PussEKatt Posted August 9, 2012 Share Posted August 9, 2012 I may be wrong but as far as I know,if you have a church then you believe in a god.So why would athiests need a church ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BOF Posted August 9, 2012 Moderator Share Posted August 9, 2012 We don't need churches. It is precisely the lack of believing in an imaginary friend that removes the need for such things. If you want community and friendship like a normal person go to the pub or the park or the gym or any amount of places where people go to do normal things. That's our 'church' substitute. Life is our church substitute. Get busy living it. You only get one of them. Yes even the hindus. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AVFCforever1991 Posted August 9, 2012 Share Posted August 9, 2012 You only get one of them. Yes even the hindus. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
legov Posted August 9, 2012 Share Posted August 9, 2012 I believe he's a lapsed Jew, and like lots of other ex-godbotherers he misses the rituals. What's so interesting about going to the same staid building every Friday/Saturday/Sunday just to kneel down on the ground? The only religious ritual I can understand a longing for are the song sessions, but I'm quite sure you can get the same feeling at a good concert. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Risso Posted August 9, 2012 Share Posted August 9, 2012 Alain de Botton recently did a book suggesting that atheists need some sort of church-substitute to give them a sense of community. I believe he's a lapsed Jew, and like lots of other ex-godbotherers he misses the rituals. Personally, I couldn't disagree more. Ghastly idea. Church substitute? Football stadia and pubs for me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shillzz Posted August 9, 2012 Share Posted August 9, 2012 Just out of interest, is anyone ever brave enough to come in here and post pro-religion comments? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BOF Posted August 9, 2012 Moderator Share Posted August 9, 2012 Yes, people do. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Amsterdam_Neil_D Posted August 9, 2012 Share Posted August 9, 2012 Just out of interest, is anyone ever brave enough to come in here and post pro-religion comments? Sometimes happens but I cannot blame them for not bothering anymore, it's not a argument they can ever win. + I am genuinely scared of really religious people, something is not quite connected correctly. If they can argue about believing in nothing and force small children to do the same they are capable of anything. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PieFacE Posted August 9, 2012 VT Supporter Share Posted August 9, 2012 Have any of you atheists had a friend slowly turning to religion? What do you do to snap them out of it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AVFCforever1991 Posted August 9, 2012 Share Posted August 9, 2012 Have any of you atheists had a friend slowly turning to religion? What do you do to snap them out of it? usually just a phase in life I find... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
legov Posted August 9, 2012 Share Posted August 9, 2012 Have any of you atheists had a friend slowly turning to religion? What do you do to snap them out of it? Me. I've mentioned this before in this thread actually - I put forth arguments against the logicality of religion, he accepts that they are logically sound but for some reason still sticks to his religious views despite being fully aware that he hasn't offered any rebuttals (not even the "faith" one!) He's a smart person though, so I've recently come to the conclusion that the best thing is to encourage him to read and be analytical, rather than enter into debates with him. That approach certainly worked for me - my deconversion was a direct result of me being just a little too inquisitive, and not because of in-depth religious debates with others (debates about sensitive subjects like religion stress me out anyway, I can't handle their confrontational nature) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Amsterdam_Neil_D Posted August 9, 2012 Share Posted August 9, 2012 Have any of you atheists had a friend slowly turning to religion? What do you do to snap them out of it? Its the same as wetting the bed, most people grow out of it on their own. I have never met anyone who has gone the wrong way to be honest, intelligence is on the rise I would have thought. Advances in science and education help also long term but the bottom line is there is no god, that is a fact and I think even religious people know this but their unfortunate upbringing has brain washed many adults for life which is a shame. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BOF Posted August 9, 2012 Moderator Share Posted August 9, 2012 If someone is drifting towards religion then it's likely that they are going through, are about to go through or have recently gone through some kind of a trauma and are using religion as an emotional crutch. If people lose a loved one for example, it is much easier and nicer to believe that they've gone somewhere or to someone than it is to believe that they're now worm food or burnt to cinders. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
legov Posted August 9, 2012 Share Posted August 9, 2012 there is no god, that is a fact and I think even religious people know this but their unfortunate upbringing has brain washed many adults for life which is a shame. Huh? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TrentVilla Posted August 9, 2012 Moderator Share Posted August 9, 2012 A friend of my misses discovered God in her 20's. She was going for a job at a religious school and they gave it to her on the condition she at least showed an interest in their faith so she attended a meeting of a group called Vineyard (I believe its a 'cool' church group for the young that as a side line looks to convert people). The day she went along she had got a parking ticket for £50, she must of told someone because at the end of the meeting there was £50 in her jacket. Obviously everyone denied anything to do with it and declared it was God's work and she fell for it. So started her conversion to Christianity and her decision to reject the idea of using her own brain. Within 2 years she had totally distanced herself from all her old friends to the point of walking past them in the street and had her new circle of friends. Oh and the best bit was she seemed to forget all the cock she took at Uni and reinvented herself as a virgin, married and told the guy she was a virgin. Seemingly lying is okay so long as God is slipping you the odd £50 here or there. Now she is a total lost cause and her brain is just something that rattles around her head. The upside is I never liked her so at least I don't have to spend time in her company any more. Perhaps there is a God??????? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
legov Posted August 9, 2012 Share Posted August 9, 2012 If someone is drifting towards religion then it's likely that they are going through, are about to go through or have recently gone through some kind of a trauma and are using religion as an emotional crutch. If people lose a loved one for example, it is much easier and nicer to believe that they've gone somewhere or to someone than it is to believe that they're now worm food or burnt to cinders. Same can arguably be said for de-converts - they've lost faith in God as things don't seem to be going their way. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BOF Posted August 9, 2012 Moderator Share Posted August 9, 2012 Perhaps there is a God??????? See, it moves in mysterious ways. You're already on the path. You just don't realise it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TrentVilla Posted August 9, 2012 Moderator Share Posted August 9, 2012 If someone is drifting towards religion then it's likely that they are going through, are about to go through or have recently gone through some kind of a trauma and are using religion as an emotional crutch. If people lose a loved one for example, it is much easier and nicer to believe that they've gone somewhere or to someone than it is to believe that they're now worm food or burnt to cinders. Absolutely this. Having been through a loss not so long ago I can see how some turn to faith, not least because it actively pursue's you. At the hospital it is in your face through the behreavement services, the literature, the funeral arrangements, the funeral itself. Then there are all the believers who seem to think it appropriate to offer their views on things at your time of grief never ones to miss their chance to preach and convert. At peoples lowest times religion is right there, in their faces knocking at the door with the offer of making the most depressing of things a little easier to take. It is little wonder that some grab it with both hands and get turned. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BOF Posted August 9, 2012 Moderator Share Posted August 9, 2012 If someone is drifting towards religion then it's likely that they are going through, are about to go through or have recently gone through some kind of a trauma and are using religion as an emotional crutch. If people lose a loved one for example, it is much easier and nicer to believe that they've gone somewhere or to someone than it is to believe that they're now worm food or burnt to cinders. Same can arguably be said for de-converts - they've lost faith in God as things don't seem to be going their way.Yes but one has a basis in science and one has no basis whatsoever. Just because you do opposite things for similar reasons doesn't mean both have equal merit. You 'find' God because you don't like what's happening. You decide to give it a shot. You usually drift from God through some realisation that it's all complete bollocks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AVFCforever1991 Posted August 9, 2012 Share Posted August 9, 2012 . Oh and the best bit was she seemed to forget all the cock she took at Uni and reinvented herself as a virgin, married and told the guy she was a virgin. Seemingly lying is okay so long as God is slipping you the odd £50 here or there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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