Any Sign of White Smoke Yet?

[muppet]

The indoctirnation argument  holds no water with me, i'm sure 99% of heathens on here were brought up RC & have found their merry way to athiesim ok.

What % of Catholics here weren't raised as such? How many were raised without religion or with a different religion?

No idea, nor do you. What point are you trying to make?

Is it not clear? Forget about people on the board then. Think about Catholics you know - how many of them were raised as such? I know a lot of Catholics - I don't know any who became Catholic as an adult, having been raised in another religion or with no religion.

Ah right, that makes more sense, but  that thinking could be applied to any Religion, you're making huge assumptions that cant be proven.

That in a nutshell sums up most religions.

[ONeill]

What gets me is that I've yet to receive a satisfactorily convincing answer as to why someone believes in any particular religion without descending into gobbledygook.

I thought Bertie might. - He didn't. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XhvNIOUmCJk

[Maguire01]

The indoctirnation argument  holds no water with me, i'm sure 99% of heathens on here were brought up RC & have found their merry way to athiesim ok.

What % of Catholics here weren't raised as such? How many were raised without religion or with a different religion?

No idea, nor do you. What point are you trying to make?

Is it not clear? Forget about people on the board then. Think about Catholics you know - how many of them were raised as such? I know a lot of Catholics - I don't know any who became Catholic as an adult, having been raised in another religion or with no religion.

Ah right, that makes more sense, but  that thinking could be applied to any Religion, you're making huge assumptions that cant be proven.

Indeed, apply indoctrination to any religion - I only used Catholicism because it's local.

[ONeill]

What gets me is that I've yet to receive a satisfactorily convincing answer as to why someone believes in any particular religion without descending into gobbledygook.

I thought Bertie might. - He didn't. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XhvNIOUmCJk

Because their ma and da dragged them every Sunday. Because their school made them. Because by the time anyone is old enough to think about it for themselves they are already deeply rooted (through sacrements etc) in the religion that their surroundings decided for them.

My da used to tell me that I shouldn't start a sentence with because. He also told me that I have to go to mass so I'm not sure I trust him.

All true.

I send my children to a catholic school because it's a great school and it's local. They are currently going through the whole First Confession (guilt trip extreme) stuff. I struggle trying to buy into it for them but I cannot be preaching a different message from what they heard earlier in the day. So I treat it as another form of Santa Claus. I'm looking forward to the day when I can set them down and explain all the religions of the world and how they're free to choose to look into whatever suits them or none at all.

[Eamonnca1]

...I could take no joy in seeing so many people loose lose their faith...

I could.

You sound like quite the lowlife.

Ouch. That hurts. That is like a dagger through my heart. 

[Eamonnca1]

That's your opinion,

Of course it's my opinion. Wo else's opinion would it be?

I agree that there have been many people killed over religion, however i think the morals and social order it set within society greatly makes up for that. I'm not here to change someones opinion on religion, i would take no joy even if you did regain your faith, its entirely a private matter, however I cant comprehend why someone would take joy in watching a person lose their faith.

When people believe without evidence then it leads to all manner of ignorance and superstition like homeopathy, horoscopes, and homophobia. Newspapers have a daily section dedicated to horoscopes but not a section dedicated to science in which people could learn about how stuff actually works. Faith holds humanity back.  If it weren't for faith we'd have a base on the moon by now with thousands of people living on it, and we'd probably have landed people on Mars. 

And I reject your argument that faith is responsible for social order in society. Even most religious people get their morals from the same place as I do, from experience, discussion and from society. If they got it from that silly book that was written by middle eastern goat herders who thought the earth was flat then we'd be stoning people to death for gathering sticks on the Sabbath.

[Tony Baloney]

Who is "he"?

I was taking issue with the concept of "ramming" a non-belief "down peoples throats". I don't think that's possible.

We can't employ you, ye nut!

Yer man should be victimised for his "look" not his religion.

[Eamonnca1]

I'm looking forward to the day when I can set them down and explain all the religions of the world and how they're free to choose to look into whatever suits them or none at all.

Why not just do it now?

[Syferus]

To re-iterate:

A DAY ahead of the papal conclave, faces at the scandal-struck Vatican were even redder than usual after it emerged that the Holy See had purchased a €23 million share of a Rome apartment block that houses Europe's biggest gay sauna.



The senior Vatican figure sweating the most due to the unlikely proximity of the gay Europa Multiclub is probably Cardinal Ivan Dias, the head of the Congregation for Evangelisation of Peoples, who is due to participate in tomorrow's election at the Sistine Chapel.



This 76-year-old "prince of the church" enjoys a 12-room apartment on the first-floor of the imposing palazzo, at 2 Via Carducci, just yards from the ground floor entrance to the steamy flesh pot. There are 18 other Vatican apartments in the block, many of which house priests.



