RE: Problems with atheism
August 17, 2011 at 2:16 pm
(This post was last modified: August 17, 2011 at 2:20 pm by Godnose.)
I have found that, even as an agnostic or (latterly) an atheist I have been able to get sincere advice from a local vicar or priest, wherever I have lived. None has ever seriously tried to misuse my request for advice in order to try to get me to go to church or join their religion. I have never found anyone else who I can go to as freely, without even knowing them first. OK, the advice has not always been brilliant but I do believe it has always been sincere, and when it is a moral matter then that is often the most important thing. As well, being "objective" in terms of my own life (no connection to any of my family or social circle, etc) is also a valuable attribute. Also the lack of any profit motive (which can so easily confuse matters).
My desire for something equivalent to a church has nothing to do with "socialising", as suggested by Welsh Cake, nor with "hobbies". In any case, if I wanted to socialise why not join a social club rather than the devious method of pretending an interest in pottery or whatever? That seems just as daft as taking up religion. But I don't give a fig about "socialising", if by that you mean standing around "chatting" and suchlike.
My desire for a church-like structure stems from the very fact that I have seen with my own experience that such a structure can be an extremely effective force for good. Yes yes, I know, religion does loads of bad stuff - but what I'm interested in is the good stuff. And it seems to me that most of the good stuff comes from the structure of the local church system.
You never see an atheist jumble sale. Why not? I bet loads of atheists go to church jumble sales. Wouldn't it be better to go to a atheist one, thereby not supporting a cause you disagree with?
Why do atheists feel it so necessary to come across as "cold hearted". There is no reason that I can see why an atheist can't be just as "spiritual", in a non-religious way, as anyone with religion. By "spiritual" I don't mean Oija or ghosts or whatever, I mean as in the "spirit" of something, eg a spirit of friendship, politeness, sincerity, etc. Yet all atheists ever seem to care about is cold logic. So as soon as anyone suggests there is perhaps more to life than physics, then you get booed off the stage.
Anyway, that's how it feels to me.
OK, I know it's probably soft, but I rather like the idea of occasional gatherings of like-minded people to say sing a song together (Lennon's "Imagine" say), someone perhaps reading out a set piece bit of Hume or whoever and then maybe some kind of general exchange of views and information, but not like a pub, but in a more kind of organised way. An assertion of community, in some way.
It seems to me that all sorts of good things could come out of such an organised srtucture. Particularly such as charitibale activity, mentoring and counseling of the kind I've already suggested, and quite possibly other things too. Above all, something that it seems to me to be very much lacking today, as perhaps illustrated by recent events in our towns and cities, which I can only describe as "social cohesion".
After all, there's more to life than logic.
My desire for something equivalent to a church has nothing to do with "socialising", as suggested by Welsh Cake, nor with "hobbies". In any case, if I wanted to socialise why not join a social club rather than the devious method of pretending an interest in pottery or whatever? That seems just as daft as taking up religion. But I don't give a fig about "socialising", if by that you mean standing around "chatting" and suchlike.
My desire for a church-like structure stems from the very fact that I have seen with my own experience that such a structure can be an extremely effective force for good. Yes yes, I know, religion does loads of bad stuff - but what I'm interested in is the good stuff. And it seems to me that most of the good stuff comes from the structure of the local church system.
You never see an atheist jumble sale. Why not? I bet loads of atheists go to church jumble sales. Wouldn't it be better to go to a atheist one, thereby not supporting a cause you disagree with?
Why do atheists feel it so necessary to come across as "cold hearted". There is no reason that I can see why an atheist can't be just as "spiritual", in a non-religious way, as anyone with religion. By "spiritual" I don't mean Oija or ghosts or whatever, I mean as in the "spirit" of something, eg a spirit of friendship, politeness, sincerity, etc. Yet all atheists ever seem to care about is cold logic. So as soon as anyone suggests there is perhaps more to life than physics, then you get booed off the stage.
Anyway, that's how it feels to me.
OK, I know it's probably soft, but I rather like the idea of occasional gatherings of like-minded people to say sing a song together (Lennon's "Imagine" say), someone perhaps reading out a set piece bit of Hume or whoever and then maybe some kind of general exchange of views and information, but not like a pub, but in a more kind of organised way. An assertion of community, in some way.
It seems to me that all sorts of good things could come out of such an organised srtucture. Particularly such as charitibale activity, mentoring and counseling of the kind I've already suggested, and quite possibly other things too. Above all, something that it seems to me to be very much lacking today, as perhaps illustrated by recent events in our towns and cities, which I can only describe as "social cohesion".
After all, there's more to life than logic.
