Google excludes churches from its non-for-profits discounts

[Fiocca]

It's actually tesco who is our local church

Lol is that swindon tesco?

I think thats a good thing in the OP.

I hate religion. I personally think it's a made up load of stories soley intended to create a form of control over the masses. Obviously it is very open to interpretation so it is down to the individual how they go about practising it, so taring all believers with one brush is a silly thing to do yet it still amazes me how some of the intelligent people i've met can come out with bile.

One day we quizzed lad i used to work with, much more intelligent than me. We asked him if we would go to hell even if we were nice people because we didnt believe and he said yes, "so, if a peadophile believed and repented for his sins, even though what he did was terrible, would he go to heaven?" i asked, his answer was yes..

It's simply a form of brainwashing and a use of fear as control which even clouds the mind of an intelligent person. Plain human morals is all that is needed imo.

 

[Johno please?]

What makes you think so?

Are religious ideologies the only ones that people are willing to sacrifice themselves for? Really?.

Islamism is a political movement. It seeks to justify it's stated goals within Islam, however to attribute it solely to religion is ignoring the reality of why Militant Extremist Islamism has gained traction among certain Arab and Muslim populations, those reasons are largely political, not religious.

Because they claim to love death more than we do life?

 

[Castiel]

Because they claim to love death more than we do life?

Do they?

That doesn't really answer the question either. Are religious ideologies the only ones that a person would be willing to sacrifice themselves for?

That is what you are stating, can you qualify it?

 

[Johno please?]

Do they?

That is what you are stating, can you qualify it?

Clearly, they're willing to blow themselves apart in markets or mosques, they must love it.

That doesn't really answer the question either. Are religious ideologies the only ones that a person would be willing to sacrifice themselves for?

I guess not.

But I still think 3000 people would be alive today if they were not religious fanatics.

 

[Hatter The Mad]

But I still think 3000 people would be alive today if they were not religious fanatics.

Way more than that. What Castiel seems to be implying is that if X number of people die as the result of religion (or X bad things happen), then X number of people would find a way to die (or X other bad things would happen still) if religion doesn't exist... as if there is some kind of 'bad' quota this world needs to fill.

 

[matt0r]

So they would have flown planes into buildings if they were not religious? I think not.

Well you could argue that whilst they are united by religious ideology they rallied against a political one. I'm sure al-Qaeda would say that what they perceive as agressive foreign policy was also at play, making the religious motives less strong.

 

[Vonhelmet]

So they would have flown planes into buildings if they were not religious? I think not.

Given that what Islamic terrorists are basically objecting to is the West's intervention in the middle east, I'm going to say yes, they would have done.

 

[Castiel]

Way more than that. What Castiel seems to be implying is that if X number of people die as the result of religion (or X bad things happen), then X number of people would find a way to die (or X other bad things would happen still) if religion doesn't exist... as if there is some kind of 'bad' quota this world needs to fill.

**scratches head**

I'm not implying any such thing as a quota.

I'm stating that people do bad things, how they justify those things doesn't mean that they would not have done them without that justification.

For example, would Islamic Terrorists have attacked the United States if their foreign policy was not centred on the Middle East and Israel?

The answer is probably not, so was it religion or politics that was the motivator for the 9/11 attacks?

There is no doubt that religion can precipitate horrendous acts of barbarity, however so can just about any human ideology, be it religious or secular and for every evil committed in the name of religion there is also good committed in the same name. You state that the good would happen anyway, and maybe you are right, but equally so would the evil, it would simply be (as the good) justified differently.

 

[Castiel]

I guess not.

But I still think 3000 people would be alive today if they were not religious fanatics.

Clearly, however in all likelihood, if similar circumstances were prevalent in a non-religious world, they probably would not be.

In any case I am not saying that religion is not used to justify evil deeds, I am saying that religion is a tool and if that tool did not exist, another would in it's stead.

People will interpret an ideology to suit their own agenda, be it religious, political or philosophical.

 

[hurfdurf]

They do.
There's only one difference between ID and Evolution.
That is evolution is done by random mutations and ID mutations are from a higher being. That's it. As they are identical in all but one way the evidence is the same for both, one theory falls out side of the scientific method and as such is ignored and isn't science.

Why is it so hard to understand, I'm genuinely confused why so many people have a problem with this.

Why are you bringing up intelligent design?

I'm saying there is evidence for evolution and none for god.

You are saying that the evidence for evolution must start some where. Scientists don't know so don't claim to know the answer, intelligent designers say "God", for which there is no evidence.

 

[RDM]

Given that what Islamic terrorists are basically objecting to is the West's intervention in the middle east, I'm going to say yes, they would have done.

To be fair a belief in an after life really helps when recruiting suicide bombers.

 

[Vonhelmet]

To be fair a belief in an after life really helps when recruiting suicide bombers.

All that means is they'd find a way to kill 3000 people without killing themselves...

 

[Castiel]

To be fair a belief in an after life really helps when recruiting suicide bombers.

Religion isn't a prerequisite for belief in an afterlife.

 

[Scrutinize]

i have scanned this thread...usual anti religious waffle from hurfdurf et al but

just so you know a lot of charitable trusts & donation programmes which grant money or equipment exclude religious activity, google is doing nothing new or radical here.

the exclusion is for all religious activities / places of worship not just churches.

makes perfect sense to me. trusts and donation programmes etc should be neutral. services/charities set up by religious groups for specific community benefit would remain unaffected no matter who sets them up.

 

[Castiel]

i have scanned this thread...usual anti religious waffle from hurfdurf et al but

just so you know a lot of charitable trusts & donation programmes which grant money or equipment exclude religious activity, google is doing nothing new or radical here.

the exclusion is for all religious activities / places of worship not just churches.

makes perfect sense to me. trusts and donation programmes etc should be neutral. services/charities set up by religious groups for specific community benefit would remain unaffected no matter who sets them up.

We are not talking about corporate donations, but service pricing and it isn't just restricted to Religion, Schools, Hospitals, gender specific charities and various other non religious groups will also not be able to access Googles non profit organisation pricing tariffs for it services. This is a change to it's previous stance.

 

[Scrutinize]

We are not talking about corporate donations, but service pricing and it isn't just restricted to Religion, Schools, Hospitals, gender specific charities and various other non religious groups will also not be able to access Googles non profit organisation pricing tariffs for it services. This is a change to it's previous stance.

i realise that, but it really isn’t that unusual or unexpected especially as google will have rightly identified that actually some of these not-for-profit amass huge amounts of money which serves to benefit the organisation's leaders, even if they do some good community projects.


what never ceases to amaze me though, is how we get from google’s policy to "killing in the name of" etc.

 

[Glaucus]

What about schools?

Remember it's not just uk, many schools aren't funded by government.
Still agree with it, as it helps insure money isn't just used for self interested members. If a charity is set upto help certain aspects of schools that is allowed as far as I can see.

 

[Glaucus]

So they would have flown planes into buildings if they were not religious? I think not.

You mean just like the idiot who flew a plane into the tax office.

 

[Amleto]

No-one else mentioned this? It's NOT for profit.

 

[Glaucus]

So they would have flown planes into buildings if they were not religious? I think not.

Why are you bringing up intelligent design?

I'm saying there is evidence for evolution and none for god.

You are saying that the evidence for evolution must start some where. Scientists don't know so don't claim to know the answer, intelligent designers say "God", for which there is no evidence.

If you followed the argument it was about some atheists abusing science, and using it for something it was never attended. All losley involved with many people claiming religion is ignorant, when exactly the same as atheism.