flamingjimmy Posted January 24, 2016 Share Posted January 24, 2016 (edited) Since when has the awani league been a hindu party, let alone a hindu taliban? Got Bangladesh and India confused for a minute there sorry!It's Narendra Modi's scary party I was talking about, who are making a mockery of India's secular traditions. ---------- Post added 24-01-2016 at 12:43 ---------- Well I accept your apology but we'll have to disagree about whether China is secular or not. I personally am an atheist and support secularism. You either don't understand what secularism is or are completely ignorant about China then. Any country that has 'officially sanctioned religions', no matter whether there's 5 groups on the list or 500, is not secular. Secondly, any country where religious minorities face imprisonment, torture, and forced conversion is pretty much the exact opposite of secular. Edited January 24, 2016 by flamingjimmy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cgksheff Posted January 24, 2016 Share Posted January 24, 2016 40,000! Crikey, I'd no idea there were that many ways of 'interpreting' one book full of stories. I bet they all argue that theirs is the 'right' way and the others are misguided. A quick look at the list will show you that the vast majority of the 40,000 are classified as different 'denominations' by virtue of different regional or national bodies within the same major 'interpretation' of Christianity. Yes, there are lots of different 'interpretations, but nowhere near 40,000. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeffrey Shaw Posted January 24, 2016 Share Posted January 24, 2016 Any country that has 'officially sanctioned religions', no matter whether there's 5 groups on the list or 500, is not secular. Nor is it free. Why should any religion or faith need official sanctioning? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RootsBooster Posted January 24, 2016 Share Posted January 24, 2016 Nor is it free. Why should any religion or faith need official sanctioning? Some religions may have horrible traditions, like cutting off pieces of babies' bodies. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
unbeliever Posted January 24, 2016 Share Posted January 24, 2016 Some religions may have horrible traditions, like cutting off pieces of babies' bodies. Secular law may forbid certain things. Whether they are religiously motivated or not, there are rules. That doesn't mean that you ban the religion itself. You just hold the faithful to the same rules as everybody else. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anna B Posted January 24, 2016 Share Posted January 24, 2016 You obviously know very little about religion in schools. A family member of mine attends a Catholic school, they pray 3 times a day, first thing, before lunch and at the end of the day. This is fairly normal in a faith school. I believe that religion should get no special treatment, for good or ill. Remove the tax status of religions for a start and remove all the Lords spiritual. Someone who actively believes in magic wizards, talking snakes, men living inside Wales and the rest of the laughable guff should be nowhere near a position of influence, power or authority. You make it sound like none stop worship, but it used to be normal in most schools, never mind faith schools. A prayer in morning assembly. Grace at lunchtime giving thanks for the food you eat. And a quick prayer at home time More like counting your blessings. Never did me any harm. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SnailyBoy Posted January 24, 2016 Author Share Posted January 24, 2016 You make it sound like none stop worship, but it used to be normal in most schools, never mind faith schools. A prayer in morning assembly. Grace at lunchtime giving thanks for the food you eat. And a quick prayer at home time More like counting your blessings. Never did me any harm. So was Grace along the lines of being glad there's food on the table, or being thankful to an invisible entity? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
runningman1 Posted January 24, 2016 Share Posted January 24, 2016 You make it sound like none stop worship, but it used to be normal in most schools, never mind faith schools. A prayer in morning assembly. Grace at lunchtime giving thanks for the food you eat. And a quick prayer at home time More like counting your blessings. Never did me any harm. Praying three times a day is far too much. Thanking batman for your food wouldn't do you any harm either. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redwhine Posted January 24, 2016 Share Posted January 24, 2016 A quick look at the list will show you that the vast majority of the 40,000 are classified as different 'denominations' by virtue of different regional or national bodies within the same major 'interpretation' of Christianity. Yes, there are lots of different 'interpretations, but nowhere near 40,000. (There's a jewish joke that goes "2 rabbis, 3 opinions".) Whether it's 4, 40 or 400,000, they can't all be right but they can all be wrong. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anna B Posted January 24, 2016 Share Posted January 24, 2016 So was Grace along the lines of being glad there's food on the table, or being thankful to an invisible entity? Does it matter? Is there any reason why we can't just count our blessings / and / or / thank a deity of our choice, without giving offence to anyone? Just because man made religion causes no end of trouble, we shouldn't neglect our spiritual dimension which is all encompassing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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