801. If Muslim doctors are intolerant, let them go

Comment #77495 by Philip1978 on October 9, 2007 at 12:28 pm

Vinelectric, thats a bit harsh isnt it?
The Torygraph it may well be, but that and The Times are probably the most objective papers I have ever read ( this is considering how bad the press is anyway!). Come on, at least it wasnt the Daily Mail!

This article has some good points in it and I think well addressed, give the guy a break!

Philip

802. Do you have to read up on leprechology before disbelieving in them?

Comment #77492 by Philip1978 on October 9, 2007 at 12:21 pm

I dont quite think God is love, take that quote from the side bits on the home page

"Deaths in the Bible. God = 2,270,365 not including the victims of Noah's flood, Sodom and Gomorrah, or the many plagues, famines, fiery serpents, etc because no specific numbers were given. Satan -10."

Satan being on minus numbers cos he was under contract from God to go kill Job's family etc!

Plus you have to give God extra bad points for encouraging Abraham to bbq his son and other such nasty stuff that He encourages, for really good examples see Deuteronomy, Judges etc for treatment of women, (especially rape victims) and children.


Now, I don't know if in that number that one includes Himself/Jesus but again, what a nasty God He is and quite frankly is not worthy of such respect.

Eros however, what a great chap, ok, he may have shot arrows at people but at least he was kind enough not to murder them and inspired people to love each other!

Philip

803. If Muslim doctors are intolerant, let them go

Comment #77474 by Philip1978 on October 9, 2007 at 11:55 am

This is the kind of thing that really gets on my nerves, I cannot say just how irresponsible the world is for pandering to anything so dangerously stupid. I have heard horrible stories of rape victims being refused the emergency pill because of religion and I wholly agree with this article's question asking why these maniacs accept these jobs when they know full well what the job description will involve. The sooner that religious idiocy like this is not tolerated the better this planet will be.

Philip

804. Scandal brewing at Oral Roberts U.

Comment #77445 by Philip1978 on October 9, 2007 at 10:28 am

Mother2eight,
I am sorry if my rather juvenile comments about this man may have offended you, it was not my intention I assure you.

As for the actions of this man, I have no sympathy whatsoever, he has done some of the most despicable things imaginable. I have more sympathy for his victims and I hope one day they will be able to get to a normal life. I am also a big fan of justice being done, he should not be allowed to get away with this simply because his piety and religious beliefs allow him to assume he can act this way. Fraudulent people like this get money from even the poorest of people who are unfortunately gullible enough to part with money that could be used to better their circumstances.

If you want to see the reason for my dislike of this man, go to utube and watch Derren Brown's Messiah, that is one heck of frightening documentary about how these people cheat and steal from people who think they are completely sincere.

To be honest, making fun of his name and calling him a Bat Fouling Onion Eyed Malignancy was more for humorous purposes (I possibly need to work on my act a bit!) Please dont be offended by the verbal attacks on this man, he really doesnt deserve it.

Philip

805. Debate between Richard Dawkins and John Lennox

Comment #77297 by Philip1978 on October 9, 2007 at 1:22 am

David,
Please read Robert Maynard's comment very carefully, he says some very important things which I would like to hope would benefit your understanding of atheism, it really would.

I have repeated this a lot, I belong to no religion - I do not use my lack of belief's to justify my actions - my actions are simply based on the weighing up of options in front of me.

I can change my mind over matters, if someone were to successfully refute something that I held to be true, yes I would need convincing but my mind can be changed.

For example, I am for nothing more than my interest in the subject, looking for evidence of the existence of Jesus Christ. At the moment I am convinced he never existed, especially in the time frame that the Bible claims to be true. Why? Because his birthday is highly ambiguous - Which year was it? When and how did he die and did he really come back from the dead? Did Nazareth actually exist in from 4BC to at least 37AD? Why is there no record of his miracles outside of the Bible? Why are the stories about him so incredibly similar to that of religions that were set up way before even the Old Testament came into view?

I could go on like this for a long time, I have a lot of questions like that, I just question stuff that I don't think is right. The evidence I have read and seen so far is just not adequate enough to answer my questions. That's not because I am rejecting it on the grounds that I don't believe in a religion, I am actually doing all I can to convince myself that Jesus really did exist, I think it would be very interesting. But, at the moment I cannot just trust in the Bible's evidence.

So please, can I ask you very kindly again, not to think of me or any other atheist as having "the atheistic fundamentalist mindset" because it simply is not true. I could be an arsehole for a varying number of reasons, I could be arrogant simply because of my height or how much money I had - but it would not be because I don't believe in your God.

Let me ask you this, are you willing to admit that you could change your mind about Jesus? I know I could and that's not because I think I am smarter than you or that I have any special privileges that you don't. One day I hope to convince you of that or perhaps you might be able to convince me of a few things, I am not even ruling that out!

Philip

806. The God of the Bible is No Delusion!

Comment #76519 by Philip1978 on October 6, 2007 at 3:54 am

I see the interesting meme is in full flow!

JC I am a massive fan of most teas, I might balk at the odd herbal concoctions, but on the whole I do have a preference for the caffeinated kind. Normally I would go for any Breakfast tea but my favourite is Assam if we are talking just supermarket stuff (if you can find it Twinnings is spectacularly interesting!) But the finest Tea I have ever tasted is from York, England- it is called Betty's Breakfast Tea, you can order it online just google Betty's Tea room!

