Could you go out with a religeous person?

M5 · 02-10-2008 12:28am

Hmmm, i can put up with Catholicism thats only 20+ years of (ahem) "positive enforcement" , but creationism, thats just stupidity :-P

DanCorb · 14-10-2008 4:50pm

I could not go out with a religious person at all.

If they are very religious, they believe I am a filthy sinner that deserves eternal punishment in hell.

If they are a little religious, they are supporting the notion that atheists are the scum of the earth.

Anyway, both positions are too irrational. I wouldn't get along with such irrationality.

Tim Robbins · 14-10-2008 5:08pm

DanCorb wrote: »

If they are a little religious, they are supporting the notion that atheists are the scum of the earth.

What nonsense. How you can call anyone anything irrational after such a ridiculous and poorly thought out point beggers belief - not faith.

DanCorb · 14-10-2008 6:43pm

Tim Robbins wrote: »

What nonsense. How you can call anyone anything irrational after such a ridiculous and poorly thought out point beggers belief - not faith.

What?
Some reading material for you:

http://www.beliefnet.com/Faiths/Secular-Philosophies/The-Problem-With-Religious-Moderates.aspx

http://richarddawkins.net/articleComments,1803,Most-religious-people-are-moderate-and-dont-hurt-anybody,RichardDawkinsnet,page2

midlandsmissus · 21-11-2008 2:49pm

Weidii wrote: »

It would also be interesting to hear the other side of this.

To any religious person who may be reading this:

Could you get into/stay in a relationship with an athiest, agnostic or *gasp* anti theist?

Hi,

I'm a Christian, and frankly I'm amazed at all the people on here who say they wouldn't go out with some-one who is religious. I certainly would go out with an atheist. And am in fact going out with an agnostic right now.

I certainly wouldn't try to press any of my beliefs on my boyfriend. It's totally up to him what he wants to do. I wouldnt think being religious even affects my everyday life, so why would people on here not go out with one?

Lets see, Im trying to think what exactly I do: I would talk to god at night before I go to sleep (in my head), usually something quick. I might read the bible once a year. Go to mass a few times a year. I dont believe you have to be in a church for god to hear you, so I rather talk to him yourself.

If you think religious people are deluded etc. that's fair enough. Just wondering, if they were brought up like that, and knew nothing else, would you not cut them some slack? Would you not think maybe you could explain your views to them and see what they think? Maybe they would agree with you? Just to diregard all religious people as a potential partner from the outset is mindboggling to me.

midlandsmissus · 21-11-2008 2:52pm

Galvasean wrote: »

Are we talking church on Sunday religious or "Stop wearing clothes made of more tahn one kind of fabric!" religious?

On a side note, I used to go out with this girl. Shortly after we broke up she became 'Born Again', probably as some kind of bizarre sideswipe against my atheist ways.
Pfft, she didn't seem so Christian when she had her ankles around her neck. :pac:
Or when she decided polygamy suited her better. :mad:

Real classy of you to tell us

midlandsmissus · 21-11-2008 2:53pm

Calibos wrote: »

You see we are backing ourselves into a corner here. We don't want to let ourselves fall for someone who we will only lose respect for when we find out they are religious or have Woo beliefs. So the obvious solution would be to try and hook up with ladies at the local secular humanist society/club where you are guaranteed a lady of the atheistic/agnostic persuasion. But then again, the type of girl in general who would join such a club would be more the activist type and if theres on thing that goes hand in hand with female activists its hairy armpits and an untrimmed thatch!! Whats a handsome atheist guy to do??

This is so wrong on so many levels. I presume you are Brad Pitt yourself!!!:)

midlandsmissus · 21-11-2008 2:58pm

DanCorb wrote: »

I could not go out with a religious person at all.

If they are very religious, they believe I am a filthy sinner that deserves eternal punishment in hell.

If they are a little religious, they are supporting the notion that atheists are the scum of the earth.

Anyway, both positions are too irrational. I wouldn't get along with such irrationality.

I don't think that about atheists. What are you assuming this on?

Tim Robbins · 21-11-2008 3:06pm

DanCorb wrote: »

What?
Some reading material for you:

http://www.beliefnet.com/Faiths/Secular-Philosophies/The-Problem-With-Religious-Moderates.aspx

http://richarddawkins.net/articleComments,1803,Most-religious-people-are-moderate-and-dont-hurt-anybody,RichardDawkinsnet,page2

And some reading material for you, The Duck that won the Lottery.

