Vatican Wealth "Truly Astonishing"

[Seshmeister]

Originally posted by Cathedral
There is a demon inside you my brotha', it makes you jump on threads like this with a mission to discount the existance of Christ, but the only victory to be celebrated is one with Satan, he is actually the one that owns YOU.

I wonder if my demon gave me the cold.

I keep sneezing today which is going to shake him about a bit...

[Cathedral]

Originally posted by Seshmeister
I wonder if my demon gave me the cold.

I keep sneezing today which is going to shake him about a bit...

Naaaaa, that's just a common viral infection, i've got one too.

Don't you worry about that nasty old demon, Sesh. We're praying for ya buddy.

[FORD]

Originally posted by Seshmeister
I wonder if my demon gave me the cold.

I keep sneezing today which is going to shake him about a bit...

Actually, people in the middle ages believed that sneezing opened the door for demons to enter your body through the sinuses. Hence the custom of saying "God Bless You" or "Gesundheit" to block the demons.

So who knows, when you sneeze, your demon might be inviting some of his friends over.

[Cathedral]

Well, it was Saint Patrick's Day yesterday...maybe they're just stopping by for some green ale?

I've never heard that one before, Ford...very interesting factoid.

[FORD]

Do they drink green beer in Scotland?

Never understood the concept myself. Probably because I stick to Guinness, a true Irish beer which is impossible to turn green.

[Cathedral]

I love dark ale, but it's so filling...tastes great though...

[Seshmeister]

Originally posted by FORD
Do they drink green beer in Scotland?

I think that's more a US thing.

I think that the US get's more excited about St Patricks day than Ireland these days.

[Nickdfresh]

US St. Patrick's day is a severe bastardization of the Irish St. Patrick's Day, which was once more like Easter Sunday than a drunken Marti Gras... They didn't have parades either, until the US custom, and the tourist industry, rubbed off on them...

[Cathedral]

Those fucking Irish have been uppity since they built the damned Titanic.
And then the bastard sank.

They haven't looked at a glass with ice in it the same way since.

[Seshmeister]

They used dodgy quality rivets which caused the thing to sink and then have the cheek to open a Titanic museum at the site of the shipbuilders...

[Nickdfresh]

Well, the steel was of poor quality too, much more brittle at low temps. It's not their fault the ship operators were arrogant asshats that believed their own "super-ship" propaganda.

[Ally_Kat]

Originally posted by Seshmeister
Why?

Christians are inherently immoral.

If they ever do anything which might appear moral then it is done conditionally because they want something in return - to be rewarded by getting an afterlife.

You want rewarded for doing things you should be doing anyway which renders any moral act you do as being immoral and selfish.

Talk of the catholic church's 'charitable' work is the same thing. Done with strings attached and in the name of getting a reward.

If you want to help the poor and needy give your money to a charity, they have less overheads and won't keep tons of your money in vaults...

Sesh, there's more to moral acts than just do it and get a reward. I don't do anything nice or charitable because I'm looking to buy a piece of heaven; That would be pointless. There's a divine and a human side to the Catholic Church, like every other denomination. The divine side in Catholicism says that a life worthy of a "Reward" is one of selfless good acts, faith, and God's grace. Someone doing something nice beacause they want to be rewarded by God after death isn't being selfless and they should realize that their Deity knows it. So the Christians you speak of only doing it for the benefits aren't going to get that, no are they?

And for any charity, you need to check out the fine print. The Red Cross keeps most of the money donated to pay inhouse bills. When I give a donation at Mass, I know most of it is going to pay gas, electric, and living expenses for the nuns across the street. When our parish does charity drives, we do the whole gifts for kids, food drives, clothes drives -- tangible items instead of money.