Coffee is also fantastic stuff and I have quite a collection, big fan of either really rich stuff, Columbian Roast, Costa Rican is possibly my favourite or just a good cuppa joe ( I had some in America, dont know what it was but it tasted lovely!) I used to work in a big dept store and I got my hands on one of those machines that they have in 1st Class lounges at airports, phenomenal coffee I tell you!


I have decided I should stop reading bits from Deuteronomy in the bible, I accidentally happened upon Chapter 22 the other day looking something up and it is quite possibly the vilest thing I have ever read. Really if God did indeed prod the Bible into existence that stuff about rape is just about as wrong as you can get.

"28 If a man happens to meet a virgin who is not pledged to be married and rapes her and they are discovered, 29 he shall pay the girl's father fifty shekels of silver. [c] He must marry the girl, for he has violated her. He can never divorce her as long as he lives"

No, dont like that, its just not right anyway you read it and it goes to prove it it was the work of very evil minded men. The more I think about it the more I will repeat it, I think J got it completely and utterly right when he said Shakespeare is a better writer than God by miles.

"Lord, what fools these mortals be!"

Puck, A Midsummer Night's Dream (III, ii, 115)

Tally Bally Ho!
Philip

(Incidentally, I got a Shakespearean Insult Generator on my facebook page, I called my friend a Bat fouling, Onion Eyed Malignancy and I haven't stopped laughing yet! Ah simple things for a simple mind!)

807. 'Flying Spaghetti Monster' Religious Group Turning Heads at MSU

Comment #76505 by Philip1978 on October 6, 2007 at 2:48 am

JT, keep up the good work, the world needs more people like your good self spreading the Nooodly message!
I myself am High Priest of the Church of Quetz, He is a spectacular God who posts on this site regularly. None of this Teapot God rubbish, this God actually communicates with his followers, He and His prophet Billy both can prove they exist and well, what more do you need? Falcons with lasers on their heads I hear you say? You got em!

Dont listen to the hate mail, keep doing what you are doing and sod it if the religites complain!
Cheers!
Philip

808. Scandal brewing at Oral Roberts U.

Comment #76483 by Philip1978 on October 6, 2007 at 1:31 am

Too many jokes, not enough time!

Husband to wife
"Darling, did you remember to donate last Sunday?"

"Its ok, I did it Orally!"

What the feck is going on with this world, does this man not know that 29 year old filthy minded people like my naughty self simply refuse to take him seriously with a name like that?!!

I shall use the fine wording from my facebook Shakespearean Insult Generator "Mr Oral, thou art a bat-fouling, onion-eyed malignancy!"

Tally Ho!
Philip

809. The God of the Bible is No Delusion!

Comment #76210 by Philip1978 on October 5, 2007 at 4:50 am

Hehehe, gosh, why did I not realise how many times I typed "Interesting", must be lack of Tea!

810. The God of the Bible is No Delusion!

Comment #76208 by Philip1978 on October 5, 2007 at 4:36 am

Speaking of really interesting things, I found this thanks to IrateAthiest, very interesting, has anybody ever heard of this chap?
http://www.bidstrup.com/bible.htm
He made a list of Bible inconsistencies, http://www.bidstrup.com/bible2.htm should anyone be interested, would like to hear thoughts on it

Right, I hear the Call of the Kettle, more Tea!
Philip

811. Do you have to read up on leprechology before disbelieving in them?

Comment #76180 by Philip1978 on October 5, 2007 at 1:43 am

I see I have book to read, I am a little disappointed Mr Strobel did not use a single secular source for his book and he wrote it whislt under the influence of Christianity. I will however keep an open mind and read it when I get the chance.

By the way Irate, that Bidstrup link is brilliant, there some wonderful essays on there, I like this one http://www.bidstrup.com/bible.htm
Revcourt, I would encourage you to give it a go, its very interesting

Cheers,
Philip

812. Norway flourishes as secular nation

Comment #76162 by Philip1978 on October 5, 2007 at 12:13 am

Woo hoo for Norway! If all countries could please kindly follow suit, would be a rather good idea!

Oddly enough, I am probably related to most of Norway, my grandfather married 3 times out there, suffice to say my family is huge and Strappado is possibly a distant cousin!!

skål

Philip

813. Why Christians should take Richard Dawkins seriously

Comment #75976 by Philip1978 on October 4, 2007 at 7:31 am

Dianelos, you have confused me again, please correct me if I got anything wrong here
You said
"You don't really believe that this is a scientific site, do you? Or maybe you believe that TGD is a scientific book"

I know this is a wikipediated sentence but it reads

"Richard Dawkins (born March 26, 1941) is a British ethologist, evolutionary biologist and popular science writer who holds the Charles Simonyi Chair for the Public Understanding of Science at the University of Oxford."

How on earth did arrive at the conclusion that he wrote a book on philosophy or that this site is for philosophy? Look at the top of this page in the logo for the DNA strand next to his name, I rather think its more for science!

