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PROTEST THE POPE SAT 18TH SEPT LONDON

Started by George, August 10, 2010, 10:45:32 PM

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George

Hey there, you probably all know about this anyway but in case anyone hasn't heard, old Ratzinger is in the UK for a STATE visit (yes, at taxpayers expense) next month and there will be a protest march on Saturday 18th in London.

http://www.protest-the-pope.org.uk

I'm not assuming that all atheists will neccessarily support this cause by the way but for those that do I thought it might be cool to start a little HAF group to meet up on the day..

Just a thought, I'll be there anyway

 :headbang:
"If we believe absurdities, we shall commit atrocities" -- Voltaire (1694-1778)

PaulKing

"I'm not assuming that all atheists will neccessarily support this cause by the way but for those that do I thought it might be cool to start a little HAF group to meet up on the day."

I was amazed to read this comment. This is the most important atheist event in years. The Pope is
a criminal of the first order.

Catholic Crimes include: -

The instigation and active participation in the genocide of 800,000 people in Rwanda.
The rape of as many as one million children Worldwide.
Supporting Hitler with a formal Concordat.
Supporting almost every fascist regime Worldwide.
Bank fraud (the P2 affair)
Arms dealing. The Vatican supplied the arms used against the UK in the Falklands war.
The murder of 50,000 native Canadian children.
Opposing birth control.
Opposing abortion.
Faking relics.

I URGE EVERYONE TO SUPPORT ALL THE "PROTEST THE POPE" EVENTS (films, party, meetings and in particular the mass march) and do everything possible to promote the event.

http://www.protest-the-pope.org.uk/cate ... /upcoming/

George

Quote from: "PaulKing"I was amazed to read this comment. This is the most important atheist event in years. The Pope is
a criminal of the first order.

Glad I 'amazed you' .

Of course, regarding the pope, these are certainly my sentiments. It's something I feel very strongly about. I suspect the overwhelming majority of atheists will feel the same but I'm not gonna presume that just because someone is an atheist they will automatically support this specific political issue. The common absence of belief in a deity doesn't mean we all hold the same views or share an agenda. This is the type of thinking that causes some to start thinking of atheism as a religeon (with Dawkins as our pope!) or a movement of some sort. I also wouldn't refer to it as an atheist event as I hope that atheists and theists alike will turn out to protest this criminal.

That said, nice one for the support Paul..
"If we believe absurdities, we shall commit atrocities" -- Voltaire (1694-1778)

Tank

Catholic Church struggles to raise funds for Pope's visit

QuoteWith just over a month to go before the Pope arrives in Britain, the Catholic Church is facing a £2.6m shortfall in donations needed to pay for the visit.

The Church officially needs to raise £7m to pay for the pastoral elements of Pope Benedict's state visit, although sources involved in organising the trip have told The Independent that the final bill will be closer to £8m.

So far the Catholic Church in England, Wales and Scotland has raised just £5.1m with the vast majority â€" £4m â€" coming from wealthy private and corporate donors. Just £1.1m has been given through individual collections at Mass â€" the equivalent of £1.27 for each regular mass-going Catholic...

It would be rather nice if he couldn't get a full house at his presentations.
If religions were TV channels atheism is turning the TV off.
"Religion is a culture of faith; science is a culture of doubt." ― Richard P. Feynman
'It is said that your life flashes before your eyes just before you die. That is true, it's called Life.' - Terry Pratchett
Remember, your inability to grasp science is not a valid argument against it.

MilkyWay

Quote from: "Tank"Catholic Church struggles to raise funds for Pope's visit

QuoteWith just over a month to go before the Pope arrives in Britain, the Catholic Church is facing a £2.6m shortfall in donations needed to pay for the visit.

The Church officially needs to raise £7m to pay for the pastoral elements of Pope Benedict's state visit, although sources involved in organising the trip have told The Independent that the final bill will be closer to £8m.

So far the Catholic Church in England, Wales and Scotland has raised just £5.1m with the vast majority â€" £4m â€" coming from wealthy private and corporate donors. Just £1.1m has been given through individual collections at Mass â€" the equivalent of £1.27 for each regular mass-going Catholic...

It would be rather nice if he couldn't get a full house at his presentations.


Tank, I always think on these occasions that the person in question will say enough to make people see through it all. Often staging a protest against has a negative effect. Usually the person or persons trip themselves up enough for some if not all free thinkers to start to think for themselves, seeing through the superstition. That's my view. I felt a little radical like you for a long time, it's not worth it, you can't make the blind see if they don't want to.  :)

Tank

Quote from: "MilkyWay"
Quote from: "Tank"Catholic Church struggles to raise funds for Pope's visit

QuoteWith just over a month to go before the Pope arrives in Britain, the Catholic Church is facing a £2.6m shortfall in donations needed to pay for the visit.

The Church officially needs to raise £7m to pay for the pastoral elements of Pope Benedict's state visit, although sources involved in organising the trip have told The Independent that the final bill will be closer to £8m.

