To you smug atheist, evil is in every corner of society and the world. 99% of the intolerance i see on this forum is from the atheists.

Meh, I’m not even gonna rebut that. Personally I don’t see why should we be tolerant of the covering up of child abuse, slave labour, the smuggling of nazi war criminals to South America, past support for fascist regimes, brainwashing, patriarchy, theocracy, crusades, jihads, terrorist attacks on innocents, forced genital mutilations, homophobia, institutionalised anti-semitism, the consistent stifling of science over hundreds of years, the teach of faith as a virtue over investigation etc.

I’m not suggesting that the religious have a monopoly of evil in this world (Stalin and Mao would contradict that) but rarely do you find an atheist doing any of the above in the name of his/her lack of belief in a deity as you do with the religious. Hence my lack of patience for bullshit like this.

I’m not going to and try a rebut that either because its true but would you seriously be so naive to actually believe that people with no connection to any religion haven’t done the exact same things? And I’m sure the thousands of people around Ireland that rely on the SVP would agree with me that the catholic church does do some good.

I wouldn’t call myself a catholic (even though I’m brought up one) but I believe (or hope) that there’s something after I die and yes I know that science is the absolute truth in the world. Now tell me whats wrong with that?

Brian, you are wrong.

And what about the thousands of priests who stood up against fascism, the Muslims who saved thousands during the Rwandan genocide, or care for the homeless and drug addicts around the world. The bishops and priests who have stood up for civil rights across America and Latin America with major risks to their own lives. Nobody is in any doubt of the evil perpetrated by the church but I wish people would actually inform themselves on other facts instead of jumping on their highhorses. You talk about intolerance of the Catholic church yet display an equal level of intolerance. If this is what Atheism is about Im ashamed to call myself an Atheist

those brave priests you speak of for the most part acted on their own without the support of the church and in many cases were frowned on by the church.

Waffler by name, waffler by nature.

Ah but its too hard to appeal to arrogant and ignorant people that way.

You’re right Brian. However, by making a stand on behalf of the church you’d better be be prepared for comments about how you are a fanatic, a supporter of child abuse, crazy and homophobic. That’s usually the way it goes on here once somebody shows anything that resembles support for catholicism or religion in general.

Yes, Jimmy. Perhaps the foiled gas attack should have been a footnote, if included at all. Perhaps you should set up your own news website, rather than smarmily petition existing ones to moderate and alter their content.