Philip

814. Do you have to read up on leprechology before disbelieving in them?

Comment #75959 by Philip1978 on October 4, 2007 at 6:41 am

Irate,
I never knew there was a Case for Christ, will read more when I get back home, I think there is a massive amount of evidence pointing towards his complete lack of existence! Let me get out of work then I will add my thoughts to this, cheers, Philip

815. A New Debate

Comment #75901 by Philip1978 on October 4, 2007 at 2:36 am

J
I only wish that Ashton was as inspiring as the character Clifford in Henry VI

"I am resolved to bear a greater storm Than any thou canst conjure up today"

I am sure we could beat them...when the moon turns pink...possibly...

May the best team win tomorrow!

Philip

816. A Face-Off Over Faith

Comment #75896 by Philip1978 on October 4, 2007 at 2:10 am

Dog Boots,
That was rather brilliant, I like that a lot, it explains why some religites get all huffy when they hear people are atheists. That in itself is rather odd, "what, you dont receive instructions from an invisible being? Are you mad? How do you know how to be moral? We who hear voices in our heads are perfectly moral...yup....just got confirmation, thank you oh Lord!

Tis a mad world my masters!

Philip

817. A New Debate

Comment #75888 by Philip1978 on October 4, 2007 at 12:56 am

hungarianelephant

"Quite why Philip knows so much about the County is a perplexing question ..."

Well, having been the High Priest for the God Quetz I too have learned to move in mysterious ways :)

(Either that or I went to the Stockport County Website... shit, let the cat out the bag, Odin, come back here!)

I must confess to being more of a London Wasps fan, my folks have season tickets and sometimes I am able to go see games, splendid stuff!

I dont know if I am looking forward to the England match against Australia, we are either to win by a narrow margin or get completely dumped upon!

Tally ho, more Tea!
Philip

818. Do you have to read up on leprechology before disbelieving in them?

Comment #75647 by Philip1978 on October 3, 2007 at 7:54 am

Revcourt, CHeard, Brother John,

I promise you this is a serious question, I am really interested to know what is going on in Ezekiel 1. That passage confuses me somewhat and would like to know what it is about and to what it is referring to or would you admit it is somewhat odd? Is it Ezekiel having a vision?
kind regards

Philip

819. A New Debate

Comment #75630 by Philip1978 on October 3, 2007 at 6:58 am

hungarianelephant

I thank you for your kind words and offer of Stockport County Tickets, I am glad their defeat to Morecambe did not deter the lads from thrashing Brentford the other day! (Please be nice to Wycombe, that's where I was born!)

I totally agree with you, if the politicians behaved as well as some of the scientists on here, flippin heck it would be a better place!

Cheers,
Philip

820. The Problem with Atheism

Comment #75617 by Philip1978 on October 3, 2007 at 6:27 am

Richard

Interesting question Monsieur! Gosh, I guess it all boils down to how I come across as an atheist as to what opinion the religious hold about me. Like you said, there could be one school of thought that says I am being aggressive and the word atheist could carry it. Or as I said it could be seen as a sign of weakness from backing away from the word that I hold. I do like your question as to how long I am to keep this going, I suppose I am always open to change given the right prod and should something more persuasive pitch up I would be happy to look at it.

At this moment I think it is important to be making a stand against stupidity, esp against the Celestial Pervert Dictator. There is too much going on that requires people to stand up and do something. I promise not to protesteth too much, but I think its important to keep this word going as a sign that I aint giving up on rational and logical thought. I guess the image of the "atheists" has a lot to do with whether or not I will continue to associate myself with it. I like your points though, has got me thinking!

Hows that?

Philip

821. A New Debate

Comment #75602 by Philip1978 on October 3, 2007 at 5:57 am

hungarianelephant

Imagine if you will, a complete thicky when it comes to science arrives on this website where he encounters a wealth of scientific knowledge by which after asking a few questions here and there slowly begins to learn more. It gets to the point where some of it gets through and he feels less of a thicky and better off because of it. If you hadnt guessed it already, this character is me!

There is hope in my opinion that if the silly sods in power understood even a modicum of science it would aid their decision making slightly.

Then again they are a bunch of manipulative, power hungry slimy bastards... bad idea! I think I prefer your "I'm not going to listen to you" explanation at least you know where they stand on it! Tickets to Stockport in the post! hehehehe

Philip

822. The Problem with Atheism

Comment #75581 by Philip1978 on October 3, 2007 at 4:11 am

V
you only have to read Ezekiel 1 to really see the drugs or Egyptian beer take its toll!

Hmm, what to say about this? I do call myself an atheist but I agree in part with what Sam says. There is a label that attaches itself to atheism, I liked his reference to the "Greatest Crimes of the 20th Century" arguments. Despite repeating it over and over again that they did not do those things in the name of their atheism etc the religious will keep on bleating on about it.

But then I am proud to call myself an atheist, I am not bothered by the word that describes my refusal to believe in gods, if that be the word, then sod it, I will take it. Plus I agree with Jack, withdrawal from the word would simply make the religious think they have won something or that I am not confident enough in my convictions.

Balls to it, I am an atheist and proud of it, sod it if that causes trouble!

Philip

823. A New Debate

Comment #75533 by Philip1978 on October 3, 2007 at 12:24 am

"An American president who does not understand science - or worse, disdains it - is no longer just a fool, but potentially lethal."

