Advertisement
If you have a new account but are having problems posting or verifying your account, please email us on hello@boards.ie for help. Thanks :)
Hello all! Please ensure that you are posting a new thread or question in the appropriate forum. The Feedback forum is overwhelmed with questions that are having to be moved elsewhere. If you need help to verify your account contact hello@boards.ie

so own up who went to mass

Options
124»

Comments

  • Options
    #92
    Zombrex
    Closed Accounts Posts: 25,848 ✭✭✭✭Zombrex


    Jakkass wrote: »
    Luckily I don't, and I didn't.
    That is unfortunate
    Jakkass wrote: »
    It's still there to honour the birth of Christ, hence a religious festival.
    It could be argued that it is "there" because it was there last year, and the year before that, and the year before that. In other words, a tradition.

    The existence of the original reason for the holiday doesn't imply that this reason is still the reason it is held today. Again the example of Thursday is good, the original reason we have Thor's day is not the reason we call Thursday Thursday. We call it that day because people before us did, and people before them, right back to the people who actually gave a crap about Thor.

    If you wish to celebrate Christmas as a religious holiday go right ahead. But don't pretend it is your holiday simply because Christians came up with it. It is no more your holiday than Thursday belongs to Denmark.


  • Options
    #93
    Rev Hellfire
    Closed Accounts Posts: 7,346 ✭✭✭Rev Hellfire


    Christmas as it is celebrated here is a culturally Christian holiday, which is different than it been the exclusive domain of Christianity.

    The other examples given of holidays for other faiths aren't applicable since our society wasn't/is significantly influenced by them.


  • Options
    #94
    Rb
    Closed Accounts Posts: 14,277 ✭✭✭✭Rb


    I didn't go to Church this year, nor did I last year, nor the year before it.

    The Protestant Christmas services are quite nice to attend as the church tends to be nicely decorated and is filled with friends and family, however I don't go any more and will not be doing anything in future to support organised religion, be it attending a service, putting money in their baskets etc.

    There is compromise and there is dropping your pants, and I think atheists going to Church to keep their Christian families happy is the latter.


  • Options
    #95
    Goduznt Xzst
    Registered Users Posts: 1,353 ✭✭✭Goduznt Xzst


    Rb wrote: »
    There is compromise and there is dropping your pants, and I think atheists going to Church to keep their Christian families happy is the latter.

    In the same vein would you refuse to go to a family members funeral if he had requested a Christian ceremony? What about a wedding, would you refuse to attend if the ceremony was in a Church?


  • Options
    #96
    JC 2K3
    Closed Accounts Posts: 7,794 ✭✭✭JC 2K3


    Rb wrote: »
    I didn't go to Church this year, nor did I last year, nor the year before it.

    The Protestant Christmas services are quite nice to attend as the church tends to be nicely decorated and is filled with friends and family, however I don't go any more and will not be doing anything in future to support organised religion, be it attending a service, putting money in their baskets etc.

    There is compromise and there is dropping your pants, and I think atheists going to Church to keep their Christian families happy is the latter.
    I think you're confusing atheists and anti-theists.


  • Advertisement
  • Options
    #97
    PDN
    Closed Accounts Posts: 13,686 ✭✭✭✭PDN


    Goduznt Xzst wrote: »
    In the same vein would you refuse to go to a family members funeral if he had requested a Christian ceremony? What about a wedding, would you refuse to attend if the ceremony was in a Church?

    So true. The funny thing is that when a religious family member boycotts a poster's humanist wedding ceremony then it will all be about how bigoted and intolerant theists are. Tolerance cuts both ways.


  • Options
    #98
    The Mad Hatter
    Registered Users Posts: 4,718 ✭✭✭The Mad Hatter


    PDN wrote: »
    So true. The funny thing is that when a religious family member boycotts a poster's humanist wedding ceremony then it will all be about how bigoted and intolerant theists are. Tolerance cuts both ways.

    Who's talked about boycotting a funeral?


  • Options
    #99
    Fanny Cradock
    Registered Users Posts: 10,245 ✭✭✭✭Fanny Cradock


    The Mad Hatter wrote: »
    Who's talked about boycotting a funeral?
    Goduznt Xzst did.


  • Options
    #100
    AtomicHorror
    Registered Users Posts: 5,888 ✭✭✭AtomicHorror


    Fanny Cradock wrote: »
    Goduznt Xzst did.

    I thought he was attacking Rb for making the suggestion that atheists were showing weakness by failing to boycott...


