h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

"Monsignor Georges Henri Joseph Éduard Lemaître"

Although Edgar Allan Poe beat him by at least 84 yrs, if not more.
They even used almost the same name - EAP "Primordial Particle" vs. GHJEL "Primeval Atom"

():
>>Is there a word for this kind of system where leadership comes from those who are not in positions of authority?

I was going to say 'anarcho-syndicalism', but I guess in this case 'presbyterianism' might be more appropriate.

In the Church of Scotland, the hierarchy are representatives of rather than authorities over their congregation. Power is passed upwards, rather than granted downwards. There was a famous incident in the 1980s when Margaret Thatcher was invited to speak at the church's Assembly. One by one, delegates stood up before her and voiced their objections.

*However*, in religion, even forms of self-determination such as this are no guarantee of liberalism. There is a notorious breakaway sect characterised by the phrase "No man shall come between me and my god." These are known as the Free Presbyterians, aka 'The Wee Frees'.

Religion poisons everything.



Until the Union, technically the Scottish monarch was 'The King of the Scots' rather than 'The King of Scotland'. The monarch ruled by the will of the people - although in practice this meant the nobility. Of course, English monarchs rule by the grace of god. Vive la republique!

From the Times tirade that linked to:

'...For example, I guess not many people are aware that it is against the law for state schools to teach the Christian faith as true. Teachers are allowed only to teach about religions...'

Total pish, of course. Unless the words 'in Sweden' have somehow been omited.

>>...For example, I guess not many people are aware that it is against the law for state schools to teach the Christian faith as true. Teachers are allowed only to teach about religions...<<

Excuse me? Somebody has clearly missed the parts in RE guidelines that make it mandatory to teach Christianity. I'm currently working with schools that are 90%+ Muslim and the kids are having to learn why Easter falls when it does and other bits of arcane knowledge they couldn't care less about.

Hi Fathom,

'"The scientist who first theorised the Big Bang was a Catholic priest"
When was Professor Stephen Hawking a Catholic priest?'

Hawking's done a lot of work on Black Holes and the Big Bang (the two are closely related), but the idea goes back much further than him. Georges Lemaître, a Belgian priest, first proposed the idea in 1927. As late as the 1970s, Fred Hoyle, a prominent astrophysicist and science populiser (and the man who invented the derogatory phrase 'Big Bang'), was still claiming that it was a religious view (although he was in a minority of one at that point). Hoyle would later go on to earn a bit of a reputation as a crank for sticking to the 'Steady State' (i.e. non-Big Bang) theory, and his support of panspermia. You'll find him referenced on a lot of Creationist web-sites these days because he thought it impossible for life to have originated on Earth.

Gif

Vicky wins on the good Msgr Lemaitre, I'm afraid. There was a notoriously vitriolic dispute on Steady-State vs Big Bang between him and Fred Hoyle. In fact, Hoyle coined the term as (failed) satire. Here's a picture of him with and Atheist saint:
http://www.astronomynotes.com/science-religion/NormLevan/lemaitre-einstein.jpg

But as for...
>>I've yet to see any evidence of *anyone* in the forum supporting any cause that could be called even vaguely left wing.

Welll....this isn't really a political forum, is it? But where do you want to start? For the record, I count myself an unreconstructed Marxist. Others may have spotted left-of-centre remarks by me elsewhere.

But how has this stooshie come about? I don't think anyone's accusing Vicky of being a rabid right-winger. Granted, I can no more square her homophobia with her otherwise left-leaning views than I can explain why Msgr Lemaitre was a Catholic, but there you have it. I do think it was rather unfair, though, draw inferences from Gif's statement that he didn't see anything particularly rabid on Free Rebublic

simpost with

HI:
>>and the kids are having to learn why Easter falls when it does

You're teaching Higher Mathematics, then?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Computus


It's a tactic I've often seen, mainly from right-wingers, to develop an argument from the basis of a lie. See also 'What shall we do about all these immigrants being put up in big houses by the Council?'

