How old do you have to be to have religion? [Title edited by GNHQ at OP's request]

Old enough to know we may be rational in some ways but not all. There is a place for mystery and admitting we cannot deal alone with all life's challenges. Went to a non-religious (don't know what to call it) - pre-cremation gathering yesterday. My husband's childhood best friend, so a very sad occasion for us. Although it was lovely to celebrate his life and achievements, there was no place for acknowledging that a very sad thing had happened and we suffer hurt. - A religious ceremony would have helped us deal with the communal loss.

God doesn’t exist. It isn’t real.

But I accept that you think (know) it is real, and if it is something that you think is vital to your life than fine.

GrammyGrammy

Whitewavemark2

Hell and damnation😄😄. We seem to be back in the medieval period.

God didn't get with the programme, nor is he woke, Marxist, politically correct or any other corrupt reflection of the times we are in today. He is the same as he always was. The plan for the history and future of our planet remains the same. The Judgment Day is on its way and there's a choice of two destinations, as there always was- with God for ever or away from god forever (the place you'll go gets decided upon your choice now to reject or accept his Son, Jesus). It is the same as it was in Medieval times- the choice is the same. This stuff is real you know. More real than the spiritual delusions most are living in currently. Your response to the love of God, shown in Jesus dying on the cross for you, is vitally important. More important than anything else you'll ever consider. Choose Life.

Grammy, you choose yours- as you are toally entitled. Wonderful.

I shall choose mine, thanks.

Sadly, at the time, dying on the cross was very common. And since then 1000s and 1000s have been burnt, disemboweled, torn apart bit by bit, and worse, in the name of religion.

Yeah Christians are still persecuted and killed for their faith. Christians now make up only approximately 5% of the Middle Eastern population, down from 20% in the early 20th century. A bit of a genocide which goes unreported. In the UK Christians are arrested for preaching in the street, even for silently praying in the street. Christians are suspended from their jobs for expressing biblical views and vicars are sacked for speaking of what the bible says. It's getting hard to be a Christian in the UK. The Churches are largely not being true churches and are being a fake and wholly false version of Christianity. People have discussions on the BBC about if a Christian is even fit for a leadership role. Muslim or Hindu or Pagan or Atheist? Great stuff! Christian? Not really. When leadership roles become barred, any role at all becomes at risk. Well, it's all in the bible....and for Christians it's not going to get prettier in the short term. You need to count the cost, for sure.

Christians are totally fine in Leadership roles, same as those from other religions. As long as they keep their religion private and don't insist on imposing it on others.

And of course, Churches have always wanted to be 'the one true Church' and say that others are not!

Which is your Church GrammyGrammy? and why is it more 'true' than others?

Surely ita the parents choice ? Thats all there is to it.We often have the discussion about private schools and some folk are horrified that they could be taken away ,so Varian do you believe that only wealthy parents are able to decide the education their children have? Are we the ordinary folk unable to choose the little choices we have one being what type of school our kids attend in accoordance with our beliefs.
I may have been raised a catholic and brought my kids up in the CH of Scotland but I dont have a religion in fact I believe religions cause more wars than almost anything else.BUT I do think a lot of people gain from the structures of a faith led school .In ways they might not get at home

Fleurpepper

Christians are totally fine in Leadership roles, same as those from other religions. As long as they keep their religion private and don't insist on imposing it on others.

And of course, Churches have always wanted to be 'the one true Church' and say that others are not!

Which is your Church GrammyGrammy? and why is it more 'true' than others?

Just THE Church, The Body of Christ. I'm Protestant but beyond that have no denomination, nor congregation nowadays. The True Church is the one that is true to the gospel of good news of repentance from sins and salvation through faith in Jesus Christ as passed down by his disciples. There are thousands of cult churches out there and endless twisty distortions. I'm not selling you anything here except the true gospel of salvation (no charge though- Jesus paid the price in full for you)
It's amazing that you say we are allowed leadership roles AS LONG AS....that's so nice of you...as long as we pretend we are godless like the rest of you....how nice. In this Judeo/ Christian country that has gone pagan and atheistic and embraced witchcraft, the occult and endless false gods, Christians are now allowed to lead and exist (thankyou so much) as long as we don't say our views. Everyone else can though of course. Such fun, eh!

Paddyann, apparently 'religions cause more wars than almost anything else' is untrue. It's atheists who have done the most carnage I understand.

"Have religion" is a queer expression and I don't know what it means here on Gransnet. I thought that to "have religion" means to be obsessed with some religious myth.

... as long as- yes, it has to be. How would you feel if political leaders of the faiths you say are not 'true' or those from faiths you seem to be afraid of, like Islam, imposed their onw religions on our institutions?

Truth is so subjective. Did you watch the James O'Brien link I posted. Do you believe the Old Testament tells the Truth, or not? Do you agree that Christians can pick and choose the bits they want from the Bible, and ignore the ones they don't like?

GrammyGrammy

Paddyann, apparently 'religions cause more wars than almost anything else' is untrue. It's atheists who have done the most carnage I understand.

