Re: Who is God?
Originally Posted by Hammer
Would it not make for a far better world to live and let live, respect and accept another person's way in life than attempt to inflict one's own opinions on them.
In everyday life, yes to a large extent I'd agree with you. But this is a thread in the discussions forum, and I think all the posts being made here are in the spirit of engagement and debate. In fact it's precisely in that spirit of dialogue and discussion that I'm about to respond to a few of Arthur's points. None of this is meant to come across as controversial. What people believe is entirely up to them and they should be free to do so.
Originally Posted by Wrinkly
Answering those who are atheists, that too is a religion
because it has a following
If you loosen the definition of the word religion to anything that has a following, then I'm afraid every political party, every sport, every web forum, in fact just about everything becomes a religion - and the word risks becoming so broad as to become meaningless. Sure, we might joke that football or X-Factor is "like a religion" to some people - but let's be honest, we never mean it in any serious, meaningful way. And atheism certainly doesn't have anything like the kind of 'following' that religions, political parties and even certain sports and TV programmes enjoy.
You might say that because atheism concerns the matter of God's existence, then that makes it different to all those other things. But that ingredient still doesn't make it a religion. What it actually is is
a philosophical position based on reason. Unlike religion, it requires no worship, it demands no adherence to set-in-stone rules, and it involves no belief in the supernatural. It is merely a statement about what one doesn't believe (A-theism = lack of belief in God).
If you insist on calling it a religion, then atheism is a religion in the same way that "not fishing" is a hobby, or "bald" is a hair colour, or the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament is a nuclear organisation - in a very 'precisely the opposite' kind of way! Do you believe in Thor? Zeus? Wotan? Kali? I think it was Richard Dawkins who pointed out that all of us are atheists of almost all the gods that mankind has ever invented - it's just that some of us go one god further.
Originally Posted by Wrinkly
but I bet everyone who says they are an atheist enjoy celebrating Christmas and Easter, and all the religious holidays they get.
I recommend you look up the origin of the word "Easter"…
As for Christmas - it's not our fault that we get time off work - but since we do, well... we might as well enjoy it! The fact of the matter is that you no more have to believe in Christianity to have a good time at Christmas than you have to believe in Santa Clause. (Do you have to believe in the origins of Halloween to have fun on October 31st? Of course you don't.) For my part, if I celebrate anything about December 25th, it's the winter equinox and getting to the other side of the shortest day. Which coincidentally is what the December 25th festival was originally about before Christianity hijacked it two millenia ago, as they did with the pagan festical of 'Eostre'.
Originally Posted by Wrinkly
Ninety nine out of a hundred get married in church
That's certainly not true in the UK, and hasn't been for a while. And of the people who do get married in church, how many of them do it for the fairy tale aspect of it - the big white wedding - rather than for genuinely religious reasons? My gut feeling is quite a lot!
Originally Posted by Wrinkly
...and most of their funerals are conducted at a religious ceremony.
Understandable, but what does that really tell you? All it tells me is that when people are alive, they try not to think too hard about their funeral arrangements or if they do, they want whatever's easiest for the surviving relatives, so the conventional arrangement is chosen by default. The default arrangement is a church - for historical reasons, and because it's where nearly all the graveyards and crematoria are located. When someone dies, when mourners are at their lowest ebb, who wants the added hassle of seeking out alternative arrangements? Very few, since few of us have the energy. Conformity and convention thrive in such circumstances.
Just some thoughts, because it's a subject I've thought quite hard about. It should go without saying that nothing personal is intended, and I enjoy reading alternative points of view.