um, riiiight. Us, too!
nice to have a reality check. :snicker:

I know someone who will give you one million dollars if you can demonstrate this in a double-blind experiment.

<foghorn>That's a joke son, humor. Get it?</leghorn>

Philosophy is a funny thing. Some accomplish something, some are patently silly or unprovable, while yet others are only a philosophy by accident.

The Amazing Randi is great. There is an interesting interview with him, Penn, and Teller on the DVD release of "Bullshit!".

Sorry "cheer up" was "une erreur de traduction" :p

Religion and cults and wackos, oh my!
 

Who was it that said a religion is a cult with political power?

Mind if I throw in a couple of quotes from people you might know?

During almost fifteen centuries has the legal establishment of Christianity been on trial. What has been its fruits? More or less, in all places, pride and indolence in the clergy; ignorance and servility in the laity; in both, superstition, bigotry and persecution.
-- James Madison

I do not find in orthodox Christianity one redeeming feature.
-- Thomas Jefferson

Religions are all alike - founded upon fables and mythologies.
-- Thomas Jefferson

Nothing can be more contrary to religion and the clergy than reason and common sense. [Philosophical Dictionary,1764]
-- Voltaire

All national institutions of churches, whether Jewish, Christian or Turkish appear to me no other than human inventions, set up to terrify and enslave mankind and monopolize power and profit.
--Thomas Paine

If you want to get together in any exclusive situation and have people love you, fine -- but to hang all this desperate sociology on the idea of The Cloud-Guy who has The Big Book, who knows if you've been bad or good -- and CARES about any of it -- to hang it all on that, folks, is the chimpanzee part of the brain working.
--Frank Zappa

Me, well, I'm agnostic. I don't know, you don't know, and I doubt you'll get me to believe anything that doesn't stand up to the scientific method. But that's just me. (And that also explains why I don't have many friends here in the Bible belt.)

That happens often enough around here that it's not a crisis when it occurs. We have a number of people on the board from different countries where english is a second language.

We have people from China, France, and even Australia!

I see precious little planning on the Save Katie Holmes! idea.

What are we going to do to SAVE her?

When I think of Katie Holmes, I don't necessarily think in terms of ummmm saving her.

Not as such.

Sorry bout that.

Yeah, she seemed pretty, um ...cheerful... when she was in Batman Begins.