My personal way of thinking about religion and God is probably not quite as you imagine. I am certainly not the "clappyhands" type anyway.

You obviously realise that I would not run the deeply religious types down but I would object if they went over the top with their attitude to anyone who did not follow their thinking. They are often trouble makers as we see and that can generate an unfair attitude and even persecution towards the peaceful religious or non religious types.

In the same way I would not feel supportive to those who are atheist and rail against the religious believers unfairly.

As I have said often enough, we all have to honestly follow our own conscience and you cannot be blamed if you do as long as you live a good life with respect for others and their own beliefs.

Of course anyone can do just that without having to be religious, or an atheist for that matter. Very dependent on your upbringing of course.

I am only interested in a person's basic character and it is of no consequence whether he is an atheist, or an evangelist, or a 9th day abortionist! (Actually not too sure about one of those!)

I would not worry about what your parents say about Christian acts. Its just an old figure of speech and not worth being concerned about.

I think we would all do well to respect other's beliefs as long as they don't impinge on others in an unpleasant way. Tolerance is an important virtue.

Les

 

Hmmm..... am still confused. I can't work out if you are a decent human being because you believe in god, or you have chosen to be a decent human being because you don't want to do ill to others unnecessarily. I fall into the later version. Maybe if there was a religion with an ethos that didn't lambast every other religion and then ask for money to continue to do so, I might become religious.

However, can you (or anyone) point me at a single religion that admits it might be fallible? I would guess not, as belonging to a religion is not about being inclusive. It is about, 'we are right and everyone else is wrong.' This sounds like Northern Ireland politics to me?

 

I fall into the same category as you.

Yes what you say about most religions is quite right, but what I was saying applies to those who continue to follow a religion which underlines the need for the qualities you mention as most of them do, and that in itself is no bad thing.

Since you already think along the lines that you describe, then following a particular religion wont improve the way you think. Your upbringing was doubtless the prime reason that you think the way you do and is to be praised.

My point in the first place was that if the people in a country are generally believers in a God then that kind of thinking and the childrens upbringing is more likely to be along those lines.

I was objecting to the catchall castigation of religion on the grounds that it is the basic cause of the world's problems which is just not true and that those sorts of problems are caused by dishonest people twisting the religious beliefs to their own personal or political advantage.

It is a standard criticism made by some atheists to bolster their own beliefs, even to themselves in fact.

Les