The Hazards of Belief

SebBerkovich

Screaming Antisemitism on everyone who disagrees with them really undermines any legitimate discourse with Israel about their politics.

Worse still it lessons the impact of Israels claims against actual Antisemitism.

Fair play to the school for doing something to help more unfortunate folk.

maximoose

Deleted User wrote: »

For 40 Years, This Russian Family Was Cut Off From All Human Contact, Unaware of World War II
http://www.smithsonianmag.com/history-archaeology/For-40-Years-This-Russian-Family-Was-Cut-Off-From-Human-Contact-Unaware-of-World-War-II-188843001.html
A long story - could also be labelled the hazards of totalitarianism.

A family belonging to a fundamentalist Russian Orthodox sect, worshiping in a style unchanged since the 17th century, fled the purges of the 1930s and lived in the wilderness for 40 years before some Soviet geologists spotted them from a helicopter.

That is a great story, good find!

Banbh

I love the guy commenting on the JP article that wants Israel to ask the Vatican to tell Irish to stop supporting the Palestinians.

Canis Lupus

lulz John o Connor was my teacher back before Colaiste days.

Nodin

Sort of good news, following on this
http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showpost.php?p=82925944&postcount=2995

(Reuters) - The majority of Timbuktu's ancient manuscripts appear to be safe and undamaged after the Saharan city's 10-month occupation by Islamist rebel fighters, experts said on Wednesday, rejecting some media reports of their widespread destruction.

Denying accounts that told of tens of thousands of priceless papers being burned or stolen by the fleeing rebels, they said the bulk of the Timbuktu texts had been safely hidden well before the city's liberation by French forces on Sunday.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/01/31/us-mali-rebels-manuscripts-idUSBRE90T0F020130131

SebBerkovich

Thats good news alright, how did the media get it so wrong?

Hourglass Shrugged

"Islamophobia" is another nonsensical term thrown about too much. Islam, like all religions, is merely an idea. So if you're labelled an "Islamophobe", another way to put it would be "You're afraid of an idea", or "You're challenging an idea, therefore you should be stopped/censored".

What makes it even more of a stupid term is that some elements of Islam are about as intolerant as you can get. If you're gay, how can you tolerate something that doesn't wish to tolerates you and advocate your imprisonment or execution? In the "Religion of Peace", it's alright if you're sexist or homophobic, but Islamophobic, that's a big no no.

Some Imams in Scotland a while back were labeling gay marriage as "Islamophobic" because it contravened Islamic teachings. Nonsense.

A similar nonsensical term is Christophobia or Christianophobia.

Next doublethink will become a thought crime.

Dades

Perhaps Muslimophobic would more accurately describe some people's negative attitudes.

Hourglass Shrugged

Dades wrote: »

Perhaps Muslimophobic would more accurately describe some people's negative attitudes.

Not even "Muslimophobia", that's like saying "I fear the person with those ideas". It's like saying "Republicanophobia" or "Socialistophobia".

joseph brand

Brazilian Pastor convinced followers his penis contained HOLY MILK.

“This criminal pastor claimed that the Holy Spirit would secrete from his penis in the form of “sacred milk”. This pastor said that his penis was blessed and that “the Lord had consecrated him with divine milk of the Holy Spirit” and, of course, he had to release it in order to “evangelize”. “He has convinced us that only God could come into our lives through our mouth and that’s why he would do what he did”. Often, after worship, pastor Valdeci would take us to the where the funds were kept at the back of the Church and asked us to have Oral sex with him until the Holy Spirit would come through ejaculation”.

I don't know how he got away with this. Believers are usually so cynical and certainly not easily fooled.

They were all waiting for the second coming. :pac:

Gbear

I suppose there needs to be a distinction made because I have certainly been guilty at times of generalising and being a bit bigoted about muslims based not on their teaching but on the actions of some of their members.

It's possible to be both anti-islam and not anti-muslims, or at least not anti all muslims.

kylith

joseph brand wrote: »

Brazilian Pastor convinced followers his penis contained HOLY MILK.

“This criminal pastor claimed that the Holy Spirit would secrete from his penis in the form of “sacred milk”. This pastor said that his penis was blessed and that “the Lord had consecrated him with divine milk of the Holy Spirit” and, of course, he had to release it in order to “evangelize”. “He has convinced us that only God could come into our lives through our mouth and that’s why he would do what he did”. Often, after worship, pastor Valdeci would take us to the where the funds were kept at the back of the Church and asked us to have Oral sex with him until the Holy Spirit would come through ejaculation”.

I don't know how he got away with this. Believers are usually so cynical and certainly not easily fooled.

