Pope Francis, Catholics, and Christians in the news worldwide
I see that the Pope missed a Good Friday public procession, for health reasons.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-03-30/pope-francis-good-friday-poor-health-easter/103650956
I hope he’s well again, soon.
DaveSchmidt said:
drummerboy said:
sure. anyone can arrive at their conclusion in any manner, thoughtful or not.
That observation does not shed any light on the thought process involved.
Put aside the thought process of arrival. Once you’ve arrived at atheism, how do you think about it? In what ways does the absence of God put your mind to the test? Do you wrestle with it the way many, many religious people wrestle with their beliefs?
Do I wrestle with the absence of god? I don't think so. "wrestle" implies struggle. I don't struggle with it.
Should I be wrestling with it?
I don't see my belief under any kind of threat or challenge, unless someone is hiding the really compelling arguments from me and they're planning on surprising me one day.
The absence of god primarily forces me to answer "I don't know" to many questions about the universe. A lot of the "I don't know"'s are because I don't have much knowledge in some areas. So if I'm interested enough I will try to learn more about the area.
And other times it's because the most reasonable answer is "We don't know", as in we're still looking for answers. Science is stuck for now.
joanne said:
I see that the Pope missed a Good Friday public procession, for health reasons.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-03-30/pope-francis-good-friday-poor-health-easter/103650956I hope he’s well again, soon.
The cable channel, EWTN, covered all the events held on Good Friday the huge St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome yesterday. The massive church was filled with clergy and the faithful from around the world.
Pope Francis was present on the altar, but played no role in the Friday afternoon events I watched. He arrived in a wheelchair and, at the very brief moment when he spoke, he was almost inaudible and looked ashen, and very ill. Let us pray for him.
When will there ever be a pope in his 50’s? Keep on having these very old men and we should all pray for them as we watch them deteriorate. I would recommend Biden for pope-hood but some people think he’s in worse shape… yet offers no prayers or thoughts for him… just removal from office for being senile.
hypocrites
dave said:
Most blind people see some light.
oh that’s why they wear sunglasses…
Jaytee said:
When will there ever be a pope in his 50’s? Keep on having these very old men and we should all pray for them as we watch them deteriorate. I would recommend Biden for pope-hood but some people think he’s in worse shape… yet offers no prayers or thoughts for him… just removal from office for being senile.
hypocrites
Well, John Paul II was 58 when he became Pope. However, he lived a long time in that job. His successor, Benedict XVI, was the one who said, "It's okay for the Pope to retire", and did exactly that.
Pope Francis was older when he became Pope, but only chronologically.
drummerboy said:
The absence of god primarily forces me to answer "I don't know" to many questions about the universe. A lot of the "I don't know"'s are because I don't have much knowledge in some areas. So if I'm interested enough I will try to learn more about the area.
And other times it's because the most reasonable answer is "We don't know", as in we're still looking for answers. Science is stuck for now.
Belief in God and being interested in finding out how the universe works (including how it started) are not mutually exclusive.
Einstein and Lemaître: two friends, two cosmologies… | Inters.org
drummerboy said:
Do I wrestle with the absence of god? I don't think so. "wrestle" implies struggle. I don't struggle with it.
Should I be wrestling with it?
No. As I said earlier, atheism is simple.
DaveSchmidt said:
drummerboy said:
sure. anyone can arrive at their conclusion in any manner, thoughtful or not.
That observation does not shed any light on the thought process involved.
Put aside the thought process of arrival. Once you’ve arrived at atheism, how do you think about it? In what ways does the absence of God put your mind to the test? Do you wrestle with it the way many, many religious people wrestle with their beliefs?
A good question -- and I'd enjoy hearing your own response to it.
DaveSchmidt said:
drummerboy said:
Do I wrestle with the absence of god? I don't think so. "wrestle" implies struggle. I don't struggle with it.
Should I be wrestling with it?
No. As I said earlier, atheism is simple.
Jesus.
PVW said:
A good question -- and I'd enjoy hearing your own response to it.
Short answer: No, I don’t struggle, either. My mind is more engaged by religion, which has given me a great deal of respect for the thoughtfully (nohero’s meaning) religious.
Beyond that, whatever I may add can wait until after this weekend.
nohero said:
drummerboy said:
The absence of god primarily forces me to answer "I don't know" to many questions about the universe. A lot of the "I don't know"'s are because I don't have much knowledge in some areas. So if I'm interested enough I will try to learn more about the area.
And other times it's because the most reasonable answer is "We don't know", as in we're still looking for answers. Science is stuck for now.
Belief in God and being interested in finding out how the universe works (including how it started) are not mutually exclusive.
Einstein and Lemaître: two friends, two cosmologies… | Inters.org
I'm pretty sure I didn't come close to implying that.
but really? You trot out Einstein? A tired trope of the anti-athiest.
