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

Sorry Ed the north american black fly is far more interesting. After a wee walk abroard in Islay(pub crawl of /96.. so many whiskeies so little time)the locals remarked on the midges, I flipped back my hair and reveled the bite I was recovering from 2 cm and still nasty after a week of being bitten.
Just catching up on the back log I've been getting outdoor work done before the flys are at the worst(sp). I too am on vacation to the south west of Ontario no Black Flies Hey even the dog wont stay outside for more than five minutes.

>So it's possible for the Head of the CofE to be atheist?..<

My own view is that particularly in England, we got so fed up with all the vicious waring between the Catholics and Proddies, that we just got bored with the whole religion thing full stop. There was plenty of either side, being burnt as martyrs for a while after Henry VIII. And the dissolution of the monasteries that Henry instigated was a crime against art. The art critic Andrew Graham Dixon presented a series about the history of *English* Art a few years ago. We had sculptural wonders here and medieval imagery in churches and monasteries to rival the Italians. 99% of it was destroyed by Protestant thugs with hammers and chisels, in the century following Henry VIII. I've a seen a few surving examples at an exhibition at the Tate in London. Having Christianity enshrined in the state, kind of puts the warring to bed, so long as it is not an extreme form of Protestantism. So we ended up with this woosy C of E thing, which everyone knows is a bit of a nonsense. And some branches of Anglicanism are very close to Catholicism; called 'high church'. And we got our spiritual highs from our literary giants and theatrical tradition; just sung a few hymns at school and in church etc for a bit of ritual and comfort. The vast majority of English I think, now have a long tradition of paying lip service to the whole christian thing whilst getting on with building an Empire, and creating the industrial revolution.

Let the Scots, Northern Irish and to a degree the Welsh get on with their fanatical ideological fighting between Catholicism and Protestantism. Their religious extremism, going nowhere. We English bundled Christianity away into the cupboard of the C of E, and got on with ruling the world.

That's why this recent Christian fundamentalism phenomenon is so alien to our traditions.

I for sure am pro antidisestablishment of state and church. Keep it in its place, nice and cozy.. God save the Queen

Thanks effers best smile since I caught up, must sleep now I have to be up before the black flies start (temps are still at 0 celcius(sp) around sunrise here)to put the plants in before I with higher temps the flies will be amost gone by the time I return; also the dragon flies are just coming out that helps ever so much

<<But I just had a brilliant time with my parents. Great discussions and no rows. smiley Given so much conflict in life sometimes, it's just so good to value the simple ordinary things of getting on with people, and valuing being alive.

That's completely brilliant, Effers!


Vicky

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Some are, some aren't... Mainly they're places that discuss various issues and theological points.

Regarding Christians here, I really think we all agree about most things, although on some we agree to disagree. (That being said, there are nowhere near as many of us here as I'd like! )

Vicky

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I am betting it's not a reference to the Fritz Leiber novel?...
Vicky

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As part of my C S Lewis reading binge, today's book is Beyond Personality, where Lewis talks about similar or the same things as you postulate, TRiG! It's awesome...

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That's assault! If the allegation is true, that's very serious...

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Although refusing to remove a Bible from his desk, isn't in the same league..

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They have the best social welfare system in the world, but the highest levels of Seasonal Affective Depression in the world.

So maybe the orgies are compensatory?

No. Assault is a breach of criminal law. The Bible on the desk is a possible breach of the US Constitution, which is considered, as I understand it, to be the highest law in the US, and so, a more serious breach than simple assault.



Don't get me wrong here, Vicky: I agree that the alleged assault is far more serious. I'm just thinking strictly legalistically for the moment.

