tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4318375667051435937.post6428030024896058349..comments2023-08-25T16:13:51.356+01:00Comments on Martin In The Margins: Seasonal wailing from anti-secular pessimistsMartinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15608932251584881007noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4318375667051435937.post-66437085740063640142008-12-17T07:21:00.000+00:002008-12-17T07:21:00.000+00:00Max -You're right, the 'we're all doomed' article ...Max -You're right, the 'we're all doomed' article has migrated to the secular press and is now a staple feature on the comments pages of the Guardian - Madeleine Bunting being the pioneer of the genre. But there was a time when the more liberal and thoughtful organs of the religious press - such as the Tablet - would also have scorned this kind of pessimistic revulsion from modernity. <BR/><BR/>Sarah - Thanks for the comments. It's good to hear that there are some believers out there who haven't surrendered to mindless anti-secularism. I've always argued that it's in the interests of believers to endorse secularism, as it's the best guarantee of their religious freedom. And as a former Christian, I still think there's something unchristian about faith trying to claim political power and influence, rather than convincing people by the power of example.Martinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15608932251584881007noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4318375667051435937.post-3575330003337979232008-12-16T20:19:00.000+00:002008-12-16T20:19:00.000+00:00"""These days, more and more people of faith seeme..."""These days, more and more people of faith seemed to be infected by a dangerously anti-modern pessimism, and more concerned with saving 'religion' from those nasty secularists than with looking for the good in contemporary society."""<BR/><BR/>some months ago I met a young researcher in political science who told me sha was researching on secularism. I said, great choice, and then she explained how secularists are radicals of the oposite sign of religious fundamentalists...Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4318375667051435937.post-30606266733539750572008-12-16T20:17:00.000+00:002008-12-16T20:17:00.000+00:00mit happens that I am a believer, but... when I li...mit happens that I am a believer, but... when I listen to other believers saying this:<BR/><BR/>"""Religion may not be based on truth but at least it kept people together. Now look at us. An empty, vapid, consumerist society obsessed with Facebook and the X Factor"""<BR/><BR/>I go mad. maybe the person who said this is speaking for himself or having his own entourage as a representative sample.<BR/><BR/>the other day I read an article about catholics in spain, and there was this girl who loved to get drunk every friday night. then the journalist asked, how do you fit that behaviour with your religious convictions, and she said, after I get drunk I go to confession, then I can go to the mass and receive the communion.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4318375667051435937.post-50959830291810203272008-12-16T20:10:00.000+00:002008-12-16T20:10:00.000+00:00Fair enough for the Tablet to print this kind of n...Fair enough for the Tablet to print this kind of nonsense. <BR/><BR/>But we're now seeing it in the serious papers, and everyone nods their head and says, 'Yeah, keep an open mind.'Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com