What's in the news?

Started by Beorning, September 21, 2014, 07:02:11 AM

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Oniya

They'd much rather we (voters) didn't. 

Considering all the crap I've been reading, I would recommend everyone - no matter who you're voting for or what party you're affiliated with - verify that you are properly registered for your party.  Screencap it, and check again before you go vote.  Also verify where your polling station is and when you have to be there.
"Language was invented for one reason, boys - to woo women.~*~*~Don't think it's all been done before
And in that endeavor, laziness will not do." ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~Don't think we're never gonna win this war
Robin Williams-Dead Poets Society ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~Don't think your world's gonna fall apart
I do have a cause, though.  It's obscenity.  I'm for it.  - Tom Lehrer~*~All you need is your beautiful heart
O/O's Updated 5/11/21 - A/A's - Current Status! - Writing a novel - all draws for Fool of Fire up!
Requests updated March 17

Anteros

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Lustful Bride

Quote from: Anteros on March 25, 2016, 02:41:45 AM
It seems that AIs are now able to write stories: http://futurism.com/this-ai-wrote-a-novel-and-the-work-passed-the-first-round-of-a-national-literary-award/

Is it wrong im feeling uncomfortable by the advances of AI? I mean, im no technophobe but...id prefer if we were being more careful....


Beorning

Quote from: Lustful Bride on March 25, 2016, 08:07:19 AM
Is it wrong im feeling uncomfortable by the advances of AI? I mean, im no technophobe but...id prefer if we were being more careful....

Something related to chew on, then - the case of Microsoft's Tay "AI":

http://www.theverge.com/2016/3/24/11297050/tay-microsoft-chatbot-racist

And on the subject on awful comments... One Polish website ran an article today on how Pope Francis washed the feet of a group of immigrants, which included three Muslims. The comments under the article turned to be quite shocking, with such claims like that Francis is a "pest", as well as "a Freemason, anti-pope, a traitor to Christ the King". Because, apparently, a truly Christian thing to do would be to condemn the Islam, reject the immigrants etc...  :-(

TheGlyphstone

...the POPE. The Polish Catholic Church is now publicly insulting the POPE.

At least the Westborough Baptist Church fringe crazies are well-recognized as exactly that, fringe crazies. They're not in charge of the local religious establishment.

Beorning

Quote from: TheGlyphstone on March 25, 2016, 03:21:48 PM
...the POPE. The Polish Catholic Church is now publicly insulting the POPE.

Oh, no, it's not the priests or the bishops doing this... It's just the so-called Catholics. But it's true that the bishops don't seem to be very happy with the Pope is teaching. They don't fight Francis' teachings, but they don't seem to be embracing them, either...

TheGlyphstone

okay, so they are just the local WBC counterparts then.

Beorning

True, but it's really saddening that these kinds opinions really seem to be... popular here. I mean, some of the openly Catholic politicians affiliated with the current government went on record with their anti-immigrant opinions - and they didn't seem to be fazed by the Pope's opinion on this matter.

I mean, one of these guys, when asked by a journalist, if denying the help to the people in need is a Christian thing to do, replied passionately "Would it be a Christian thing to do to allow Europe to become a Muslim land???". Another one of them, when told that the Pope was for helping the immigrants, simply commented "Well, the Pope is wrong". These are the guys who call themselves Catholic politicians!  >:(

And dropping the politicians... well, the attitudes of many ordinary people here frightening. Do you know how many did I hear people at my work complain about "darkies"..? And I'm sure many of these people consider themselves Christians, too...

Avis habilis

It's the "Freemason!" bit that has me scratching my head. It seems like such a nineteenth-century bit of invective.

Lustful Bride

#2711
Quote from: Beorning on March 25, 2016, 03:08:37 PM
And on the subject on awful comments... One Polish website ran an article today on how Pope Francis washed the feet of a group of immigrants, which included three Muslims. The comments under the article turned to be quite shocking, with such claims like that Francis is a "pest", as well as "a Freemason, anti-pope, a traitor to Christ the King". Because, apparently, a truly Christian thing to do would be to condemn the Islam, reject the immigrants etc...  :-(

*face desking hard until my glasses are broken*....does...not...compute*

I've Figured it out! Those making these accusations are obviously working for CHAOS! Get the inquisition on the phone!

Spoiler: Click to Show/Hide


*I seriously cant believe that is happening...makes me feel sick, like I want to grab my belt and beat the heresy out of them...and this is coming from someone who had 2 openly gay men in her church.

