Hell's Angel

gmc · Post by **gmc** » Wed Jul 28, 2010 6:44 am

Glaswegian;1324727 wrote: There is no question mark at the end of the above sentence, gmc. A Freudian might view this slip as signifying that the question is really being asked of oneself.

I wasn't in the closet I was out and running for dear life by the time I was a teenager.

Glaswegian · Post by **Glaswegian** » Wed Jul 28, 2010 7:35 am

gmc;1324729 wrote: I wasn't in the closet I was out and running for dear life by the time I was a teenager.
I think the (Wee) Free Church of Scotland would be an interesting topic to discuss in this forum - enjoyable too. Like the Catholic Church, it is a treasure trove of madness, horror and hilarity.

Maybe some time further down the road¦

gmc · Post by **gmc** » Wed Jul 28, 2010 8:17 am

Glaswegian;1324733 wrote: I think the (Wee) Free Church of Scotland would be an interesting topic to discuss in this forum - enjoyable too. Like the Catholic Church, it is a treasure trove of madness, horror and hilarity.

Maybe some time further down the road¦

Not really. I think at this point you and I are the only ones that know what we are talking about. Besides, while I know the reasons for all the hatred between the various christian churches and it's entertaining, if dangerous, winding up bigots it's not a discussion subject I would waste any time on. I'm afraid I don't share your apparent desire to heap vitriol just for the sake of it. I find religion and religious belief fascinating topics of discussion. The saddest thing about it is so few religious followers ever question what they are told.

Glaswegian · Post by **Glaswegian** » Wed Jul 28, 2010 11:38 am

gmc;1324745 wrote: Besides, while I know the reasons for all the hatred between the various christian churches and it's entertaining, if dangerous, winding up bigots it's not a discussion subject I would waste any time on. I'm afraid I don't share your apparent desire to heap vitriol just for the sake of it.

I’m not heaping vitriol just for the sake of it. I am being extremely critical of Religion and its adherents because they deserve nothing less. I also think that religious beliefs are generally so ludicrous that they cry out to be ridiculed along with anyone who is idiotic enough to embrace them. But I’m not alone in this view. Far from it. Many religionists themselves implicitly recognise that their beliefs are a shameful joke. Schopenhauer was keenly aware of this when he wrote:

‘What a bad conscience religion must have is to be judged by the fact that it is forbidden under pain of such severe punishment to mock it.’ (Emphasis in original).

~o0o~

Now shall I bring in a clip from Life of Brian or will you?

Glaswegian · Post by **Glaswegian** » Wed Jul 28, 2010 12:36 pm

MOTHER TERESA NURSES A CHILD IN HER HOME FOR THE SICK AND DYING

(Image courtesy of Vatican Archive)

Glaswegian · Post by **Glaswegian** » Wed Jul 28, 2010 2:10 pm

Glaswegian;1324792 wrote: Now shall I bring in a clip from Life of Brian or will you?
Very well then.

How Christianity came into being: YouTube - Funniest bit of 'life of brian'

Glaswegian · Post by **Glaswegian** » Thu Jul 29, 2010 1:32 am

mikeinie;1324123 wrote: I am sure there would be many atheists have done wonderful things that would be equivalent to Saints, however being an Atheist would immediately disqualify them. (The church does not make Atheists into saints.)

I’m well aware that the Catholic Church does not make atheists into saints, mikeinie. And the whole world is aware of it too. And the whole world also knows the reason why. It is because atheists have not embraced the Catholic faith.

That is not the reason why I asked you the following question earlier:

Glaswegian wrote: Can you give me an example of a good deed performed by a 'saint' while they were upon this earth which could not also have been performed by an atheist or any other ordinary mortal?

The reason why I put this question to you was because you said this:

mikeinie wrote: ‘[A saint] is someone who lives there life in dedication to God, and who gives their life to do ‘good deeds’ in the name of God, and in the name of the church, to the point where it is beyond the level of humanity to where it is considered to have divine intervention.

Here you say that the ‘good deeds’ performed by a saint are so beyond the level of humanity to perform - people like you and me presumably - that they are ‘considered to have divine intervention’.

Since this is how you view the matter let me ask you again: Can you provide me with an example of such a deed?

Glaswegian · Post by **Glaswegian** » Thu Jul 29, 2010 12:36 pm

ESCAPE FROM CALCUTTA

Survivors flee Mother Teresa’s care home in terror

(Image courtesy of Amnesty International)

gmc · Post by **gmc** » Fri Jul 30, 2010 3:10 am

Glaswegian;1324792 wrote: I’m not heaping vitriol just for the sake of it. I am being extremely critical of Religion and its adherents because they deserve nothing less. I also think that religious beliefs are generally so ludicrous that they cry out to be ridiculed along with anyone who is idiotic enough to embrace them. But I’m not alone in this view. Far from it. Many religionists themselves implicitly recognise that their beliefs are a shameful joke. Schopenhauer was keenly aware of this when he wrote:

‘What a bad conscience religion must have is to be judged by the fact that it is forbidden under pain of such severe punishment to mock it.’ (Emphasis in original).

