Are We Christian By Default.?

[modeller]

Do we in the UK register a birth and are baptised because WE BELIEVE WE HAVE TO !

A vicar once told me most people are Three Wheelers . They only go to church for Baptism, Marriage, and Death.

[Peter Pedant]

Hi muh-deeler
have a good easter
long time no read .....

and here we are in Holy week - I thought it was Passion week but that was last week apparently

registering a birth is a legal duty by the way ( give to Caesar what is Caesars - hey I'm feeling new testamenty today )

baptism - as an RC you miss an opportunity for a damned good poss up if you dont christen -and anyway it is the oldest sacrament innit ?

I thought we were atheist by default in an atheist society

but the public revulsion over use of chemical weapons,
and revulsion over the machine gunning of 150 muslim kids in Pakistan - by other muslims

clearly acceptable to other religions - does show we are christian

Also the putting up of Monegasque footie supporters in Dortmund and the M supporters chanting Dortmund Dortmund - showed welcome christian values .....

sorry a cont you rarely see on AB
arguing from facts to a logical conclusion

Have a good easter

[Old_Geezer]

As a Christian country most are Christian because our parents defined themselves as such. Just taking in the three popular occasions seems fine to me. Keeps your membership going until you meet the big guy.

I think you are obliged to register a birth. It's a secular/civic matter.

[KARL]

Registering a birth is, as already said, a strict legal requirement and failure to do so can result in punishment (during life on earth, and fairly quickly at that). As for baptism and lots of other customs, it all depends on how formulaic people are - either they feel they must copy the practice in question in order to "be like normal people", or else they do (or not) what and as it suits them. The likelihood is that if X% of people uphold a custom/habit/formula then X% of people are formulaic by nature (or unimaginative/conservative/hidebound). One also needs to account for social pressures toward conformity, more in some societies than others, and the Y% percent of non-conformance is one measure of the true freedom existing within the society in question.

[naomi24]

Regardless of religion, registration of births is a legal requirement, but baptism is a choice. That said, the culture we’re born into does influence our lives. For example I still serve fish at my table on Good Friday, and turkey at Christmas, both now simply a tradition for me, but without doubt influenced by the culture I was born into.

[Zacs-Master]

Surely a person can think beyond cultural influences though? Isn't that what progresses human evolution....doing something which our ancestors would have thought radical?

[jno]

or you can simply adapt to them, ZM. That's why McDonald's invented Filet o Fish: because burger sales always dropped on Fridays. (And in the Middle Ages, "fish" included poultry.)

[Zacs-Master]

I think we've entered the twiglet(sp) zone.

[RobNorth]

A lot more people attend McDonald's than attend church - I think.
So if McDonald's did a bit more preaching and introduced some fairy stories they may gain mainstream religious status within a generation or two.....
I've always been doubtful and uneasy about the Christian idea of going to heaven - all those good dinosaurs and sabre tooth tigers roaming around...

[Zacs-Master]

Ha rob! I'm sure they have coffee mornings where we can all be introduced.

[Khandro]

Going to church only for " Baptism, Marriage, and Death. " does not signify that a person is irreligious. William Blake for one, who wrote 'Jerusalem' and whose life's work was so dedicated to Jesus and Christianity, was among the most dedicated of Christians and yet he despised the Christian church.

[mikey4444]

I have been speaking to lots of people over the last few years, and number of them have said that they are Christians, but have never attended a Church in their lives.

If that is so, and they don't really believe in any of the basic core tenets of Christianity, then I am at a loss as to why they can describe themselves as Christians ? I am guessing that it just a default admission.

But I am also coming across more and more people that say that they don't have any religious beliefs at all. Also, I have been to a number of funerals, held in Crematoriums, where there has been no religious contents whatsoever. Ditto with civil weddings.

[ummmm]

Mikey - If I was asked I would say I'm Catholic. Reality is I'm an Atheist.

My sons haven't been baptised.

[mikey4444]

Ummm...you and I are similar then !

I was brought up to be Catholic, but have been an Atheist since my late teens, and if I was asked now, then I would have to say that I am an Atheist

[naomi24]

Mikey, many people consider themselves to be Christian even though they don't attend church regularly. They do believe in the basic tenets of Christianity. Church attendance isn't fundamental, or essential, to Christian belief.

[Khandro]

Ref. Today, Good Friday, many Christian churches celebrate Good Friday with a subdued service, usually in the evening, in which Christ’s death is remembered with solemn hymns, prayers of thanksgiving, a message centered on Christ’s suffering for our sakes, and observance of the Lord’s Supper. Whether or not Christians choose to “celebrate” Good Friday, the events of that day should be ever on our minds because it commemorates the death of Christ on the cross.
You can either join a community to meditate on the death of Christ or you can quietly dwell on it in private - it makes little difference, one isn't more "religious" than the other.

[Zacs-Master]

Can I just go down the pub and just not think about it at all, like an awful lot of other people?

[ummmm]

Mikey - the reason I don't say I'm atheist is because I don't want to get into a discussion about it. No one has ever questioned me when I've said Catholic but they are curious when you say you don't believe in God.

I do occasionally go to mass but only when I'm in Ireland.

[ummmm]

Zacs...that's where you go...after mass!!! :-)

[naomi24]

ummmm, I find quite often if you say you're an atheist, people give you a funny sideways glance, and leave it at that. The mistrust is palpable!

[mikey4444]

Ummm...if you are content to give that answer, then its obviously working for you. But would find it difficult to lie convincingly !