Not sure what that is, but no its not how Alpha goes at all. The Y course is less well known but tackles all the basic questions in a more down to earth kind of way.
The lot I knew were a weird fucking bunch. Put me off religion altogether. One of my mates’ missus’ was part of the church at some point, again, snared at a point at which she was low.
The money shot is what they call an encounter. This involves being spirited away to some outward bounds centre, being kept in silence for around 24 hours, before finally confessing your sins to a load of people. They also scream a demon out and speak in tongues.
Anyway, my mate’s wife is lippy. Didn’t play along with all the shite. They dropped her like a sack of shit and forbade anyone in the church from talking to her.
I knew all this before they ever tried to recruit me (again, shit sitch - we’d just returned from a nightmare of a family holiday and a beloved pet had died ). Safe to say it didn’t go well for them.
For me I beleive in god but not in any of the standard religions, and do not beleive in the institutionalisation of religion as that’s when wars start.
Other than that i think all religions are a good thing as they all teach you to respect and look after your fellow man/woman.
Unless of course, they define their fellow man as a fellow believer. That happens a lot.
CofE, should have been a Catholic due to heritage, I would love to have faith and in that statement says it all.
It a load of controlling bollocks, if there is a God why is life for the vast majority so deeply unfair, God is a fashion and one that is dying out, we will laugh at ourselves in 5000 years time saying what were they doing? Did they think it would stop them getting cancers or keeping them safe?
It’s only controlling if you let it be though? I think you have a very negative view on something that does so much good for the vast majority of people.
By telling them a lie? It gives comfort when its the only hope, that is our collective fault as people, of course it is controlling, for a start you have to adhere to rules stated by the denomination if you take a pick and mix approach then you are n’t really playing the game, most do that to be fair.
My first fiance was a devout church goer (before we met) with an evangeiical denomination and basically it boils down how much you can put in a month, Jesus saves the weak,dying, skint and desperate.Don’t get me wrong the faithful are a superb wondeful kind people but that doesn’t alter the fact they are supporting thin air. We split up and now she is married and back in the church, nice girl as well.
And don’t get me started about Muhammed flying on a winged horse to heaven.
Let it give comfort about the unknowing,but when you’re asleep is what its like when you’re dead the end.
Given some of the dreams I have had recently, bring on the after-life!!!
Why do you believe in such a God, what evidence do you have?
Why do you need religion to “teach you to respect and look after your fellow man/woman”?
I think you’d also stuggle to justify the statement that all religions teach you that. Christianity and Islam certainly don’t unless you cherry pick from them by ignoring the inconvientiant bad bits (and there is a lot of them!).
I agree in some senses but the stretngth of faith and absolute belief in something withut proof irrespective of what it is is to me enviable,to die for a covinction is one thing but to die for something that you won’t know until you’re dead is quite something else, desperate people have it or demand it but it when you have everything yet only want God, well thats delightful, I could never have it but what a life it would be.
Faith is the excuse people give when they don’t have good evidence. It is not a rational way to live.
I agree in some senses but the stretngth of fiath and absolute belief in something withut proof irrespective of what it is is to me enviable,to die for a covinction is one thing but to die for something that you won’t know until you’re dead is quite something else, desperate people have it or demand it but it when you have everything yet only want God, well thats delightful, I could never have it but what a life it would be.
I think its depressing people would live their lives with something they have no good evidence for at the core of everything they do. Living on faith has stunted mankind, rational thought and evidence is how we progress, not manmade bronze age myths.
If you don’t know the answer to a question, the intellectually honest thing to do is admit you don’t know.
The cop out is to answer one question with “God did it”. That isn’t an answer, it is the “God of the gaps” in knowledge and answering one question with something that creates many new questions.
That kind of thinking stunts human progress. If you fill in the gap with “God did it” i it stops you following the evidence to an actual answer. What religious people do is have a preexisiting answer (God did it) and try to shoehorn the evidence to fit no matter how much it doesn’t.
I agree but to me it is not the God it is the faith, the faith that drives and holds people good or bad, mainly in the bad unfortunately. Faiths should be questioned on their position at every turn, why shouldn’t they be, someone’s faith shouldn’t per se but the institution they hold dear should.
We have had our enlightenment 300 years ago, by this timescale the Muslims have another 300 to go to catch up, Jesus wept, well he would cry if he could…
With the Crusader comments that come to the fore, that’s more likely to be 1000 years.
Used to go to Sunday School - it was known as Crusaders and yes, the emblem was that very same red cross on a shield shaped white background - seems history takes a long time to fade
(bizarrely the young’uns were known as Cru’ettes ffs)
Why do you believe in such a God, what evidence do you have?
I don’t have evidence for any of the things I believe either tbh. Not really, not when it comes down to it. I believe i.e that earth goes round sun, but if you asked me to show my workings, I’d be struggling like fuck.
…also interestingly, I believe the Christian faith originally had very much the same outlook/beliefs/restrictions as does modern day Mohameddism (sp?) - for example, no profit to be gained from lending money, which facility the Jews were able to fill but which then worked against them as they were seen to be making that profit out of ‘misfortunates’.
