atheist in Canada

[GreenStar]

I am a US citizen and recent resident of Canada, somewhat right leaning on monetary issues, free handouts, not a bible thumper and believe in evolution. I noted that during the US elections there was more negative comments on people or parties that had faith, from this forum, than I would have expected. While attending our small, local church the other day, the minister stated that 15-17% of Canadians attend church, which is about half of that in the US. The low number really surprised me and is what brought me too this question from you fellow aviators. Are most Canadians apathtic about attending church or are they truly atheist? Just curious.

[bmc]

That's an interesting statistic. Was the statistic applying to "church" as in pchristianity, or did it consider other religions as well.

30% of the population in the US attending church seems like a staggeringly high number doesn't it?

[bmc]

Just found this link:

http://www.religioustolerance.org/rel_rate.htm

Given the amount of religious intollerance globally in the past eight years, the higher the number in those polls, the more nervouse I get. I get uncomfortable when it starts seeping into political ideology.

[Ralliart]

I know very few people in Canada who attend a Church on a regular basis.

After being in the USA for the past 6 months, I know very few people who don't attend a Church on a regular basis.

The difference is night and day.

[Hedley]

Most Canadians are not very (traditionally) religious, in
my experience. Hardly anyone I know goes to church
on Sunday.

I prefer to go flying on Sunday, instead of sitting in
a church. If I was asked what my religion was on
a form, I could truthfully probably answer "aviation".
I guess religion is a really more of a state of mind,
not a physical place, for me.

See, I'm not convinced that sitting in a church for
a few hours every week will make me a good,
religious person.

If I spend a few hours every week in a garage,
will that make me a car?

[bmc]

If I spend a few hours every week in a garage,
will that make me a car?

[Rockie]

The separation of church and state is a fallacy in the United States. The evangelical right got Bush elected and thinks Palin is a gift from heaven. Elizabeth Dole desperately called her opponent in the recent election an athiest because she knew it was as bad as calling her Osama Bin Ladin (it didn't work because her opponent proved she was a devout Christian). What she should have said is "BIG F***IN DEAL, how does that make me less capable, moral or ethical?"

Evangelical Christians are as good at justifying their actions as the will of God as Islamic Fundamentalists are, and they scare me almost as much.

[Hedley]

As soon as you realize that religion, like, say recreational
drug use, is a vice, and not a virtue, pretty much everything
falls into place after that.

Some people argue that a little recreational drug use - like
a little religion - is harmless, as long as you only do it during
the evenings and weekends, and it doesn't interfere with
your work or family. But I'm not so sure.

There is no doubt, however, that large doses of drugs
(or religion) will cause you to do very strange and destructive
things. In the case of an excessive amount of religion, you
may feel the urge to fly a Boeing into a tall building, or
perhaps purchase a hunting rifle and start shooting doctors.

[Sulako]

I think that the bible has screwed up the earth more than any other single book, but that's probably substance for an entirely different post.

My mind is my own church, so I don't need to go to any particular building to communicate with the unknowable, and I certainly don't need to go dress up and sit in some building and listen to some guy tell me I'm going to hell for living my life the way I want to.

Oh, and I also don't believe there's a magic man up in the sky who is watching me all the time to see if I break some rules etched on a piece of rock by some guy a few thousand years ago - that's just silly.

I think that making life better for other people is the ultimate goal, and you don't need to add religious baggage to that in order to make it work.

Just be kind. Seriously.

[fleet16b]

A couple of quotes about religion :

if I want to talk to God, I don't need a middle man. - unknown

this myth of Christ has served us well - 16th century Pope

IMHO - How can anyone and I mean anyone truly believe that a man born just like the rest of us can decide to choose religion as his line of work , then all of a sudden claim to converse with God ? There is only one way they can believe and that is by blind faith.

NOBODY on this planet has 100% solid proof of the existance of a gReater being, God etc . The only 100% truth is that we all get to know what the truth is in the end.

[Doc]

Ever wonder why an "Act of God" is always something BAD? Like a killer tsunami, a hurricane, or any number of natural disasters? An "Act of God" is NEVER good. So, if there IS a God, is he/she a shithead?
You're just "visiting" this world. When you're gone, you'll be the same place you were during the Battle of Hastings. Just not here.......let that puppy sink in.

[Icebound]

...

For whatever reason, Canadians (as a whole) are a lot more open to "critical thinking" than Americans (as a whole), whether it is religion, or the war in Iraq, ....

Why this difference???.... my suspicion is that Canada's smaller population resulted in smaller "ghettos" of like-thinking people. Small ghettos were easier to break up as their youth moved on and became exposed to other thinking in the larger mosaic of the country.

