ALL ABOARD the Atheist Bus.

[PeckhamRose]

Just had to say that the British Humanist Association has recently updated its website.

Oh and incidentally, I went to a church school, and I have worked in a funeral directors. And having witnessed many different faiths in how they deal with their loved ones after death I was quite shocked! Quite apart from the money spent (I'll have it NOW please) my "belief" is there is no god and after we die just like chickens or ants or any other living thing, we're meat.

It's uniquely human to want to believe that this can't be it, but if we made more of "it" together then we'd be happier and more content with what "it" is. Just my idea! Have a happy day then, the good news is that it is now all the way up to three degrees hot!

[mockney piers]

yeah, but that bit with that dove at the end...ouch. (otherwise an entertaining film, granted)

[Tony.London Suburbs]

PR:

"It's uniquely human to want to believe that this can't be it, but if we made more of "it" together then we'd be happier and more content with what "it" is. Just my idea! Have a happy day then, the good news is that it is now all the way up to three degrees hot!"

Who knows? When I saw my Darling Mum lying cold in the Mortuary in 1996.Cold and hard and remembered all the life and vitality and goodness in her,I thought that Heart,Soul,Mind,Spirit surely must have gone somewhere(hopefully to a "better" place) and the contrast was so great to that lifeless shell lying in front of me.

Who knows?

[SeanMacGabhann]

usually loz, usually...

[Huguenot]

Is it only humans that go to heaven? Is this in the Bible? Bah!

[Peckhamgatecrasher]

Fear not, Hugenot, lions will be lying down with lambs in Heaven.

[mockney piers]

A propensity to spirituality is apparently a genetic trait which suggests that it goes right back to something and clearly serves some purpose?

Do domesticated animals think we actually are gods then? (cats excluded, and in the case of Ancient Egyptians turned 180 degrees)

[Jeremy]

mockney piers Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> A propensity to spirituality is apparently a

> genetic trait which suggests that it goes right

> back to something and clearly serves some

> purpose?

You can easily imagine a scenario where some tribes or villages were religious and others weren't, hence possibly resulting in this sort of genetic imprint... and of course religion played an important part in society for a long time. But that doesn't mean that it still should.

It's a mistake to assume that genetic traits serve a useful purpose. How about medical conditions and allergies which are genetic - what useful purpose do they serve? Natural selection hasn't ironed out all our imperfections.

[mockney piers]

Very fair points Jeremy, though I was wondering if it was pre-human. Chimps for instance have strong social bonds, I wonder if this may be influenced by this trait, in which case Huguenot's question becomes interesting, do chimps go to heaven?

Err, not that a genetic propensity to spirituality (or a specific release of chemicals to certain parts of the brain as it's otherwise known) equates to the actual existence of a God of course ;-))

[SeanMacGabhann]

Good God man, you'll be talking about pixies next

[mockney piers]

Gods, Pixies, Leprechauns.... ;-)

[david_carnell]

Do chimps got to heaven?

No, Piers, they go to Chimp Haven

[mockney piers]

No, Piers, they go to Chimp Haven

Thank the lordy chimps haven't mastered the internet yet else I'm pretty Chimp Haven wouldn't be very SFW...well, not if you're a chimp at any rate.

[SeanMacGabhann]

The Internet?? It probably exists...

[Jah Lush]

mockney piers Wrote:

> Do domesticated animals think we actually are gods

> then? (cats excluded, and in the case of Ancient

> Egyptians turned 180 degrees)

I don't thinnk so but let me tell you this. I had a very domesticated cat once...could do the washing up, the ironing, change a plug, set the table for dinner. Poor little got run over by a car whilst out doing the shopping. I miss that cat.

[Asset]

if there were a god, he would weep at all the things that his believers do in his name.

The God of the Old Testament stories is a pretty bloodthirsty and vengeful character so maybe it would not be so bothered.

[Keef]

There is a school of thought that there are 2 Gods, the vengeful OT one, and the nice "turn the other cheek" NT one.

[Jeremy]

Keef - that's a new one on me, but it doesn't surprise me at all. Christians are always having to come up with reasons why they pick and choose which parts of their holy text to believe!

[Keef]

I wish I could referrence it, but it's just something I remember from RS lessons, so not sure who's theory it was.

For the record, I wasn't suggesting it was true!

[Jah Lush]

Keef Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> There is a school of thought that there are 2

> Gods, the vengeful OT one, and the nice "turn the

> other cheek" NT one.

A early case of good cop bad cop methinks.

[Keef]

So OT God goes a bit OTT and roughs everyone up, before NT God comes in and plays the father figure in order to gain trust... Hmmm, do you think the writers of The Wire are in to their bible studies?

[PeckhamRose]

Tony London Suburbs.

You wrote: "

Who knows? When I saw my Darling Mum lying cold in the Mortuary in 1996.Cold and hard and remembered all the life and vitality and goodness in her,I thought that Heart,Soul,Mind,Spirit surely must have gone somewhere(hopefully to a "better" place) and the contrast was so great to that lifeless shell lying in front of me." in response to my feeling that after we are dead we are just meat. I apologise profusely to you and all others I may have been insensitive to. Humanist celebrants tend towards saying that the person lives on as a memory in those of us they came into contact with.

[Mick Mac]

Jah Lush Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> Keef Wrote:

> --------------------------------------------------

> -----

> > There is a school of thought that there are 2

> > Gods, the vengeful OT one, and the nice "turn

> the

> > other cheek" NT one.

>

> A early case of good cop bad cop methinks.

Surely the good guy and the bad guy are God and the Devil.

Its interesting to think how the idea of God arose in the first place? If we believe in Darwin etc then we were once slime, then some time later monkeys and after that humans. Early humans (being recently monkeys) had little or no rules perhaps and as we developed the early humans probably lived by a "law of the jungle" mentality, before some decent (probably older chap) decided thunder meant someone was not happy - we should be scared of that someone - and behave better in future.

I suggest if there had been no thunder there may not ever have been the concept of god.

This is just part of the thought process I used to go through at Mass on a Sunday morning, before I concluded there was no God and jacked the whole thing in and made the golf course my church.

Life's full of big chouices and that was my best so far.

[Keef]

Izzard's take on the whole humans coming years after dinosaurs thing...

 

[Tony.London Suburbs]

PeckhamRose Wrote:

Tony London Suburbs. You wrote: "

Who knows? When I saw my Darling Mum lying cold in the Mortuary in 1996.Cold and hard and remembered all the life and vitality and goodness in her,I thought that Heart,Soul,Mind,Spirit surely must have gone somewhere(hopefully to a "better" place) and the contrast was so great to that lifeless shell lying in front of me." in response to my feeling that after we are dead we are just meat. > I apologise profusely to you and all others I may have been insensitive to. Humanist celebrants tend towards saying that the person lives on as a memory in those of us they came into contact with.

Thanks PR but there's no need!(tu)

I,truly,did not give it a single thought.I was just saying what I feel completely oblivious to any other comment,

Thanks again anyway.;-)