The Hazards of Belief

Fortyniner

From the BBC news website, today..

China makes doomsday cult arrests

Twenty-two young children, including this man's son, were stabbed by the attacker
Chinese police have arrested more than 500 members of a doomsday cult for spreading rumours about the imminent end of the world, state media say.

At least 400 followers of the Almighty God Christian group were detained in western Qinghai province in recent days. Dozens more were held elsewhere.

In Henan province, six officials have been sacked after a knife attack by a suspected doomsday cult disciple wounded more than 20 children.

The attack sparked widespread anger.

The officials sacked had handled the incident improperly, state media said.

A number of people around the world believe that an apocalypse will take place on Friday 21 December, as the Mayan "Long Count" Calendar ends a 5,200-year cycle.

China's state news agency Xinhua describes the Almighty God Christian group as a cult, saying it was established in 1990 in Henan.

BBC © 2012

Hotblack Desiato

Benny has his spake in the Irish Times - poor fella has a very hard time getting his message out, what with sermons in all those churches every Sunday, pro-conservative-Catholic commentators on RTE and Newstalk 24/7 it feels like, and now Twitter :rolleyes: so the IT must have felt sorry for him...

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/opinion/2012/1218/1224327961229.html

Don't bother reading it, it's deeply boring, as with JW the comments are a lot more entertaining than the 'article'.

Hotblack Desiato

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/ireland/2012/1219/1224327998252.html

Pig farmer told assets men to recite prayer

A Longford pig farmer who denies falsely imprisoning two men said he was “revengeful” after being knocked to the ground and he directed the men to recite the “Our Father” to “reflect” on what they had done.

Donal Connaughton (54) said he wanted the men to strip to “humiliate” them. He told them to kneel and recite the “Our Father”, to “instil in them what it says in that prayer not to trespass. I was defending my property in the best way I knew.”

“It did cross my mind, if I was beat to it, the only asset I had in my favour was the boars, and they might get out of the yard then.

I hear the sound of duelling banjos :eek:

Boars have a tendency to open their mouth and close it on a regular basis in a chopping fashion. It was an intimidating aspect, that was the intention of the boar.”

!?!?!?!?

recedite

ninja900 wrote: »

Benny has his spake in the Irish Times -
http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/opinion/2012/1218/1224327961229.html

Benny? Is John Waters on holiday this week, then?

TwoShedsJackson

Friday is the day that Waters delivers his sermon unto the masses.

seamus

Friday is the day that Waters delivers his sermon unto the masses.

21st of December? Coincidence...?

recedite

Oh right, so Benny's sermon is a Bog-off* Christmas Special
(*buy one, get one free)

robindch

Darkest day of the year, the end of the world, the war on christmas and abortion all at the same time?

We could see the first case of spontaneous human combustion caused by misuse of a thesaurus.

recedite

Oh yeah, I forgot it was the end of the world on friday.

Sarky

More likely his fevered writings, combining so many controversial subjects and so many more idiotic claims and opinions at once, will result in a manuscript not unlike the Al Azif of legend, more commonly known as the Necronomicon, or "Book of the Dead". Waters, realising what he has done, will lose whatever sanity he had left and read aloud words that were never meant to pour from a human throat. And in the vast inky void between the stars, blasphemous entities too horrible to contemplate will hear him, and respond in kind.

Soon after, due in no small part to the sickening rituals of the Iona Institute and its unholy fellows, the Stars will be Right, and these gods of horror and madness will filter down through the infinity of space to our world, and a new age will begin, marking the extinction of humanity and the returning of the earth to its rightful rulers. They will not even have noticed mankind as they destroy it, as a man would not notice the ant he crushes underfoot. All our accomplishments, our hopes and fears and dreams and heroes, they will be snuffed out, as if they had never been.

ShooterSF

Pfft not if my trusty chainsaw and sawn-off have anything to say about it!


(And yes I know I'm crossing two different "universes" but that's the kinda shít that goes down in an apocalypse)

Galvasean

robindch wrote: »

We could see the first case of spontaneous human combustion caused by misuse of a thesaurus.

Learn something new every day...

