[Flipside]

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=519&ncid=519&e=10&u=/ap/20040820/ap_on_re_us/communion_denied

This is just too pathetic for words

[Rampage]

I'm a Protestant who believes that such rituals are not critical to salvation.

[Flipside]

I'm an atheist who laughs at people performing Pagan rituals and pretending they are Christian, but it's still pathetic

[Janos]

you know they only like boys there if you get what i'm meaning heh heh:
scientists

[Rictor]

Well, from a religious point of view, rules are rules. You can't just disregard the ones you feel are inconvenient, becuase that would mean you are not truly devout. Or something. If it says wheat, it means wheat and nothing else. And good luck trying to convince the Vatican that orthodoxy ain't really all that great, you know.

[Thorn]

"God loves us all. Except you, because you can't eat wheat."

[Hippo]

/me is glad /me is atheist

[Black Wolf]

So, from the Catholics mindset
 - God loves everyone
 - God creates Man
 - God orders them only to eat wheat for communion
 - God creates little girl who can't eat wheat
 - GOD HATES YOU LITTLE GIRL! BURN IN THE PITS OF FIREY HELL!

Yay religion!

[Flipside]

Convincing the Vatican that Orthodoxy isn't great is like trying to convince Bill Gates that he doesn't need any more money.

[Black Wolf]

Originally posted by Flipside
Convincing the Vatican that Orthodoxy isn't great is like trying to convince Bill Gates that he doesn't need any more money.

Well, the Pope believes in Evolution (kinda) and Bill Gates just gave something like 40 million to Australian charities to get computers into regional communities, so things are looking up then.

[Fineus]

But still you cannot eat wheat. Sucka

[Flipside]

LOL Indeed, invest £40 million in Regional Communities and watch those licences/upgrades etc add up

Seriously though, I didn't know the Pope believed in Evolution, kinda hopeful in a way

[Solatar]

I'm Catholic, and as far as I know, if you just drink the wine and don't eat the bread you're just as well off as if you did the opposite (which people do ALL the time).

Utter stupidity on the part of the Church...

[Rictor]

With big businesses like Microsoft and the rich bastards that run them, its a choice of giving $40 million in taxes or giving $40 million to charity. I appreciate the gesture, but I somehow doubt that it was done out of the kindness of his heart. Charity is a great tax write-off, no wonder so many rich people are so eager to donate.

[Black Wolf]

I'm not certain if that applies to international charitable donations, and even if it does, I'd rather see the money in the hands of Aussie charities than funding the American war machine.

[Martinus]

[color=66ff00]I'd love to introduce a retro virus into the population that induced wheat intolerance.

We'd see how fast they changed the rules then.

Here's hoping that they realise that you can believe in God with the same amount of validity and not be subject to ridiculous rules.
[/color]

[Unknown Target]

Originally posted by Flipside
I'm an atheist who laughs at people performing Pagan rituals and pretending they are Christian, but it's still pathetic

What sort of "pagans" are you including in that statement?
I"m very opposed to people lumping all non-catholics into a giant evil entity that kills animals and tries to invoke the devil.

[Flipside]

Pagan as in 'Non Christian'. Yule, Easther, Harvest, even the meal of unleavened bread and wine was to celebrate the gathering of a successful crop.

Beelzubub was the name of the Pagan charioteer that drove the sun across the sky and wasn't a name for Satan until the Church wanted to stem paganism in the UK.

Satan himself is modelled on 'Pan' for most of Europe and 'Herne the Hunter' for the UK, once again, a Pagan God that had been converted into a representative for Satan, not because Satan existed, but simply, once again, to persecute non-christians. Herne was the God of a Succesfull hunt, but anyone seen performing the ritual, with horns strapped to his head and 'cloven' deer feet, to represent the prey, was immediately branded as a 'Devil Worshipper'.

That is how Christianity got so big, by persecuting anyone who didn't agree with them.

Interesting fact :-

When the Catholics tried to defeat the Church of England, they referred to the churches, designed and built by Catholic Christians, as Mosques. Says a lot really

[Unknown Target]

Originally posted by Flipside
Pagan as in 'Non Christian'. Yule, Easther, Harvest, even the meal of unleavened bread and wine was to celebrate the gathering of a successful crop.

Beelzubub was the name of the Pagan charioteer that drove the sun across the sky and wasn't a name for Satan until the Church wanted to stem paganism in the UK.

Satan himself is modelled on 'Pan' for most of Europe and 'Herne the Hunter' for the UK, once again, a Pagan God that had been converted into a representative for Satan, not because Satan existed, but simply, once again, to persecute non-christians. Herne was the God of a Succesfull hunt, but anyone seen performing the ritual, with horns strapped to his head and 'cloven' deer feet, to represent the prey, was immediately branded as a 'Devil Worshipper'.

That is how Christianity got so big, by persecuting anyone who didn't agree with them.

Interesting fact :-

When the Catholics tried to defeat the Church of England, they referred to the churches, designed and built by Catholic Christians, as Mosques. Says a lot really

Alright, thanks Flipside. I wasn't intending to instigate a flamewar or anything, I just wanted to make sure the facts were straight (and you seem to have them like an arrow )

[Flipside]

LOL No problem, I know things like the Wickerman etc existed, but mostly Paganism was peaceful, and the Wickerman was no worse than some atrocoties commited by the Inquisition