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HairyHammer 1:10 Fri Jan 16
The Pope standing up for religion in a very secular world.

I have to admit that i was rather surprised that after the cowardly Charlie Hebdo attacks the pope stood very firmly on the side of religious tolerance rather than what would have got him many plaudits, freedom of speech.
So was he being brave, saying basically that there were limits to freedom of expression, or do you think he is just weak and not modern enough in his thoughts for this day and age.
Me I think he was very honest because people have been manipulated to become through media manipulation an almost enemy of religion. Anyone who is actually religious cannot last five seconds without either being ridiculed or switched off by the media institutions be they TV radio, etc.
The pope is no idiot and seeing how the world is going probably thinks not only are we being mocked but we are also being disrespected and silenced too.

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kirok1 1:43 Sun Jan 18
Re: The Pope standing up for religion in a very secular world.

I still don't get any of this bollocks.

If, and I repeat IF, there is a God of any hue, persuasion, mental instability, then surely, once we're dead, we have to answer for what we have done.
The tenets of most holy books state that free will is the reason why the god of your choice does not intercede on a daily basis. Free will to choose good or evil as your guiding light, so to speak.
If an all powerful being, who controls my eternal fate, is so worried that speaking ill of him/her/it is enough to turn them against me, then what the fuck difference does it make?
Those who believe, are free to believe. Those that don't, likewise. Those that aren't sure - free to doubt.
If faith is so weak that it can be destabilised by a cartoon - no matter how offensive or indeed inoffensive - or offended by the same, then surely you'd have to question the whole basis of that belief system.

But of course, this presupposes that you are a lunatic fringe member of a group that already puts its faith in an imaginary friend and does everything possible to persuade everyone else that your imaginary friend is better than their imaginary friend.

BTW - God, if you're there - no offence intended and can we still have 3 points this afternoon?

Hermit Road 1:29 Sun Jan 18
Re: The Pope standing up for religion in a very secular world.

The earliest recorded mention of the cult of sol invictus being celebrated on 25th December is in 354AD, at least one hundred years after the first mention of Christians celebrating the birth of Christ on the same date.

It is much more likely that the Emperor Aurelian was trying to latch on to the rapidly growing Christian faith rather than the other way round.

MrTrentReznor 12:47 Sun Jan 18
Re: The Pope standing up for religion in a very secular world.

Texts, the 'miracle' is actually called transubstantiation. Ie the bread & wine is transformed in the body & blood of Jesus. Interestingly Christians weren't the 1st to believe in this. Egyptian worshippers of the sun god Horus & Roman adherents to the cult of Sol Invictus did the same thing. When the early Christians created their mythology they borrowed heavily from earlier sun god mythologies. That's why the host is round (like the sun) he had 12 apostles (12 mths in a yr) his feast day is a 25th Dec (3 days after winter solstice) & he supposedly rose on 3rd day. Essentially anyone who believes in Christianity is a sun worshipper which is why you head things like: "Isn't the weather great, thank god" or "At least it has stopped raining, thank god" on a daily/weekly basis.

Hermit Road 11:40 Sun Jan 18
Re: The Pope standing up for religion in a very secular world.

Fair enough. Each to their own.

Lily Hammer 11:38 Sun Jan 18
Re: The Pope standing up for religion in a very secular world.

Hermit Road

I genuinely admire your stance there, where you say you read the words yourslef rather than take someone else's take on it.

That is why I don't have a strong opinion on the bible, because I cannot read the ancient languages neccessary to understand what is written in it, and I won't take another person's translationa dn interpretation as.....well, gospel.

Hermit Road 11:24 Sun Jan 18
Re: The Pope standing up for religion in a very secular world.

Has the pope said that you shouldn't have freedom of speech?

Hermit Road 11:24 Sun Jan 18
Re: The Pope standing up for religion in a very secular world.

No, what I'm saying is that I read the quotes and not the comments on the quotes.

Willtell 11:15 Sun Jan 18
Re: The Pope standing up for religion in a very secular world.

HR
So what you're saying is that you read a different website or newspaper than I do. Yup that makes all the difference.

threesixty 11:15 Sun Jan 18
Re: The Pope standing up for religion in a very secular world.

You wouldnt have religious tolerance without freedom of speech!
That's why the pope's position is bonkers.

