aw, for goodness sake - there's bombers/terrorists about!

[Bobbie En Tejas]

People don't negate or validate god just because they believe or don't believe.

I guess my biggest problem with atheism is the idea that we are the most intelligent beings in the universe, and the ebb and flow of nature and the universe just happened by accident. Order doesn't come out of chaos...

Most of the arguments posed by atheists don't have to do with true existance of a god in the universe, but about what people say god is. Two different things. Jim Jones ran a religion but I dare say he didn't have a clue about god. At one time, religious people declared it heresy to believe the world was round and taught that the world was flat.

If a person truly believes their child should decide for themselves, they would say there may or may not be a god, you discover for yourself. But I doubt there are many atheists who would say that.. most would do what religious people do, and that is to pass down what they believe about spiritual matters, whether it is rituals, specific religions as truth, or the existance or nonexistance of god. Just let a child of an atheist come home and say he is a born again christian or a devout muslim... you'd probably get about the same reaction as you would the religious person whose child just proclaimed atheism.

[Sweltered]

all very well and good, if you accept this as order.....

[Bobbie En Tejas]

lol...

[Sheik Yir Erse]

If a person truly believes their child should decide for themselves, they would say there may or may not be a god, you discover for yourself.

Should every parent not believe this? Surely if the parent's religion is that powerful and persuasive, their educated child will realise this for themselves and have no option other than to follow it???

As Dedalus said - if it wasn't religion it would be called abuse

Not exactly analagous but, if someone believed smoking was good for them, and forced their child to attend Sunday Smoking School at the age of 4 - it wouldn't be long before the Social Services intervened.

Why would we, rightly, expect them to intervene? Well, because we know that smoking is inherently bad for humans beings.

Could we not justifiably argue the the same for religion

[Bobbie En Tejas]

That was the point, most parents don't let their kids decide for themselves, whether muslim, christian, atheist, or whatever it is the parent believes, even though they will say that about parents who believe differently, that they should let the kids decide for themselves.

[Sheik Yir Erse]

Ok then - we agree to ....... well, agree really

[gizmo]

I cant believe that there is a Sunday Smoking School in the Wee Toon... Surely this should be in the Courier... People may be thinking the kids are going out to play sports and all the time they are rattling into the Lambert and Butlers... The organisers of this event should be ashamed of themselves, surely giving ciggies to children is against the law... We will soon be back to the days of buying a fag and a match in the lunchbreak....
Also if people are very health conscious, should they be allowed to force these values on the young and impressionable, does it not make more sense to allow them to eat what they want and then make up thier own mind when they are old enough... Seems fair to me..

[Sheik Yir Erse]

It's a fair point Gizmo, you don't want a return to the bad old days when the wee beggars used to sit in all day and play on their PS3's.

I think Sunday Chimney Sweep School starts next weekend in the Wee Free church hall.

Surely there's room in the Wee Toon social calendar for a Sunday Sweat Shop, and for the more mature viewers, if it was on a Saturday morning it could be called The Multi- Coloured Sweat Shop.

Anyway back on thread (loosely) unfortunately there's a fair amount of empirical evidence to suggest that eating healthily is good for you and your children. I've yet to see the empirical evidence that believing in a god is good for you?

Therefore encouraging children to eat healthily would probably fall under the category of 'responsible parenting' as opposed to 'theological brainwashing'.

[general jack o'niell]

should be plenty of room, it closed a couple of years after i moved from killean place, well i say moved, i took the 100% profit and ran to the other side of the loch as fast as my wee legs would carry me and that was 18yrs ago

wot with the increase in prices up till now, if he sold it he might get his money back, good job he's no an estate agent, wait a minute!!!!!

no i was right the first time

[Sweltered]

Surprised the thread police have'nt paid a visit to this one. Perhaps if I mention Corncrakes.......

[general jack o'niell]

i mentioned corncrakes in the corncrake thread and got a row from some single digit poster, single digit reffering to either his height, weight, IQ or postings, can't remember which? its so hard to remember all the little people when the pedestal is so so so so so very high, oh i get dizzy just looking over the edge.

whats this thread about? who cares, its all good, b@:stards should be paying to read this stuff, ricky gervais? amatuer, bet the sit with their copy of the sun, which they pay for and grumble "bloody cheek, amusing stories and droll wit, its a serious forum, heads of state have been known to have never heard of it" "we wrote to paul Mccartney asking him to post, expect a reply any day now" "at least the b@stards haven't got tickets for survivors nights, thats the joy of a committee" and various amusing little thoughts like that, you make your own up, go on, now!!!!, don't just sit there, you will make up amusing anecdotes, or suffer the consequences.

corncrakes, my erse!!!!

c'mon, lets be having you, in groups of two or three, lets make it a fair fight, just add the IQ together, when you reach ten, post a thread!!!!!!

[Annie]

I see you are on a roll today General! Or is it a barm - oops, wrong thread!

Darn corncrakes!

[Sweltered]

He only comes in here to see if he's bun fun oot.

[bill]

BARMS...MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM

[dedalus]

bobbi

I teach my children the following

Jesus probably existed - assuming he did - he was a very wise man who wanted to improve the lot of his people. Either that or he was a construct of a buch of wise men (St Peter almost definitely existed)- a parable if you like - designed for the same end.
Through exagerration and hijacking his story became more and more fantastic/manipulative of the people. Whatever Jesus/ his inventors actually believed has been corrupt beyond measure by variuous religious/political entities in to what are the hundreds of religeous schisms that exist today.

God is extremely unlikely to exist. But some people believe.


read "a history of god" by Karen armstrong takes you from the pagan gods thru egypt - the first monotheistic people - to the god of today.