~o0o~

Now shall I bring in a clip from Life of Brian or will you?

Depends whether you prefer to talk about it or just rant from the pulpit. You do seem to have a particular dislike of the catholic church. Protestants are equally capable of the same breathtaking insane belief systems and violence against their fellow religionists and when there are no catholics to fight they turn on each other. In recent time there have been protestant religious terrorists just as there have been catholic ones. It wasn't catholic parents terrorising protestant primary school kids in northern ireland it was protestant ones it's not catholic terrorists blowing up abortion clinics in the states the and the KKK were not a catholic organisation. You do yourself little credit ranting about the pope and come across as a would be ian paisley. especially when you post his picture like it was some kind of icon. Most of the posters on this forum probably don't have a clue who he is. I'm not bigoted I just hate Catholics doesn't do it for me.

Not all bigots are religious you know. (did you know bigot derives from a derogatory term the french had for the normans.)

Funny religious bit by monty python.

YouTube - Monty Python The Meaning of Life - The Protestant View

Wonder if they would be allowed to show it nowadays?

Glaswegian · Post by **Glaswegian** » Fri Jul 30, 2010 5:01 am

gmc;1325076 wrote: Depends whether you prefer to talk about it or just rant from the pulpit.
You know very well that my criticisms of Religion are backed up with arguments, gmc. I never simply say ‘Religion is excrement’, and leave it at that. If I did that then I could be justly accused of ranting.

gmc wrote: You do seem to have a particular dislike of the catholic church.
It only seems that way. That said, I do attack the Catholic Church a lot. Perhaps this is because it is the most powerful church. But be assured - I hold all Christian churches in contempt.

gmc wrote: Protestants are equally capable of the same breathtaking insane belief systems and violence against their fellow religionists and when there are no catholics to fight they turn on each other.
I agree.

gmc wrote: You do yourself little credit ranting about the pope and come across as a would be ian paisley. especially when you post his picture like it was some kind of icon.
That statement is ridiculous, and you know it. You read what I said earlier in the thread about religious sectarianism in the West of Scotland. Therefore, you must be in no doubt what I think about a creature like Paisley.

gmc wrote: Funny religious bit by monty python.

YouTube - Monty Python The Meaning of Life - The Protestant View
Classic.

Glaswegian · Post by **Glaswegian** » Fri Jul 30, 2010 11:48 am

NIKOLLE BOJAXHIU 1875-1919

(Mother Teresa’s father)

Remains of Mother Teresa's father

(Photo courtesy of Vatican Archive)

Glaswegian · Post by **Glaswegian** » Sat Jul 31, 2010 3:29 am

MOTHER TERESA’S CLAIMS ABOUT HER ‘MISSIONARIES OF CHARITY’ WERE FALSE

In 2007 the American author and academic, Michael Parenti, wrote an article which reveals the disturbing truth behind the myth of Mother Teresa and the ‘good works’ supposedly performed by her Missionaries of Charity. In that article Parenti writes:

'Mother Teresa’s “hospitals for the indigent in India and elsewhere turned out to be hardly more than human warehouses in which seriously ill persons lay on mats, sometimes fifty to sixty in a room without benefit of adequate medical attention. Their ailments usually went undiagnosed. The food was nutritionally lacking and sanitary conditions were deplorable.

When tending to her own ailments, however, Teresa checked into some of the costliest hospitals and recovery care units in the world for state-of-the-art treatment.

Teresa emitted a continual flow of promotional misinformation about herself. She claimed that her mission in Calcutta fed over a thousand people daily. On other occasions she jumped the number to 4000, 7000, and 9000. Actually her soup kitchens fed not more than 150 people (six days a week), and this included her retinue of nuns, novices, and brothers. She claimed that her school in the Calcutta slum contained five thousand children when it actually enrolled less than one hundred.

Teresa claimed to have 102 family assistance centers in Calcutta, but longtime Calcutta resident, Aroup Chatterjee, who did an extensive on-the-scene investigation of her mission, could not find a single such center.'

You can read Parenti's article here: Mother Teresa, John Paul II, and the Fast-Track Saints

Bez · Post by **Bez** » Sat Jul 31, 2010 4:07 am

Do you know if there are any charities linked directly to Mother T's Hospitals /centers ?

