Not quite up there with genocide as a challenge to theologians but I agree, they are immoral predators.

Good post by Robbo, a lot of male depression is situational/reactive, like crappy jobs, bad relationship/divorce, and drugs are only a short-term fix (if they don’t make one worse that is).

Like being in the Tropics

I think I picked it up as a term from a uni friend from Lincolnshire. They live by different rules and I don’t get any search results when I type it into Google either!

Nadal’s body is broken. Uncle Tony might look like a Mafia fixer but even he can’t fix that.
Nadal is a thoroughly good bloke, he should retire now rather than fade away, the light that burns twice as bright lasts half as long etc

Half the members of this forum get a lobb-on when there’s a thread about employment law.

I’m sure some of the F1 drivers do have real personalities, but it seems they are forced to be as corporate/monotone as possible. I think this is coming from the sponsors, who are obsessed with risk-management. But in the long run it just makes sport increasingly pedestrian and boring.

I think the tide of opinion is now turning in favour of Hamilton. He’s like Andy Murray, who needed to show more weakness and humility before people could begin to identify with him.
The other way to do it would be to show more humour, so maybe LH should consider some standup on the Monaco club circuit.

He’s been groomed for stardom since he was young and I reckon elocution lessons were a big part.

This is the reason so many professional sportspeople are as dull as dishwater. They won’t say anything to reveal character. I hope they leave the bikes alone, as Rossi has more character in his little finger than all the F1 dullards put together.

He’s from my neck-of-the-woods, East Herts, mixed with Monaco, not my neck of the woods.

This young fashion victim amused me on the way home yesterday

I initially read that as ‘abused me on the way home’.

I take a towel along, as I can’t stand the feeling of sweat on my skin. But I’m the only one in my training group of 10 – there are some filthy people out there.

It’s hot alright, in the process of cancelling all appointments in central London this week and avoiding the hell that is the central line in summer.

Happy the decision has been overturned, Alison Saunders has to go.

Last night’s episode demonstrated how tired the format has become, so in a way Jezza was right to throw in the fist when he did.

I hope this is the beginning of the end for the EU. Their treatment of Greece throughout this boringly elongated crisis demonstrates how little they care about the people of Europe, and how far they will go to protect the “integrity” of the EU project.
And the UK is not wholly out of the words economically, if the crisis ignites then our housing bubble could implode, with Arthur and Mildred queuing up outside the banks again.
Nothing was fixed in 2008, the can was kicked down the road.

Which pub were you in? If it’s one of the popular ones in the centre, there won’t be anyone from Oxford in them at this time of year,

Not true, the postgrads are there all year round, and the overheard chappie sounds like a postgrad.

Whilst matey-boy sounds pretentious and annoying, I find people who listen into others conversations to be the rudest of all!

Tends to be fast in mid-sized towns, but non-existent out in the burbs and countryside where I am.

Never received my gift item. Definitely open to scams.

Im with Shermer. I sat on the steps of St Pauls the other day and watched the cyclists going by, to my horror, many could barely ride the things (lots of boris bikes), and didn’t have the faintest clue of looking over your shoulder etc.

I don’t know anything about this case but the answer is not banning lorries from London (it is a working city).

The only long-term solution is complete separation between cyclists and other road users.

Sounds like you were fitter and faster than him, so you could have called him a moron as you sped past…until the next red light that is!

Your in Chile, travelling the world? If you are going to regret anything, it’s putting a downer on what should be one of the best periods of your life.
Just enjoy yourselves for now – as others have said, you still have bags of time, most of my friends didn’t start properly settling down until late 20s/early 30s, and Badnewz is an eternal bachelor these days (and no, that is not code for anything!).

Local loop on Sunday, East Hertfordshire.

7/10 here, always looking for a result mind.

I wonder if this is affecting sales of quorn foods.

At the risk of incurring the ire of the STW New Athiests, for debt advice, I hear this organisation is very helpful.
https://capuk.org/i-want-help/cap-debt-help/introduction

I think a truly successful person is someone who desires the welfare of other people, especially people who they have no family or kinship ties to. So people practicing service of some kind or other.
I’ve known plenty of “successful” people in today’s terms – rich, powerful, intelligent – but I think we use such achievements to try and fill a void inside of us which can only truly be filled through acts of empathy and to a certain extent self-sacrifice.
I should point out that in these terms, I am not a successful person, but I have a better idea of where I should be going in the future.

