The Hazards of Belief

robindch

Ghana's mental health patients confined to prayer camps

In Ghana's prayer camps, people with mental health problems are chained, beaten, starved, and prevented from leaving, say human rights campaigners.

http://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736%2813%2962717-8/fulltext

Duggy747

robindch wrote: »

Ghana's mental health patients confined to prayer camps

recedite

Those ankle manacles and chains look very old. Its sad to see them still in use, in the 21st Century.

joseph brand

Pat Robertson: Global Warming is Fake Because...Jupiter!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8933GicrgrE

Checkmate. You liberal atheist progressives.

Brian Shanahan

joseph brand wrote: »

Pat Robertson: Global Warming is Fake Because...Jupiter!

<snip>


Checkmate. You liberal atheist progressives.

On the other hand Pat Robertson [note no Revd.] is clever enough to know he's lying and evil enough to continue with the lies.

No man who can organise resupply planes for his illegal Congo diamond mine, get his congregation to pay for the costs of same and get away with it all because he is doing it for charity, incidentally avoiding any tax charge on the sale of said blood diamonds is not thick enough to be gulled by the anti-global warming hoaxers.

recedite

I think you have to distinguish between being smart and unscrupulous.
The clip alleges he is "half-senile". Maybe, or maybe not.
Maybe he is just like Mugabe of Zimbabwe, just a greedy old git who won't let go of power and money. All these people need to cling on is a supply of reasonably proficient but unscrupulous henchmen; the accountants and the fixers who take their cut in return for maintaining a corrupt system.

Hotblack Desiato

http://www.irishtimes.com/news/social-affairs/religion-and-beliefs/married-catholic-deacon-is-no-holy-joe-1.1651346

She had to agree to his becoming a deacon, in a separate letter to the archdiocese. Such is the case with married men who wish to become deacons. They have to be aged between 35 and 55 and have the assent of their wives. Single men can be aged from 25 and must take a vow of celibacy. Should a married deacon’s wife die he, too, is expected to take a vow of celibacy.

Wtf???
So if you're getting the ride you still can, but if you're not you can't ever. Makes sense :rolleyes:

Bad enough being bereaved, but to never have the possibility of marrying again either? It'd be enough to make a...



...




...




...deacon blue






I'll get me coat.

recedite

This deaconry lark must be in response to the dearth in supply of newly ordained caucasian priests. Deacons seem to lack some of the fundamental magic powers of a true priest, but then what do you expect from a part-timer

he cannot celebrate the Eucharist at Mass, give the last rites or hear confession.What he can do is “serve”. He assists the priest at Masses, reads the gospel, assists at baptisms, marriages and funerals, presides at benedictions, brings Communion to the sick, trains altar servers and lay readers, and preaches homilies.

Hotblack Desiato

But if single men still have to sign up to the No Sex Please, We're Irish rule, how is the anticipated stampede of Class B Vocations going to happen??

Sulla Felix

ninja900 wrote: »

But if single men still have to sign up to the No Sex Please, We're Irish rule, how is the anticipated stampede of Class B Vocations going to happen??

They're expecting a bunch of married guys to join up?

recedite

Yes, married men aged 35-55, and slightly bored with their lives.
Personally, I think getting a sports car would be the better option. Can't beat the classic solution.

Hotblack Desiato

Clearly on a bhp/euro ratio, getting a sports bike would be the better option :pac:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lTAUV1Yj4NE

robindch

recedite wrote: »

Personally, I think getting a sports car would be the better option.

A boat. Less chance of ending up as donor-fodder:

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

kylith

robindch wrote: »

A boat. Less chance of ending up as donor-fodder:

Greater chance of winding up as shark fodder though.

Links234

Fan murders metal singer for being 'false satanist'

Hotblack Desiato

New age rubbish posing as an accessible alternative to old-school religion - Irish Times

Always hilarious when a theist of one of the long-established global brands attacks 'alternative' worship/belief as nonsense.