Beorning

Quote from: Avis habilis on March 25, 2016, 03:53:15 PM
It's the "Freemason!" bit that has me scratching my head. It seems like such a nineteenth-century bit of invective.

Well, the Polish Catholic Church is still convinced that the Freemasons are evil and out to get them. Many of our bishops and priests have long and in all honesty said that the Freemasons are a threat.

And if you are tempted to say that this sounds archaic, well... that's the Polish Catholic Church for you.

I mean, today I've read an article on why we won't ever hear the bishops condemn PiS' breaking of the constitution. The article made a claim that the Polish CC, in its majority, is simply very satisfied with what PiS is doing. PiS has already managed to cancel the state subsidies for the in vitro fertilization, it's claiming that that Christianity is the only viable set of beliefs, it gives the Church more and more money, it might even try imposing a total ban on abortion... It's all things our Church would love to see done. And if these things doesn't square with state-religion separation, democracy etc.? Tough luck. IMHO, many of our hierarchs would actually like to live in some sort of Catholic theocracy...

Kythia

Quote from: Beorning on March 25, 2016, 04:13:54 PM
Well, the Polish Catholic Church is still convinced that the Freemasons are evil and out to get them. Many of our bishops and priests have long and in all honesty said that the Freemasons are a threat.

In fairness to them, that is the official position of the Catholic Church.  Check the Declaration on Masonic Associations, its a piece of beauty.  The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith under Ratzinger (later Benedict) basically released a statement saying "some people have noticed we've been quiet about those damn Masons recently and are wondering if we still hate them.  We totes do.  HTH"
242037

Oniya

Quote from: Kythia on March 25, 2016, 04:31:05 PM
In fairness to them, that is the official position of the Catholic Church.  Check the Declaration on Masonic Associations, its a piece of beauty.  The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith under Ratzinger (later Benedict) basically released a statement saying "some people have noticed we've been quiet about those damn Masons recently and are wondering if we still hate them.  We totes do.  HTH"

Fun fact - the Knights of Columbus was created pretty much so that Catholic men could have their own little club to go to (since becoming a Freemason can get you excommunicated).
"Language was invented for one reason, boys - to woo women.~*~*~Don't think it's all been done before
And in that endeavor, laziness will not do." ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~Don't think we're never gonna win this war
Robin Williams-Dead Poets Society ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~Don't think your world's gonna fall apart
I do have a cause, though.  It's obscenity.  I'm for it.  - Tom Lehrer~*~All you need is your beautiful heart
O/O's Updated 5/11/21 - A/A's - Current Status! - Writing a novel - all draws for Fool of Fire up!
Requests updated March 17

Kythia

Quote from: Oniya on March 25, 2016, 04:59:58 PM
Fun fact - the Knights of Columbus was created pretty much so that Catholic men could have their own little club to go to (since becoming a Freemason can get you excommunicated).

Huh, never come across them.  Just reading about them now.  For the record though, it's a could get you excommunicated not a can - that's no longer the case.
242037

Oniya

Quote from: Kythia on March 25, 2016, 05:04:10 PM
Huh, never come across them.  Just reading about them now.  For the record though, it's a could get you excommunicated not a can - that's no longer the case.

I grew up as a Roman Catholic - the KoC had meeting announcements in every bulletin.  They aren't quite as 'newsy' as the Masons - no parades or historic meeting halls - but they do a lot of the same sort of charity works. 

(I didn't realize that they church had relaxed the prohibition of joining the Freemasons.  Rather thought that they'd still have a problem with the O.E.S. emblem.)
"Language was invented for one reason, boys - to woo women.~*~*~Don't think it's all been done before
And in that endeavor, laziness will not do." ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~Don't think we're never gonna win this war
Robin Williams-Dead Poets Society ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~Don't think your world's gonna fall apart
I do have a cause, though.  It's obscenity.  I'm for it.  - Tom Lehrer~*~All you need is your beautiful heart
O/O's Updated 5/11/21 - A/A's - Current Status! - Writing a novel - all draws for Fool of Fire up!
Requests updated March 17

Kythia

Yeah, it seems like they mostly just operate in North America really, a New World equivalent to the Knights of Columba (or, looking at founding dates, the original model for the Knights of Columba) but far more political.

I would imagine they do object, but wearing a symbol the Church disapproves of is no grounds for excommunication.  The prohibition on joining is still in place, it's just the penalty for doing so is now just a state of Grave Sin not excommunication.

