Excellent essay

You could always just email HQ from your usual email prog, ana. [email protected], I think.

Oh.

I didn't.

Ooh! I wonder how I managed to underline that!?

The Jesus and Mo take on Sacks' article

I'm not doing it. #headdown

Anyway, I can't make my request because when I clicked on Contact Gransnet a message came up saying 'the default mail client is not properly installed'!! So someone else will have to do it...if they want.

Quite happy with meditation in the 'spirituality' section.

I did suggest a philosphy forum, further up on this thread. I think that on balance I'd put meditation (which I also practise!) under that heading, as although it can be linked to religion that's by no means always the case.

I will put in a request to GNHQ.

I'm not sure putting atheism in a differently titled forum would help lily though. I've a feeling she'd fox out my atheist posts and mention socks rudely again.

soop mentioned socks too today, and gave me some old ones to recycle into temari.

petallus, I haven't said I was hurt or insulted because I wasn't. I just said I thought lily telling me to put a sock in it was rude, which it is. She doesn't need to read this thread. She could see I started it. She knows what to expect. She just doesn't want me to speak about atheism.

I'm not sure lily could hurt or insult me. She can be rude but she she can be rude to just anyone. I guess I will just have to ignore her.

Actually, the essay is more about reasoning than anything. The subject happens to be religion/atheism but it could have been something else.

I was going to suggest that people who don't think atheism belongs with religion and spirituality should ask for a different forum for it, such as philosophy, or atheism/agnosticism, or the range of views from faith to non-faith. At the moment there isn't an alternative.

soop and I, both atheists, were talking about meditation today and how we do it. Some people would put that under the spiritualism heading.

Me too.

Agree entirely.

I didn't think my post was particularly rude and I'm astonished that anyone who expresses herself as robustly as Bags took exception to it. And I would suggest that it is not up to other Gransnetters to rebuke me, or anyone else, for what is perceived as rudeness. I think constantly banging on about the absurdity of faith is unkind in the extreme when it has been pointed out, over and over, that people find it upsetting. But it isn't PERSONALLY rude or unkind so it doesn't count!

Incidentally, I have not read the thread in the OP.

I've done this kind of thing to death, twice, in the last twenty years and now can't be bothered.

Mmmm, none of those things mollie.

For me it's simply the absence of a belief in God.

Petallus: would you describe atheism as a religion? Or a philosophy? Or something else perhaps?

Being an atheist these days is quite chic.

Atheism is thriving, it doesn't need standing up for.

when I stand by my remark which I felt needed saying. I expected Bags not to feel wounded by it. Anyway, she has not complained.

I think there should be a separate forum for outright atheism. It is ridiculous to include it with religion and spirituality.

It would be ok to come on here to say something to do with spirituality, but not religion. But to always to come on just to knock others' religious beliefs is unkind.

'Soullessness' meaning lack of capacity for deep feelings and humanity? Is that how atheists are perceived? Well I never!

The first one, just to be clear.

I reckon that if a post appears rude to people other than the person it was aimed at then it is rude. I was quite tacken aback by the rudeness of your post Lilygran

I like the idea of a section called 'Soulessness', Stansgran. Bags has said that Gransnet is her forum for displaying her support for atheism and it seems quite wrong that she should choose to do so in a section titled 'Religion and Spirituality'. She obviously goes looking for journalism etc which supports her views. Why?

I'm with Stansgran. I thought this was a section about religion and spirituality but I seem to keep finding anti-religion and anti-spirituality posts. Perhaps we do need an alternative section if only to stop the aggressive posting that fills this slot. Seems to me this is the only subject where the non-supporters are so dominant... If we had a vegetarian slot would meat eaters be so vocal?

Go for the jugular, why don't you, Petallus?

It's quite depressing to see debate dragged down - my perception, and I take responsibility for it!