Islam

[Sriram]

Hi everyone,

A short video on the fastest growing religion....Islam. It will be the largest religious group in about 50 years, overtaking Christianity.

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-39279631

No one talks about atheism that way....sadly!!   

Cheers.

Sriram

[floo]

As there is no evidence to support the existence of any god, unbelief is a very reasonable position to take, imo.

[Gonnagle]

Dear Sriram,

How are you old son, I am a big fan of your posts, you always make my wee grey cells turn anyway, you seem to have a wee bee in your bonnet over atheists or atheism.

Atheism is huge and diverse church, they come in all flavours, all shapes and sizes, just like us Christians, you have the angry, the arrogant, the neo, and my favourite, the old time ( old Sane is old time ) old time atheists are deep thinkers, they see past the smells and bells of religion and try to understand the heart of religion.

Another favourite is old Shaker, study that atheist, he is sometimes angry, sometimes old and the best part, sometimes more religious than you and me put together

I sometimes think that the religious see the atheist as some kind of enemy, but the real enemy is us, the theist, when we learn real compassion, real tolerance then atheism will not be a issue, if the religious ever do get their act together then we can all, theist and atheist tackle the real evils of this world, greed and mans inhumanity being two of the biggest.

Gonnagle.

[Enki]

Hi everyone,

A short video on the fastest growing religion....Islam. It will be the largest religious group in about 50 years, overtaking Christianity.

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-39279631

No one talks about atheism that way....sadly!!   

Cheers.

Sriram

Islam seems to be a religion that is certainly growing, true, and it is quite possible that the numbers will overtake those of Christianity within 50 years. Mind you, a lot can happen in 50 years, so this is by no means certain, as you seem to suggest.

On the subject of atheism however I'm not sure where you stand. For instance, for the first 40 to 50 years of my life, I didn't really think of myself as an atheist at all. I simply found that the idea of a god was of no importance to me, and rarely thought about it, being much more involved in all sorts of practical necessities and personal interests. I suspect that most people who aren't religious are very much like this, and the number of those who aren't really interested in any particular religion or religious worldview seems to be growing throughout the world, including, it seems in India, by the way.

To be honest, I'm quite glad that no one talks about atheism in the same way as they talk about Islam, as atheists are a hugely disparate group. From my point of view,  the less importance people attach to their  particular ideology or religion, the better the world will be.

[john]

Gonnagle

Good post 

[Robbie]

Agree gonnagle's post is good but i would add that Islam represents a disparate group too.

[Sriram]

Dear Sriram,

How are you old son, I am a big fan of your posts, you always make my wee grey cells turn anyway, you seem to have a wee bee in your bonnet over atheists or atheism.

Atheism is huge and diverse church, they come in all flavours, all shapes and sizes, just like us Christians, you have the angry, the arrogant, the neo, and my favourite, the old time ( old Sane is old time ) old time atheists are deep thinkers, they see past the smells and bells of religion and try to understand the heart of religion.

Another favourite is old Shaker, study that atheist, he is sometimes angry, sometimes old and the best part, sometimes more religious than you and me put together

I sometimes think that the religious see the atheist as some kind of enemy, but the real enemy is us, the theist, when we learn real compassion, real tolerance then atheism will not be a issue, if the religious ever do get their act together then we can all, theist and atheist tackle the real evils of this world, greed and mans inhumanity being two of the biggest.

Gonnagle.

Hi Gonnagle,

Actually I have been writing about atheism (shhh...) to stir up these guys a bit. Someone wrote that this board is dying. So..one has to do something to pump some life into it, you know!!

Nothing like good old negativity to stir up an argument....    But it doesn't seem to be working..    

Maybe I need to write about how to cure homosexuality or something...!  That would stir up things somewhat, I should think. 

Cheers.

Sriram

[Robbie]

Please don't!!!!!
You are sensible poster, stryaing intor ealms of sexualoirientation and preference is dangerous and voyeuristic stuff.

Breathe deeply, exhale slowly  .

[Sriram]

Please don't!!!!!
You are sensible poster, stryaing intor ealms of sexualoirientation and preference is dangerous and voyeuristic stuff.

Breathe deeply, exhale slowly  .

I once wrote about epigenetics and how it could explain sexual orientation...and also maybe find a treatment for it.  You won't believe the response! All hell broke loose!!    People went ballistic!

Something like that is bound to stir up this board and give it a new lease of life...!  I didn't mean that I would write about homosexuality per se. 

[Robbie]

I once wrote about epigenetics and how it could explain sexual orientation...and also maybe find a treatment for it.  You won't believe the response! All hell broke loose!!    People went ballistic!

