to think it is rude to persistently refer to God/Allah/etc. as an "imaginary friend"

[AtheneNoctua]

even after asked not to by several posters who have stated they found it offensive.

Or the belief that life won't always be a battle for the autistic boys, that there is an afterlife where they will be able to talk properly, or make friends.

And finding that there is someone who can have them for just a few hours at sunday school. It may not be a exclusive of religion, but there's nobody else ahs offered. That two ours may not be much but its the firt time I washed my hair thsi week. So pretty amazing for me.

My friend's autistic son was chucked out of Lincoln Cathedral for making noises.

They were excited noises because he was enjoying putting coins in the collection box!!

Belief is a good thing I reckon, it gives you hope.

I believe that we all live in heaven now on earth and if you are a good person, it is a heaven to you, you can see good it's all around you.

Hell is something you live in too but the opposite.

Such a shame that religions are pitched against each other. That puts me off.

How come religion causes SO many wars?

Sorry if I have digressed from the thread but does anyone KWIM?

So if you are a good person and someone is getting killed or abused in front of you it will still be heaven to you?

And if you are abused/ have a shit life, this is because you are a bad person and you are "in hell"?

religion is used as an excuse for wars cheeset, it is the differences between people that cause wars, ie, race, territory, religion too. Buddhism, Hinduism, Christianity are religions in which pacifism is central. [i am not sure about Judaism and Islam though, perhaps not pacifist but peace loving] So those asserting violence in the name of God are usually working for the devil [metaphorically speaking] Of course it is more difficult if you are fighting to protect the vulnerable or oppressed, then war can be justified in theological terms, for many.

onager, sorry, don't quite understand your post about reward/punishment. The whole point about doing good in the Christian faith is to do it for good's sake, not for a reward. Very clear in the New Testament. Yes, definitely, religion, particularly Christianity, has been used as a tool of oppression [delayed gratification of heaven] of the poor and the weak to maintain the status quo. lots of evil goes on in the name of religion unfortunately.

I do believe the creation of heaven on earth is within our ability, not that we choose to achieve it.

onager & LittlePeanut- No I dont mean it in this way.

Granted, it's a very basic theory and I haven't spoken with anyone about it because I would not discuss relion with people in RL but what I mean is it's an individual thing. Live life the best way you can, try to be good and kind and treat people with respect, try to help people who are worse off than you.

If a person is getting killed infront of me, or someone abused it would affect me & I wouldn't assume they had led a bad/hellish life but I believe in the human spirit and good in people and there is good in the world, that's my faith.

"I believe in the human spirit and good in people and there is good in the world, that's my faith."

That's actually humanism. No need for fairies at all, there. But a requirement for a faith that is perhaps more profound, trusting, and maybe even brave, than that needed to believe in a supernatural father figure who has everything in hand.

Oh, and by the way, I've yet to find anyone who can explain to me, as a Christian, what might happen to me - a humanist - were I to discover upon my demise that I've been wrong all these years.

Bearing in mind that I have tried my damndest to lead a kind and positive life. To be aware of the impact on others of my actions. To make choices that are best not just for me, but for 'humanity'. That I've sacrificed, on many occasions. That I acknowledge my flaws. That I strive for beauty.

And that yet, throughout, I reject the notion of a deity, and reject even more vehemently the notion that this deity sent his son to earth to die.

Tell me, someone of the Christian faith, faced with your capricious, jealous, partisan god... what would happen to me were I to meet him?

almostblue, he would probably have you judge yourself.
But if you did "meet him" would you know it? would you even acknowledge it?

Blimey almostblue, which Christians have you been talking to? the whole point about Christ was that he came to explain that God was not capricious but constant, not partisan but loved all equally. The Old Testament was a collection of stories narrating a history of a people in many different voices and through many generations. Christ's teachings present a God of unconditional love, a God of forgiveness not vengeance, a God of equality and justice for all, especially the weak and oppressed. What would God do if presented with you? Welcome you with open arms.

When I post a question...as the one previously in this thread about love. I don't require or even ask for an answer. It is there to make you think. You are all intelligent people. The arguments come because we are all different...and all the same.

Yes, and people might challenge those questions to make you think too.

I'd be interested in the answer to almostblue's question too.

Hum Ruty. Theres a lot of Christians out there who still seem to take the Old Testament as literal word of God when it comes to creationism etc. Even though you're probably not of that persuasion, its a bit disingenuous to try to dissociate Christianity from this (self-avowedly) jealous and vengeful god. If the OT is (as you imply) basically wrong about the nature of god then whats it doing in the canon of scripture at all?

almostblue, can i give the answer according to the muslim faith? well, their are two schools of thought.
1 the uneducated, illiterate, (ie in religious knowledge) will tellyou that unless you are a muslim, then everyone will go to hell
2 those with some slight knowledge of it, will tell you about the day of judgement. on that day, God will weigh up all our good actions with our badsones. and then He will decide. only He has the power to decide, and only He knows what was in our hearts at any particular time. and He will makek the decision. what we have to do is simpoyu our best to be good human beings, preferably as guided by him. but we, as humans, dont have either the knowledge, or the understanding to be able to make these decions. so the answer is, that we know that God is kind, loving and gentle, and He will decide.

See but I think that's just not true. I have always been taught that the only way to heaven is through belief in Jesus (ie being a Christian and having faith). "I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me."

So my understanding is that by rejecting God I am also rejecting any hope of going to heaven. So I have to be very sure as an atheist. But I am primarily an atheist because I know that I don't have faith, so professing any religion would be terrible hypocrisy.

I think the "so long as you are good you are alright" is a terrible cop out. But I also think the everyone "else has it wrong" is rank arrogance, whether it is just a little bit wrong, so they will probably be OK or the terribly wrong so they will burn in hell.

mabanana, I do think. I find it amusing that no matter from what background you come from the insistence of some that theirs IS exactly correct. I've never seen a perfect religion nor a perfect person for that matter. I do see the very human imperfection (childishly) insistence of imposing their will on others though.
The thread was AIBU and yes AtheneNocturna...it is rude.

justabout; how do you feel about the Catholic doctine that teaches that all babies are born in a state of sin? Or the teaching that a woman who conceives through a rape should carry and bear that child? Or the dogma that insists it's better to catch AIDS than wear a condom?

It's so easy to construct a fluffy, friendly 'religion' by picking and choosing from what's out there - everything from Buddhism (for which I have a reasonable amount of time) to spiritualism (for which I do not). But I find this kind of approach incredibly self-serving. If you are a Christian, then either the Bible is your handbook, in which case "no one comes to the Father except through" Jesus; or you are simply coming up with your own code of behaviour, which just happens to coincide with what most humans think anyway ('be kind'; 'don't cause intentional harm'; 'try and avoid toxic feelings'...)

To be honest, I don't really see the point of attaching 'or a supernatural being will be really cross with you' to the latter.

mabana mine was thrown out of our ld Church but you shouldn't judge millions of people on the behaviour of an idiot or two; far more people (inc. new Vicar) ave shown kindness

'If you are a Christian, then either the Bible is your handbook' no, unless you are Evangelical

The Bible is not like the Qur'an, a message from Allah, it is a book by humans, about their experience of God, and a great deal of it isn't even there (I like the Gospel of Thomas for example)