I know but it still makes me sad that lots of people are not religious and lots don't believe in god and Jesus. I know why lots of people are not religious its because lots of people haven't been taught anything and they have not had the experiences me and my friends have and I just wish more people can give religion a chance and I wish all shops were closed on a Sunday and that people don't drink lots of alcohol because you don't need alcohol to have a good time
I think shops should close on a sunday as well, but not because of religion. Alcohol I also agree with you that it is not required for a good time, I can take it or leave it. But I do like a nice beer now and again.
Anyway, I know someone who is religious and they drink Alcohol and a lot more of it than me.
I know lots of people are not religious and don't believe in God and Jesus ect don't worry I won't force my beliefs on all of you but I would like to know why are you not religious and why don't you believe in God and Jesus?
What an odd question.
Why do you believe that there is a God, and Jesus was his son sent down to earth to... etc, etc?
I know lots of people are not religious and don't believe in God and Jesus ect don't worry I won't force my beliefs on all of you but I would like to know why are you not religious and why don't you believe in God and Jesus?
To give you an honest answer - I don't believe in it because I don't believe in it.
Belief is an involuntary thing. Even if you want to believe something - you can't, because your belief that it is not true will override your belief that it is true. If you are in possession of the facts about something, which most people are regarding religion as it was drummed into them during their childhoods, and you still don't believe, then what are you supposed to do? Turning up on someone's doorstep and telling them how much you'd like them to change their ways just comes across as condescending and alienates them even more.
I guarantee that all the people who "find God" during adulthood do so out of a need for companionship, not because they believe in anything written in the Bible.
I think shops should close on a sunday as well, but not because of religion. Alcohol I also agree with you that it is not required for a good time, I can take it or leave it. But I do like a nice beer now and again.
Anyway, I know someone who is religious and they drink Alcohol and a lot more of it than me.
Years ago all shops closed on a Sunday and I hope that happens again Sunday needs to be a day off for everyone I think. Lots of people think they need alcohol to have a good time but I have never had alcohol and I have a fun time all the time at dances and my 18th there was no alcohol at all and I had the best time.
:kitty:
The problem for MG is a) that shes brainwashed and b) she's autistic, therefore she fnds it difficult to understand abstract concepts or other people's thoughts and motivations.
I don't think she's asking these questions in order to upset other people or to feel superior to them.
I like to tell people about my Church without people having a go at me and questioning me by saying Im wrong and by saying Im brainwashed
If you're going to tell people about your church then you can expect people to question your beliefs and say that you're wrong. The same goes for anyone trying to spread any belief.
I think it depends how far you are prepared to take the debate. If I say I'm an atheist and not interested you then have a choice:
* Accept that and change the subject.
* Continue to discuss the subject.
By doing the latter you are inviting me to express my opinion and to debate the issue. I think it's unfair and unreasonable of you not to allow me to express my view point and question you. Don't forget - you started this thread and you started it in General Discussion. You obviously feel strongly about your religion. Consider that some of us feel equally strongly about our atheism. Then consider that you are trying to get us to change the way we live. You are ultimately trying to restrict us from doing things we like to do.
Given the age of your account and number of posts you should have been able to predict that you would receive some robust and even rude responses.
Im not trying to change anyone's beliefs. I don't like people saying Im brainwashed because that upsets me.
:kitty:
The problem for MG is a) that shes brainwashed and b) she's autistic, therefore she fnds it difficult to understand abstract concepts or other people's thoughts and motivations.
I don't think she's asking these questions in order to upset other people or to feel superior to them.
That matches my limited experience of autism on DS, reading her replies and non replies with hindsight. How to proceed? MG?
Well I became a Mormon at 14 because I read The Book Of Mormon and prayed if its true and I loved everything about Church and I still do we have lots of amazing activities like EFY/FSY which is for Youth from 14-18 which is fun and I have been once as a youth and twice as a counsellor.
and there are YSA (Young Single Adult) conventions 18-30 which are fun. Last year at the Huddersfield one in October me and other YSA did Lazer tag outside so we were in teams and had this guns and that was really fun and in September 2012 at the Billingham convention the activity I did was Ice Skating
Perhaps you could tell us why you think people don't believe?