There was a similar thing on an even larger scale recently when Lord Alton (admittedly, not a right winger) used the case of the identical twins who had actually married to support his views on the rights of children conceived from donor sperm or eggs to be given information on their parents. Unfortunately, the case seems to have been an urban legend at best. (and I don't see how it supported his argument

EAP: Eureka

"The assumption of absolute Unity in the primordial Particle includes that of infinite divisibility. Let us conceive the Particle, then, to be only not totally exhausted by diffusion into Space. From the one Particle, as a centre, let us suppose to be irradiated spherically -- in all directions -- to immeasurable but still to definite distances in the previously vacant space -- a certain inexpressibly great yet limited number of unimaginably yet not infinitely minute atoms. "

http://xroads.virginia.edu/~hyper/poe/eureka.html

Hi Vicky,

'the battle of Culloden'

Did you know there were more Scots on the 'English' side than the 'Scottish' side?

'I've yet to see any evidence of *anyone* in the forum supporting any cause that could be called even vaguely left wing.'

This is a thread about atheism and religion. I've yet to see anyone here claim that they drive a Ford. Doesn't mean they don't, just that it's not what this thread is about. Have you seen anyone say anything right-wing in this thread (other than your own 'socially conservate' views, of course).

'You've put me in a box with the Stormfront loonies'

So you haven't read a single one of my last half-dozen posts then? What do you think I meant when I said that I agreed with you that Stormfront are clearly one testicle short of a Fuhrer?

'There are no shades of grey with you people, are there? No subtlety, no hint of an idea that people can hold views that don't belong in the rigid box you put them in...'

Vicky, every single person on this thread is asking you to explain exactly what your views are. You are refusing, simply saying 'look it up'. You can't then complain if people don't understand your views or understand which particular shade of grey you are. If you explain what you believe people here will listen. If you discuss, people will discuss with you. In both cases they may disagree, of course. But to refuse to explain your beliefs and then attack others for not understanding them will get you nowhere. To then try to use that as justification to use the same behaviour that you attack in others would be hypocritical even if your attacks were accurate.

Might I suggest that you have put most of us 'in a box' rather that the other way round? That would explain why you say things like (in reply to: I've certainly never posted a link and said 'please watch the videos on this site'): 'You certainly have! Or, at least, Roy, Effers and Azahar usually do!' If other people you disagree with do something, then that's the same as me doing something. It doesn't matter how much we disagree among ourselves, we are 'the majority view' in your eyes.

'are you aware that many thousands of American Christians, both left and right wing, don't believe that Bush is anything more than a pretender?'

No. Where did you hear that? Have I understood correctly that you mean that you don't think Bush is really a Christian?

'Did you even know that that there are left-wing peace-campaigning Christians in the USA?'

Obviously.

'if Dawkins will permit, which I gather he won't'

You did read his book, right? He spends quite a bit of time differentiating between 'educated' religion and 'mass' religion. Creationism would definitely come under 'mass religion'. 'Educated' religious people don't agree with it, yet seem reluctant to really attack it.

'*culturally* (if not politcally) Canadians are very little different from Americans'



I would say they are about as culturally similar as Australians and New Zealanders, or Scots and English. They speak the same language (mostly), but they have totally separate histories. Canadians were British until 50 years ago!

Gif

Hi Ed,

If I'd known you were about to post exactly what I was saying in a fraction of the wordage, I wouldn't have posted at all!

Geek minds think alike...

Gif

>>*culturally* (if not politcally) Canadians are very little different from Americans'

All I can say to that is 'Chalice d'hostie de tabernacle!!!!'

have you all heard/read the precis of it by Ronnie Ancona on Qi?

http://www.qi.com/talk/viewtopic.php?t=5029&start=0

"The Battle of Culloden is quite complicated, because it was basically an Italian fop with a Polish accent with a bunch of Highlanders, some Irish, a few French, fighting some Scottish low-landers, English, led by a fat German from Hanover."

http://www.jesusandmo.net/2008/01/18/piety/

Sometimes I wonder if the author reads this thread... it always seems so relevant.

Other times I wonder if Eris is sending me a message...

Gif

Hail Eris!

(and Free Fernando Poo!)

All hail Discordia!



Gif

http://icanhascheezburger.com/2007/11/09/kitekat-died-4-ur-sins/

OMG!!1! LOL!

Ha!

I quite like this one myself...

http://azahar.files.wordpress.com/2007/06/lolcat-faith-heealer.jpg


az

Or how about lolfossils?

"Im in ur ground, testin ur faith"

http://azahar.wordpress.com/2007/10/07/lolfossils/




az

Don't bother with those 'mass religion' pages - here's a 'thoughtful religion' one.

http://www.lolcatbible.com/index.php?title=Main_Page

Gif

http://icanhascheezburger.com/2007/10/12/hallelujah-praise-the-lawd/