars, persecution- that have been done over the years in the name of religion.

anything that can be asserted without proof can be refuted without proof.

Twinkle- if your argument is that God must have made the Universe because it is too wondrous to have appeared spontaneously, then who made God? How could such a wondrous being have appeared without a maker?

Oooh - very deep Inertia

I'm looking forward to finding out the answer from Twinkle.

MrsHels

Some questions require a very long answer, I just do not have time for this.
I tried to be polite and not ignore you, especially, that you asked me twice.
Now I can see that your question was a bait. You were ready to pounce on me whatever I said, it just shows.

twinkle your response about suffering being redemptive and Jesus suffering is one of the things that annoys me about some adherents to organised religion.

We are talking about the ongoing painful suffering of a frail human being and you are so busy making religious points that you fail to show any compassion for that human being or their family.

I had a Christian upbringing and I would say on the basis of my understand of the Bible - Jesus would have remembered the compassion bit - err because that is sort of the point!

I wasn't waiting pounce at all, but I find your answer, well bizarre, so it's ok that my aunt suffered because Jesus suffered more? Really, that makes it ok? I don't get the logic there at all I'm sorry.

X post with your even less compassionate response!

Well, by your own arguments you have an eternity in front of you after death, so I fail to see why lack of time is a problem...

Yes, atheists can have good moral compass, but I wish they were honest and come clean, the majority of their moral compass comes from being born to a culture influenced by centuries of christian thought. If it wasn't for this, their compass would be telling them to go to the arena were Simon Cowell organized a fantastic spectacle of bloody gladiator fights and people eaten by lions and to make a great day out of it.

I find the bible not very moral at all in places, especially the old testament. Twinkle if you use the bible as a source of your moral code, do you follow all of it or just certain parts? And if so, how do you choose which parts?

If the cern project goes to plan and they eventually make that big bang, I'm wondering if a whole other universe will be created and if we will be the Gods of that creation.

Until I know who or what caused the big bang that made our universe I will tick the no faith box.

I can't believe in religion. Too much of it doesn't make sense to me.

Forgive Me Father

God was more than just a little peeved
When naive Eve stumbled upon his secret stash
Of mind altering knowledge
Concealed between the fruit and foliage of Eden
That he cursed her and turfed her out of paradise
But her prediction was a minor infraction
When compared to what happened next
God was seething at man in-breeding
With beings unknown to us
That he instructed Noah on the task
Of building an ark
So he could stand up and piss down on man
For forty days and 40 nights.
When Lot?s wife faltered and halted
As she watched Sodom fall
As God himself threatened it would
She was reduced to a pillar of salt as consequence
But that God ordered death
To all men of Gomarrah for loving a brother
While Lot fucked his daughters
In a cave up a mountain
I fear I will never comprehend.
So forgive me father
Forgive me, for you have sinned.

Amen

yellowraincoat: I think if God exists, he is probably like a giant toddler: whimsical, irrational, self-centred. Imagine if your two-year old was given absolute power, how he would use it. And that's God, I reckon.

What about atheist in non-Christian countries where does their moral compass come from.

For reference - most of the world's population is not Christian

Yes, atheists can have good moral compass, but I wish they were honest and come clean, the majority of their moral compass comes from being born to a culture influenced by centuries of christian thought

Nope. The ancient Greeks had some fine ethicists. Eastern religions have many fine ethical principles. Most precepts we find good, we find pretty much universally.

It seems to me that much of the time the christian church has to play catch-up as ethics evolve in civilized societies.

Inertia,

God has no beginning and no end, just like numbers for example.

Well, I enjoyed talking to you people but it's time to prepare for the school run, need to wash my hair still , so have to dash.

I don't think I will be coming back as this can go forever and I'm super busy once my children are here and tomorrow need to make up for what I failed to do today , ie everything what I planned.

( I know Mumsnet.... Someone will still come and insist I am copping out of discussion. Well, you are an idiot - or don't have three children)

God has no beginning and no end, just like numbers for example.

How does anyone know that? Its the sort of grandiose statement which doesn't really mean much.