Malari · 21-11-2008 3:17pm

midlandsmissus wrote: »

Hi,

I'm a Christian, and frankly I'm amazed at all the people on here who say they wouldn't go out with some-one who is religious. I certainly would go out with an atheist. And am in fact going out with an agnostic right now.

I certainly wouldn't try to press any of my beliefs on my boyfriend. It's totally up to him what he wants to do. I wouldnt think being religious even affects my everyday life, so why would people on here not go out with one?

Lets see, Im trying to think what exactly I do: I would talk to god at night before I go to sleep (in my head), usually something quick. I might read the bible once a year. Go to mass a few times a year. I dont believe you have to be in a church for god to hear you, so I rather talk to him yourself.

If you think religious people are deluded etc. that's fair enough. Just wondering, if they were brought up like that, and knew nothing else, would you not cut them some slack? Would you not think maybe you could explain your views to them and see what they think? Maybe they would agree with you? Just to diregard all religious people as a potential partner from the outset is mindboggling to me.

This is actually what happened with my boyfriend. He wouldn't really have been religious or atheistic in his thinking - he really hadn't considered it that much any more. I explained how I felt and he thought it made perfect sense.

To be honest I don't know if exes were religious or not, but yes, it would eventually get to me if they were saying things like "I'll say a prayer for her", "with god's help", etc and eventually it would become an issue. My atheism is very important to me and I would sooner or later have a problem with a partner if their religion was important to them.

Dades · 21-11-2008 3:24pm

@ midlandsmissus

If you click this button (bottom right of each post) on each post you want to reply to:

and then click "REPLY" at the bottom of the page, you can do all your replies one post.

midlandsmissus · 21-11-2008 3:30pm

Ah thanks Dades

Tim Robbins · 21-11-2008 3:42pm

midlandsmissus wrote: »

Hi,

I'm a Christian, and frankly I'm amazed at all the people on here who say they wouldn't go out with some-one who is religious.

To be honest it really depends on the Christian. There's quite a spectrum from a mild church goer to a literal fundamentalist. St Paul says "do not yoke yourself with unbelievers" so if you take your Christianity very seriously and literally you're not going to go out with an unbeliever in the first place.

Handsome Bob · 21-11-2008 3:57pm

Tim Robbins wrote: »

To be honest it really depends on the Christian. There's quite a spectrum from a mild church goer to a literal fundamentalist. St Paul says "do not yoke yourself with unbelievers" so if you take your Christianity very seriously and literally you're not going to go out with an unbeliever in the first place.

Thank you for being able to determine the differences, and for not stereotyping every religious person; someone in this thread said you're only intolerant of something if your reason for that intolerance is a misconception.

It seems to me that a lot of people on here would automatically blank a person the second they would say they are religious. Usually because they believe that person would be a bible-basher; seems like a misconception to me.

Zillah · 21-11-2008 4:06pm

midlandsmissus wrote: »

Hi,

I'm a Christian, and frankly I'm amazed at all the people on here who say they wouldn't go out with some-one who is religious. I certainly would go out with an atheist. And am in fact going out with an agnostic right now.

I certainly wouldn't try to press any of my beliefs on my boyfriend. It's totally up to him what he wants to do. I wouldnt think being religious even affects my everyday life, so why would people on here not go out with one?

Lets see, Im trying to think what exactly I do: I would talk to god at night before I go to sleep (in my head), usually something quick. I might read the bible once a year. Go to mass a few times a year. I dont believe you have to be in a church for god to hear you, so I rather talk to him yourself.

If you think religious people are deluded etc. that's fair enough. Just wondering, if they were brought up like that, and knew nothing else, would you not cut them some slack? Would you not think maybe you could explain your views to them and see what they think? Maybe they would agree with you? Just to diregard all religious people as a potential partner from the outset is mindboggling to me.

Do you believe in heaven? Do you believe someone only goes there through God and Christ? If so, then you're either utterly heartless and don't care that your boyfriend will spend an eternity separated from God, or you just don't really think about the ramifications of your beliefs. Both of which suck.

The very fact that you can be so casual about it really says something: "Meh, it's totally up to my boyfriend's whim if he'll spend a hundred billion years in darkness eternally separated from me and God".