What an amazing comment, if anybody has proven this to be sure its dear old George, his continued ignorance of stem cell research alone has caused such untold trouble.

Inferno, right with you there, I love QI, I even went to see it being filmed earlier this year and I thought it was excellent. Stephen Fry is a man who I have a lot of respect for, very funny, intelligent and swears like a trooper! I wont say who was on the show unless I am suitably bribed!!

Cheers all,
Philip

824. Dawkins - what can't he be blamed for?

Comment #75229 by Philip1978 on October 2, 2007 at 4:49 am

I still maintain there should be an award given for "The most gratuitous use of the word Dawkins in a serious work of non-fiction or radio commentary". I will keep a tally till December and we can all vote on it, how about that?


Logicel, I am so sorry to hear about your friend, I hope you are ok

Philip

825. Dawkins - what can't he be blamed for?

Comment #75166 by Philip1978 on October 2, 2007 at 12:51 am

"Kill them all, the Lord will recognise His own!"

Bloody Cathars! Or was it Dawkins or Epeeist since he knows his Latin!! Heretic, I thought you were an Atheist but I see you speak Cathar!!hehehehe

Philip

826. AAI Convention webcam

Comment #75165 by Philip1978 on October 2, 2007 at 12:46 am

V
"Posters come across as they are, not age-delimited as it were:-)."

Tell me about it, but then again how is a 29 year old lunatic supposed to act?

Robert,
Interesting points there young man! (Sorry if that sounds condescending, I promise its not!) I guess I am with Yorker on this one, I like the RRS for the hard work they put into doing what they do, they are definitely working on a particular audience. I can see your point about it being just Theism but I think, especially in the US, it is the religion that is most pressing upon young people there. Having the RRS on their side makes me feel a lot better knowing that teenagers are getting informed in a way that appeals to them, much like this site appeals to me for the wealth of amazing intelligence the posters have and that includes your good self.

Right, time to act my age and go Tea hunting, tally ho!
Philip

827. Teacher: I was fired, said Bible isn't literal

Comment #74885 by Philip1978 on October 1, 2007 at 1:54 am

David,

Sorry to have disappointed you. I apologise for any offence and unnecessary hurt I have caused you.

Apology accepted, thank you

The mighty Quetz posted something that made me think a lot and also I have a lot to thank him for.

One of the most easy-going and friendly posters is Philip1978, and you've even got him angry, which is quite a feat!

(Yikes, I have a reputation to uphold now!)

I guess I will never understand you, I get an apology and then you type this

"Please feel free to post your pseudo psychology, sense of hurt, ludicrous biblical interpretations and pop philosophy to one another."

Has absolutely NOTHING J has said to you made any impact at all? Bloody hell, you even made me rant at you and I see now it was for absolutely nothing because you still insist on trading insults. Do you really think I make up "ludicrous biblical interpretations"? I only read what it says in the Bible and it confuses the living monkey out of me, I am with J on this one, Shakespeare is so much better and easier to understand.

Take this from the dear Bible

Deuteronomy 14:8
The pig is also unclean; although it has a split hoof, it does not chew the cud. You are not to eat their meat or touch their carcasses.

Take this from William, Hamlet Act 1 Scene 3 (I think, J correct me if I am wrong!)

Do not, as some ungracious pastors do,
Show me the steep and thorny way to heaven;
Whiles, like a puffed and reckless libertine,
Himself the primrose path of dalliance treads,
And recks not his own rede.

Ok I am being a little unfair by using the pig quote but I still can't see how not eating ham is going to help me in life, but I can see a lot of good reasons for reading the magnificent works of Shakespeare and getting more out of it.

Right, my rant here is ended, I will leave you with another quote from that tremendous play which about sums up my own debating skills

"Though this be madness, yet there is method in 't."

I hope you take some advice that people are offering here, if not, please by all means carry on insulting people, your choice, like the good lord Quetz said, the ball is in your court

Philip

828. Teacher: I was fired, said Bible isn't literal

Comment #74523 by Philip1978 on September 29, 2007 at 9:15 am

David,
I too am deeply disappointed in you, you only have yourself to blame for it. I have seen the amazing kindness with which J has treated you with and you just threw it back at him. J comes across to me as a really intelligent, creative, funny and well mannered damn good bloke and does not deserve your rudeness.

Did he come on your site causing havoc, no he bloody well didn't, have I caused any trouble yet, no I bloody well haven't!

I too have done all I can to make kind, intelligent and thought provoking posts which you dont seem in the least bit interested in talking about.

You come across as an arrogant bully whose wont is to create as much discomfort amongst those that just happen to disagree with you. You remind me of some Christian idiot I knew at Uni, this guy's dad was a minister or something and so he thought since he had the backing of the Almighty he could behave in the most despicable manner. He would constantly tell me off for blasphemy, goad me all the time to get angry because I was an unbeliever. I did all I could to be nice to him and yet he threw it back in my face all the time until I humiliated him by bringing him to task in front of his friends and he left me alone. You goad people too, you treat them with disrespect and disdain and you come on this site to stir trouble.