Glaswegian · Post by **Glaswegian** » Sat Jul 31, 2010 5:23 am

CHILDREN HORRIFICALLY TORTURED IN MOTHER TERESA CHARITY HOME IN INDIA

Four Young Girls Burned And Scarred With Hot Knife As Punishment

YouTube - Shaming Mother Teresa - India

Glaswegian · Post by **Glaswegian** » Sat Jul 31, 2010 6:09 am

MOTHER TERESA UNDERWENT EXORCISM TO DRIVE OUT DEVIL

The Archbishop of Calcutta, Henry D'Souza, had Mother Teresa exorcised because he believed she was 'under the attack of the evil one'.

Mother Teresa’s exorcism is mentioned in the following video: YouTube - Hitch vs. Donohue

You can read about it here: CNN.com - Archbishop: Mother Teresa underwent exorcism - September 7, 2001

Glaswegian · Post by **Glaswegian** » Sat Jul 31, 2010 6:37 am

MOTHER TERESA'S HOME FOR THE SICK AND DYING IN GLASGOW

(Image courtesy of Vatican Archive)

Glaswegian · Post by **Glaswegian** » Sat Jul 31, 2010 7:45 am

Bez;1325294 wrote: Do you know if there are any charities linked directly to Mother T's Hospitals /centers ?

Mother Teresa's 'hospitals/centres' are funded through her Missionaries of Charity corporation which she founded in Calcutta in 1950.

'The Missionaries of Charity is an international religious family of pontifical right...' (Excerpted from its web page)

You can read about the Missionaries of Charity, and where to send donations to it, here: Missionaries of Charity

You can also read about it here: Mother Teresa Fact Sheet - Mother Teresa - Catholic Online

N.B. If you are thinking of making a donation to the Missionaries of Charity, Bez, I would advise you to ponder the following words of Mother Teresa before doing so:

'The compassionate are such easy prey.'

Mother Teresa

Exiting Vatican Bank in 1988

(Photo courtesy of Interpol)

fae · Post by **fae** » Sat Jul 31, 2010 8:31 am

Oh my,,, I can't stop reading this thread.. fascinating....You guys are sooooo irreverent

:guitarist

Glaswegian · Post by **Glaswegian** » Sun Aug 01, 2010 3:55 am

Glaswegian;1325299 wrote: MOTHER TERESA UNDERWENT EXORCISM TO DRIVE OUT DEVIL

The Archbishop of Calcutta, Henry D'Souza, had Mother Teresa exorcised because he believed she was 'under the attack of the evil one'.

Mother Teresa’s exorcism is mentioned in the following video: YouTube - Hitch vs. Donohue

You can read about it here: CNN.com - Archbishop: Mother Teresa underwent exorcism - September 7, 2001

PRIEST WHO EXORCISED MOTHER TERESA WENT INSANE

In 1997 an exorcism was performed on Mother Teresa at the behest of the Archbishop of Calcutta, Henry D’Souza, because he was gravely concerned at her mental state. Very little was known about the details of this exorcism until around nine months ago when reports began to appear sporadically in both the Indian and the Polish press. When these reports are pieced together what emerges is a story which even the most hardened critics of the Catholic Church have found disturbing.

It is clear from the press reports that Mother Teresa’s exorcism not only had a devastating effect on the priest whom D’Souza commanded to perform it - Father Rajendra Pawar. It resulted in great anguish for the exorcist’s family as well - particularly his twenty-three year old son, Bashir. It was through Bashir that the shocking truth behind the exorcism came to light.

Bashir claims that his father vanished from his life when he was eleven years old - on the same date as Mother Teresa’s exorcism. In the days and weeks following his father’s disappearance, Bashir’s requests for information about his whereabouts always met with the same response from his mother and uncles: the priest, he was told, had been urgently required to undertake important work abroad on behalf of the Church and would return at an unspecified date. However, towards the end of 1997 Bashir was informed by his mother that his father had died of an illness contracted during missionary work in Sierra Leone.

This was how things stood until 2009 when a confession made by one of Bashir’s uncles changed everything. The uncle told him that the story of his father’s death was a fabrication and that the priest was alive in a hospital in Poland, and had been there for the last twelve years. When Bashir confronted his mother with this information she admitted under duress that it was true, and that she had only lied about his father’s death because the priest was mentally deranged.

Two days after learning that his father was alive, and against a wave of protests and pleadings from his family, Bashir travelled to Szczepanski Psychiatric Hospital in Poland where the priest was housed. Bashir’s reunion with the man he had not laid eyes on for twelve years was extremely traumatic. His father’s appearance and mental condition were in such an appalling state of deterioration that Bashir collapsed when he saw him. ‘I couldn’t bring myself to believe that what I saw in the hospital was my father’, he would later tell reporters. ‘My childhood memory of him died instantly. He looked monstrous…loathsome beyond words.’

Dr. Wieczorek, the psychiatrist in charge of Father Pawar’s case, told Bashir that the priest was psychotic and severely delusional and experienced only brief periods of lucidity. On the occasions when he was temporarily sane the priest would insist that he was possessed, and that a demon had entered him from Mother Teresa when he performed a rite of exorcism on her. Wieczorek described the priest’s case as the worst he had ever encountered. Bashir returned to India less than four days after first encountering his father in Szczepanski Hospital.