I think people don't believe is because some people have grown up all their lives not believing and also people haven't had religious experiences like me and my friends have.
Well I became a Mormon at 14 because I read The Book Of Mormon and prayed if its true and I loved everything about Church and I still do we have lots of amazing activities like EFY/FSY which is for Youth from 14-18 which is fun and I have been once as a youth and twice as a counsellor.
and there are YSA (Young Single Adult) conventions 18-30 which are fun. Last year at the Huddersfield one in October me and other YSA did Lazer tag outside so we were in teams and had this guns and that was really fun and in September 2012 at the Billingham convention the activity I did was Ice Skating
I think people don't believe is because some people have grown up all their lives not believing and also people haven't had religious experiences like me and my friends have.
I grew up a Christian, but lost my faith when I was ~15.
I'm not a Christian because I feel answers can be found using a more rigorous scientific approach.
Of course, many people disagree with me, but I feel that if you want to find out whether something is "true" or not, you need to follow the scientific method, gather evidence and constantly reassess that evidence by trying to prove it wrong.
I think scepticism is important to everything.
Just my thoughts of course.
I think people don't believe is because some people have grown up all their lives not believing and also people haven't had religious experiences like me and my friends have.
I was brought up Christian and was taken to church every other week. I was even been Confirmed at Exeter cathedral. However I mostly did that because it avoided getting grief from my parents. I stopped believing in any sense of the word when I was still at school. At that age I couldn't see that it was conflicting, poorly thought out mumbo-jumbo but I had realised that there was no proof whatsoever and it was a bad idea to make things up that didn't exist.
Frankly I categorise God as being the same kind of thing as the tooth fairy. As I've grown older I've become better able to see the fallacy in the arguments and more confident of my opinions but if you think that people don't believe in God because they've never thought about it you're wrong in a lot of cases.
As I wrote previously - you're the one introducing something that isn't readily apparent so it's up to you to prove that it exists. Put it this way - you're like someone who's wandered into a pub and has declared that a pink elephant is doing a handstand in the corner. No normal person would then ask why patrons don't believe it exists.
Then why can't you answer more difficult complex issues about your religion? It would appear you are simply repeating things you have read or been told,without understanding them.
Years ago all shops closed on a Sunday and I hope that happens again Sunday needs to be a day off for everyone I think. Lots of people think they need alcohol to have a good time but I have never had alcohol and I have a fun time all the time at dances and my 18th there was no alcohol at all and I had the best time.
Well,this is a whole different issue. I can remember years ago when shops (and other businesses ) closed on Sundays and quite frankly, it was rather boring. Lots of people want to go shopping on Sundays for various reasons, and other people are happy to work on Sundays, so why shouldn't they? No one is forced to go shopping on Sundays if they don't want to.
My parents used to make me go to Sunday school when I was little. We'd all sit in this fusty old Congregational hall for a few hymns, then they'd clear off and leave me to be marched off to little side rooms where different groups of kids would sit bored to tears while we had Bible stories read to us.
It was sheer hell and I couldn't work out why my parents were punishing me in this way. One Sunday when I was about nine years old I told them that I didn't want to go any more and that I'd rather go fishing in a local stream with my tiddler net. To my amazement they agreed without question.
All those years I suffered the drudgery and monotony of that miserable place. If only I'd protested sooner. I think my parents only sent me there because it was still expected of them at that time. I don't think my dad really wanted anything to do with it, but just went along with it to please my mum.
Honestly, DS and these religious threads. I read up to page 5 then came here to the final page and the exact same arguments are still going on. 18 pages of going round in circles. You would think the religious lot would get that they can't convert anyone on here or get sympathy to their cause or anything. And equally that you guys like me who don't believe in any of that crap, would stop indulging them and wasting your time. Just be content religion is in its dying days in these times. Yes it may not happen in our lifetime or even the next century, but the future is rapidly coming, we'll see just how godly people are when humans are colonising Mars with science.
