navarre

I was raised a Protestant, then turned Agnostic, and now I'm part of a Catholic church. Catholicism is better in my opinion- even minor details, such as the quality and beauty of the churches, matters. And it's a far bigger, better organized religion than the billion or so protestant denominations. Absoloutely. Why the canonical gospels can't be taken seriously as (at least partially) historical fact is beyond me. Scholars agree that Luke was an astounding historian, who accurately charted many aspects of the lives of Jesus, Paul, and other apostles. As for the 'walking on water' business, that's a matter of faith. But not blind faith.

I did GCSE German at school, and got a B. Can't really remember much now. Despite being forced into doing a language (I believe my education would've benefitted more from me studying Geography than German), there was never the incentive. The general arrogant state of mind of English being the only language you need to actually know was preventing me from ever taking the subject very seriously, and to a certain degree, that state of mind proved correct, especially when you venture round Europe and the locals don't even bother trying to speak to you in their language.

No, you're assuming that theists follow their religion without considering the theological and historical implications that come with it. How do you prove Jesus existed? How do you prove history? You cannot prove history in a scientific sense, so does that mean we follow history blindly? Of course not. We follow sources. Catholics (of whose ranks I am hoping to join soon) believe the canonical gospel accounts to be legitimate sources of Jesus' life and existence. Those sources are the basis for the entire Catholic faith, and just because you cannot prove those sources in a scientific manner (ie you cannot conduct experiments), it doesn't mean Catholics follow their faith 'blindly'.

Why do people assume theists follow their faith 'blindly'?

No valid response to my earlier points, or just irrelevant digs at religion?

What a rash, misguided view of theists. I think you may need to revise the definition of 'thinking for themselves', because in your opinion, Christians, Muslims, Buddhists and even atheists are incapable of thinking for themselves simply because they belong to a group with similar religious views. You realise each person is individual, and has very different opinions on things regarding religion? Would you consider me unable to think for myself, because instead of investigating science myself, I accept scientific evidence gathered by others as facts? It's compeletely irrelevant which instrument is used. I doubt you used the 'gun' analogy simply because a firearm is a more efficient method of killing. Another example- your hands can be used to kill someone. Are your hands evil?

Yes, but what if that gun where replaced by a knife, or some of the other billion-something methods of killing someone? Aye. Orthodox churches are amongst the best on the planet. Hagia Sophia is the lesbian porn of the world of Christian architecture, and that's without mentioning the beautiful churches in Greece. Damn, you Protestants may be right with the 'theology' part, but you need to start building more beautiful churches. Nonsense or not, people ask it irregardless. Religion is empirically, objectively not evil. It should be shuffled to the bottom of the 'serious' pile, along with 'Are videogames evil?' and other nonsense arguments, albeit Richard Dawkins and other 'devout' atheists still like to perpetuate religion to be an evil idea. And, what, with him being a professor at a leading national university, he can't possibly be wrong, can he?

Truth be told, I love a good beach. Sand castles, sunbathing and swimming are all favourite pastimes of mine. I've travelled around Europe, I've swum in the North Sea, Atlantic, Meditteranean and some of the beaches in Europe are stunning. So, I guess the aim of this thread is, what's the best beach you've ever been too? Pictures as well please if possible. Oh, and one thing I've noticed is that sea water is always freezing cold. Has anyone else noticed that?

Was the water warm or cold?

I could've sworn you have a beach in Birmingham. Perhaps not, but when it is practical, I'd throroughly recommend it. We have some of the best beaches in Europe.

If you live in a country like Britain, where we have more coastline than France, despite being smaller than France, there's really no excuse. In Britain, you're never too far from the coast.

I mean, it's not an act. He is a true nob.

I know! You'd think that the Med is a hot sea, and therefore the water would be warm, but it's not. It's freezing. You have to adjust to that chill.

Personally think he's a wanker. Not just because he's rich, but because he is a genuine tosser. Is it just me, or have you always wanted to see Cowell and Gordon Ramsay fight? My money's on Ramsay.

Compassion and mercy should always be prioritized. This man is dying, and whether he's guilty of the crimes he's been convicted of will never be known. An interesting thought, however; no one is behing bars for Lockerbie. So, whoever it was, al Mugrahi or otherwise, clearly got away with taking 270 lives.

Pretty straightforward thread, who's your favourite actor in Hollywood and out of Hollywood? My favourite hollywood actor is Will Smith. I liked him before, but his role in I Am Legend just sealed his place for me. My favourite non-Hollywood actor is William Fichtner. Great in invasion (remember that?!?)? Check. great in TDK? Check. Great in Prison Break? Hell yeah. Brilliant actor with hopefully a good career ahead of him.

Perhaps because they have some good policies? The Tories try and make out that Britain would become a perfect superpower under them, but the job Labour is doing, despite all the bad press, is good.

I can't believe it- a story that is both genuine and half interesting in The Sun! The Daily Facist, sorry, Mail, need take note! I'm not the biggest fan of Labour, but your incessant criticism of them is getting a bit too annoying.

I always thought Arnie was trying not to laugh during Total Recal, although that may be down to the shiteness of the film more than anything.

Jews and Christians should be respected as 'People of the Book'. (They'd still have to pay taxes, mind, and wouldn't have any jobs in government. Plus, the legal system would always be in favour of Muslims.) The future for atheists wouldn't look so bright. I think some Muslims just want to go back to the golden olden days, just like some Brits want to go back to the day of the British Empire. Thankfully, neither looks likely.

So, I had really bad acne last year, until the dermatologist prescribed me some isotretonoin. It did the trick, didn't have a spot in months. I cam off it last year, but now the acne is starting to come back. I fear I'm fighting a loosing battle and that I may have to take isotretonoin again (at least I know it does the trick). So, the question is, did you ever suffer from acne? Did you cure it? And how long did it last? It's really starting to get me down, sometimes at night I just lay there and it's all I can think about.

To be honest, if there was a government that took away all my rights and freedoms, whipped my neighbours to death for petty crimes and took away my rights to have whatever religion I choose, I think occupation/liberation by a liberal, advanced democratic society would be a total Godsend.

That post made me feel bad about complaining about a few spots. You're probably the person who can relate to me most on this. It is extremely distressing when you have a skin condition, because there is no specific way of curing. I'm going to contact my GP at the end of the week if it gets any worse (hopefully it's just a little outburst nothing too serious), but I don't want to have to suffer like I have done for the past 4 years. I don't want this year to be ruined like the other past years. I shouldn't let it win emotionally, but sometimes it's all I think about. It's especially annoying when none of your mates have it. I find it very unfair. My dad had it really bad.

Brilliant stuff. One poll conducted by a questionable source proves shit. They didn't ask every Muslim in those countries, just a small amount. It therefore isn't reliable. So you're telling me the Muslims I know have less valid opinions because they don't live in the aforementioned cities? I don't need to travel to those cities, thank you. You were under the dillusion that people could simply decide for themselves when they wanted a dictator or not, thus implying it was easy. I'm sorry, if it doesn't have borders, it isn't a country. Maybe an organization? Is that what you mean? Bullshit. Iraq was ruled by a nationalist (Saddam Hussein) and his nationalist Baath Party. There are plentiful pan-Arabs in the Muslim world. but I like this idea of yours, though. I'm going to unite all people with brown hair under one state. Forget the fact there are plenty of blondes and black haired people in the world. As long as the people in government all have brown hair, abide by my special brown hair laws and pay taxes to brown haired peoples, it should be fine. Do you think it's likely?

If we invaded every country that lcoked up political opponents, we'd have to introduce conscription. The difference is, the Taliban were murdering people in their thousands. Egypt is a good example of a secular country in the Muslim world, largely because of its 20% Christian minority. Egypt is an example of a Middle Eastern country gone right because of its secularity, and the result? The most powerful country in the Middle East alongside Israel. . Really? Please post a link to these street masses that oppose the law. Thw only example I can think of was in Luton, and the Muslim community in Britain was quick to denounce their actions! Further proof that a minority of Muslims share your views. Oh, and Muslims shouldn't elect those governments in the first place if they don't represent 'peoples views' lol. To be fair, being the sub servant of the most powerful and wealthiest democracy on Earth is hardly a bad thing. Would that be the same sharia that the Taliban used to kill Christians, Jews, Hindus, Sikhs and Buddhists then? Sorry, didn't see this. Would this be the same history as Hitler and Stalin, or are we talking about the history of a parallel universe here? By the way, if it's so easy to overthrow dictators, why don't Muslims overthrow their governments if they don't represent their views? Just interested.