General Chat

Almost thirty years ago one of my older colleagues was a physicist turned cleric, a kind, straightforward man with a direct way of speaking which I prefer. I don't know how he managed to equate the two but he was a much-admired clergyman. He was a man of broad experience and wide-ranging interests, some which others ran from, though I never did. We rubbed along easily. I felt blessed and safe to have him as a colleague.

I never queried why he changed careers but I do know he was a firm believer and he once intimated that it was possible to be both a physicist and a Christian.

You may come across people like him, Eldrick, as you progress through life.

I don't think he is describing this particular god's followers, he is describing this god's personality.

It's hard to dispute what he says. I mean, a god that willingly allows such things as child cancer, torture, rape, murder and all the other evil things that he could prevent if he wanted to but looks on with indifference, yet is concerned with what people do in the their bedrooms or with what they wear or eat......

I know, free will and all that. But that's just a cop out to explain the capriciousness of this particular deity. Or any of them, to be honest. They all require some sort of trascendent mysteriousness that requires their followers just to accept and never to question. Sort of 'you will never understand me, so just accept it and don't try to'. As Hitchens put it, the very essence of a slave/master relationship.

To try to stop people criticising something for which there is no evidence other than bronze age myths is ludicrous. Crazy!

Just caught up with this. SF has a brilliant mind and brain but I am not too keen on his personality.

Blasphemy is such an old-fashioned word nowadays and, possibly, many younger folk don't know what it actually means.

As a practising Christian, I come up against 'blasphemy' in different forms on an almost daily basis, through the media and when out and about. It causes me pain, but it also strengthens my resolve to Fight the Good Fight.

I also come up against huge ignorance and apathy and that strengthens my resolve to share my faith with others when the time is right.

Having been on these boards for over 12 years now, do I really seem like a person who believes in, and I quote SF,

'a capricious, mean-minded, stupid God who creates a world that is so full of injustice and pain'? He also quotes 'How dare you create a world to which there is such misery that is not our fault. It’s not right, it’s utterly, utterly evil'.


Mr Fry is entitled to his opinion, I will not castigate him, but he does not speak of my God.

:-D

INfamy....................they've all got it In fer mee

I loved what SF said to a hyperthetical question put to him on the GB show. and sure a great great many more do.

blasphemy ,! its a joke.!

:-)

No, they aren't, that's for sure. One day society will be free and secular....hahaha yeah, whatever.

They wouldn't be the first country to have outdated laws on their books now would they? Maybe they'll repeal that law one day soon.

I'm only surprised they drew attention to themselves in the first place by the embarrassing admission to the whole world that they still have such an offence in their legal framework.

Was very unlikely to happen though was it, even they can see the stupidity I'm sure.

That's good - although it might have been interesting to see it go ahead in the spotlight, just to highlight the absurdity of it.

See they've dropped the case then...not enough people complained or were offended.

Dave Allen was so unPC can you imagine him on stage now....with his drink and his fag and the content of some of his jokes.

I think you are right - wasn't it the one about the little boy going to school and the nun teacher? Funny, it has to be said!

I believe Dave Allen got into trouble for some of the sketches in his shows.

Yes, its very much yesterdays news. I wonder (cant be bothered to look) if Richard Dawkins or Professor Nash have ever been threatened with blasphemy?

But regardless, the whole thing is just so idiotic its beyond human comprehension. I doubt that its being done just to highlight the stupid law, but harbour hope that if it is, that it is succesful. We really do need to euthanise and eradicate this medieval nonsense if we are going to face up to the problems of the 21st Century. Arguing about bronze age mythology is utterly insane.

I would think if SF was courting publicity he would have been satisfied by the response at the time, which was in all the papers. If attention seeking is what someone is doing, then it is an immediate response they are after and not 2 years down the line?

I'd subscribe to DET's theory that it is someone highlighting an archaic law ( the same has fairly recently been done in the US I think...different law though) OR, as there is a move to a more secular outlook in Ireland ( see the recent abortion discussion) it could be someone like my Irish acquaintance who is anti anything that might be construed as an encouragement to shift away from, an insult to, or a questioning of, his religious beliefs.

Its a bit of an ad hominum argument, then. Intead either tackling and disputing the points he was making, and/ or accepting that he has a perfect right to state his belief in a TV interview (a trait that religious adherents all claim vocifierously), saying that he was just publicity seeking is merely a body swerve in an attempt to avoid the issue.

It's a bit like me dismissing the Pope as just a failing celebrity who is only addressing the crowd in St Peters in order to boost his flagging career. Of course, I would prefer to tackle what he is saying rather than claiming he is a just a strangely dressed person who mumbles meaningless phrases in a dead language so that lots of people will give him money. Far be it from me :) :)

It's interesting seeing this now as I watched it on the Gaye Byrne show on Irish tv a couple of years ago It was on whilst we were on our eight week holiday in Lanzarote. The interviewer was very clearly uncomfortable and the audience remained silent throughout. However no mention of anyone being offended as far as I recall. I spoke to several friends about the programme the next day. As in life some mixed reviews but no one said that they were offended.

Edit

We stay on a predominantly Irish owned complex and Irish tv is number one channel there