Pope Francis describes ‘ideological Christians’ as a ‘serious illness’

txa1265 said:

So if we want to discuss why fewer women are going into male-dominated software and gaming programming despite more overall STEM enrollment and degrees, that is great …

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This is not true at all in UK. In the year 2011-2012,

Computer science - female graduates 17.4%, male graduates 82.6% (3500 v 16560)
Engineering & technology: f - 14.3%, m - 85.7% (4355 v 26145)

The moral of the story is that you still don't have enough women studying computing or Engineering here in the UK to make any difference in the gaming industry… The implication that somehow women being held back in the gaming industry is wrong. Well you can't argue that point until you have enough women studying computing etc.


Here is raw numbers
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0Aq73qj3QslDedDA0OTZHX0ZtXzZEUnd0SnNBcjMyQlE#gid=4

Above link is from

http://www.theguardian.com/educatio...y-men-and-women-are-studying-at-my-university

Aubrielle said:

I think I could probably use my fingers to count the number of your posts where you haven't mentioned your religion (or very nearly).

It escapes me how someone that's sincere could end up looking like they're trolling…if they are, in fact, sincere.

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While I'm not a fan of Humanity Has Risen, I believe you are being a bit harsh.

In the gaming forums, he has, as far as I know, only talked about games.

Talking about religion in a thread about religion is just natural.

Whether you think his views are diabolical or heavenly is an entirely different matter, but I disagree with the quoted statement.

Pladio said:

While I'm not a fan of Humanity Has Risen, I believe you are being a bit harsh.

In the gaming forums, he has, as far as I know, only talked about games.

Talking about religion in a thread about religion is just natural.

Whether you think his views are diabolical or heavenly is an entirely different matter, but I disagree with the quoted statement.

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I agree with the above. Also we have number of other similar posters here at the watch. I don't like some of the stuff they post in the politics and religion thread but they do have valuable opinion to shares about rpgs.

Well…I'm not so harsh as to criticize someone for being openly religious in a religion thread. No, I was talking about the numerous posts elsewhere - in threads having little or nothing to do with religion - where things were said like "but since I want them to feel the love of Jesus that I feel" (paraphrased) and things like that, it seemed like a bit of a show. People that are genuinely religious generally don't need to remind everyone about it all the time, in totally unrelated places.

And I'm not the first person to notice it, either.

But I will say no more.

The Vatican is now rolling back it's rollback on gays and unmarried couples following grumbling from the lower hierarchy.

I swear this church must have whiplash: first the sudden switch from arch-conservative Benedict to big softie Francis (with a Pope retiring for the first time since the middle ages!) and now Francis can't even get his own subordinates to accept his positions.

I'm not a great fan of RCC but I don't think that the Synod is rolling anything back. What caused so much furore among the conservatives was a preliminary document which included thoughts rather than conclusions. It wouldn't surprise me to learn that it was just a weather balloon flown to judge strengths of reform and conservative fractions.

For the clearer picture we will have to wait till the end of the Synod. But, with the culling of Vatican's arch conservatives, it seems that Francis is indeed trying to drag RCC kicking and screaming into the XXI century. If, ultimately, he will be successful or not is another matter. I do wish him well though because we have a particularly virulent strain of conservative (not to say fundamentalist) clergy in my country which certainly needs culling.
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-29607356

Aubrielle said:

Well…I'm not so harsh as to criticize someone for being openly religious in a religion thread. No, I was talking about the numerous posts elsewhere - in threads having little or nothing to do with religion - where things were said like "but since I want them to feel the love of Jesus that I feel" (paraphrased) and things like that, it seemed like a bit of a show. People that are genuinely religious generally don't need to remind everyone about it all the time, in totally unrelated places.

And I'm not the first person to notice it, either.

But I will say no more.

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Wasn't this specific comment in another Christian thread though? At this point I don't know, I'm sorry if this is true but I really want as many people as I can to know the Lord and be happy and blessed through such a relationship and that I beem with enthusiasm about it, so it's possible that on occasion it will shine through.

Zewp said:

I think the biggest problem is that so many religions demand that their followers go forth and spread the word of their god to people who more often than not, just want to be left alone. Speaking as a gay man, I'm just so tired of listening to people preaching to me about how god loves me and wants only the best for me, just before they go off on a tirade about how the life I'm living is a life of sin and how through prayer and worship I can be curedTM!

I honestly don't want to hear it. By now I want to vomit when these people start with their so-called acts of compassion. Just shut up. I honestly don't care what people believe. If they want to believe I'm sinful and going to hell, cool. That's their business and I don't care. Just leave me out of it. I'm not religious but if it ever turns out that there's a god and he wants to send me to hell for daring to love another man, then oh well. I guess I'll spend a couple of eternities in agony. Until such time, these people need to shut up and mind their own business.

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You're right that I am commanded to spread the Gospel.

The thing is, it is the Internet, so it isn't necessarily representative of how someone really is. In real life especially, there are many ways to go about the same thing. For instance, those homosexual friends and coworkers know what I believe in, but I seldom bring it up to them. They know, and at that point they are adults and can make their own conclusions. They like me still because they know my intentions are pure. If you want to constantly harp on a point to people you know, depending on the context it would veer into legalistic territory, and it would become a form of sin.

One example is that a few months ago, my wife and I welcomed one of these ex-coworkers into our home because he had been victim of domestic violence and had nowhere to turn to. We didn't mention his orientation to him or preached to him at all, we just wanted to extend a helping hand and be charitable. Then maybe layer if he is moved by it and wants to act in closer congruence to the faith then that is fine.