I was brought up Catholic. Church, school, holy communion, confession etc. When I was about 9, I started putting 2+2 together about different things we'd been learning in school and one day I asked my mum why was the Pope so rich when Jesus had been so poor.
She suggested I wrote to the Pope and ask him, which I did. I received a reply from Monsignor someone which said 'His Holiness thanks you for your interest' ... but never answered my question.
So my questioning of structured religion started there and the contradictions continued to grow the more I learned and the older I got.
The believing in God bit stayed with me longer and I always said prayers but over time it just hit me that it was completely impossible and ridiculous and I have now been a complete atheist for a good 15yrs
I think people don't believe is because some people have grown up all their lives not believing and also people haven't had religious experiences like me and my friends have.
I used to go to Sunday school during my childhood, sing along to the songs & say the lords prayer etc etc, then as time went on, the church changed for the worst, they had got in a new younger reverend that refused to read from the old testament and said that if anyone was too ill to attend church, then they would be sent to hell. This put me right off all churches & everything to do with religion.
Even tho my Mum is Jewish & my Dad is C.O.E, neither of them practiced their religions & never enforced them onto my Sister or myself, which ended up separating ourselves from cousins that are extremely religious. I am also uncircumcised, as my parents like me saw it as a form of abuse.
I have a lot of American friends that have the same brain condition as me (Chiari Malformation), most of them are extremely religious & pray in a public manner in the hope that god will cure them. I don't speak to them when they turn into a member of the god squad as there is no know cure for the condition & I honestly think that if a cure is found, then it will be in the form of medicine or surgery, and not in the form of praying. I have said it many times that Science heals, faith kills. I am just thankful now that surgeons can overrule strict Jehovah Witnesses when it comes to blood transfusions. Every person involved in a accident or attack, deserves the chance to live, they shouldn't have death forced upon them by refusal of treatment due to beliefs.
Comments
I think shops should close on a sunday as well, but not because of religion. Alcohol I also agree with you that it is not required for a good time, I can take it or leave it. But I do like a nice beer now and again.
Anyway, I know someone who is religious and they drink Alcohol and a lot more of it than me.
What an odd question.
Why do you believe that there is a God, and Jesus was his son sent down to earth to... etc, etc?
To give you an honest answer - I don't believe in it because I don't believe in it.
Belief is an involuntary thing. Even if you want to believe something - you can't, because your belief that it is not true will override your belief that it is true. If you are in possession of the facts about something, which most people are regarding religion as it was drummed into them during their childhoods, and you still don't believe, then what are you supposed to do? Turning up on someone's doorstep and telling them how much you'd like them to change their ways just comes across as condescending and alienates them even more.
I guarantee that all the people who "find God" during adulthood do so out of a need for companionship, not because they believe in anything written in the Bible.
Years ago all shops closed on a Sunday and I hope that happens again Sunday needs to be a day off for everyone I think. Lots of people think they need alcohol to have a good time but I have never had alcohol and I have a fun time all the time at dances and my 18th there was no alcohol at all and I had the best time.
Im not brainwashed at all
How did you become a Mormon?
If you're going to tell people about your church then you can expect people to question your beliefs and say that you're wrong. The same goes for anyone trying to spread any belief.
Im not trying to change anyone's beliefs. I don't like people saying Im brainwashed because that upsets me.
That matches my limited experience of autism on DS, reading her replies and non replies with hindsight. How to proceed? MG?
Well I became a Mormon at 14 because I read The Book Of Mormon and prayed if its true and I loved everything about Church and I still do we have lots of amazing activities like EFY/FSY which is for Youth from 14-18 which is fun and I have been once as a youth and twice as a counsellor.
and there are YSA (Young Single Adult) conventions 18-30 which are fun. Last year at the Huddersfield one in October me and other YSA did Lazer tag outside so we were in teams and had this guns and that was really fun and in September 2012 at the Billingham convention the activity I did was Ice Skating
Perhaps you could tell us why you think people don't believe?
