RE: Are the churches using atheists to gain more converts?
June 18, 2016 at 5:02 pm
(This post was last modified: June 18, 2016 at 5:07 pm by Homeless Nutter.)
(June 18, 2016 at 4:01 pm)madog Wrote: Mmm, they don't have much influence on stuff like gay marriage, abortion, etc. etc, in the UK. it appears to me they do in the USA ...
In the UK, nowadays - perhaps. But you do know, that in Ireland, for example, condoms were illegal until 1980's, right? And divorce was banned until 1996. In catholic and orthodox dominated eastern Europe no one's even talking about the possibility of legalizing gay marriage and in many cases - abortion.
(June 18, 2016 at 4:01 pm)madog Wrote: Do I like them being anywhere in a civilized society ... no ..... but whatever influence they have doesn't appear to be as apparent as what I perceive to be the case in the USA ...
Yes, well - the Kardashians and Justin Bieber appear to have "influence" in the USA. It's the power of media. And again - religious ideas have a strong hold on a fairly large portion of US population, but the religious organizations themselves are not strong enough to successfully oppose the political process in any kind of unified fashion. That's why there even is a debate over social issues and a debate, that the religious side is slowly losing.
(June 18, 2016 at 4:01 pm)madog Wrote: What I can say is I got looked at stranger, when I declared I was a "born again Christian" than when I said I didn't believe in a God ... and that was 40 years ago, the church has lost even more influence in the UK since then .....
Sure, but UK situation is fairly unique, what with religion having been actually incorporated into the state and kept firmly in its place. Being overly enthusiastic about religion is seen a bit like confessing one's undying love for the Royal Mail, or the London Underground.
"The fact that a believer is happier than a skeptic is no more to the point than the fact that a drunken man is happier than a sober one." - George Bernard Shaw
