The Hazards of Belief

silverharp

if you really try to believe the bible

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_udTHpIlR3k

MrPudding

Peregrinus wrote: »

They don't. They're being criticised by a church group for failing to seek a dispensation from EUFA, exempting them from the rule requiring the game to be on a Sunday.

I was referring to the fact, as per the article, that they were criticised for not consulting with church groups.

MrP

robindch

robindch wrote: »

A Siberian opera house stages Wagner's Tannhauser. Some religious people became upset, so in February, the Director of Production, Timofey Kulyabin, was prosecuted [...]

More on that story:

http://www.themoscowtimes.com/opinion/article/soviet-style-censorship-returns-to-russian-arts/518526.html

Moscow Times wrote:

The trial opened amid international hue and cry on March 5, but one of the most powerful statements was made in the courtroom itself by Boris Falikov, a religious scholar from St. Petersburg. Supporting the defense, he noted it is "religious ignorance" for "a believer to equate an artistic construct with reality."

He said it is the job of religious leaders to help believers distinguish between invention and reality, not persecute the former for imitating the latter.

oscarBravo

He said it is the job of religious leaders to help believers distinguish between invention and reality...

I sniggered.

robindch

oscarBravo wrote: »

I sniggered.

At Mr Phallikov's name or what he said?

oscarBravo

At what he said. Strong in this one, the ironing is.

Fair dues to him for being on the right side of this case, mind you.

marienbad

robindch wrote: »

At Mr Phallikov's name or what he said?

In an opera about Venus

robindch

An islamic preacher calls for the pyramids and the Sphinx to be destroyed:

http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/isis-muslim-preacher-calls-demolition-pyramids-sphinx-giza-1491363

IBTimes wrote:

A Kuwaiti Islamist preacher has called for the destruction of Egypt's pyramids and Sphinx - one of the 7 wonders of the ancient world - claiming that just because early Muslims did not destroy the pharaohs' legacy "does not mean that we shouldn't". Ibrahim Al Kandari said that the ancient Egyptian monuments should be "destroyed", according to Al-Watan.

Al Kandari said the great buildings should be destroyed to put an end to the worship of images. The preacher's call to erase the incredible legacy of ancient Egypt echoes Islamic State (formerly known as Isis) leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, who suggested the demolition of the historic monuments is a "religious duty."

Kuwaiti newspaper Al-Watan daily quotes Al Kandari as saying: "The fact that early Muslims who were among prophet Mohammed's followers did not destroy the pharaohs' monuments upon entering the Egyptian soil, does not mean that we shouldn't do it now."

The call comes just weeks after Islamic State jihadists were seen in a video using sledgehammers to destroy ancient Assyrian artefacts, some of which dated back to 700BC, in a Mosul museum in Iraq. On 10 March, Isis destroyed a 10th century Chaldean Catholic church north of Mosul and bulldozed a nearby graveyard, according to sources.

kylith

Ok, I would actually see this as a justification for all out war.

Niska

robindch wrote: »

An islamic preacher calls for the pyramids and the Sphinx to be destroyed:

http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/isis-muslim-preacher-calls-demolition-pyramids-sphinx-giza-1491363

Strange feeling of deja-vu...

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showpost.php?p=81723240&postcount=2715

robindch

Niska wrote: »

Strange feeling of deja-vu.

Different preacher, same crap.

But an outstanding spot all the same

Turtwig

Niska wrote: »

Strange feeling of deja-vu...

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showpost.php?p=81723240&postcount=2715

We should make you honorary mod deputy. Those eagle eyes and recall of yours would spot re-regs a mile away. Nonetheless, that was mighty impressive all the same.

Hotblack Desiato

robindch wrote: »

An islamic preacher calls for the pyramids and the Sphinx to be destroyed:

Worshipping pyramids is obviously wrong, but a cube is grand...

Thargor

Would ISIS destroy Mecca if they could get at it?

robindch

Hotblack Desiato wrote: »

Worshipping pyramids is obviously wrong, but a cube is grand...

...idly wonders if the Ka'bah is actually a Borg ship...

Would certainly explain a lot.

Hotblack Desiato

Wonder if Stanley Kubrick was giving it a wee nod in the design of TMA-1.

robindch

A 14-year old boy from Florida noticed that a teacher used his own surname as his Windows password, so the boy logged in when the teacher wasn't there, changed the Windows background to a piccy of two men kissing.

