To ask why religion is declining in Britain

[Jackieweaver2024]

Just that really I would be interested to hear everyone’s opinions?

That's probably because atheists don't generally take arguments against their point of view as insults

Do you know what an insult is?

I think things like;
“X is stupid”
“X means you’re brain washed”
“X means you’re illogical and can’t think critically”

Is pretty insulting, regardless of what x happens to be.

Well said @Flipflops85

Because people can fulfil those needs elsewhere.
Also, to be part of society you no longer need to be seen at church, but you might need to be seen on SM.
Other stringent belief systems have taken over.
Many people are worshipping at the church of St Twitter and having religious wars over that territory. The fundamental behaviour/participant requirements haven’t changed, just the outlets.

Being an atheist is as much of a religion as theist. It is a belief system, however you dress it up. You are assigning yourself to a faith system. Atheist v theist is akin to Christian v Muslim

I assume these same people don't do the tooth fairy and Father Christmas?

Of course we do, but the difference is that we know they're stories!

Do you know what an insult is?

Ummm yes. But it's difficult to level an effective insult at someone about their absence of belief. They don't tend to feel the insult. If someone said I was stupid for not believing in god, I'd just feel a bit sorry for them tbh.

Because any God that cares more about my sexuality and food preferences than plague, war, poverty, and rape has such poor priorities that it's not worth the effort convincing myself to believe.

Of course we do, but the difference is that we know they're stories!

But your children don't.

The bible stories are just stories. I used to read them to DD when she was little, but only ever treated them as stories, not true facts. She has a Noah's Ark to play with, not because it was viewed as a religious tool, but as an educational toy to learn how to fit shapes through holes and learn the names of animals.

@DNHandTNS why do you think any atheist would be interested in organising a church funeral? I find that a really odd conclusion to reach. A quick Google showed that there has been an 80% decline in people wanting Church funerals. It seems we are opting for golf courses and zoos instead . According to co-op, who are I think the largest funeral Co, only 1 in 10 UK adults opt for a religious service.

www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2019/08/28/80-per-cent-decline-religious-funerals-mourners-opt-golf-courses/

@OppsUpsSide

Being an atheist is as much of a religion as theist. It is a belief system, however you dress it up. You are assigning yourself to a faith system. Atheist v theist is akin to Christian v Muslim

It’s not the same at all.

Anything we ‘think’ could be considered a ‘belief’. The way we live our lives are based on beliefs.

“I believe if I work hard, I’ll be rewarded with a better standard of living”

Being an atheist means you don’t believe in a god, so in that respect it’s a belief yes. But to suggest it akin to a religion is absurd.

The whole concept of religion is the belief of a higher power- whatever form that religion takes.

Atheists simply don’t share this belief as there is no rationale to do so.... once again, the onus isn’t to disprove religion, is simply to state there isn’t any evidence to suggest there is a higher power....

Ummm yes. But it's difficult to level an effective insult at someone about their absence of belief.

But no one has thrown insults at Atheists have they? how you’d respond is regardless, they haven’t happened.

For what it’s worth, I’m not upset by an anonymous person on the internet, telling me I’m stupid either. But it doesn’t mean those statements stop being insults.

Or as another pp stated, it’s an absence of a religious belief

So why can't we just live and let live, and not sneer at each other then?

It’s not the same at all.

Yes, it is.

is simply to state there isn’t any evidence to suggest there is a higher power....

Yes, that’s your belief, and that’s totally fine. You’re allowed to believe what you want and expect respect and tolerance with respect to it. Sneering and slinging insults at anyone who disagrees with you, is, in my opinion, not totally fine.

is simply to state there isn’t any evidence to suggest there is a higher power....

That’s why it’s a belief system.

"Being an atheist is as much of a religion as theist"

Absolute nonsense.

Atheism is simply a lack of belief. That's it. What you are describing is antitheism which is a different thing all together.

I am an atheist. I don't believe there isn't a God, I just have no reason to believe in one, so I don't. Just like you don't believe in lots of things without enough compelling evidence.

@OppsUpsSide

It’s not the same at all.

Yes, it is.

It’s the absence of a belief in this context I think you’ll find

Because science and critical thinking have taken over the need to explain how we got here. There is no longer a need to believe in theology

@Flipflops85

is simply to state there isn’t any evidence to suggest there is a higher power....

Yes, that’s your belief, and that’s totally fine. You’re allowed to believe what you want and expect respect and tolerance with respect to it. Sneering and slinging insults at anyone who disagrees with you, is, in my opinion, not totally fine.

It’s not fine for someone to say ‘people of faith must be stupid’

But it’s fine to say ‘better education these days and more critical thinking could be a reason’

I think some would get offended by either one of those statements, when the reality only the top one is offensive.

@OppsUpsSide

Being an atheist is as much of a religion as theist. It is a belief system, however you dress it up. You are assigning yourself to a faith system. Atheist v theist is akin to Christian v Muslim

Religion could be resigned to academic discussions if all it consisted of were individuals going "I believe there is a God." And left it at that. But it isn't. As well as believing in a God, major world religions (obviously it varies depending on the religion)require you to eschew certain foods, abstain from sex before marriage, condemn homosexuality, believe in an afterlife that could mean eternal punishment, deny certain scientific evidence regarding creation... And that's just the more mainstream ones.

But, other than not believing in a God, there is no prerequisite to atheism.

Try assigning rules to atheism:

1. No believing in God
2. No practicing homosexuality.
3. Take an annual pilgrimage to Toronto.
4. No eating leafy vegetables.
5. Cut the foreskin of baby male atheists.
6. Do yoga at least once a week.
7. Cover your shoulders in Yoga Studios.
8. No female atheist may be a yoga instructor. And so on. But there's no higher power to command 2-8. There is no belief SYSTEM to atheism, it is a singular belief that does not command anything else of those who subscribe to it.

Christianity and Islam's share a singular belief that Atheists don't- that there is a God- but they each have different belief systems regarding what their God requires of them, which is where you get a lot of conflict.

The self proclaimed absence of a belief is the same as a self proclaimed belief. They can’t exist without the other.

@OppsUpsSide

is simply to state there isn’t any evidence to suggest there is a higher power....

That’s why it’s a belief system.

What’s the point in trying to detract from the point? I can’t be bothered going back and forth about atheism being a belief. As I’ve already explained in my previous post.

It’s a belief that god doesn’t exist... end of...

Nope. It's not the same thing at all.

And it’s obviously a very important belief system to you that you feel the need to argue and defend.
Now what does that remind me of...