So...why is it religions hate each other and atheists?

Having given the topic some serious consideration, I have no idea why the religious hate each other and the irreligious. And vice versa, of course.

Despite being collective worship coordinator at my secondary school, I am an athiest. Not proudly so, I might add - I just don't have faith in a deity or multiples thereof. Having said that, I have no issue with anyone who does. Harnessed in the right way, it can be an astonishing force for good.

I suspect the umbrella I would fall under is humanist, although I have never chosen a banner for myself. I believe in people: the family and friends around me; my students and colleagues; members of the human race in general.

The thing I object to is the evangelising fraternity who,when I politely reject their view of the universe, choose to label me as ... well, all sort of insulting and unfair nonsense. At this stage, please believe that I find Richard Dawkins as irritating as any ayalloah, church elder or priest.

Ultimately, if your religion fascilitates your ability to be a good, kind and humane person, brilliant. If you can be the same without a god, more power to your elbow.

So why can't we leave each other to get on with it?

Religions "hate" each other because each one believes itself to be the TRUTH. All the other religions are affronts to God.

Atheists "hate" religion because religion seeks to impose itself upon the rest of us whether we're willing or not.

In a word, Tribalism. Fear or mistrust of the stranger, and a natural preference for the company of people who share a common tenet.

Also you would expect an educator to know how the word atheist is spelled.

OW, you surprise me, highlighting a minor mistake. Thankfully I don't and I ignore most mistakes made by others. Like you Boudica I'm more of a humanist/atheist and can't understand how people allow their beliefs to control their actions to the point of insanity. By the by my daughter gained an A level at school in RS/Socialogy and she's happens to be an atheist also.

Boudica - spelling quibbles aside - a thoughtful and succinct post and one I can get right behind.

Tribalism and a reason to unify the group are the key cause I think, --- just to give the adherents that feeling of superiority that we all crave although most get that from good clear thinking and not the hate generated by religions.

Let me share a quote.

"Whoever imagines himself a favorite with God,
holds other people in contempt.
Whenever a man believes that he has the exact truth from God,
there is in that man no spirit of compromise.
He has not the modesty born of the imperfections of human nature;
he has the arrogance of theological certainty and the tyranny born of ignorant assurance.
Believing himself to be the slave of God,
he imitates his master,
and of all tyrants,
the worst is a slave in power."
--Robert Ingersoll

Regards
DL

In a word, Tribalism. Fear or mistrust of the stranger, and a natural preference for the company of people who share a common tenet.

Oh I think when one is discussing the nature of existence one has to propose a less vulgar explanation than mere tribalism, they are not football supporters.
I very much doubt atheists disapprove of the religious out of tribalism, and I simply do not see fear and distrust as a major cause of friction between a religious person and a humanist, perhaps you didn't give the content your full attention.( spell check syndrome).

However there is no doubt the religious object to other religions and atheism, but its a tad more highbrow than mere tribalism or natural preference. The human psyche creates a story with itself playing a significant role, and this significant story gives life meaning and purpose. An alternative story dilutes the truthfullness of their story and diminishes the significance of its author.

The friction is not out of fear of strangers but from the fear of insignificance, insignificance is low status and immortal stories provide hero status. In my opinion the religious mind is already doing mental contortions( faith) to accept their story, the last thing they need is more obstacles to their truth.

A perfect example is evolution, evolutionists are not a tribe, there is no biology tribe, and yet creationists such as polyglide and Texas attack science as if it were a rival philosophical tribe. And what are they defending ? The truthfullness of their story.

oftenwrong, please disregard the content of this post but check it for spelling, you may win a free anorak and a pseudo intellectual badge.

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<< Matthew 12:31 >>And so I tell you, every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven men, but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven.

Jesus obviously did not love atheists enough to forgive them.

Tosh, you do not understand God, God will forgive anyone who repents and is aware of their sins.

and is aware of their sins.

What if you suffer from Alzheimers and can't remember the last 5 years of sin before you die? Oops ... I bet there are thousands of people wandering around Hell who can't remember where they are.