Hotblack Desiato

Think I'm going to puke.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-20835186

David Cameron quotes Bible in Christmas message

David Cameron has quoted a verse from the Bible while paying tribute to Britain's armed forces and emergency services in his Christmas message.

"The Gospel of John tells us that [Jesus] was life, and that his life was the light of all mankind, and that he came with grace, truth and love," the prime minister says.

"Indeed, God's word reminds us that Jesus was the Prince of Peace. "

Down with this sort of thing, the last thing anywhere in Europe needs is politicians professing religion US-style.

Hotblack Desiato

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/ireland/2012/1224/1224328152735.html

Parishioners urged to pray and fast

Parishioners in Co Donegal are being urged to say the rosary every day and to fast or do penance on Wednesdays and Fridays in an anti-abortion “Forty Days of Prayer for Life”.

Caretaker bishop, Msgr Eamon Martin, has invited the people and priests of the Derry diocese to “join together in prayer” over the 40 days from Saturday, January 5th until Ash Wednesday, February 13th.

In a message to parishioners at the weekend, Msgr Martin said the prayers and penance would be offered so “that all human life will be respected from the first moment of conception until the moment of natural death”. The campaign will begin with a prayer vigil in Derry on January 4th.

Looks like a bad case of 'new boss tries to make a big impression'.

General Relativity

ninja900 wrote: »

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/ireland/2012/1224/1224328152735.html



Looks like a bad case of 'new boss tries to make a big impression'.

Brilliant, I hope they do this, as long as they don't do something that will actually stop this legislation.

Sarky

Nothing like actually have to do some thankless chore to turn you off having a stance on something. They'll be pro-choice before 2013.

MrPudding

General Relativity wrote: »

Brilliant, I hope they do this, as long as they don't do something that will actually stop this legislation.

So what happens when after loads of people have bad a good aul pray and the legislation passes? God works in mysterious ways? God hates babies? Prayer doesn't work? Perhaps god does not exist and I need to take a long hard look at the idiotic beliefs I hold?

MrP

Gordon

Jeezo, everyone's getting into this 5:2 diet thing, even god is recommending it.

Obliq

Gordon wrote: »

Jeezo, everyone's getting into this 5:2 diet thing, even god is recommending it.

Is that the one where you don't eat for two days a week? Working for my folks - they said they're feelin great on it. Better not tell the Da it's been recommended by God.......:p

recedite

ninja900 wrote: »

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-20835186
Down with this sort of thing, the last thing anywhere in Europe needs is politicians professing religion US-style.

he came with grace, truth and love," the prime minister says...

...and Apache attack helicopters.
Any Afghans listening must have got a good laugh out of that speech anyway.

Aenaes

Yeah, was laughing at that too. Mentioning the "Prince of Peace" in a message to the army.

Also, caretaker bishop? Made me snort.

recedite

That's what annoys me most about "christian morality" the complete hypocrisy of it. All the talk of peace and love, and then go out and do something completely different. Soldiers are trained and paid to shoot people. Why not just thank them for kicking ass out there, or else bring them home.

PopePalpatine

ninja900 wrote: »

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/ireland/2012/1224/1224328152735.html



Looks like a bad case of 'new boss tries to make a big impression'.

Thanks for proving my stereotype of Donegal being full of religious whackjobs. :rolleyes:

Nodin

The leader of the Roman Catholic Church in England and Wales has used his Christmas Eve sermon to attack the government's plans for gay marriage.
The Archbishop of Westminster, Vincent Nichols, said the proposals were "undemocratic" and a "shambles".

Speaking to the congregation at Westminster Cathedral, Archbishop Nichols said the government had no mandate to push through any laws around same-sex marriage.
"There was no announcement in any party manifesto, no Green Paper, no statement in the Queen's Speech. And yet here we are on the verge of primary legislation.
"From a democratic point-of-view, it's a shambles.

"George Orwell would be proud of that manoeuvre, I think the process is shambolic," he said.
He claims during a "period of listening", those who responded were "7-1 against same-sex marriage".

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-20840531

And lets face it, he's in a good place to know about lack of democracy.....

