Am I Being Conned ?

[modeller]

I have read an increasing number of articles and been given books that purport to be secular but are in fact IMO a backdoor method of evangelising.

I have noticed this with politicians who , in this country kept their personal beliefs private, now ' come out ' .

[jno]

where are you seeing these secretive articles? Cameron was quite explicit in his claims that Britain was a Christian country.

[naomi24]

Do you have any examples?

[Khandro]

I'm all in favour of politicians, and in fact everyone when asked, saying what their personal beliefs are, aren't you?

[Old_Geezer]

Yes, it is all a conspiracy modeller. They're changing your views without you even realising.

[modeller]

jno //secretive articles?// Did I say secretive ?

[scooping]

You can be conned unless you go along with it. Ignore or sign up.

[scooping]

I meant you CAN'T be conned unless you sign up, sorry.

[modeller]

scoop Quite right , you can't be conned completely unless you fall for it.

The point I was making there seems to be an increasing attempt to con' by initially acting as the Devils Advocate, and only at the end showing their true colours . Maybe it's only me who sees this as a trend.

On the other hand the reverse is the case with certain politicians, like Blair and Cameron who now openly declare their beliefs. Maybe they are desperate to halt the increasing secularisation in the UK .

There was a time when " We don't do religion. " was the norm for the UK politicians, unlike the US where it's almost the first thing they say.

[modeller]

Khandro I judge by actions , not words , especially with politicians and priests because they ' have to ' toe the party line.

[Khandro]

modeller; ^ I agree, saying one is a Christian (or whatever) costs nothing, behaving like a Christian (or whatever) can have considerable costs.
Of course declaring oneself an atheist is the easiest option possible, one has neither to 'pretend' nor have inconvenient obligations.

[pixie373]

We have obligations khandro. It's just we work them out ourselves and don't need to be told how to think or how to behave.

[pixie373]

...although interesting you think theists have to pretend...

[Peter Pedant]

.

Oh you mean like Pope Francis canonising two of his dead cronies.

and one didnt have enough religious oomph to do two miracles
so the Pope said O neva mind one will do since it is you.

yeah you and I have been conned

[vulcan42]

This con definitly happened recently, don't know if they're on the increase though. A man at my door said he represented the blind and could we talk about blindness for a few moments. I had a blind aunt so always donate to collectors, but I quickly realised this man wasn't collecting but lecturing me on the "blindness of the unfaithful". When I asked he admitted he was a JW and when I suggested he was disingenuous in saying he represented the Blind, he scurried down the path rather quickly. (I hope it wasn't goodlife)

[goodlife]

Vulcan42.
I doubt very much that this was a JW. The topic you mention is not one JWs talk about, certainly not as an introduction. We do not solicit from door to door. The main crux of our calling is to direct people's attention to the incoming Kingdom of God, which is drawing ever closer.
If at any time you are in doubt as to whether you are speaking to a witness or not, just as to see their card. If they can't produce anything, then they are definitely not a Jehovah's Witness.

[boxtops]

Oh Goodlife.

"We do not solicit from door to door."

So who were that group of well-dressed people knocking on every door in our street a couple of weeks ago, who offered to change by OH's life?

[Khandro]

pixie; //...although interesting you think theists have to pretend...//
I don't think that at all, the word 'pretend' is in quotation marks and refers to modeller's implication of hypocrisy in some of our leaders in his post above mine, - and he's quite correct too.

[naomi24]

Khandro, what are the inconvenient obligations that Christians are burdened with, but atheists aren’t?

[Khandro]

naomi; //what are the inconvenient obligations that Christians are burdened with, but atheists aren’t?// The word 'inconvenient' was used above with irony.
I guess there are many for the devout; Ramadan in Islam is pretty tough for a start, - could you do it? Then there's Christian and Buddhist retreats of many sorts, just upholding 24 hour precepts isn't exactly a breeze. Judaism has lots, etc. etc. - but as an atheist you wouldn't know would you?

[beso]

Ramadan is an extremely unhealthy thing to do to one's body. The believers mistake the body's reaction to stress as some kind of religious experience.