Wow what a competition. Links, proof, please.

Fleurpepper

GrammyGrammy

Paddyann, apparently 'religions cause more wars than almost anything else' is untrue. It's atheists who have done the most carnage I understand.

Wow what a competition. Links, proof, please.

Religion has been the cause of a mere 7% of all wars, accounting for 2% of the deaths caused by war.

www.linkedin.com/pulse/religion-responsible-most-wars-deaths-history-nicholas-pino

But what is religion? Is it believing what priests or a holy book tell you what to believe?

I feel the one thing many feel in a very secular age, is a distaste for proselytizing religions (not sure if that's the right spelling) People arrive at what they believe or don't believe over a lifetime and that should be respected.

I very much turned my back on catholicism when I started to realise in my teens that history and religion at my school was taught through the prism of the catholic church being a righteous body that was sinned against after The Reformation. What was withheld from us in that biased viewpoint was the horrendous crimes they committed in the name of religion. When I discovered for myself through reading about The Spanish Inquisition for example that just about nailed it for me in my decision to not be part of what I perceived to be a thoroughly despicable and appalling entity. Later on I realised such a powerful institution was just another way of controlling the masses through fear.

Nowadays, me and my husband have a similar outlook, he was baptised CofE went to a Methodist church on and off in his youth, I don't really know what denomination he is and neither does he, but we both would loosely describe ourselves as Christian believing in an omnipresent being. For me that I suspect is a vestige of years of brainwashing with some hope in there too, especially about Jesus being the son of God. Although, unlike my parents I just don't have that blind faith and to quote Brittany Spears "give me a sign" some may have that innate feeling that they have had such an experience but I never have in all my years in and out of church, so half of me believes we expire into the ether just a nothingness and the other half of me hopes there is something beyond this life. I wouldn't rule out what some other faiths believe in that we are reborn or reincarnated. So I'm just open to different scenarios and I'd like to think real wickedness gets dealt with by God in whatever form he/she/they may take.

No, it's not. its our own relationship with that which we perceive to be a spiritual part in our lives. We may read or draw upon the many spiritual texts around us, from a variety of cultures, in an ever changing world. Also poetry, and music, and the love and compassion of others.

We make our own minds up.

I have long thought that those seeking the spiritual in life are all round a big mountain, and are looking up and around at the peak, from different places, and it serves us well to listen to those other people round the other side of mountain.

Wyllow3

I have long thought that those seeking the spiritual in life are all round a big mountain, and are looking up and around at the peak, from different places, and it serves us well to listen to those other people round the other side of mountain.

That is a really lovely picture. However. God Almighty himself communicated the reality directly to his chosen people- The Jews. So we don't need to guess and talk to endless seekers about this and that and what ifs. We heard it from the big man himself. His people hold the truths he gave them. Then with Jesus coming as a human baby- we get The new Covenant...recorded by his apostles- people who knew him and recorded what he said and did etc. Those who are born again are in relationship with God real time today through repentance from sins and faith in Jesus. So we are not in the dark stumbling around at the base of the mountain asking what everyone thinks of the unknown. Jesus made God known. So we know him.

Secular schools in England do not impose religious beliefs and practices but neither do they ignore religion.

Pupils usually follow a philosophy and comparative religion syllabus which may, for those who chose it, lead to a qualification such as the AQA GCSE in Religious, Philosophical and Ethical Studies.

www.aqa.org.uk/subjects/religious-studies/gcse/religious-studies-a-8062/subject-content/component-2-thematic-studies/religious,-philosophical-and-ethical-studies

But that's what people of any given strong religious conviction with a fixed uncritical creed think all around the world.

What can makes you think you can possibly know any better than them?

You aren't "a" god, you are a human being, come from a certain culture with culture specific ideas, and indeed very specific ideas that many Christians would not agree to.

(I was replying to GG)

I soppose some religions do have uncritical creeds but i would suggest that Christianity has never been without critics, both inside and outside its bounds. Why does it otherwise now present itself in so many different branches and sects/

Of course those who do criticise, have faced strong oposition, but this has rarely stopped the criticism and if you were to talk to a regular churchgoer, you would find that most have beliefs that go completely counter to what their religion teaches.

In general things for Christians are getting worse, as is predicted in the Bible. There is a great deal of persecution throughout the world, including in so called ‘enlightened’ countries. We know and accept this, it was prophesied. GrammyGrammy speaks the truth, we are given a choice and if we choose not to accept God’s love for us we will not be saved . We are encouraged to keep our mouths shut by contemporary society, however and insults are flung at us.

Saved from what, nanna?

nanna, with all due respect, and I mean that. Your beliefs and mine show just how tolerant and wide ranging christianity can be.

I find what you have written is as alien to my christian beliefs, as to those of many who are agnostic or even atheists.

To Nanna, (and other religious believers) do you not know The Bible can be understood in different ways by different people?
For instance, you yourselves appear to believe God wrote The Bible.
But this is not true. The Bible is made up of many books each of which had a human author or editor.

Whether God exists or not, He does not intervene in history.