Was Terry Pratchett brought up a Catholic?
- Thread starter poohcarrot
- Start date
When I went to elementary school we had bible classes. One day my grandmother asked me what I had learned in school, so I told her that we had learned that god created the earth etc.(everything really) She was furious 
She told me it was all a lot of rubbish and not true and that there was no god and that I shouldn't believe it. So there are no Christians in our family (Granny made sure there weren't any )
She told me it was all a lot of rubbish and not true and that there was no god and that I shouldn't believe it. So there are no Christians in our family (Granny made sure there weren't any )
Dotsie said:
That's not what you said first time, smartypants. So if a person believes that the flying teapot is a god (not a God - that's different), then they are not an atheist.
For an atheist, you are more obsessed with God than any christian I've ever met
For an atheist, you are more obsessed with God than any christian I've ever met
God(s) with or without an upper case G or a plural is/are different from belief. You could fervently believe the world was flat as per official church teachings and not in any god and be an atheist - in the latter parts of the 15th Century this was a common belief on the flat earth front in fundamental Christian circles though it may not have been a v. good idea to go around banging on about it. But it was still perfectly possible.
A-the-ist requires a total lack of the-ology. The=god in greek - I think Wiki and most dictionary type publications on or offline will agree with that as in a-moral being a person without any concept of morals good or bad.
I am a very lapsed Catholic. I used to win prizes for theology when I was 9 but I rejected the idea of a Christian Old Testament god at 8 years old in favour of a New Testament god on moral and philopsophic grounds instead. I went to Catholic junior and senior schools and saw abuse from teaching staff who had taken orders of both sexes (purely verbal and mental derogation, nothing that nasty although this was back when teachers could still thump kids for very little reason) and I rejected the religion and administrative practices (but not the morals) of the christian faith of any stripe.
I don't want to believe in any god now but the morals stayed with me. I don't know if there is a god(s) out there, but I can't be sure sometimes. I'd like to say I'm an atheist but I'm probably agnostic most of the time which means I'm hedging my bets I suppose Dotsie?
I do believe in Hell though. 
That's here right now and you can believe in that, but heaven's here too sometimes excdept that's almost too good to be true. In the end though I don't need to have a god to believe in or use as a panacea to take away or mitigate the things that go 'wrong' in my life or even to blame for everything that happens. I was taught to think my own way out of any messes I got into and find ways to accept or at least ignore things that I can't change (like this stupid government ).Belief is whatever gets you through - you don't need to have gods though. Terry's absolutely right about that when he says they/he/she/it needs you though. Be your own god in that case!
From what I could make out, (according to Wikipedia
) Terry is listed as a Distinguished Supporter of the British Humanist Association but this gives no clue as to whether he is a member or not. If you wish to see a list of other famous Humanists then Click Here.
Jan Van Quirm said:
Belief is whatever gets you through - you don't need to have gods though. Terry's absolutely right about that when he says they/he/she/it needs you though. Be your own god in that case!
: I have a fridge magnet that states: 'Chocolate is proof that God wants us to be happy.'
Will the chocolate melt if kept in a case with no temperature control?
P.S. Jan - did you tunnel out or escape your incarceration by other means??
Dotsie said:
I briefly thought it would be cool to be a pastafarian. I loved their science
and I was well prepared to make a variety of spaghetti flavoured jokes. However, I was startled to find on surfing the net that such a religion actually exists. ALL HAIL THE FSM! Actually, I'm not quite a convert yet.
Batty said:
Jan Van Quirm said:
Belief is whatever gets you through - you don't need to have gods though. Terry's absolutely right about that when he says they/he/she/it needs you though. Be your own god in that case!
: I have a fridge magnet that states: 'Chocolate is proof that God wants us to be happy.'
Will the chocolate melt if kept in a case with no temperature control?
P.S. Jan - did you tunnel out or escape your incarceration by other means??
No - I didn't mean live in a case. You certainly don't need a god, but belief is a useful survival trait and who better to believe in than yourself? Chocolate is a natural product that man made delectably edible (and safe to eat too!) - god(s) may have been involved, but they were probably very naughty ones - like Dionysus and all those nymphs :twisted: Fridges were a good move too but mostly we have Electrolux to thank for that don't we?
Still haven't tunnelled out except for a quick raid on Tesco's in a neighbour's 4x4 last Weds - did snow a bit today but I may defrost the car tomorrow if the housemate starts winding me up again. I had a blissful day of totally blocking him out today