A month later Bashir Pawar was admitted to Amri Hospital in Calcutta after he made an unsuccessful attempt to take his own life.

Clodhopper · Post by **Clodhopper** » Sun Aug 01, 2010 4:54 am

Crikey! Didn't know this.

Incidentally, what do you think happened to Father Pawar? I assume you don't think he is/was actually possessed by a devil?

Is there a link I could follow?

Glaswegian · Post by **Glaswegian** » Sun Aug 01, 2010 5:45 am

Clodhopper;1325422 wrote: Crikey! Didn't know this.

Incidentally, what do you think happened to Father Pawar? I assume you don't think he is/was actually possessed by a devil?

Is there a link I could follow?
FATHER PAWAR: THE PRIEST WHO EXORCISED MOTHER TERESA

Priest told psychiatrists he was possessed by demon which came out of nun

Father Pawar

Believed he was possessed

(Video courtesy of Szczepanski Psychiatric Hospital)

Father Pawar before his diabolical encounter with Mother Teresa

(Photo courtesy of Pawar family)

Bez · Post by **Bez** » Sun Aug 01, 2010 6:19 am

Glaswegian;1325303 wrote: Mother Teresa's 'hospitals/centres' are funded through her Missionaries of Charity corporation which she founded in Calcutta in 1950.

'The Missionaries of Charity is an international religious family of pontifical right...' (Excerpted from its web page)

You can read about the Missionaries of Charity, and where to send donations to it, here: Missionaries of Charity

You can also read about it here: Mother Teresa Fact Sheet - Mother Teresa - Catholic Online

N.B. If you are thinking of making a donation to the Missionaries of Charity, Bez, I would advise you to ponder the following words of Mother Teresa before doing so:

'The compassionate are such easy prey.'

Mother Teresa

Exiting Vatican Bank in 1988

(Photo courtesy of Interpol)

I certainly wasn't thinking of donating................was wondering where all the money is really going if the care of these poor people is so bad.

Glaswegian · Post by **Glaswegian** » Sun Aug 01, 2010 7:48 am

Bez;1325437 wrote: I certainly wasn't thinking of donating................was wondering where all the money is really going if the care of these poor people is so bad.
Look no further than the purses of this mob...

You can read about the loot which Mother Teresa's 'charities' rake in for the Vatican Bank here:

http://members.multimania.co.uk/bajuu/

Glaswegian · Post by **Glaswegian** » Mon Aug 02, 2010 8:51 am

gmc;1323300 wrote: Mind you I also know some [Protestants] who claim you can tell a catholic by the close set eyes and tendency towards a mono brow.
Mother Teresa

Nobel Peace Prize photo (1979)

(Courtesy of Vatican Archive)

gmc · Post by **gmc** » Mon Aug 02, 2010 8:59 am

So Glaswegian, when the pope visits will you be out on the streets protesting?

Glaswegian · Post by **Glaswegian** » Mon Aug 02, 2010 9:35 am

gmc;1325616 wrote: So Glaswegian, when the pope visits will you be out on the streets protesting?
No.

But I will be monitoring the Religious Romp closely - undercover.

Incidentally, although the Pope is not due to visit Glasgow until September the pap which is usually associated with such visits is starting to appear in the city. For example, on sale at the weekend in the famous Barras street market was a large painting depicting the meal which Jesus shared with his disciples just prior to his arrest. It was purported to be by Leonardo da Vinci and was entitled: The Last Fish Supper

I believe the seller was asking for offers in the region of £3.99 for it. However, he said he would consider exchanging it for a pair of male leopard-skin briefs - provided they were unsoiled.

Glaswegian · Post by **Glaswegian** » Mon Aug 02, 2010 1:59 pm

MOTHER TERESA TEACHES GLASWEGIAN A LESSON

'Lucky for you Glaswegian I'm not a priest.'

(Image courtesy of Vatican Private Collection)

Glaswegian · Post by **Glaswegian** » Wed Aug 04, 2010 7:22 am

'MOTHER TERESA KISSED ME AND LOOK WHAT HAPPENED!'

Sanjay

After the fateful kiss

(Image courtesy of World Health Organization)

Meet Sanjay the frog. Sanjay was a happy-go-lucky frog until he encountered Mother Teresa in her home for the sick and dying in Calcutta one night.

‘I had only gone to Mother Teresa’s care home to eat some flies’, Sanjay told reporters. ‘There was always plenty of flies on the sick and dying in that place. So I would hop along to it quite regularly. But one night I hopped in front of Mother Teresa herself...'