The Irish Times is printing quite a lot of pro-religion nonsense these days (and I don't mean the worship columns) as opinion pieces. No balance.

Turtwig

ninja900 wrote: »

New age rubbish posing as an accessible alternative to old-school religion - Irish Times

Always hilarious when a theist of one of the long-established brands attacks 'alternative' worship/belief as nonsense.

The Irish Times is printing quite a lot of pro-religion nonsense these days (and I don't mean the worship columns) as opinion pieces. No balance.

Irish Times is printing a lot of rubbish these days, period.

pauldla

Jernal wrote: »

Irish Times is printing a lot of rubbish these days, period.

Yup. It ain't what it used to be....

MrPudding

ninja900 wrote: »

New age rubbish posing as an accessible alternative to old-school religion - Irish Times

Always hilarious when a theist of one of the long-established global brands attacks 'alternative' worship/belief as nonsense.

The Irish Times is printing quite a lot of pro-religion nonsense these days (and I don't mean the worship columns) as opinion pieces. No balance.

I tried to read it but "perceived secular mood" and "god filled gap" blew my bullsh1t quota for today.

MrP

Brian Shanahan

ninja900 wrote: »

New age rubbish posing as an accessible alternative to old-school religion - Irish Times

Always hilarious when a theist of one of the long-established global brands attacks 'alternative' worship/belief as nonsense.

The Irish Times is printing quite a lot of pro-religion nonsense these days (and I don't mean the worship columns) as opinion pieces. No balance.

Edward Leanne @Irish Times wrote:

A very good and timely article.
We are present time in the middle of a war between two diametrically opposing ideologies in relation to human rights and the purpose of human life - Christianity versus liberal democracy.
Liberal democracy's version of human rights is based on the notion that God who created us does not exist and therefore the individual is his own god. Basic concepts in human relationship both to God and to other human beings is therefore turned upside-down. "Freedom" to do what we like is the latest fad.
Christianity on the other hand, like eating food to sustain life, is all about practical solutions to the human condition. And the most obvious aspect of the human condition is the human capacity for good and evil.
So adherence to realistic and sustainable human rights is essential. These were established in writing thousands of years ago in the Judaeo/Christian version of human rights, written in stone in the Mosaic Covenant - to God who made us, to the truth, to life, to a natural family and to own the fruits of our labour.
The second aspect of the human condition is that we are made to live in infinity and as evil is rejected in infinity and our actions will influence all future generations of humanity we need a practical approach to sustaining life into infinity. In Christianity this is done through the kingdom of heaven where we become “citizens” through our spiritual birth in baptism and the obligations of citizenship are humility or faith and trust in God, communication with God through prayer and self-denial, observance of the Law, and offering sacrifice to God

You know its commenters like this one that really put me in a stink about religion. He should be forced to emigrate to a country that practises his brand of "religious freedoms" like Saudi Arabia for a year or two to see how it works.

We get these people complaining about secular democracy (which is often miscalled as "liberal") as if it were a worse idea than National Socialism, little realising that the only reason they are not the guests of honour at an auto da fé in the morning is because of secularism.

Nodin

Jernal wrote: »

Irish Times is printing a lot of rubbish these days, period.

Still not as bad as the one across the water though. Nosedived after Murdoch took over.

Hotblack Desiato

Brian Shanahan wrote: »

You know its commenters like this one that really put me in a stink about religion. He should be forced to emigrate to a country that practises his brand of "religious freedoms" like Saudi Arabia for a year or two to see how it works.

He's not to be taken at all seriously. He cuts and pastes that several times into any 'discussion' he posts on. It could be about any topic whatsoever, religion related or not.

Brian Shanahan

ninja900 wrote: »

He's not to be taken at all seriously. He cuts and pastes that several times into any 'discussion' he posts on. It could be about any topic whatsoever, religion related or not.