  • Options
    #101
    lostexpectation
    Closed Accounts Posts: 9,082 ✭✭✭lostexpectation


    look people only have one funeral, if want to respect them you go to either the mass the evening before or the burial mass,you'll never se em again, if you don't go to church on xmas day you see your family in 45 minutes when they get back.

    jakkass whole argument seems to be based on comparing a big dinner on the 25th to going to mass as apparent catholic confessor,

    or you go to perhaps to look at the architecture?

    he "hoped that they would learn more about the Gospel and eventually adopt it"

    i think most people here are raised catholic and don't need any more lectures about behaving well for fear some supernatural being will smite you.

    i was also talking of 'lapsed catholics' who are in practice atheists... who only go once a year when they come home to the mummy.


  • Advertisement
  • Options
    #102
    Fanny Cradock
    Registered Users Posts: 10,245 ✭✭✭✭Fanny Cradock


    AtomicHorror wrote: »
    I thought he was attacking Rb for making the suggestion that atheists were showing weakness by failing to boycott...

    True. However, I was simply replying to a question (albeit possibly a somewhat rhetorical one) without intent.


  • Options
    #103
    Morbert
    Registered Users Posts: 3,457 ✭✭✭Morbert


    If any Atheist believes that they are obliged to boycott church (for whatever reason) simply because they are atheist then I would kindly ask them to remove their head from their rectum. If you don't want to go to church then fine, but this idea of obligatory absence is ridiculous.

    And if any Christian believes that atheists shouldn't be in Churches then I'm sure Jesus wouldn't be too happy with them.


  • Options
    #104
    philologos
    Closed Accounts Posts: 22,479 ✭✭✭✭philologos


    lostexpectation wrote: »
    jakkass whole argument seems to be based on comparing a big dinner on the 25th to going to mass as apparent catholic confessor,

    No, not quite. My argument was this.

    1. You have deemed other atheists who went to church with their family for Christmas to be hypocrites.

    2. Under the same measure it is fair that if you took a part in a meal which was held to honour the birth of Jesus Christ, you are also taking a part in a religious festival.

    What I didn't say was that you are a Catholic confessor (I don't know how it could be interpreted that I was even speaking about Roman Catholicism, I don't practice Roman Catholicism, I practice Christianity, one can be Christian and not Roman Catholic) for doing either of these things. You can be an unbeliever and go to church to be company to someone in your family who is going also, and still not be a hypocrite. Just because you go to church doesn't mean you have to adopt Christianity. The same applies for if you eat Christmas dinner with your family, although they might believe in Jesus doesn't mean that you have to. I was making the point to demonstrate that in calling other people hypocrites for going to church on Christmas, you too are a hypocrite by your own measure. I personally don't regard you or anyone else who partook in Christmas festivities to be a hypocrite.

    lostexpectation wrote: »
    he "hoped that they would learn more about the Gospel and eventually adopt it"

    What is so odd about this considering that I am a Christian? Other users such as Wicknight in the Christianity forum told me that he was trying to get people to disregard Christianity and theism. I don't see him as being in any way of a monster for that. We all have our hopes. Mine is that people find hope in their lives through the Christian faith.
    lostexpectation wrote: »
    i think most people here are raised catholic and don't need any more lectures about behaving well for fear some supernatural being will smite you.

    When did I once mention eternal damnation in my post? I also find this a gross oversimplification of Christianity. Do you follow the laws of Ireland because you fear being put in jail? I think my understanding of the law would be rather out of respect for the culture and the place in which I live. I try to follow God out of appreciation for what has happened to me, my life, my friends, and the circumstances I live in, and indeed for giving me a second chance to put myself right with Him before the final days. Surely I should be giving thanks for these things. Actually it's a good thing to think about around Christmas time.
    lostexpectation wrote: »
    i was also talking of 'lapsed catholics' who are in practice atheists... who only go once a year when they come home to the mummy.

    Yes, and what is wrong with that? I've already explained that there is nothing wrong with an atheist going to church to keep a friend or family member company. How is this hypocritical? You can go to church without believing in God and vice versa, you can never go to church and believe in God, although if you are a Christian it's advisable.


  • Options
    #105
    The Mad Hatter
    Registered Users Posts: 4,718 ✭✭✭The Mad Hatter


    Fanny Cradock wrote: »
    True. However, I was simply replying to a question (albeit possibly a somewhat rhetorical one) without intent.

    Thanks - yeah, sorry, that post wasn't very clear.


