Equestrian religion...or lack thereof Options

[Dvandom]

Before this derails too much, I'll point out that to atheists a funeral is for the benefit of those who are left behind, a way to help them reach closure, etc. It does not require belief in an afterlife to want one's loved ones to have a last chance to say goodbye.

---Dave

[Creature SH]

Excluding the Catholic-style priest entirely, the mere fact they have a funeral in general is evident of some believe in an afterlife.

So atheists can't have funerals?

Well, that's applying real world rules to the situation. We know that on the real planet earth, culture is informed by rituals largely formed by millenia of influence by various religions, some of which so far in the past that we are not aware of how they shaped our daily lives. We can keep some of these rituals for sentimental value or a vague feeling of "proper conduct" even when we no longer believe in their original intent.


Regarding Equestria, we are also trying to figure out if that world ever even had religions to begin with. I'm leanings towards a "yes" on that particular question. Thanks to "Heart's Warming Eve", we have already seen that there used to be simpler, less informed cultures in the history of the land. There seemed to be certain dominant superstitions. And in "Luna Eclipsed", we saw that some superstitions are still alive, and easy to invoke in spite of contrary facts.

There doesn't seem to be much of a dominant, organized religion at present, though. Pony society has been ruled by a sun goddess for a thousand years at this point (Which strikes me as oddly reminiscent of the Pharao of ancient Egypt). Mythical beasts are known to exist and are partially described in textbooks. Magic is treated as force of nature and its advanced manipulation is a science. In a world where the supernatural is not only commonplace, but researchable, there isn't all that much room for blind faith.

[MyLittleEmpath]

Supernatural would imply that these elements are beyond the normal, proven functions of nature, which they are not. What we would consider supernatural, Equestrians would consider just the normal, natural world. Like you said, Magic is a force of nature and thus cannot be considered supernatural.

I believe they can still have faith or superstition beyond what we would consider supernatural.

...

Supernatural.

This post has been edited by MyLittleEmpath: Mar 29 2012, 08:20 PM

[Sobana]

Excluding the Catholic-style priest entirely, the mere fact they have a funeral in general is evident of some believe in an afterlife.

So atheists can't have funerals?

They can, but when they argue that the phrase "In God we trust" violates their conscience, it strikes me a bit odd that they wouldn't try shed all religious ties from their customs.

It does not require belief in an afterlife to want one's loved ones to have a last chance to say goodbye.

That does raise a lot of new questions for me.

[Matenshi]

Excluding the Catholic-style priest entirely, the mere fact they have a funeral in general is evident of some believe in an afterlife.

So atheists can't have funerals?

They can, but when they argue that the phrase "In God we trust" violates their conscience, it strikes me a bit odd that they wouldn't try shed all religious ties from their customs.

You sure like to generalize people.

Going by that, Christians are in the same boat. Pretty much all Christian customs, holidays, etc. were taken from other, older beliefs.

[Sobana]

Excluding the Catholic-style priest entirely, the mere fact they have a funeral in general is evident of some believe in an afterlife.

So atheists can't have funerals?

They can, but when they argue that the phrase "In God we trust" violates their conscience, it strikes me a bit odd that they wouldn't try shed all religious ties from their customs.

You sure like to generalize people.

Going by that, Christians are in the same boat. Pretty much all Christian customs, holidays, etc. were taken from other, older beliefs.

You are correct, most modern day Christians customs and holidays have little or nothing to do with the original practices taught by first century Christians.

But, in this regard you have to generalize groups of people who share the same set of beliefs. You do know there are 14,000 different christian sects in the U.S. alone, right? I don't have time to list each one of their unique believes so I just summed them all up as "Christians", the same way I do with "Atheists".

[Matenshi]

I... What? That's... nothing to do with what was said.

(IMG:style_emoticons/default/icon-depth.gif)

[Sobana]

You said I was generalizing people and I was trying to explain I know not very atheist believes in the same thing and I was trying to understand what they think based on... Wait, were you commenting on what I said or someone else? Sometimes I get defensive and expound to much ._.

