DON'T GO OUTSIDE

Should the Pope resign? No. As the College of Cardinals must have recognized when they elected him, he is perfectly — ideally — qualified to lead the Roman Catholic Church. A leering old villain in a frock, who spent decades conspiring behind closed doors for the position he now holds; a man who believes he is infallible and acts the part; a man whose preaching of scientific falsehood is responsible for the deaths of countless AIDS victims in Africa; a man whose first instinct when his priests are caught with their pants down is to cover up the scandal and damn the young victims to silence: in short, exactly the right man for the job. He should not resign, moreover, because he is perfectly positioned to accelerate the downfall of the evil, corrupt organization whose character he fits like a glove, and of which he is the absolute and historically appropriate monarch.

—Richard Dawkins (via hrmurray)

Boys - always attracted to satan creations. Also - go kill yourself

When moderate Christians call Doomsdayers crazy, it’s not the Rapture they disagree with, it’s just the date.

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When moderate atheists talk about tolerance, it’s not intolerance they disagree with, it’s the target.

The idea that all moderate Christians believe that the Rapture is coming is wrong, wrong-headed and precisely the kind of intolerant statement that moderate atheists are so quick to condemn the religious for. Catholics do not believe in the Rapture. Many Protestants do not believe in the Rapture. Legions of others who belong to denominations that do believe in the Rapture believe that it’s a parable or an illustrative story rather than literal truth.

People’s beliefs should be accepted as they are as long as they do not harm others. Harold Camping clearly harmed people. But moderate Catholics, as a body, harm no one.

Two points: 1st, I haven’t heard a self-described atheists use the word tolerance in as long as I can remember - I have however heard Christians claim they “tolerate” Mormons, I’ve heard Catholics claim they “tolerate” Muslims - personally I can’t stand the word in that context, tollerate suggest that something is inherently wrong, but, despite it being wrong, you make no effort to stop it. It’s a not-so-clever passive-agressive way of claiming religious superiority. And, again, it’s always rubbed me the wrong way.

2nd, a “moderate” Catholic is really just someone who cherry-picks parts of the Bible that are no longer controversial or immoral or tribal to the point of aggressive-nationalism; aka, using the Bible to justify opinions. Does a moderate Catholic suppress gay rights? Does a moderate Catholic suppress stem cell research? Does a moderate Catholic suppress the availability of contraceptives? Does a moderate Catholic suppress the understanding of science - or worse, encourage young Earth fairytales? Because if so, these things do cause actual harm.

(via mikeambs)

(Source: vruz, via mikeambs)