Why do 90% of black people vote for Democrats?

[C0ckney]

Interesting fact, Catholics are probably around 42 percent now in Northern Ireland. Union is pretty much inevitable at this point in time.

is there anything, anything at all, that you are not completely wrong about?

[Elok]

Can someone please ban gribbler for that ****ing Wikipedia copy-paste?

I concur; that's incredibly obnoxious.

[Elok]

(started doing research to rebut BK's claims, realized it was waaaay too much ****ing work to do just to have it all ignored, n/m)

[molly bloom]

They march through the Catholic neighbourhoods every year.

Interesting fact, Catholics are probably around 42 percent now in Northern Ireland. Union is pretty much inevitable at this point in time.

Are you huffing Good Friday incense ? Or mainlining the communion wine ?

Your comment on the likely possibility of union between Northern Ireland and Eire being solely due to population pressure is quite funny- I look forward to the United States' rapid merging with the Hispanic Americas and Canada's with the Arctic Tern population of Greenland.

As to Roman Catholic violence, from Croatian terrorism in Australia to the state sponsored terrorism in South and Central America, there's plenty of evidence, if you choose not to adopt the ostrich position.

You might also care to address how the religion of peace fared in WWII- from the unlovely Father Joseph Tiso to Ante Pavelic, the record's not exactly admirable.

http://www.britishpathe.com/record.php?id=57700

[Elok]

Yeah, that's good. Molly, you take over, arguing with BK is like trying to glue something to Teflon.

[Hauldren Collider]

I think the fairest thing to say is that it doesn't matter what religion you are, it can be made violent if there are crazy people who happen to consider themselves members.

[Elok]

Yeah, that's pretty clear to most people.

[MikeH]

I would say: it can be made to appear violent

[Hauldren Collider]

I wonder if we will ever see Unitarian terrorists

Or even better, Amish terrorists!

[Elok]

I wonder if we will ever see Unitarian terrorists

Or even better, Amish terrorists!

http://slatest.slate.com/posts/2011/10/07/amish_feud_sam_mullet_led_group_attacks_relatives_by_cutting_off.html

[molly bloom]

Yeah, that's good. Molly, you take over, arguing with BK is like trying to glue something to Teflon.

You'd think that someone who supposedly teaches history would have a fairly good idea of how deeply involved Catholicism has been in various witch burnings, the torture and execution of 'heretics', those ghastly Mediaeval Club Med excursions, the Crusades, the Thirty Years' War, the persecution of the Huguenots, the St Bartholomew's Day Massacre, the Duke Alva's Council of Blood, the Marian persecutions in England, Franco's Catholic 'White Terror' in post Civil War Spain...

....and those are just the ones that spring to mind. It does help being a lapsed Catholic I suppose- I don't have any illusions over just how low the Church and its adherents can go.

[MikeH]

He would probably consider that justified defending of the faith.

[molly bloom]

He would probably consider that justified defending of the faith.

I always thought Orwell dealt with that quite neatly in '1984':

' You will understand that I must start by asking you certain questions. In general terms, what are you prepared to do?'

'Anything that we are capable of,' said Winston.

O'Brien had turned himself a little in his chair so that he was facing Winston. He almost ignored Julia, seeming to take it for granted that Winston could speak for her. For a moment the lids flitted down over his eyes. He began asking his questions in a low, expressionless voice, as though this were a routine, a sort of catechism, most of whose answers were known to him already.

'You are prepared to give your lives?'

'Yes.'

'You are prepared to commit murder?'

'Yes.'

'To commit acts of sabotage which may cause the death of hundreds of innocent people?'

'Yes.'

'To betray your country to foreign powers?'

'Yes.'

'You are prepared to cheat, to forge, to blackmail, to corrupt the minds of children, to distribute habit-forming drugs, to encourage prostitution, to disseminate venereal diseases -- to do anything which is likely to cause demoralization and weaken the power of the Party?'

'Yes.'

'If, for example, it would somehow serve our interests to throw sulphuric acid in a child's face -- are you prepared to do that?'

'Yes.'

'You are prepared to lose your identity and live out the rest of your life as a waiter or a dock-worker?'

'Yes.'

'You are prepared to commit suicide, if and when we order you to do so?'

'Yes.'

Part 2, Chapter 8

With Jesuistical casuistry we can justify nearly anything in the name of defending the faith. Which makes one ask the question : Is such a faith worth defending ?

[MikeH]

[Hauldren Collider]

Of course, O'Brien turned out to be one of the bad guys...