I love religion!

[Zagreus]

I don't really think that the killing of a 6 month old foetus should have been used as a rhetorical question. The answer would depend on too many factors, and depending on what the situation and circumstances were, my personal answer would be 'yes.. i would kill a 6 month old foetus'.

I understand your point, but don't agree with the example used.

To be honest, that bit was simply off the top of my head way to try to show that religious attitudes towards masturbation aren’t quite as simple as ZB was saying. There are ethical issues for some people, and the idea centres around sanctity of life. I won’t bang on about this as you said you get the idea, but that’s all the comment was.

I said six months as you can abort in the UK up to about that time (23 weeks I believe), and I was just trying simply to demonstrate that there is no definite point where life starts, whether it’s a simple sperm cell or whether it’s a developed foetus.

I understand the issue you are raising and it’s a valid one. Personally I’m pro choice and would agree with you that under certain circumstances it might be morally right, but others would disagree. It’s still a matter of medical debate too, with some pioneering work being done trying to establish the point when anaesthetic should be used, depending on when pain receptors develop. Some argue it's not humane to abort after that time. It's a very complex issue, and I wasn't throwing it in there lightly.

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Sorry I didn't read through all the posts. I just read the first in the thread and it occured to me that Nietzsche has already proposed a solution to your problem, and he may explain why you are an atheist yet find religion significant. It is because you notice the cultural phenomenon of "belief" and have conjectured a "caloric fluid" --- power. Let me quote Zarathustra:

That explains religion in a vacuum. Hope this contributes to the discussion.

Thanks for the reply. In all honesty I’ve never really studied Nietzsche, but I do have some books by him that I’ve not got around to reading properly yet. Birth of Tragedy is the only one I’ve really looked at.

To tell the truth, I’m not quite sure how to answer you. I don’t see my interest as a problem, and I don’t feel a conflict between finding something interesting and whether I believe it.

Are you basically saying I see religion as a cultural phenomenon, and am then viewing it as an outdated power? I’m not quite clear precisely what you are getting at, but I can see why you say that piece illustrates ‘religion in a vacuum’ (that could be a surrealist comedy sketch!)