I am not usually like this but for you I will take an exception, get lost until you have a decent apology for all the people you so regularly insult and lie about. I know I have traded a few insults with you on this site and at least I had the balls to apologise for it when I did. I really am not surprised you have been trolled so many times, I think I will do it you dare insult anybody once more, now leave us be until you find some fucking manners!
Philip

829. Do you have to read up on leprechology before disbelieving in them?

Comment #74519 by Philip1978 on September 29, 2007 at 8:17 am

Excellent, I see my chauvinist comment went unnoticed!

Brother Jon, I thought I would answer your question as to what my atheism means to me

I think the best way of explaining it is this, can I make the bold assumption that you make decisions sometimes on the basis of whether God thinks its a good idea? Because it seems to me the best way to describe atheism is simply the removal of that habit or way of life. I know this is not about the simple mundane things like making Tea or Coffee but I am guessing that you, Revcourt and CHeard do from time to time think about asking God before doing something big. That simply isnt the case with how I carry my lack of belief around with me, I rather think about the consequences of my actions as much as I can. I dont in any way consider myself elite or in the possession of a better knowledge than religious people, I just am Philip Priestley, does that make sense at all?

Oh yes, I just read your last post and all I can say is you will have to excuse my spelling and syntax from time to time, it doth fail me rotten!

I think the big thing with the bible for me now that I have read it more and learned a bit more about the history surrounding the times when it was written is that I do see glaring contradictions and inaccuracies. I was having a chat with another chap on a different thread and he encouraged me to read the bible objectively and not just look for trouble when it might not be there. I think my big problem is that I have grown up without an ounce of religion in me that I can't face the bible and start asking questions about it. As far as I am convinced Jesus never existed and I have yet to find, for example, historical evidence for the existence of Nazareth during his life time. As far as some of the best and worst archaeologists have discovered it all points to being used as a graveyard for the nearby town of Japha up until the Roman Emperor Trajan sacked the place in AD67. All accounts so far that mention Nazareth have either been doctored, mistranslated or just so highly ambiguous that they do not warrant further study. I dont suppose for one moment you have heard of any hard evidence to show it was there from around 4BC up to past 37AD, this is a subject I am studying a little here and there and I am always open to new suggestions or help.

Facts like these keep arriving in the bible and I think that is why I am skeptical of it. I think the fact that it has be lost, found, mistranslated, doctored, lost again, arrived in jars, hidden etc means to me the level of human involvement outweighs any evidence for a God nudging humans to do it. The amount of similarities with such a wide variety of previous religions again suggests to me it was not real, if you read the Egyptian Book of the Dead or any Greek myths you will find so many similar stories that were written before the bible was. then I find some of the stories as ridiculous as this one from the Greek version of how the world was created


"In the beginning there was only the infinite space known as Chaos. Inside this void was a single creature, Nyx, the bird with black wings. She laid a golden egg and for ages sat upon it. When it finally hatched, out came Eros, the god of love. One half of the shell rose up to become the sky, and the other half became the Earth. He named the Earth Gaia and the sky Uranus. Eros then made them fall in love."


To me that is just as weird as sending a load of pigs on a 20 mile yomp to go leap of a cliff because Jesus had sent Demons into them in Luke 8:26/Mark 5/Matthew 8:28 (New International Version). None of it makes sense to me, it just seems to be another ancient story and not the truth.

Oh well, rant over, I hope you slept well, if you didnt, read all that again and I am sure you will drop off! hehehe

kind regards,

Philip

830. Scientists Feel Miscast in Film on Life's Origin

Comment #74338 by Philip1978 on September 28, 2007 at 7:27 am

frikkenkids
See Francis Collins for the ultimate in "man who knows so much but lets himself down believing in the invisible!"

I can't stand all this chicanery that the religious get up to in issues like this, if they had been honest they could have provided both sides of the opinions and been objective about it all but no, obfuscation is the way forward! Not doing much good for their cause is it?

Philip

831. Do you have to read up on leprechology before disbelieving in them?

Comment #74326 by Philip1978 on September 28, 2007 at 6:30 am

"Adam and Eve spake a tongue that no man could comprehend"

Were they speaking Female?

*sprints quickly away from the feminists*

(Philip promises this was a joke and hoped it was taken in the right way!)

"Beep" squeeked Philip

832. Do you have to read up on leprechology before disbelieving in them?

Comment #74318 by Philip1978 on September 28, 2007 at 5:39 am

With your permission Quetz I may add something to that fantastic idea, "Beep" Said Philip is a fine and intellectual sign off but I was thinking of using different ways of communicating that special "Beep". So for now it may be "Beep" said Philip and depending on my mood at the time might change to "Beep" yawped Philip or something similar, good idea?

As to what I am cooking, hmm, I am a rubbish cook, though I could be stirring up trouble by asking Revcourt and co not to prey, I mean pray :)

"Beep" said Philip

833. Do you have to read up on leprechology before disbelieving in them?

Comment #74298 by Philip1978 on September 28, 2007 at 4:27 am

Dr B,
You are right, Philip went down that slippery slope a long time ago, the problem now is Philip enjoys it too much now to ever come back, he blames it on the mixture of Elgar, Jimi Hendrix, Heavy Metal, Blues, Jazz, Indie and Rap. That and all the daft books he has read and is reading.
Beep
Said Philip

834. Do you have to read up on leprechology before disbelieving in them?

Comment #74296 by Philip1978 on September 28, 2007 at 4:23 am

Goatsbane J, loving the new look, suits you!