242037

gaggedLouise

Quote from: Avis habilis on March 25, 2016, 03:53:15 PM
It's the "Freemason!" bit that has me scratching my head. It seems like such a nineteenth-century bit of invective.

The Pope being a freemason is kind of amusing as an invective. But yes, very 19th-century.

Good girl but bad  -- Proud sister of the amazing, blackberry-sweet Violet Girl

Sometimes bound and cuntrolled, sometimes free and easy 

"I'm a pretty good cook, I'm sitting on my groceries.
Come up to my kitchen, I'll show you my best recipes"

Anteros

ONS & OFFS: https://elliquiy.com/forums/index.php?topic=14923.0

I stand with the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe against the North Dakota Access Pipeline https://www.facebook.com/ajplusengli...0139732127536/
Please sign the petition: https://t.co/42VMYy7WzA


gaggedLouise

Quote from: Anteros on March 25, 2016, 09:11:08 PM
J.K. Rowling Shares Rejection Letters She Received From Publishers: http://epicstream.com/news/JK-Rowling-Shares-Rejection-Letters-She-Received-From-Publishers


Good on her. :-)

Many famous books were refused by several publishing houses at first. I remember hearing how Albert Camus' The Stranger was ditched in an audit from some big and prestigious Parisian publisher, with about the following: "Who would want to read this book? It's about some random half gangster getting involved in a killing. The writing is drab and dirty, the lead character only speaks in brief clipped sentences and shows no signs of thinking, and the whole story is neither exciting nor food for anyone's thought. You'll forget this one as soon as you're finished with it."

The Stranger has gone on to become the most reprinted native paperback in French of all time, outselling both Simenon and Alexandre Dumas.  ;)

Good girl but bad  -- Proud sister of the amazing, blackberry-sweet Violet Girl

Sometimes bound and cuntrolled, sometimes free and easy 

"I'm a pretty good cook, I'm sitting on my groceries.
Come up to my kitchen, I'll show you my best recipes"

TaintedAndDelish

Quote from: Avis habilis on March 25, 2016, 03:53:15 PM
It's the "Freemason!" bit that has me scratching my head. It seems like such a nineteenth-century bit of invective.

I've wondered about the reason for the Catholic Church's opposition to the Freemasons quite a bit. The conclusions I came to were:

1. The Freemasons hold political power in as much as they have dedicated followers. This makes them a direct competitor with the Catholic Church who enjoys having quite a bit of political power themselves. The Catholic Church's practicing of discrediting their competition is not a new tactic for them at all.

2. The Freemasons actually seem to be interested in "TRUTH". Sadly, the Catholics like any other serious religion that peddles fictions mixed with truth can only get so close to the light of truth before they spark and go up in flames. I suspect that they fear the people will join the Freemasons and question the Catholic Church's teachings.


TheGlyphstone

#2722
According to Wikipedia, the original reason for the prohibition was that Freemasonry supposedly taught a 'naturalistic, deific religion' that contradicted Catholic doctrine. That's almost certainly the root of the issue; not some sort of nebulous fear of 'truth' or a desire to crush their secular competition, but plain and simple that it - like every organized religion - requires its followers to hold to the 'party line'. It's no different than the Catholic Church prohibiting its members from simultaneously being Protestants. Freemasons themselves apparently disagree, but they're not the ones issuing the ban, so it's not relevant how they feel about the conflict.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freemasonry#Religious_opposition

No need to be looking for conspiracies here (especially since we are discussing the Freemasons). Don't want to get the attention of the lizard people, after all.

Kythia

#2723
Yeah, TheGlyphstone's on the money here.  Obviously I'm not a mason - wrong number of vaginas for one - but quite honestly the Church does seem to have a point from what I know about freemasons.   It's a pretty uncontroversial position to hold, no real need to construct elaborate edifices for it.  Also, both wikipedia and the Catholic Church's website itself are really good places to look for information  - if you're wondering about something for a while it's often easier to check and find out the real answer rather than just make answers up.
242037

Beorning

Well, I'm not sure I agree completely here. I can perfectly understand that the CC might consider some group's beliefs to be uncompatible with the Catholic doctrine. But it's one thing to say "Sorry, you can't believe both on our faith and belief X" and another to paint that other group as utterly depraved, out to destroy the society etc. And that's what the CC's teaching on Freemasons has been across the centuries...