Son no.2 starts his GCSE’s today. We as a family are relatively calm at the moment, (lets see how we are in a weeks time!)
He starts his exams with Religious Education, (which he chose as a subject to take) although he is a practising atheist, (he often, even daily at times, throws religious questions at me, I believe, he doesn’t and as I’m the only one that believes in the household I receive all of the religious questions, which can be slightly off putting over your cornflakes!) his grades are predicted to be very high. Which in some ways pleases me, he might not believe any of it, which makes him question it and therefore he learns. There is a wry irony to this.
He will have a scribe and a laptop because his handwriting is simply unreadable and it was felt that such a bright student shouldn’t lose marks just because it would be nearly impossible to read, therefore mark his work.
The hours spent gaming have stood him in good stead. He touch types at 35 words a minute, which for someone who has never had formal training on touch typing is really quite quick. I wonder how fast he would knit…
Me, well I’m looking at my bank account. We have a written formal and signed agreement (in duplicate!) on a pay a certain amount per grade deal. You have to be that orderly with this child, give him an inch etc. I reckon, if he does as well as his revision suggests he might, I may well be bankrupt by the end of the summer. I’ll have to get a bucket, blankie and dog (I can definitely do the dog bit) and sit outside my local yarn shop begging for money for wool…
blossom and sunshine 
Tee hee, yes, RE lessons amount to “is this the right room for an argument?”I’m agnostic rather than atheistic – I believe it is in principle equally impossible to (a) know that God exists, OR (b) know that he doesn’t. We can know no such thing, as the concept of God is not one that we have the capacity to confirm either way.I respect that others can have faith in a God and that this faith is often borne out by the glory of the world around us. It is a truly marvellous world. I can understand why people would believe that it was the work of a beneficient creator. This sort of spirituality is, I think, generally a good thing.Also, Jesus was by all accounts a top bloke.However, I have difficulty reconciling that with Yaweh of the Old Testament, and the recent history and upper echelons of the institutions of the established Church.(This is the point in the discussion where people realise what you’ve pointed out, that non-believers with an interest in the subject often have quite a good grip on the content and context of the Bible, as their rejection of belief is not frivolous but based on in-depth considerations).A particularly interesting resource is The Brick Testament, which is over 300 stories from the Bible, with each line illustrated in LEGO – so basically it’s like a LEGO comic of the Bible stories. The text (under each picture, is the line the picture is intended to illustrate) is almost all ‘official version’ English translation of the original Hebrew text and has the direct chapter-and-verse reference. It’s fascinating stuff.(And this is the point at which the respectful atheist or agnostic withdraws from the discussion, having no desire to upset the beliefs of their friend.)
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I don’t think you could upset me Mary on a religious argument, son no.2 has been trying for the last few years without success. (and then hubby and son no.1 often chip in as well) I’ll tell you the story of when I died when I was 18 and my experience of angels and God one day.
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Good luck to Son the younger – it seems like a million years since I took my GCSEs but I remember the feeling vividly!Deep questions of faith sound just the thing over a bowl of cornflakes – Mary’s point is very logical; I can’t proove the existence of God, if I could that would take away the need for faith and a God that can be wholly understood and rationalised by humans isn’t a God but another human. However, I have tremendous conviction and faith that he does exist and for the moment that’s enough.Here ends Carie’s rambles.Are you going to be at knitting next week?
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Hi Carie,Yes, I should be there on Tuesday. Was it me or my macaroons you missed!
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It was you – but the macaroons are lovely too 🙂
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