Aizoon

Oh good grief! "Left-footers" was a joke - I presume they're barred as well. If you want a derogatory term for atheists, you've achieved it with 'people who these days call themselves "atheists"'. I call myself an "atheist" because that's what I am. If people can't get their head around that, that's their problem, not mine. I am content to say there are no fairies at the bottom of my garden and that there is no God. To describe myself as agnostic with respect to either would be simply a cop-out. I understand that people describe themselves as "agnostic", possibly to pacify the True Believers. That's their choice, not mine.

Who's being bullied? Vigorously disagreeing with somebody's ideas is not, in my book, bullying them. If anyone wants to attack my atheism and my detestation of organised religion, let them feel free to do so. It's called freedom of speech, although it's becoming increasingly rare because of those who are afraid of serious debate. Your views have no right to be immune to criticism and neither have mine. Personal abuse is another matter and, in my opinion, a sure sign of a lost argument. I would suggest that it's fairly important to know the difference.

Incidentally, we now have a corollary to Godwin's Law - "if an online discussion (regardless of topic or scope) goes on long enough, sooner or later someone will compare someone or something to Hitler or Nazism". May I call it Saville's Law? - "if an online discussion (regardless of topic or scope) goes on long enough, sooner or later someone will claim that his opponent condones child abuse".

Er. I think it's more about how people use religion - any religion - to justify oppressing others. The point about Boko Haram and the Chilean nuns is that they would both claim that their appalling behaviour stems directly from their religious beliefs. I think you will find that no one has yet tried to justify child abuse on the grounds that he was an Australian painter.

For the benefit of RedZepperin and his left-footed friends, I would draw people's attention to an article in the Guardian today. Apparently, Chilean nuns told unmarried mothers in a maternity ward that their babies had been stillborn, raised the children in their convent, and then sold them to wealthy childless families. Since I know how well the Guardian goes down with some here, I'll give a link to Yahoo World News - http://article.wn.com/view-mobile/2014/05/16/Chile_probing_reports_that_priest_stole_babies_for_adoption_fy/ Similar practices have been reported in Spain, Canada and, of course, Ireland. In some ways, that's even worse than what Boko Haram did. A difficult one to call, that.

The difference being that the Christians have stopped doing it, and the Muslims haven't.

People who find it's the only place open that doesn't cost an arm and a leg.

Didn't Rolf Harris market one of those?

Let's see the Evil NOT big up the pitch invasion...

Making another bid for the North Bristol Relegation League...

What? Both of them?

What would be funny would be if ww equalised in added time

Still wouldn't be clever

quick! Report an escape of Gas!

A big fish with serious buoyancy problems...

SFA for Vodafone in Lyme Regis

Just got a 3G signal (not bloody useless Vodafone of course) - the Gas ARE going down

Did anybody sit next to you?

Horace! What have you done with the nice man's pasty? Are those pasty crumbs on your *****les?

Eating a superb lasagne in the Cafe Tratt in Swanage

I hope the bastards lose 8-0

2 more goals for 12 th on goals scored

And we're above sodding Gillingham

WOO AND INDEED HOO!!! Just got a wifi link

In Swanage with carp wireless connection. Al I will say is COME ON YOU REDS :bounce: :bounce: