What do I say to someone who thinks religion a/o spiritual beliefs (theistic or otherwise) are obsolete?

[sidetrack]

If someone said that modern religions are hardly different from old like European pagan beliefs and thinks that all spirituality regardless of even it’s theistic or non-theistic is obsolete a/o there not neccesary from now on,what do I say to them?.

 

[ThinkingSapien]

If someone said that modern religions are hardly different from old like European pagan beliefs and thinks that all spirituality regardless of even it’s theistic or non-theistic is obsolete a/o there not neccesary from now on,what do I say to them?.

Why say anything?

Unless/until something is identified that the person feels she needs that is dependent in religion than it would not be said to be necessary by the meanings of the word I know.

 

[prodigalson2011]

If someone said that modern religions are hardly different from old like European pagan beliefs and thinks that all spirituality regardless of even it’s theistic or non-theistic is obsolete a/o there not neccesary from now on,what do I say to them?.

I recommend you read “The Everlasting Man,” by G.K. Chesterton, which expose the fallacious and historically ill informed thinking that lies behind the all too common claim. That should equip you with a bit more perspective on the issue. You can then carry that perspective into debate, or perhaps even have your interlocutor read it as well.

 

[SteveLy]

Nothing. But leave the invitation to future discussion open.

 

[Gods_Peace]

If someone said that modern religions are hardly different from old like European pagan beliefs and thinks that all spirituality regardless of even it’s theistic or non-theistic is obsolete a/o there not neccesary from now on,what do I say to them?.

Well, you don’t. They are incapable of recieving or analyzing any opinion with proper reasoning faculties. These people are my teachers at school . They bring so much bad things into the world.

 

[greylorn]

If someone said that modern religions are hardly different from old like European pagan beliefs and thinks that all spirituality regardless of even it’s theistic or non-theistic is obsolete a/o there not neccesary from now on,what do I say to them?.

Rather than reply, why not listen? Why not take an honest look at why the partially educated individuals who are getting their limited understanding from well-educated professors believe as they do?

Then suppose that they are right, so what? What does that mean?

The knee-jerk reaction is to think, Hey! This is threatening my belief in God! And that is exactly what it does. But does the threat to Christian theology, to your personal beliefs, mean that there is no creator? More to the personal point of relevance, does it mean that you have no soul and will not survive your body’s death?

Not necessarily.

The argument you face means simply that theology has not been updated in a long time, which is absolutely true.

Galileo tried to get the Church to reconsider its theology in light of scientific evidence 350 years ago, and the Church refused to do so. That’s not a lie, so waste no time denying it.

Since then, science has learned a great deal about the core nature of reality. Some of its data is legitimate (the evidence of a 13.5 billion year old expanding universe, the evidence of biological evolution, quantum effects in physics), and many of its theories are bogus (the Big Bang theory, Darwinism, and the Copenhagen interpretation of quantum mechanics).

However, throughout the interesting give and take conversations going on within science, the Catholic Church, once a leader in such things, has joined all other religions— by taking comfortable, very old seats on the sidelines.

Were you to be able to admit these things, which your indoctrination will render impossible, you could say to your antagonist, You are right. Those of us who believe in a Creator need to find a way to fit our understanding of that Creator into the reality of science.

 

[danserr]

If someone said that modern religions are hardly different from old like European pagan beliefs and thinks that all spirituality regardless of even it’s theistic or non-theistic is obsolete a/o there not neccesary from now on,what do I say to them?.

Well, first you could ask him to clarify what he means by obsolete. A couple questions like “what do you mean by that” or “what reasons do you have for thinking that?” Odds are that he will have none and is simply repeated vague stuff he has absorbed at various points. If, however, he does clarify what he means, then you have something more substantial to work from.

If he really thinks that modern Christianity is no different from ancient paganism or that Christian vs non theistic (like Buddhist) spirituality have no real differences then he doesn’t sounds like an especially well-informed observer.

Hence, if he really does give you some clarification (just speculating, since I don’t know the person), it is likely to be something vague about modern science disproving God or something like that. At that point, you can always continue to ask for clarification “how does science disprove God…etc.” Modern science says nothing against traditional conceptions of Christianity. Second be prepared with some reading on the subject.

Another method of reply is to point out that many of the human needs that are answered by Christianity and to some extent even by the heathen spiritualities, still remain. This hardly makes Christianity obsolete.