Sanjay broke off and wiped a tear from his solitary eye. He continued:

‘I looked up at Mother Teresa and she smiled horribly at me. Then she bent down and kissed me. And look what happened. Look at what she did to me!'

At this point Sanjay suddenly lunged at a spokesman for the Catholic Church seated near him at a table in the packed press conference, and had to be forcibly restrained.

‘I want to be a frog again!’, Sanjay screamed as he was led away.

Sanjay

In happier times

(Photo courtesy of Frog Monthly)

Glaswegian · Post by **Glaswegian** » Thu Aug 12, 2010 6:21 am

THE BLACK HOLE OF CALCUTTA

Mother Teresa’s House Of Hell

Visitors to Mother Teresa’s care home in Calcutta recoil in horror

(Image courtesy of World Health Organization)

Glaswegian · Post by **Glaswegian** » Sat Aug 14, 2010 2:39 pm

MOTHER TERESA CHASTISES A YOUNG NUN FOR HANDING OUT PAIN-KILLERS

‘Unbearable pain is a gift from God. Do you understand!’

(Photo courtesy of Amnesty International)

Glaswegian · Post by **Glaswegian** » Mon Aug 16, 2010 3:03 am

THE PHONY ‘MIRACLE’ WHICH LAUNCHED THE CAREER OF MOTHER TERESA

Mother Teresa’s career as a pious fraud of gargantuan proportions was launched many years ago on the back of a phony 'miracle' which supposedly occurred during the filming of a BBC documentary about her called Something Beautiful For God. The alleged 'miracle' had, of course, no connection with reality but was merely the product of the overheated imagination of a pretentious faith-head called Malcolm Muggeridge. It is worth looking at the circumstances surrounding this 'miracle' in some detail because they serve to show how deeply disposed the religious believer is to misinterpret ordinary events in order to prop up his flimsy faith.

In 1969, the renowned English journalist Malcolm Muggeridge was dispatched by the BBC to make a documentary about Mother Teresa in Calcutta. Muggeridge was accompanied by a film crew which included the distinguished cameraman, Ken McMillan, who had worked extensively on the acclaimed art-history series Civilisation. In the course of filming in Mother Teresa’s Home for the Dying, a ‘miracle’ supposedly occurred. What was the nature of this ’miracle’? According to Muggeridge, it involved one of the rooms being suffused with ’Divine light’.

Here is Muggeridge’s account of this ‘miraculous’ event:

'This Home for the Dying is dimly lit by small windows high up in the walls, and Ken McMillan was adamant that filming was quite impossible there. We had only one small light with us, and to get the place adequately lighted in the time at our disposal was quite impossible. It was decided that, nonetheless, Ken should have a go, but by way of insurance he took, as well, some film in an outside courtyard where some of the inmates were sitting in the sun. In the processed film, the part taken inside was bathed in a particularly beautiful soft light, whereas the part taken outside was rather dim and confused¦I myself am absolutely convinced that the technically unaccountable light is, in fact, the Kindly Light which Cardinal Newman refers to in his well-known exquisite hymn.’

Now here is cameraman Ken McMillan revealing the truth about how this ‘miraculous’ event actually occurred:

‘During Something Beautiful For God, there was an episode where we were taken to a building that Mother Teresa called the House of the Dying. Peter Chafer, the director, said, "Ah well, it’s very dark in here. Do you think we can get something?" And we had just taken delivery at the BBC of some new film made by Kodak, which we hadn’t had time to test before we left, so I said to Peter, "Well, we may as well have a go." So we shot it. And when we got back several weeks later¦we are sitting in the rushes theatre at Ealing Studios and eventually up came the shots of the House of the Dying. And it was surprising. You could see every detail. And I said, "That’s amazing. That’s extraordinary." And I was going to go on and say, you know, three cheers for Kodak. I didn’t get a chance to say that though, because Malcolm, sitting in the front row, spun round and said: "It’s divine light! It's Mother Teresa. You'll find that it's divine light, old boy." And three or four days later I found I was being phoned by journalists from London newspapers who were saying things like: "We hear you’ve just come back from India with Malcolm Muggeridge and you were the witness of a miracle."'

~o0o~

Muggeridge’s idiosyncratic fantasy about the ‘miracle of the Divine light’ was gobbled up mindlessly by the press, as is their wont in such matters, and a malignant and detestable star was born - Mother Teresa.

You can witness the ‘miracle’ born of Kodak film and Malcolm Muggeridge’s unrestrained imagination here after 3 minutes and 24 seconds: YouTube - Hell's Angel: Mother Teresa by Christopher Hitchens (1 of 3)

~o0o~

MALCOLM MUGGERIDGE: FAITH-HEAD

Muggeridge's ridiculous claims about a ‘miracle’ launched the career of Mother Teresa

(Photo courtesy of BBC Archive)

gmc · Post by **gmc** » Mon Aug 16, 2010 7:22 am

I think you're beginning to talk to yourself now gaswegian. There's no point arguing with someone who thinks mother Theresa was a saint, if you believe in saints in the first place any discussion is going to go downhill from that point on.