Then if you answered no to the above questions and yet consider the Bible to be relevant I'm yet again dumbfounded at how illconsidered your position is.

At the heart of a worthwhile relationship is respect, and I'm sorry but I can't respect someone who can read the Bible and think "Hmm, that was something other than a big pile of crap."

Tim Robbins · 21-11-2008 4:13pm

LZ5by5 wrote: »

It seems to me that a lot of people on here would automatically blank a person the second they would say they are religious. Usually because they believe that person would be a bible-basher; seems like a misconception to me.

None of us are truly logical and always logical in our thinking. So if an atheist's argument is I don't like those illogical people, it's a bit stupid because they are excusing, ignoring or just not self aware of their own bad logic.

It's bit like the way Jesus said seeing the needle in the other person's eye and ignoring the log in your own.

Handsome Bob · 21-11-2008 4:15pm

Zillah wrote: »

Do you believe in heaven? Do you believe someone only goes there through God and Christ? If so, then you're either utterly heartless and don't care that your boyfriend will spend an eternity separated from God, or you just don't really think about the ramifications of your beliefs. Both of which suck.

The very fact that you can be so casual about it really says something: "Meh, it's totally up to my boyfriend's whim if he'll spend a hundred billion years in darkness eternally separated from me and God".

Then if you answered no to the above questions and yet consider the Bible to be relevant I'm yet again dumbfounded at how illconsidered your position is.

At the heart of a worthwhile relationship is respect, and I'm sorry but I can't respect someone who can read the Bible and think "Hmm, that was something other than a big pile of crap."

Maybe she thinks that if someone is a good person, regardless of their religious creed, then they will go to "Heaven".

Goduznt Xzst · 21-11-2008 4:16pm

midlandsmissus wrote: »

I certainly wouldn't try to press any of my beliefs on my boyfriend. It's totally up to him what he wants to do. I wouldnt think being religious even affects my everyday life, so why would people on here not go out with one?

How has your agnostic boyfriend responded to your celibacy?

CerebralCortex · 21-11-2008 4:22pm

LZ5by5 wrote: »

Maybe she thinks that if someone is a good person, regardless of their religious creed, then they will go to "Heaven".

Seriously, what kind of christians do you hang out with?

Handsome Bob · 21-11-2008 4:27pm

Tim Robbins wrote: »

None of us are truly logical and always logical in our thinking. So if an atheist's argument is I don't like those illogical people, it's a bit stupid because they are excusing, ignoring or just not self aware of their own bad logic.

It's bit like the way Jesus said seeing the needle in the other person's eye and ignoring the log in your own.

Agreed. All it takes though is to get yourself out there and meet people to realize that it's not right to generalize. People see the antics of the Westboro Church on the TV , or of Creationists, or of Dawkins interviewing crackpots instead of people who can argue reasonably (Gary Habermas for instance) and it makes it all too easy to dismiss every religious person as an idiot.

Tim Robbins · 21-11-2008 4:32pm

LZ5by5 wrote: »

Agreed. All it takes though is to get yourself out there and meet people to realize that it's not right to generalize. People see the antics of the Westboro Church on the TV , or of Creationists, or of Dawkins interviewing crackpots instead of people who can argue reasonably (Gary Habermas for instance) and it makes it all too easy to dismiss every religious person as an idiot.

Yes it's sort of trendy to mock religion. The only things that really annoy about religion are when it can descriminate against kids getting into schools etc., when people without religion are not provided with equal rights and when it tries to claim more knowledge on material matters than Science such as evolution.

However, most religious people I know feel the exact same way about these issue. I see these problems as a failure of non religious people to get up off their *ss.

I mean if 10,000 70 year olds can do it, why can't 10,000 secularists?

Handsome Bob · 21-11-2008 4:40pm

Tim Robbins wrote: »

Yes it's sort of trendy to nock religion. The only things that really annoy about religion are when it can descriminate against kids getting into schools etc. and when people without religion are not provided with equal rights.

However, most religious people I know feel the exact same way about this issue. I see it's as a failure of non religious people to get up off their *ss.

I mean if 10,000 70 year olds can do it, why can't 10,000 secularists?

