UK: 70% of young people are 'not religious' according to a report - Sensationalist Headlines

I'm very glad you aren't my fiance. Yes, you had nothing to do with this a horrible person did this who ended up committing suicide on the phone to her Brother, he had to hear his entire death. This was the day before he had court for rape/among other things. Implying you had anything to do with this is benign and I do not know why you would even say that? Yes I stated a simple joke, not a very good one I admit but I wasn't looking for this kind of reaction from anybody, especially religious. You should have seen right through that joke but no, you took offence. Seems like you have a lot to learn in life.

You just misread.

I don't think I did. We clearly are not going to have a pleasant conversation here and it's not because of religion at all. It's you.

"I am not your fiancée, I had and have nothing but this." Tell me where the word "do" is. I've never claimed involvement, that is pure insanity. Re-read the thread to see the fact that I'm a lonely fuck who had nothing but religion to cling onto life.

I never implied you were my fiance. What are getting at there? The verb do is in your sentence, if you must insist I point out the bloody obvious. I never even claimed your involvement. You obviously misread big time here pal. Sorry you feel that way, if religion helps then good for you. Keep it up.

yo guys you know you can be like "ye I don't believe in god, doesn't really make sense to me" without being all "Ah, I see the cloying cobwebs of superstition are being obliterated by the profundity of naturalistic exploration!" people being more atheistic doesn't necessarily mean people are any smarter popular thought is more about people going with the flow than it is about anyone actually thinking about anything

This doesn't surprise me; religious students are in the minority at my school, and people are now much younger when they begin to question the logic behind beliefs such as theological determinism and the concept of Heaven/Hell. I personally, at a youngish age, questioned the presented belief of our fates being decided at the moment of birth because I thought "If my place in Heaven/Hell has already been decided, does that mean I can commit crime and still go to Heaven?". Obviously, as I grew up, I understood the theory more, but the scepticism from a young age moulded me into the atheist I am today. I lean in the direction of being somewhat critical to the concept of religion, but certainly not to those that choose to be religious - religious freedom exists for a reason.

Yeah I know I started the thread conversation with a dumb joke and along comes Nabile.

You're wrong. He never said "I had nothing to do with this."

I'm pointing out the second part of the phrase. You responded with "Yes, you had nothing to do with this", which made me think you misread "I had and have nothing but this" with "I had and have nothing to do with this". The meaning was entirely different which prompted you to expand on your story when I said we had different backgrounds and that I would have died without religion.

He specifically said "I am not your fiance. Then said it was a call-out for smart arguments. Like I wanted to argue in the first place?

Not surprised at all. Living in the UK my entire life and hanging around many different social circles, running into someone who is religious is a rarity. I think a lot of it (at least for white Britons) is down to English Protestantism, it's a very passive and nonthreatening sect that's lost any of its romanticism or draw.

I was referring to the fiance part.

Having grown up with faith but surrounded by very vocal non-religious people, from my personal experience it's difficult to express or talk about faith without remembering years of ridicule. Not to me personally, but to Christianity in general. Even in college there was a time where a couple of my friends, having zero knowledge of my faith, thought it funny to bring a bible to campus and set it on fire to see "if god would put it out". I'm 28 now and I still find it incredibly difficult to discuss faith with people around me for that dreaded fear of backlash, criticism, and mockery. This may be why they seem secluded and shy.

That's incredibly stupid to burn bibles to see if god would put it out.. What is even the point. Well if you want to discuss it here (perhaps a subforum) I am sure many people will share similar experiences with you. We live in a cruel world with bullies, who want to prove themselves in whatever way they can like burning a bible/being a dipshit. Personally I would have thrown water over it and told them to grow the hell up. I would not mock you from your faith, it has meaning in a lot of people's lives and I do understand the good it can do and also that bad; ISIS, using the bible as a scapegoat for crime. Other people will though, but they are assholes and just ignore them man.

Religious belief is a desperate mind looking for reasons to keep living in a merciless world. Unfortunately these religious beliefs get in the way of seeking real solutions such as working with your fellow man to make this world a nit better. Its like an addiction, a desperate sad addiction.

Ironic that you say that when religion has been a great drive for people to working with fellow men to make the world better. The thousands of religious charities, for one example.

If God really loved us he'd smite Boris Johnson.

I'm worried you just opened a can of worms here.

Religious freedom, man. Just like how it can be disrespectful and rude for religious folk to try and goad the non-religious into becoming religious, the same can be said for atheists etc. shitting on religion. I'm not a huge fan of religion either, and I do occasionally question the motives behind actions of the Catholic Church etc. but that doesn't mean I have to degrade anyone who has these beliefs, or even label them as inferior for having them.

It's certainly a weird dynamic where no one judges the average American for Trump, or the average Russian for Putin, but the average Christian or Muslim is judged by their religious leader, even if one not widely followed.

Buddhism doesn't exactly fit that characteristic. They aren't judged by a leader, also I don't think all religious are judged by their religious leaders either.

I'm sure there will always be exceptions to it, such as Buddhism. And as for my statement about being judged on by leaders, it's mostly anecdotal and so subjective I suppose.

Thank you so much there's a few people like you and some other posters in this thread left in this world who have any kind of empathy. It really means a lot. You're the reason why I kept visiting this forum despite all the hate. I'm being nuked alive by the ratings and have legitimately taken it as a "kill youself, big woop, you're nothing". It's extremely hurtful and full of hatred, no wonder the world is in a sorry state. Like my years of school and me being bullied constantly, people missed out on a potentially friendly and useful person just because I "looked weird" (I heard this from my own ears). In the last two years of my education I was lucky to find a class full of mature people and I got to be one the friendliest and helpful out there, always laughing and trying to calm things down when others may have clashed. Today I got to experience grouped hatred in a long time, except it's not because I look weird, it's because I'm "religious". It makes me wonder if there was any reason to contribute to society (and this forum) if secretly people hated my guts had they known I'm Muslim/arab. Imagine if a person got dumped with similar blind hatred and were violent.

Look. I would of had a completely different respect for you if you replied in a proper manner without insulting me. But you didn't, this is the consequence.

I'm sorry you gotta deal with that shit my dude. If you're cool, you're cool no matter what label you have or what you look like. People who judge you without even knowing you aren't worth your time.

Honestly, I have to say, even though it's great that it helped you... If you've gotten to a point in your life where you're stable enough to do it, I think you should start taking a skeptic look at your beliefs. It should be a huge warning sign when you hold a belief purely as a defense mechanism. The reason you're getting 'hate' is that you're putting yourself in a logical argument armed with irrational arguments. If it helps you, great, but calling someone condescending because they haven't considered your irrational argument is a bad position to take. It sounds like you're still quite sensitive about this, so I feel like you'd benefit from not engaging in arguments about religion, especially by entering them with passive aggressive comments, when you can't handle the counter arguments.

Please drop it, it has nothing to do with you. You're advocating bullying and this can have extreme consequences. I made a small mistake from the first post with an underlying good intention, does it warrant making me want to kill myself ?

Very good points. I was trying to open dialogue with @Nabile but he just kept retorting with, as you said, irrational arguments. Also insults. I really did want to talk to him, even help him if I could. But I guess that it is beyond that point now, I didn't mean to offend him but he seemed to take it far too personal and the counter arguments were coming in like a leaking pipe, what could he do? He was literally being bombarded. All I wanted was dialogue man, why couldn't you have just done that @Nabile

What in the actual fuck ? The only insult I have ever uttered was in the very first post, and it was a passive aggressive remark. What is wrong with you ?