Seriously? God doesn't give a fuck mate.

[Gob]

Francis added an appeal at the end of his traditional Easter Sunday blessing to address the massacre which killed more than 130 people.

Speaking from the loggia of St. Peter’s Basilica, Francis said: “I want to express my loving closeness to the Christian community, targeted while they were gathered in prayer, and all the victims of such cruel violence.”

He added: “I entrust to the Lord all those who were tragically killed and pray for the injured and all those who are suffering as a result of this dramatic event.”

How can people continue to believe such bullshit?

[Bicycle Bill]

Because the only other alternative would be to acknowledge that the world is no fucking good at all, and we should instead be spending our time learning "how to shoot somebody who outdrew you" ?
(the quote, in case anyone doesn't recognize it, is from the 5th verse of 'Hallelujah')

-"BB"-

[MajGenl.Meade]

How can people continue to believe such bullshit?

You need to be specific. I believe that the Pope will pray. Don't you?

[RayThom]

Where was the Lord moments before this tragic incident occurred? He could have changed the course of events had he chose to do so.

Ergo, the pope would have then been spared the need to pray for all of those who were tragically killed and injured due to this dramatic event.

Thoughts and prayers never changes anything.

Always reaction... never action.

[Gob]

You need to be specific. I believe that the Pope will pray. Don't you?

How can people believe that the Pope's utterances make any difference? If there was god, why would he let his praying believers be blown to shit?

[Lord Jim]

How can people continue to believe such bullshit?

And a happy Easter to you too...

[Econoline]

[Joe Guy]

“I entrust to the Lord all those who were tragically killed and pray for the injured and all those who are suffering as a result of this dramatic event.”

How can people continue to believe such bullshit?

The Pope is doing his job. Give him a break. It's Easter, for Christ's sake!...

[dales]

Eggzactly

HAPPY EASTER, EVERYONE!

eta: no "pagan easter ham" this year.....RIP DAVE

[liberty]

Sri Lanka Blasts: Here's What We Know So Far About the Decade's Worst Terror Attack
Security at Colombo's airport was also enhanced, according to Sri Lankan Airlines, which advised its passengers to arrive four hours before their flights.
News18.com
Updated:April 22, 2019, 2:35 AM IST



Sri Lanka was rocked Sunday by a series of deadly blasts that killed more than 200 people and injured hundreds more. Here is what we know so far about one of the deadliest attacks in the island nation's history:


What Happened?


Powerful explosions struck in quick succession at three hotels in the capital Colombo. The Cinnamon Grand was hit at around 8:30 am (0300 GMT), and the high-end Shangri-La soon after at 9:05 am.
Three churches were also targeted in that wave of blasts: Colombo's historic St Anthony's Shrine, the St Sebastian's church in the town of Negombo — north of the capital — and the Zion Church in the east-coast town of Batticaloa.

Hours later, there were two more blasts — one of them at another Colombo hotel. At least two of the eight were carried out by suicide bombers, according to police sources and a hotel official.


Who Were the Victims?


The blasts hit the churches when they were full of worshippers gathered for Easter services. An AFP photographer saw bodies and debris lying on the floor at St Anthony's. By Sunday evening, Sri Lanka's local news agencies said that the toll stood at 218 dead and 452 people were injured.


Police said 35 foreigners were among the dead, including British, Dutch, Portuguese, Chinese and American citizens, with the US and Britain later confirming their nationals were killed. Hospital sources also said British, Dutch and American citizens were among those killed, with Britons and Japanese also injured.


According to sources, nine foreign nationals are still missing.



Min of Foreign Affairs, Sri Lanka: 9 foreigners reported missing. 25 unidentified bodies believed to be of foreigners,are at Colombo Judicial Medical Officer's mortuary. Emergency hotline to assist families of affected foreign nationals will be operational 24 hrs at +94 112323015
— ANI (@ANI) April 21, 2019



Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj added three Indians were killed.


A Portuguese man also died, according to the Iberian nation's LUSA news agency. Two Chinese nationals were injured, the country's embassy in Sri Lanka said, according to Beijing's official Xinhua news agency.


Who Did It?


There was no immediate claim of responsibility, and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe declined to identify any suspected perpetrators. However, according to intelligence report, National Thowheed Jama'ath of Sri Lanka is behind the blasts.


