Christian Grans

Ana Was the thread on That Man Dawkins basically about atheism and didn't it attract many comments from Christians?

Golf, dieting and weight loss are not topics that permeate every level of secular society in the way that religion in general and Christianity in particular do in the UK. This is the famous comparing apples with oranges thing.

Funny how delighted I am that my thread about not having or wanting a bible in the house has got me talking about, erm, bible stories.

As an atheist I can only agree with that greatnan

Well...a simple question about other christian grans certainly got to you didn't it?

No...I am not pushing my faith to others, it was you non believers who suggested that.

We are all free to express our opinions have no problem with your opinions/views/beliefs but you all seem to have a problem with mine..interesting.

What happened to 'freedom of speech'. 'tolerance of others'...what good examples we are setting our grandchildren if we as adults cannot 'agree to disagree' with our peers...shame on you all

As there is no dedicated Christian forum and you are all convinced that i am wrong not much point in me posting again is there?

What did we suggest ElsieJoy? I am not at all sure that you have decribed your beliefs and I disagree in principle with the idea that any thread, whether religious, political or anything else, should be for the exclusive use of particular members of Gransnet.

Elsiejoy - if we had a thread dedicated to Christians, we would need one dedicated to all the other faiths, in the interest of fairness!
Just google 'Christian forums' and you will find plenty - Gransnet is not one of them, as it caters for all grandparents irrespective of their religious affiliation. Why would you expect special treatment?
Your post didn't 'get to us' - we are mostly quite used to debate about subjects that interest us, and as organised religion has such a large effect on public life we are naturally interested in it.

There is no way that people who believe in a god and people who don't can be expected to agree, but that does not mean that we do not accept the other side's right to hold any views they choose, no matter how much we disagree with them.

I feel you may have misinterpreted some of the posts - nobody has been personally critical of you.

But we don't practise exclusivity on Gransnet.Where would it end? a thread for Muslims, Scientologists, Buddhists, Lesbians, Anti- abortionists, ....no

Sorry, repetitive, but I think we all spluttered at once!

Grannylin - there is strength in numbers!

I refuse to nail my colours to any mast but just want to say same old, same old - don't you get fed up with repeating it all the time?

I get fed up with reading it all the time.

You don't have to read it, moved. Anyway, it's not the same old to the same people unless the same people choose it to be, if you see what I mean! There are thousands of members on gransnet, and new ones all the time who won't have read what you like to call the "same old". Your complaint about the "same old" is taking on the same old "same old" tag as what you're complaining about.

OED 1971 gives as one of the definitions of 'secular': 'Belonging to the world and its affairs as distinguished from the church and religion; civil, lay, temporal. Chiefly used as a negative term with the meaning non-ecclesiastical, non-religious or non-sacred'. I don't expect ElsieJoy intended to use it negatively but simply as a true description of the posts. It's quite common usage in my experience while the use as meaning specifically about the separation of faith and state is actually quite restricted.

I get fed up of reading all the complaints all the time.

Quits, then.

I think this is the first time that anyone has suggested that a thread should be established for the exclusive use of one group of members. Presumably this would involve not such much monitoring as strict enforcement – something else that is not characteristic of Gransnet. Far from the same old, same old and not something any of us has read until now.

Indeed, absent. Very pertinent and important points.

I came back to revise my last post. Actually, we're not quits, those of us who want to talk about atheism and related subjects and those who complain about us doing so. All the complainers are essentially saying is "Shut up". There is no actual substance about the subject in hand. And the shutups recurr on various threads which, it seems to me, the complainers only join to complain about. Maybe they just like complaining. I don't see the point of joining a thread you don't like otherwise..... except, of course, to say shutup.

Oh well. Takes all sorts, I suppose.

Ah, a rose by any other name................

But Bags, don't you see that if, in your last post, the word Christian was substituted for Atheist/Agnostic that is exactly what has happened here?

Ceesnan is anyone complaining about Christians wanting to talk about Christianity? (That is generally rather than on a protected thread.) Have any atheists or agnostics told Christians to shut up? Surely it is perfectly acceptable for atheists talk about Christianity, Tories to talk about Socialism, women to talk about men and so on.

I don't think anyone has ever complained about Christians posting anything they like. We atheists welcome the chance to debate about a subject that is so influential in all our lives, whether we want it to be or not.

ElsiJoy I do not think that anyone is of the opinion that you are pushing your christian views on others (or at least I do not read that in their threads, or in yours) - what I think is being said is that society does this via for instance school - some very relevant examples were given of how this happens. This is not healthy and is quite wrong in principle.

Religion (or faith as you wish us to say) is in a different league from golf, which as far as I know does not permeate society, does not deal in fundamentals and has caused no wars!

I am not anti-religion per se, only anti the problems and miseries it has caused and continues to cause.

My local church is entirely benign in its activities and principles and I have no problem with it - the same cannot be said for all churches and religions, and it is only to be expected that this is of concern to some posters. I know it is of concern to many people who do have a religious faith too.

These are interesting topics to debate, but it is important that people are able to do this without becoming offended or feeling they are being threatened.

Caught the end of an interesting programme OH recorded on creationists. Worth a look I think.

Mishap you have clarified what I was trying to say earlier on the other thread. We are all entitled to our views and many of us come to Gransnet for interesting debate. I want to hear the debate develop and be tested with questions and alternative suggestions. That doesn't make it personal attacks or rudeness, it demonstrates the strength of certain views and beliefs, which is fascinating. If anyone looking in perceives that in a negative light, that is their issue, not those who are debating. Perhaps they might take a look at why they continually let it bother them. It does get frustrating, when in the middle of an interesting discussion, to have someone come along and sabotage it with unfounded complaints.

Not suggesting a separate special thread for Christians! There is one titled 'Religion and Spirituality' and most of the posts on it, including the OPs are from atheists. Get your own thread! While threads meander and maunder, they usually start off relevant to the topic. Just look at some of the OPs!

Lilygran A thread entitled Health will also include – and, indeed, might find itself weighted in favour of – discussions about illness. The sick should get their own thread?