The Hazards of Belief

MrPudding

Nodin wrote: »

.....that what we thought, until somebody pointed out they do rate relics and they can get upgraded....

It sounds like something from Father Ted.

MrP

Delirium

MrPudding wrote: »

It sounds like something from Father Ted.

MrP

"The Holy Stone of Clonrichert v2.0, now with bluetooth and wi-fi functionality."

robindch

MrPudding wrote: »

It sounds like something from Father Ted.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xECUrlnXCqk

Brian Shanahan

Nodin wrote: »

.....that what we thought, until somebody pointed out they do rate relics and they can get upgraded....

Or that by the proper application of a relic you can make your sexual organs (among other things) relics too!

recedite

Turtwig wrote: »

/pedant.

Iirc the current strain has a survival rate of about 40%. That's well within the bounds of the two Americans spontaneously surviving. The medics at the time said it's impossible to determine what difference, if any, the experimental drugs actually had. They could have made all the difference our none. Only rigorously constructed drug trials will tell if they're better than placebo or not.

A definite significant factor is that in the US they were able to supplement all essential missing nutrients and minerals. In Africa they have no way of determining what deficiencies are present in the body so mostly only can guess - and even then they don't have the same amount of intravenous resources.

60% kill rate is still very high. I'll bet you my bottom dollar that this is going to develop into a world pandemic. It only a matter of time. Previous outbreaks have generally stopped by themselves only because they occurred in isolated places out in the bush, and when everyone was dead the disease burned itself out. This one has made it to the cities, and there will be no stopping it now.
Check out this video; its farcical.
http://www.itv.com/news/2014-09-02/ebola-patient-escapes-liberia-clinic-to-search-for-food/

oscarBravo

recedite wrote: »

This one has made it to the cities, and there will be no stopping it now.

Meh. Unless city folk make a habit of licking ebola-ridden corpses, I don't think we've too much to worry about.

Turtwig

recedite wrote: »

60% kill rate is still very high. I'll bet you my bottom dollar that this is going to develop into a world pandemic. It only a matter of time. Previous outbreaks have generally stopped by themselves only because they occurred in isolated places out in the bush, and when everyone was dead the disease burned itself out. This one has made it to the cities, and there will be no stopping it now.
Check out this video; its farcical.
http://www.itv.com/news/2014-09-02/ebola-patient-escapes-liberia-clinic-to-search-for-food/

Ironically 60% kill rate is what makes this outbreak more lethal. In the past mortality rates of 90% and above limited the spread of the virus. Because there's more survivors who are free to move around the infection spreads easier. Africa has a huge problem though. Ignorance is a killer - and there it's causing all sorts of problems. Funeral rituals are still not being augmented. Dead bodies were dumped into local water tables. Relatives are breaking into hospitals to break their loved ones outs. They don't understand the illness, their suspicions and superstitions are at all an time high and they have a bunch of foreigners telling them what they should be doing.

The only way this current strain could become rife in Western Society is from muppetry ignorance. People start fearmongering and the likes on facebook spreading and gulping up inaccurate information. Soap kills ebola. This medical chart explains all:

recedite

Turtwig wrote: »

Soap kills ebola.

Its almost as delicate as the AIDs virus then.

Brian Shanahan

recedite wrote: »

60% kill rate is still very high. I'll bet you my bottom dollar that this is going to develop into a world pandemic. It only a matter of time. Previous outbreaks have generally stopped by themselves only because they occurred in isolated places out in the bush, and when everyone was dead the disease burned itself out. This one has made it to the cities, and there will be no stopping it now.
Check out this video; its farcical.
http://www.itv.com/news/2014-09-02/ebola-patient-escapes-liberia-clinic-to-search-for-food/

The big problem facing Ebola vis a vis becoming a pandemic is that it is hard to transmit from person to person. That's the main reason why we get a scare every few years over it, when the idjits in the media read about its high kill rate, conveniently forgetting about the last time they ran a scare story on the disease.

If you're going for a likely pandemic candidate, your money is best put on the influenza virus, still.

recedite

Brian Shanahan wrote: »

it is hard to transmit from person to person.

These things are relative. With around 2000 cases, including some healthcare workers who were presumably taking some precautions as well as trusting in jesus to protect them, its not that hard to transmit. Even a droplet of infected saliva in the eye seems to do it. Transmission would be mainly by sex or infected needles if/when it gets into Europe. It seems to be fairly similar to the AIDs virus in terms of transmission and origins, but is more contagious and quicker acting.

obplayer

recedite wrote: »

Its almost as delicate as the AIDs virus then.

