Asked my religion in hospital

Ellis Dee

efb wrote: »

Being checked into the ward this eve was asked religion. No, I said. None she said. No dont bother with that. That's my first time to officially declare my agnosticism. I feel better about myself fo it too.

Hospitals is usually where ppl are won back...

I don't think there's anything sinister in it. I spent nearly three weeks in hospital in Helsinki a bit over a year ago and soon after I had been assigned a bed, a "social nurse" came along to find out the names and contact particulars of my next of kin and also asked me if I wished to see one of the hospital chaplains (Lutheran or Orthodox) who regularly visit. I told her I am an atheist and had no interest in religion, and she checked the right box on the form.:)

However, a Lutheran chaplain did visit someone else in the ward and I got into conversation with her. She never mentioned any of that sky fairy stuff, but was massively interested in Irish music, dogs and a whole range of other stuff that also interests me. Quite apart from being very easy on the eye indeed, I found her very good company and was glad to have someone to talk to.;)

I'm still an atheist, but I made a nice friend.:cool:

efb

Ellis Dee wrote: »

I don't think there's anything sinister in it. I spent nearly three weeks in hospital in Helsinki a bit over a year ago and soon after I had been assigned a bed, a "social nurse" came along to find out the names and contact particulars of my next of kin and also asked me if I wished to see one of the hospital chaplains (Lutheran or Orthodox) who regularly visit. I told her I am an atheist and had no interest in religion, and she checked the right box on the form.:)

However, a Lutheran chaplain did visit someone else in the ward and I got into conversation with her. She never mentioned any of that sky fairy stuff, but was massively interested in Irish music, dogs and a whole range of other stuff that also interests me. Quite apart from being very easy on the eye indeed, I found her very good company and was glad to have someone to talk to.;)

I'm still an atheist, but I made a nice friend.:cool:

I never intended as something sinister- I meant it as my first public recognition of my agnosticism

norrie rugger

Galvasean wrote: »

Atheist zombies!!! :eek:

Any different from the original Christian zombie, in Jesus

Although Jesus was a Jew, in know

Sarky

Atheist zombies only eat baby brains.

The Quadratic Equation

The living dead. How apt.

Galvasean

The Quadratic Equation wrote: »

The living dead. How apt.

The big difference is that atheists generally don't believe in ludicrous notions like things magically coming back from the dead. Christians on the other hand...

paddyandy

Well OP the cheek of them to ask such a personal question and you did'nt dare let them know about your Bowel Movements surely you made a very good statement about that now.But Religion...how dare them....still others don't really mind and don't make a big FUSS about not understanding all that sort of stuff.You should make a Placard and do a protest outside the Hospital about it???? THIS HOSPITAL WANTS TO KNOW WHAT YOU BELIEVE!!! nice Font and they'll soon learn not to be so personal ... your privacy must be protected.

MagicMarker

paddyandy wrote: »

Well OP the cheek of them to ask such a personal question and you did'nt dare let them know about your Bowel Movements surely you made a very good statement about that now.But Religion...how dare them....still others don't really mind and don't make a big FUSS about not understanding all that sort of stuff.You should make a Placard and do a protest outside the Hospital about it???? THIS HOSPITAL WANTS TO KNOW WHAT YOU BELIEVE!!! nice Font and they'll soon learn not to be so personal ... your privacy must be protected.

What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be off beating on some children as per your recent AH posts?

The Quadratic Equation

Galvasean wrote: »

The big difference is that atheists generally don't believe in ludicrous notions like things magically coming back from the dead. Christians on the other hand...

Neither do Christians.
Nothing magical about it. God is divine.
Look up the difference.

MagicMarker

The Quadratic Equation wrote: »

Neither do Christians.
Nothing magical about it. God is devine.
Look up the difference.

Devine or divine?

efb

The Quadratic Equation wrote: »

Neither do Christians.
Nothing magical about it. God is devine.
Look up the difference.

I love Devine!!!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0gn1u93gJdI

Galvasean

The Quadratic Equation wrote: »

Neither do Christians.
Nothing magical about it. God is devine.
Look up the difference.

Divinely magic!

paddyandy

Daylight Athiests: Ask the dying if they believe or ask those who attend them when the fear touches and tremulous lips and quivering features and quavering voice starts to utter the inner torments of a life badly lived?????THEY think very differently when sickness has tempered their raging arrogance.

Ghost Buster

paddyandy wrote: »

Daylight Athiests ask the dying if they believe or ask those who attend them when the fear touches and tremulous lips and quivering features and quavering voice starts to utter the inner torments of a life badly lived?????THEY think very differently when sickness has tempered their raging arrogance.

YES!!! Finally what saying there was to be the wavering truth of the languid hyperbole neither to the range of emotions of when i was always!
Well put!

