Roman Catholics.

[Albert Mond]

Originally Posted by Malice In Wonderland

Why is Scientology more of a cult than any other religion?

Because it was created by a guy. Wait. No.
Because its believers follow a specific way of life. Oops. No.
Because it tries to force other people in. Well, fuck.
Scientology's just like the rest.

[Man In Room 5]

Scientology attempts to silence ex-members and other critics by pulling their videos off the internet, pressuring publishers and bookstores and even attempting to buy up all known copies of books that offend them. They allow critics to speak against them if the critics have never been members because they know such critics can only attack the image of Scientology or its assumed beliefs....but any criticism from actual ex-members is harshly controlled because they know those people are going to base their criticism on actual experience and fact. In this, they are very much like the Templars of the middle ages; allowing people to spread rumors and attack what the public thinks they are doing but covering up what they really are doing.

Based on this alone I can only assume they have something to hide.

[Malice In Wonderland]

Originally Posted by Man In Room 5

Scientology attempts to silence ex-members and other critics by pulling their videos off the internet, pressuring publishers and bookstores and even attempting to buy up all known copies of books that offend them. They allow critics to speak against them if the critics have never been members because they know such critics can only attack the image of Scientology or its assumed beliefs....but any criticism from actual ex-members is harshly controlled because they know those people are going to base their criticism on actual experience and fact. In this, they are very much like the Templars of the middle ages; allowing people to spread rumors and attack what the public thinks they are doing but covering up what they really are doing.

Based on this alone I can only assume they have something to hide.

And Catholicism has never behaved like this?

[Man In Room 5]

Originally Posted by Malice In Wonderland

And Catholicism has never behaved like this?

I never said they did not behave like this. The Templars were Catholic weren't they?

[Malice In Wonderland]

Originally Posted by Man In Room 5

I never said they did not behave like this. The Templars were Catholic weren't they?

Exactly.
Also wow I completely missed that...

But my post was "Why is Scientology more of a cult than other religions."
Catholicism behaved exactly the same, if not worse, just over a longer period of time and due to that it's more socially accepted.

[Godslayer Jillian]

Check it out. Someone had already brought the 'argument' of you can't prove God DOESN'T exist to a prominent atheist before:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2FARD...eature=related

The cool guy is on our side.

[Solumina]

Jake went to a Catholic school. He was best friends with Bo, they're still friends but live far apart so they aren't as close. Bo is gay, this was evident quite early in his life. In first grade their teacher decided that the best way to deal with Bo's "problem" was to repeatedly beating him with a yard stick, so on a more or less daily basis she tried to beat the gay out of him, going so far as to break a few yard sticks. Any students who stood up for him got hit as well. Jake's parents, as well as a few others complained and at the end of the year she was asked to resign, but Bo's parents never said anything, even though they knew what was going on, because they hoped it would work and save their son from spending an eternity in Hell. On the flip side Jake's family is mostly made up of very devout Catholics and they have been wonderfully supportive of Nicole's transition to Nick.

It isn't about believing or not, it is about having blind faith or not. There are plenty of people out there who simply accept whatever their religion tells them without thought or questioning, and that is bad. There are also people who believe yet understand that people are capable of rational thought and that no matter how strongly you believe, their religion is not perfect, what their pastor/priest/rabbi/whatever says is not the direct word of a higher power, it is simply a man's interpretation of that word as it was interpreted long ago. My mother is one of the most faithful people I know, yet she is one of the most rational and intelligent people I know. She does not question God's existence but she question's religious dogma, often finding it to be out of line with her own moral and ethical views.

[Drake Dun]

The all encompassing, all good Roman Catholic Church strikes again.

http://edition.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/af...ope/index.html

Actually, an interesting question just occured to me. Naturally when a priest rapes a child, it's the duty of the child to keep silent so the church can cover up the crime without too much difficulty. And it goes without saying the priest in question shouldn't lose his phoney job, much less face the law, even if he gives the child HIV. But here's a much harder question...

Should the priest get in some kind of trouble if he uses a condom while violating the child in order to avoid giving the child HIV? I think the Vatican should get a crack team of theologians to meet at one of their palatial estates to discuss this important question immediately. Proactively furthering the spread of AIDS in Africa or enabling the sexual abuse of children is all well and good, but we wouldn't want to piss God off by using condoms. Let's not forget that He has been known to go on globocidal rampages when angered.