They were all waiting for the second coming. :pac:

Seriously? SERIOUSLY??? People bought this?! Grown adults ACTUALLY BOUGHT THIS???!!!

I'm sorry, but sometimes there comes a point when people have to be held culpable for their own stupidity.

robindch

joseph brand wrote: »

Brazilian Pastor convinced followers his penis contained HOLY MILK.

Dang, was just about to post that:

http://www.vaticancrimes.us/2013/01/evangelical-pastor-convinced-followers.html?m=1
http://www.que.es/ultimas-noticias/curiosas/201301282045-detenido-pastor-evangelico-violar-fieles-cont.html?anker_4

It leaves a bitter taste in the mouth.

Calibos

Makes the communion wafers like pancakes....

Bannasidhe

robindch wrote: »

It leaves a bitter taste in the mouth.

*gag*

FouxDaFaFa

kylith wrote: »

Seriously? SERIOUSLY??? People bought this?! Grown adults ACTUALLY BOUGHT THIS???!!!

I'm sorry, but sometimes there comes a point when people have to be held culpable for their own stupidity.

Unfortunately these small groups tend to attract people who might not be all there. They're then taken advantage of. Normally, by being "encouraged" to hand over large sums of money. This is a whole other level of messed up.

TwoShedsJackson

robindch wrote: »

It leaves a bitter taste in the mouth.

Depends how much celery he'd eaten recently.

Bannasidhe

TwoShedsJackson wrote: »

Depends how much celery he'd eaten recently.

:eek:

NOOO!

Really????

:eek:




hate celery.

robindch

TwoShedsJackson wrote: »

Depends how much celery he'd eaten recently.

Celery? Satan's vegetable.

I gather asparagus flavors things too. But I may be mixing my fluids at this point.

Genghiz Cohen

Well, we have gone off topic, haven't we?

Haven't we?

Dades

It seems it's a Hazard of Disbelief.

Hotblack Desiato

Calibos wrote: »

Makes the communion wafers like pancakes....

OK now I've a mental image of the soggy biscuit game with communion wafers. Will take a couple of beers at least to get rid of that. Thanks.

FouxDaFaFa

A waitress in the US was fired after posting a photo of a note she got from a customer refusing to tip to Reddit. It said "I give God 10%, why do you get 18%?". She posted it to r/atheism as she thought it was funny.

Turns out the customer is a Pastor. She kicked up a fuss and demanded that pretty much everyone that works at the restaurant, including managers, be fired.

“When I posted this, I didn’t represent Applebee’s in a bad light,” Chelsea explained. “In fact, I didn’t represent them at all. I did my best to protect the identity of all parties involved. I didn’t break any specific guidelines in the company handbook — I checked.”
“But because this person got embarrassed that their selfishness was made public, Applebee’s has made it clear that they would rather lose a dedicated employee than lose an angry customer. That’s a policy I can’t understand."

It gets better. I didn't think she meant that she literally gives 10% to God. She donates it to her own, tax-free, church. Hello, tax evasion!

Reddit user Wintercast Wait wait wait. The pastor has a 15 member church that she runs out of a store front. So, that is tax free. She then gives 10% of her income to her church, which is still her own business (really, lets me serious here). So she is just another piece of scum working the system.

Edit to add, so she is just giving herself free money in the way she "donates" to her own church. 10% tax right off, church does not pay on those taxes, looks like a way of sheltering income to me.

The Black Oil

Hourglass Shrugged wrote: »

"Islamophobia" is another nonsensical term thrown about too much. Islam, like all religions, is merely an idea. So if you're labelled an "Islamophobe", another way to put it would be "You're afraid of an idea", or "You're challenging an idea, therefore you should be stopped/censored".

What makes it even more of a stupid term is that some elements of Islam are about as intolerant as you can get. If you're gay, how can you tolerate something that doesn't wish to tolerates you and advocate your imprisonment or execution? In the "Religion of Peace", it's alright if you're sexist or homophobic, but Islamophobic, that's a big no no.

Some Imams in Scotland a while back were labeling gay marriage as "Islamophobic" because it contravened Islamic teachings. Nonsense.

A similar nonsensical term is Christophobia or Christianophobia.

Next doublethink will become a thought crime.

I don't know, really. I think it's a legitimate term in one sense because there is a lot of hostility towards Islam in sections of the American right, based simply around the fact the religion even exists, as well as some more nutty objections. And I think the post Sept 11th world shows like 24 would have been perhaps a bit guilty of jumping on the 'Muslims = bad, mmkay?' bandwagon. Also look at how much nonsense and paranoia there is about POTUS being Barack Hussein Obama, a sleeper cell terrorist, etc. OK, maybe that's at the fringes, but sometimes it's not seen as unwelcome in the mainstream, Michelle Bachmann, hi, btw. As to the term being used in response to people voicing criticisms about the content of Islam, then yes, that's a bit silly. Same with the term anti-Catholic, though. The way some people throw it around you'd swear most of the churches in the land had been padlocked shut permanently.

