(August 19, 2023 at 10:54 am)The Grand Nudger Wrote: The consequences of fraud and extortion played out over centuries.  People who don't believe get their children baptised because the catholic church has been in the process of capturing childcare and schooling.  On the taxpayer dime, no less.  Nothing to see there, nothing untoward whatsoever, I'm sure.  

Here in the us, we pay religious nuts 82 billion dollars a year for the privilege of having them talk shit about us and molest our children.  That's just welfare, tithes and donations are more.  All of it tax free, ofc.  I wonder if jesus would have used that money the same way?

(August 19, 2023 at 10:42 am)Ahriman Wrote: God is as real as anything else, considering "God" is an idea/thought form/egregore that is actively sustained by most people on this planet. Specific religious inclinations have little to do with this.....if you believe in God, and most people do, you are part of a group of people who must necessarily believe in magic. Not an altogether indefensible position, given we (as humans) should always make room for the magical in our lives, if for no other reason than to sustain the inner child, a natural source of curiosity and inquisitive thinking. I would have to assume that atheists are people who reject their inner child, instead choosing to place intellectual maturity on the pedestal. There is no doubt that atheists are smarter people than theists. No doubt at all. But I would have to wonder if the atheist's superior intelligence serves as a better mechanism for action in the world, than a theist's more childish cognition.

(August 19, 2023 at 11:07 am)The Grand Nudger Wrote: They don't save the government any money.  They're fully funded by the government Barry.  That's an even better deal than what they have here with schools, but they're working on that.  They got this sweetheart deal by exorting your government, btw, with children as hostages....right out in the open as a matter of settled fucking history, lol.

Who told you they saved the government money?  A priest?  Just goes to show the contempt they have for their flock, I guess.

Now you call me a liar for pointing out that the church is a shit talking tax dodging child molesting welfare queen?

(August 19, 2023 at 10:47 am)zebo-the-fat Wrote:

(August 19, 2023 at 10:29 am)LinuxGal Wrote: The event of the Big Bang has no past light cone. It's a singularity. Time begins there, just as England begins at Land's End.  So the Big Bang can have no preceding cause.

Barry wouldn't know a light cone if you sat down and explained it to him, learning stuff is hard, believing what you have been told is easy.

(August 19, 2023 at 11:05 am)Barry Wrote:

(August 19, 2023 at 10:54 am)The Grand Nudger Wrote: The consequences of fraud and extortion played out over centuries.  People who don't believe get their children baptised because the catholic church has been in the process of capturing childcare and schooling.  On the taxpayer dime, no less.  Nothing to see there, nothing untoward whatsoever, I'm sure.  

Here in the us, we pay religious nuts 82 billion dollars a year for the privilege of having them talk shit about us and molest our children.  That's just welfare, tithes and donations are more.  All of it tax free, ofc.  I wonder if jesus would have used that money the same way?

In Australia the CC is not involved in Childcare, but is heavily into primary and secondary schools. It saves the state education a lot of money.m
You do exaggerate I think when you say “having them talk shit about us and molest our children”. I’m not sure who “us” is and there is unlikely to be much molestation happening any more. 
Actually the Catholic schools are doing such a terrible job teaching religion I think they should be closed. They serve no purpose.  They used to. Perhaps Jesus, you and I all agree on that.
Cheers Barry

(August 19, 2023 at 10:48 am)Barry Wrote:

(August 19, 2023 at 10:26 am)LinuxGal Wrote: The Catholic Church interprets Genesis literally with the doctrine of Original Sin. If Adam and Eve never really ate the forbidden fruit, then babies don't need to get baptized.

 Babies don’t “need to be baptised”. But the CC says OS is forgiven through Baptism.

(August 19, 2023 at 6:24 am)Barry Wrote:

(August 19, 2023 at 5:58 am)FlatAssembler Wrote: Look up "Quantum Field Theory". Photons carrying electrical forces pop into existence and disappear all the time, every time you touch something. Since low-energy particles do it all the time, it's not a strectch to imagine that a high-energy particle such as one that existed at the beginning of the universe (right before the Big Bang) can pop into existence under some conditions.

Hi Flat,
Yes, you can imagine that, I respect your imagination. 
I happen to believe 100% in God. We disagree. I can cope with that. 
Cheers Barry

(August 19, 2023 at 11:18 am)Barry Wrote:

(August 19, 2023 at 11:07 am)The Grand Nudger Wrote: They don't save the government any money.  They're fully funded by the government Barry.  That's an even better deal than what they have here with schools, but they're working on that.  They got this sweetheart deal by exorting your government, btw, with children as hostages....right out in the open as a matter of settled fucking history, lol.

Who told you they saved the government money?  A priest?  Just goes to show the contempt they have for their flock, I guess.

Now you call me a liar for pointing out that the church is a shit talking tax dodging child molesting welfare queen?

Yes, they did influence the government to subsidise them. My father was involved in the campaign. But GN if they all closed the government would have to build more schools and employ more teachers. I’ve never heard a priest say anything like that. 
I didn’t say you are a lier. I just said I felt your comment was an exaggeration. Child molestation was only in a small minority of schools. And today is most unlikely to happen in Australia as there are so many new regulations and systems because of what happened. 
Cheers Barry