The Holy See is still reeling from allegations that the previous pontiff, Benedict XVI, had quit in reaction to the presence of a gay cabal in the curia.



And with disgraced Scottish cardinal Keith O'Brien lending new weight to charges of hypocrisy against the Church's stance on homosexuality, La Repubblica newspaper noted that the presence of "Italy's best known gay sauna in the premises is an embarrassment".



Cardinal Dias, who is seen as a social conservative even by the current standards of the church hierarchy, is no doubt horrified to learn of the activities taking place a floor below.



It is not known, however, if the former archbishop of Bombay has popped downstairs to give spitiual guidances to the clients of the Europa Multiclub, given his belief that gays and lesbians can be cured of their "unnatural tendencies" through the "sacrement of penance".



The sauna's website promotes one of its special "bear nights", with a video in which a rotund, hairy man strips down before changing into a priest's outfit. It says Bruno, "a hairy, overweight pastor of souls, is free to the music of his clergyman, remaining in a thong, because he wants to expose body and soul".

http://www.independent.ie/world-news/europe/catholic-officials-break-into-a-sweat-over-23m-investment-in-gay-sauna-29122918.html

The first scandal of any Popehood is always the, err, gayest?

[LeoMc]

To re-iterate:

A DAY ahead of the papal conclave, faces at the scandal-struck Vatican were even redder than usual after it emerged that the Holy See had purchased a €23 million share of a Rome apartment block that houses Europe's biggest gay sauna.



The senior Vatican figure sweating the most due to the unlikely proximity of the gay Europa Multiclub is probably Cardinal Ivan Dias, the head of the Congregation for Evangelisation of Peoples, who is due to participate in tomorrow's election at the Sistine Chapel.



This 76-year-old "prince of the church" enjoys a 12-room apartment on the first-floor of the imposing palazzo, at 2 Via Carducci, just yards from the ground floor entrance to the steamy flesh pot. There are 18 other Vatican apartments in the block, many of which house priests.



The Holy See is still reeling from allegations that the previous pontiff, Benedict XVI, had quit in reaction to the presence of a gay cabal in the curia.



And with disgraced Scottish cardinal Keith O'Brien lending new weight to charges of hypocrisy against the Church's stance on homosexuality, La Repubblica newspaper noted that the presence of "Italy's best known gay sauna in the premises is an embarrassment".



Cardinal Dias, who is seen as a social conservative even by the current standards of the church hierarchy, is no doubt horrified to learn of the activities taking place a floor below.



It is not known, however, if the former archbishop of Bombay has popped downstairs to give spitiual guidances to the clients of the Europa Multiclub, given his belief that gays and lesbians can be cured of their "unnatural tendencies" through the "sacrement of penance".



The sauna's website promotes one of its special "bear nights", with a video in which a rotund, hairy man strips down before changing into a priest's outfit. It says Bruno, "a hairy, overweight pastor of souls, is free to the music of his clergyman, remaining in a thong, because he wants to expose body and soul".

http://www.independent.ie/world-news/europe/catholic-officials-break-into-a-sweat-over-23m-investment-in-gay-sauna-29122918.html

The first scandal of any Popehood is always the, err, gayest?

A bit of a stretch to call it a scandal, old man doesn't know all neighbours in his new apartment block and a poor attempt at then linking in the Popes resignation using a few unsourced rumours. Shoddy attempt at sensationalism.

[johnneycool]

If the most holy Roman catholic church has 23M to invest, surely the poor and needy in Africa and what not should be getting it, a no brainer I'd have thought.

[LeoMc]

If the most holy Roman catholic church has 23M to invest, surely the poor and needy in Africa and what not should be getting it, a no brainer I'd have thought.

The Princes of the Church need their fine palaces.
That said it sounds like the new First Amongst Equals is not given to such earthly comforts so if he wants to be a church for the poor he has plenty of opportunity to make his mark.

[Hardy]

If the most holy Roman catholic church has 23M to invest, surely the poor and needy in Africa and what not should be getting it, a no brainer I'd have thought.

Yes - use up all your capital in one go and the people eat for a few months.

Then what?

[Maguire01]

If the most holy Roman catholic church has 23M to invest, surely the poor and needy in Africa and what not should be getting it, a no brainer I'd have thought.

Yes - use up all your capital in one go and the people eat for a few months.

Then what?

Maybe use the 23m to build a hospital then?

[johnneycool]

Or a school or two, or three or four, maybe even a tractor or an irrigation system, water pumps.

I'm sure the poor of Africa would like to see gods word put into practice rather than just sermons on what you should and should not be doing.