I concur. Religion is a social signalling mechanism. There is no reason you must cripple yourself with respect to sending (possibly) rational signals just because you lie outwardly rather than inwardly.
Quite an interesting response. Could you clarify what “variety” of “religion” you are using as your baseline? My former “breed” at least doesn’t think it’s mostly about relationships and mutual reassurance; they think it’s intellectual defensible and that atheism is untenable. Though, they think that without individual investigation; they just have a vague notion that someone, somewhere that is a Catholic, said that atheism leads to nihilism, can’t deal with the “infinite regress”, hasn’t solved abiogenesis, etc. and thus it’s just flat out wrong.
Perhaps I should have clarified that social engagements where religion is not mentioned or brought up can be quite pleasant.
But does it change you answer if at least some of these regularly occurring engagements involve talks or statements from those who don’t know my situation regarding how Jesus is the only way, how non-believer parents raising children are probably raising kids who will fail at life, that it’s preposterous that some people actually believe god doesn’t exist, and the like?
Maybe this doesn’t matter and it’s just something to “take in the chest.” I have to admit, it is difficult when ignorant people [unknowingly] hurl their insults at you via a topic that you’ve strained your brains on for more than a year.
...how non-believer parents raising children are probably raising kids who will fail at life,
I’m fixating on this one phrase. For some reason, I can be extremely tolerant and friendly towards people who believe that the world only goes back to 4004 B.C., or that the world is balanced on elephants on a turtle, but christians who claim that the value of christianity is that it leads to success in life—earthly life—drive me nuts. Probably the last vestige of my old religious upbringing.
Anyway, doing a quick google search shows that in the United States, the most successful religious denomination is...Hinduism . I wouldn’t have guessed, but it makes sense in retrospect. I imagine the numbers would break down differently in India.
...but christians who claim that the value of christianity is that it leads to success in life—earthly life—drive me nuts.
Well, they probably wouldn’t put it that way if you said it like that, but I agree that this is how it comes about. Probably if you cornered an “elder” in my community, they’d say that Christianity is primarily important for the soul.
But at a parenting talk I was just at, someone commented that “next to raising your kids to know the Lord, loving your spouse well in front of them is the best thing you can do.”
I probably didn’t define “fail” very well—I think they mostly mean that the Christian child will grow up to have better values and morals, not necessarily more money, prestige, or the like.
I concur. Religion is a social signalling mechanism. There is no reason you must cripple yourself with respect to sending (possibly) rational signals just because you lie outwardly rather than inwardly.
Quite an interesting response. Could you clarify what “variety” of “religion” you are using as your baseline? My former “breed” at least doesn’t think it’s mostly about relationships and mutual reassurance; they think it’s intellectual defensible and that atheism is untenable. Though, they think that without individual investigation; they just have a vague notion that someone, somewhere that is a Catholic, said that atheism leads to nihilism, can’t deal with the “infinite regress”, hasn’t solved abiogenesis, etc. and thus it’s just flat out wrong.
Perhaps I should have clarified that social engagements where religion is not mentioned or brought up can be quite pleasant.
But does it change you answer if at least some of these regularly occurring engagements involve talks or statements from those who don’t know my situation regarding how Jesus is the only way, how non-believer parents raising children are probably raising kids who will fail at life, that it’s preposterous that some people actually believe god doesn’t exist, and the like?
Maybe this doesn’t matter and it’s just something to “take in the chest.” I have to admit, it is difficult when ignorant people [unknowingly] hurl their insults at you via a topic that you’ve strained your brains on for more than a year.
I’m fixating on this one phrase. For some reason, I can be extremely tolerant and friendly towards people who believe that the world only goes back to 4004 B.C., or that the world is balanced on elephants on a turtle, but christians who claim that the value of christianity is that it leads to success in life—earthly life—drive me nuts. Probably the last vestige of my old religious upbringing.
Anyway, doing a quick google search shows that in the United States, the most successful religious denomination is...Hinduism . I wouldn’t have guessed, but it makes sense in retrospect. I imagine the numbers would break down differently in India.
Well, they probably wouldn’t put it that way if you said it like that, but I agree that this is how it comes about. Probably if you cornered an “elder” in my community, they’d say that Christianity is primarily important for the soul.
But at a parenting talk I was just at, someone commented that “next to raising your kids to know the Lord, loving your spouse well in front of them is the best thing you can do.”
I probably didn’t define “fail” very well—I think they mostly mean that the Christian child will grow up to have better values and morals, not necessarily more money, prestige, or the like.