Quote: sootyj @ December 15 2008, 5:37 PM GMTInterestingly weddings seem to be one of the few rituals to eject religious symbolism.
How do you mean? Surely it's either a legal exercise conducted religiously or it isnt?
I am an atheist... Page 5
Well a lot of people go down the registry route, without any religious elements.
Quote: Pete @ December 15 2008, 5:30 PM GMTWhy not just explain you aren't religious? My parents asked me long ago about when we were having our kids Christened.....i explained I didnt believe in such nonsense and wasn't planning on getting them blessed by pink elves either. Not much has been said on the subject since!
I did! They all know I'm not religious. Nor are most of them! Just not as... enthusiastically(?) as me.
Just thinking....is your niece the child of your brother who's an atheist????
Nope! Of my sister. Who seems to have decided to pretend to be religious so she can do things like get married in a church and get her kid Christened.
I'd disown her if I didn't like her so much. 
P.S. Azza, should Christened really be auto-capitalised?
Quote: sootyj @ December 14 2008, 8:37 PM GMTMysticisim from a monoehteist/humanist point of view is the closest I've found to spiritual satisfaction. Have you tried it?
Not really. I've heard bits and bobs but not very much - and some of those things I don't really understand. I have a cousin who is well into mysticism and thinks it holds all the secrets of the universe! I'm not really sure about that but still I'd like to look into it more.
Quote: sootyj @ December 15 2008, 5:46 PM GMTWell a lot of people go down the registry route, without any religious elements.
Well that's what I meant - I got married with zero religious elements because I'm not religious. I'd no more get married in a church than a mosque!
If you get married in a church it's as religious as you can get...if you're stood there with the vicar giving it the God stuff and you're just there for the fancy location you're a shallow hypocrite.
Quote: zooo @ December 15 2008, 5:50 PM GMTNope! Of my sister. Who seems to have decided to pretend to be religious so she can do things like get married in a church and get her kid Christened.
I'd disown her if I didn't like her so much.
Wow....if my brother said he was getting married in a church I'd tell him not to be such a twat! (Unless he also took up Christianity...in which case all is well and I'd go along with it 100%...after all, church is a great place to get married.)
Just reading through this very interesting thread, and totally agreeing with some of the things said. I definitely agree that you don't have to be particularly religious at all to celebrate Christmas, because it's not really a religious holiday anymore, it's more about spending time with people and having a break at the end of the year (sorry if anyone disagrees)
I think that Tim Minchin sums the whole idea up quite nicely in the first couple of verses of his Christmas song "White Wine in the Sun,"
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=-0s68-GLGWY
(I'm Neera by the way, totally new to this whole thing so I hope it's okay that I just joined in the discussion )
Quote: Pete @ December 15 2008, 5:57 PM GMTWellthat's what I meant - I got married with zero religious elements because I'm not religious. I'd no more get married in a church than a mosque!
If you get married in a church it's as religious as you can get...if you're stood there with the vicar giving it the God stuff and you're just there for the fancy location you're a shallow hypocrite.
wow....if my brother said he was getting married in a church I'd tell him not to be such a twat! (unless he also took up Christianity...in which case all is well and I'd go along with it 100%...after all, church is a great place to get married)
It's much the same as Christmas to my mind. People just do church weddings and Christenings now because it's traditional - something that's just always been done in this way. I see no harm in it. I've been invited to Christenings before but always refused, but I nearly did go to one once and I wouldn't have felt bad about it.
Quote: zooo @ December 15 2008, 5:50 PM GMTNope! Of my sister. Who seems to have decided to pretend to be religious so she can do things like get married in a church and get her kid Christened.
I'd disown her if I didn't like her so much.
Bugger.
Quote: zooo @ December 15 2008, 5:50 PM GMTP.S. Azza, should Christened really be auto-capitalised?
Dunnoooo. Maybe.
Yeah, my sister I guess just grew up wanting the white wedding thing (and I just remembered, her husband and his family ARE a bit religious) so she had to convince herself she believed in God so they could get married in church I guess.
It's all completely alien to me really.
Quote: Aaron @ December 15 2008, 6:04 PM GMTBugger.
Hmm?
Dunnoooo. Maybe.
Well I haven't got a clue myself, I just wondered.
Quote: zooo @ December 15 2008, 6:05 PM GMTYeah, my sister I guess just grew up wanting the white wedding thing (and I just remembered, her husband and his family ARE a bit religious) so she had to convince herself she believed in God so they could get married in church I guess.
It's all completely alien to me really.
Your TARDIS wedding will be a corker!!
Quote: Neera C @ December 15 2008, 5:57 PM GMT(I'm Neera by the way, totally new to this whole thing so I hope it's okay that I just joined in the discussion
Hellooooooo. 
Quote: Moonstone @ December 15 2008, 6:01 PM GMTIt's much the same as Christmas to my mind.
Not really.....I'm having a full on Christmas, presents, tree, turkey, family - at no point will God feature in that. You get married in a church and it's a whole different story...you have to pretend to believe in something you dont. It's as ridiculous as spotting a great looking Sikh temple and getting married there!
Quote: zooo @ December 15 2008, 6:05 PM GMTHmm?
I just love all traditional stuff like that. Would definitely have chosen to do it myself.
Quote: Pete @ December 15 2008, 6:14 PM GMTNot really.....I'm having a full on Christmas, presents, tree, turkey, family - at no point will God feature in that. You get married in a church and it's a whole different story...you have to pretend to believe in something you dont. It's as ridiculous as spotting a great looking Sikh temple and getting married there!
I agree with you, but I just meant in people's minds. I think the religious spiel is just seen as something you have to get through as part of the whole church thing - going in one ear and out the other like a meaningless nursery rhyme or something. Rightly or wrongly.
And also, with Christmas you are worshipping in a tacet way - the tree for example is supposed to be a symbol of the holy trinity because of its triangular shape.
Quote: Aaron @ December 15 2008, 6:18 PM GMTI just love all traditional stuff like that. Would definitely have chosen to do it myself.
Oh yes, I remember.
But I think there are other ways to be traditional, without religion being a part of it.