The large American populations of like-thinkers were largely able to persist and shelter their young from opposing views. As a result, political leadership ends up having to pander to them, even if they don't want to.... and it even becomes useful to encourage such populations so as to have a "base" of political power.

Canadians have some of those, too, but not nearly as pervasive.

Canadians are not necessarily any less "religious" in the sense of having a moral compass that wants to "love thy neighbour" and do good.

But a lot more critical of earthly organizations that presume to have divine origin.




...

[fleet16b]

Icebound

Very interesting observation and I agree wholeheartedly

can I get an amen ...............

[Widow]

I am neither a theist, nor an atheist.

"God" means different things to different people.

Until there is a singular, quantifying/qualifying definition of "god", I shall remain Ignostic.

[Cat Driver]

hmmmm, I see there are 77% of us so far.

[Rockie]

hmmmm, I see there are 77% of us so far.

I guess we'll never be President of the United States. Dang.

[Cat Driver]

Or governor of Alaska.

I watched Greta interview Sarah Palin and she seemed to be quite normal until the second interview when she started on about God will decide what she will do.

Scary.

[chipmunk]

Or governor of Alaska.

I watched Greta interview Sarah Palin and she seemed to be quite normal until the second interview when she started on about God will decide what she will do.

Scary.

Reminds me of talking to some pilots of a now defunct airline in Nigeria about why they chose to commence an approach during a massive thunderstorm with less than a km visibility instead of holding for the 10 minutes for the cell to pass by. (They ended up with one of the main landing gear off the edge of the runway by about 10 feet and skidded along at angle to the runway for a few thousand feet before somehow managing to get back onto the runway. Scariest thing I've ever witnessed - I was on the ramp, not on board...)

They said "if God wants us to survive, he will protect us."

[Invertago]

I am neither a theist, nor an atheist.

"God" means different things to different people.

Until there is a singular, quantifying/qualifying definition of "god", I shall remain Ignostic.

To claim to know the existence of God is to hold faith in a belief that there is no God. It is impossible to prove that God exists or doesn't exist. Being atheist is a belief just as being religious is. At least the agnostics admit that we can't really know based on any actual proof. If there was actual scientific proof out there the atheist vs religious argument would go the way of the flat vs round world. You either believe one thing or another but you can't prove it.

[g5]

I find it sad when I start to become friends with someone and then I find out they're religious because I know we can neverreally be friends...

[pontius]

Hedley said.......


"If I spend a few hours every week in a garage,
will that make me a car?"


Yes, of course.

[Four1oh]

Agnostics are just pussies who don't have the balls to actually admit to themselves that there's no such thing as Santa, the Easter Bunny, Brittney Spears, and God.


*note* I capitalized them all, just in case!

[Doc]

I believe in the Easter Bunny! At least he shows up! And he lays chocolate eggs! How can you NOT believe in something that lays chocolate eggs????
And, then there's the Tooth Fairy....I suppose you don't believe in the Tooth Fairy either?

[Invertago]

I believe in the Easter Bunny! At least he shows up! And he lays chocolate eggs! How can you NOT believe in something that lays chocolate eggs????
And, then there's the Tooth Fairy....I suppose you don't believe in the Tooth Fairy either?

Thats different, they leave evidence... most importantly, they give you stuff!

[Widow]

I am neither a theist, nor an atheist.

"God" means different things to different people.

Until there is a singular, quantifying/qualifying definition of "god", I shall remain Ignostic.

To claim to know the existence of God is to hold faith in a belief that there is no God. It is impossible to prove that God exists or doesn't exist. Being atheist is a belief just as being religious is. At least the agnostics admit that we can't really know based on any actual proof. If there was actual scientific proof out there the atheist vs religious argument would go the way of the flat vs round world. You either believe one thing or another but you can't prove it.

Ignosticism is the theological position that every other theological position (including agnosticism) assumes too much about the concept of God and many other theological concepts. The word "Ignosticism" was coined by Rabbi Sherwin Wine. It can be defined as encompassing two related views about the existence of God.

The first view is that a coherent definition of God must be presented before the question of the existence of God can be meaningfully discussed. Furthermore, if that definition cannot be falsified, the ignostic takes the theological noncognitivist position that the question of the existence of God (per that definition) is meaningless. In this case, the concept of God is not considered meaningless; the term "God" is considered meaningless.

The second view is synonymous with theological noncognitivism, and skips the step of first asking "What is meant by God?" before proclaiming the original question "Does God exist?" as meaningless.

Some philosophers have seen ignosticism as a variation of agnosticism or atheism,[1] while others have considered it to be distinct. An ignostic cannot even say whether he/she is a theist or a nontheist until a better definition of theism is put forth.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ignostic