General Chat

Dead right - all media relishes controversy. :-D

Don't they just - and if its something to do with church/faith/God - they go into overdrive *sigh*.

I know exactly what you mean Guinevere and I don't have the answer.

I suppose I could ask why my mother had MS for over 50 years - why my daughter has autism and my husband has Parkinson's, heart disease and AMD. I can't lay the blame anywhere and I don't wish to blame anyone - I just DO the best I can and BE the best I can. On my journey of caring I have loved and been loved; I have met with kindness and compassion; I have been upheld in prayer and blessed in so many ways. These things have eased my journey and made my burden lighter.


Eldrick......don't you think there is an 'inborn' desire to worship something or someone? Even remote tribes in far flung countries are known to have a god or gods. Its as though mankind has an inkling that there is something bigger, greater and more powerful than they.

As for proof........yes, that's an old one. Thomas was a prime example. :-D

Is blasphemy a distant synonym of hypocrisy ?

I'm thinking of the Christian chaplains of two or more

opposing army's blessing the troops....before they kill each other :-0

I think that you can trace a pattern, thats for sure. Each society seems to carve out a belief system. I don't think it's an inkling of a greater being, more a desire to make sense of their surroundings and daily events. It's certainly human nature to enquire and ask why something happens and, in the event of not knowing that the northern lights were caused by solar particles, it was pretty natural to put them down to some sort of divine intercession. Loads of similar examples. But in the light of modern knowledge and science, these beliefs have been whittled away. Even Galileo got a pardon a few years ago for daring to suggest that the earth orbited the sun and not the other way round! - a discovery for which the inquisition silenced him and he was imprisoned for life.

Cargo cults are an interesting evolutionary example of manufactured religion. Worshipping John Frum is as reasonable to them as it is for a christianj to woship their god.

Creationism was totally accepted until not long ago - and still is in many places. Even the Pope accepts it is not so in light of modern knowledge. One by one the claims of religion are being usurped by knowledge. Yes, there are gaps in our knowledge, but they are being filled as time goes on.

So I think, yes, there may be some genetic prediposition to make sense out of disorder. But I also think that this is being eroded slowly but surely.

And as for proof - well, thats up to the claimant to provide. And old but still relevant point. If I was told out of the blue that I must worship and obey a deity, I would say show me the proof he, she or it exists. Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence.

I know, that's why it's called blind faith. Truth by revelation and so on. Comforting if you can ignore the nasty bits.

An Irish police investigation into allegedly blasphemous comments made by Stephen Fry has been dropped after detectives decided there were not enough people who had been outraged by the remarks.

this must be the bestest laugh I've had in ages,,,,,,,he well offended then!,,,but not a lot...... :-D :-D :-D :-D :-D.

If we substitute the much over used word 'offended', for the word 'hurt', there may well have been many, many people who cringed and felt their hearts sink when they heard Stephen Fry's utterances.

The trouble is, we Christians are getting used to and, indeed, often expect our faith to be mocked and criticised - we seem to be an easy target. We are tending to shrug our shoulders with a 'here we go again' attitude and carry on with whatever we were doing. We shake our heads sadly and roll our eyes in despair knowing that, if we should say anything in defence of our faith, then we will be blown out of the water by our critics.

One day, enough will be enough.

Meanwhile, we smile quietly and thank God for our many blessings. <3

B my parents were devout and practising christians for all of their lives. Criticism from anywhere didn't shake their faith, my father said it would be a very poor faith that could be shaken by criticism.

I do understand hurt, Cynthia. I was hurt when one of the church members told me my mother's cancer was god's will. That sort of god I want no part of.

I understand that Guinevere and how insensitive of that person to make that statement. How did your mother cope with the cancer herself?

She coped really well to start with but as it took over, less well. She wasn't afraid of dying so much as the manner of her death.

I think a lot of us feel that way.

Thank you Guinevere. Yes I tend to agree.....it the manner of death which one fears. <3