atheism at Christmas
A while back, Dave pointed me in the direction of this link, and I've been meaning to get around to responding for a while.
I thought that the general sentiment of the article was good, although Parmjit Dhanda's comments about "the importance being aware of the significance of Christianity" seemed at odds with the BBC News report at the time which focussed on how well known the Nativity is. I've not been able to find a link back to this article or the associated Have Your Say, but the bottom line is that a large proportion of the population do not seem to be clued up.
The amount of ignorance displayed in the Have Your Say pages was as usual fairly staggering. One chap seemed to imply that "Christianity is based on a lie because we all know that Jesus was not born on December 25th". Now, forgive me if I'm wrong, but Christianity has never been based on the actual birthdate of Jesus. John 3:18 talks about people who believe in Jesus, not people who believe that he was born on the 25th of December.
Talking of ignorance, I found the BBC Ricky Gervais and Rowan Williams interview the other day. The full podcast can be found here and although I've not listened to it all yet, the trailer I heard implies that it would be well worth a listen. Ricky Gervais of course, is actually David Brent*, and Rowan Williams' voice is slightly comic but don't let that put you off. The reason I mention it here is that Ricky Gervais makes the remark that he doesn't believe in God because he's a scientist, which again, is ignorant. As a scientist myself, if there was proof that God did not exist I would not be a Christian. People need to remember that Atheism is just as much a faith as anything else.
And despite the positive comments in the first BBC Article linked above, there are, unfortunately, those who do aim to prevent religious expression in the name of "not causing offence". ThisBBC Article is equally worth reading.
Nonetheless, it is nice that Christians and non-Christians alike to enjoy celebrating at this time of year, and even if you don't believe, no-one should begrudge you enjoying yourself.
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*jester
I thought that the general sentiment of the article was good, although Parmjit Dhanda's comments about "the importance being aware of the significance of Christianity" seemed at odds with the BBC News report at the time which focussed on how well known the Nativity is. I've not been able to find a link back to this article or the associated Have Your Say, but the bottom line is that a large proportion of the population do not seem to be clued up.
The amount of ignorance displayed in the Have Your Say pages was as usual fairly staggering. One chap seemed to imply that "Christianity is based on a lie because we all know that Jesus was not born on December 25th". Now, forgive me if I'm wrong, but Christianity has never been based on the actual birthdate of Jesus. John 3:18 talks about people who believe in Jesus, not people who believe that he was born on the 25th of December.
Talking of ignorance, I found the BBC Ricky Gervais and Rowan Williams interview the other day. The full podcast can be found here and although I've not listened to it all yet, the trailer I heard implies that it would be well worth a listen. Ricky Gervais of course, is actually David Brent*, and Rowan Williams' voice is slightly comic but don't let that put you off. The reason I mention it here is that Ricky Gervais makes the remark that he doesn't believe in God because he's a scientist, which again, is ignorant. As a scientist myself, if there was proof that God did not exist I would not be a Christian. People need to remember that Atheism is just as much a faith as anything else.
And despite the positive comments in the first BBC Article linked above, there are, unfortunately, those who do aim to prevent religious expression in the name of "not causing offence". ThisBBC Article is equally worth reading.
Nonetheless, it is nice that Christians and non-Christians alike to enjoy celebrating at this time of year, and even if you don't believe, no-one should begrudge you enjoying yourself.
-----
*jester
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