Apparently 55% over there support it, according to this (page 6)
http://d25d2506sfb94s.cloudfront.net/cumulus_uploads/document/w0hvkihpjg/YG-Archive-Pol-Sunday-Times-results-14-161212.pdf

Postin on Christmas....this is what a lack of alcohol in yer life does to ye...terrible, really....

PopePalpatine

He claims during a "period of listening", those who responded were "7-1 against same-sex marriage".

That 1/8 would later be excommunicated. :rolleyes:

Nodin

PopePalpatine wrote: »

That 1/8 would later be excommunicated. :rolleyes:

...after they explained how they got a seat on the church minibus with the other seven.

Hotblack Desiato

The 'No true Scotsman' effect is in full recursive flow. Continued participation in a mainstream Christian church indicates an adherence to the most extreme/conservative viewpoint of that church. Rinse, drive out the moderates, repeat.
Soon only Benny and God will be left, and Benny won't be sure about whether God believes in himself or not :rolleyes:

Nodin

It appears the arch-bishop really was only counting the people he sent in the mini-bus....

More than three in five voters support David Cameron's wish to introduce gay marriage, according to a poll conducted for the Guardian. The strong backing for a change in the law comes after the archbishop of Westminster queried the democratic legitimacy of the coalition plans.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2012/dec/26/voters-back-gay-marriage-poll

Andrewf20

What a disgrace. Saw this posted in another thread...

http://www.examiner.com/article/pope-gives-blessing-to-ugandan-kill-the-gays-lawmaker

Hotblack Desiato

Just in case anyone hasn't seen this

An Italian priest has provoked outrage after putting up an article that said women were partly to blame for encouraging domestic violence by failing to clean their houses and cook properly and for wearing tight and provocative clothing.

it's got its own thread here.


Edit: I forgot that this was already posted in 'Ongoing Scandals'... and I'd thanked that post too

Hotblack Desiato

Andrewf20 wrote: »

What a disgrace. Saw this posted in another thread...

http://www.examiner.com/article/pope-gives-blessing-to-ugandan-kill-the-gays-lawmaker

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/world/2012/1228/1224328225267.html

Catholics research leaving church after pope's comments on gays

Thousands of Dutch Catholics are researching how they can leave the church in protest at its opposition to gay marriage, according to the creator of a website aimed at helping them find the information.

Tom Roes, whose website allows people to download the documents needed to leave the church, said traffic on ontdopen.nl– de-baptise.nl– had soared from about 10 visits a day to more than 10,000 after Pope Benedicts latest denunciation of gay marriage this month.

“Of course it’s not possible to be ‘de-baptised’ because a baptism is an event, but this way people can unsubscribe or deregister themselves as Catholics,” Mr Roes said.

FouxDaFaFa

I'm sure a lot of you read about the poor guy who was pushed onto the tracks and killed by a subway train in New York recently. (Well actually, this has happened twice in quick succession but I mean the more recent one).
Turns out the woman who pushed him (a stranger, whom he never interacted with) did it because she thought he was a muslim and wanted revenge for 9/11. She'll be charged with second-degree murder as a hate crime.

A law enforcement official said that Ms. Menendez had “told the cops it was an act against Muslims,” and cited the Sept. 11 attacks. The victim, Sunando Sen, was born in India and, according to a roommate, was raised Hindu.

Now, obviously, I wouldn't be completely shocked if she's found insane but it's still heart-breaking to read about.

After years of toil, he had finally saved enough money to open a small copying business this year on the Upper West Side.

Hotblack Desiato

^^ Fùck religion. That is all.

Aenaes

It's really something sickening to hear/read about but not something you can pin solely on religion (the terrorists attacking for Islam maybe) just plain ignorance.
Reminds of the stories of gangs chasing after Muslims or people who looked liked Muslims after the bomb attacks in London, chanting "go back to your own country".
Most of the people being chased and harrassed had been born and bred in England.

FouxDaFaFa

FouxDaFaFa wrote: »

I'm sure a lot of you read about the poor guy who was pushed onto the tracks and killed by a subway train in New York recently. (Well actually, this has happened twice in quick succession but I mean the more recent one).
Turns out the woman who pushed him (a stranger, whom he never interacted with) did it because she thought he was a muslim and wanted revenge for 9/11. She'll be charged with second-degree murder as a hate crime.

