Endless orgies, coke and infants to devour with your mandibles.

(November 22, 2016 at 7:42 pm)Astreja Wrote: I'm a pragmatist, Balaco.  I don't feel that your religion is actually good for anything in particular.  Because I don't believe in your god or in heaven or hell or eternal life, Catholicism doesn't offer any tangible benefit that I can't get some other way.

If you were really a pragmatist you'd be a billionaire by now, not on this forum. Or you'd be ruling the world. One or the other. 

I'm sorry, don't take this as an attack. I call myself a "pragmatist"  too, you see...

But really, it's something only you can discover. I don't reject the idea of God, the body of evidence (which I perceive to be precisely zero) just hasn't met my threshold of making me think "Hang on a bloody minute, there's something going on here."

I don't know whether there is a God or not but so far I haven't been convinced that there is.

What I would advise you to do is ask yourself why you believe there is a God, and then maybe present those reasons. I'm sure there are people here who can help poke holes in them.

No, but, in all seriousness: I agree with Bella above; I don't have any interest in telling you what to do. If you want to. Ask questions and engage in discussion with the same understanding, I'm happy to do so! JokerSome people come on here and pretend to want a discussion when in reality they're trying to convert us with "gotcha!" arguments that only work with people who are already convinced that the argument is right.

On the other hand, a lot of people here in America (don't know if that includes you) can't understand the difference between "I'm telling you why you should be an atheist" and "I'm telling you why you can't invoke the full weight of the US police power to enforce your explicitly Christian worldview."

But you don't seem like one of those people - and, in general, I've found Roman Catholics to be better in that regard than the average Christian EXCEPT FOR ONE FREAKING ISSUE HMMMMM WONDER WHAT THAT IS so at any rye WELCOME!

Here is welcome tiger

Even better question is why do you think a hide bound bureaucracy can bring you closer to any 'god?'

(November 22, 2016 at 7:47 pm)Excited Penguin Wrote: If you were really a pragmatist you'd be a billionaire by now, not on this forum. Or you'd be ruling the world. One or the other.

Well, I was Queen of Earth from August 1999 through March 2002.  (Gave it up, though, because the hours really sucked.  I don't do 24/7/365 very gracefully.)

As for becoming a billionaire, I'm on the way there with a positive net worth.  I actually have no use for a billion dollars, though; all I need is a second-hand Toyota, a house full of woodwind instruments and a well-stocked kitchen, plus a few $$$ for travel hither and yon.  Warren Buffett is an excellent role model in that regard.

Billionaires are over-rated.

That's someone else's hat he just picked up and threw on, isn't it?

@Balaco: It is of no concern to me whether you believe in god or not. I am not an evangelist for atheism. 

I can tell you that as a 13 year old catholic I rejected the church's teachings in a fit of youthful rebellion that has lasted until today- my 58th year of life. I remember my first atheist moment in 1972 taking John Lennon literally and going outside , looked up and imagined no heaven or hell below me. Felt good! Later on , my parents switched over to pentecostalism. I had little difficulty not following that family tradition.