Whatever you do don't go accidentally putting Marilyn Manson's Rock is Dead on there, he claims that God in not where Mr Cave claims but in the TV, as you can see, like with Quetz and his hot drinks issue, there are always schisms when it comes to the Gods hehehe
I quite liked Joanna too, just had a quick listen, very talented lady, even the drummer is not too bad once you get over his not wearing any shoes to play the drums!

Cheers, Philip (AKA boy with appalling musicial tastes!)

835. Do you have to read up on leprechology before disbelieving in them?

Comment #74283 by Philip1978 on September 28, 2007 at 3:28 am

Ok, this is doing to be one of the weirdest posts I may have written in a long time but I wanted to see if this worked at all.

There is a song called Passive by a band called A Perfect Circle, it was used in the film Constantine, the hero being dear old Keanu. I can probably hear most of you groaning in agony or at least feeling more pity for me now than Revcourt for my appalling taste in films and music but this is going somewhere, trust me! (It does have Tilda Swinton in it and she is a great actress, am I redeemed yet :) ? )

The film's "plot" is centered around Constantine finding out he is going to die of lung cancer but also knowing he will be going to hell because of his committing suicide earlier on life but him doing all his selfish best to get back into heaven for all the exorcisms and good he does for God. (Very Shakespearean I know!)

The song fits in nicely with this film and I think the chorus hopefully sums up what I am wiffling on about here

"Wake up and face me!"
"Dont play dead cos maybe, someday I will walk away and say "You disappoint me, maybe we are better of this way!"

Very profound Philip, now please get to the point!


This to me is exactly what it is like when people talk to God. I think this song is either about Constantine or the Devil yelling at God for goodness sake DO SOMETHING YOU LAZY BASTARD! I am tempted to think that it is the Devil yelling at God saying for goodness sake this evil stuff is just too easy, look at what I am doing, I am eeeevill incarnate and what are you doing? Nothing!

So what is Philip wiffling on about here, surely he has clearly lost it, or seemingly never had it.

I am saying that this whole praying business is a waste of time Revcourt, I can promise you that. Actually, this applies to Brother John and CHeard too, I dont know your level of praying involvement but the whole ideal of it doesnt seem to me to be fair and I was wondering if you could explain a few things. I was 8 when I stopped praying and even the I was too young to understand what was going on, I only did it cos this weird guy with a white circular collar said so. But one day I just sat up and wondered what would happen to me and I did it again for the next day...no change.

Plus what is the point when the answer is so ambiguous "YES, NAY, MAYBE IF GOD CAN BE ARSED"
Its just so unfair, there you are in your time of crisis, pleading with the invisible to help you out in your time of crisis and nothing is happening. I call that mental torture because if God does not answer it the questions start pouring out as I see Revcourt doing eg I must have sinned or blasphemed, oh shit I am in trouble now and so on (Ok maybe not the swearing!)

I was moved by GoneGolfing's story of the humiliation of walking over to the altar to see if God can possibly help this crisis and it failing miserably. Look at Mother Theresa, exactly the same, she was torturing herself mentally over something that was absolutely no fault of her own and to what end? Some idiot men telling her God has a plan for everybody etc HOW CRUEL IS THAT?

What was Revcourt's sin? He voiced an opinion a bit too much on a website forum...whats wrong with that? Sure some took offense maybe but its not the end of the world, we are adults after all, am sure we can get over it! If that equates to sinning so much and feeling as worthless as Revcourt describes then I am sorry but thats plain bloody evil and I advise caution next time you think God is pissed off with you. You shouldn't have to feel like that every day of your life, its not healthy!

I would appreciate your thoughts on this guys as it interests me to know what you think praying accomplishes when God does not answer. It is written in the bible that if you say it in God and Jesus's name, it will be be answered and god will help, that is a disgusting lie in my opinion and I can't abide by it.

Sorry for the rant and my appalling taste in film and music!

Kind Regards

Philip

836. Why Christians should take Richard Dawkins seriously

Comment #74117 by Philip1978 on September 27, 2007 at 9:26 am

Dear goodness, I am getting paranoid, I am either for the roasting pot in hell for being a naughty atheist, the small men in my tv may go on strike, David Robertson's Elephant might have a sudden change of fridge at any moment and now this giant invisible pterodactyl to add to my problems!!

I think I will go further than J on the belief part and say I am convinced there is no God/there are no Gods until I am given proper evidence to say otherwise. Surely that covers everything?
Yikes I hear flapping wings......
Philip

837. Do you have to read up on leprechology before disbelieving in them?

Comment #74059 by Philip1978 on September 27, 2007 at 6:12 am

To all, I have noticed that people's messages are being trolled for no good reason, can someone please own up to be being naughty or Josh, we seem to be having problems here! J is stuck in Yellow limbo, this is not good!

838. Do you have to read up on leprechology before disbelieving in them?

Comment #74036 by Philip1978 on September 27, 2007 at 5:31 am

Revcourt,

Don't worry about it really, people have their passions, I bet I can get a bit over bearing when I hurl opinions at people. I think it best for you to remember you are only human!!