So I've been thinking about the Old Atheists (Nietzsche, et. al.) and the whole 'If God as the suprasensory ground and goal of all reality is dead, if the suprasensory world of the Ideas has suffered the loss of its obligatory and above it its vitalizing and upbuilding power, then nothing more remains to which man can cling and by which he can orient himself' thing from Heidegger and the if there is no God then everything is permitted thing (was that Doestoevsky?) and I felt a need to ask a question of New Atheists on this thread:


Does your atheism produce any sort of existential angst for you? Or do you find (as I do) that the angst of the Old Atheists is as foreign to you and as incomprehensible as all the talk of Faith that we hear around us each day? For me, the dread and horror that the Old Atheists seemed to feel inevitable just hasn't happened and I certainly don't feel like it is because I am somehow hedging my bets with secret theistic feelings. What about you lot?

<<Don't get me wrong here, Vicky: I agree that the alleged assault is far more serious. I'm just thinking strictly legalistically for the moment.

I see your point, Caesar... Here, the Education Act states that education *must* be secular, so he'd be in trouble for preaching - but not merely for *having* the Bible...

The assault however, he'd be in deep trouble, and rightly so!

As I understand it, he didn't simply *have* the Bible -- he *displayed* the Bible prominently on his desk. In science class.

Whether or not the assaults happened, it seems quite clear that he was repeatedly contravening the establishment clause of the US Constitution, which is, in their legal system, in a different league from simple assault. And, again, I'm not saying that *I* think that flapping a Bible about on one's desk is more serious than branding a kid with a cross.

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Oh, I know you're not! I suppose I don't really understand the way Americans see that issue, because it's so different here...

Vicky

waves @ Slapjack

http://russellsteapot.com/comics/2007/widen-your-stance.html

thoiught some might find this interesting:
http://www.newscientist.com/channel/being-human/dn13860-six-uniquely-human-t

"Six 'uniquely' human traits now found in animals"

>>Sorry Ed the north american black fly is far more interesting.

Oh yes indeed! And unless you acquire antibodies from an early age, the bites swell up and itch for ages.

Also...I was once swimming across a lake in Ontaria. (No - not Lake Ontario. Don't be daft.) I watched a deer fly land on my arm, calm as you please, and carry off a huge chunk of my flesh. The water turned red like a scene from Jaws. I'm lucky I wasn't savaged by a pickerel.

But midgies are damned annoying. It's not so much the bites as the way they're *everywhere*.


'Visit Scotland wish to disacciate themselves from all talk of midgies. They're not so bad. It's a great place for a holiday. Honest!'

>>Let the Scots, Northern Irish and to a degree the Welsh get on with their fanatical ideological fighting between Catholicism and Protestantism.

You really must learn some Marxism, Frs. Sectarianism has Class origins.

Actually...the Church of Scotland is relatively benign, as Christianity goes. Apart from anything else, it's a fundamentally democratic organisation. Plus - they slapped Maggie T when she tried to lecture them on morality (The Good Samaritan/ No Such Thing As Society episode.)

Yer Anglicans, though...look at the way their boss has to pussyfoot around bigots.

The spectre haunting h2g2...

Google The Communist Manifesto, wontcha?

Christians threads/ hotbeds:

>>Some are, some aren't... Mainly they're places that discuss various issues and theological points.

Well fair enough. Only...from my pov there are various moral issues where some (not all!) Christians are dangerous. Homophobia. Reproductive rights. Iraq-type nonsense. With the possible exception of the last...I honestly don't hear them shouting loud enough against. They're entitled to just sit around discussing their hobby - we all do that. But I thought there was meant to be something more to religion.

Swedeland - SAD - Orgies.

Actually...I checked recently in relation to another thread, and their suicide rates are not that high. Finland's are - but they share the same Mongol depression gene as the Hungarians. Plus they have a properly functioning welfare state and an equitable society, so these probably counteract the SAD (in line with Durkheim on anomie and suicide). Yeah - the sunlight is bound to increase licentiousness - always works for me - ...but in general they seem very un-uptight and generally non-British about nudity and sex.

And some tall calleagues have already taught me a couple of *very* rude words.

Hmm. I shall discuss Scandiwegian mental health.

>>if there is no God then everything is permitted thing (was that Doestoevsky?)

It does sound in line with Karamazov...but I don't *think* it was Fyodor.

You've got me wondering now.