How do you feel about St Andrew's day? I got myself in to trouble at a meeting when someone was lamenting the fact we don't really celebrate it and I happened to mention we are a Presbyterian country and why on earth would we celebrate it in the first place. I thought it was blindingly obvious why no one really bothered about it in scotland, from the reaction you would think I'd said something shocking.

Remember these pillocks and the life of brian?

YouTube - The 'Life of Brian' Debate (1979)

YouTube - The People's Front

Political cults are just as funny.

Glaswegian · Post by **Glaswegian** » Mon Aug 16, 2010 6:50 pm

gmc wrote: I think you're beginning to talk to yourself now gaswegian.
Talking to oneself in this world is not uncommon, gmc. After all, this is what hundreds of millions of religious believers do every day when they talk to ‘God’. All I can be accused of is keeping bad company.

gmc wrote: There's no point arguing with someone who thinks mother Theresa was a saint, if you believe in saints in the first place any discussion is going to go downhill from that point on.
I disagree. In my view, it is morally imperative to argue with someone who thinks Mother Teresa is a saint. I will confine myself here to giving you two reasons why I hold this view.

Firstly, Mother Teresa has only been beatified by the Catholic Church, but she will most certainly be made a saint by it. This means that millions of Catholics around the globe are already being encouraged by the Church to place their hope and trust in a dead woman. They are being told that she is able to intercede on their behalf and provide them with healings and other forms of supernatural assistance. All they have to do is invoke her, adore her, venerate her, debase themselves before her, and simper magical incantations to her. I think this is mental abuse on a breath-taking scale. For it only serves to hold back the psychological development of a substantial portion of the human race by keeping them locked in a state of ignorance and superstitious credulity.

Secondly, anyone who takes the time to look behind the myth of Mother Teresa and do a little research on her will discover that she was one of the greatest con artists of the twentieth century. I mentioned earlier in the thread that she took more than a million dollars from the corporate criminal Charles Keating, and refused to return it to the individuals and families it was stolen from when requested to do so by the attorney who prosecuted Keating. Charles Keating was sentenced to ten years for swindling 252 million dollars from around 17,000 Americans. But Mother Teresa swindled many millions more than this from public bodies and private donors in every part of the world through her Missionaries of Charity network. Only a tiny portion of this global loot was ever spent on the people it was intended for - namely, the poor and the sick and the dying - a fact clearly demonstrated by her primitive and spartan ’care’ homes. The vast majority of the loot was secreted in the Vatican Bank or used for the building of convents and other proselytizing purposes.

Unfortunately, many people are unwilling to look behind the myth of Mother Teresa or even question it. For they prefer comforting illusions. As someone once said: ‘People want to be deceived. Therefore, they are deceived.’

gmc wrote: How do you feel about St Andrew's day?

ST ANDREW: PATRON SAINT OF SCOTLAND

Andrew undergoes baptism in the River Jordan

Jesus called on Andrew to be ‘a fisher of men’

(Photo courtesy of Cecil B. De Mille)

Glaswegian · Post by **Glaswegian** » Mon Aug 16, 2010 7:13 pm

THE 'HALLMARK' CARD MUSH OF MOTHER TERESA (No. 1)

Mother Teresa

Nobel Peace Prize Photo (1979)

(Photo courtesy of Vatican Archive)

'Peace begins with a smile.' - Mother Teresa

~o0o~

Glaswegian · Post by **Glaswegian** » Tue Aug 17, 2010 3:04 am

gmc wrote: Remember these pillocks and the life of brian?

YouTube - The 'Life of Brian' Debate (1979)

Yes, I remember seeing a clip of this debate during a Channel 4 special on Life of Brian a few years ago. The sheer silliness of Christianity really comes across in this kind of encounter. Whenever I watch anything like it the following question continually arises in my mind: Is it possible that this nonsense is still believed in?

gmc wrote: YouTube - The People's Front

THE GREATEST STORY EVER TOLD

‘Verily I say unto thee, today thou shalt be seated next to me in The Horseshoe Bar.‘

~o0o~

The world would be a happier place if the following was made the ALPHA and OMEGA of every day: YouTube - Always Look On The Bright Side of Life

gmc · Post by **gmc** » Tue Aug 17, 2010 4:23 am

Yes, I remember seeing a clip of this debate during a Channel 4 special on Life of Brian a few years ago. The sheer silliness of Christianity really comes across in this kind of encounter. Whenever I watch anything like it the following question continually arises in my mind: Is it possible that this nonsense is still believed in?