At least 13 people have been arrested in connection with the attacks, police said, and investigators would look into whether the attackers had "overseas links". Of the 13, 10 suspects have been handed over to the CID.


The island nation has suffered deadly militant attacks for years, especially by ethnic Tamil militants during a decades-long civil war that ended in 2009 when Sri Lankan forces crushed the insurgency.


In recent years, there have been clashes between the majority Sinhalese Buddhist community and minority Muslims, and in March last year the government imposed a 12-day state of emergency to quell anti-Muslim riots.


Christian groups have also complained of increased harassment from hardline Buddhist groups.


And, according to documents seen by AFP, the country's police chief warned top officers 10 days ago of possible suicide bomb attacks on churches and the Indian high commission by the National Thowheeth Jama'ath (NTJ), a radical Muslim group in Sri Lanka. He cited reports by a "foreign intelligence agency", according to the documents.


How Did Sri Lanka React?


Wickremesinghe urged people to "hold our unity as Sri Lankans" and pledged to "wipe out this menace once and for all."


The Archbishop of Colombo, Malcolm Ranjith, described the attackers as "animals" and called on authorities to "punish them mercilessly".


The government beefed up security and imposed an immediate and indefinite curfew across the country. It also put in place a "temporary" ban on social media platforms "in order to prevent incorrect and wrong information being spread".


Security at Colombo's airport was also enhanced, according to Sri Lankan Airlines, which advised its passengers to arrive four hours before their flights. It added that passengers with passports and tickets will be able to reach the airport during the curfew.



SriLankan Airlines issues notice for passengers travelling during curfew, following the series of explosions that occurred in the Sri Lanka on 21st April. The curfew has been imposed till 6 am on 22nd April. pic.twitter.com/ZQMlZagVKg
— ANI (@ANI) April 21, 2019



Embassies in Sri Lanka have warned their citizens to shelter in place.


How Far Has the Probe Reached?


The police have also found a house where several suspects alleged to have been staying at Sarikkamulla in Panadura North. A van allegedly used to transport suspects and explosives to Colombo was taken into custody with its driver in Wellawatte on Sunday evening.


Late at night, an improvised explosive device (IED) was found in close proximity to Bandaranaike International Airport. Sri Lanka's Air Force spokesperson said that the device was successfully diffused. However, security was stepped up near Colombo international airport, leading to heavy traffic.


Meanwhile, Sri Lanka president Maithripala Sirisena has appointed a Special Investigation Committee to look into the causes and consequences of the attack.

[MajGenl.Meade]

How can people believe that the Pope's utterances make any difference? If there was god, why would he let his praying believers be blown to shit?

Thank you, but can you be specific?

The Pope's utterances; do people believe they make any difference to whom or to what?

Do you believe that god (if one existed) should prevent from happening to his "believers" those things of which you and I do not approve, but allow them to happen to "non-believers"?

[You appear, inadvertently no doubt, to suggest that God would be more credible if he protected Christians while permitting non-Christians to be blown to bits. Are you perhaps confusing God with Trump, which is usually the latter's notion ]

cont. p94

[Big RR]

Are you perhaps confusing God with Trump

One shoudl never do that; even Trump doesn't--he thinks god aspires to be him (after all, the god wouldn't have any moral code to guide his actions).

But face it, god has nothing to prove. Go'd s not a warrior who exists to avenge any attach on "his" people, and god's silence doe not man god does not care or is not acting, anymore than skin cancer does not mean that the sun is failing us. We have the power to create a better world if we choose to, and the pope's expression of love an unity may well be the beginning of that. In any event, it's worth a chance. We've had plenty of chances of seeing how an eye for an eye fails.

[Gob]

How can people continue to believe such bullshit?

And a happy Easter to you too...

Nice one!

[Gob]

Do you believe that god (if one existed) should prevent from happening to his "believers" those things of which you and I do not approve, but allow them to happen to "non-believers"?

No.

[You appear, inadvertently no doubt, to suggest that God would be more credible if he protected Christians while permitting non-Christians to be blown to bits. Are you perhaps confusing God with Trump, which is usually the latter's notion ]

cont. p94

Nope, what "god" should do, instead of imparting his message, by the most frankly unbelievable and stupid way (Jesus), is to set out clearly and in totally unambiguous terms, who he is and what he expects., The way "he" has gone about things, created death destruction, evil and suffering. Then let us get on with it.