Galvasean

paddyandy wrote: »

Daylight Athiests ask the dying if they believe or ask those who attend them when the fear touches and tremulous lips and quivering features and quavering voice starts to utter the inner torments of a life badly lived?????THEY think very differently when sickness has tempered their raging arrogance. hard ons.

That would have been an infinitely better post.

Ghost Buster

The Quadratic Equation wrote: »

Neither do Christians.
Nothing magical about it. God is devine.
Look up the difference.

Is this like the difference between a cult and a religion?
Mine is a religion
The others are cults.
yes?

paddyandy

MagicMarker wrote: »

Devine or divine?

Nit picking ....nothing better to say....mt head?

Dades

paddyandy wrote: »

Daylight Athiests ask the dying if they believe or ask those who attend them when the fear touches and tremulous lips and quivering features and quavering voice starts to utter the inner torments of a life badly lived?????THEY think very differently when sickness has tempered their raging arrogance.

Ergo: people will believe the unbelievable because they're afraid of death.

Sarky

Good job, Dades. I couldn't make any sense out of that post.

It's not very accurate anyway. I've gone through one or two properly serious illnesses in my time, and all it's ever done is strip away the cotton wool surrounding reality and show up the lack of some all-powerful overseer.

paddyandy

Dades wrote: »

Ergo: people will believe the unbelievable because they're afraid of death.

You are correct....but...a lot more...not going down that road.....

Galvasean

I'm still not sure what a Daylight Atheist is though. Some form of reverse vampire perhaps?

Sarky

Possibly we blow instead of suck?

The Quadratic Equation

Ghost Buster wrote: »

Is this like the difference between a cult and a religion?
Mine is a religion
The others are cults.
yes?

The word religion does not have the same meaning as the word cult. Look up the difference.

The Quadratic Equation

Galvasean wrote: »

I'm still not sure what a Daylight Atheist is though. Some form of reverse vampire perhaps?

Either way, still the living dead.

efb

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s1qfx2X6qaU

paddyandy

Don't ever get too refined on this sort of Forum ...their Neurons play havoc with their ideas and computers get smashed.Even the pc has to be hospitalised.

Galvasean

The Quadratic Equation wrote: »

The word religion does not have the same meaning as the word cult. Look up the difference.

A Cult can be defined as:
1. a particular system of religious worship, especially with reference to its rites and ceremonies.
2.an instance of great veneration of a person, ideal, or thing, especially as manifested by a body of admirers: the physical fitness cult.
3.the object of such devotion.
4.a group or sect bound together by veneration of the same thing, person, ideal, etc.
5.Sociology. a group having a sacred ideology and a set of rites centering around their sacred symbols.

How many of those apply to your religion?

The Quadratic Equation wrote: »

Either way, still the living dead.

The living dead is a bit of a contradiction, much like a lot of your beliefs.

Sarky

The Quadratic Equation wrote: »

The word religion does not have the same meaning as the word cult. Look up the difference.

The difference is "not having to pay tax".

Galvasean

paddyandy wrote: »

Don't ever get too refined on this sort of Forum ...

BAHAHAHAAHA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! No fear of you doing that.

robindch

The Quadratic Equation wrote: »

The word religion does not have the same meaning as the word cult. Look up the difference.

The difference is in the number of believers, and a good rule of thumb is a difference of three zeroes.

Fbjm

I had to put down my religion in an online form for uni. I saw "none" and contemplated clicking it... and then wussed out and clicked christian. Also, last week my dad couldn't make it to mass, and I went on my own. Even though I don't believe, I still get this mad guilty feeling if I don't go; like I'm letting my family down or something.

Galvasean

Fbjm wrote: »

I had to put down my religion in an online form for uni. I saw "none" and contemplated clicking it... and then wussed out and clicked christian. Also, last week my dad couldn't make it to mass, and I went on my own. Even though I don't believe, I still get this mad guilty feeling if I don't go; like I'm letting my family down or something.

It makes me sad that many non-believers feel this way in this day and age.

Sarky

Fbjm wrote: »

Even though I don't believe, I still get this mad guilty feeling if I don't go; like I'm letting my family down or something.

Trust me, the guilt passes. It gets replaced with a tremendous sense of freedom and empowerment.

efb

Fbjm wrote: »

I had to put down my religion in an online form for uni. I saw "none" and contemplated clicking it... and then wussed out and clicked christian. Also, last week my dad couldn't make it to mass, and I went on my own. Even though I don't believe, I still get this mad guilty feeling if I don't go; like I'm letting my family down or something.

I feel like I'm raising the Intelligence Quotient of my family by not

Fbjm

efb wrote: »

I feel like I'm raising the Intelligence Quotient of my family by not

It's not like they'll follow your example though, so I doubt your not going is having any direct affect on them.

Sarky

You never know. They might start thinking seriously about the reasons they go if you stay behind.

Galvasean

Fbjm wrote: »

It's not like they'll follow your example though, so I doubt your not going is having any direct affect on them.