So the school suspended the boy and the local police charged him with "cybercrime", though given the school is just north of Clearwater, famous for its connection with scientology, one can't help but wonder if the boy would have been charged if he'd chosen a less controversial image.

The local sheriff said that although this might be viewed as a teenage prank, "who knows what he might have done?" The report also suggests the school believes its network was "secure".

http://www.tampabay.com/news/publicsafety/crime/middle-school-student-charged-with-cyber-crime-in-holiday/2224827

obplayer

robindch wrote: »

A 14-year old boy from Florida noticed that a teacher used his own surname as his Windows password, so the boy logged in when the teacher wasn't there, changed the Windows background to a piccy of two men kissing.

So the school suspended the boy and the local police charged him with "cybercrime", though given the school is just north of Clearwater, famous for its connection with scientology, one can't help but wonder if the boy would have been charged if he'd chosen a less controversial image.

The local sheriff said that although this might be viewed as a teenage prank, "who knows what he might have done?" The report also suggests the school believes its network was "secure".

http://www.tampabay.com/news/publicsafety/crime/middle-school-student-charged-with-cyber-crime-in-holiday/2224827

What is wrong with that country?
Atlanta Teachers Face 20 Years In Jail For Cheating Test Scores

Hotblack Desiato

robindch wrote: »

A 14-year old boy from Florida noticed that a teacher used his own surname as his Windows password, so the boy logged in when the teacher wasn't there, changed the Windows background to a piccy of two men kissing.

So the school suspended the boy and the local police charged him with "cybercrime", though given the school is just north of Clearwater, famous for its connection with scientology, one can't help but wonder if the boy would have been charged if he'd chosen a less controversial image.

The local sheriff said that although this might be viewed as a teenage prank, "who knows what he might have done?" The report also suggests the school believes its network was "secure".

http://www.tampabay.com/news/publicsafety/crime/middle-school-student-charged-with-cyber-crime-in-holiday/2224827

It's the teacher who should be charged - gross stupidity in a public place

obplayer

14-year old boy from Florida noticed that a teacher used his own surname as his Windows password, so the boy logged in when the teacher wasn't there, changed the Windows background to a piccy of two men kissing.

So the school suspended the boy and the local police charged him with "cybercrime", though given the school is just north of Clearwater, famous for its connection with scientology, one can't help but wonder if the boy would have been charged if he'd chosen a less controversial image.

The local sheriff said that although this might be viewed as a teenage prank, "who knows what he might have done?" The report also suggests the school believes its network was "secure".

Hotblack Desiato wrote: »

It's the teacher who should be charged - gross stupidity in a public place

Indeed, but a felony?

Brian Shanahan

Thargor wrote: »

Would ISIS destroy Mecca if they could get at it?

If they ever developed the brainpower to decipher that the Ka'bah is a pre-islamic class 3 relic.

obplayer wrote: »

Indeed, but a felony?

Well considering that the teacher had so shoddily password protected a computer which had access, if not held, sensitive and private data about their student, then the school was potentially at risk of some very serious data protection issues. If I did something as stupid at work I wouldn't be suprised to be sacked.

obplayer

Brian Shanahan wrote: »

If they ever developed the brainpower to decipher that the Ka'bah is a pre-islamic class 3 relic.



Well considering that the teacher had so shoddily password protected a computer which had access, if not held, sensitive and private data about their student, then the school was potentially at risk of some very serious data protection issues. If I did something as stupid at work I wouldn't be suprised to be sacked.

No problem with sacking the teacher but charging a 14 year old boy with a felony?

Brian Shanahan

obplayer wrote: »

No problem with sacking the teacher but charging a 14 year old boy with a felony?

Yeah, that's just dumb with a capital B. Kid was messing around and playing a prank, a slap on the wrist and a stern talk is all he should have got.

robindch

Is your spouse suffering from a bout of demonic infestation? Have a friend who collapsed into her spaghetti screaming "Chthulu, make babies with me!"? Know a neighbour whose eyeballs can do a 360?

Well, the Vatican is running a course, starting tomorrow in Rome, on how to recognize true possession from false. And they're inviting along practicing exorcists, medical professionals, psychologists, lawyers and theologians. Everybody it seems, bar the comedian they so badly need.

http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/practical-help-for-the-demon-possessed-vatican-rolls-out-new-exorcism-course-36248/

CNA wrote:

The International Association of Exorcists (AIE) met for their 12th annual conference in Rome last October. According to AIE spokesperson Dr. Valter Cascioli, an increasing number of bishops and cardinals asked to participate in the conference due to an increase in demonic activity.

