What ways, and do they still affect you.
It's difficult to say. Directly, primarily, the New Testament bored me, church bored me. Indirectly, it's virtually impossible to pull out of the cultural mix which bits are morals that Christianity has adopted, which bits are culturally British that have been imprinted on the church, and which are the bits in between and bits from other cultures and religions... It's like trying to define what being 'British' means...
Well it was Outrider who used the word mechanism, just thought a atheist, any atheist had a definitive mechanism, mine is Christianity but I will search out other philosophies and religions which inspire me.
Atheism just means that what you have isn't necessarily the Gospels - for me, personally, it's a mixture of 'least harm' and 'personal liberty' concepts, applied on the hoof. I don't have a book of rules, I have two broad principles that I try to apply as best I can as and when I need to.
And that is very telling, if you had to choose which organisation got the pound in your pocket, does your atheism affect this, actually I think you have answered that question.
My atheism doesn't, so much as certain religious precepts that follow do. The Salvation Army, for instance, for all the good work they do, actively campaign against gay equality: I just can't stand to support that, so they don't get my money. I don't deny charitable organisations because of their religious nature, necessarily, so much as how they apply that.
Can't really argue against this but the great work that the Church of Scotland, Church of England, Sally Ann, Barnados etc etc do, day in day out I think deserves some kind of privilege.
It does, and it's available - charities are entitled to tax relief on their activities. The problem isn't that they're eligible for it for their charitable work, it's the presumption that ALL of their activities are charitable works. Sending food to refugees, running shelters and food kitchens, fine. Paying vicars? Reroofing their buildings? Other organisations can't deem these to be 'charitable works', why does the church?
I'm a member of a rugby club, our club doesn't turn a profit, it's run for the benefit of anyone in the community to wants to come play - we can't register as a charity, based on that (there are simplified tax regimes that can apply, and as a small society we make use of one of these). The church, though, doesn't even need to justify, it just gets that charitable status because it's a church, despite being one of the largest land-owners in the country... That's privilege.
O.
