>>No man is an atheist when faced in situations of dispair<<

OMG!!

Ooops.

>>Non - believers should not insist in having funerals for themselves or deceased friends / relatives , in a church , conducted by a minister of religion<<

Amen to that...

Ooops.

I suspect another agenda here. Surely, no-one could mistake the use of simple, everyday phrases, expressing surprise, sympathy, agreement or whatever, with a suppressed desire for religion?

These are turns-of-phrase. They are automatic responses - yes, quite possibly from a religious linguistic hinterland, but signifying nothing more than the fact that most of our oaths, over the centuries, have been religion-based.

"Strewth", as any fule kno, is a contraction of "God's truth". "Gorblimey" was "God blind me". "For crying out loud" was an exclamation that started out as "For Christ's sake!" At least it was when my father used it.

Does the use of these somehow signify a subterranean desire for the spiritual?

I doubt it.

No more than Julia's "prayer" was directed at a subconsciously longed-for deity.

Mountains. Molehills.

‘All men believe in some higher power’. How does one arrive at such a 'position'? I guess it is via a pathway that heads for a destination labelled 'atheism is whatever I say it is, so I can then say whatever I like about it'.

I always thought that atheism was something much simpler - the absence of belief in what other people call their gods. But honestly, I have not given it much thought. Since age about 13 it seemed painfully obvious to me that other people's religions were based on current wishful thinking and/or an inherited legacy of past ignorance and superstition. It was not I who wished to put a label on my conclusion, but I guess the word 'atheist' is convenient enough. But please don't fiddle with its meaning in order to make inaccurate generalisations.

I do not believe in some higher power, meaning the kind of higher power that other folk call their gods. So there.

What is the point of this article. It merely reminds us rather stridently, that people are varied and find spiritual meaning in many different ways.

So what if JG said "we pray for ...speedy recovery". It is a terminology. I have often said My God when something amazing happens - it is built into cultural language. Australia has a Judeo-Christian heritage which has impacted on aspects of language, that is perfectly normal.

So what if there are no 'atheists' in fox holes. I can imagine with death looming that one might reach out to the thinnest of hopes no matter how incredulous, it is a natural human instinct to survive. That is not proof of God, it is purely evidence of the nature of man.

Why do so many Christians insist their views are right for everyone even to the point of insisting on school programs dedicated to Christian proselytising. Why do Christians go on the attack over any perceived slight on Christianity including sometimes defending the indefensible.

Finding yet more ways to villify people who find spirituality in different ways is not a worthy response. Atheism just means a disbelief in the presence of a supernatural being. It does not preclude people from all things spiritual if that is their wont. Atheists like Christians are not a homogenous group. I know many Christians who read their horoscopes on a daily basis.

People are many and varied, we are not all the same and people are what they do not what they say. Words are easy, actions are long felt.

There is no need to consistently vilify those who do not share your spiritual beliefs.

Find strength in your own beliefs without the need to demonise others for is the better approach I reckon.

Yes, Pericles, Julia is the atheist messiah who prays in public and believes in the most hysterical global warming prophecies. And if you don’t believe her well you’re a heretic (denier). How dare we question the messiah. After all, she is beyond accountability.

C'mon BPT.

>>Yes, Pericles, Julia is the atheist messiah who prays in public and believes in the most hysterical global warming prophecies. And if you don’t believe her well you’re a heretic (denier). How dare we question the messiah. After all, she is beyond accountability<<

That's just plain silly. And aren't you being just the teensiest bit hysterical yourself?

Climate change is not a religious belief.

If we are going to reduce all policy to religious beliefs and all advocates of those numerous policies as Messiahs this is going to be a very long article response.

Climate change is worthy of debate but it is nothing to do with spiritual atheism or with religion despite the fact it is often religious people who deny climate change by using religious analogies.

Those sceptical of AGW are a mixed bunch and include Atheists and non-atheists alike.