Why do you allow people to attack and ridicule Christianity?

[Singersong]

Time and time again I see people taking the absolute piss out of Christianity. Calling people delusional and saying it's made up bullshit etc. why do you allow this? I don't see this about any other religion.

It goes far beyond atheism and you claim to be against hate speech.

The problem here seems to be on your definition of hate speech. Could you give examples of the comments you've seen that Mumsnet has allowed that are hate speech? I might even end up agreeing with you!

"Hatred and mocking against ANY other religion would simply not be tolerated."

Hatred most certainly should not be tolerated.

Mocking? Most certainly should.

Would those who want Christanity to be treated in exactly the same way as other religions are treated support the complete disestablishment of the church?

Would you support removing the Christian worship requirements from state schools, getting rid of the bishops in the House of Lords, scrapping Sunday trading laws etc?

As soon as we can drop the nonsense about Britain being a "Christian country", I will be happy to respect the beliefs of Christians as their own private affair, just like the beliefs of any other religious group. While Christianity continues to impinge in multiple ways on the lives of non-Christians, I think it's reasonable to expect that people will keep pushing back on that.

I used to be a Christian...was brought up as one and took me years to realise I didn't believe and was just conforming to try and mollify an overbearing parent who I loved. The church provided gentle but persistent criticism of it's flock... and I'd liken it to an abusive relationship where you try very hard to do the right thing only to have goalposts moved and be gaslit. Every Sunday was lectures of how to be better, not a sinner, give more to the church, recognise I was a sinner (this was the whole congregation not just me)

It was a joy to break away and like many people who have broken a bad habit you look back in horror. So yes a sore point for me and I have little tolerance for people trying to impose it on me again

I don't know OP, maybe it's because Christian types all seem to possess the dictionary where S(elf righteousness) comes before F(orgiveness).

They rarely practice what they preach. They're fair game for a bit of piss ripping.

That is just my opinion though, based on the people I've met over the years who 'believed'.

I would add, the other thing that tends to get people's backs up is the tendency to proselytise. During the course of my lifetime, I have encountered quite a lot of Christians who have attempted to recruit me and/or told me that I can only be "saved" if I adopt their beliefs. (Slightly irrelevant to those of us who don't buy into the concept that we need to be saved, but whatever!)

I have never once had anyone of another faith try to convert me, despite mixing with people from numerous faiths and having lived in a predominantly Muslim country for a while.

I suspect that many Christians simply don't realise how much they alienate people by trying to convert them. I have no issue at all with anyone following their own faith - whatever works for you. But as soon as you start pushing it in my face, I will start to resent it.

I admire religions like Sikhism, where followers are motivated to do a lot of good work but don't seem to be compelled to convert anyone.

I don't see this about any other religion.

Seriously? I see far more problematic language aimed at Islam.

I think it's fine for people to say they think people who are religious are delusional. It's an opinion, just like thinking God exists.

Yes I absolutely agree with you.

Based on what real examples?

I'll start by saying that I am not religious at all but I see threads ridiculing Christianity all the time on mumsnet. I can honestly say that I have never seen a thread ridiculing Islamic religions, Judaism or any other religion. I'm not talking about hate speech here, but people being ridiculed BTW.

If members of those religions posted claiming that their religion was the absolute truth and asking for special privileges in society then I would be happy and willing to challenge them, but so far they haven't. Christians frequently do.

I know a lot of church going Christians, and none of them do that. Even the Jehovah's Witnesses I see in town don't approach people any more. They stand looking bored by their sandwich boards all day being ignored by the general public. I am not religious myself but I'm not anti religion, as you obviously are @CurlewKate

I think religion is a personal thing and I don't ridicule people for having a faith. I find that disrespectful. As long as they don't evangelise I think each to their own.

It is the established religion and forced on children in all of our state schools

It isn't forced on children in non religious state schools. They are taught about Christianity, alongside other religions.

state schools must have daily worship

I don't think so. They have assemblies, but they aren't religious. I went to secondary school in the 1970s and we stopped having religious assemblies in my second or third year there.

Are there any teachers on here who can confirm that non religious state schools don't force religion on school children any more?

Because all religions are made up bullshit designed to control uneducated people. As soon as people become educated they realize this...

It was the case in the past. Interestingly, all the religious people I know are very well educated - doctors, nurses, accountants, lawyers etc.

Yeeeeeeah... I'm Jewish and we're not liked very much

I think all religions are derided on mumsnet TBH, but do people call Jews and Muslims delusional?

