Sorry I had to post this...

Tim Robbins

I'm sorry but check out this lunatic...

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/newsnight/8171293.stm

I can't keep a straight face watching it - can anyone? How many times does she contradict herself? How many nonsensical points are they? How many outlandish statements are given as if they are objective fact?

She even looks mad. (God) love her.

Goduznt Xzst

... and I'm sure dear Wendy doesn't believe the Greek god Zeus exists because she is likewise afraid of him.

I wish she'd also eat those tic tacs. It's a constant distraction having her hold them under her lip like that :pac: (cannot be unseen)

Galwegian44

I resisted the urge to judge the book by the cover and thought that what she was presenting were her own opinions rather than facts. Now, I didn't agree with her opinions but didn't get the impression that she was crazy and thought her analogy about the rocket, springboard and flat plain was quite good in identifying the religious person who believes God will automatically boost you to the heavens, the religious person who interacts and provides their own momentum versus the religious person who is putting up a facade.

Having said all of that it wouldn't entice me to watch the full TV program. And there are a lot worse 'religious maniacs' out there.

aidan24326

Here's the problem.

She's a bit of an eccentric (if relatively harmless) old coot whose ill-informed opinions ordinarily wouldn't escape the confines of her own sitting room.

BUT, stick a black and white cape on her and all of a sudden she gets BBC airtime, with all the reverence and deference that uniformed religiousy types always get. Her comment that 'Atheism is of course a religion in itself' shows that she hasn't really thought this through properly and is just parroting what she's heard some half-witted theologian say.

Note to Sr.Wendy - Atheism is NOT a religion. It is the lack of belief in supernatural gods, by definition. It usually goes hand in hand with a refusal to believe in that for which there is absolutely no evidence, that which to all intents and purposes appears to be a load of nonsense. It is emphatically not a religion. Of course dear old Wendy wouldn't know this because she's not interested in truth or what's real, she's only interested in believing what she wants to believe. But hey, she's wearing a black and white cape so all hail.

robindch

Tim Robbins wrote: »

She even looks mad.

Can't say that time has treated her all that well, unfortunately.

However, the programs that she did on art on the Beeb ~fifteen years back were good and -- this silliness notwithstanding -- she always came across as a rather lovable old dear.

Dades

This bit:

Sister Wendy wrote:

[atheism] is so much simpler, it's black and white and you don't have to think things out for yourself

... reminded me of this recent gem:

pts

Dades wrote: »

This bit:
... reminded me of this recent gem:

And this old Gem:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LQqq3e03EBQ

"Yes, we all have to work it out for ourselves..." :-)

ironingbored

My thoughts on this video can be summed up in the name of the subsequent video on the same page:

"'God has the same status as fairies."

liamw

I've gotten tired at getting frustrated looking at videos like this. Now I just have to laugh...

imme

robindch wrote: »

However, the programs that she did on art on the Beeb ~fifteen years back were good and -- this silliness notwithstanding -- she always came across as a rather lovable old dear.

true.

Zombrex

In fairness when someone like this who has dedicated her entire life to the following of a supernatural idea (she became a nun aged 16), it is hard to get too annoyed at what she says.

Her entire existence is build up around believing in what she has dedicated her life to following. The concept that it may not actually be true must utterly incomprehensible to her, or utterly terrifying. And thus she has to rationalize away why some people would be make quite reasonable arguments for why it isn't true.

It is hard to feel anything but sorry for her for a life not experienced.

condra

I think she's a lovely old lady.

Zillah

Wicknight wrote: »

it is hard to get too annoyed at what she says.

You've grown weak.

kelly1

Tim Robbins wrote: »

I'm sorry but check out this lunatic...

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/newsnight/8171293.stm

I can't keep a straight face watching it - can anyone? How many times does she contradict herself? How many nonsensical points are they? How many outlandish statements are given as if they are objective fact?

She even looks mad. (God) love her.

Tim I could comment on your condescending tone, but I'll leave that aside.

Apart from her calling atheism a religion, what's your main criticism of what she said? I think she makes a good point that the truth lies between the extremes of atheism and fundamentalism. She doesn't sound at all mad to me. Slightly eccentric maybe, but what's wrong with that??

kelly1

Wicknight wrote: »

It is hard to feel anything but sorry for her for a life not experienced.

Such an incredibly arrogant and ignorant thing to say! You obviously know nothing about the peace and joy that comes from a real relationship with Christ. That's the ultimate experience.

Turtwig

kelly1 wrote: »

Such an incredibly arrogant and ignorant thing to say! You obviously know nothing about the peace and joy that comes from a real relationship with Christ. That's, in my own personal belief, the ultimate experience.

FYP.

Other's (including those of different religions) believe the ultimate experience is something entirely different to a life with Christ. Also, I'd imagine that there are many posters here who had real relationships with Christ for quite some time. Panda100, Godusntxst and iUseVi come to mind.

toiletduck

vid wrote:

If a religion is false, it's a very dangerous thing

Amen sister!

liamw

kelly1 wrote: »

Such an incredibly arrogant and ignorant thing to say! You obviously know nothing about the peace and joy that comes from a real relationship with Christ. That's the ultimate experience.

I prefer to live my life in reality rather than a comforting lie. I could argue that you're the arrogant one kelly1, you're the one that's not humble enough to admit that your brain is capable of delusion. You insist, and I remember you saying you are 100% sure that your experience with God was not an illusion.

stevejazzx

kelly1 wrote: »

Such an incredibly arrogant and ignorant thing to say! You obviously know nothing about the peace and joy that comes from a real relationship with Christ. That's the ultimate experience.

I would've imagined the arrogance is on your side as you're the one claiming exclusivity?