What I won't agree with however, and I'm not saying this is the case here, is that people like me should wither away and never proclaim what they believe in. There is a very fine line between remaining cordial to avoid confrontations, and being purposedly marginalized.

And concerning Pope Francis:

http://www.nationalpost.com/m/wp/ne...or-exclusive-porsche-party&pubdate=2014-10-17

He has decided to rent out the Chapel Sistine to companies like Porsche for private receptions, charging something like $7200 per guest, to be given to charities.

It's nice if more money goes to people in need, but I am not comfortable with that. This is just about the holiest place on earth, it seems like a surrender to capitalistic ideals.

I really need to go there one day.

Nobody can accuse Francis of being materialistic. As popes go, he's a picture of frugality. I would venture an opinion that he is simply being practical. Since The Institute for the Works of Religion was prevented from laundering dirty money, it's not doing too well. So, if somebody is prepared to pay loads of money to have a reception in nice surroundings, why not? Especially that profits will not swell Vatican's coffers but will go to the charities.

What bothers me is that there is always seemingly someone to catch him and report these candid moments of humility and simplicity. A lot of it simply feels staged to me, almost like a PR campaign. Not quite like the Mormon church where their PR is actually indistinguishable from corporate America and they advertise themselves as Apple, but close.

Them there was also the news a while back about him wanting to allow Muslims to pray in the Vatican to favor peace. Sorry but that's just wrong.

I hope the next pope will be more orthodox. I wanted cardinal Marc Ouellet to win, who was the runner-up, and who isn't such a people pleaser.

The only thing I like is that he and Francis now have a very close relationship and Francis has done a lot to help the struggling Catholic faith in his and my Quebec since then, so at least Marc seems to have a lot of sway in the Vatican.

Among others he accelerated the beatification process for two of the earliest church figures of New France:

http://www.nationalpost.com/m/searc...tracks-two-early-quebec-figures-for-sainthood

He is working with the Archbishop of Quebec City to rekindle the faith in the province.


And he sent to Quebec City the first Holy Door of North America.

http://saltandlighttv.org/blog/gene...cathedral-to-be-solemnly-opened-on-december-8

I haven't been there yet but I definitely will, I'm sure His presence will be easily felt there.

Them there was also the news a while back about him wanting to allow Muslims to pray in the Vatican to favor peace. Sorry but that's just wrong.

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Why? I may disagree with Muslims about a lot of things but the idea of keeping anyone out of a church who wants to pray to God is ridiculously abhorrent to me.

P.S. Sneaky topic is almost a year old. I heard the news this morning and thought this topic was in response to that. I was wondering how 600+ messages got generated in one day!

They wouldn't hypothetically come there to pray to God, but to pray to Allah. Words escape me to describe how inappropriate and out of place it would be, and how inappropriate it is for someone like Pope Francis to think it could be a good idea. While it is supposed to represent the same God, Muslims have such hugely divergent doctrine that it cannot be considered like the same thing at all. The biggest of all being that they deny the single most important aspect of Christianity, the Holy Trinity and the Divinity of Jesus Christ who became a man to then be resurrected to pay the penalty of humanity's sins. From the best of research, this is because of exiled Gnostic people who considered Jesus as a "demiurge" due to their belief systems and who thus couldn't have God Himself die, and such ideologies eventually made their way to Arabia and to Muhammad.

They consider Jesus merely as a prophet, and his gospel supposedly valid (although Muslim doctrine greatly contradicts many of His teachings). So when the Trinity itself is being denied, no I don't think we have anywhere close to the same God.

The Pope shouldn't compromise on such grounds at all. The duty of a Pope is yes to nurture peaceful relationships with other peoples, but also to bring them to the faith, not to compromise the faith for the sake of other people. The Pope is accountable to God most of all. In the Mecca, Christians are not even allowed to enter the Kabba for that matter.

You do realize that Allah has the same source as the Christian God - Judaism.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Allah#Judaism

It's stuff like this that makes me certain you are a dishonest troll.

Great, and I just wasted a few minutes of my life with you... Ignored.

If they are not the same God, there must be two of them.

It can be argued quite easily that Allah is actually Satan and is definitely NOT the God of both the Jews and the Christians.

You can argue anything into whatever you want I guess. Still, that Allah is talking to Satan is also in the Quran, so they are either not the same, someone is talking to themselve or God and Allah just mix the two roles depending on how they feel, just to have a bit of fun.

Allah is the god of everything, good and the bad. The Judeo Christian God is the god of all that is good.

Even if muslims used the Jewish god it is misunderstood beyond reason.

Well you can make up anything you want (without knowingly plagiarizing previous religions), I suppose.

Hinduism and Judaism probably have some kind of relation together too.

In Hinduism thier creator god is Brahma = Abraham
His wife is Sarasvati = Sarah


I dont think it is a coincidence. Just a fun fact i thought i's share.

Aubrielle said:

It escapes me how someone that's sincere could end up looking like they're trolling…if they are, in fact, sincere.

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You just have to go against the grain and stand up for something you're in the minority of believing in. It's that easy.

Personally I think atheists are trolling whenever they say that something is immoral or wrong since without the absolute values of Allah you can only express a taste or opinion. Even metaphysical concepts such as truth are meaningless to people without faith. I can neither touch truth, see truth nor measure it with any form of apparatus, so by atheist's standards it does not exist.