Have never heard of Christianophobia.

FouxDaFaFa

A seemingly random "acid attack" carried out by a woman in a niqab in London. The victim, who is 20 and worked in Victoria's Secret (could that possibly be relevant?) has been left partially blind and permanently disfigured.

Gordon

FouxDaFaFa wrote: »

A waitress in the US was fired after posting a photo of a note she got from a customer refusing to tip to Reddit. It said "I give God 10%, why do you get 18%?". She posted it to r/atheism as she thought it was funny.

Turns out the customer is a Pastor. She kicked up a fuss and demanded that pretty much everyone that works at the restaurant, including managers, be fired.



It gets better. I didn't think she meant that she literally gives 10% to God. She donates it to her own, tax-free, church. Hello, tax evasion!

Pastor apologises (and pimps books): http://www.thesmokinggun.com/documents/tipping-pastor-apologizes-687234

robindch

Gordon wrote: »

Pastor apologises (and pimps books):

All the woman admitted to was having "brought embarrassment to my church and ministry" - a textbook unpology.

Nodin

I am dissapoint. Very dissapoint.

Sandwich shop chain Pret A Manger has withdrawn a new "Virgin Mary" brand of crisps following religious complaints.
The firm, with about 350 shops in the UK, launched the spicy tomato crisps - based on the non-alcoholic version of a Bloody Mary cocktail - last week.
This prompted complaints, including from Catholic groups, that it was an offensive reference to Jesus's mother.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-21306006

There are few enough opportunities for somebody my age to get a mouth full of virgin.....

PopePalpatine

Oh boy, if discrimination means what that bishop thinks it means, then they are certainly discriminating against gays.

bnt

Oh, and here's one for the ladies: if you use birth control, did you know that your uterus is lined with little dead babies?
Lovely.

Bannasidhe

bnt wrote: »

Oh, and here's one for the ladies: if you use birth control, did you know that your uterus is lined with little dead babies?
Lovely.

Was there always this much crazy in the world?

Gordon

That is.. there are no.. I'm..

I wonder how she feels about the millions of dead babies in my pants..

Obliq

Bannasidhe wrote: »

Was there always this much crazy in the world?

That's too much crazy. I'm thinking that's dangerously delusional. That person should be sectioned IMO.



That's too many "thats". Sorry about that.

Nodin

bnt wrote: »

Oh, and here's one for the ladies: if you use birth control, did you know that your uterus is lined with little dead babies?
Lovely.

Thats just fucking weird, tbh. Its like a schoolyard story.

Sierra 117

Bannasidhe wrote: »

Was there always this much crazy in the world?

Probably. It's just that the internet had allowed the crazy to reach a wider audience.

Dades

Gordon wrote: »

I wonder how she feels about the millions of dead babies in my pants..

The ones in the wash, I assume. :pac:

robindch

Dades wrote: »

Gordon wrote: »

I wonder how she feels about the millions of dead babies in my pants..

The ones in the wash, I assume. :pac:

Typical atheists.

Just can't stop talking about socks.

Bannasidhe

robindch wrote: »

Typical atheists.

Just can't stop talking about socks.

I have 3 jack russells - therefore I have no socks.

Gordon

They all come out in the wash eventually!

Fortyniner

Refusing to deliver flowers to an atheist will probably prove expensive!

http://www.examiner.com/article/florist-sued-for-refusing-to-deliver-to-atheist-teen

This brave 16-year old has suffered the usual backlash for challenging the religious indoctrination in a US school, but the florist has gone too far.

Nodin

Good news for a change....

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8RoT5O7l8O8

Hotblack Desiato

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/breaking/2013/0204/breaking65.html

Priest pleads guilty to sexual assault

Fr Vincent Mercer (66), with an address at the Black Abbey, Kilkenny, pleaded guilty to 15 sample counts from a total of 39 charges when he was arraigned at Cork Circuit Criminal this afternoon.

Judge Seán Ó Donnabháin remanded Mercer, who is out of ministry but remains a member of the Dominican Order, on bail for sentence on February 22nd, 2013.

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/ireland/2013/0204/1224329605635.html

Priest (74) resigns over alleged harassment from parishioners

A parish curate resigned yesterday in the Gaeltacht area of Co Donegal because, he said, he had been harassed by some of his congregation.

