State Religion

[KimberleyChris]

IIRC that's what the Bible (Jesus) tells them to do.

Nope...Jesus was only talking to his fellow Jews.

Matt. 10:5 "Go not into the way of the Gentiles"

Matt. 15:24 "I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel"

It was Paul of Tarsus (who largely 'invented' Christianity, despite never having met Jesus in his lifetime, but only in a convenient vision) who inflicted it on us :-)

[KimberleyChris]

Anyway, enough.

It always amuses me how so many so-called Christians appear to know hardly anything about Christianity.

Most of them have just had 'soundbites' of the New Testament read out to them in Church or at school.

I am not a Christian, and I believe that God (if he exists at all) is pretty lousy at his job.

But at least I have actually read the book before I tossed it aside.

So how can Christians rail against (as they see it) the 'de-Christianisation' of Britain, when they seem to know next-to-nothing about the religion that they advocate as a model of life for the rest of us?

[norrahe]

Even older. People forget that it was not the British who conquered Ireland...it was the Normans.

A cynic might say that the current situation in Ireland is actually "Ireland's Scottish Problem".

A matter of semantics, they could do, but the Scottish "problem" goes back further, consult your Tacitus.

[EternalOptimist]

At least Jesus didnt believe in CAGW. thats big plus in my honest opinion.

Admittedly his dad did raise global sea levels for forty days and forty nights, but that was because he didnt like what people were getting up to in the bedroom, not because of some trace gas.

I think people who have firms views on Sodomy are much more trustworthy than people who spend their time looking at computer models.

[Spacecadet]

Why are so many of the religious incapable of grasping the distinction between having the freedom to practice their faith and forcing it upon others?

It's not just the religious, it's all inconsiderate people.. as someone who's not interested in football I do resent how it gets literally shoved down my throat. And then comments like "You have to watch it, it's the world cup" just make me want to punch whatever idiot that spoke it in the face.

[KimberleyChris]

A matter of semantics, they could do, but the Scottish "problem" goes back further, consult your Tacitus.

Indeed Sir.
I was actually making an oblique sideswipe at the disciples of the loveable Mr Knox, who have managed to keep sectarianism alive and kicking in Scotland and Ulster, when it has been almost unheard of in the (largely CofE/CofI) remainder of the British Isles for the best part of a century now :-)

[shaunbhoy]

Indeed Sir.
I was actually making an oblique sideswipe at the disciples of the loveable Mr Knox, who have managed to keep sectarianism alive and kicking in Scotland and Ulster, when it has been almost unheard of in the (largely CofE/CofI) remainder of the British Isles for the best part of a century now :-)

[NotAllThere]

Why replace it with anything? State and religion should not mix.

Aha! Another yank in our midst.

Yep, let's all live according to the Bible:

"Happy and Blessed Are Those Who Dash Children Against Rocks"

How many of those who advocate religion have actually read the bible?

And how many of those who quote the bible have bothered to read it in context and understand the historical background?

The verse comes from Psalm 137. The context is:

7 Remember, LORD, what the Edomites did
on the day Jerusalem fell.
“Tear it down,” they cried,
“tear it down to its foundations!”
8 Daughter Babylon, doomed to destruction,
happy is the one who repays you
according to what you have done to us.
9 Happy is the one who seizes your infants
and dashes them against the rocks.

Now, when Jerusalem was sacked, the Babylonians killed the Judean's children in the aforesaid manner. The Edomites thought this was great, and cheered it on. This was rather a betrayal, as the Edomites and Jews were related. In this Psalm the Jews are crying out for vengeance, saying that what the Edomites found so amusing is going to happen to them. As in "wait until it happens to you".

The fact that this psalm is in the bible does not mean that feelings of vengeance are validated, or that this is the way that you should react. It's certainly how many people would react though. And that's the point: the psalms reflect the full gamut of real human experience and emotion.

[BrilloPad]

It always amuses me how so many so-called Christians appear to know hardly anything about Christianity.

As a church goer I would rather that people displayed a christian attitude than knew about the bible.

Of course there are some (well alot) of church goers who don't take a christian attitude.

My point is that this is a Christian country and that adds alot to the nominal standards of the country. Before replacing it I would like to think we are going to replace it for something better.

[NotAllThere]

A letter in the Times today points out that during the 20th century, much of the social work of the Church was taken over by government. Now that the government can't afford it, it's asking the church to pick up these things again. I wait with baited breath for the national secular society, or the British humanist association, to rush in to fill the void. Here would be a great opportunity to show how outmoded all that religion is; how it simply isn't needed.

BHA soup kitchens, hostels... yep, I can see it all now.