Runner, if you are worried that the end of Christianity will cause the end of the golden rule (Do unto others etc), don't be. The golden rule predates the time Jesus walked the Earth, or is thought by some to have walked the Earth, by hundreds of years, or was it thousands. Rational people will certainly continue to value the golden rule long after religions cease to exist because its arise as a guiding principle owes nothing to religion; except that Jesus thought it was a such a good idea when he heard about it that he sponsored it quite enthusiastically. As any other switched on preacher would have done.

And when you write, "Self righteousness and self centredness is (sic) the clear fruit of the regressives", you seem to be categorising yourself as a regressive. Possibly you are also outing yourself as a feminist but your syntax leaves some doubt about that interpretation.

I suspect there's a lot of cultural bias in the belief that an historical Jesus existed. Most people - both theist and atheist - will happily believe that an historical Jesus existed, despite there being no reliable evidence for this; yet we'll all dismiss, out of hand, the idea that an historical Horus existed - or any other messiah that the Jesus character was likely plagiarised from.

Dear david f,

I'm inclined to agree with Pericles, regarding the eventual disappearance of religion - throughout the Western world, at least. At no point in history have we had so many educated people, and nor have we had such brilliant means of communications by which to spread information. Furthermore, neither of these factors seem to be showing any signs of slowing anytime soon.

I am sure, however, that a return to the “Dark Ages”, through some apocalyptic event, would breathe new life into religion as humans became superstitious and fearful again.

Many good posts there, except for Runner and his equally dumb mate Asho but then there are always some who are too dense to see the evidence that stares them in the face.

David

'Runner, if you are worried that the end of Christianity will cause the end of the golden rule '

GlenC you really are naive to think their will be an end of Christ and His followers. Next you will be telling me that Israel will be wiped off the map. I choose to believe in the One who never lied rather than your hopeless narrative.

So what happened to all those people before the birth of Jesus 2014 years ago, they all disappeared into lala land the same as we all will disappear into lala land, that is not going anywhere after death, how on earth can people like Runner believe in such rubbish, dead, that's it, the same as the ancient Egyptians, nothing else, they were alive the same as we are but they didn't get a guernsey into your heaven Runner because they were born before the fictitious virgin birth and believed in other crap, they deserved the same as what you are expecting after you go, not a fair situation by your God is it, the befores don't count like the afters, unfortunately you will be the same as the Egyptians and others, death being final and just lucky to have lived in your speck in time.

Dear A J Philips,

Educated people have the tools at their command to rationalise the irrational. They have the insight to see religion as an effective tool to control others. Read Charles Freeman's "The Closing of the Western Mind." It tells how the adoption of Christianity as the official religion of the Roman Empire destroyed the spirit of inquiry current in the classical world. The adoption of Christianity ushered in the Dark Ages. It can happen again.

My personal view is that there is no supernatural entity of any kind, and I think of myself as intelligent. I read the "Confessions" of St. Augustine, and his intelligence seemed greater than mine. His reflections on time and space were sublime. However, he seemed to sincerely believe in the nonsense of Christianity. He had an unreasonable sense of guilt, and the Christian mumbojumbo alleviated it. People of great intelligence supported the totalitarianism of Marxism and fascism. If intelligence and education correlated with common sense, compassion and reason religion would disappear. However, I don't think there is such a correlation. There appears to be a need, even in the educated and intelligent, for the irrational found in religion.

Credo quia absurdum is a Latin phrase that means "I believe because it is absurd." It is a paraphrase of a statement in Tertullian's work De Carne Christi, "prorsus credibile est, quia ineptum est", which can be translated: "it is by all means to be believed, because it is absurd".[1] The context is a defence of the tenets of orthodox Christianity against docetism. Tertullian was a highly intelligent person who relied on the absurdity of Christianity as a justification of his belief.