Plus dont punish yourself because of God like that, this is what I was talking about a few pages earlier, about how you can really beat yourself up mentally over what it is that He wants of you. I think this is the forefront of my non belief is that you shouldnt have to beat yourself up over something that you quite honestly have no control over. I am only speaking from experience of what I have seen happen to others who believed so hard and with such conviction it became such a horrible and unnecessary burden for them to bear.

Take care and keep posting, I for one like to hear your views, if I can't learn nuffink I shouldnt be here!!
All the best,

Philip

839. Do you have to read up on leprechology before disbelieving in them?

Comment #74025 by Philip1978 on September 27, 2007 at 5:02 am

Robert, I also would like to add my apologies if I have irritated you, I also value your views and opinions very highly.

Brother John,
Thanks for your interesting comments, I guess my only comments so far, though I will add more when I have time, is what is the use of your God in that situation? If you remove God from all that the world still works, scientists make their discoveries, people still have their morals etc. Adding God is somewhat of an unnecessary thing because his involvement is enormously complex and difficult to provide evidence for. I think Billy is right in saying that evolution can explain away a lot of what you describe.

Cheers,

Philip

840. Do you have to read up on leprechology before disbelieving in them?

Comment #73991 by Philip1978 on September 27, 2007 at 3:16 am

Hobbit,
Quetz is not just a Tea god, he is god to all hot drinks, there was nearly a schism over this in a previous thread, you must understand He is creator of all things and more,not just Tea!

Philip, High Priest of Quetz

Edit: See, in all His amazingness he got there before me to tell you this!

841. Do you have to read up on leprechology before disbelieving in them?

Comment #73981 by Philip1978 on September 27, 2007 at 1:54 am

Steve,
I saw that, I read it and thought hang on, what is wrong with that? Come forth silent rogue and reveal thyself, who did it?

Good grief, there has been a lot of work here, I am enjoying this

Rev, what more can we say to you? I think we have all said that given simple and easy evidence for the existence of your God then his existence would be acknowledged. Though I feel you would be highly unwilling to give Atheism a quick stroll as J suggested, is there anything that could make you lose that Faith of yours because I for one seriously doubt it.


There is a truly hilarious book by Terry Pratchett called The Last Hero and I will leave you with a few Quotes from it that made me giggle and I think are relevant to this thread


"I shall smite you with lightning!" squeaked Nuggan, raising his hands to protect himself.

"You can't! Not here! You can only do that stuff back in the world! All you can do here is bluff and illusion! And bullying! That's what prayers are ... it's frightened people trying to make friends with the bully!"

(Very apt I feel for the God of the Old Testament!)

This one has to be my favorite:

"But you are a gods-fearing man?"

"What I've seen of them certainly frightens the life out of me, sir."

Last but not least, I think brilliant as it not only shows free will at work at its best but the Gods having to claim responsibility for their actions

"I feel," said Blind Io, "that if we had wanted people to fly, we would have given them wings... Why did you do it?" he said.

"You gave me wings when you showed me birds," said Leonard of Quirm. "I just made what I saw."


Quetz, thank you for giving Billy his first Prophesy, Praise be to you oh Mighty one, creator of all things and more! time for Tea methinks, Cheeeeeeeeeeers all!

Philip

842. Why are we Muslims so self-destructive?

Comment #73539 by Philip1978 on September 25, 2007 at 8:04 am

My name is actually Geoff, the person you see in this avatar is actually the person whose identity I have hijacked for illegal reasons, I may have said too much already but I wanted to disclose it!

843. Religion advances despite science (and thanks to Dawkins)

Comment #73500 by Philip1978 on September 25, 2007 at 5:51 am

I fear not the wrath of Biz and his Liberty mates, like you said I have protection!

That Brick stuff, I cannot stop laughing at the Male Genitalia one, that Bobbit scene has me giggling loads! Plus the laws stuck to the family's heads, classic!
Cheers,
Philip

844. Religion advances despite science (and thanks to Dawkins)

Comment #73488 by Philip1978 on September 25, 2007 at 5:00 am

Billy, I think Biz is getting his mates together to come and stone me to death, I urged him to follow Quetz on that thread ( the one about leprechology)

Rev was at least polite to me in the sense he gave answers to my questions but I think he went too far, he even threatened the moderate on there, CHeard, with hell for not being a proper Christian, poor boy!

Philip

845. Keeping the faith at school

Comment #73487 by Philip1978 on September 25, 2007 at 4:53 am

Am with Crazymalc on that one, I love it when kids provide such amazing observations, pity the poor little bugger is being told such lies, I blame the sodding parents!

Thank goodness for my upbringing that included Pink Floyd
"HEY, TEACHER, LEAVE THEM KIDS ALONE!"

Philip

846. Religion advances despite science (and thanks to Dawkins)

Comment #73406 by Philip1978 on September 25, 2007 at 1:16 am

V

Quetz does everything! I got carried away with the Tea business due to my slight addiction to the stuff but rest assured the God makes a fine red wine as he does make the sun shine upon us!

Praise be to Quetz!

Philip

847. Religion advances despite science (and thanks to Dawkins)

Comment #73401 by Philip1978 on September 25, 2007 at 12:55 am

V,
I forgot to add all the clever stuff, I like yours better hehehehhe!

Mighty Quetz, I secretly want to get David to follow other Gods, he must learn the True Path! *ducks as David hurls the first stone*!!!

