Religion is socially seductive (prophet, Muslims, ghost, quote)
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I am a confirmed atheist, and have been so for 30 years now. I am confident in my beliefs, and have no fear of judgment. However, I find myself in an interesting position due to a series of events.
1. I have a friend who is a devout Mormon. We discuss many things, including religion and philosophy. Not surprisingly, he is giving me pressure to convert. It isn't going to happen, as he cannot provide proof of his religion, other than personal revelation. We have also discussed the Mormon scriptures, which I find to be riddled with logical fallacies.
2. Coincidentally, I have been to a number of funerals recently. All have been religious services, and filled with people who are devout.
3. I recently joined a sports league. The team that I joined has prayers before every event. This is a private league, not affiliated with any school or governmental entity, so there are no church:state separation issues. I am not a dick, so I stand quietly while everybody else does their prayer thing. My lack of participation may or may not have been noticed yet.
4. I have had a fair bit of business contact with a local pastor. While the contact is a professional relationship that is job related, he does make a point of letting me know that I am in his prayers. He probably doesn't know that I am an atheist, but by my lack of response in kind, I am sure he has me categorized as non-religious of some sort.
This is more religion in a short period of time than I have encountered since the 1980s. I find the social pressure to conform to be stronger than I had expected. While I have no intention of converting, I can see how people in religious areas might do so after years of constant pressure. I am sure that it can influence your thinking.
I don't really have a question, just the comment that I understand socitetal religious pressure in a new way.
For sure, we are social animals, wanting to belong. After all, it is us vs. them.
1. I have a friend who is a devout Mormon. We discuss many things, including religion and philosophy. Not surprisingly, he is giving me pressure to convert. It isn't going to happen, as he cannot provide proof of his religion, other than personal revelation. We have also discussed the Mormon scriptures, which I find to be riddled with logical fallacies.
Your Mormon friend has no business pressuring you to convert. Tell him that and ask him nicely to stop. Remind him that his religion teaches that without the witness of the Holy Ghost, you aren't going to be converting to anything, and that, alone, he is powerless to force you to change your mind, no matter how persuasive he may be. (I know that wasn't your question, but it's just something I thought I'd throw into the conversation.)
Do you believe God would tell someone to embrace a heretical teaching? (Mind you I'm not calling Mormonism heretical).
You're coming as close as you conceivably can, though, without getting in trouble, aren't you? Don't worry, I know you think I'm a heretic, and it doesn't bother me in the slightest, because it's not your approval I'm after.
So you believe that 2 things that contradict each other can be truth?
So, 2+2 = 4 and 2+2 = 5 can both be true?
That was clearly not her assertion.
Not a day goes by that person X declares 2+2 = 4 and person Y declares 2+2 = 5 and both are convinced of their rightness. That was her assertion.
Actually it is a bad analogy because there you have two mathematical statements and one can be demonstrated to be incorrect according to accepted mathematical principles. Usually when it comes to religion it is two dogmatic assertions, for example, signs and wonders are or are not for today, or salvation is or is not by faith alone, or god is vengeance itself, or in the alternative, benevolent and merciful. All these positions can be proof-texted as much as you like, so it's not like you can claim there's an unambiguous right or wrong that is objectively determinable from scripture. Or that your interpretive system for scripture is objectively correct.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Don't worry, I know you think I'm a heretic, and it doesn't bother me in the slightest, because it's not your approval I'm after.
