Patters

On the issue of economics, I've always largely agreed with the Catholic Church:

http://www.reuters.com/article/topNe...22325320070404

VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - Rich countries bent on power and profit have mercilessly "plundered and sacked" Africa and other poor regions and exported to them the "cynicism of a world without God," Pope Benedict writes in his first book.

The Pope also condemns drug trafficking and sexual tourism, saying they are signs of a world brimming with "people who are empty" yet living among abundant material goods.

...

In the 400-page book, called "Jesus of Nazareth," the Pope offers a modern application of Jesus's parable of the Good Samaritan, who stopped to help a man who had been robbed by thieves when others, including a priest, had not.

"The current relevance of the parable is obvious," the Pope writes. "If we apply it to the dimensions of globalised society today, we see how the populations of Africa have been plundered and sacked and this concerns us intimately," the Pope says in his book, which comes out on April 16, his 80th birthday.

Turd Furguson

You pick and choose issues to agree with from particular people.

If I brought up something the Pope said and you disagreed with it, you'd instantly call him a Nazi intolerant bigot or something and dismiss my point out of hand.

Patters

Is that anyway to treat your VP? With individuals whose main aim is to insult and offend, there's little point in arguing with them intelligently. I can either ignore them or respond with some sort of hyperbole. I'm sure I've done that to you when you've posted catty one liners rather than engaged in intelligent dicussion, but when you do occasionally post something intelligent I respond in kind. I treat people roughly with the same amount of respect they give me.

patsfan13

Many would say that part of the wealth accumulated by the Catholic Church was gotten from the poor. If you feel that strongly about this I suppose you and the Pope can send a donation to the UN.

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"Some guys play in all-star games, some guys don't. I don't know who picks all those all-star teams. In all honesty, I don't know who picks the combine, for that matter," Belichick said. "How does (Miami-Ohio offensive lineman Brandon) Brooks not get invited to the combine? How did Vollmer not get invited to the combine? I don't know. We can't really worry about that. We just have to try to evaluate them the best we can."

Patters

Yes, that's a problem. But, having spent a good deal of time in Europe, I've come to believe that the Church was sort of the NEA of its time. Without it, we would not much of the most magnificent art, such as the works of Caravaggio, today. The Church certainly has many historical flaws; overall it's record is no worse than any other equally large entity that has been around so long, e.g., England, France, Islam, etc.

Or we can get our politicians to raise taxes. Remember, Gorby proposed a $1 tax per person (flat tax) to create a fund to feed the poor of the world? The United States was against it, of course.

Fogbuster

I support voluntary giving as opposed to mandatory confiscation, or threats thereto.


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All_Around_Brown

You mean you are a freeloader with no sense of obligation to the shared sacrifices that come with democracies?

Okay, I could have guessed that was your position.

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patsfan13

IMO most poverty these days derive from a lack of economic freedom, ie property rights and too little reliance on capitalism.

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"Some guys play in all-star games, some guys don't. I don't know who picks all those all-star teams. In all honesty, I don't know who picks the combine, for that matter," Belichick said. "How does (Miami-Ohio offensive lineman Brandon) Brooks not get invited to the combine? How did Vollmer not get invited to the combine? I don't know. We can't really worry about that. We just have to try to evaluate them the best we can."

Real World

Originally Posted by Fogbuster
I support voluntary giving as opposed to mandatory confiscation, or threats thereto.


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I think it would all depend on what "shared sacrafices" you are talking about, and what fog is deeming as "mandatory confiscation".

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"The most difficult subjects can be explained to the most slow-witted man if he has not formed any idea of them already; but the simplest thing cannot be made clear to the most intelligent man if he is firmly persuaded that he knows already, without a shadow of doubt, what is laid before him."
Leo Tolstoy, 1897