So far the Catholic Church in England, Wales and Scotland has raised just £5.1m with the vast majority â€" £4m â€" coming from wealthy private and corporate donors. Just £1.1m has been given through individual collections at Mass â€" the equivalent of £1.27 for each regular mass-going Catholic...

It would be rather nice if he couldn't get a full house at his presentations.


Tank, I always think on these occasions that the person in question will say enough to make people see through it all. Often staging a protest against has a negative effect. Usually the person or persons trip themselves up enough for some if not all free thinkers to start to think for themselves, seeing through the superstition. That's my view. I felt a little radical like you for a long time, it's not worth it, you can't make the blind see if they don't want to.  :D
If religions were TV channels atheism is turning the TV off.
"Religion is a culture of faith; science is a culture of doubt." ― Richard P. Feynman
'It is said that your life flashes before your eyes just before you die. That is true, it's called Life.' - Terry Pratchett
Remember, your inability to grasp science is not a valid argument against it.

Thumpalumpacus

8 million pounds for a papal visit.  What a shame.

How much of that went to security?
Illegitimi non carborundum.

Tank

Quote from: "Thumpalumpacus"8 million pounds for a papal visit.  What a shame.

How much of that went to security?
Apparently that cost £1 million
If religions were TV channels atheism is turning the TV off.
"Religion is a culture of faith; science is a culture of doubt." ― Richard P. Feynman
'It is said that your life flashes before your eyes just before you die. That is true, it's called Life.' - Terry Pratchett
Remember, your inability to grasp science is not a valid argument against it.

MilkyWay

Quote from: "Tank"
Quote from: "Thumpalumpacus"8 million pounds for a papal visit.  What a shame.

How much of that went to security?
Apparently that cost £1 million



A disgrace when the vatican is wealthy and the UK is in difficulty. Thoughtless timing. And as a warning of terrorism comes from The Republic of Ireland toward the UK. Coincided timing.

Thumpalumpacus

Illegitimi non carborundum.

Tank

Quote from: "Thumpalumpacus"Ought he not pay his way?

Difficult issue. Benny came on a state visit. There are rules for dealing with such things and it would cause problems in future if the rules were changed to accommodate one case.

I am always dubious about the screams about the costs of this sort of thing, particularly policing. Is that £1million the absolute cost or the delta cost over and above the basic cost of employing the plod to sit on their arse? As a headline grabber the £1 million is much better than say £200k in overtime and extra fuel that would go straight back into the economy. Tax has to be spent or it's theft.

Should he have paid his way? Absolutely, it should not have been a state visit if he was going to preach. But I do believe the Catholic church did scrape up something like £7 million, so it's not like the UK taxpayer footed the whole bill. That being said maybe they should have spent the money setting up a condom factory and trust to buy latex in perpetuity and give out condoms during communion.

It's all a pile of poo based on 'woo'!
If religions were TV channels atheism is turning the TV off.
"Religion is a culture of faith; science is a culture of doubt." ― Richard P. Feynman
'It is said that your life flashes before your eyes just before you die. That is true, it's called Life.' - Terry Pratchett
Remember, your inability to grasp science is not a valid argument against it.

George

Just a quick update, I haven't been on here for a while and haven't looked at this thread since the protest last weekend.

It was great fun anyway and loads more people than I expected; the demo organisers said 20,000, most news sources said 10,000, I suspect it was somewhere in between. The atmosphere was light-hearted and fun, in part due to the gay contingent which made up well over half of us and always seem to know how to have a good time! I saw some amusing costumes and signs- one that I remember that particularly tickled me went something like: 'If stem cell research is mass murder, I had a wank this morning and it must have been genocide!'

Anyway, I drove home the next day with a stonking hangover feeling good that I had participated. I was a little miffed afterwards that it hadn't got more news coverage than it did though..
"If we believe absurdities, we shall commit atrocities" -- Voltaire (1694-1778)

Thumpalumpacus

Quote from: "George"Just a quick update, I haven't been on here for a while and haven't looked at this thread since the protest last weekend.

It was great fun anyway and loads more people than I expected; the demo organisers said 20,000, most news sources said 10,000, I suspect it was somewhere in between. The atmosphere was light-hearted and fun, in part due to the gay contingent which made up well over half of us and always seem to know how to have a good time! I saw some amusing costumes and signs- one that I remember that particularly tickled me went something like: 'If stem cell research is mass murder, I had a wank this morning and it must have been genocide!'

Anyway, I drove home the next day with a stonking hangover feeling good that I had participated. I was a little miffed afterwards that it hadn't got more news coverage than it did though..

Y'all got a respectable amount of coverage here in America.

Quote from: "Tank"Difficult issue. Benny came on a state visit.

The irritant about this is that Vatican City is not a dejure, but only a de facto state.
Illegitimi non carborundum.

George

Quote from: "Thumpalumpacus"Y'all got a respectable amount of coverage here in America.

Cool! That's good to know, thanks :D
"If we believe absurdities, we shall commit atrocities" -- Voltaire (1694-1778)