There was a friend of mine (and I'm buggered if I can remember who) who went home during University having abandoned religion. And their mother arranged for the local religious representative to talk to them (I think CofE, but don't quote me). And the representative sat down with some tea and biscuits to discuss it in a paternalistic "Don't you _really_ want to do what God wants?" manner. At which point my friend asked something really obvious (like "How do you reconcile omnipotence and evil?" or "How do omniscience and free will go together?" at which point the representative said "Um, er." and fled like a startled rabbit.
Which always stuns me. Because I find it baffling that people who spend their entire lives centred around an idea haven't at least thought about it somewhat. ===
Also, yes, I totally agree that there's a continuum. There are people who have no coherent beliefs at all, just a grab bag of whatever sounded nice when they were in the idea shop. And there are people who have solid beliefs that they think tie together into a coherent whole. And while I also find the ideas of the latter group incoherent, it's not nearly so incoherent as the first lot.
Yeah, the description of your friend is really evocative. Perhaps once-a-year CoE Christians (even members of the church) are a good example of believing something, but the core of that something not _necessarily_ involving a literal God.
Which I don't want to push too loudly because it's somewhat prejudicial to people who don't want CoE to become associated with "non-serious" belief. But also, it is a place (like many religious have) where people often get involved with church events, and socialise with the congregation, and look to them for spiritual support, yet maybe get less actually religious.
And many people either stay and don't mention it, or drift away, possibly coming to identify as atheist or agnostic. (I'm sure there are hits for "atheist bishop", though I haven't tried it :))
But from that perspective, an approach of not picking at the definition of God may actually be a very useful one.
Yup, I'm sure there are plenty of people out there who get something out of the social elements and don't want to mention that they don't believe in case they have to stop spending time with their friends.
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Which always stuns me. Because I find it baffling that people who spend their entire lives centred around an idea haven't at least thought about it somewhat.
===
Also, yes, I totally agree that there's a continuum. There are people who have no coherent beliefs at all, just a grab bag of whatever sounded nice when they were in the idea shop. And there are people who have solid beliefs that they think tie together into a coherent whole. And while I also find the ideas of the latter group incoherent, it's not nearly so incoherent as the first lot.
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Which I don't want to push too loudly because it's somewhat prejudicial to people who don't want CoE to become associated with "non-serious" belief. But also, it is a place (like many religious have) where people often get involved with church events, and socialise with the congregation, and look to them for spiritual support, yet maybe get less actually religious.
And many people either stay and don't mention it, or drift away, possibly coming to identify as atheist or agnostic. (I'm sure there are hits for "atheist bishop", though I haven't tried it :))
But from that perspective, an approach of not picking at the definition of God may actually be a very useful one.
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