That's another thing I hate about these people, not a single one of them have a single new idea just spouting the same bovine excreta over and over again (aside from the ones who turn out to be Poes).

robindch

Listen up, all your atheists. Your fathers were just crap. And it says so here.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/religion/did-your-absentee-father-make-you-an-atheist/2014/01/13/a0d96b5a-7c9f-11e3-97d3-b9925ce2c57b_story.html
http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2014/01/14/catholic-publisher-fights-militant-atheism-with-book-blaming-disbelief-on-bad-fathers/

Raw Story wrote:

The president of a Catholic publishing house has said that the “rise of militant, evangelical, fundamentalist atheism” has made it necessary to republish a 15-year-old book that blames absentee fathers for turning their kids into atheists.

According to Religion News Service, the book “Faith of the Fatherless: The Psychology of Atheism” by Catholic psychologist Paul C. Vitz has been revived by Ignatius Press, even though the book was considered controversial when it was first published 15 years ago.

“The rise of militant, evangelical, fundamentalist atheism in our time adds to the pertinence of this book,” Ignatius Press Mark Brumley explained. “Some atheists try to equate atheism with rationality. Vitz’s book shows that atheism, like many belief systems, has significant irrational elements. In the book, Vitz argues that history’s most “intense atheists” — such as Friedrich Nietzsche and Voltaire — had poor relationships with their fathers that made it difficult for them to form a bond with God.

“We need to understand atheism has a lot to do with our emotional attitudes towards life, other people and a lot of other things,” Vitz told the Religion News Service. “I think that is an important thing for atheists and believers alike to take into consideration.”

“I am certainly not predicting that every atheist is the result of one hypothesis, much less mine,” he said. “I am just saying there is a tendency for more things to go together than you’d expect normally.”

Atheist blogger JT Eberhard recently reviewed the book and noted “how strange this was for me to learn, since I have a spectacular relationship with my father and consider him to be the most admirable man I’ve ever known (or at least, I thought I did).”

“Who knew that moral commandments like killing everybody who works on a particular day (Exodus 35:2) and stories of someone living inside the belly of a fish for three days were perfectly reasonable, which I would see if only my relationship with my father were even better?” Eberhard asked. “Or maybe Paul Vitz is a sham looking to cash in on confirming the prejudice of other Christians,” he added.

Delirium

robindch wrote: »

Listen up, all your atheists. Your fathers were just crap. And it says so here.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/religion/did-your-absentee-father-make-you-an-atheist/2014/01/13/a0d96b5a-7c9f-11e3-97d3-b9925ce2c57b_story.html
http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2014/01/14/catholic-publisher-fights-militant-atheism-with-book-blaming-disbelief-on-bad-fathers/

Catholic fathers are to blame for atheists? :pac::pac:

seamus

Seems like a logic fail to me. It would make more sense that someone who had a poor relationship with their parents would seek a parental resource in an imaginary friend, i.e. a God.

It of course also fails because of the large number of devout Catholics in this country who can say their father was a very devout man, cold and unaffectionate.

My father would have been quite strong in his faith and is very close to his kids, but he still managed to raise 4 atheists before becoming one himself...

robindch

SW wrote: »

Catholic fathers are to blame for atheists?

No doubt a bit like all those men and women who indulge in heterosexual sex producing all those dreadful gheys.

Bannasidhe

robindch wrote: »

No doubt a bit like all those men and women who indulge in heterosexual sex producing all those dreadful gheys.

What about when two gheys produce a heterosexual?

Did I do it wrong? :eek:

robindch

Bannasidhe wrote: »

What about when two gheys produce a heterosexual?

I'd be phoning Norris McWhirter

legspin

robindch wrote: »

I'd be phoning Norris McWhirter

Good luck with that. He's only been dead ten years.

Brian Shanahan

legspin wrote: »

Good luck with that. He's only been dead ten years.

His number is in the Necrotelecomnicon then.

mewso

Just watched Sergio on Netflix, a very good (and sad) documentary about Sergio Vieira de Mello of the UN who died when the UN headquarters in Iraq was bombed. Two army reserve firemen tried to dig him out and one of them at one point stopped and tried to get Sergio to pray finally blaming Sergio for not having faith in God as a reason for why he passed away. Listening to this guy had my blood boiling.