What makes Aids dangerous is it's very long period where it is infectious without showing symptoms. Ebola shows symptoms very quickly and I don't think the victims are in the mood for sex.

Hotblack Desiato

Stand in the wrong queue, get beaten up by the religious police

http://www.irishtimes.com/news/world/middle-east/saudi-religious-police-issue-rare-apology-for-beating-briton-1.1916952

The Briton, who has not been officially identified, was in a women-only checkout aisle at a supermarket in the conservative Sunni Muslim kingdom on Friday when the officers approached him, in a spat which devolved into an assault on the man and his Saudi wife.

It'd put you right off taking 11 items into the express lane...

Vivisectus

recedite wrote: »

Its almost as delicate as the AIDs virus then.

If Ebola was pandemic material it would have spread much further by now. It is too lethal, has too short an incubation period and has a hard time spreading without some quite close contact.

Remember: the current outbreak of Ebola has been in African countries with little medical infrastructure for MONTHS now, and the number of cases is still very low compared to their overall population. What we are seeing is not a rapidly spreading virus where the number of cases grows exponentially. We are seeing a growing number of cases due to the insufficient containment of a fast-acting disease.

robindch

Catholic teacher rapped for telling pupils they can skip religion classes

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/education/catholic-board-pushes-against-ontario-court-ruling/article20317408/

Toronto Globe and Mail wrote:

An Ontario Catholic high school teacher was disciplined for informing his students they can’t be forced to study religion, underscoring the determination of Catholic school boards to get students to take religious studies. The teacher, Paul Blake, had a disciplinary note attached to his file in May, after he told a group of Grade 12 students of a recent court case that affirmed their right to an exemption from religious courses and ceremonies.

A panel of Ontario Superior Court judges made that ruling in April. In the months since, Catholic school officials have been denying students requests for exemptions based on school boundaries and property tax statements. In multiple correspondences reviewed by The Globe and Mail this summer, Catholic school board officials from across the province argued students whose parents have declared themselves to be supporters of Catholic boards must participate in religious studies.

The Education Act states that any student qualified to be a resident pupil at a public secondary school cannot be required to take part in religious programs or courses. Public school boards say they accept all students regardless of faith or where they attended elementary school. But Kathy Burtnik, president of the Ontario Catholic School Trustees’ Association, said the group has received legal advice that Catholic students are not eligible for an exemption. “It’s not a menu,” she said. “If you come to a Catholic school you have to expect [the Catholic faith] as the basis of your entire education.”

Minister of Education Liz Sandals refused to say Wednesday whether she will continue to let Catholic schools force students to study religion against their will. Barbara McMorrow, the director of education at the Catholic school board in Peterborough where Mr. Blake worked, said in an e-mail that she cannot comment on matters involving board personnel.

After the court decision in April – which ruled that students couldn’t be forced to participate in any faith-based courses, liturgies or programs – Mr. Blake sought advice from school administrators and co-workers at St. Peter’s Catholic Secondary School. He started an e-mail chain in which he asked how to discuss the issue with students. Many colleagues reacted with surprise at the ruling, and said they had been led to believe that students were required to take religious studies. Mr. Blake was instructed by the school principal never to discuss the matter with students.

Three weeks later, Mr. Blake was pulled from teaching his first-period class and told that, after 13 years with Peterborough’s Catholic school board, he was one of a handful of teachers being declared surplus at a time of declining student enrolment. He returned to class and told his students he was being laid off, and then told them that school officials were hiding the truth from them – that they were in fact not required to study religion. “I figured I had nothing left to lose,” he said in a recent interview. “Some of my students were quite surprised and they were like, ‘All these years I’ve been taking this course and I didn’t need to?’”

He was called into a meeting in the principal’s office the next day in which administrators informed him a disciplinary note would be added to his file, and available to any future possible employers. The note describes his actions as “inappropriate” and states that his discussion of religious exemptions “undermined the vision and mission of the board.” Out of work and frustrated with the Ontario school system, Mr. Blake took a teaching job in Norwich, England, where he recently moved with his family.

Students attending Catholic schools are asked to take one religion credit each year of their high school career – 70 minutes of religious instruction every day for four full semesters. A right to exemption from religious students was inserted in the Education Act in the late 1980s, when public funding was extended to Catholic secondary schools and enrolment was opened to non-Catholic students.

Hotblack Desiato

http://www.irishtimes.com/news/social-affairs/religion-and-beliefs/secular-headstone-placed-on-plot-for-remains-donated-to-science-1.1918111

Mr Nugent told The Irish Times that he was contacted by Trinity Medical School last May to say his wife’s body was ready for burial.

