As a confirmed Richard Dawkins atheist from a long line of Protestant Presbyterians I find it refreshing to see what seems like a really good guy getting the big job in Rome, he tells jokes and ad-libs ;-) I wish him well.
Is this the guy who wants to have the British Citizens removed from the Falkland Islands against their right of self determination?
quote:
Originally posted by mookaloid
Is this the guy who wants to have the British Citizens removed from the Falkland Islands against their right of self determination?
Wonder if he'll joke or ad-lib his way around his churches ongoing issues with bigotry, hypocrisy and the covering up of sexual-scandals?
"Pope Francis is a conservative who is anti-gay marriage and anti-gay adoption. He has described same-sex marriage as the work of the devil and a
“destructive attack on God’s plan.” He has also said that gay adoption is a form of discrimination against children."
Lovely man...
I'm not gay, but but it didn't take him long to get up loads of peoples nose. If a child has been put for adoption, that child deserves all
the love it can get. Who cares if its from two men, or two women?
He's the same as all the others as far as I'm concerned.
I am not normally one for conspiracy theories, but knowing the catholic church well, having been brought up within its ranks, I could see this
development coming.
Benedict XVI was an ultra conservative, anti gay, anti abortion, anti contraception etc. There had been a move toward liberalism in the 1960's
under Pope John XXIII, and this had scared the ultra conservatives who have manoeuvred to keep themselves in power ever since.
There was no reason at all for Benedict to retire, he wasn't that frail. Popes have always died in office. The only precedent was Celestine V who
had to change to rules to enable himself to resign, and that was because he never wanted to be pope in the first place. He was elected in his absence
because he wasn't at the conclave as he wasn't a Cardinal. They couldn't agree on anyone else, so they dumped the job on him. He was a
Hermit, not a cleric!
So why did Benedict resign? It was only an accident of history that there was a law within the church that enabled him to do so. Well here is where
the conspiracy theory comes in.
All Cardinals lose their rights to vote in the Conclave once they reach the age of 80. The Ultra Conservatives could see that within the next few
years they would lose the majority within the College of Cardinals. If Benedict survived until then a more liberal pope would get elected. So he
stepped down and forced an election now.
And guess what. They elect a Jesuit. The Society of Jesus are the guardians of Catholic doctrine, they are not known as the SS or the Catholic Church
for nothing!!
Incidentally, how many people know that Josef Goebbels was brought up in a Jesuit Seminary and was going to become a monk before joining Hitler's
little band of brothers. Hitler himself acknowledged that he devoloped the rules and structures of the Nazi party based on the Jesuit model!
He's only 76, I thought they liked them to be mid 80's so if they started to play up the rest of them could console themselves that in a
couple of years a replacement was due anyway.
Nothing about Nazi or catholism surprises me, control the church and you control huge amounts of people in the poorer countries, nothing like a
religious war to justify killing people.
If forced to worship anything it would be the sun god, it gives me something every day, 'life' more than you can say for the rest if them 
It's Jim Bowen!! 
Description
[Edited on 14/3/13 by Daddylonglegs]
quote:
Originally posted by Daddylonglegs
It's Jim Bowen!!
Description
[Edited on 14/3/13 by Daddylonglegs]
I had my money on Richard Dawkins and Brian Cox. I ony put a couple of quid on, but if either of them had got the job I could have bailed Greece out
with my loose change.
I was going to apply, but apparently you have to be a Catholic rather than an atheist - I'm thinking of suing them on grounds of religeous
discrimination.
He's 76 and has one lung. They haven't exactly chosen a robust specimen!
Stu
We would be better without a pope an religion for that matter. Religion is a load of nutsack an has been one of the biggest causes of war.
With enough time evolution will remove them if they keep picking such poor specimens 
quote:
Originally posted by whitestu
He's 76 and has one lung. They haven't exactly chosen a robust specimen!
Stu
quote:
Originally posted by parkiboy
We would be better without a pope an religion for that matter. Religion is a load of nutsack an has been one of the biggest causes of war.
quote:
Originally posted by loggyboy
quote:
Originally posted by parkiboy
We would be better without a pope an religion for that matter. Religion is a load of nutsack an has been one of the biggest causes of war.
No, its been used (and still is used) as an EXCUSE to steel land, power, money and peoples.. If there was no religion peoeple would just use other excuses, skin colour, sex, age, orientation, the list is endless.
You really think religion is the cause?, not just an excuse to be shitty to one an other, what about gang crime?
quote:
Originally posted by SteveWallace
I had my money on Richard Dawkins and Brian Cox. I ony put a couple of quid on, but if either of them had got the job I could have bailed Greece out with my loose change.