Actually they both made the point that they couldn't make fun of the actual teachings of christ (love thy neighbour etc etc) but what they could, and did do, was make fun of all the surrounding religions and those who purport to be it's representatives on earth and make the point that you don't need to be told what to believe.

If you look at the history of the christian church and islam - well I have real trouble understanding why anyone believes in either of them. Haven't checked them all.

If you think about it all the words and concepts in the english language that are about liberty, equality freedom and justice are pagan and predate the church. The ones to do with devotion and duty and total submission and unquestioning obedience might occasionally have latin roots but the usage in that sense stems from the church. Even emperors had to worry about being deposed how much safer it must have felt to terrorise with fears of eternal damnation.

Might be talking a load of rubbish there.

Glaswegian · Post by **Glaswegian** » Tue Aug 17, 2010 10:53 am

INSIDE MOTHER TERESA’S CARE HOME IN GLASGOW

Care home staff escort patients to the shower room

(Image Courtesy of Amnesty International)

gmc · Post by **gmc** » Tue Aug 17, 2010 12:33 pm

glaswegian joins in knees up while on holiday in london

YouTube - Grand Orange Lodge of England Parade in London - Part One

I've always thought a flute band was a bit, well, gay. Mind you that's an opinion I'm careful about where I am when I express it and how drunk they are as well.

Glaswegian · Post by **Glaswegian** » Tue Aug 17, 2010 2:06 pm

gmc;1327886 wrote: glaswegian joins in knees up while on holiday in london

YouTube - Grand Orange Lodge of England Parade in London - Part One

I've always thought a flute band was a bit, well, gay. Mind you that's an opinion I'm careful about where I am when I express it and how drunk they are as well.

LADIES AND GENTLEMEN

I am proud to present

The one and only

gmc

Performing live at the Rangers Social Club Glasgow

'Hey!'

YouTube - 1969 Liberace Show Boogie Woogie

Glaswegian · Post by **Glaswegian** » Tue Aug 17, 2010 6:15 pm

gmc;1327775 wrote: If you think about it all the words and concepts in the english language that are about liberty, equality freedom and justice are pagan and predate the church. The ones to do with devotion and duty and total submission and unquestioning obedience might occasionally have latin roots but the usage in that sense stems from the church. Even emperors had to worry about being deposed how much safer it must have felt to terrorise with fears of eternal damnation.
The contrast you make here between pagan liberalism and Christian illiberalism is interesting.

Consider this:

In Pagan Rome, the authorities displayed a remarkable level of tolerance towards all kinds of religion, and Romans were more or less free to worship whatever religion they liked. But Roman tolerance was not extended to Christianity. For several centuries the official Roman position on Christianity was extremely negative because this form of worship was classified as superstition (superstitio) rather than religion (religio). For the Roman authorities, Christianity was a form of superstition because, like magic and astrology, its beliefs and practices were regarded as ‘based on ignorance, fear, or fraud’. Christianity stood in contrast to religio - i.e., the state-sanctioned pagan cults ‘which reinforced public order through the practices and performances of civic ritual’ - and, therefore, it was viewed by Rome’s rulers as posing a threat to the political and social stability of the empire.

The official classification of Christianity as a dangerous form of superstition remained in place from around the middle of the first century until the reign of Constantine in the early fourth century. During this period Christianity came into increasing conflict with the Roman authorities for a variety of reasons. For example, because Christianity was generally perceived as a strange, secretive and isolationist form of superstition its followers were accused by pagans of indulging in gross and abnormal practices (e.g., sexual orgies, cannibalism and infant sacrifice). Another reason why Christianity became the primary target of state persecution within the later Roman Empire was because of the role it pre-eminently played as the dangerous, anxiety-producing Other in the eyes of the Roman authorities. In that role, Christianity functioned as a scapegoat onto which the anger, fear and despair evoked in Rome’s rulers by a welter of political, economic and military problems could be projected and discharged.

One of the most important reasons why Christianity suffered state persecution was because it was loathed and despised by Rome’s educated classes as a superstition embraced by the lowest elements within the empire - as a metaphysical disease born of the rabble - and, as such, it was to be dealt with in the manner of a plague.

Christianity became the only legal form of worship in the Roman empire in 381 AD and from that moment onward toleration toward every other religion ceased. As an absolutist religion, Christianity viewed all other religions as posing a threat to its dominion. Accordingly, it set about systematically eliminating each one of them.

Glaswegian · Post by **Glaswegian** » Tue Aug 17, 2010 6:38 pm

THE 'HALLMARK' CARD MUSH OF MOTHER TERESA (No. 2)

Mother Teresa

Nobel Peace Prize Photo (1979)

(Photo courtesy of Vatican Archive)

‘We shall never know all the good that a simple smile can do.’ - Mother Teresa

~o0o~

Glaswegian · Post by **Glaswegian** » Thu Aug 19, 2010 4:16 am

INSIDE MOTHER TERESA’S CARE HOME IN CALCUTTA

'Abandon All Hope, Ye Who Enter Here'

An unidentified male rues the day he abandoned Auschwitz for Mother Teresa’s care home

(Image courtesy of Amnesty International)

OpenMind · Post by **OpenMind** » Thu Aug 19, 2010 3:00 pm

Hmmm. I see this thread has strayed a tad.

