Why are there so many churchy people here.

[Joe Republic]

It does seem a little disappointing at first glance, I'll agree.  But the result of the 'did you go to church last night' poll right now stands at about 65% 'no', so there's still hope for us yet.

I wonder how many of the rational folks among us still went to church anyway because of family tradition/pressure.  Poor guys.

[Joe Republic]

It does seem a little disappointing at first glance, I'll agree.  But the result of the 'did you go to church last night' poll right now stands at about 65% 'no', so there's still hope for us yet.

I wonder how many of the rational folks among us still went to church anyway because of family tradition/pressure.  Poor guys.

Don't be a putz. It's Christmas.

Duh!  I'm having a blast today!  One of my favorite times of year.  The Mrs and I exchanged gifts that had been sitting under the tree, her parents came to stay for a couple days, we went ice skating at the Cosmo two days ago, we watched our favorite Christmas movies, etc.  We just don't go in for all the religious claptrap that's meant to go with it.

As a nonbeliever who has been to a few masses, I can tell you it's not lethal.

Believe me, I know.  I went to a few as a child.  But eventually I grew up and understood the reality of Santa and God.  At least the concept of Santa is fun for the kids, however.  The God stuff is just a giant holiday buzzkill.

[Joe Republic]

Funny. I wasn't even thinking about Christmas. It's a subject I've been thinking about for a while.

I have too.  But it isn't just a surprising thing about this forum.  Even real people I meet in real life might seem normal at first, but then we'll add each other on FB or IG and suddenly my feeds are full of "Blessed is the child, for he is risen! --Ralph 5:21" and so on.  Only occasionally is it annoying (like when it essentially becomes spam), but it's just more... surprising, really.

[Joe Republic]

Duh!  I'm having a blast today!  One of my favorite times of year.  The Mrs and I exchanged gifts that had been sitting under the tree, her parents came to stay for a couple days, we went ice skating at the Cosmo two days ago, we watched our favorite Christmas movies, etc.  We just don't go in for all the religious claptrap that's meant to go with it.

And, since it's Christmas, kindly show goodwill and charity to those of us who do instead of (or in addition to!--for this also is possible; believe me, I know from experience) being judgmental for no good reason.

Believe me, I know.  I went to a few as a child.  But eventually I grew up and understood the reality of Santa and God.  At least the concept of Santa is fun for the kids, however.  The God stuff is just a giant holiday buzzkill.

The God stuff is, for most people who celebrate this holiday, largely the point, at least conceptually. In some countries the God stuff is the Santa stuff. Ask Tender.

Dude, it's just my opinion.  And it's just what I'm used to, virtually my whole life.  Don't act all affronted that a sizeable number of people enjoy the fun side of certain Christian holidays without bothering with the dull religious stuff associated with them.

[Joe Republic]

It's disappoiting that people go to church on Christmas? That's a good one.

That's... not really what I said.

[Joe Republic]

Great, another pious lecture from Gustaf.  Just what I always wanted for Christmas!

[Joe Republic]

Great, another pious lecture from Gustaf.  Just what I always wanted for Christmas!

Huh? I'm not the one trying to tell people what they should do for Christmas or making fun of them. If anyone was giving pious lectures in this thread it was you and I was merely pointing that out in two sentences.

Tell people what to do?  I couldn't care less what people do.  My posts in this thread were directed only at those I generally agree with on the subject of religion (e.g. memphis, the creator of the topic and poser of its question), because I learned long ago not to bother engaging directly with religious folk any more.  As Scott said a few posts up, I 'preach to my own choir' on religion these days.  You guys can read and respond to it if you want, but you weren't the people I was ever really talking to.

[Joe Republic]

You either didn't read or didn't understand my point.  I was talking to memphis, and by extension anybody else who is baffled by the culture of religion.  Not Nathan, not you, or any other religious people.  (Didn't you see my use of the word "us"?)  Sure, you guys are all here anyway and can all read my posts, which makes things a little awkward I guess, but I'm simply talking amongst my peers.

Remember when HockeyDude said earlier that this forum is different from real life in that whenever he discusses religion with his social peers, it's to criticize or mock it?  I'm the same; I'm just not used to talking about religion in front of people who actually subscribe to it.

[Joe Republic]

You either didn't read or didn't understand my point.  I was talking to memphis, and by extension anybody else who is baffled by the culture of religion.  Not Nathan, not you, or any other religious people.  (Didn't you see my use of the word "us"?)  Sure, you guys are all here anyway and can all read my posts, which makes things a little awkward I guess, but I'm simply talking amongst my peers.

Remember when HockeyDude said earlier that this forum is different from real life in that whenever he discusses religion with his social peers, it's to criticize or mock it?  I'm the same; I'm just not used to talking about religion in front of people who actually subscribe to it.

Not entirely true, Joe.  I've plenty of teligious friends, but in my closest crew agnosticism is the majority, and even the religious ones at least see my point and don't consider it offensive in the least. 

Fair enough, and in fact I'm also about the same with that too.  It's generally more apatheism than agnosticism, though.  And as I mentioned earlier, my religious friends invariably keep their beliefs entirely to themselves to the point that I didn't even know that about them until I add them on some kind of social media.  That's when they pour forth.  Quite interesting, really.  It's kind of like finding out they're gay or Republican or something; not necessarily anything wrong with it, per se.  Just... surprising.