What do you mean?
I think people don't believe is because some people have grown up all their lives not believing and also people haven't had religious experiences like me and my friends have.
How did you come to read that book?
I grew up a Christian, but lost my faith when I was ~15.
I'm not a Christian because I feel answers can be found using a more rigorous scientific approach.
Of course, many people disagree with me, but I feel that if you want to find out whether something is "true" or not, you need to follow the scientific method, gather evidence and constantly reassess that evidence by trying to prove it wrong.
I think scepticism is important to everything.
Just my thoughts of course.
Frankly I categorise God as being the same kind of thing as the tooth fairy. As I've grown older I've become better able to see the fallacy in the arguments and more confident of my opinions but if you think that people don't believe in God because they've never thought about it you're wrong in a lot of cases.
As I wrote previously - you're the one introducing something that isn't readily apparent so it's up to you to prove that it exists. Put it this way - you're like someone who's wandered into a pub and has declared that a pink elephant is doing a handstand in the corner. No normal person would then ask why patrons don't believe it exists.
See below.
Well,this is a whole different issue. I can remember years ago when shops (and other businesses ) closed on Sundays and quite frankly, it was rather boring. Lots of people want to go shopping on Sundays for various reasons, and other people are happy to work on Sundays, so why shouldn't they? No one is forced to go shopping on Sundays if they don't want to.
It was sheer hell and I couldn't work out why my parents were punishing me in this way. One Sunday when I was about nine years old I told them that I didn't want to go any more and that I'd rather go fishing in a local stream with my tiddler net. To my amazement they agreed without question.
All those years I suffered the drudgery and monotony of that miserable place. If only I'd protested sooner. I think my parents only sent me there because it was still expected of them at that time. I don't think my dad really wanted anything to do with it, but just went along with it to please my mum.
Honestly, DS and these religious threads. I read up to page 5 then came here to the final page and the exact same arguments are still going on. 18 pages of going round in circles. You would think the religious lot would get that they can't convert anyone on here or get sympathy to their cause or anything. And equally that you guys like me who don't believe in any of that crap, would stop indulging them and wasting your time. Just be content religion is in its dying days in these times. Yes it may not happen in our lifetime or even the next century, but the future is rapidly coming, we'll see just how godly people are when humans are colonising Mars with science.
Guess we won't inow until the third place pray-off.
She suggested I wrote to the Pope and ask him, which I did. I received a reply from Monsignor someone which said 'His Holiness thanks you for your interest' ... but never answered my question.
So my questioning of structured religion started there and the contradictions continued to grow the more I learned and the older I got.
The believing in God bit stayed with me longer and I always said prayers but over time it just hit me that it was completely impossible and ridiculous and I have now been a complete atheist for a good 15yrs
I used to go to Sunday school during my childhood, sing along to the songs & say the lords prayer etc etc, then as time went on, the church changed for the worst, they had got in a new younger reverend that refused to read from the old testament and said that if anyone was too ill to attend church, then they would be sent to hell. This put me right off all churches & everything to do with religion.
Even tho my Mum is Jewish & my Dad is C.O.E, neither of them practiced their religions & never enforced them onto my Sister or myself, which ended up separating ourselves from cousins that are extremely religious. I am also uncircumcised, as my parents like me saw it as a form of abuse.
I have a lot of American friends that have the same brain condition as me (Chiari Malformation), most of them are extremely religious & pray in a public manner in the hope that god will cure them. I don't speak to them when they turn into a member of the god squad as there is no know cure for the condition & I honestly think that if a cure is found, then it will be in the form of medicine or surgery, and not in the form of praying. I have said it many times that Science heals, faith kills. I am just thankful now that surgeons can overrule strict Jehovah Witnesses when it comes to blood transfusions. Every person involved in a accident or attack, deserves the chance to live, they shouldn't have death forced upon them by refusal of treatment due to beliefs.