[Matenshi]

You said atheists "argue that the phrase "In God we trust" violates their conscience", which is most definitely generalizing atheists. Sounds like when people say Christians in general are extremist nuts like Westboro.

Then in regards to the second part I said that Christians are actually no different from atheists, since they practice customs taken from other beliefs they don't believe in.

This post has been edited by Matenshi: Mar 29 2012, 10:54 PM

[ZeroX]

I didn't abandon the PnR forum for this jive.

Tone it down or move this topic where it belongs.

[Cabooceratops]

Indeed, back to the overthinking pony culture bits, that's what I'm here for!

[Sobana]

Your right, I'm sorry, I got carried away in the moment. Carry on.

[Dante]

Excluding the Catholic-style priest entirely, the mere fact they have a funeral in general is evident of some believe in an afterlife.

So atheists can't have funerals?

This implies atheists cannot believe in an afterlife. The only thing inherent in atheism is a rejection of theism, the belief in one or more supreme beings.

That said, I don't know what funerals have to do with belief in an afterlife. Even cultures that believe in reincarnation still have funerals, which seems a bit redundant.

[Adam G]

Maybe ponies are smarter than humans so they don't need religion...

[J4n1]

Excluding the Catholic-style priest entirely, the mere fact they have a funeral in general is evident of some believe in an afterlife.

So atheists can't have funerals?

This implies atheists cannot believe in an afterlife. The only thing inherent in atheism is a rejection of theism, the belief in one or more supreme beings.

That said, I don't know what funerals have to do with belief in an afterlife. Even cultures that believe in reincarnation still have funerals, which seems a bit redundant.

Irrelevant of your belief in afterlife, or lack thereof, you still need to dispose the body.
Also, excuse to party? I'm so there.

[Sobana]

Excluding the Catholic-style priest entirely, the mere fact they have a funeral in general is evident of some believe in an afterlife.

So atheists can't have funerals?

This implies atheists cannot believe in an afterlife. The only thing inherent in atheism is a rejection of theism, the belief in one or more supreme beings.

That said, I don't know what funerals have to do with belief in an afterlife. Even cultures that believe in reincarnation still have funerals, which seems a bit redundant.

Irrelevant of your belief in afterlife, or lack thereof, you still need to dispose the body.
Also, excuse to party? I'm so there.

Who has a party after a funeral?

[Cabooceratops]

Excluding the Catholic-style priest entirely, the mere fact they have a funeral in general is evident of some believe in an afterlife.

So atheists can't have funerals?

This implies atheists cannot believe in an afterlife. The only thing inherent in atheism is a rejection of theism, the belief in one or more supreme beings.

That said, I don't know what funerals have to do with belief in an afterlife. Even cultures that believe in reincarnation still have funerals, which seems a bit redundant.

Irrelevant of your belief in afterlife, or lack thereof, you still need to dispose the body.
Also, excuse to party? I'm so there.

Who has a party after a funeral?

All sorts of people? From celebrating the life of that person to your bereavements, it's not terribly uncommon.

Not to mention different people cope with loss in different ways, so obviously there are different practices from group to group.

[Waspinator]

All hail Lord Smooze!

[J4n1]

Excluding the Catholic-style priest entirely, the mere fact they have a funeral in general is evident of some believe in an afterlife.

So atheists can't have funerals?

This implies atheists cannot believe in an afterlife. The only thing inherent in atheism is a rejection of theism, the belief in one or more supreme beings.

That said, I don't know what funerals have to do with belief in an afterlife. Even cultures that believe in reincarnation still have funerals, which seems a bit redundant.

Irrelevant of your belief in afterlife, or lack thereof, you still need to dispose the body.
Also, excuse to party? I'm so there.

Who has a party after a funeral?

after?

[Dvandom]

So many cultures have parties after funerals that there's a general word for it: a wake. And Irish wakes are Pinkie-level parties.

---Dave