When I was about six years old, we had a talk from one of our priests one day (I went to a catholic school). At the end of the talk he asked if we had any questions. I had three questions: me: so is God everywhere around us? priest: yes of course. Everywhere you look, he's there. me: so why do I have to go to church on Sundays to pray to him? Can't I pray to him in bed? priest: bugger (or I bet that was what he was thinking cos he couldn't answer me) :tongue:
Indeed, which is why religions cannot be easily disposed of. Those who have religious faith are by definition not susceptible to evidence or reasoned argument. They are able to disregard anything they do not like, regardless if it is true, and to place wishful thinking above facts. Sadly such dimwittedness is commonplace in humans, occasionally even in otherwise intelligent ones. It is not easy to change this kind of mindset, but Richard Dawkins and others are having a damn good try.
Following the European Courts recent ruling, what idiot arranged for Hamza to be extradited 'some time over the next three weeks'. If they had stuck him on an aeroplane straight away he wouldn't have wormed his way in front of some crusty old High Court Judge today and delayed proceedings further!!
Christ! (And I choose my words carefully.) We still can't get rid of the bloody Hamsa. He's like the smell of cat's piss - he just won't go away. Will someone please explain to me why, when he's not British, we couldn't just get rid of the fucker years ago?
which sort of IS against against Muslims and Islam isnt it?? ffs they believe in flying horses. race has got absolutely nothing to do with religion whatsoever....nothing...theres plenty of white, black, brown, medinka ink people that believe in some sort of intangible, unprovable wizard floating about beyond the reaches of the Hubble space telescope who thinks that they are somehow a bit more special than everyone else..even the bloke kissing his crucifix as he swaggers onto the football pitch, oily mullet swishing in the breeze...... "dear god, help us win this world cup", "fuck sake ronaldo, cant you see im busy giving all these African babies AIDS and creating a new form of cancer??" Hey listen, if someone wants to believe in the celestial teapot, thats fine with me...i just wish they'd keep it to themselves instead of brainwashing people and waving their hooks about in the street.. PS: i wonder what the exact number is that separates a delusion from a religion??
Isn't the above a common misconception, I.e. a person is not innocent until proven otherwise, but must be presumed innocent until proven otherwise. Subtle difference, and maybe a bit pedantic, but is an important difference. anyway, back to pedants corner... Pete
Exactly, suspects may be arrested, detained, have their property taken as evidence, and/or be remanded in custody, because of the risk of absconding or repeat offending. All of this is perfectly proper, but is without prejudice to the presumption of innocence when the accused is brought to trial. It doesn't mean the person is innocent, it means the burden of proving them guilty lies upon the prosecution.
some interesting points, which i fully endorse but lest we forget.... 1) There is no such thing as a religious fundamentalist. So called 'fundamentalists' are merely enforcing whatever it says in their rule book (whichever one that may be). 2) A 'moderate' simply cheery picks the bits of the rule book that they can shoe horn into their world view and through the distorting religious filter..you know, the filter that hands over rational thought and reason to someone else. 3) On a personal note, i never ever capitalise words like god, allah, yaweh, jehovah or whatever as it implies some sort credibility, deference or respect. Lets all remember, blasphemy is a victimless crime.
I so totally agree with all of this. Excellent points and I had already come to the same conclusion. The fundamentalist is the person who really believes the whole shebang. The others let their rational mind interfere with their faith. They are already well on the way to not being religious, in so far as religion is the systemisation of spiritual thought. All fundamentalists are dangerous ergo, all religion is really dangerous.
The usual practice in English is to capitalise proper nouns, regardless if they are fictional characters. So named individuals (like Thor, Zeus, Anubis, Jesus, Mohammed) are capitalised, but generic nouns like "a god" or "the gods" are lower case. It's a matter of grammar - I don't see what deference or respect has to do with it. In German all nouns are normally capitalised anyway.
I am amused that people, believe that scientists have the answer, eg Dawkins. there was an eminent English Physicist who turned to the priesthood, as he reasoned God was the creator of our Universe. Newton, Einstein and many others hailed as heroes have had their work junked. His theory of relativity is now more a history lesson than modern day physics. Einstein thought Quantum Mechanics was junk, and yet without it, no GPS amongst many other things. Religion is responsible for many of the worlds problems, but like the scientists, politicians etc I take it all with a pinch of salt. You can't take it seriously or rely on it.
I beg to differ I was in a consultation with my GP this morning. The dear woman has no idea about quantum mechanics, but was entirely proficient in diagnosing my Izal rash promptly and with minimal intervention Eat your words young man, and think again.
But with science they the least find a proof, until that is someone finds a better one. With religion it is believe me or else, no proof, no reason, no common sense. Watch the price taggers documentary on panorama. Funny how they lie.
Well no, not exactly. God is normally capitalised, as in "thank God i didn't do that". And the pronoun is normally written "He" and not "he". So I think Funky's point is perfectly valid. I'm with him. I make a point of not capitalising "god" when referring to the Christian deity and definitely not capitalising the pronouns.
