Google Groups Home
Help | Sign in
Message from discussion Atheist's belief system
The group you are posting to is a Usenet group. Messages posted to this group will make your email address visible to anyone on the Internet.
Your reply message has not been sent.
Your post was successful
 
From:
To:
Cc:
Followup To:
Add Cc | Add Followup-to | Edit Subject
Subject:
Validation:
For verification purposes please type the characters you see in the picture below or the numbers you hear by clicking the accessibility icon. Listen and type the numbers you hear
 
Commentatrix  
View profile
 More options Aug 16 2008, 4:37 pm
From: Commentatrix <commentat...@hotmail.com>
Date: Fri, 15 Aug 2008 22:37:49 -0700 (PDT)
Local: Sat, Aug 16 2008 4:37 pm
Subject: Re: Atheist's belief system

> Growing up and going to a Methodist church I sensed that most of the
> congregation I was a part of did not believe in Jesus, God, or life after
> death.

I wonder how you "sensed" all that?

I would be very surprised if the majority had no belief in God
(however defined) at all.  I would not be surprised that people were
less firm about, for example, what life after death actually entailed.

It is interesting that the mainstream Anglican tradition (to which I
belong) has long had a kind of approach which says that "here is what
the church holds to be true" but then generally lets lay practitioners
a fair degree of freedom in their actual private beliefs : a typically
English compromise between the Protestant view that religion is a
matter of personal conscience and the Catholic view about the central
importance of tradition.

> A person is not a Christian simply because they refer to themselves
> as, or because they go to church, or follow mere religious traditions and
> observances.

Obviously.  The "mere" word is a putdown though.  (A bit like calling
religion "mere" myth etc. as many are want to do.)

There is a lot to be said for traditions and observances - especially
when people know what it is they are doing and why and as part of an
historical spiritual community.  But even when they don't they can
sometimes be useful anyway.  For example, their are many atheists who
self-consciously style themselves as cultural jews and follow many of
the traditions of that faith like observing the Sabbath and Pesach so
on because they see value in those traditions.

C


    Reply to author    Forward  
You must Sign in before you can post messages.
To post a message you must first join this group.
Please update your nickname on the subscription settings page before posting.
You do not have the permission required to post.

Create a group - Google Groups - Google Home - Terms of Service - Privacy Policy
©2009 Google