Read this for the details or watch the documentary on netflix (recommended).

Nodin

"A UK Independence party (Ukip) councillor has claimed that Britain's recent storms and floods are "divine retribution for the government's decision to legalise gay marriage.
David Silvester, who defected from the Tories in protest at David Cameron's support for same-sex unions, claimed he had warned the prime minister that the legislation would result in "disasters".
The Henley-on-Thames councillor said that the country had been "beset by storms" since the passage of the new law on gay marriage because Cameron had acted "arrogantly against the Gospel".
http://www.theguardian.com/society/2014/jan/18/uk-storms-divine-retirubtion-gay-marriage-ukip?CMP=fb_gu

Yep, I'd say the Tories had a cry when he went out the door.....bit like FG and Healy Eames.

PopePalpatine

I had no idea there was a fundie wing within UKIP.

Nodin

PopePalpatine wrote: »

I had no idea there was a fundie wing within UKIP.

O yeah. It attracts the right wing of the conservative base. That's why theres all the pandering with the anti-Romanian/Bulgarian crap. Theres a fear that they'll suck in enough of the Tory vote to let Labour in.

Hotblack Desiato

William Reville is at it again.

Philosophers must oppose arrogance of scientism

An entire article built on stuff and nonsense and a massive strawman.

It is a disgrace that a college professor would denigrate and misrepresent science in this way. His claim that most scientists of history are christians is laughable (Galileo was forced to recant heliocentrism, if he'd openly questioned the existence of god he'd probably have been executed.)

BTW I wasn't aware until I read the comments that he writes for the Irish Catholic. Explains much.

Between him, BO'B, JW and the frequent guest contributors attacking science and promoting woo, the Irish Times has a major religion problem.

Turtwig

The claim that most scientists from Europe were Christian is indeed true because the only people educated enough to be scientists were people of the church. If you wanted to learn what Galileo knew you kind of had to be Christian. How, and why, people seem to think this is saying a good thing about Christianity is beyond me.

[-0-]

http://www.cnn.com/2014/01/19/justice/maryland-exorcism-deaths/index.html?hpt=hp_t2

I don't want to live on this planet anymore.

Hotblack Desiato

Jernal wrote: »

The claim that most scientists from Europe were Christian is indeed true because the only people educated enough to be scientists were people of the church. If you wanted to learn what Galileo knew you kind of had to be Christian. How, and why, people seem to think this is saying a good thing about Christianity is beyond me.

Indeed, it's a completely rubbish claim. Most scientists have lived in societies where the dominant religion is christianity and many of them were brought up in that faith. Meh. All it's really saying is that Europe and then America have been the dominant centres of ecnomic activity and learning for the last few hundred years, but we knew that already.

We'll never know how many men of science (and indeed the church) were well aware that it was all a load of old cobblers, but also knew that keeping very quiet about their suspicions was the best way to enhance their life expectancy.

Jews (mostly secular jews) are highly over-represented among scientists. Nowhere near a majority but far larger in influence and Nobel prizes than you would otherwise expect.

Before that we had the important contribution of Islamic scientists and astronomers, before that the Greeks, etc.

The contribution of far eastern scientists and mathematicians in the modern era is often overlooked and/or downplayed in the west, too. e.g. :

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Satyendra_Nath_Bose
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jagadish_Chandra_Bose
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raj_Chandra_Bose
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Srinivasa_Ramanujan

kylith

ninja900 wrote: »

It is a disgrace that a college professor would denigrate and misrepresent science in this way. His claim that most scientists of history are christians is laughable (Galileo was forced to recant heliocentrism, if he'd openly questioned the existence of god he'd probably have been executed.)

If the argument is that historical scientists were Christian, therefore they were intelligent, therefore the Christian god is real then, by that logic, branches of sciences and mathematics were developed in the middle east by Muslims, therefore those historical scientists were very intelligent, therefore the Islamic god is real. Yes? And branches of the sciences were developed in China, and those scientists believed in the Chinese pantheon, therefore the Chinese gods are real. Also the Roman and Greek gods since very clever people believed they existed too?