Shirina, as usual you come up with nonsense.

God through Jesus showed great sympathy for the afflicted and will no doubt take all into consideration, it is those who realiase their sins and repent that he will forgive.

You do not read with any understanding and bring in that which is not there.

Shirina, as usual you come up with nonsense.

LOL! I was just being a bit cheeky with that question.

So serious all the time!

So serious all the time!

You are kidding, right ?

Its like debating with Mary Poppins after a lobotomy.

Tosh, Mary Poppins would beat you even in a game of push penny.

Tosh, Mary Poppins would beat you even in a game of push penny..

Yes dear, you are doing great, keep it up.

Tosh, you do not understand God, God will forgive anyone who repents and is aware of their sins..

Jesus said otherwise and you think he is God, how does that work ?

polyglide wrote:Tosh, you do not understand God, God will forgive anyone who repents and is aware of their sins.

Were A & E aware they were sinning when they ate of the tree of knowledge of good and evil?

I do not think so as they did not know what evil was beforehand. If sin or disobedience is evil, they could not know of it till after they ate and learned of evil.

Regards
DL

There are religeous borders, barriers, differences and divisions, but when religeons get faintly mixed up in politics too, it all gets very complicated, for example lets take the case of the leader of the Anglican family of Churches.

If you had to guess, what type of politics would a person with the following description subscribe to; his mother became lady williams of Elvel, he has other aristocratic relatives and is related to the late baron Butler ( former home secretary ), he never went to a state school, his early education was attained at Eton followed by Cambridge.

This man has had a career in high finance, big business and in particular the oil industry, he is described as "a traditionalist" and "strong on protecting traditional views".

Yes - the description could easily be a Conservative minister, but certainly a Conservative.

This is the description of the new Archbishop of Canterbury, who is appointed by the Primeminister, the Conservative Primeminister.

What an absolute joke

Anyone who loathes themselves with such an intensity can't be all bad.

Anyone who loathes themselves with such an intensity can't be all bad..

You are not bad at all, just pretentious.

Well witchy a little bit of misinformation can convince the left footers of anything.


Why Old Etonian Justin Welby is good news for the CofE
1 Comment Freddy Gray 8 November 2012 13:11
New Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby. Picture: PA

New Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby. Picture: PA

So, another Old Etonian at the apex of the British establishment: Justin Welby, the Bishop of Durham, will be the next Archbishop of Canterbury. It’s sweet, in a way. All we need now is an OE named as Bank of England Governor, and David Cameron’s alma mater will have the complete power set.

But it would be wrong to be too chippy about Welby’s elevation. Representatives at Number 10 actually pushed for John Sentamu, the charismatic conservative African, who had the blessing of, among others, Rod Liddle. But they got Welby instead. And why not? He seems a worthy enough choice, regardless of his ‘lack of experience’ as a bishop – he’s a former oil executive who saw the light. He’s also, as Damian Thompson notes, a former worshipper at Holy Trinity, Brompton, the evangelical church in Knightsbridge (ahem), and home of the Alpha Course.

Alpha is widely mocked as a dating circle for privileged evangelicals, but it is more than that. It is one of the few vibrant operations in the Church of England, one which specialises in taking over failing parishes and bringing them to life. If Welby can bring some of the dynamism of Holy Trinity Brompton to Lambeth Palace, then the future of the Church of England might be looking up.

Read on http://blogs.spectator.co.uk/coffeehouse/2012/11/why-old-etonian-justin-welby-could-be-good-news-for-the-cofe/

Talk to the organ-grinder and up pops the monkey!

Never fails.

Yep, nothing changes.

Never fails..

You do a very good impersonation.

I didn't get where I am today by discussing thread content.

I hate the use of the word 'yep' - there's a perfectly good English word that means the same

Tosh, just where are you, bodily on earth, mentally ?????.

Sorry Tosh, just could not help myself.

Tosh, just where are you, bodily on earth, mentally ?????.

Is this in code ?

I just cannot take you seriously.

