firebug

iTrader: (3)

havnt read all the posts as they were getting a bit in depth...and boring!

have you asked him... WHO MADE GOD?!?!!

and you could always warn him about what the people of the church do to little boys!!

Trout

iTrader: (1)

When I was at school, RE was more like PE.

Sit. Stand. Kneel. Sit. Stand. Kneel.

I wish the priest could have just picked a position and ****ed me!*









*Acknowledgement to Jimmy Carr

fmp

iTrader: (7)

what about dinosaurs???

jameswrx

iTrader: (4)

So you'd believe me if I came on here tomorrow saying my mrs is pregnant, I've never had sex with her, she is still a virgin and it must be Gods son.. The trouble is science would be able to prove she's not a virgin, oh science.. Damn you!

Do you honestly believe that the story is truth? A woman, a virgin was implanted with gods son? Seriously?

If I had my way I'd wipe out the whole church system in this country. I have actually got a lot of respect for other cultures and religions but Christianity and Catholicism make me cringe.

As firebug suggested, what is it about the catholic church that feels the need to fiddle with kids? I go to Ireland a lot and every time I'm there they're discussing some fiddler priest on the radio. I'd say it's got a lot to do with celibacy, who else is gonna have some foolish old man apart from a poor child forced into it and probably told they'll go to hell if they tell. The whole setup is riddled with filth and even the top man condones it these men are 'clean of heart' and closer to God in their position so if this is what it breeds I couldn't be further from God.

Bubba po

Well said, James.

David Lock

Please read what I said old chap "I have my doubts about it myself but wouldn't express my views in such a demeaning way.

dl

tony de wonderful

If there is a God I'd pray to him someone like you never gets into power.

I don't think you respect other religions, you just are ignorant, and many eastern religions are shrouded in obscurantism (from our POV) so are difficult to deconstruct/criticise like we have done with Christianity in the West.

You have non-Christian theocracies hanging gays in public and you reserve your contempt for Christianity?

salsa-king

and no doubt doesn't sing the National anthem and is anti monarchy (the Queen) too?

RobJenks

I dont believe it has anything to do with celibacy - nobody forces these men into a life tied to the church . What it does give these men is access to children which otherwise would be too risky for them in a world outside the church.
I believe the church attracts perverts because these individuals know they will A. Be considered a man of high moral integrity just because they wear a dog collar and B. In the event they are tumbled the church will defend them and prevent them from criminal charges.
The whole clergy thing is vile and dont get be going on evangelists !

Trout

iTrader: (1)

I am anti-monarchy too. If it was a self-financing tourist attraction like Madame Tussauds that would be acceptable.

I would prefer to be a citizen rather than a subject.

jonc

Ask the Pope how he feels about gays and same sex marriages!

Leslie

Perfectly reasonable reply. Main point is that we are all free to make up our own minds as we mature.

Les

Trout

iTrader: (1)

Hi Les,

not quite. My son was taught God made the world. He was not taught - some people believe that God made he world and that is a choice that you can make too.

At four children rarely have the intellectual capacity to differentiate between a belief and a 'fact'. Particularly so early after starting school, a place they associate with unquestionable knowledge.

Leslie

You are long way off the mark about the Catholic religion and paedophilia. That sort of behaviour is dead against the teachings of that religion and is regarded in that same way that any normal person would feel about such a shameful act.

The fact that it happened is down to the individuals concerned against the teachings of their own church and is their fault alone. It is highly regrettable that it was not dealt with as it should have been by the religion's superiors in an attempt to cover it up. If a person is a paedophile then he is not going to give it up easily and he needs to be dealt with very firmly to protect others. That was not done and was an enormous error. You cannot however blame the basic teachings of the Catholic religion for that. There have been cases of paedophilia in the Protestant fraternity as well as in all walks of life of course.

You should be sure to put the blame were it actually lies if you want to be fair. The fact that you are so dead against Christianity does not make it right to blame it for an act which it decries as strongly as anyone would.

Les

Leslie

Yes I understand your point Trout and I agree too. At my school we were told about different religions and their styles and were free to make up our own minds what we thought was right. I certainly appreciated that kind of honest approach.

Les

Trout

iTrader: (1)

The Catholic Church has done little to help itself though Les, you must see that?

They have tried the sweep this under the carpet until the carpet itself was totally unstable.

The whole thing has been an abuse of power both at the individual level and right through the hierarchy up to the current Pope who signed off orders to move priests who were known paedophiles.

It is not Christian but it has been an abuse of this Church in particular.

Trout

iTrader: (1)

The Catholic Church has done little to help itself though Les, you must see that?

They have tried the sweep this under the carpet until the carpet itself was totally unstable.

