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Do you ever go to church?

General socialising and light-hearted discussions take place in here.
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On what occasions are you prepared to set foot in a church? (Apart from as a tourist!)

Wouldn't set foot in one
17
10%
Would attend only for a ceremony (specify below)
71
43%
Would attend for a ceremony, memorial service or a carol service.
49
30%
Would attend a normal service.
29
17%
 
Total votes: 166

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Dave B
Posts: 17809
Joined: May 17th, 2010, 9:15 pm

Re: Do you ever go to church?

#341 Post by Dave B » October 31st, 2013, 2:51 pm

Latest post of the previous page:

draykorinee wrote:
Dave B wrote:I agree, if they have lived with faith and find it supportive in old age then they are entitled to continue in that state.

Now, perhaps how can we convince the evangelistic religionistas that pushing their rubbish at old Humanists (especially those with a dicky ticker) and thus annoying them is just as wrong. We deserve to be left in our sinful ignorance of "the Lord"!
They're only trying to save you! And what better time than on your deathbed.
Ah, was it Pascal who suggested changing to belief at the last moment - just in case?
"Look forward; yesterday was a lesson, if you did not learn from it you wasted it."
Me, 2015

Nick
Posts: 11027
Joined: July 4th, 2007, 10:10 am

Re: Do you ever go to church?

#342 Post by Nick » October 31st, 2013, 3:22 pm

Yes indeed, Pascal's Wager.

This clip of Christopher Hitchens is a great reposte to the idea of death-bed convertions.


(At least I think it is- I can't get any sound today!)

Nick
Posts: 11027
Joined: July 4th, 2007, 10:10 am

Re: Do you ever go to church?

#343 Post by Nick » November 1st, 2013, 6:29 pm

Yes it is! It's in the second part. :D

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Cam
Posts: 98
Joined: October 1st, 2013, 9:36 am

Re: Do you ever go to church?

#344 Post by Cam » November 7th, 2013, 11:56 am

I have never understood the validity of Pascal's Wager anyway. If you genuinely don't believe in god you can't just decide to 'just in case'. You can feign belief but that's something altogether different.

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draykorinee
Posts: 245
Joined: September 21st, 2013, 11:10 am

Re: Do you ever go to church?

#345 Post by draykorinee » November 7th, 2013, 8:47 pm

I went to 'atheist church' went to a sunday assembly, does that count. If anyone gets the chance to go, definitely worth having a look.
sanctimonious
ˌsaŋ(k)tɪˈməʊnɪəs/Submit
adjectivederogatory
1.
making a show of being morally superior to other people.

Kmath71
Posts: 18
Joined: January 27th, 2014, 1:39 pm

Re: Do you ever go to church?

#346 Post by Kmath71 » January 29th, 2014, 2:12 pm

Ah, I shouldn't have voted as I'd be a tourist! I have a friend who is fascinated by different culture, beliefs and rituals, as I am. Her main interest is metaphysics. Christianity doesn't fascinate me, I was raised in a Christian household, anyway, she (my friend) wants me to accompany her to a service, and I agreed I would, but I also asked her to accompany me to a Humanist meeting when one comes up, since I've never been to one.
And I'd rather play here, with all the madmen. For I'm quite content. They're all as sane as me

Gottard
Posts: 1306
Joined: October 3rd, 2008, 3:11 pm

Re: Do you ever go to church?

#347 Post by Gottard » January 31st, 2014, 9:21 am

Kmath71 wrote: she (my friend) wants me to accompany her to a service, and I agreed I would, but I also asked her to accompany me to a Humanist meeting when one comes up, since I've never been to one.
Good step Kmath71! Interested to know the outcome and your own reaction to the Humanist meeting, of course.
The only thing I fear of death is regret if I couldn’t complete my learning experience

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Alan H
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Re: Do you ever go to church?

#348 Post by Alan H » April 11th, 2014, 4:58 pm

I'm currently sitting a bar in Manchester with Nate Phelps talking about Sel... :-)
Alan Henness

There are three fundamental questions for anyone advocating Brexit:

1. What, precisely, are the significant and tangible benefits of leaving the EU?
2. What damage to the UK and its citizens is an acceptable price to pay for those benefits?
3. Which ruling of the ECJ is most persuasive of the need to leave its jurisdiction?

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Sel
Posts: 811
Joined: January 3rd, 2011, 3:53 pm

Re: Do you ever go to church?

#349 Post by Sel » April 11th, 2014, 9:11 pm

Is there a better topic!
Isn't Nate a great guy? Dud you hear his talk?
"The good life is one inspired by love and guided by knowledge." Bertrand Russell

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Alan H
Posts: 24067
Joined: July 3rd, 2007, 10:26 pm

Re: Do you ever go to church?

