I thought the Church of England was spelled NHS?

This thread is further proof to me that religion (not god) is a pile of rubbish, not one word of the bible, koran, scriptures etc..... is directly written by God, just mans interpretation of how things should be at the time and various translations and ideas by other men throughout history!! Yet another excuse for man to fight and gain power!

But back to the original discussion, if someone belives that prayer works, then good. Who am I, or anyone else to tell them it doesnt!

Jo xxx

I'm pretty sure prayer has been tested - I'll see if I can find a linky.

Incidentally the ASA (Advertising Standards Authority) very recently told a Christian group to take down an advertisement about prayer on the grounds that there was no evidence that it worked. Tellingly, I believe the ad was taken down rather than any evidence provided.

All religion?

From most of my experience most (not all) Christians are CEOS. Christmas and Easter Only.

I attend church usually at least once a week (often visiting churches in the town I'm in when I'm not at home), and relatively frequently attend prayer meetings and other Christian functions, which are not necessarily held in church, during the week.

The people you refer to, I personally would say were purely nominal Christians, who have never really made a decision about it for themselves.

I made the statement not to belittle regular goers. But in the US, and probably many other countries attendance spikes hugely on those two events.

Name one that isnt

Budhism is peaceful, but it is more a lifestyle choice than a religion given that it lacks the characteristics of all other religions i.e. a set of rules, an omnipotent being etc etc

I dont blame religion for wars. Wars are usually fought over land or other assets. Religion usually is just a characteristic of the people fighting, or is used to help inspire the plebs to put their life on the line so that it becomes a "war of ideologies" in the minds of the people when actually it is nothing of the sort

Oh yes, it does in the UK too.

I'm a baptised catholic, but I'm convinced the entire organisation is a racket.

It's a business like any other: offers a product paid for by those who consume it, but it's a business exempt from taxation or even disclosure.

In Germany, they have Church tax. Full state complicity in the racket. €8.5 billion collected annually. Church makes money, State makes money. Everbody happy.

The hidden wealth of the catholic church

Who says religion isn't a good thing? Well, €8.5 billion in Germany alone is nothing to sneeze at. Happy happy happy.

I've spent my teenage years in central Scotland, which was a totally divided community, Protestants on one side, Catholics on the other, and bigots all around.

It was impossible to be neutral, because both sides would beat you up, so picking the religion of your father ('step' in my case) lessened the beating up by 50 percent.

But I fell in love with a Catholic girl and all hell broke loose. We had to leave for London.

My teenage years still haunt me, because I know the songs from both sides, they're steeped in my bones.

And we had the same God, so God knows how they expect peoples with different Gods to ever live peacefully together.

It's impossible.

Name me, without Googling (which I doubt very much) 10 religions. People always talk about religion and what they actually mean is Islam and Christianity and to a lesser degree Judaism. Thats what always annoys me, oh and Buddhism isn't a lifestyle choice, its a following of the teachings of Gautama Buddha and its comments like that, that show exactly what I am talking about... ignorance.

All religions are man made followings, clubs, groups... peaceful or otherwise. Most have rules that have changed throughout the course of history (think christianity and gays for example, 100 years ago they were the devils children. 1000 years ago they were throwing men to the lions...). I simply dont choose to believe in them or their followings. I used to belong to a church, but I decided that its all just a form of policing the population rather than following what their god wanted (who's ear was god whispering into to give direction???). To me, being a good human being, helping others, being honest, kind and friendly is enough! I dont need to go to a place of worship to carry out silly rituals that are decided by the hierarchy!

Jo xxx

You are still focusing on Christianity... All thumbs are fingers but not all fingers are thumbs.

I have another question. Do you think that you would have those morals of honesty, kindness, that sort of thing without religion? It was religion that brought these elements into our lives, before religions of any kind life wasn't as forgiving, thats the historical role religion played in our history.

Probably, cos I was brought up that way! Yes maybe I am focussing on christianity cos thats the main religion of the country I grew up in and apart from RE o-level, I havent experienced other religions. If I was brought up in a muslim country - well who knows!?? However, whichever, it stands to reason that no god has had any real imput into their beliefs cos I would imagine that he's got better things to do that worry about whether kids are christened, burkahs are worn, cows are sacred, prayers are held on Fridays and everyone points to mecca, gays are now good not evil......I suspect thats more to do with the way of life in particular countries. God wouldnt, I'm sure pop down to update his rules when it suits us


Jo xxx