Seriously, I want David to understand why he walks away so angry each time and then returns hurling unfounded accusations at people.

Philip

848. Religion advances despite science (and thanks to Dawkins)

Comment #73394 by Philip1978 on September 25, 2007 at 12:30 am

David,

I am going to have to ask you exactly what you mean by fundamentalist because I am guessing that mine differs from yours. I got this one from http://www.thefreedictionary.com/fundamentalist


1. A usually religious movement or point of view characterized by a return to fundamental principles, by rigid adherence to those principles, and often by intolerance of other views and opposition to secularism.

2.
a. often Fundamentalism An organized, militant Evangelical movement originating in the United States in the late 19th and early 20th century in opposition to Protestant Liberalism and secularism, insisting on the inerrancy of Scripture.
b. Adherence to the theology of this movement.


Now, I will have to re-iterate this, nobody on here is a fundamentalist and I want you to understand that. The other posters and I who do not believe in any gods whatsoever are not in the slightest bit religious, I promise you this is not a cult or anything like that, its simply a collection of people with amazingly different opinions about a wide variety of subjects, we just so happen to share some of the same views and opinions as to the evidence showing God does not exist. I can honestly say, with the proper evidence everybody would change their minds about God, I personally would be more than happy for God to poke his head around the door and say hello, but I need more than just the bible to accept his existence.

I also think you are wrong about religious moderates, the basic principles from which the moderates base their religion are enough of a justification for them to carry it all a bit further. I am with Sam Harris with this one, the fundies look at the moderates as if you will forgive the Austin Powers phrase, the diet coke of the religious, just one calorie, not enough! They are people who take what the moderates believe in and take it massively further. If there were not moderates there would be no fundies, it sounds harsh but unless the moderates did no extol even the most basic tenets of Faith and adherence to the religion the fundies would not take it a step further. There has to be a god for a fundie to follow and its moderates who back that up by claiming there is one. I would advocate more moderation to the point where every religious person was only a moderate, the world would be a quieter place. I may not agree with the religious beliefs but if thats all I had to worry about, not all a bad thing is it? But as long as the fundies have a platform to stand on, the mayhem will continue.

So, please stop calling people fundamentalists, I think its wrong. Its not doing you any good because the moment you start calling people on here stuff like that you are going to get some serious verbal handbags thrown your way and then walk away with the impression that you have now. I would like to convince you otherwise, I think people on here are interesting, they may disagree or agree with me, even throw the odd bit of abuse, I dont mind it. Someone tells me to eff off, so be it, its just eff off and nobody gets hurt. But if you will continue with that approach please expect what gets hurled at you. I would much rather talk about religion with you and discuss it, you have a unique perspective on things and I think its interesting, I dont want to continue being told I am a fundamentalist or on a fundamentalist site.

Take care

Philip

849. Do you have to read up on leprechology before disbelieving in them?

Comment #72460 by Philip1978 on September 21, 2007 at 7:01 am

Sorry Rev, I hate to be pedantic but what do you mean by disciple? Is it the Luke 14:26

"If anyone comes to me and does not hate his father and mother, his wife and children, his brothers and sisters—yes, even his own life—he cannot be my disciple."

I dont particularly like that description, could you elaborate on what you meant, not having a go, just want to clarify it

Cheers,

Philip

850. Do you have to read up on leprechology before disbelieving in them?

Comment #72408 by Philip1978 on September 21, 2007 at 2:22 am

Rev, sorry about the Rez, didn't mean to cause offence about your name!

Here's an interesting one from the bible

"But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart. If your right eye causes you to sin, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell. And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to go into hell. (From the NIV Bible, Matthew 5:28-30)"

I dont see how you could interpret this any other way, do you really think that is sensible? Cutting off your limbs because you feel you have offended God by "sinning" is in my opinion highly stupid and very painful!

If you are supposed to follow the bible at its every word, because it is the word of your God, written by people inspired by your God then its time to stop looking at other women or if you have had lusty thoughts when looking at women, tis time to poke the old eyes out!

Here is my big problem with the Bible and Religion, Billy Sands came up with a great way to describe Faith its called Mental Slavery. I am firmly convinced that religion is wrong because of the mental torture inflicted upon people because of the stupid and ridiculous rules imposed upon the believer.

I have seen it happen too many times, people going through highly emotional and stressful times only to worsen it by thinking they have in some way let God down and that he is punishing them. I find it despicable that people have to be put through all this over an invisible, highly improbable IT that is supposed to have some magic hold over the world that defies the natural laws already in place.This supposed IT then will send you to a fiery place of torture should you offend IT in one of the myriad of ways set down in some ad libbed ancient book of lies and plagiarism.

I am sorry you have devoted your life to this non-existant IT Rev, I really am. I'm sorry you think its your mission to get everyone else involved in this rubbish as well, I mean what is all this about?

"First of all, they are being disobedient to the very words of Christ, who told us to go and make disciples of all nations"

If you think that for one second 6 billion plus people are all suddenly going to turn around and say, yiipppiiie, I'll go with that God, you are in for a very big surprise.

I do hope you realise, I am only attacking your religion and not you, I simply dont understand why you want to do this to yourself.

Kind Regards

Philip