Still, I wanted to contribute this.

As I understand it, Catholicism is based on Christianity which, itself, is based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. When asked to do so, Jesus gave two commandments and said none were greater. Can anyone remember what those two commandments were?

I do not recall that suffering was a prerequisite for entering Heaven, only that those who suffered would have their suffering eased.

Clodhopper · Post by **Clodhopper** » Thu Aug 19, 2010 3:22 pm

Weren't they, "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart," and "Love your neighbour as yourself".

Blimey. Where did I drag those up from...?

OpenMind · Post by **OpenMind** » Thu Aug 19, 2010 3:35 pm

Clodhopper;1328287 wrote: Weren't they, "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart," and "Love your neighbour as yourself".

Blimey. Where did I drag those up from...?

Yep. those were the ones I was on about.

The thief on the cross near Christ only had to want to go to paradise to get there. He didn't have to endure the pain. That was just a consequence of being caught, tried, and punished with death. Though that placed him in a position near Jesus and that meant they could converse.

Clodhopper · Post by **Clodhopper** » Thu Aug 19, 2010 4:00 pm

I do think that Jesus was a great teacher, though I'm unconvinced as to his divinity, virgin birth etc etc. His guidance on how to live has never been bettered, imo.

OpenMind · Post by **OpenMind** » Fri Aug 20, 2010 3:14 am

Clodhopper;1328292 wrote: I do think that Jesus was a great teacher, though I'm unconvinced as to his divinity, virgin birth etc etc. His guidance on how to live has never been bettered, imo.

That's the basis for another emotive religious discussion, methinks. I'm equally intrigued by the period in his life that was not recorded other than that he was apparently studying.

Here's another little factoid for you. The Jews live their lives by the lunar phases. The lunar phase, however, is not a simple number. Yet the Jews were allegedly given this number by God so they could keep to His requirements. NASA has not long just worked this out using a computer to take it to 5 decimal places and the Jews are spot on.

Some might jump on this and say that this proves the Creationist theory. But, hey, this ole universe has been around for a lot longer than we have, or this planet of ours. There's more than one way that info could have been given without involving a supernatural supreme being.

gmc · Post by **gmc** » Fri Aug 20, 2010 5:06 am

OpenMind;1328282 wrote: Hmmm. I see this thread has strayed a tad.

Still, I wanted to contribute this.

As I understand it, Catholicism is based on Christianity which, itself, is based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. When asked to do so, Jesus gave two commandments and said none were greater. Can anyone remember what those two commandments were?

I do not recall that suffering was a prerequisite for entering Heaven, only that those who suffered would have their suffering eased.

Catholics would say theirs is the one true faith and all other christian sects have strayed from the fold. Millions have died fighting about it the right way to worship god.

Forget the two commandments jesus said were the greatest there are libraries full of books explaining what he really meant to say. If Christians actually obeyed those two things in the world would be a whole lot better.

Or maybe not. there are countless examples of people being killed or tortured to bring them back to the one true path they need to be on in order to love the Lord thy God with all their heart.

OpenMind · Post by **OpenMind** » Fri Aug 20, 2010 5:36 am

gmc;1328356 wrote: Catholics would say theirs is the one true faith and all other christian sects have strayed from the fold. Millions have died fighting about it the right way to worship god.

Forget the two commandments jesus said were the greatest there are libraries full of books explaining what he really meant to say. If Christians actually obeyed those two things in the world would be a whole lot better.

Or maybe not. there are countless examples of people being killed or tortured to bring them back to the one true path they need to be on in order to love the Lord thy God with all their heart.

Well, they killed Jesus, didn't they? Obviously, he didn't subscribe to the one true faith. And that was before Christianity developed.

Glaswegian · Post by **Glaswegian** » Fri Aug 20, 2010 8:02 am

OpenMind;1328290 wrote: The thief on the cross near Christ only had to want to go to paradise to get there. He didn't have to endure the pain.
Didn’t have to endure the pain?

What distinguished Jesus’s crucifixion from that of the thief in terms of pain, OpenMind? Surely you’re not suggesting that Jesus’s crucifixion was more painful than the one suffered by the thief?

As you probably know, crucifixion was fairly common in the Roman Empire. For example, the Roman general, Marcus Licinius Crassus, crucified around six thousand slaves in response to the Spartacus rebellion.

You don't think there was anything special about Jesus’s crucifixion which set it apart from other crucifixions carried out by the Romans, do you?