Fr Bill McGeady (74), who is related to Ireland soccer player Aiden McGeady, told parishioners a small number of them objected to how he ran the parish around Glencolmcille.

The priest, whose family originated in Gweedore and who still has a Scots accent from his years in Scotland, said he had been delighted to serve his flock since he arrived from Falkirk to Glencolmcille in 2010.

But he added: “I have been harassed, and verbally and physically abused in the sacristy, in the church and in the street.”

The priest said people had complained about how he ran the parish to the Bishop of Raphoe, Dr Phillip Boyce. This had affected his health and he could not continue with his duties.

FouxDaFaFa

Some good news to balance out the awful. Malala Yousafzai has been formally nominated for the 2013 Nobel Peace Prize.

http://worldnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/02/01/16811670-malala-teen-champion-of-girls-rights-nominated-for-nobel-peace-prize

robindch

Bob Larson shows some cracking talent with a woman named Veronica who suffers from the Curse of Bastard and much else besides.

Looks expensive. Bob can be booked here.

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

Penn

ninja900 wrote: »

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/ireland/2013/0204/1224329605635.html

Has there been any indication on what he was doing that made them verbally and physically abusive towards him?

Besides which, maybe if they didn't let a priest "run the parish" and just made him stick to saying Mass, visit the sick, not f*ck children, be available for funerals etc, there wouldn't have been a problem.

robindch

Islamic fundamentalists start their own experiment to find out if praying away the Polio works by murdering nine medical staff in Nigeria:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-21381773

BBC wrote:

Nine female polio vaccinators have been killed in two shootings at health centres in northern Nigeria, police have told the BBC.

In the first attack in Kano the polio vaccinators were shot dead by gunmen who drove up on a motor tricycle. Thirty minutes later gunmen targeted a clinic outside Kano city as the vaccinators prepared to start work.

Some Nigerian Muslim leaders have previously opposed polio vaccinations, claiming they could cause infertility. On Thursday, a controversial Islamic cleric spoke out against the polio vaccination campaign, telling people that new cases of polio were caused by contaminated medicine.

Some Kano residents told the BBC's Yusuf Yakasai in the city that other people injured in the first attack had been taken to hospital. A health official confirmed to the BBC that those killed in the second attack in Hotoro were female health workers - there were earlier reports that people waiting at the clinic may have been among those shot.

Witnesses in Hotoro told the BBC gunmen also approached the health centre using a motor tricycle. Kano banned motorbikes from carrying passengers after a recent attack on the prominent Muslim leader, the emir of Kano.

Analysts believe the attacks may have been the work of the militant Islamist group Boko Haram but it has not yet commented. The group - whose name translates as "Western education is forbidden" - says it is fighting to overthrow the government and impose Sharia.

It has been blamed for the deaths of some 1,400 people in central and northern Nigeria since 2010.

Nigeria is one of only three countries where polio is still endemic. According to the Global Polio Eradication Initiative, there were 121 cases of polio in Nigeria last year, compared to 58 in Pakistan and 37 in Afghanistan.

In the past month, polio workers have also been targeted and killed in Pakistan, where the Taliban have threatened anti-polio efforts - accusing health workers of working as US spies and alleging that the vaccine makes children sterile.

FouxDaFaFa

I have a special, hateful, place in my heart for Boko Haram. Absolute scum.

Nodin

robindch wrote: »

Islamic fundamentalists start their own experiment to find out if praying away the Polio works by murdering nine medical staff in Nigeria:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-21381773

While Western medical staff were always at some risk, it seems that the use of a fake medical programme to get bin laden has led to open season on any such ventures, regardless of who staffs them or how long they've been running. And obviously elements such as boko haram can't really be reasoned with.

Delirium

Sickening stuff. Children were in the crowd that watched her burn :mad:

A mob stripped, tortured and bound a woman accused of witchcraft, then burned her alive in front of hundreds of witnesses in a Papua New Guinea town, police said Friday after one of the highest profile sorcery-related murders in this South Pacific island nation.

Hundreds of bystanders, including many children, watched and some took photographs of Wednesday's brutal slaying. Grisly pictures were published on the front pages of the country's biggest circulating newspapers, The National and Post-Courier, while the prime minister, police and diplomats condemned the killing.

In rural Papua New Guinea, witchcraft is often blamed for unexplained misfortunes. Sorcery has traditionally been countered by sorcery, but retaliations have become increasingly violent in recent years.

Source

recedite

Hmmm.. I know a family who moved out that way a few weeks ago; the husband is working with Denis O'Brien's latest mobile phone venture in Papua New Guinea. But the wife and kids will live in "nearby" Australia because Papua is "too dodgy," with the husband joining them at weekends . Now I see why :eek: