When has religion irked you personally and why?

Craven put it just the way it should be put to people with such creepy notions.

Wilso,

I thought you were one of the good guys. It seems I'm wrong. That little rant is evil and would do credit to the fire breathing fundamentalists who rage on abuzz. I do know something of the catholic church having been part of it for the first twenty years of my life. I went to religious schools for twelve years and was supervised by priests and religious brothers both in school and at sports. I was never treated improperly and have never met a person who has been. When you post your lists it appears overwhelming but the reality is very few religious offend in this way. I can assure you that covering up of sexual abuse was not an exclusive practice of the church. Society in general tended to turn away. When I was a kid my next door neighbour was abusing many little girls including two of my sisters. We children protected our parents by not telling them. Eventually he was discovered and driven from the neighbourhood but no complaint was made to the police. This was the decision of the parents. It seems strange today but the world was even more confused about anything involving sex in those days.

Your opinion of the catholic church can be easily dismissed and I suggest you do a little reading to rid yourself of that cancerous hatred. It has played a large role in shaping western civilisation. It has been in error but on balance has improved our world.

I do not admire the religion of the catholic church or any other. Their creeds seem to be nothing but superstition.

As to the possibility that science will disprove the existence of God, stop waiting. It cannot be proven but is already reduced to the highly improbable.

Calm down there just a tad gozmo, and nice to see you back. While Wilso may be hyperbolic regarding the Catholic Church, I think his opinions on pedophilia, especially within the Church, are probably more important to him. I really think that children matter more to Wilso than religion, and rants be damned, that makes him a better Christian, IMO, than abusive priests, even though he would never accept that title. He is still one of the good guys.

Hello Cav.

I have been here reading mostly. There is plenty worth reading.
I know Wilso is a good guy but I think he's a little blind in this area. I am appalled by the abuse which has been uncovered and I think we share responsibility because we did not see.

It irks me that someone's religion of nonreligion has to be so vulgar:

I always thought that at it's heart, religion was about thinking outside the box, so to speak, and taking context to heart before passing judgement. Maybe it's just me though.

I've got absolutely no intention of ridding myself of the hatred of religion, and furthermore I don't give a flying **** who disagrees. It is a millstone around the neck of the human race, it's used as an excuse for the worst of evil acts, and is the single biggest burden we must rid ourselves of.

Wilso- IMO you need to calm down.

When expressing's one opinion, it is far more effective to be dispassionate about it. Overweening diatribes tend to cause listeners to ignore the message, and focus on the histrionics!

And if you think I'm viscious, go to an athiest site, where they post they post the emails of those who religiously disagree. You've never seen the type of vehemence displayed by so many "good christians". I'll post some myself, but I don't have time right now. I've got to go to work.

Wilso- Is this a discussion, or a pissing contest?

Wilso....I have been defending your position here. Your feelings about religion are well-documented, but for the purpose of the thread, your insights into Church pedophilia are actually more valuable. You cited many cases, all in Oz, which was quite the eye-opener. Rather than resort to a tit-for-tat abrasive argument between the theists and non-theists, let's just stick to the facts. Also, I have always maintained that when you speak of 'religion' you mean 'organized religion,' as opposed to 'faith' which can be both religous or personal, and has a much more complex meaning. Let's try to stay focused here, so we can all get along.

I agree, science will NOT disprove the existence of God (whatever in hell that means) -- but your comment that the issue already reduces to "highly improbable" is off-the-wall.

I'm not really sure why atheists want to think that way -- or why theists want to assert that it is highly improbable that there is no God -- but both atheists and theists do a major injustice to logic, reason, and truth with that kind of nonsense.

Good post otherwise!

I'll reply to the original topic.

Every time Bush says, "God bless America!" That irritates me so very much.

Also, when I was young and AIDS was becoming recognized as an epidemic that was not restricted to homosexuals I saw some protest composed mainly of Christians and one of them held up a sign that read "Homosexuality is the disease and AIDS is the cure!" Even at a young age that pissed me off to no end and every time I reflect on that memory and see the man's face, who was holding the sign, painted with a fat ignorant smile I shudder from pure rage.

I don't think that A2K was setup to be an atheist site, I don't go there - I can get in plenty a disagreements anywhere. I didn't go on the war path to tack you for being atheist or anything of that manner.

I do however think your vulgarity is a pain in the jackarse - and uncalled for.

Yottos - yep the aids thing is pretty bad.

Frank - Atheists don't "want" there to be no god; there simply isn't and not a darn thing to be done about it.

nor are there unicorns on the dark side of the moon

Much as we could wish.

Craven, One at a time

a. Certainly, not even argueable!

b.Simply remarking on things that can be shown.

c. I suspect that my judgement may be better than some judges.
(Remember the specific crime in question had not been previously mentioned)

d. Point of contention, no doubt about it. Forced anal penetration of a minor is unfair. Along with most of the other offenses listed. But as I understand it, legally is some places the charge or the offense of rape doesn't require penetration. Thats why I asked about "harmed".

Regarding my PM.
you asked "Is this the type of person you would protect"

I answer, Yes I would. He's sick and probably not deserving of punishment. But the children deserved protection.

May I digress, ( I will anyway)

If I owned sheep I would not place them in a pen of unsupervised dogs for the sheeps protection. This is where I am trying to point out that society deserves some of the blame for these unfortunate occurrences.

This is the point of sardonic amusement!!!

I would never ever place my children in a monastary, convent, or church school. They tend to attract persons who have a sense of responsibility that is not warranted by observation. These persons tend to live in an insulated fantastical world with allegiances that cannot be shown to have any basis in facts.

SO WHAT DO WE EXPECT when we place our children in Church schools , monastaries or madrasses? What should a reasonably intelligent person expect when he pens his sheep with the wolves?

This is what we get. Suicide bombers, perversions,and lack of political responsibilities. Damaged personalities and the perpetuations of antisocial attitudes. Unhappiness, greed, and miseries untold.

End of digression.

Serial raping. Thats not fair. I never defended any of the acts specifically alluded to. But I reserve the right to defend the perpertrator. He's sick!

Comparison of rape to football. Nope, I am comparing our practices of putting our children in harms way---differently.

Damn, I'd have thought somebody would have noticed that I regret being so obscure.

I'd love to indulge in a little personality baiting but thats usually counterproductive so I will forbear.

It seems that religion is the work of "Satan." I mean there is so much evil tied to it would we even know evil without it. In S. America the natives didnt know what stealing was and could not recall it ever happening through out their collective history. But it bacame rampant after the European religions started spreading its evil around.