It's not really about them though is it? Personal belief is a personal thing. That's why it's called personal belief. There is no shame in believing something different to your family. Do you similarly guilt yourself into voting for the same political parties as your family? How about breakfast cereal, do you only eat breakfast cereals your family also eat?

Fbjm

Galvasean wrote: »

It's not really about them though is it? Personal belief is a personal thing. That's why it's called personal belief. There is no shame in believing something different to your family. Do you similarly guilt yourself into voting for the same political parties as your family? How about breakfast cereal, do you only eat breakfast cereals your family also eat?

Well I would have thought they were completely different things to religion. I'm not allowed say "the a-word" (atheist, obviously) in my house. So I think that renders your examples, and thoughts of my changing any of my family's religious views, untrue.

But I get what you're saying about it being my own personal beliefs, and I'm going to start being more open about it at some point. Just not yet.

Galvasean

Fbjm wrote: »

Well I would have thought they were completely different things to religion. I'm not allowed say "the a-word" (atheist, obviously) in my house. So I think that renders your examples, and thoughts of my changing any of my family's religious views, untrue.

But I get what you're saying about it being my own personal beliefs, and I'm going to start being more open about it at some point. Just not yet.

If I may ask, how old are you? And what would occur if your parents heard you declare your atheism? I'm just trying to gauge your situation.

Fbjm

Galvasean wrote: »

If I may ask, how old are you? And what would occur if your parents heard you declare your atheism? I'm just trying to gauge your situation.

I'm 19, but every time the topic comes up it's made out to be a vicious criminal offense. So I go along to mass and put money in the basket every week to keep the peace; I find it easier to live with them if they're not jumping down my throat about it every two seconds.

I did say it before, but I was told not to say things like that under my dad's roof, and was then advised that I had to force myself to believe.

Dades

^^ I empathise with the "while you're living under my roof" scenario.

paddyandy

I our family there's 5 different religions as many different styles of eating and drinking,,,,good thing we don't live together anymore.

Beruthiel

Fbjm wrote: »

I'm 19, but every time the topic comes up it's made out to be a vicious criminal offense. So I go along to mass and put money in the basket every week to keep the peace; I find it easier to live with them if they're not jumping down my throat about it every two seconds.

Ah yes, I remember those days well.
I avoided mass but just telling my parents I was going to the later one. Then I would just head off to town and meet up with b/f.

sensibleken

Last week in A&E I was asked my religion but funnily enough the woman behind the desk made the suggestion

Her: 'Religion? None?'
Me: 'Uh yeah'

Must be a pretty common reply these days. I didnt care, I was more concerned with the 8 hour waiting time :mad:

MrPudding

paddyandy wrote: »

Daylight Athiests: Ask the dying if they believe or ask those who attend them when the fear touches and tremulous lips and quivering features and quavering voice starts to utter the inner torments of a life badly lived?????THEY think very differently when sickness has tempered their raging arrogance.

Ah, the old deathbed conversion chestnut. I have no doubt they happen, but I would read nothing more into it than an illustration of the weakness of humanity. A last minute grasp of Pascal’s Wager.

It does not show in any way that there is proof or evidence of gods or that religion have it right. In fact, it is an excellent example of one of the probable reasons why religion and gods were invented by man. If you haven’t already have a watch of “The Invention of Lying.”

Even Christopher Hitchins has said that a deathbed conversion could happen to him. Who knows how the brain works in the hours and minutes before death, shen you know it is coming. I don’t think there is a moment of enlightenment or an epiphany, simple the confirmation of a couple of human traits, fear of death and the slightly irrational feeling that we may have got it wrong, even when there is no evidence to say we have.

MrP

Galvasean

That's the thing about Pascal's Wager and deathbed conversions, they imply that God is not omniscient and possibly even stupid.

MrPudding

Galvasean wrote: »

That's the thing about Pascal's Wager and deathbed conversions, they imply that God is not omniscient and possibly even stupid.

Yeah, I have said that before to beleivers that have used it, "you do realise you are suggesting your god is retarded, don't you?"

MrP

robindch

Galvasean wrote: »

That's the thing about Pascal's Wager and deathbed conversions, they imply that God is not omniscient and possibly even stupid.

Well, if the christian deity is happy with death-bed conversions, then it should be happy with conversions based on silly self-interested arguments too.

kiki

Close relative of mine was asked same question earlier this year.

He replied "pastafarianism"; lady on computer addmitting him then asked him to spell that, which he did with straight face. She responded that he was the first pastafarian she had met...

The Quadratic Equation

Galvasean wrote: »

That's the thing about Pascal's Wager and deathbed conversions, they imply that God is not omniscient and possibly even stupid.

No. All they imply is free will. There's always hope for the living dead right up to their last few moments, but for most their hearts will be too hard, and their vainity and pride got better of them a long time ago.