My bad.

http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/13...heism-1416154/

I don't think we're supposed to quote entire articles, but I couldn't resist - and which parts could I leave out?!

Humanity Forced To Put Down Aging God

THE HEAVENS—Citing an inability to adequately care for the aging all-powerful deity, members of the human race told reporters Monday that they were forced to put down God, the omniscient creator worshipped by billions of followers of various faiths for more than 6,000 years.

“This is something we’ve been putting off for a long time, but at the end of the day, it’s what’s best for Him,” said human Daniel Whiting of Appleton, WI, acknowledging that the “difficult decision” comes after years of dealing with The Divine Creator’s sapped energy, urinary tract infections, recurring blindness in His left eye, and noticeable lack of strength and enthusiasm. “At some point, you just have to think about what will make God suffer less: letting Him live in pain for a thousand more years or just letting Him go peacefully in His sleep now?”

“Sure, it was a difficult decision, but it was inevitable,” concurred Jorge Mario Bergoglio of Vatican City. “After all, He was already 13 billion years old.”

According to sources, at approximately 1:34 p.m. Monday afternoon the elderly Almighty Father was injected with a high dosage of pentobarbital, allowing Him to slowly drift to sleep before experiencing painless cardiac arrest followed immediately by death.

In the hours since the passing of The Maker of Heaven and Earth, the human race told reporters that, while they certainly missed having Him around, they preferred to enjoy their fond memories of a younger and more energetic God.

“The excitability and joy for life He used to radiate was infectious,” said Maria Castellanos of Guadalajara, Mexico, referring to the days when the Divine Being would friskily follow the human race wherever they went and “get Himself into all kinds of trouble.” “But for the last millennia or so, He spent most of His time just moping around—rarely ever using His omnipotence and barely even capable of rendering miracles and answering prayers. He hardly even acknowledged [humanity] as we went about our day, really.”

“He was just sort of there,” Castellanos added. “And as much as we enjoyed having Him around, He just didn’t have it in Him to do the things He used to love to do.”

The world’s 7.14 billion people went on to admit that there were numerous instances when they considered putting God to sleep but ultimately relented.

“There was a time around the third century B.C. when God was just so aggressive and uncontrollable we thought we’d definitely have to put Him down,” Harvard theologian Peter Gomes said this week. “And there were some other close calls, like the time He was hit by a car in 1983. But He always bounced back. This time, though, we finally had to acknowledge that it was time to say goodbye.”

Despite reporting a distinct feeling of sadness and loss, the human race confirmed today that they were also reminiscing on many memories of the Supreme Lord and Savior’s life, from His very first creation of the heavens and earth, to the time He rambunctiously flooded the earth for 150 days, to His allowance of the Holocaust from 1938 to 1945, to the sweet sunset he conjured on the evening of July 12, 1998.

“The thing that makes me feel better is knowing that He had a great life, even when things got a little rough at the very end,” Beijing-area human Huai Cheng said. “It’ll be hard letting go, but when it’s the right time, we’ll talk about getting another God.”

“Maybe even two of them,” Huai added.

Alabama legislators pass bill requiring school prayer every morning.

http://glory2godforallthings.com/200...elieve-in-god/

Most of this essay is tldr (I skipped most of the biographical stuff), but the last few paragraphs found some things that resonated with me deeply, that I've been trying to express for years.

2nd last paragraph is beyond ridiculous.

89 Year-Old British Woman Helped Into Swiss Clinic by SOARS Commits Suicide

Not really much of an article but it does show one of the big differences between the UK and the USA

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-27112774

This is an argument used a lot here, by boosh and some others:

The Argument By Outrage

Time Magazine

Why Science Does Not Disprove God

He's conflating two different statements, in the first paragraph no less.

This:

Is not the same as this:

So... where are the quotes of these "commentators" that claim science has disproven the existence of God? Because I can't ever remember reading that, Youtube comments notwithstanding.

A Modern Pope Goes Old School On The Devil

Is that link supposed to be supportive of Druidism?

It is important to note that science has also not disproved that Garden Gnomes move when not observed.

Best quote ever in regards to a Pope:

"“He is opening the door to superstition,” said Vito Mancuso, a Catholic theologian and writer."

Being gay in Pakistan: Where anti-gay serial killers are applauded

What Came Before the Big Bang, by Paul Davies

I thought this, from an atheist interesting. I don't agree with all of it.

Why I am not atheist

I just skimmed this, but I'd love to see a thread around this topic. I disagree with what I've read so far. For one, the bible tells Christians to evangelize. They're doing the right thing IMO. And I get why new-atheists evangelize. Religion is a corrosive force. It should be fought.

Also, the author seems very self-righteous about the unimportance of god's nonexistence. It's very important and remarkable on a social level. Why is s/he limiting discussion to the scientific realm?

I found the discussions following the article interesting

Why don't you go ahead and make a new thread, it'd be interesting to see some disagreements amongst atheists for a change. They may end up being driven by what part of the world you live in - it took only a couple of paragraphs to figure out the author was most likely in the UK, and has little experience of religiosity in American culture and politics (small groups/large funding). From the comments section, in response to an anonymous American "I'm not American. Your problems are not my problems." Well lardy-effin-dah!

800 Dead Babies Found in Septic Tank at Irish Home Run by Nuns

At least tell me they consecrated the tank.

Thousands of children in Irish care homes at centre of 'baby graves scandal' were used in secret vaccine trials in the 1930s

At least tell me they consecrated the needles?

I saw some news about this linked on Andrew Sullivan's blog a few days ago

everything about it is horrifying and terrible

It is pretty horrifying if all of those dead babies are really there (which has not been confirmed, btw.) But this was a different time, before regulation and what not. From what I understand from reading about this, many of the children they received were very sick, and making the other children sick. I'm not so sure we can confidently say that if we were in charge of the residency during the time, we would turn down a vaccination trial ourselves- in order to protect the healthy children. This part stuck out at me:

Christian Hero Saves Many Lives By Selfless Actions

Also:

Fasting Can Regenerate Entire Immune System, Study Finds

Ugandan court overturns anti-gay law that halted Western aid