Stephen Fry on meeting God ...

No, no sermon!
I have never written one in my life anyway!

Again, not a 'being' but plenty of forces for evil in the world.

that was about 'the devil'

Yes GillT57. And I am not the only one.
It is hard to believe sometimes, that in some countries of the world, christianity is increasing.

Jings as a Christian, are you not supposed to accept that the Devil exists?

(As opposed to evil practices here and there.)

Not on this day and age surely!

Why is that hard to believe? It is increasing in mainly Thirld World countries I understand, of course.
What about the rise of Muslim fundamentalism? Is that harder or easier to believe?
I find it incredible that you have given no thought to the role played by disease in the world. How about famine? What about natural disasters?
Why do you have to "ask your minister"?? Don't you think things through for yourself or is that counter to your beliefs?
I feel this discussion could be taking place in the 17th century not the 21st!

I think what we think of as God is the forces for good in the world. The "devil" is the forces for evil. Up to the human race who wins out in the end.

That is ridiculously simplistic, but it does me ok.

soon feel free to PM me if you wish...

I wasn't thinking of SF disagreeing with my views when I said he preferred to be a clown. I was thinking of his propensity for poo and willy jokes. What a waste of talent!

Stephen Fry is being criticised for answering a question that was asked of him. What was he supposed to do - say "I'm not prepared to talk about that"? Had I been asked that question, I would have answered in a similar way to Fry - not to be deliberately contentious but to be honest about what I think.

I don't see why a person should be asked leading questions about their personal beliefs if an honest answer is seen as distasteful or some sort of deliberate provocation. In fact, it was the interviewer who being provocative.

"I think what we think of as God is the forces for good in the world. The "devil" is the forces for evil. Up to the human race who wins out in the end."

Not simplistic at all, Jings That is the deepest thought on the thread (possibly the deepest thought on all the threads on religion)

Someone who wants to bow down and worship what they call "God" and renounce what they call "the Devil" is doing exactly the same as someone who supports the forces of good and opposes the forces of evil.

There is no need to "convert" those who do not believe that there is no "God" in the religious sense, and no need to frighten people into believing so with tales of eternity in Hell.

Someone who makes poo and willy jokes does not mean they are incapable of giving an intellegent honest answer which Stephen Fry eloquently did when that question was put to him.

soon - I am truly amazed that as a practising christian it has taken until now for you to think about the question of evil in the world.

And yes, I do think that dividing people into their faiths and beliefs or non-belief is wholly unacceptable - we are simply fellow human beings. As long as people think in terms of religious or other divisions, slaughter in one form or another will continue.

Jings - I too subscribe to the idea that there are forces for good and forces for evil in the world and that we need to do our best to be on the side of the good. I just do not label them as god or devil, nor impose doctrines on them.

No-one understands why there is illness and evil in the world - no-one ever has. Various religions have their own myths and stories to try and explain this, just as they do to explain the start of the world/universe. But they are just that - human attempts to make sense of the world; not the words of a supreme being.

I'm not criticising him for saying what he did. That's what he believes and he knows his constituency. I am criticising him for complaining about all the evil things in the world and blaming something he doesn't even believe in when, like all of us, he can do something towards overcoming the evils. Put the blame where it belongs, Stephen! And he's in a position to do more than most. But he prefers to play the buffoon to a mainly over-indulgent audience.

Constituency?? Have I missed something?

Lilygran I'm not a fan of SF - find him a smug git to be honest but I thought he eloquently expressed what a lot of people like me think.

He was asked a question about the Pearly Gates and what he would say to God if he met him.

To be fair to non-believers you have to give us a chance to say what we feel without being accused of giving offence. Believers get more than their fair share of air-time and opportunities to influence all our daily lives.

Interesting river i'm not a fan of SF either.

I was brought up to accept all the traditional Christian beliefs, which I did, until recently. Earlier last year I began to explore non-theism, or atheism, and found I was very much in tune with what I found. Giving up my belief in the after-life was the most difficult, and I acknowledged the thought that if anything happened to any of my children, I would have to cling on to a belief that I would see them again, as the alternative would be unbearable.

At the time, I had no reason whatsoever to believe that this might be a possibility. My children were grown, active and healthy.

My daughter died three weeks ago of an auto-immune disease that attacked all her vital organs.

Rationally, I know there is no connection between her death and my struggle with belief. But if it's a coincidence, it's a very painful one.

Daisy nice to see you again.

I hope you're bearing-up since the death of your daughter and that life is not too grim for you right now

Are you back in the UK?

Mishap, I am not sure what gave you the idea that I have not given evil a thought until now. I have thought about it since I was a young child.

And cant get how not thinking about whether someone is a believer or not is possible. The world does it, does it not. Not to mention God.

Christians are very aware of where evil originates from. And so have people from thousands of years ago.

Daisy - I have been wondering how things are going with you at this difficult time.

Giving up a belief in the afterlife must be hard after so many years of belief. As an agnostic of many years, my belief is that the love that we share with our friends and family does not die when they they do - that it becomes an integral part of us and is part of our very being - and thus remains in us - and we pass it on to others in the way we interact with them - that is my concept of eternal life: the continuation of love given and received. That cannot die - it is a constant.

I am sure that all the love that you shared with your DD is for all time.

Lilygran. He was not blaming God for all the evils in the world. How could he when he doesn't believe God exists!

What he questioned was how is it possible for people to believe that their God whom they think created the world has no qualms about dishing out evil to his followers

He has already done more than you or I in raising awareness in two areas, mental health and homosexuality, at his own personal cost.

Regarding which carachters he chooses to play and to which audiences is of course only your opinion but one I disagree with.

Lilygran - SF was asked a hypothetical question and he responded appropriately to what he was asked. His only other alternative was to tell the interviewer it was a silly question - he chose not to do that and gave a voice to the many people concerned about suffering in the world.

He was not blaming god - he doesn't believe in god. He was entering into the hypothetical question he was asked and saying that if there were a god, these are the things that do not make sense to him (and many others) and that he would ask. He gave voice to the concerns of many people and did so with passion and eloquence.

If blame there is, where does it belong lilygran?

Daisy. Obviously I dont know for sure, but I dont think that there is any connection.