The whole thing has been an abuse of power both at the individual level and right through the hierarchy up to the current Pope who signed off orders to move priests who were known paedophiles.

It is not Christian but it has been an abuse of this Church in particular.

Leslie

Yes Trout I was not denying that in my reply above. The behaviour of the Pope and other leaders in trying to hide what happened was a big mistake in that it did not stop what had been happening and was bound to come out eventually anyway. That does not mean to say that the Catholic religion itself would support such shameful behaviour as paedophilia. The fault lies with the people concerned not the religion.

There will be a very large number of disappointed Catholics but that does not mean that they should necessarily denounce their religion and its teachings.

Big mistake to try to defend the religion's reputation by trying to hide the shameful acts of some of its priests.

Les

David Lock

May be I missed a lesson at primary school but I don't know of any basic Christian teaching that says that priests shouldn't be ordinary folk who get married and have kids.

Come to that I missed the other lesson that said that God would appoint his representative on earth i.e. a pope and that He suggested all the paraphernalia that goes with it.

dl

stef_2010

iTrader: (3)

Seems like everyone jumped ship from the Stephen Hawkings thread

Good read through, some ridiculous posts aswell though

ALi-B

iTrader: (1)

Having been indoctrined by a Church of England school since my very first day of education, I was taught since day dot that god was the creator of anything and everything.

Fast forward 25 years and I say: B***ocks; There is no way he created the pot noodle I'm having for lunch

Thank you for what we are about to receive, may the Lord make us truly thankful. Amen.

David Lock

No one understands what Prof. Hawkings actually means - they just pretend to

dl

Leslie

But pot noodles didn't just happen Ali-B, they evolved over time!

Les

Martin2005

To be fair, you are aloud to believe anything in the CofE. It's not so much of a religion, more of a 'none of the above' movement these days.

Most people I know who vaguely claim to be CofE don't believe a word that is 'preached', neither do an increasing number of the preachers!!

I love CofE, a hance to be religious without being religious

Lisawrx

iTrader: (1)

Nope, that was definitely the work of the devil.

I always thought the devil tempted us with good stuff, clearly pot noodles are an exception to this.

Trout

iTrader: (1)

David - do a Google search for Apostolic Succession.

The Catholic Church believes that it's Popes, Cardinals and Priests are descended from the Apostles.

(Mind you if that were really true they would all be Jews - but they seem to have ignored that fact!).

One of the best things you can do to a Catholic, or a Jew, is to remind them that Jesus was in fact a Jewish preacher!!!

Dedrater

The Church thinks the Bible is a load of b*ll*hit anyway. Remember the storm this caused a few years ago..

Catholic Church no longer swears by truth of the Bible

ALi-B

iTrader: (1)

I'm not sure about other C of E schools but mine was very religious for the majority of year I attended, probably because it once was a very small village school. Hymns daily, preaching and bible readings daily. Anyone seen by a teacher using god's name in vain would be sent headmaster for further brainwashing. In addition there was a bi-monthly visit to the nearby church (across the road) for further indoctrination by the local vicar, although in bad weather, he'd come to visit us in assembly.

What sticks in my head though, is despite being children, we were still expected to put money in to the collection bag as it was passed along the pews towards the end of a chruch assembly. Why did god need money? Tell me what would a seven year child be doing with money in a school that had pre-paid dinners (pig slop, albeit blessed pig slop) and no tuck shop or anywhere to spend it. Unless of course their parents were told to give their kids money for the church collection. Bet that was a nice earner for the village church, eh?

Of course, these days its all changed. Just as I left, the school was gearing up for multi-culturalism, with the introduction of the first ethnic-asians in the infant years just as I was leaving. With that alot of the staff left/retired, so its very different these days, a stark contrast to the christian only school it once was that would only allow baptised children to attend.

I remember being castigated for commenting on the new "different" kids using a well known non-PC word I learnt off my dad. I was branded a racist at the tender age of eleven, however, the irony was that the particular girl I commented on was actually a Christian...oops.

David Lock

Well I did have, admittedly brief, look at this. It seems to be more a spiritual descendantcy rather than a blood line and I think my basic point is still valid in that I don't know about any early Christian teaching that gives this "belief" any credibility. dl

markjmd

iTrader: (11)

Are you kidding? The civil list costs the taxpayer a few tens of millions, but the various Royal-themed palaces, processions and other attractions help rake in several billion in tourist revenue. Plenty of reasons to do away with the Monarchy, but financial benefit certainly isn't one of them.


Great in principle, but the sad fact is you'd probably end up with clowns like Bush or Berlusconi instead, who apart from their more obvious flaws also have real power.