“Anne wanted a secular burial. I then discovered that the plot had a memorial stone with a symbol of a cross and this religious inscription: ‘The Dublin Medical Colleges (symbol of a cross) Here lie those who have assisted us in the study of man. Pray O traveller for their souls that they rest in the peace of God’.”

He contacted Trinity’s Medical School and asked them “to consider replacing the stone with an inclusive inscription, that referred either to no religious or philosophical beliefs or else to all religious and philosophical beliefs.”

Well done Michael. I would imagine that a great many people who choose to donate their bodies to medical research are not religious.

Hotblack Desiato

Wow it reads like the 70s are back. And not in a good way.

http://www.irishtimes.com/news/social-affairs/religion-and-beliefs/bishop-objects-to-lgbt-centre-grant-on-moral-grounds-1.1918168

The Catholic Bishop of Galway Martin Drennan has sought clarification on a grant made by the St Vincent de Paul (SVP) Society to a resource centre for LGBT people in the city which he objects to on moral grounds.

The grant of €45,000 was paid over a three year period by the SVP to Amach LGBT Galway as a contribution to a resource centre which Galway City Council has pledged to provide.

Bishop Drennan said that “on moral grounds we can’t support that.” Homosexual activity was “in our eyes morally wrong behaviour and we cannot put funds at the service of what we don’t believe is morally incorrect.” His problem was “the moral judgement involved.” The reputation of the SVP “has been put in question by this grant,” he said.

Seems to me it's the reputation of the RCC put into question... were it not completely soiled already.

PopePalpatine

Links234 said it best in the Gay Marriage thread.

robindch

Hazards of inappropriate content placement.



In any case, around half of Ulster says "Nooooooooooooooooo!"

http://www.thejournal.ie/ian-paisley-1668023-Sep2014/

http://newsthump.com/2012/02/07/dr-ian-paisley-refusing-to-take-part-in-the-resuscitation-process/

Hotblack Desiato

Got a Barely Alive! through the door for the first time for a year or so.

Apparently 80% of the world's population have never heard of Jesus, please give money to the missions urgently. I find that stat highly questionable...

On the plus side, they say the Lego Movie is acceptable viewing for the offspring of ultra-conservative catholics. I thought they'd object to Emmet's non-marital relationship..

Turtwig

What's their opinions on How to Train Your Dragon II?

Hotblack Desiato

Sorry they only 'reviewed' one movie in this issue. Perhaps you could check their online archive

Edited to add: they didn't find Cloud Cuckoo Land objectionable even though it appeared to be very light in the loafers. I suppose

the fact the place where everyone could do their own thing was ultimately destroyed

might have helped...

Hotblack Desiato

New York pastor’s wild ‘rectum’ rant: NASA Voyager probe proved ‘homos’ are perverts

Czarcasm

Hotblack Desiato wrote: »

New York pastor’s wild ‘rectum’ rant: NASA Voyager probe proved ‘homos’ are perverts

EDIT: Turns out they're not a satirical media site -

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Raw_Story

That's embarrassing

recedite

However, you cannot allow anyone who is a transgender to come into the church,” he warned. “Anyone who has cut off their [genitals] cannot enter into the house of God. So, you can’t even pray for them.

I don't think that's actually in the bible though, is it? Seems like he's making up new rules as he goes along.

obplayer

recedite wrote: »

I don't think that's actually in the bible though, is it? Seems like he's making up new rules as he goes along.

'fraid not, it's really there...

https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Deuteronomy+23%3A1&version=KJV

http://biblehub.com/niv/deuteronomy/23.htm

So go thou and sew thy balls back on!!! :eek:

recedite

Holy crap. Its no wonder that these guys who read all the fine print end up crazy as a loon.

RikuoAmero

obplayer wrote: »

'fraid not, it's really there...

https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Deuteronomy+23%3A1&version=KJV

http://biblehub.com/niv/deuteronomy/23.htm

So go thou and sew thy balls back on!!! :eek:

Wait a second...didn't churches in medieval periods cut the genitals of young boys off, so as to prevent them losing their lovely singing voices? Yup, another case of hypocrisy, cherry picking and of course mutilation of children. Thanks Obam...I mean church!

SebBerkovich

RikuoAmero wrote: »

Wait a second...didn't churches in medieval periods cut the genitals of young boys off, so as to prevent them losing their lovely singing voices? Yup, another case of hypocrisy, cherry picking and of course mutilation of children. Thanks Obam...I mean church!

In fairness the Church has no choice but to be hypocritical and contradictory - It's in the Bible

recedite

RikuoAmero wrote: »

...cherry picking...

