I will write this in English so that I can express myself better. I don't know about your country, whether christianity is taken as a norm. I myself am a catholic, but I live in a place where there are so many different religions and free-thinkers that such things make little difference to people's relationships.
I don't think that proper relationships should ever be based solely on religion, hope I'm not offending anyone here. Beliefs and values do not equal religion. Most religions consist of so many different beliefs, that some of them may not be as easy to accept as others. I think it's better to stop being attached to a religion, than to be attached to a religion but don't exactly believe in it (like me).
I also don't believe that you must either belong to a religion or be an atheist. You can be a free-thinker and believe in the existance of a god but not for a particular religion (much like some of my friends). Personally I think that if everyone is a free-thinker then there will not be these conflicts and wars started by different religious groups.
Sorry to flood your comments, just my two cents' worth, because I think it's unfair that your friendships are affected this badly by your decision. And I shall stop here in case your friends stone me to death.
Here the majority is officially Christian (Lutheran), but I'd say most of Finland is secular; people seem to prefer ignoring such matters... I didn't even think about countries like yours where religions inevitably mix, but that's a brilliant point, and I think if there's someone I should listen to, it's you, for you have experience.
I agree. You can have certain beliefs without following that specific religion, and values... it's ridiculous to say one can't have any values without a religion. Any idea whether people in eastern religions (Hinduism, Chinese religions...) do this Christian thing, kind of being religious but not really believing in it? I'm not sure if there's a word for that in English, but in Finland we call it habit-Christianity...
Ah yes, I have the knack of perceiving or at least presenting things too black-and-white. I'm more of a free-thinker than an atheist myself. Though if everyone was a free-thinker, there would be no real religious heritage anymore, or so I'd see it - traditions would become more or less empty, groups would fall apart, though maybe then there'd be different ways to form groups, as it apparently happens in your part of the world.
Heh. It's alright. I hope my friends are at least tolerant, even if someone wanted to abandon me for my (lack of) faith. My true friends don't mind though, Jukka and those others aren't so close. What you said was very insightful... thank you for giving your opinion.
I don't think that proper relationships should ever be based solely on religion, hope I'm not offending anyone here. Beliefs and values do not equal religion. Most religions consist of so many different beliefs, that some of them may not be as easy to accept as others. I think it's better to stop being attached to a religion, than to be attached to a religion but don't exactly believe in it (like me).
I also don't believe that you must either belong to a religion or be an atheist. You can be a free-thinker and believe in the existance of a god but not for a particular religion (much like some of my friends). Personally I think that if everyone is a free-thinker then there will not be these conflicts and wars started by different religious groups.
Sorry to flood your comments, just my two cents' worth, because I think it's unfair that your friendships are affected this badly by your decision. And I shall stop here in case your friends stone me to death.
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I agree. You can have certain beliefs without following that specific religion, and values... it's ridiculous to say one can't have any values without a religion. Any idea whether people in eastern religions (Hinduism, Chinese religions...) do this Christian thing, kind of being religious but not really believing in it? I'm not sure if there's a word for that in English, but in Finland we call it habit-Christianity...
Ah yes, I have the knack of perceiving or at least presenting things too black-and-white. I'm more of a free-thinker than an atheist myself. Though if everyone was a free-thinker, there would be no real religious heritage anymore, or so I'd see it - traditions would become more or less empty, groups would fall apart, though maybe then there'd be different ways to form groups, as it apparently happens in your part of the world.
Heh. It's alright. I hope my friends are at least tolerant, even if someone wanted to abandon me for my (lack of) faith. My true friends don't mind though, Jukka and those others aren't so close. What you said was very insightful... thank you for giving your opinion.
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