I was going to apply, but apparently you have to be a Catholic rather than an atheist - I'm thinking of suing them on grounds of religeous discrimination.
I do find it amusing that the catholic church doesn't approve of homosexuality, yet seems to have an awfully high percentage of pedos - just cos
they are shagging children doesn't stop them being gay.
According to Marcus Brigstock's book, the God Collar, the resigned pope signed a doc to hide a couple of US pedos from the police which in my
book makes him a pedo sympathiser at the very least (let alone an alledgedly ex nazi - what is it they say about leopards!!).
Funny also how the centres of both the catholic church and the mafia seem to be so close together - conincidence?
The church is responsible for so much unnecessary suffering, misery, poverty, war and depravity, if they were bankers they'd be pilloried.
You only have to see the wealth of the church to see they are more interested in keeping the cash rather than putting it to good causes - like
rj's for the third world, or even providing an unbiased education
Still, if there is a god (whose partical they confirmed today btw) he's probably mighty pissed with the people running the church and I'm
rather amused that quite a lot of these individuals may be going to hell (another catholic invention).
As I said in another thread a while back, if you believe there is a god, I really don't think you need to belong to an organisation who makes
several billion dollars a year from money taken from church taxes ffs. I'm sure it will be grateful for your grovelling irrespective of
where you do it. Look up church taxes in most of the world. And if you're an atheist, the government keeps the money rather than pass it on.
I wish the pope all the best, cos the church is in one hell of a state afaic.
ATB
Simon
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HSz_-VU9Lg8&feature=player_embedded
and
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=APNrGF7px7c
[Edited on 15/3/13 by 02GF74]
He seems a nice enough bloke.
The conspiracy theories about the previous Pope's resignation are interesting if a bit Dan Brown. I think he was just consious that to regain
people's trust he'd need to spend the next few years cleaning up the Church's act and just felt he no longer had the health, focus and
energy to provide that level of leadership.
Hahhahahah - I love this forum ! We are a diverse lot arent we .......
quote:
Originally posted by Not Anumber
He seems a nice enough bloke.
The conspiracy theories about the previous Pope's resignation are interesting if a bit Dan Brown. I think he was just consious that to regain people's trust he'd need to spend the next few years cleaning up the Church's act and just felt he no longer had the health, focus and energy to provide that level of leadership.
I think ONE person defended the church, sort of. They are kind of like the Queen: an anachronism, who is part of this: "there are better people
out there than you" line of thought, although we all know we are ALL capable of our own greatness. We built cars from the worst customer serviced
companies in existence, didn't we??
So the question is: what sort of mayhem is unleashed when you get rid of these institutions? I say keep them, as they are the known, rather than the
unknown, potentially even more destructive, alternatives. Plus, I like a good visit to Rome. It's nice and warm there, and people are nice.
quote:
Originally posted by RK
I think ONE person defended the church, sort of. They are kind of like the Queen: an anachronism, who is part of this: "there are better people out there than you" line of thought, although we all know we are ALL capable of our own greatness. We built cars from the worst customer serviced companies in existence, didn't we??
So the question is: what sort of mayhem is unleashed when you get rid of these institutions? I say keep them, as they are the known, rather than the unknown, potentially even more destructive, alternatives. Plus, I like a good visit to Rome. It's nice and warm there, and people are nice.
I don't see any inconsistencies in having both science and religion. The latter helps a lot of people get through the day, and that's what
it's all about, to me. I'm not a catholic, but have been around them for 30 years now, and see that they do actually have a purpose. The
child molesters should be drawn and quartered, have their heads cut off, then let them float through the rivers of Italy; like the good old days.
It is far too easy to attack religious institutions these days, as they do themselves in at every turn (recent Anglican news, illustrating their
contempt for modern society, for example, is enough to turn anybody away from them). But I don't believe in throwing the baby out with the bath
water, because then you get these splinter groups of even less reasonable people, trying to run things. I just personally think it's easier to
work with what you've got, just like I did with my crap kit.
I too think that religions largely serve a useful purpose.
Think about the whole planet, so many billions get though their days because of religion. And if religion went, who would lead the peoples of the
earth? corporations bent on greed I suspect, then the wars would get nasty.
At least with religion the overwhelming numbers are good people with good intentions. Feel free to disagree with them, and indeed get angry when
things go seriously wrong, but nearly all humans are sheep and need a leader. Think about what motivates you? That is effectively your religion.
Think I need to go back to bed. Sinuses full of something resembling sikaflex, and a head that is a tad sore 
'If your religion is worth killing yourself for, please start with yourself'
We don't need religion to teach us about morals or living as decent human beings - we are quite capable of doing it ourselves.