  • Options
    #106
    Húrin
    Closed Accounts Posts: 3,045 ✭✭✭Húrin


    lostexpectation wrote: »
    i think most people here are raised catholic and don't need any more lectures about behaving well for fear some supernatural being will smite you.
    This is exactly the kind of statement that demonstrates peoples' need to learn more about the Gospel.

    Why? Because your statement is not a simplification of Christianity - it is not the message of Christianity at all. Doing what the church tells you will earn you neither heaven, hell, nor smiting.


  • Options
    #107
    Dades
    Moderators, Society & Culture Moderators Posts: 25,558 Mod ✭✭✭✭Dades


    Húrin wrote: »
    Doing what the church tells you will earn you neither heaven, hell, nor smiting.
    I agree!

    Though I'd be curious to know why one would do what the church tells them at all then.


  • Options
    #108
    Valmont
    Registered Users Posts: 5,857 ✭✭✭Valmont


    SDooM wrote: »
    Most atheists are not militant- they simply do not care.

    That sums up my approach to most of the arguments on this forum. I still enjoy lurking around though:pac:


  • Options
    #109
    Tim_Murphy
    Registered Users Posts: 1,995 ✭✭✭Tim_Murphy


    What a bizarre thread. :rolleyes:
    Yes, very possibly! It's also conceivable that a non-believer might actually enjoy the ceremony and the atmosphere (if not the message).
    Indeed. As somebody who isn’t one of those ‘angry atheist.ie chip on their shoulders’ types I quite enjoy heading home and going to Christmas mass. It’s a tradition I hope to continue for years to come. I make no pretence of being a believer so there is no hypocrisy.


  • Options
    #110
    lostexpectation
    Closed Accounts Posts: 9,082 ✭✭✭lostexpectation


    ever think of not going to mass TM


  • Options
    #111
    The Mad Hatter
    Registered Users Posts: 4,718 ✭✭✭The Mad Hatter


    Tim_Murphy wrote: »
    What a bizarre thread. :rolleyes:

    Indeed. As somebody who isn’t one of those ‘angry atheist.ie chip on their shoulders’ types I quite enjoy heading home and going to Christmas mass. It’s a tradition I hope to continue for years to come. I make no pretence of being a believer so there is no hypocrisy.

    I completely agree. The local Christmas mass (which my family rarely goes to, as they don't like the priest - and I can't say I blame them) is actually quite nice. They have a decent choir and a folk group who play with them - not to mention being lucky enough to have one of the best young organists in the country living in the area and willing to play every year.


  • Advertisement
  • Options
    #112
    Rb
    Closed Accounts Posts: 14,277 ✭✭✭✭Rb


    Goduznt Xzst wrote: »
    In the same vein would you refuse to go to a family members funeral if he had requested a Christian ceremony? What about a wedding, would you refuse to attend if the ceremony was in a Church?

    No, simply because a funeral is about celebrating the life of the person who has died, saying goodbye to them and supporting their family.

    A funeral and Christmas Mass are in no way comparable, bar the fact that they take place in similar locations.
    JC 2K3 wrote: »
    I think you're confusing atheists and anti-theists.

    You can be un-accepting of religion without being actively anti-theist though. However I would imagine it's a matter for another thread.
    lostexpectation wrote: »
    look people only have one funeral, if want to respect them you go to either the mass the evening before or the burial mass,you'll never se em again, if you don't go to church on xmas day you see your family in 45 minutes when they get back.

    Indeed.
    Morbert wrote: »
    If any Atheist believes that they are obliged to boycott church (for whatever reason) simply because they are atheist then I would kindly ask them to remove their head from their rectum. If you don't want to go to church then fine, but this idea of obligatory absence is ridiculous.

    And if any Christian believes that atheists shouldn't be in Churches then I'm sure Jesus wouldn't be too happy with them.

    Plenty of Christians, including some of those in power, believe Atheists have no right to live freely in the USA. It's not a minority either iirc.


  • Options
    #113
    JC 2K3
    Closed Accounts Posts: 7,794 ✭✭✭JC 2K3


    Rb wrote: »
    You can be un-accepting of religion without being actively anti-theist though. However I would imagine it's a matter for another thread.
    Yes but you can equally be accepting or indifferent towards it without believing in it.


  • Options
    #114
    Rb
    Closed Accounts Posts: 14,277 ✭✭✭✭Rb


    JC 2K3 wrote: »
    Yes but you can equally be accepting or indifferent towards it without believing in it.
    Why be accepting of something so destructive?


Advertisement