I think some of the criticism of Christianity comes from people who have experienced the dark side of it. Not the obvious dark side, child abuse, but the other, "lesser" but still destructive things.
A Quaker group had a new member who found talk of Jesus unbearable because of what happened in her original church. A colleague who belonged to an evangelical church and he Jesus in her life had a nervous breakdown in class, and her church's "help" was to insist that if she had truly taken Jesus into her life, it wouldn't have happened. I was victimised by a minister who had left a youth club unattended and when I reported what happened said the boys would never have done what they did (verbal only) and I had a filthy mind. Same minister reduced my mother to tears over something undefined about the Sunday School. She had nightmares about it for decades. Fortunately, though he tipped the black spot to other local churches about the family not being in good standing, they had no difficulty finding a church which welcomed them. I have a friend who has ongoing troubles with a chaplain, backed up by a bishop, for reporting an incident of bullying affecting others.
Churches provide niches for people with weaknesses to hide in and crawl out and attack people they don't like. And their victims sometimes find an opportunity to vent their feelings, which they don't have for Islam, or Judaism, or the multitude of other religions. Though humans being humans, I wouldn't be surprised if there weren't victims of the gurdwara, or the temple as well.

I think all religions are equally silly. Christianity is the only one I've come across in UK where I have people come to the door to try and 'spread the word' or have put leaflets through door. While schools do teach about many religions, elements of Christianity are actually practiced in schools even when many students are atheist or another religion and I think that does create some resentment. Having said that I see mostly mockery of Christianity but a hatred of other religions, I don't think there's anything particularly egregious about mockery of religion, I see people who strongly and loudly espouse belief in ghosts or aliens regularly mocked and their beliefs are no more outlandish than that of Christians.

There is no such thing as a "non-religious" school within British state education. Schools are legally required to have a daily act of worship which is usually expected to be broadly Christian in nature. Some schools might choose to ignore the law, but it is still the law.

When we change that, and when we get rid of all of the other ways in which Christianity is privileged in our society, then I will be happy to respect it as the private choice of some of my fellow citizens to follow their own personal belief system. At the moment, it isn't a private matter because of the way it impinges on the rest of us.

Having said that I see mostly mockery of Christianity but a hatred of other religions

I agree.

And that's why religion should always challenged.

I suspect that many Christians simply don't realise how much they alienate people by trying to convert them. I have no issue at all with anyone following their own faith - whatever works for you. But as soon as you start pushing it in my face, I will start to resent it.

Yes, this. People can believe what they want. But religion that interferes with my rights on government level, I will always challenge.and resent that.

It's called freedom of speech.

state schools must have daily worship

I keep seeing these claims on threads like this one, and I honestly wonder what people mean?
Our kids are in state schools (both primary and secondary), and they never mentioned daily worship (or any worship at all).
I’ve asked them about it and they didn’t know what I meant.

business opening is based round your schedule

In the UK? I live in England and was in Germany before that.
Over there most shops did close on Sundays, but it’s definitely not the case here.

Not sure this is helpful to OP but people are bashing Jews on here all the time. They just usually use code words /dog whistles to get away with it.

state schools must have daily worship

I keep seeing these claims on threads like this one, and I honestly wonder what people mean?
Our kids are in state schools (both primary and secondary), and they never mentioned daily worship (or any worship at all).
I’ve asked them about it and they didn’t know what I meant.

They are meant to, but the ones I've worked in recently certainly don't.

@RampantIvy
A non-religious school is as religious as the HT. A school where I worked had us chanting prayers twice a day and Grace before lunch (before the latter was thrown out by the governing body). So even a community school is not safe from indoctrination.

@RampantIvy your description of how Christianity is treated at non-church state schools is what it ought to be like but this is not true in practice. My DCs primary school is not a church school but it had significant amounts of Christian practice regularly including regular whole-school services at the local church at which the minister would be openly teaching Christian beliefs as fact, they were not being taught about Christianity in the same way as other religions.

Legally, all all state schools (not just church schools) are supposed to provide an act of “collective worship” that is “broadly Christian” every day. Whether or not this happens and how much the Christianity is pushed seems to be a matter of choice from the head teacher. This seems antithetical to the concept of freedom of religion in my view.

I don't think so. They have assemblies, but they aren't religious. I went to secondary school in the 1970s and we stopped having religious assemblies in my second or third year there.

Are there any teachers on here who can confirm that non religious state schools don't force religion on school children any more?

They are still supposed to have a daily act of worship, but unless the Head is religious, I think most schools just quietly ignore it. I teach at a very multicultural and multi-faith school. I don't really see how we could have an inclusive daily act of worship. It'san absolutely crazy rule. here

I grew up in a monotheistic state where Catholicism was given special status so I have a particular resentment and dislike of it. I often express this. I feel that's fine actually.

I am not Christian but I think considering our entire cultural, social, legal and political history and more is deeply embedded and intertwined within Christianity it's really silly to be so disparaging of it. It's worthy of respect whatever your views.

So you said something much harsher and more offensive than you would usually in response to comments suggesting that someone else's beliefs trump yours? 🤔