That any two of your Christian cults can have radically opposite views, just goes to show how badly god screwed up.

God vs Mohammad, Mohammad is winning on penalties.

[Big RR]

Gob--I guess what you are saying is that god and allah (not mohammed) are competing dieties (or whatever), but what if they are different views of the same. Is it really any surprise that people would try to put the unknowable into a box they can understand, and that the boxes will be as different ans people and cultures are? Face it, god is not a god of war and power, god is a god of winning hearts and minds. anything less will just drive people away, people have to want to do things the "right" way, not be threatened into it. Because as much as people will often move to support the strong man (as history has shown), they will also rebel and tear him down (with the rebellion coming from the very beginning among some). Indeed, one need only to look at the bible, esecially the OT, to see how common that was. I think god wants a lot more than that, and he wants us to change.

[MajGenl.Meade]

I missed your explanation as to what other people believe to be the difference(s) that the Pope's utterances made. Are you in a position to know what ever other person in the world believes? If so, I've been worshipping in the wrong direction

I don't know if he prayed or if he just says he did - but if a family member of a victim obtained comfort from believing he did, is that not a difference? You seem to have a very stark view of prayer - more fundamentalist than most believers, I'd guess.

If there was god, why would he let his praying believers be blown to shit?

You state now that you don't believe that god should prevent his praying believers from being blown to K.C. Hence, your implication that god does not exist because they do suffer is based upon a lack of knowledge as to "why" rather than reason.

Nope, what "god" should do. . . is to set out clearly and in totally unambiguous terms, who he is and what he expects.

You argue that the only possible explanation for your failure to agree with or to understand who he is and what he expects, is that god has not made it clear?

That any two of your Christian cults can have radically opposite views, just goes to show how badly god screwed up

I'd appreciate clarity on what these "radically opposite views" are. Do you mean such unimportant views on infant baptism vs. believer baptism?

Once again, I'm confused by your insistence that God should be micro-managing everything and his evident failure to do that is somehow proof of his non-existence. I am certain you agree that humans manage to disagree with each other, screw up and cause suffering all on their own account? [That's a very biblical position]

The God vs. Mohammed is a bit odd. Islam is based on the same Old Testament but is not a Christian cult (such as Jehovah's Witnesses who are)

[dales]

The first five books of the O.T. …...I believe.

[MajGenl.Meade]

...and Psalms. Outside the Qu'ran and Hadith there is considerable Islamic commentary on e.g. Isaiah.

Guess I'll have a long wait for Gob to explain what he meant about the Pope's prayers and how his lack of knowledge is the basis for any conclusion other than ignorance (in the non-pejorative sense).

[Gob]

...and Psalms. Outside the Qu'ran and Hadith there is considerable Islamic commentary on e.g. Isaiah.

Guess I'll have a long wait for Gob to explain what he meant about the Pope's prayers and how his lack of knowledge is the basis for any conclusion other than ignorance (in the non-pejorative sense).

When has it been demonstrated that any prayer has any effect on god?

When god sent down himself as his son so that we could kill him in order for him to forgive us, did he not know that his method of telling us his desired conduct for ourselves, which was written 60 + years after the event by people who were not there, in a semi-literate society, would lead to all the bloodshed and killings in his name?

[Big RR]

True Gob, people make mistakes, always have, always will. but they can (or at least many can) learn from their mistakes.

So jesus was sent to preach the gospel of love and tolerance and the golden rule, and it ended up with those he was preaching to killing him. And a religion was founded on those teachings, one which many perverted and turned into an excuse for blood shed. But some have learned and tried to practice those teachings and spread that word, and some of them have accomplished much good form establishing hospital at a time when there were none, to caring for the poor, to any means of charitable works. Certainly the perversion of the teachings and of religion in general could e seen, but what would you have god do--become a powerful ruler striking down those who do not live up to his teachings? That's pretty much the same attitude of many that participated in the bloodshed over the centuries (that and self enrichment or acquisition of power). Just as a parent has to let a child learn from his/her mistakes, so must god--at least if the lessons are to be retained.

As for prayer having an "effect" on god, maybe that effect is actually within ourselves. Just as meditation permits us to examine things within ourselves, so does prayer.