Agreed 100% on the first part. It saddens me to see the church discriminating against kids, we've gotten to the point where schools have been built specifically for non-catholic kids; basically endorsing segregation and ignoring integration.

In regards to the second part, it's a coincidence because I've just finished reading Who Governs by Robert Dahl; a fascinating insight into how pluralist democracy works.

If people get organized and kick up a big enough stink using the resources that are available to them, such as the media, the Government will find it difficult to ignore them.

Zillah · 21-11-2008 4:48pm

LZ5by5 wrote: »

Maybe she thinks that if someone is a good person, regardless of their religious creed, then they will go to "Heaven".

Yes, maybe. And yet she reads the Bible once a year, in which it explicitly states that no one can go to Heaven except through accepting Jesus Christ as their personal saviour. Either way her position is ridiculous.

Tim Robbins · 21-11-2008 5:01pm

Zillah wrote: »

Yes, maybe. And yet she reads the Bible once a year, in which it explicitly states that no one can go to Heaven except through accepting Jesus Christ as their personal saviour. Either way her position is ridiculous.

I sniff a false dichotomy from you, Zillah.

You speak if it's:

1. You believe that a Christian must believe that no one can go to Heaven except through accepting Jesus Christ as their personal saviour.

Or

2. You are not a Christian.

Dave! · 21-11-2008 5:08pm

I took it as he meant:

1. You believe that a Christian must believe that no one can go to Heaven except through accepting Jesus Christ as their personal saviour

or

2. You're a disingenuous pick and choose merchant

Both of which would be undesirable for young Zillah here!

Dades · 21-11-2008 5:23pm

Dave! wrote: »

2. You're a disingenuous pick

I had to re-read that!

Zillah · 21-11-2008 5:24pm

Tim Robbins wrote: »

I sniff a false dichotomy from you, Zillah.

You speak if it's:

1. You believe that a Christian must believe that no one can go to Heaven except through accepting Jesus Christ as their personal saviour.

Or

2. You are not a Christian.

Dave!'s summary is more accurate. I'm not insisting upon what a Christian must believe to qualify as such, I'm just pointing out that there has to be an inconsistency in her position somewhere. If she believes he won't go to heaven but does nothing then she clearly doesn't care about him much (or doesn't really believe it). If she believes he'll go to heaven while not accepting Jesus Christ then she is abitrarily dismissing the entire thesis of the New Testament while still accepting it as the word of God, which is an untenable position.

I'm pointing this out as an example of why I don't think I could ever have a serious relationship with a believer. Respect is paramount and I can't respect a mind that can accept such contradictions.

Dades wrote: »

I had to re-read that!

Ha! I saw the ban-hammer version until you quoted it.

Tim Robbins · 21-11-2008 6:13pm

Zillah wrote: »

Dave!'s summary is more accurate. I'm not insisting upon what a Christian must believe to qualify as such, I'm just pointing out that there has to be an inconsistency in her position somewhere.

How can there be any consistency in something that there isn't even an agreed objective definition?

If she believes he won't go to heaven but does nothing then she clearly doesn't care about him much (or doesn't really believe it). If she believes he'll go to heaven while not accepting Jesus Christ then she is abitrarily dismissing the entire thesis of the New Testament while still accepting it as the word of God, which is an untenable position.

Maybe she accepts the Bible as the word of man and it contains errors.
Maybe she accepts it as the word of God, but an allegorical word not a literal word.

I'm pointing this out as an example of why I don't think I could ever have a serious relationship with a believer. Respect is paramount and I can't respect a mind that can accept such contradictions.

I'd prefer someone with a few contradictions than someone who is was selfish or had no sense of humour myself.
Could you be friends with someone who had contradictions in their viewpoints?

Danimalito · 21-11-2008 7:13pm

in order to lower the tone of the thread a smidgeon, my 2 cents:

- catholic women: the dogs bollix. Most perverted species on the planet for sure.

- protestants: meh. Typically jesus freaks who belive they'll go to hell if they snog a fella before marriage. Often have a minor mental health problem.

- muslims: They shave /everywhere/! brilliant ... well, until the parents tell em no fcekin way are they gonna date a non-believer.

no idea about hindus/buddists

Dades · 21-11-2008 7:25pm

Danimalito wrote: »

in order to lower the tone of the thread a smidgeon, my 2 cents...

Well at least now we have the "After Hours" opinion covered in the thread.