Sounds painful !!

Vivisectus

Also do not poop in your camp. Bring a small shovel, poop outside of the camp, and then cover it up. "For the Lord your God moves about in your camp to protect you and to deliver your enemies to you." Presumably this is to make sure the Lord does not step in some doo-doo as he does so?

Oh and if someone has a wet dream, he is to stay outside the camp until sundown, then have a wash, and then he can come back in.

Deuteronomy is weird...

and if you have messy hair and clothes god will be angry and you'll die

obplayer

Vivisectus wrote: »

Also do not poop in your camp. Bring a small shovel, poop outside of the camp, and then cover it up. "For the Lord your God moves about in your camp to protect you and to deliver your enemies to you." Presumably this is to make sure the Lord does not step in some doo-doo as he does so?

Oh and if someone has a wet dream, he is to stay outside the camp until sundown, then have a wash, and then he can come back in.

Deuteronomy Religion is weird...

FYP

robindch

The Archbishop of Canterbury admits that he's not fully sure about this god fellow:

http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-29255318

BBC wrote:

In an interview with BBC Bristol the leader of the Church of England said he doubted in "lots of different ways". He said: "There are moments, sure, when you think, 'Is there a God?' 'Where is God?'" [...] "The other day I was praying over something as I was running, and I ended up saying to God 'look this is all very well, but isn't it about time you did something, if you're there? Which is probably not what the Archbishop of Canterbury should say."

recedite

I suppose the perks of the job make up for any doubts he might have.

Hotblack Desiato

Reminded me of this

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3XM_3zf6mPc

Brian Shanahan

robindch wrote: »

The Archbishop of Canterbury admits that he's not fully sure about this god fellow:

http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-29255318

"Church leader thinks religion is a scam, in other news bear defecates in the woods."

Delirium

Stamford Hill council removes 'unacceptable' posters telling women which side of the road to walk down

A London council has removed “unacceptable” posters instructing women which side of the road they should walk down.

The signs, which have "Women should please walk along this side of the road only" written in both Yiddish and English, were spotted along Stamford Hill in Hackney.

The Shomrim group, whose Jewish volunteers support policing in the area, said they were put up by an orthodox Jewish group during the Torah Procession earlier this week, in order to prevent men and women from the religious sect who are not married or related from touching.

Chaim Hochhauser, from the Stamford Hill Shomrim group, said it had contacted the organisers to inform them the posters "lacked explanation".

Hotblack Desiato

http://www.irishexaminer.com/ireland/senator-to-raise-miracle-cure-groups-irish-seminar-in-seanad-287763.html

A controversial US group selling a "miracle" cure for serious conditions, despite the fact the product is industrial-strength bleach, is planning to return to Ireland this autumn.

The Irish Examiner has learned that the Genesis II Church — which sparked outrage in July after a previous attempt to sell the product in this country — will hold another seminar on its “cure” here in mid-November.

The group claims its “miracle mineral solution”, also known as MMS, can “remove” a range of conditions such as cancer, autism, HIV and malaria.

However, it has been banned in the US, Canada and England after watchdogs warned it is an “industrial-strength bleach” that can cause “life-threatening reactions”.

obplayer

The Hobby Lobby case has a follow up, may the Flying Spaghetti Monster help America now. This latest decision is truly even more dangerous.

robindch

Allah moves in mysterious ways - last week, Cape Town's first gay and women-friendly mosque opened for business. This week, it was shut down apparently because it had no parking spaces.

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-29328196

BBC wrote:

South Africa's first gay-friendly mosque, which also allows women to lead prayers, has been closed indefinitely, a local official has told the BBC. A City of Cape Town councillor says the newly established Open Mosque had violated municipal by-laws by not having any parking spaces. The mosque officially opened its doors on Friday despite criticism from members of the local Muslim community.

Founder Taj Hargey said the mosque would help counter radicalism. "The City Council is trying to close the mosque using ridiculous bylaws and I will not be threatened by them or anyone else," Mr Hargey told the BBC. "We have freedom of religion and expression in this country. No-one has the right to tell anyone what to believe in. This is a gender equal mosque, autonomous and independent and will remain so," he said.

City councillor Ganief Hendricks denied that the closure was part of a witch-hunt. "This is an emotive issue - some councillors who are Muslim would want to defend the issue more vigorously than those that aren't but the bottom line is we have to make sure that the rules are followed," he told the BBC. He said Mr Hargey had not applied to change the use of the building from a warehouse to a mosque.

"There are issues of health and safety to consider before [a mosque] is set up," Mr Hendricks said. A woman listens to the sermon during the opening of the Open Mosque, on September 19, 2014 in Wynberg, Cape Town.