DaveSchmidt said:
No. As I said earlier, atheism is simple.
yeah, well, since atheism can be summed up in one belief, what do you expect?
drummerboy said:
but really? You trot out Einstein? A tired trope of the anti-athiest.
Wow, you didn't even bother to look at the link. No, I didn't "trot out Einstein" for whatever "tired trope" you think I was referring to. If you looked at who the article was about, I don't think you would have resorted to that retort.
It sounds like you decided to reach a conclusion without considering any facts.
drummerboy said:
yeah, well, since atheism can be summed up in one belief, what do you expect?
Precisely because the description was obvious to me, I expected it to stand on its own in the first place. I was mistaken.
nohero said:
drummerboy said:
but really? You trot out Einstein? A tired trope of the anti-athiest.
Wow, you didn't even bother to look at the link. No, I didn't "trot out Einstein" for whatever "tired trope" you think I was referring to. If you looked at who the article was about, I don't think you would have resorted to that retort.
It sounds like you decided to reach a conclusion without considering any facts.
LOL
Yes! I plead guilty to - when reading a post that mentions Einstein, in a thread about atheism, and in a response whose subject was theists who are also scientists - jumping to the conclusion that you were repeating one of the most common anti-atheist tropes there is, which is that Einstein believed in god.
How silly of me. How could I have thought that?
(and I just tried to read the article, but I couldn't make it through. kind of a long piece to make your point, don't you think?)
drummerboy said:
nohero said:
It sounds like you decided to reach a conclusion without considering any facts.
LOL
Yes! I plead guilty to - when reading a post that mentions Einstein, in a thread about atheism, and in a response whose subject was theists who are also scientists - jumping to the conclusion that you were repeating one of the most common anti-atheist tropes there is, which is that Einstein believed in god.
How silly of me. How could I have thought that?
Already answered.
@Jaytee, there are lots of reasons ‘blind’ people wear sunnies.
It might be because others find their unfocused, wandering eyes off-putting (the eyes still respond to wind, etc even though the individual can’t make much sense of the stimulus reaching their brain).
Or perhaps their pupils have clouded and are extremely white with chronic cataracts and glaucoma.
Extreme retinitis may make them exceptionally sensitive to light and glare, in some cases leading to a bloodshot effect in the whites of the eyeballs.
I’ve known some people with one eye much larger than the other, or one missing eyeball. Or permanently crossed eyes. Very disconcerting when meeting new people.
And still other people have eyes that constantly over-water unless protected by semi-dark lenses.
Vision impairment strong enough to approach being legally blind is a spectrum, and is often frightening to many living with the almost daily losses until their condition stabilises. Worth doing some research, perhaps on Vision Australia website if you can’t find anything closer to home 
(Used to work for Vision Australia)
Jaytee said:
The third day is Easter Monday.
Yeah, but it's a leap year.
Jaytee said:
The third day is Easter Monday.
Not looking up a quote, but my recollection is that days in the Bible (and/or ancient times in general??) are counted inclusively, ie, Fri + Sat + Sun = 3rd day.
Happy holiday to those who celebrate!
Not going to get into it at length, but Easter is definitely on Sunday everywhere as far as i know, specifically, in the west at least, "first Sunday after the first full moon after the vernal equinox." In the Bible, it's described as first day of the week, ie, the day after the Sabbath (seventh day). Most Christians switched their "sabbath" from Saturday to Sunday in honor of the resurrection.
I can remember getting Mondays off from school for holidays that landed on Sunday (back before they switched most of the holidays to Mondays), so maybe that's what's happening in the listed countries.
or am i missing the joke?
Easter Monday is a Bank Holiday in the UK observing the Holiday of Easter as a day off because it falls on a Sunday. However, while most stores are closed on Easter Sunday, most of them are open on Easter Monday, and public transport runs on a weekend/Bank Holiday schedule. Many regular workers will get Good Friday and Easter Monday off, but not always.
https://metro.co.uk/2024/03/31/supermarket-opening-times-easter-2024-weekend-tesco-aldi-20561055/
In other words, in at least one of the countries in Jaytee's list, Easter is celebrated on Sunday. Sunday is when you get the chocolate eggs. Sunday is when you go to church, for those who do that. But some people also get the day off on Monday. I've never heard of Jesus rising on Bank Holiday Monday.
Moving this thread out of the politics section just because mtierney posted a bunch of scripture for Easter that she either hadn't read or failed to understand seems bit premature.
GoSlugs said:
Moving this thread out of the politics section just because mtierney posted a bunch of scripture for Easter that she either hadn't read or failed to understand seems bit premature.
Wrong...It should be in the religion category !
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Does a blind man believe that there is light? He doesn’t know what light is. He can doubt it exists, but he believes it must exist since everyone else believes it exists. So the belief suppresses his doubts but deep down inside he has doubts, because he’s a thoughtful person. He’s not a robot.