So according to you

WRONG

• 1.1 Bábism
• 1.2 Bahá'í Faith
• 1.4 Gnosticism[/URL]
• 1.5 Islam[/URL]
• 1.6 Judaism[/URL]
• 1.7 Rastafari movement[/URL]
• 1.8 Mandaeans and Sabians[/URL]
• 1.9 Samaritanism[/URL]
• 1.10 Unitarian Universalism
• 2 Indian religions
• 2.1 Hinduism
• 2.2 Buddhism
• 2.3 Jainism
• 2.4 Sikhism
• 2.5 Ayyavazhi
• 2.6 Din-i-Ilahi
• 3 Persian religions
• 4 East Asian religions
• 4.1 Confucianism
• 4.2 Shinto
• 4.3 Taoism
• 4.4 Other
• 5 African diasporic religions
• 6 Indigenous traditional religions
• 6.1 African
• 6.2 American
• 6.3 Eurasian
• 6.4 Oceania/Pacific
• 6.4.1 Cargo cults
• 7 Historical polytheism
• 7.1 Ancient Near Eastern
• 7.2 Indo-European
• 7.3 Hellenistic
• 8 Neopaganism
• 9 New Age, Esotericism, Mysticism
• 9.1 Left-Hand Path
• 9.2 Magic
• 9.3 Magick (Aleister Crowley)
• 10 European religions
• 10.1 New Age
• 11 New religious movements
• 11.1 Jediism
• 11.2 Shinshukyo

Correct

• Christianity

dvpower

kelly1 wrote: »

Tim I could comment on your condescending tone, but I'll leave that aside.

:rolleyes:

pH

stevejazzx wrote: »

Correct

• Christianity

I'd imagine that he wouldn't claim all Christianity is correct either, how about Mormons, JWs or the Westboro Baptists?

bnt

Is this the same Sister Wendy who made programmes about Art? (It's hard to tell, the Habit makes all nuns look the same. ) If so, I wish she'd stuck to that, since Art has a place for mythology, personal interpretation, and abstractions. When she (like any other religious type) starts talking about real people (atheists) as if they are fictional characters, well, those people are just going to go "O RLY?" and change the channel.

fatmammycat

Nice woman, but utterly deluded and talking about stuff she has no idea about if she equates atheism with religion and bases her argument on this false premise. Waffle like 'knowing god' is just that pure mumbo jumbo, you can't know something that doesn't exist, you can only mould a wishful thought into a pliable belief based on nothing more than delusion. Sad really and a waste of intellect.

stevejazzx

pH wrote: »

I'd imagine that he wouldn't claim all Christianity is correct either, how about Mormons, JWs or the Westboro Baptists?

Yeah I considered listing the subdivisions but if it's not clear enough to them from the overall lists that they're delusional demand on Sky God exclusivity is beyond all logic then nothing will persuade them; besides there's a tenous argument of inclusion to be made by them in relation to the wierder sects that occupy those subdivsions. It was something I didn't want to hear as it would have a been a correction (PDN style semantics) rather a straight answer.

branie

Maybe she should stick to looking at art.

Morbert

She did have one goot point.

[Atheism] is not a real religion.

Hallelujah.

Tim Robbins

kelly1 wrote: »

Tim I could comment on your condescending tone, but I'll leave that aside.

Apart from her calling atheism a religion, what's your main criticism of what she said? I think she makes a good point that the truth lies between the extremes of atheism and fundamentalism. She doesn't sound at all mad to me. Slightly eccentric maybe, but what's wrong with that??

"atheism based on an untruth" - atheism is based on a disbelief.
"if the religion is false its a very dangerous thing" - outlandish claim spoken as objective fact.
"atheism based on a fear of god" - by definition of atheism that's nonsense. It's the equivalent of me telling you don't believe in Hinduism because you are terrified of Vishnu.
"it's so much simplier than black and white" - usually the phrase black and white means things are simple because ther is no grey.
"you don't have to think things out for yourself" - here she's admitting her stance is based on not thinking
"that's not the real God" - what's not a real God?
"that's not a real religion" - what's not a real religion?

There's three minutes left by this stage. It's difficult to come across so many poorly put random thoughts in such a short space of time.

But let's continue...

"I don't think it matters if people go to Church or not..." - ok.

"but if they know God they'll go to Church"

Ergo - it doesn't matter if people know God or not.
Ergo - what's wrong with being an atheist?

So in a few simple sentences she contradicts herself but doesn't even realise it.

By this stage, I'm thinking this women is nuts.
I mean she dedicates her life to this stuff, surely she can at least try together some sort of reasoned thoughts rather than random nonsense.

Dades

Tim Robbins wrote: »

By this stage, I'm thinking this women is nuts.

She's not nuts, ffs.

She's an elderly nun who, to give her credit, has at least thought more about her religion than 99% of most self-declared "catholics". That's she's not offered a valid argument is hardly anything new - none of us have ever heard one.

Tim Robbins

Dades wrote: »

She's not nuts, ffs.

She's an elderly nun who, to give her credit, has at least thought more about her religion than 99% of most self-declared "catholics". That's she's not offered a valid argument is hardly anything new - none of us have ever heard one.

If someone offered so many bad argument in such a short space on time on anything, I'd think they're a bit nutty.

Arcus Arrow

Considering from where she must have started out from she's at least taken the trouble to think about her religion. A good deal of what she says would have gotten here burned at the stake not too long ago. Even in todays terms her kind of talk would not go down well with Herr Ratzinger and Co in the Vatican. No one can say "atheism" is a religion since people can't be defined by what they don't believe in and there is no way of knowing how many people do not actually believe in a god. That's not to say atheists can't act just like religious people act.