A local by-law stipulates that a place of worship should have one parking bay per 10 worshippers on the premises but Mr Hendricks said there were not any. The process of applying for the necessary paperwork could take up to six months, he said. Mr Hargey told the BBC that he believed everything was in order.

"It is pure intimidation. Why are they so scared? Because they know if this mosque succeeds their theological monopoly is over," he said. "This is not a gay mosque. But I will not turn anyone away based on race or sexual orientation. This mosque is based on the original mosque in Medina with one door where men and women come together to pray.

"I want my mother, wife, daughter to pray alongside me. Not be second class citizens. They pray together at Haj, why can't they pray together in the mosques of the world?"

RikuoAmero

A Harry Potter fanfiction by a very concerned christian mother. She's so worried that reading the real series will lead her children to witchcraft that she's taken it upon herself to rewrite the series without any magic in it. The least of her problems is that the characters have a tendency to treat God as a magic vending machine, teleporting and providing food on demand. Oh yeah, and there's blatant racism and bigotry. Read the description of Ron and try to find out what she wants him to represent.
https://www.fanfiction.net/s/10644439/1/Hogwarts-School-of-Prayer-and-Miracles

biko

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/11121519/Ultra-Orthodox-Jews-cause-chaos-on-flight-to-Israel.html

An El-Al flight from New York to Tel Aviv was turned into an “11-hour nightmare” after hundreds of ultra-Orthodox Jewish passengers refused to sit next to women.
According to those on board the flight descended into chaos because of their demands.

The flight was full with Israelis, secular, orthodox and ultra-Orthodox Jews – known as Haredim – flying home to celebrate Rosh Hashanah.

Even though the passengers had been pre-assigned seats before boarding, the ultra-Orthodox Jews refused to accept the arrangements because their beliefs required that men and women were segregated.

robindch

RikuoAmero wrote: »

A Harry Potter fanfiction by a very concerned christian mother. She's so worried that reading the real series will lead her children to witchcraft that she's taken it upon herself to rewrite the series without any magic in it.

Grace Ann wrote:

I am being given the talent to pull this off

*cough*

PopePalpatine

I guess she isn't being given the grammar to pull this off. :pac:

robindch

Am I being poe'd in this?

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/uri-geller-identifies-the-real-reason-the-iphone-6-bends-2014-09-24

Uri Geller, maybe wrote:

Either the phone is so seriously thin and flimsy that it is bendable with mere physical force, which I cannot believe given the extensive tests Apple would have done. Or — and this is far more plausible — somehow the energy and excitement of the 10 million people who purchased iPhones has awakened their mind powers and caused the phones to bend.

RikuoAmero

robindch wrote: »

*cough*

In her latest chapters, she says she's going to take writing classes (her husband allows her to go, she mentions). Given that this is a clear admittance on her part that she lacks writing talent, doesn't this invalidate her claim from earlier about God giving her the talent?

Eeden

RikuoAmero wrote: »

In her latest chapters, she says she's going to take writing classes (her husband allows her to go, she mentions). Given that this is a clear admittance on her part that she lacks writing talent, doesn't this invalidate her claim from earlier about God giving her the talent?

I can't believe you read that far!

Sadly, I know someone like this. Someone who used to be a smart, funny, irreverent person.

I found the whole thing so sad ... the first thing that struck me was that Aunt Petunia was obviously a Bad Person, because she was a ... (gasp!!) ... Career Woman!

TwoShedsJackson

biko wrote: »

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/11121519/Ultra-Orthodox-Jews-cause-chaos-on-flight-to-Israel.html

Cabaal

Devil worshiping Catholics

http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-29448079

The 500-year-old mines of Bolivia's Cerro Rico mountain produced the silver that once made the Spanish empire rich. Now riddled with tunnels, the mountain is a death trap for the men and boys who work there - and who pray to the devil to keep them safe.

"Usually we gather here on Fridays to make offerings, in gratitude because he gave us lots of minerals, and so that he will protect us from accidents.

"Outside the mine we are Catholics, and when we enter the mine, we worship the devil."

legspin

Cabaal wrote: »

Devil worshiping Catholics

http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-29448079

The 500-year-old mines of Bolivia's Cerro Rico mountain produced the silver that once made the Spanish empire rich. Now riddled with tunnels, the mountain is a death trap for the men and boys who work there - and who pray to the devil to keep them safe.

Not really that much difference to my grandfather placating the Piseogs by tipping the first glass of his latest brew against the side of the barrel it was distilled in. Staunch Taig, believed in fairies.