I can't get over how outlandish christianity sounds...

[Pruni]

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"her assertion that children are born with inherent evil and bad behaviour is a sign of that,"

• OMG - what church does she attend??

Not sure it's christianity - all god-based religions are the same, aren't they? Deriving from fairly primitive peoples trying to make sense of the world and protect themselves in what seemed to them appropriate ways at the time.

In the 21st century it does all sound very bizarre but horses for courses.

Pruni,

When you look at most organised religion it can come out sounds ing pretty mad. Especially when you lay to the bare basics. The part that makes it a religion though is faith and those who believe have absolute faith in the truth of these things. Its very interesting but also if you look inwards with the eye of an agnostic it can look pretty barking.

Still each to thier own, It would be pretty boring if we all believed the same thing.

It's weird because religion developed to make sense of things we didn't understand, primarily what happens when you die.

It all became so much simpler when I became a born-again athiest!

as far as I remember from church, children were generally blameless - 'suffer the little children to come to me, for theirs is the kingdom of Heaven' rings a bell somewhere (but I'm very lapsed so don't bash me for misquoting the Word )

Certainly never, ever got any kind of impression about them being born evil!

YOU ARE NOT ALONE - all religon to me seems more than a little far fetched. But that's not to say I think it should be abolished (before anyone starts jumping on me). I think it must be great to have something that you believe in so strongly that you'd do almost anything for it, it must be very comforting to believe in life after death etc...but for the life of me I just don't get it. How can anything that's supposed to be good be the greatest cause of war ever? How can people kill each other just because they don't share the same religion? It's madness...A man is a man, a woman is a woman and a child is a child not matter the colour or creed. Or is it just me that thinks along those lines?

She sounds fairly extreme ... most of us wishy-washy anglicans don't go in for the angel-demon world view...

Bet she goes to a Pentecostal church

I don't know about you but even though my kids act like demons I know they're really angels - deep, deep, deeeeeep down.

She sounds crazy....

MP - I 'go in' for the demons/angels thing - and I was brought up a methodist, now a CoE.

DH is Pentecostal and he certainly doesn't believe that children are born evil!

And another thing - you've got me started here - my uncle is a Jehovah's witness - and fair play to him he's the only uncle I see and he'd do anything for anyone if it'd help them out - salt of the earth and all that, but, if it came down to it and I hope it never does, he wouldn't say OK to a doctor wanting to give one of his 3 kids a blood transfusion to save their life. God will save them, surely if there is a God he's given us the ability to learn how to do these things for ourselves?

I feel the same. I was a Catholic and into it really until a year or two ago. I had to go to church last Sunday and sat there thinking how weird and mad it was that all these people seriously believed it all. I mean I'm not knocking it and if it helps fine. But it is crazy. It was just made up as others have said to make early humans feel better. But now we know the science it just doesn't add up. When we die that is it. We are no more. I just can't believe there's anything else. And to see all these people there praying away to someone that doesn't exist was surreal all of a sudden! But it was full of kids and a lovely family occasion!! Best I just see it that way (I like the singing too!) because my dd1 wants to take her 1st Holy Communion and we need to start going regularly!

Hey Pruni, looks like you've started something here......

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Hehe, I think she's probably at the farthest end of the spectrum to the lovely hairy Rowan Williams...

Must go, unpleasant aroma eminating from devil child 2.

Sounds like a very Catholic approach - the idea that children are born full of 'original' sin which you counteract with baptism.

Don't go for that myself mind! Not really into demons etc. Actually love the idea of angels, but dh and I think angels are often every day people who find themselves in the right place at the right time - e.g. I saw an old man fall over and hit his head, so called him an ambulance, sat with him till it came, was being his 'angel' at that time. (No other claims to being an angel ). Just like miracles could be often everyday things that occasionally have great significance. Doesn't mean it is or isn't a 'godly' miracle - I just don't think all miracles are flashes of light and bringing people back from the dead.

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