Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Only the apps you allow.

Meet the Other Phone.
Only the apps you allow.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
Philosophy/religion

Join our Philosophy forum to discuss religion and spirituality.

Original poster

insulting religions

989 replies

IneedAgoldenNickname · 07/01/2013 00:39

Hi, I've never posted on this topic before, I tend to hang out in aibu, but don't want to start a bun fight!

So, I am a liberal Christian. I firmly believe that everyone had to right to believe (or not) whatever they want, provided that belief doesn't hurt anyone else.

Earlier today I posted a lighthearted status on Facebook, which had led to me being called mindless, stupid, stuck up, thinking I'm better than everyone else. I've been told God is a c**t (sorry I hate that word so much I won't type it) and that the Bible is only God for loo roll!

I'm just really angry that people think its ok to insult me/my religion like that, when I haven't once preached or insulted others.

Obviously the easy solution would be to delete them off of Facebook, but they are people I get on with other wise.

Don't really know the point of my post, just hoping id feel better writing it down. Grin

OP posts:
amillionyears · 19/01/2013 19:35

Ellie, I have really enjoyed the discussion too. I dont want you to leave hth.

amillionyears · 19/01/2013 19:39

Sunflowers, I am never quite sure what confirmation entails.
And it may be different in different denominations.
A lot of confirmations seem to be around age 14?
Have never really understood how so many young people may be ready to give their lives to God at the same sort of age and time.

Wallison · 19/01/2013 19:50

Well, I guess it's because religion gets them young. I mean, the first sacrament (baptism in the Catholic church) is performed on babies. How the fuck can babies say they believe in God? Of course they can't; it's their parents foisting their beliefs on them. It carries on through school and church - these kids (I was one of them) are taught that God created the world and all that jazz as though it were a fact the same as the grass is green and the sky is blue. So after almost a decade's worth of brainwashing, of course they'll commit themselves to Christ (I did). If they're anything like me, they won't really know what it means, other than they believe what they're told to.

In my ideal world, I'd much rather that religion were something that was never spoken about until people became adults - you know, that it was taboo in the same way as sex used to be. I'd like to see how many people believed in anything if they never were exposed to religious teachings until adulthood and were free to make their minds up whether to follow it or not then. Because there is so much pernicious influence on young people's minds - with Xtian assemblies, with ceremonies 'welcoming' 'new believers' (ie babies who clearly don't believe in anything) into the fold etc, of course some of it is going to stick. But I do wonder how much of it would stick if people could live their lives free from religion until adulthood, get told about it then and make their own minds up for themselves absolutely freely.

sunflowersfollowthesun · 19/01/2013 20:07

When a baby is baptized into the catholic church he/she has appointed godparents who take vows on their behalf (after the baby has been 'exorcised" of original sin!)
After a child has made their first communion (aged 7 usually) they begin instruction for their confirmation, which is when they retake their baptismal vows for themselves. The age for this varies, the child has to have made their first communion and be seen to be able to understand the vows they are making. I think I was about 10/11, certainly before I began secondary school.
As Wallison has said, when you grow up being fed this stuff from birth, you no more think to question it than to question the fact that you go to school. It's normal.

headinhands · 19/01/2013 21:11

Think about it this way amillion, at some point you were taught about Jesus and the bible. You know about Jesus because you have been exposed to it. It wasn't something instinctual. You weren't born believing in Jesus.

amillionyears · 19/01/2013 21:19

But the difference between say methodism and catholisism it seems, that if you were brought up by a "Methodist", and one of my parents was, but not really the other one, it is very much a case of make your own mind up.
Yes, you may get dragged to church most Sundays, till about 11 years old, but after that, virtually everyone then disappears. And may be back 2 or 3 special services a year at best.

amillionyears · 19/01/2013 21:21

Most virtually never return. This has been going on for about 50 years at a guess.