Now, obviously, I wouldn't be completely shocked if she's found insane but it's still heart-breaking to read about.

2nd degree? The ****? **** the "hate-crime" BS, she killed someone and the bigoted reason shouldn't have anything to do with how harshly someone is punished for intentionally ending a stranger's life.

Aenaes

Aenaes wrote: »

It's really something sickening to hear/read about but not something you can pin solely on religion (the terrorists attacking for Islam maybe) just plain ignorance.
Reminds of the stories of gangs chasing after Muslims or people who looked liked Muslims after the bomb attacks in London, chanting "go back to your own country".
Most of the people being chased and harrassed had been born and bred in England.

That didn't happen an awful lot and the whole "most were born and raised in England" line that follows most tellings reads like something from an email chain message.

FouxDaFaFa

Deleted User wrote: »

2nd degree? The ****?

2nd-degree because it seems like it was opportunistic rather than pre-meditated (ie. she didn't plan it and follow him). The hate crime bit is tacked on to give a harsher sentence. Witnesses have said that she was talking to herself before she pushed him, so her lawyers will probably push for insanity.

Hotblack Desiato

Isn't it remarkable though how often those who, shall we say, are not in the best of mental health latch with great determination onto religious delusions*.
Perhaps the (illusory) certainty of good and evil, damnation and salvation, appeals - I don't know - but black and white is easier to process than the shades of grey of real life where no-one and nothing is absolutely good or bad.
If anyone comes across a case of some poor person becoming convinced that he or she is Dawkins or Sagan, get back to me :pac:


* Just in case anyone takes offence at this, I don't mean the normal spectrum of religious belief, but the belief that god is talking to them, or they are god's agent, or indeed that they are god. Mainstream religions have been strongly discouraging that sort of thing for a long while. (one of the first things that started me along the path to atheism, years ago, was the realisation that if a second messiah were to appear, the mainstream religions would all dismiss him as a nut... pay up, pray up, dont't scare the horses or disrupt the business plan.)

The Black Oil

Like your privacy? So does Andrea Hernandez. She’s been expelled from her San Antonio, Texas, high school for refusing to wear a radio-frequency tracking device. Hernandez considers the big brother technology "the implementation of the Mark of the Beast," and an invasion of her religious beliefs. Now a judge has granted a temporary restraining order allowing the sophomore to stay at school until a hearing next week, and a civil liberties group has stepped in to help the family's case. Their lawyer hasn’t mentioned the devil yet, but says that RFID programs get "students used to living in a total surveillance state where there will be no privacy," and eventually everything you do "will be watched by the government." [http://now.msn.com/andrea-hernandez-suspended-for-refusing-to-wear-an-rfid-locator-tag-can-stay-at-school-until-court-hearing and http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2012/11/student-suspension/

The ID cards seem a bit big brother ish alright, but the mark of the beast stuff...yeah OK. Apparently, the family are evangelical Christians, but you got to figure as a 15 year old she probably has a smartphone, computer or a tablet, and a facebook page...so are those things 'marks of the beast', too?

Links234

Protect women from violence? That'll lead to homosexuality and transsexuality!

http://www.gaystarnews.com/article/church-says-poland-pledge-protect-women-will-promote-gays201212

Quick, we need to beat women or everyone'll turn into gay transsexuals! :eek:

PopePalpatine

Links234 wrote: »

Protect women from violence? That'll lead to homosexuality and transsexuality!

http://www.gaystarnews.com/article/church-says-poland-pledge-protect-women-will-promote-gays201212

Quick, we need to beat women or everyone'll turn into gay transsexuals! :eek:

I feel like the morons who believe this need some sense beaten into them.

kylith

The Black Oil wrote: »

The ID cards seem a bit big brother ish alright, but the mark of the beast stuff...yeah OK. Apparently, the family are evangelical Christians, but you got to figure as a 15 year old she probably has a smartphone, computer or a tablet, and a facebook page...so are those things 'marks of the beast', too?