#350 Post by Alan H » April 12th, 2014, 8:18 am

He had nothing but good things to say about you! I think his talk is on Sunday.
Alan Henness

There are three fundamental questions for anyone advocating Brexit:

1. What, precisely, are the significant and tangible benefits of leaving the EU?
2. What damage to the UK and its citizens is an acceptable price to pay for those benefits?
3. Which ruling of the ECJ is most persuasive of the need to leave its jurisdiction?

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Sel
Posts: 811
Joined: January 3rd, 2011, 3:53 pm

Re: Do you ever go to church?

#351 Post by Sel » April 12th, 2014, 4:05 pm

Alan, I hope you get to listen to Nate speak. He is such a gentle soul.

How was it that you met him on Friday?
"The good life is one inspired by love and guided by knowledge." Bertrand Russell

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Alan H
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Re: Do you ever go to church?

#352 Post by Alan H » April 13th, 2014, 6:29 pm

We're at a conference, QED, in Manchester. Nate was the last speaker today and I met him in the bar on Friday night

He is a big man and has a big presence. But he was surprisingly soft-spoken, yet spoke with such power. He was listened to in absolute silence, punctuated only by restrained laughter at his occasional wry jokes. It was a highly charged and emotional and I'm sure we all felt privileged and honoured to be able to listen to what he had to say.

Very moving indeed.

One friend said he talked to Nate afterwards and said he walked away with tears in his eyes, realising he still had some unresolved issues from the religious phase of his life.
Alan Henness

There are three fundamental questions for anyone advocating Brexit:

1. What, precisely, are the significant and tangible benefits of leaving the EU?
2. What damage to the UK and its citizens is an acceptable price to pay for those benefits?
3. Which ruling of the ECJ is most persuasive of the need to leave its jurisdiction?

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Dave B
Posts: 17809
Joined: May 17th, 2010, 9:15 pm

Re: Do you ever go to church?

#353 Post by Dave B » April 13th, 2014, 7:53 pm

Well, one way or the other there must be some very unusual genes in the Phelps family.
"Look forward; yesterday was a lesson, if you did not learn from it you wasted it."
Me, 2015

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Sel
Posts: 811
Joined: January 3rd, 2011, 3:53 pm

Re: Do you ever go to church?

#354 Post by Sel » April 13th, 2014, 9:06 pm

Alan, I am glad you heard Nate's talk. His story is awe inspiring in its evidence of the resilience of the human spirit. His gentle demeanor and gigantic presence seem to contradict each other!
"The good life is one inspired by love and guided by knowledge." Bertrand Russell

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animist
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Joined: July 30th, 2010, 11:36 pm

Re: Do you ever go to church?

#355 Post by animist » April 14th, 2014, 9:35 am

amazing that he is the son of the late unlamented Fred Phelps!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nathan_Phelps

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Alan H
Posts: 24067
Joined: July 3rd, 2007, 10:26 pm

Re: Do you ever go to church?

#356 Post by Alan H » April 14th, 2014, 10:22 am

animist wrote:amazing that he is the son of the late unlamented Fred Phelps!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nathan_Phelps
Yes. He told us how he bought a car at 17 and on the evening before his 18th birthday (1982?) and his family had gone to bed, he packed up his car then stood in the hallway until the clock there ticked its way to midnight. The moment it got to midnight, he turned round and left.

His journey to that point had been long and harrowing and violent, mentally and physically; his life after that point eventually leading him to where he is now; Executive Director of Centre for Inquiry in Calgary, which is how Sel knows him.

He got a well-deserved standing ovation from the 500-strong audience.

You can read more about him on his website: http://natephelps.com/

More on those few minutes and seconds: http://natephelps.com/story
Alan Henness

There are three fundamental questions for anyone advocating Brexit:

1. What, precisely, are the significant and tangible benefits of leaving the EU?
2. What damage to the UK and its citizens is an acceptable price to pay for those benefits?
3. Which ruling of the ECJ is most persuasive of the need to leave its jurisdiction?

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Alan H
Posts: 24067
Joined: July 3rd, 2007, 10:26 pm

Re: Do you ever go to church?

#357 Post by Alan H » April 14th, 2014, 11:49 pm

Watch Nate's full talk here:

Alan Henness

There are three fundamental questions for anyone advocating Brexit:

1. What, precisely, are the significant and tangible benefits of leaving the EU?
2. What damage to the UK and its citizens is an acceptable price to pay for those benefits?
3. Which ruling of the ECJ is most persuasive of the need to leave its jurisdiction?

User avatar
Alan H
Posts: 24067
Joined: July 3rd, 2007, 10:26 pm

Re: Do you ever go to church?