SolidGoldFrankensteinandmurgh · 19/01/2013 21:29

I was raised sort-of-Christian (as was normal for a person of my age, born in the UK) - most of the people around us went to church for weddings/funerals/baptisms, and quite a few would go at Christmas or maybe Easter. I also went to a C of E primary school and was in the Brownies, which involved a lot of churchgoing. From quite a young age, I thought, well this is a load of rubbish, but put up with it, as you have to put up with all sorts of tedious stuff when you are a kid. I quite liked some of the singing (to this day, I have a soft spot for some hymns and carols which have good tunes; I regard them as just another division of folk music). I went through a bit of a pagan phase in my late teens, but grew out of that, as well. It just all seems a bit ridiculous, because none of it actually makes any sense. As is being ably demonstrated by the believing types on this thread: logic fail after logic fail.

amillionyears · 19/01/2013 21:34

Thank you for sharing your background SolidGold. I appreciate it.

DioneTheDiabolist · 19/01/2013 21:44

Ellie do you think that people of faith are hiding from reality?

If so, in what way?

sunflowersfollowthesun · 19/01/2013 21:46

so what was bothering you about my post earlier, million? You never said.

amillionyears · 19/01/2013 21:54

Dione, do you have any love for Ellie?

DioneTheDiabolist · 19/01/2013 21:57

when you grow up being fed this stuff from birth, you no more think to question it than to question the fact that you go to school. It's normal.

But that is not true. Sunflowers, you grew up being fed this stuff and as you say you started questioning it in your teens. All of my Athiest friends questioned it. By the time I left school only one person I knew didn't question it.

All of my friend's of faith continue to question it. For them the questioning never stops. Faith is not static.

amillionyears · 19/01/2013 22:02

sunflowers.
Heb 6 v 4-6
For it is impossible to restore again to repentance those who have once been enlightened, and have tasted the heavenly gift, and have shared in the Holy Spirit,and have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the age to come, and then have fallen away, since on their own they are crucifiying again the Son of God and are holding him up to contempt.

I thought you might have, cant think of the right words at this point.

DioneTheDiabolist · 19/01/2013 22:03

What an odd question Million.
I'm stumped.

I'm not really sure how to answer that question, or what it even means.Confused Blush

sunflowersfollowthesun · 19/01/2013 22:04

I have no idea what you're trying to say, Dione?
Are you trying to say that I'm still a closet catholic?

sunflowersfollowthesun · 19/01/2013 22:06

Oh, dear, million.
They've really got you, haven't they!

DioneTheDiabolist · 19/01/2013 22:10

No Sunflowers. That's not what I'm saying at all. I'm sorry if my post gave you that impression.

I was refuting the assertion that people do not question it. You questioned it. I questioned it. Almost every one I know has questioned it.

sunflowersfollowthesun · 19/01/2013 22:15

I meant that growing up in a home that lives its faith daily, you don't question that everybody else doesn't live that way too. Especially when you go to a faith school which reinforces the illusion. You need a degree of maturity and confidence to begin to question the dogma.
I questioned it, and found it sadly wanting.

amillionyears · 19/01/2013 22:16

Sunflowers, yes, God has got me and I have got Him
[sure there is a song in there somewhere ! ] Smile

amillionyears · 19/01/2013 22:18

Dione. You seem to be a Christian. We are supposed to be trying to love your neighbour as yourself. So are you trying to love Ellie, is what I meant.

DioneTheDiabolist · 19/01/2013 22:27

I agree that for a while you do not question it. But then you do question it. Everyone questions it.

You questioned it and found it wanting.
Most of my Athiest friends grew up in religious households and attended religious schools. They questioned it and jettisoned it.
All of my friend's of faith questioned it and continue to do so.

I don't know anyone who has not questioned their faith. I think questioning (at least in this country) is the norm.

amillionyears · 19/01/2013 22:32

To my mind, it is a very personal experience becoming a Christian, and very much an experience between an individul and God. And also, very much done when a person is ready and not before. And very much has to be understood before it is done.
tbh, I dont think it can really be done any other way. So , my take on it is that a person cannot really reject something they did not properly understand in the first place.

sunflowersfollowthesun · 19/01/2013 22:35

Dione: and your point is...?

Teahouse · 19/01/2013 22:36

Been reading this with much interest.
Solidgold mentions religions needing logic but religion is not about logic, it is about meaningful practice. People 'do' religion, and doing religion isn't the same as what is generally taught...certainly not in schools & typically not at FE, but is the norm in any university RS dept worth it's salt. And it is trying to understand how people make meaning from their religious/faith/spiritual practice/lifeway that makes the subject so worthwhile and relevant in society.