Hehehe, that'd be great. "OK, no RFID tracking. We'll just keep tabs on you with the 'find my friends' app instead.

magicbastarder

may have been posted elsewhere:
Spirituality Linked To Mental Health 'Demons' Like Eating Disorders, Drug Abuse, Anxiety, Study Says

http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2013/01/02/mental-health-spirituality-eating-disorder-drug-abuse_n_2394538.html?utm_hp_ref=tw

DB21

Source

Hoping that this is a Poe, but you never can tell

FouxDaFaFa

God, this is just awful. Following on from the Malala shooting, a bus full of teachers who educate young girls was targeted.

GUNMEN on motorcycles sprayed a van carrying community centre employees with bullets yesterday, killing five female teachers and two aid workers, but sparing a child they took out of the vehicle before opening fire.

Delirium

Saudi religious leader calls for gang rape of Syrian women

A prominent Saudi cleric has issued a fatwa (a religious ordinance) that calls for the gang rape of Syrian women. Expressing frustration that the “warriors of Islam” fighting in Syria may be getting weary for the lack of sexual pleasure, the religious leader issued a decree that promotes hours-long “intercourse marriages.”

The cleric, Muhammed al-Arifi, who is a leading jihadist religious figure, made it clear that his edict called for the gang rape of Syrian women and girls. He specified that the “intercourse marriages” last only a few hours “in order to give each fighter a turn.” As to who is an eligible bride, the cleric approves any girls or women over the age of 14 who are widowed or divorced. Yes, you read that right. Any girls over the age of 14.

kiffer

koth wrote: »

Saudi religious leader calls for gang rape of Syrian women

Wait... hold on... No sex outside marrage, but you can have an hour long marrage, have sex (or rape, in this case)...

robindch

Up-country mayor in Indonesia can't distinguish men from women on motorbikes. Proposes a new bye-law to rectify the matter.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-20896966

BBC wrote:

A city in the Indonesian province of Aceh which follows Sharia has ordered female passengers not to straddle motorbikes behind male drivers.

Suaidi Yahya, mayor of Lhokseumawe, says it aims to save people's "morals and behaviours".

Leaflets have been sent out to government offices and residents to inform them about the regulation. Aceh is the only Indonesian province that follows Sharia.

Under the new regulation, the mayor says that women passengers are only allowed to sit "side-saddle" because straddling the bike seat violates Islamic values. "When you see a woman straddle, she looks like a man. But if she sits side-saddle, she looks like a woman," Suaidi said.

He added that passengers who sat side-saddle rarely fell off. The local government will be evaluating the regulation in a month, after which it could turn into a by-law, he added.

When asked if women who did not follow the rule would be punished, Suaidi said: "Once it has become a by-law, automatically there will be sanctions."

The regulation has been met with criticism from well-known Muslim activists like Ulil Abshar Abdalla, who is based in the capital, Jakarta.

"How to ride a motorbike is not regulated in Sharia. There is no mention of it in the Koran or Hadiths," he said on his Twitter account, referring to the second most sacred text in Islam after the Koran.

"In a democratic country, what is claimed to be Sharia must be assessed by the public's common sense if the government aims to turn the regulation into law."

Nodin

koth wrote: »

Saudi religious leader calls for gang rape of Syrian women

*sniff *sniff

Thing is, there is, afaik, short marriages of convenience in Islam (nikah al-mutah). Shia Islam. There's no support for it in Sunni readings of Islam at all, at all as far as I know.

Hotblack Desiato

FFS :mad:

...Meanwhile back in dear old Ireland...

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/breaking/2013/0103/breaking20.html

On Mr Quinn’s return to prison last week, family friend Fr Gerry Comiskey said: “He’s not a bit worried, he knows it’s almost over . . . He’s extremely grateful to everyone for their support.”

Fr Comiskey said Mr Quinn had been inundated with correspondence from supporters during his stint in prison. “He has been able to spend a lot of time in prison reading and reflecting. Getting all the letters has strengthened his resolve,” he said.

I presume that means his resolve to obey the law, pay his debts, disclose all that he knows, and plead guilty to any criminal charges if he is guilty of them? Right?

Not his resolve to continue to conceal his assets, defy the courts, and give the Irish nation the two fingers? Surely not.