Richard Dawkins planning to have Pope Benedict arrested over 'crimes against humanity

South Pacific tribe preparing for return of ’god’ Prince Philip

'On a remote island in the South Pacific, villagers are counting the days until they welcome their god back to his rightful home.

The people of Yaohnanen on the island of Tanna believe a man descended from one of their spirit ancestors will return next month to live among them. While he was away he lived in a vast palace, but when he comes home he will sleep in a hut and hunt wild pigs with his tribe'.

Just in case the atheists among us cannot accept that those with Faith do really retain a sense of humour, I post this! I was sent it today!


HELL EXPLAINED - BY A CHEMISTRY STUDENT
The following is an actual question given on a University of Arizona chemistry mid term, and an actual answer turned in by a student.

The answer by one student was so "profound" that the professor shared it with colleagues, via the Internet, which is, of course, why we now have the pleasure of enjoying it as well :

Bonus Question: Is Hell exothermic (gives off heat) or endothermic (absorbs heat)?

Most of the students wrote proofs of their beliefs using Boyle's Law (gas cools when it expands and heats when it is compressed) or some variant.


One student, however, wrote the following:
"First, we need to know how the mass of Hell is changing in time. So we need to know the rate at which souls are moving into Hell and the rate at which they are leaving, which is unlikely.. I think that we can safely assume that once a soul gets to Hell, it will not leave. Therefore, no souls are leaving. As for how many souls are entering Hell, let's look at the different religions that exist in the world today.

"Most of these religions state that if you are not a member of their religion, you will go to Hell. Since there is more than one of these religions and since people do not belong to more than one religion, we can project that all souls go to Hell. With birth and death rates as they are, we can expect the number of souls in Hell to increase exponentially. Now, we look at the rate of change of the volume in Hell because Boyle's Law states that in order for the temperature and pressure in Hell to stay the same, the volume of Hell has to expand proportionately as souls are added.


"This gives two possibilities:

"1. If Hell is expanding at a slower rate than the rate at which souls enter Hell, then the temperature and pressure in Hell will increase until all Hell breaks loose.

"2. If Hell is expanding at a rate faster than the increase of souls in Hell, then the temperature and pressure will drop until Hell freezes over.
So which is it?

"If we accept the postulate given to me by Teresa during my Freshman year that, "It will be a cold day in Hell before I sleep with you," and take into account the fact that I slept with her last night, then number two must be true, and thus I am sure that Hell is exothermic and has already frozen over. The corollary of this theory is that since Hell has frozen over, it follows that it is not accepting any more souls and is therefore, extinct..... ...leaving only Heaven, thereby proving the existence of a divine being which explains why, last night, Teresa kept shouting "Oh my God.""

THIS STUDENT RECEIVED AN A+.

ATB from George

Yes George it's funny but as I'm sure you know it's a load of hooey. Apparently it was written in the 1920s by an academic as a joke. What it really proves is that some scientists retain a sense of humour.

Maybe one day one of those funny "it really happened" stories will actually have happened.

Tom!

It is good to smile, whatever the source of myrth!

I did not set about correcting the grammar! Perhaps in the USA the accademics could not write even by then the then King's English! GB Shaw's observation about two great nations divided by one language had already been made!

ATB from George

Victims of sex abuse in Catholic children's homes set to win damages

'The two men received £12,000 and £45,000 respectively in damages, plus interest, but Durkin said the action was not about money. "It was about their need for someone to recognise that as children they were wronged," he said'.

Without question the financial imperative will prove as important as anything else in the bid to expunge sexual depredation.

Even in the church, which ought to have got this more right than the average for human endeavours and failures.

ATB from George

George,

The thing is, and here I choose my words carefully,and without underestimating in any way the damage done to children by priests, the Catholic Church is guilty of far greater sins than the covering up of a (relatively)few cases of sexual abuse. I talk of the policies which have condemned hundreds of millions to a life of grinding poverty, disease and hopelessness. I would like to see the Pope dragged before the International Courts in the Hague and be held to account for all the suffering he and his narcisistic predecessor have caused.

I have seen your reply, and will say that my response is not for a Forum. It is not aggressive to you personally and would be not very PC. We would best discuss this in person, I am afraid, as third parties would definitely muck it up.

Not wishing to indicate that I ignore your replay, whilst feeling unable to join in a public debate here about it.

Respectfully, and all the best from George

quote:

Originally posted by Sniper:
George,

The thing is, and here I choose my words carefully,and without underestimating in any way the damage done to children by priests, the Catholic Church is guilty of far greater sins than the covering up of a (relatively)few cases of sexual abuse. I talk of the policies which have condemned hundreds of millions to a life of grinding poverty, disease and hopelessness. I would like to see the Pope dragged before the International Courts in the Hague and be held to account for all the suffering he and his narcisistic predecessor have caused.

Sniper, I agree with the above, even if it is a little vigourous. Except that as they are covered up, it is impossible to know how many cases of child destroying have gone on.

And they are not 'far greater sins' but, as you say, very likeley to be more numerous.

Mongo,

Yes, degrees of suffering (and therefore sin)are difficult to quantify but there are tens of millions - no there are hunreds of millions of impoverished Catholics in the world. An example of the sort of suffering I am hinting at would be the amount of deformities one sees in third world Catholic countries - brought about by various forms of unsuccesful abortion for example. Dead newly born babies found floating in rivers and mothers dead from blood loss or other complications resulting from secret pregnancies and giving birth in alone in fields or back alleys. Families with 12 or 13 children all huddled together under a tin roof next to a toxic rubbish tip where most of the kids work - kids who will never see the inside of a classroom. Kids sold into prostitution by their own parents, babies raped by AIDS victims who think they will be cured by having sex with a virgin..the list goes on and on. Catholic Church policy on condoms etc. should be considered a crime against humanity within the terms laid down by the International Courts in the hague. The Pope should be tried in much the same way as a war criminal would.

Edit - I should add, in the interests of fairness, that many of the people fighting tirelessly to help the kind of people I describe above are Catholics at the grass roots level and also priests and nuns who are compassionate and noble and thankless and I am humbled by their humanity. Its the nutjobs in the top job I have no time for.

Dan Barker on Court Ruling

This is Dan Barker discussing the U.S. District Court ruling on "National Day of Prayer" in the US. Well I enjoyed it.