Tosh, you do not understand God, God will forgive anyone who repents and is aware of their sins.

I find this the most arrogant of statements. Poly, who cannot understand simple concepts in science, pretends to understand God? An entity she believes to be omniscient, omnipotent, omnipresent. And can categorically state that others do NOT understand God. Beggars belief really.

God does not forgive anyone who repents.

1 Samuel 15
God Commands Amalekite Genocide
15:1 Samuel also said unto Saul, The LORD sent me to anoint thee to be king over his people, over Israel: now therefore hearken thou unto the voice of the words of the LORD.
15:2 Thus saith the LORD of hosts, I remember that which Amalek did to Israel, how he laid wait for him in the way, when he came up from Egypt.
(15:2-3) "Thus saith the LORD of hosts ... slay both man and woman, infant and suckling, ox and sheep, camel and ass."
God orders Saul to kill all of the Amalekites: men, women, infants, sucklings, ox, sheep, camels, and asses. Why? Because God remembers what Amalek did hundreds of years ago.

15:3 Now go and smite Amalek, and utterly destroy all that they have, and spare them not; but slay both man and woman, infant and suckling, ox and sheep, camel and ass.
15:4 And Saul gathered the people together, and numbered them in Telaim, two hundred thousand footmen, and ten thousand men of Judah.
15:5 And Saul came to a city of Amalek, and laid wait in the valley.
15:6 And Saul said unto the Kenites, Go, depart, get you down from among the Amalekites, lest I destroy you with them: for ye shewed kindness to all the children of Israel, when they came up out of Egypt. So the Kenites departed from among the Amalekites.
15:7 And Saul smote the Amalekites from Havilah until thou comest to Shur, that is over against Egypt. (15:7-26)
"Saul ... destroyed all the people with the edge of the sword."
Saul killed everyone but Agag (the king) and the best of the animals. But still God was furious with Saul for not killing everything as he had been told to do. He said, "it repenteth me that I have set Saul up to be king."
Did Saul and Samuel kill all the Amalekites?
15:8 And he took Agag the king of the Amalekites alive, and utterly destroyed all the people with the edge of the sword.
15:9 But Saul and the people spared Agag, and the best of the sheep, and of the oxen, and of the fatlings, and the lambs, and all that was good, and would not utterly destroy them: but every thing that was vile and refuse, that they destroyed utterly.
15:10 Then came the word of the LORD unto Samuel, saying,
15:11 It repenteth me that I have set up Saul to be king: for he is turned back from following me, and hath not performed my commandments. And it grieved Samuel; and he cried unto the LORD all night.
15:12 And when Samuel rose early to meet Saul in the morning, it was told Samuel, saying, Saul came to Carmel, and, behold, he set him up a place, and is gone about, and passed on, and gone down to Gilgal. Saul Rejected for Incomplete Genocide
15:13 And Samuel came to Saul: and Saul said unto him, Blessed be thou of the LORD: I have performed the commandment of the LORD.
15:14 And Samuel said, What meaneth then this bleating of the sheep in mine ears, and the lowing of the oxen which I hear?
15:15 And Saul said, They have brought them from the Amalekites: for the people spared the best of the sheep and of the oxen, to sacrifice unto the LORD thy God; and the rest we have utterly destroyed.
15:16 Then Samuel said unto Saul, Stay, and I will tell thee what the LORD hath said to me this night. And he said unto him, Say on.
15:17 And Samuel said, When thou wast little in thine own sight, wast thou not made the head of the tribes of Israel, and the LORD anointed thee king over Israel?
15:18 And the LORD sent thee on a journey, and said, Go and utterly destroy the sinners the Amalekites, and fight against them until they be consumed. (15:18-19)
"The LORD sent thee on a journey, and said, Go and utterly destroy the sinners the Amalekites."

