And atheism is a position of faith as much as faith is - seeing as it is also impossible to prove conclusively that God does not exist.
That’s a very interesting point, as al those you make are, but my only problem is that you are suggesting that somebody should prove a negatiove which of course cannot be done. In order to convince somebody that something is true then the balance of proof falls on demonstarting the positive.
I could claim to have seen a minature pink and green elephant the size of a mouse and of course nobody in the world could prove I hadn’t - the onus is on me to prove I did - you cannot prove a negative.

I personally remain open to anything myself although I find it difficult to accept something and embrace it totally without some evidence of truth.
I certainly believe that Jesus, a Mortal Prophet, existed but a greater divine spirit such as a god . . .

Thanks again for adding so well to the debate Christine
All the best
Rod

Religious people are not the only people open to the possibility of bioged views - there are several on this site. For a start, I find it interesting that the line is trotted out all the time that people of faith are stupid. Professors of Theology at the UK’s top universities are not exactly unthinking people. And there are many people of faith prominent in the field of scientific learning who do not find faith and science at odds with each other….though too often only polarised positions seem to get represented in the media. It is not very common knowledge, for example, that Darwin supported a Christian missionary society financially until his death.

Atheists often want to vent their anger ar religion using glib statements that are as groundless as the beliefs they claim to be against. What starts wars and bigotry is not necessarily religion, but the lack of ability to accept that other people have different opinions, and respect concerning the right of all people to live by their conscience, to practise freedom of religion or none, and freedom of speech within the rule of law.

All the people of faith I know are very open to debate, respectful friendship, the chance to share their story of why they have come to the conclusion of belief, unfortunately, however, in the media and in blogs/forums etc argument and debate is also often so unintelligent about faith - just the same old stereotypes.

I know some people have had bad experiences of “religion”… but religion (rules and regulations, power & control) is not necessarily the same as faith bourne out from the heart, with life experience and thoughtful questioning behind it. Jesus was pretty scathing with religious leaders too whose real motivation was self-interest.

Good wishes to all!

A genuine teenage perspective
Now this is of real use Tom and thanks for taking the time to share it with us.
I have to admit I have a penchant for using loaded terms on this site and little snippets here and there (lower case c for Christmas and g for God are two religious examples)

In this case though my experience is viewed, albeit time affected, as indoctrination.
I remember having the lord’s Prayer drummed into me for example and I never recall hearing about anything other than christianity.

The anecdote about the science teacher is quite disgraceful and a prime example of why I think religious studies should be kept out of schools.
I’m in favour of teaching people about different faiths, that’s important but as for the rest that is for home or outside life

As for religion’s impact on society… The nation has been flooded with atheism, and the weak have not found a replacement for belief in god as the purpose of their lives

That’s a hell of a sentence Tom - wish I’d written it !

Thanks again for adding to the debate and taking the time to comment - hope you’ll return - in fact with comments like this you’d better
All the best
Rod

Thanks for reading.

Prove it and I’ll believe it !
Cheers
Rod

I’m not convinced the results are any worse than they would have been over the past twenty years or so - it’s nearly 10 years since I left school (I presume the teenagers they questioned were of school age) and I doubt that my peers were any less sceptical of religion than today’s. Possibly if you go back 30 or 40 years the results may be different, but all that tells me is the teenagrs of 30 or 40 years ago were too blindly trusting for their own good!

As for the majority believing religious studies should be optional, I can explain why that is - at my school an RE (as it was called then) GCSE was compulsory for those of us who were sitting more than 5 GCSEs, and it would have won the prize for the most boring subject, with the least interactive, least discussion-starting, lessons, by miles!

Annie