If This Not A Full U-Turn...

[Khandro]

... is it at least a 90° one?   😃

 

https://www.breitbart.com/europe/2024/04/01/athiest-richard-dawkins-says-he-would-choose-christianity-over-islam-every-single-time/

[jourdain2]

Our church isn't always empty, but it is peaceful - comes from nigh on 1,000 years of contemplation and prayer I expect.

 I do like Dawkins' phrase of 'cultural Christianity'.

However, over the last very few years, 500 of the churches  which closed have been repurposed and are now operating as mosques - so anyone  who doesn't want to  live in a cultural atmosphere of Islam ought really to help to keep their local church open.  People can choose to contribute just  to the Fabric Fund, which just helps to keep  the building up and  running, no religious subscription.  Many people choose to do this.  .... end of advert..   :)

[retrocop]

It really makes you wonder just why so many Mosques are required ,in a predominately Christian country , for a so called 'ethnic minority'

[Peter Pedant]

OhI thought you were gonna say that the arch bish of Canterbury had cast doubt on the historical resurrection.

or said he didnt know

Been done before Bishop of Durham was thought to be an atheist by his diocese

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Jenkins_(bishop)

[sandyRoe]

Didn't Jenkins incur the wrath of the Almighty?

A thunderbolt from heaven set his cathedral ablaze.

[Peter Pedant]

 Anyone who has visited Moslem religious buildings such as exist in Istanbul for example (as I have)

Hagia Sophia was a basilica before a mosque for chrissakes - oh well AB on a thursday, mods with nothing to do

[Peter Pedant]

eys  it was set alight by a meteor strike 4 days after his consecration.

when the people of the diocese were asked who should replace him one replied: someone who believes in God wd be a good start

[Peter Pedant]

the bishop was commonly thought be an atheist by the people in the diocese

[naomi24]

Peter Pedant, you're not too familiar with Istanbul then.  

[jno]

that appears to be the case, sandyRoe, though as PP's link shows he was quoted as saying the exact opposite of what he did say. The Almighty should place less trust in the reportage of the Daily Mail.

[Khandro]

^^^^^ Yes PP, that much acclaimed piece of 'Islamic architecture' the Hagia Sophia in Constantinople (now Istanbul) was built as a Christian church in the 6th cent. under the direction of the Byzantine emperor Justinian I, before Mohamad was even born! 

[jno]

why so many Mosques are required ,in a predominately Christian country , for a so called 'ethnic minority'

those churches acquired by Islam are required by a religious minority, because the original worshippers no longer have any use for them or the faith they embodied. If Christians want to keep their churches all they have to do is use them more often. A church is for life, not just for Christmas Eve.

[dave50]

Well he would be missing out on all those young virgins he would have access to if he strapped on a suicide vest and killed a load of infidels along with himself.

[Khandro]

jno. Yes, but you don't have to go to church just to keep it alive, you can go because a visit can be spiritually (& socially) uplifting.

The last visit I made to church in England was to a Sunday morning service in St. Lawrence's church in Stroud. The vicar had moved the pews to the back of the church and set out chairs in circles, so instead of looking at the back of heads you looked at one another face to face, which created an atmosphere of community. (Christ would have approved :0) 

There was about 40 people present, it was a very nice experience and we even had coffee afterwards and chatted to one another. 

Not a bad way to spend an hour or so on a Sunday morning. I would say.

 

[jno]

Khandro, I was responding to a post asking why there were so many mosques, and one noting that some were converted churches.  The answer isn't that there are necessarily more Muslims, just that a greater percentage of Muslims than of Christians regularly attend worship. (One ex-church near me is now a mosque; another is a block of flats with a steeple.)

I'm not that fussed about seating arrangements though I believe they played a part in the religious schisms in early modern times.

[Khandro]

"No more mosques; we have enough."

T. Robinson. 

[Radagast]

Khandro, I think Richard Dawkins would've said the same 20 years ago. I don't think it's a turn of any sort.

[Mozz71]

Good to see that a thread discussing the cultural and architectural merits of places of worship has ended up with a quote from that most famous of theologians, Tommy Robinson.

[Ellipsis]

What do you expect, when you start with a Breitbart URL that can't even spell "atheist".  The alt-right is assembling for the next chapter of Trump versus Biden ...

[jno]

I dunno, ellipsis, some people are athier than others but Dawkins must be the athiest.

[Khandro]

Two messengers shot within ten minutes - Breitbart & Robinson. The loony left are out in force. 😄