The minute you restrict freedom of speech you eventually end up with zero tolerance of other faiths and religions (I.e. Saudi and other Islamic States).

It's so obvious I just don't understand why there are any western commentators who would think otherwise.

Hermit Road 10:49 Sun Jan 18
Re: The Pope standing up for religion in a very secular world.

I see what you're saying Wiltell but I'm not clever enough to be an atheist so I have to make do with what I've got and using what little intelligence I have, I have to make do with reading what he actually said and commenting on that, rather than reading what someone else has told me he said. It's simpler that way.

mentor 10:35 Sun Jan 18
Re: The Pope standing up for religion in a very secular world.

The pope is a geezer in a frock. Not a man's man and certainly not a bloke I would want to have a beer with. Why millions of people clamber to be in his presence is beyond me. The problem is, when he opens his gob, those millions take what he say's as gospel. That makes him a dangerous geezer in a frock.

Willtell 10:26 Sun Jan 18
Re: The Pope standing up for religion in a very secular world.

I think it's terrible to make excuses for the Pope HR. I know you're obviously sold on all this religion malarky but drawing fucking cartoons is not winding people up in a modern society.

Unfortunately the religious can never see that the very idea that there is a God controlling their life means that they are not responsible for what a person does. And anyone that hears God speak to them is crazy...

Hermit Road 10:45 Sat Jan 17
Re: The Pope standing up for religion in a very secular world.

The Pope did not offer support for violence, an honest appraisal would have seen this when he expressly stated that violence is wrong.

He did though, say that if you wind people up you can expect them to react. Anybody who disagrees with that must have been genuinely taken aback when the terrorists attacked Charlie Hebdo.

Carry on though chaps, keep working each other up into a lather of self-righteous indignation.

Texas Iron 7:37 Sat Jan 17
Re: The Pope standing up for religion in a very secular world.

Manila Mega Mass...

Pope ...6 million Philippinos...6 million wafers...

Ahem ...is that 6 million JC's...after Frankie blesses the Wafers...???

BTW...The transformation of Wafers to Flesh is Catholic Dogma...
Unbelievable...!!!

Texas Iron 7:36 Sat Jan 17
Re: The Pope standing up for religion in a very secular world.

Infidel 7:30 Sat Jan 17
Re: The Pope standing up for religion in a very secular world.

From the OP: "the Pope is no idiot".
Let's just take a look at some of the nonsense he believes in shall we?

- that a magic spell cast over a mass-produced factory wafer turns it into the actual flesh of a man who has been dead 2,000 years

- that this same man cast a magic spell over a jug of water and turned it into wine

- that factory made plaster cast statues have mystical properties if they are made to resemble key characters from the Bible

- that the Gospels contain a factual account of the life of Jesus even though they were written 35 years after he died and were written in Greek whereas Jesus spoke Aramaic.

- that asking an imaginary supernatural being to influence events on Earth, despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary, is a good use of time.

I don't know what the definition of idiot is in your book, Hairy, but he definitely meets my criteria.

After8 7:09 Sat Jan 17
Re: The Pope standing up for religion in a very secular world.

The pope didn't stand up for religious tolerance he tried to justify actions by people who are intolerant of others.

I thought his speech was disgusting.

stomper 5:42 Sat Jan 17
Re: The Pope standing up for religion in a very secular world.

Secular world?
Well yeah, pretty much. Apart from Bible belt USA, Central America, South America, Africa, most of Asia, (with the exception of China and bits of Russia) southern and Latin Europe.

mentor 5:38 Sat Jan 17
Re: The Pope standing up for religion in a very secular world.

The pope needs to get with it. A couple of hours and a credit card at Selfridges wouldn't go amiss. Did you see his hat blow off? Why did someone bother to pick it up?
www.classic-caps.co.uk/ you cunt.

SurfaceAgentX2Zero 5:32 Sat Jan 17
Re: The Pope standing up for religion in a very secular world.

The Pope did not stand up for religious tolerance, rather he offered implied strong support for a breath-taking and murderous act of religious intolerance.

Texas Iron 4:35 Sat Jan 17
Re: The Pope standing up for religion in a very secular world.

The Pope and his mob are increasingly superflous in todays modern developed society...

Still good value in under developed countries like south america and philippines...

WTF...Mega Mass in Manila...with a projected 6 million in attendance...Will they all take the Host...???

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