“It's becoming a pastoral emergency,” Cascioli told CNA. “At the moment the number of disturbances of extraordinary demonic activity is on the rise.”

Hotblack Desiato

In case of Pastoral Emergency phone 666?

recedite

“It's becoming a pastoral emergency,” Cascioli told CNA. “At the moment the number of disturbances of extraordinary demonic activity is on the rise.”

Quite right. I don't mind ordinary demonic activity, but when I opened the fridge this morning, three of them were riding unicycles around in there. Something has be done about it :mad:

robindch

A US military base in Kansas avoids a suicide attack from a guy with a fake 1,000 pound bomb. The article makes it quite clear that the guy was mentally ill and had extremist views, but somehow manages to avoid mentioning that he was a member of a well-known religion of peace. Interestingly, the guy seems to have been set up by the FBI with the connivance of a local islamic cleric.

http://www.bostonherald.com/news_opinion/national/2015/04/man_charged_with_plotting_bombing_at_kansas_military_base

Nodin

A great number of people of sub normal IQ and dubious mental health have been involved in such plots, usually involving an FBI informant or undercover agent who 'helps them along'. All a bit dubious, I would have thought.

Hotblack Desiato

Australia to stop welfare cash of anti-vaccine parents but with exemptions for religion.

If I decide not to vaccinate my kids, that's bad. But if a holy man told me not to, that's different. Why does nonsense become more acceptable when wrapped up in religion?

robindch

Hotblack Desiato wrote: »

Why does nonsense become more acceptable when wrapped up in religion?

Because people reserve the right to get angry when something is perceived to be a matter of religion, especially when the religion asserts identity. So, it's just easier to allow them to do what they want, when they claim it's for "religious reasons".

BTW, law-makers in North Carolina want hospitals to be able to turn away gay patients, but the bill's sponsor - a Republican, you'll all be amazed to hear - has said that the bill won't be so wide as to allow people to carry out "child sacrifice".

Representative Paul Stam, take it away:

http://www.newnownext.com/north-carolina-lawmakers-want-hospitals-to-be-able-to-turn-away-gay-patients/03/2015/?utm=share_twitter

NewNowNext wrote:

Every day we hear about another state trying to enact legislation to allow citizens to discriminate against LGBT people. Now it’s North Carolina’s turn, as the Legislature is considering House Bill 348, the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, which was introduced on Tuesday. (An identical bill, SB 550 was introduced in the state Senate on Thursday.)

The measure declares that the state “shall not burden a person’s right to exercise of religion, even if the burden results from a rule of general applicability,” and would allow individuals, businesses and organizations to ignore laws that violate their religious beliefs—including current or future anti-discrimination laws.

LGBT advocates say the bill’s definition of “exercise of religion” is criminally vague—it “includes, but is not limited to, the ability to act or refuse to act in a manner substantially motivated by one’s sincerely held religious beliefs, whether or not the exercise is compulsory or central to a larger system of religious belief.”

If signed, the law would allow LGBT Carolinians to be turned away or fired by shops, restaurants, hotels, schools and even hospitals. Pharmacists in the Tar Heel State could refuse to dispense contraceptives, infertility drugs, HIV treatments and transplant-rejection drugs—as all are incompatible with various religious denominations.

“Nobody wants to see this,” said Chris Sgro of Equality NC. “You’ve got a handful of legislators that are pushing this on the state of North Carolina.” Sgro says the people of his state “believe overwhelmingly in protections for LGBT and other people against discrimination,” but Rep. Paul “Skip” Stam (R-Wake), who sponsored the bill, disagrees.

“It’s the first freedom. It’s what a lot of people came to North Carolina for originally, was to have religious freedom, at that time from the Church of England,” Stam said. He dismissed claims the law would be abused, saying, “If you had a person who believes in child sacrifice as part of their religious principals, we’re not going to allow that.”

Oh, well, that makes it okay.

Another pending measure, Senate Bill 2, would exempt magistrates and clerks from performing or assisting in same-sex marriages. It passed the NC Senate in February and is currently being discussed in a House committee. There is, however, a small silver lining: On Thursday, Democrats introduced a bill to add sexual orientation and gender identity to the state’s state’s equal-employment opportunity laws.