I read your post Molgrips but can’t work out – are you disagreeing with me or agreeing? It’s not clear.

The Church’s influence over society has waned in the UK to the extent that I hardly know anyone who is taught by rote what to believe.
Essentially the culture dominates peoples thinking, and I would argue that our culture is Positivist and based around Scientism/Scientific Rationalism, which is at root an ideology. This is why atheism is increasingly dominant.
We are simply not going to return to a theocratic society, so the posters who get so angered about religious intolerance are protesting at a straw man. Intolerance towards religion, however, is growing, and this thread largely demonstrates this. Some of the posters seem to exhibit the fury and need to control others which would have made them effective cardinals in the seventeenth-century Vatican.

Sailing the islands is next on my list.
My only problem with Croatia is that the mozzies eat me alive (I very rarely get bitten anywhere else, but coming back from my first two trips to Croatia, I had 20 plus bites on my limbs, and this was still with using the Jungle Spray).
The third time I took a bottle of Avon Skin So Soft of all things and I was fine so worth taking a bottle just in case.

Split is great, Dubrovnik too, but the latter gets heaving in tourist season. The islands are nice but can be quiet…check out Zadar.

That would take me writing at least a 10,000 word review of current neuroscience literature.

You could simply list some of the authors on this subject, I’d be happy with that.

The idea of freedom of choice is hilarious in of itself.

Please explain.

I assume a christian could “explain” why we cannot find god as well.

Finished my tea, back on the block.

The Bible puts great emphasis on the idea of a hidden God.

Theologians interested in moral issues have said that if God were unhidden/obvious, human beings would of course choose the good, rather than evil or indifference. So there would be no room for freedom of choice between good or evil, limiting character development.

In terms of the proof argument, the popularity of the New Atheist argument largely hinges on the fact that we live in a post-Enlightenment culture, where science and philosophical Positivism dominate. But many scientists would admit that science can only describe the universe, but is limited in terms of explaining the whys. Why is there something rather than nothing being my particular favourite.

Anytime Spin.
Okay, this thread seems to be lurching towards vindictiveness, so I’m signing off.
Exit Bad Newz, pursued by bear.

Could you recommend some?

Happily. I’m afraid my knowledge is limited to Christian Apologetics though.

Keith Ward is particularly clear and has a strong interest in science, so I think many of the STW massive might enjoy his books. “Is Religion Dangerous?” is his reply to Dawkins.

Alister McGrath can also be good value, especially “The Dawkins Delusion?”

Many of the New Atheist arguments aren’t actually that new so earlier writers like C.S. Lewis continue to be relevant, such as “Mere Christianity”. My personal favourite is a Russian writer called Nicholas Berdyaev whose works have been retranslated and republished recently.

I should be clear – I’m not sure of anything – but I have found the whole question of Religion far more stimulating since I opened up my reading to those who reply to the New Atheists, as well as the New Atheists themselves.

Seriously all religion is an easy target

Out of interest, have you gone out of your way to read any of the replies to the New Atheist books? You seem to think you have worked it all out, and that the debate is over. Your reply reminds me of the second hand book shop in Kings Cross where the bookshelf for “Religion” has a copy of a bible and is otherwise filled by works by Dawkins, Dennett, C. Hitchens, and Sam Harris.

I don’t think these New Atheist threads really have that much to do with genuine outrage at religious intolerance. I think they are motivated by the need for the posters to get an ego-boost and feel superior, feelings which largely motivate the New Atheist movement. It helps that religion and particularly Christianity is an easy target. But it gets boring after the 2,000th thread.

It is something of a generalisation to equate religion with religious fundamentalism. It is a tactic favoured by Richard Dawkins, whose work has been replied to by intelligent, highly educated writers like Keith Ward.
Whenever I see threads on this forum with a “Religion = Bonkers” theme, I think its shallow ego-boost time.