Religion

[crazydil]

There have been a few threads in regards to religion and without exception there are always a few posters who cannot help themselves from being disrespectful.

Is it difficult to get a point across without a slight dig? Criticism is part of a healthy discussion but to be so rude about something that is very important to some. ..is it really needed?
I've never felt the need to be rude about anyones belief no matter how strange I find it to be.

So basically aibu in expecting respect in any conversation

Caille I hope you never join a debate talking about your non belief in God. I think they'd expect a bit more than "i don't believe in God and err that's it"

" "i don't believe in God and err that's it"

Believe it or not, rose, that's what atheism is.

rose- but that's what atheism is about.

A lack of belief in god.

You are trying to attribute too much to this idea, and it's really very simple.

All this stuff about Atheism says that ...and that intelligence is ultimately the result of non-intelligence. Atheism alleges that either man is on the same moral p....

Atheism has no dogma., " alleges" nothing.

Some individuals who have an atheist approach may also be interested in ideas of evolution, or the early universe.
But that is not what atheism is about.

Atheists can't be lumped together as one mass who believe in one thing. They're from all walks of life and believe lots of different things; the one thing they have in common is they don't believe in God. For this reason I steer clear of the atheism as faith narrative.

Christians believe in the same central tents which make up the core of their faith, but even then have all sorts of differing beliefs about periphery stuff. For example I have no issue with evolution and believe it to be the way in which God's creativity is revealed in the amazing and intricate processes of evolution.

Ah heck, should proof read. I love camping, but really...

Fair enough, i accept that, as long as atheists will accept that I believe, and so do many others. There really is no point in arguing about it. It shouldn't cause arguments anyway, just discussion and being respectful of each other.

There really is no point in arguing about it. It shouldn't cause arguments anyway, just discussion and being respectful of each other

Fine if you are in a position of christian privilege.

You are good so we should be to and just stop moaning.

Just how badly is your life affected by "Christian privilege" Caille?

"Fair enough, i accept that, as long as atheists will accept that I believe"

Of course I accept that you believe. Do you accept that you are wrong about what atheism means? Do you accept that you are wrong about what evolution means? And if you live in the U.K., are you prepared to give up your Christian privilege?

bert to answer your list of questions, in order...yes, no and no.

Why do you think you should keep your Christian privilege?

I'm not getting any privileges.

@BertrandRussell

Do you believe that everyone who isn't you (male, Christian etc) has privilege which you somehow don't?

You personally may not. But, for example, Christians get a choice of a third more schools non Christians. There is automatic Christian input into all legislation passed by the House of Lords. To name but 2. Oh, and there is compulsory Christian worship in all state schools. That's 3.

Just how badly is your life affected by "Christian privilege" Caille?

Mine is affected extensively by it, and badly. Other peoples religion affects my childrens schooling and my healthcare. Other peoples religion could actually kill me.

rose my children have been indoctrinated at school, or at least the school attempted to,

Daily prayers, visiting clergy, mostly christian staff giving christian messages at every turn, parables, hymns.

All this in a non faith ( although there is no such thing in the UK) state run school.
The head was totally within his legal rights, in fact acting out the law to the letter that every school should " lead active worship.".

Just how badly is your life affected by "Christian privilege"

Religious privilege resulted in my DD not being able to go to the village school (or the schools in the surrounding villages). It resulted in me having to waste a couple of hours every schoolday for 7 years on school runs. If I hadn't been in the fortunate position of owning a car and being able to drop to part time working when she started school to accommodate this I don't know what we'd have done.

Errol no i'm sorry, it all depends on what side of the fence you're on. An atheist will choose to believe anything they read that suits their agenda. So too will the theist, the difference being the theist will also have faith on their side.

Maybe some atheists and theists are like that. However, any who have any intellectual integrity won't. When considering abiogenesis and evolution, belief in god is actually irrelevant. Many people are capable of believing in God yet still be capable of understanding the evidence (and indeed, of participating in scientific research). The only 'agenda' of science is to gain more understanding of objective truth.

If you are an atheist it naturally follows that you believe we evolved from nothing, That is what an atheist believes. You can't just say "we don't believe in God and that's it" without explaining how you think we got here. Far from me being far from the mark i think i was spot on. It is by denying that which is embarrassing to read.

it doesn't naturally follow. you can think the universe was made by a turtle like being, and not god. The possibilities are literally endless! and of course I can not believe in god while not explaining how the universe started because I am happy to admit I don't know how the universe started. It's perfectly consistent to say that I am not convinced by the evidence for god, and that I don't know how the universe started. if "knowing" god also makes you know other facts about the universe, I think we have found a fundamental problem with theism.

also, physicists, as far as I know, don't think the we came from nothing. However, believing in coming from nothing itself is not illogical. you likely mean physically impossible, not illogical. in any case, one of the first things you learn in both relativity and quantum mechanics is that you have to throw your physical (mainly Newtonian) intuition out the window. Lots of things about both subjects "sound illogical", when they are merely counter intuitive because of our everyday experience is with medium sized objects.

I'm not getting any privileges.

do your children get priority at some state funded schools? Mine don't.

I'm fascinated by how roseforarose's quote about evolution can get so many things wrong. It represents a complete misunderstanding of what evolution is. Honestly, rose, and I mean this in the nicest possible way, you do need to find yourself a good book and read up on how evolution actually works because you've totally got the wrong end of the stick.

You can't just say "we don't believe in God and that's it" without explaining how you think we got here

Of course I can. Nobody has to explain themselves to you.

As a Christian I think faith school admissions criteria are shocking, for what it's worth. I'm so sorry to hear your story, Errol. What an utter pain for you

Rose has accepted that she got the definition of atheism wrong.

Of course I can. Nobody has to explain themselves to you.

Well, we are having a discussion, so it's good to explain yourself. I think the point, however, is that it's possible not to know the origins of the universe with a lot of certainty, which is an odd statement given that I think every living organism on the planet is in that boat.

I dont believe in god because there is no evidence of god. I dont believe in the tooth fairy for the same reason.

Evolution has lots of evidence