“However you feel about any religion, there is always a church, mosque, synagogue etcetera there should you ever need one. I have friends who have married in church had their children baptised in church and will expect a vicar or priest to bury them, all of this will happen and in the intervening years they will not have supported their church in any way!
We should also respect the amazing charity work that the different religions have been involved in.
I am so surprised more posters have not been supportive of the church, perhaps people are embarrassed to admit to being religious!”

“John eg- i married in church and i'm divorced, not because i met someone else but because i ended up hating my ex husband because of the way he treated me and the children, should i have stayed married to him and ended up having a mental breakdown because thats what would have happened. I have no religion and think thats its the biggest load of rubbish ever.”

“@ Wellbeloved...

You say... "How wrong can you be. It cant be coincidence that there has been a massive decline in the social fabric, morals and general demeanour of the nation"

Has there really been a decline? Back in the rose tinted days a lot of things were acceptable which are no longer. It's no longer acceptable to use offensive epithets to describe racial minorities, it's no longer acceptable for the police to hound gay people, it's no longer acceptable to physically assault children in school and it's no longer acceptable to incite hatred.

Are those the signs of a decline in the social fabric of the nation. I would strongly argue they are signs of a more mature and moral society.


You say "as we have turned our back on the only scource of stability which has stood the test of time, to an untried unproven and untested system."

Religion? Stable? Are you serious? Even a cursory glance at the history of religions would show 'stability' was one of the least accurate expressions.


You say "No faith = no hope = aimless lives = more misery."

Nonsense. I'm a life-long atheist and I'm neither hopeless, aimless or miserable. Religious people make themselves miserable worrying about going to hell. I know I'm going to rot or go up the chimney.”

“The vast majority of people in the UK are not religious in the sense that they actively belong to or worship at any church although that doesn't necessarily equate to atheism or agnosticism.

According to wikipedia The Church of England attracts just 1.9% of the population of the UK each sunday so it's hardly surprising church weddings are on the decline.

People say the UK is a Christian country when by any objective standard it quite plainly is nothing of the kind. It may have been once but it's largely secular now and becoming ever more so. Which is all right by me.

In the last census, and every one before, the stated majority religion in the UK is Christianity but self-identification with a religion doesn't equate to reality. Many people see the Christianity box as the default option.

In my experience most people who profess to being Christians have never read the bible and know little or nothing of the religion which they claim to be a part of. I've read the bible and only finished it out of grim determination. It's boring almost beyond belief with the exception of Ecclesiastes which has some nice bits.

I've found most 'Christians' unable to answer most of the following...

1) What are the first and last words in the KJV bible?
2) What is the last book of the New Testament? (even devout Christians get that one wrong)
3) In the nativity story how many wise men were there?
4) Who was born as a result of the immaculate conception?
5) There were four apostles who shared names with other apostles, that is four people, two names. Name them.
6) The story of the three kings / magi journey to Bethlehem cannot be accurate. Why not?”

“Not an ad for Bev minsters wedding fair tomorrow then jezza?”

“You should also google John Frum, it just shows how easily religion can start and how ridiculous it really is.”

“GarethC2010

I was incorrect to use the word education; however if you would like to view the study conducted a few years ago by Richard Flynn, one of many, you will find that the inverse relationship is in fact between religious belief and IQ. In general, the lower the IQ the more likely a person/population is to believe in God/Allah whatever.

My comments on God, fairies and father christmas are highly relevant. Indeed it is far more believable that little winged girls inhabit the bottom of the garden, or that a fat man in a red suit flies through the sky on a sledge, than it is to believe in an all knowing universal super being that created everything. The point is a moot one because there is absolutely no evidence for any of the above mystical characters.

Churches have always been greedy, the church of england is one of the largest property owners in the UK and has invested heavily in the stock market. In times gone by they would tell their lowly IQ flock to give up their wealth to the church and spend an eternity in a made up place called heaven. As for the "infiltration by homosexuals," you really should have more tolerance (a trait demanded by your cult of choice) and in any case, with that despicable comment you show yourself to be a true follower of one of the vilest books ever written.

To link the supposed decrease in moral standards to an increase in secular attitudes is as nonsensical as linking it to the increase in the number of cars on the road, or the ever increasing distance of the moon from the earth.

I have no doubt that faith in Jesus Christ alone is life changing and powerful, but it is life changing and powerful in a way that is detrimental both to our society and to mankind in general. Our children must not have their minds abused by such claptrap.

The point about our country being "great" is a truly tiresome one. I come across it time and again on forums such as this. Perhaps you hark back to the days when homosexuals were hung, or women were "kept in their place," perhaps you are talking about the slave trade or the divine right to rule?

You will never get a torrent of abuse from me, I will only serve up clear logical thinking. If you wish to dismiss this and pay irrational homage to a flawed ideology then that is your choice.

I will leave you with a quote from Douglas Adams: "Isn't it enough to see that a garden is beautiful without having to believe that there are fairies at the bottom of it too?"”

“fdsbfadhsh


"It deeply offends me that the majority of primary schools in this country promote religion by singing silly songs about god. A school is supposed to be a place of learning so why do they seek to instil magic and superstition into the consciousness of our children?"

How many primary schools have you been in recently? I have been a primary supply teacher since 2001 and before that I was a class teacher in Great Yarmouth. I must have taught in almost every primary school in Hull by now and I have NEVER heard children singing songs about god, silly or otherwise.

Even RE lessons are about the beliefs of different religions and in no way are the children indoctrinated in any of them.”

“Here is Marx's quote, much to learn here:

The foundation of irreligious criticism is: Man makes religion, religion does not make man. Religion is, indeed, the self-consciousness and self-esteem of man who has either not yet won through to himself, or has already lost himself again. But man is no abstract being squatting outside the world. Man is the world of man – state, society. This state and this society produce religion, which is an inverted consciousness of the world, because they are an inverted world. Religion is the general theory of this world, its encyclopaedic compendium, its logic in popular form, its spiritual point d'honneur, its enthusiasm, its moral sanction, its solemn complement, and its universal basis of consolation and justification. It is the fantastic realization of the human essence since the human essence has not acquired any true reality. The struggle against religion is, therefore, indirectly the struggle against that world whose spiritual aroma is religion.
Religious suffering is, at one and the same time, the expression of real suffering and a protest against real suffering. Religion is the sigh of the oppressed creature, the heart of a heartless world, and the soul of soulless conditions. It is the opium of the people.
The abolition of religion as the illusory happiness of the people is the demand for their real happiness. To call on them to give up their illusions about their condition is to call on them to give up a condition that requires illusions. The criticism of religion is, therefore, in embryo, the criticism of that vale of tears of which religion is the halo”

“GarethC2010: The Catholic Church nurtured its own hot bed of paedophilia and homosexuality by insisting upon forcing the chastised life on priests. There's certainly no greedier and richer institution than the Catholic Church. Don't blame atheists for your home grown perverse behavior!

Also, in typical illogical, irrational style you try to assert "'Darwin is no longer an atheist as he has already met his maker." How does this make sense? As Ivor states, he met his parents at birth. Who is this "maker" you blindly speak of. Let's see the proof, we're not in Mexico now, so real evidence is required. Otherwise, like the minister in the story, leave everyone to be free to choose what they do and do not believe in. I await your factual evidence.

As Karl Marx stated "Organized religion is nothing but an opiate for the masses".”