[Solumina]

Well a condom in that case wouldn't prevent pregnancy so adding a condom wouldn't be a sin. Kind of like how the Church is okay with non sexually active women using the pill to help with acne and/or PMS.

[Drake Dun]

The all encompassing, all good Catholic Church strikes again, again.

http://edition.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/am...ion/index.html

"God's law is above human laws".

[viscus]

The Church's position against birth control and abortion is because they want to "protect life," no? And yet how many people are killed due to the spread of AIDS, and could a 9 year old survive a full-term pregnancy?

The absurdity of it all is astounding.

[Drake Dun]

Man who repeatedly ***** small girl for years, starting at age 6: not excommunicated.

Doctor, medical team, small girl's mother: excommunicated.

[Mir]

Yeah, tip of the iceberg my friend. Still, Catholicism doesn't even come close to Islam in terms of hypocrisy and intolerance.

http://www.patcondell.net/

I enjoyed that.

[jack_the_knife]

Did you know that the Vatican City has the lowest age of consent in all of Europe?

[Andom]

I'm a member of the Methodist church.

Though I haven't been exposed to much religion, I find myself getting more and more active in church activities.

[PortraitOfSanity]

Originally Posted by Mir

Yeah, tip of the iceberg my friend. Still, Catholicism doesn't even come close to Islam in terms of hypocrisy and intolerance.

http://www.patcondell.net/

I enjoyed that.

Yea, you're right:

1500 years of open genocide, torture, murder, r@pe and extortion? Nah, that's forgiveable.

Cutting off the heads of those who opposed your growing religion (and let's face it, it's pretty sparsely populated out there today, think of back then), flying an airplane into a building, and a couple suicide bombings against Israelis who retaliate by killing 10 of your people for every 1 you kill? HOLY FUCKING SHIT THEY'RE FUCKING TERRIBLE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Man, sometimes you really make my blood boil with your ignorance Mir.

[Mir]

I was born into a Muslim family, and spent half my life in an Islamic state. You presume to tell me I'm ignorant? So be it.

[JCC]

Originally Posted by Godslayer Jillian

Check it out. Someone had already brought the 'argument' of you can't prove God DOESN'T exist to a prominent atheist before:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2FARD...eature=related

The cool guy is on our side.

Richard Dawkins is brilliant.

[PortraitOfSanity]

Originally Posted by Mir

I was born into a Muslim family, and spent half my life in an Islamic state. You presume to tell me I'm ignorant? So be it.

So? You're comparing it to Catholicism. That demands intimate knowledge of both religions. You have knowledge of one. Yes, I presume you ignorant.

[Malice In Wonderland]

Originally Posted by JCC

Richard Dawkins is brilliant.

He has an amazing voice.

[Apathy's_Child]

Originally Posted by PortraitOfSanity

Cutting off the heads of those who opposed your growing religion (and let's face it, it's pretty sparsely populated out there today, think of back then), flying an airplane into a building, and a couple suicide bombings against Israelis who retaliate by killing 10 of your people for every 1 you kill? HOLY FUCKING SHIT THEY'RE FUCKING TERRIBLE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Man, sometimes you really make my blood boil with your ignorance Mir.

Yeah, religion is kind of incidental in these particular cases and is now just one part of the culture war at large. Political decisions have more to do with it - religion is utilized as one more form of rhetoric to rally the masses, when there are more significant factors. Development of societies has a tendancy to force religions to evolve, whereas keeping them down just serves to mobilize religious fanaticism.

[Mir]

Originally Posted by PortraitOfSanity

So? You're comparing it to Catholicism. That demands intimate knowledge of both religions. You have knowledge of one. Yes, I presume you ignorant.

And the other half around various Christian denominations. But, presume what you must. You're just not important. Nor am I. Nothing is.

[Solumina]

Originally Posted by jack_the_knife

Did you know that the Vatican City has the lowest age of consent in all of Europe?

Yeah isn't it 12? I seem to recall there being some circumstances where the age of consent is older, I think, but am not sure, that if there is some relationship of dependence, like teacher student, then the age is around 14.