#358 Post by Alan H » April 15th, 2014, 12:17 am

Apparently, that is the 'bootleg' version. A better quality version will be released soon...
Alan Henness

There are three fundamental questions for anyone advocating Brexit:

1. What, precisely, are the significant and tangible benefits of leaving the EU?
2. What damage to the UK and its citizens is an acceptable price to pay for those benefits?
3. Which ruling of the ECJ is most persuasive of the need to leave its jurisdiction?

User avatar
emmacwilliams
Posts: 17
Joined: April 20th, 2014, 7:50 am

Re: Do you ever go to church?

#359 Post by emmacwilliams » April 26th, 2014, 10:26 am

Never by real "choice", only for weddings and funerals. I have never been to a Christening, as I can't imagine anyone I know thinking I would want to go! I am fine with weddings and funerals, as people make their own choices and I don't mind if they are different from mine. I don't partake in the prayers although I don't mind a singsong; I went to a High Church school and was part of the choir and to be honest I'm often one of the only people who (a) knows the hymn and (b) isn't massively embarrassed by group singing, so I feel almost obliged! :)

Prayers, however, are a definite no, as are contributions to the church fund unless I am 100% sure it is going to the upkeep of the building; I don't mind the preservation of historical monuments, in fact I would miss them if they were no more.

The one time my husband and I felt really duped is when we went to what was billed as a "memorial service" for a family member; it was actually just a standard (and pretty full on) Catholic service, in which the deceased got a 5-second mention in the prayers at the end. Apparently, this is normal, but in or innocence we had no idea. We had to endure the promotion of the pro-life group (I can assure you that not one penny went into THAT collection from us, despite the very pointed stare that we got from the guy coming round with the bag!) My husband was furious as he had actually done a lot of soul-searching before attending; he didn't have the same upbringing as me and isn't used to attending services. The deceased was a member of his family and I said that I would support him either way - I was happy to support him in potentially upsetting his family by saying that he did not wish to attend a service, but I was also happy to sit through it if he felt we should go; I've sat through hundreds of similar services during my time at school, so one more wasn't going to make any difference! To be honest, what disappointed me the most was that there was no Latin (I'm a Latin teacher!) and no incense or sense of ritual, which is the only bit I was looking forward to, at least from the point of view of curiosity. The whole thing was horribly modern, with the priest wearing sandals and a Britney Spears portable mike. He even walked up and down the aisle, waving his arms! Yuk. The combination of Catholic doctrine and modern happy-clappy stuff was horrendous! :hilarity:
"Do not put yourself at the centre of the universe; everyone else is too busy imagining they are the centre of the universe to put you there." Raj Persaud, Staying Sane.

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Alan H
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Re: Do you ever go to church?

#360 Post by Alan H » June 16th, 2014, 10:01 pm

Not My Father's Son - Nate Phelps Documentary

This is a fundraiser to make the film that needs to be made.

267 backers, $12,819 pledged of $55,000 goal, 21 days to go
Alan Henness

There are three fundamental questions for anyone advocating Brexit:

1. What, precisely, are the significant and tangible benefits of leaving the EU?
2. What damage to the UK and its citizens is an acceptable price to pay for those benefits?
3. Which ruling of the ECJ is most persuasive of the need to leave its jurisdiction?

tom in napa
Posts: 35
Joined: June 20th, 2014, 11:05 pm

Re: Do you ever go to church?

#361 Post by tom in napa » August 4th, 2014, 6:44 pm

I live at a war veterans retirement home and each month in the on-grounds chapel there's a memorial service for resident who died the previous month. I last went to a memorial service about three years ago and heard a militarized chaplain say the deceased were going to a new commander.

Hearing those words all but sickened me because in the Catholic schools my dad had put his kids into, I had been told to live a similarly submissive life. I quit religion while in college. A few days after that service I happened to meet the Home's assistant administrator and asked him if there's a service for non-believers. He very properly replied "If you want one, make the arrangements."

I briefly thought about organizing the few out-of-the-closet non-believers and the many who don't attend chapel services. Knowing that doing so would require effort and few if any would respond, I decided there are more fun-filled ways to meet non-believers here. Also, because I won't care what happens after I die, I decided "Fuck it! Let some pandering or deluded chaplain say what he will."

Because in about a week, five guys I knew will be memorialized, I might attend a second memorial during my 18 years here.

About ten years ago for a few weeks, I was one of a small writers group who set up a few chairs in the rear of the chapel. We read and critiqued what we had written since we had last met, put the chairs away and left. Yeah, some of us used "colorful" language in what we wrote and in what we said while there. :hilarity:

BTFW, no taxpayer money has been spent on the chapel. Volunteers do most of the work, and because many residents have no heirs their estates have paid all costs.

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