15:19 Wherefore then didst thou not obey the voice of the LORD, but didst fly upon the spoil, and didst evil in the sight of the LORD?
15:20 And Saul said unto Samuel, Yea, I have obeyed the voice of the LORD, and have gone the way which the LORD sent me, and have brought Agag the king of Amalek, and have utterly destroyed the Amalekites.
15:21 But the people took of the spoil, sheep and oxen, the chief of the things which should have been utterly destroyed, to sacrifice unto the LORD thy God in Gilgal.
15:22 And Samuel said, Hath the LORD as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the LORD? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams.
15:23 For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry. Because thou hast rejected the word of the LORD, he hath also rejected thee from being king. (15:23-26)
"Because thou hast rejected the word of the LORD, he hath also rejected thee from being king."

15:24 And Saul said unto Samuel, I have sinned: for I have transgressed the commandment of the LORD, and thy words: because I feared the people, and obeyed their voice.
15:25 Now therefore, I pray thee, pardon my sin, and turn again with me, that I may worship the LORD.
15:26 And Samuel said unto Saul, I will not return with thee: for thou hast rejected the word of the LORD, and the LORD hath rejected thee from being king over Israel.
15:27 And as Samuel turned about to go away, he laid hold upon the skirt of his mantle, and it rent. (15:27) "Samuel ... laid hold upon the skirt of his mantle, and it rent."

15:28 And Samuel said unto him, The LORD hath rent the kingdom of Israel from thee this day, and hath given it to a neighbour of thine, that is better than thou.
15:29 And also the Strength of Israel will not lie nor repent: for he is not a man, that he should repent. (15:29) "The Strength of Israel will not lie nor repent: for he is not a man, that he should repent."

15:30 Then he said, I have sinned: yet honour me now, I pray thee, before the elders of my people, and before Israel, and turn again with me, that I may worship the LORD thy God.
15:31 So Samuel turned again after Saul; and Saul worshipped the LORD. (15:32-34)
"Samuel hewed Agag in pieces before the LORD."

(15:35)
"Samuel came no more to see Saul until the day of his death."
When was the last time that Samuel saw Saul?
15:32 Then said Samuel, Bring ye hither to me Agag the king of the Amalekites. And Agag came unto him delicately. And Agag said, Surely the bitterness of death is past.
15:33 And Samuel said, As the sword hath made women childless, so shall thy mother be childless among women. And Samuel hewed Agag in pieces before the LORD in Gilgal.
15:34 Then Samuel went to Ramah; and Saul went up to his house to Gibeah of Saul.
15:35 And Samuel came no more to see Saul until the day of his death: nevertheless Samuel mourned for Saul: and the LORD repented that he had made Saul king over Israel


Sorry, poly, but if you understand this God you need help. Seriously.

Beggars often do not believe anything.

I have said on sevaral occasions I am not bothered about anything prior to the birth of Jesus, that is what my faith is based on.

Quoting old stories etc; written by man, is a waste of time as far as I am concerned, several men can see an action and you can have several entirely different stories covering the same event.

It depends on what some wish to get out of their explanations.

I have said on sevaral occasions I am not bothered about anything prior to the birth of Jesus, that is what my faith is based on.

Evolution bothers you, did it start with Jesus ?

Did the universe begin in 4 bce?

You are all over the place, a good troll is if nothing else consistent.

Evolution bothers you, did it start with Jesus ?

I guess you're not up on the latest Creationist news. Why yes, according to people like Polyglide, God created the entire Roman Empire out of dirt and poofed it into existence pre-formed complete with buildings, colisseums, their own mythology, and their own history.

D W Griffith repeated that trick in his film, "Birth of a Nation".

D W Griffith repeated that trick in his film, "Birth of a Nation"..

I didn't get where I am today without quoting D W Griffith.

Sorry, it might have been two other people endlessly repeating themselves.

It's darn sight better than endlessly repeating other people for lack of an original thought of your own.

Sorry, it might have been two other people endlessly repeating themselves..

True, polyglide and Texas are hardly inspiring debaters.

You need common sense and the powers of reasoning to appreciate the difference between intelligent debate and idiotic comments and sady, sadly, sadly, you are adept at the silly comments but devoid of the others.