Not surprised but `i presume it was a theory that you copied from somewhere. `there are a lot of them and none work, people used to endure horrible 'treatments' in the past for merely being themselves. Life is better now at least in this country.

[Sriram]

Dear Sriram,



I sometimes think that the religious see the atheist as some kind of enemy, but the real enemy is us, the theist, when we learn real compassion, real tolerance then atheism will not be a issue, if the religious ever do get their act together then we can all, theist and atheist tackle the real evils of this world, greed and mans inhumanity being two of the biggest.

Gonnagle.

Hi Gonnagle,

I think that is Utopian. There is never going to be a time when  everyone is tolerant of everyone else and there is going to be peace and goodwill all around.....not on planet earth anyway! Evolution will take care of that.

Not only do organisms keep changing physically but even our ideas and beliefs keep changing and evolving. There is always a fight for survival if not at the physical level then at least at the mental and intellectual level.

This is a school where people come in and learn and grow. Never a dull moment.

Peace is elsewhere.....at Home!   

Cheers.

Sriram

[trippymonkey]

Fastest growing has more to do with birth in Muslim families & not 'CON-verts'.

Nick

[Robbie]

Muslims I know & have known over the years stop at two children, sometimes one, and then have sterilisation. Sterilisation is very common amongst all Asians in this country. The old ones tended to have bigger families.

Muslims do make many converts. So many people, particularly young, are looking for something to believe in & are disenchanted with what they are accustomed to.

[Sebastian Toe]

Muslims I know & have known over the years stop at two children, sometimes one, and then have sterilisation. Sterilisation is very common amongst all Asians in this country. The old ones tended to have bigger families.

Muslims do make many converts. So many people, particularly young, are looking for something to believe in & are disenchanted with what they are accustomed to.

Not all Muslims are Asian though.

[Robbie]

I know that  , was just saying that sterilisation is very popular amongst Asians, which includes people whose ethnic origin is from the Indian subcontinent, which in turn includes a significant number of Muslims.

Non-Asian Muslims probably plan their families in the same way as non-Asian non-Muslims.

[trippymonkey]

You do know Muslims are not supposed to use any form of contraception ?

Nick

[Robbie]

Nonsense.

Here is a bit about it from wiki:
Islam[edit]
The Qur'an does not make any explicit statements about the morality of contraception, but contains statements encouraging procreation. The Islamic prophet Muhammad also is reported to have said "marry and procreate".[21]
Coitus interruptus, a primitive form of birth control, was a known practice at the time of Muhammad, and his companions engaged in it. Muhammad knew about this, but never advised against it.[21][22]
Muslim scholars have extended the example of coitus interruptus, by analogy, to declaring permissible other forms of contraception, subject to three conditions.[21]
As offspring are the right of both the husband and the wife, the birth control method should be used with both parties' consent.
The method should not cause permanent sterility.[21]
The method should not otherwise harm the body.
Ahmadiyya Muslims believe birth control is prohibited if resorted to for fear of financial strain.[23]


That's just one, there are others.
Opinions vary according to which branch of Islam someone belongs, same as Christianity, some do some don't.

I've not know Muslims who haven't used contraception. They invariably have no more than two children & do sterilise if contraception is difficult despite the teaching that contraception should not cause permanent sterility.

Do you know any Muslims personally, ippy?

[trippymonkey]

If ippy is me TRIPPY then A BIG YES I've known muslims since I was at junior school & that was a LONG LONG time since.

Nick

[trippymonkey]

Does ANYONE here take any of this at all seriously??

[Nearly Sane]

Does ANYONE here take any of this at all seriously??

Any of what?

[Robbie]

If ippy is me TRIPPY then A BIG YES I've known muslims since I was at junior school & that was a LONG LONG time since.

Nick

Apologies to ippy I meant Trippy.

Does ANYONE here take any of this at all seriously??
[/quote

'ippymonkey. (sorry, couldn't resist)

If we didn't there would be no response. Prejudice is a very serious matter indeed.

[trippymonkey]

Agreed but we must note the difference between blind, dangerous prejudice & knowledge.

[Robbie]

I wouldn't argue with that Trippymonkey, no point being naive.  At the same time it isn't healthy to be fixated on one section of society, that attitude is narrow minded and fosters prejudice, far better to treat each person as an individual. It's how we would like to be treated.

[trippymonkey]

Totally agree & THAT'S why I've posted that new topic on here.
Do please check it out & feel free to deny anything you wish...

Nick

[Robbie]

Good morning Trippymonkey!
Certainly will check it out, thanks for starting a new thread.