Mark Hamill

Nodin wrote: »

"A UK Independence party (Ukip) councillor has claimed that Britain's recent storms and floods are "divine retribution for the government's decision to legalise gay marriage.
David Silvester, who defected from the Tories in protest at David Cameron's support for same-sex unions, claimed he had warned the prime minister that the legislation would result in "disasters".
The Henley-on-Thames councillor said that the country had been "beset by storms" since the passage of the new law on gay marriage because Cameron had acted "arrogantly against the Gospel".
http://www.theguardian.com/society/2014/jan/18/uk-storms-divine-retirubtion-gay-marriage-ukip?CMP=fb_gu

Yep, I'd say the Tories had a cry when he went out the door.....bit like FG and Healy Eames.

I wonder did he have anything to do with this (taken from YLYL) :pac::

robindch

UKIP Shipping Forecast

https://m.soundcloud.com/nicholas-pegg/ukip-shipping-forecast

The Black Oil

Whatever one thinks of Catholicism, this seems to be standard issue bigotry from big Ian, no?

Ian Paisley: Tony Blair was 'a fool' to become a Catholic

Sulla Felix

The Black Oil wrote: »

Whatever one thinks of Catholicism, this seems to be standard issue bigotry from big Ian, no?

Ian Paisley: Tony Blair was 'a fool' to become a Catholic

Maybe it's an honest moment conceding the fact that moving from one kind of woo to the other is a pretty foolish, pointless thing to do?

Nodin

Sulla Felix wrote: »

Maybe it's an honest moment conceding the fact that moving from one kind of woo to the other is a pretty foolish, pointless thing to do?

.....hehehehehe.

Nodin

"The parliament of Morocco has unanimously amended an article of the penal code that allowed rapists of underage girls to avoid prosecution by marrying their victims.

The move follows intensive lobbying by activists for better protection of young rape victims. The amendment has been welcomed by rights groups.

Article 475 of the penal code generated unprecedented public criticism.

It was first proposed by Morocco's Islamist-led government a year ago.

But the issue came to public prominence in 2012 when 16-year-old Amina Filali killed herself after being forced to marry her rapist."

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-25855025

Nodin

"Police in India's West Bengal state have held 13 people in connection with a gang rape of a woman allegedly on orders of village elders who objected to her relationship with a man.

The 20-year-old woman has been admitted to a hospital in a critical condition.

Unofficial courts in India's villages often sanction killings of couples deemed to have violated local codes."

"The relationship was going on for almost five years. When the man visited the woman's home on Monday with the proposal of marriage, villagers spotted him and organised a kangaroo court. During the 'proceedings', the couple were made to sit with hands tied," Birbhum police chief C Sudhakar told the BBC.

He said the headman of the woman's village fined the couple 25,000 rupees ($400; £240) for "the crime of falling in love".

The man paid up, but the woman's family were unable to pay, police said.

The headman, who is a distant relative of the woman, then allegedly ordered the rape, Mr Sudhakar said.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-india-25855325

Cabaal

Nodin wrote: »

"The parliament of Morocco has unanimously amended an article of the penal code that allowed rapists of underage girls to avoid prosecution by marrying their victims.

The move follows intensive lobbying by activists for better protection of young rape victims. The amendment has been welcomed by rights groups.

Article 475 of the penal code generated unprecedented public criticism.

It was first proposed by Morocco's Islamist-led government a year ago.

But the issue came to public prominence in 2012 when 16-year-old Amina Filali killed herself after being forced to marry her rapist."

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-25855025

good news...
However, in reality they were just following the word of the bible...isn't that many Christians say people should do anyway?

robindch

Remember the nun who got pregnant? Well, she had a kid the other day and called him "Francis"

http://www.inquisitr.com/1101220/pregnant-nun-birth-by-roxana-rodriguez-honors-pope-francis/source/outbrain/

norrie rugger

The second coming?