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Thatcher makes me sick, and my first reaction to her death was "great", though I know that this is not a worthy reaction on the death of any human. She started us on the "no such thing as society" route with some people working until they drop or retiring in poverty while others are unemployed. I remember the disbelief when her government said "some people will never get a job" - now its the norm.

The thing I hate her most for is usurping the prayer of St Francis of Assisi. I cannot her it now without thinking about how she did the exact opposite of every single statement - it brings thoughts of selfish greed, self importance and hypocrisy instead of peace and humility now.

Another was changing the law and backdating it when she tried to take money earmarked for London transport, despite the judge saying it was not only legally but morally wrong,

GK Chesterton wrote an entire novel about that. He also wrote a very interesting Essay that got included in All Things Considered http://www.catholic-forum.com/saints/gkc16028.htm

I'm aware of Huxley's views:

"Science and Christian Tradition,"

It really is unreasonable to ask any rejector of the demonology to say more with respect to those other matters, than that the statements regarding them may be true, or may be false; and that the ultimate decision, if it is to be favourable, must depend on the production of testimony of a very different character from that of the writers of the four gospels. Until such evidence is brought forward, that refusal of assent, with willingness to re-open the question, on cause shown, which is what I mean by Agnosticism, is, for me the only course open.

This does essentially agree with your explanation of Huxley's view. However, his having invented the term does not make his view authoritative. Agnosticism is a formal, philosophical term which means what I had written previously. It is essentially universally agreed to have this definition, in spite of its distinction from Huxley's. "Real definition" is an interesting term; I suppose it depends what you mean by that. Philosophical dictionaries almost universally do not contain the definition you speak of, and respected dictionaries such as merriam-webster prefer the one I've mentioned. The hypothetical opinion of one man who invented the term is not really relevant--the etymology of a word is interesting, but it doesn't determine the definition.

http://www.m-w.com/cgi-bin/dictionary
http://www.importanceofphilosophy.com/Dictionary.h tml
http://www.askoxford.com/results/?view=dict&freese arch=agnosticism&branch=13842570&textsearchtype=ex act http://www.catholic-forum.com/saints/ncd00225.htm

If you go to the library and use any dictionary of philosophy, you'll find that it uses the term the way I've defined it.
Dan

Not "communist atheism", more like "atheistic communism", and the reason why people consider that USSR's communism is atheistic is because communism as implemented by the USSR is all-encompassing, and includes religions beliefs, hence may be weakened by "traditional" religions. This has nothing to do with atheism.

Perhaps the reason that people consider the USSR's version of communism to have been atheistic is that... the USSR was officially an atheist state.

Other atheist states include revolutionary France during about 1790-1794. The rulers of France instituted a religious- In 1794 France's official atheism was briefly supplanted by a deist religion, 'Cult of the Supreme Being' and then when Napoleon took over, he instituted a return to traditional religion.

During the time that France was officially atheist, people were allowed to practice religion only in approved and limited ways. People were killed for their religious beliefs but of course the reason was not considered to be "we're killing you in the name of atheism", but "we're killing you for your treasonous professions of religion." But it comes down to the same thing which you said has never happened... atheists killing people for practicing their religion.

Just out of interest, 'St Patty' (WTF?) lived from roughly 390AD to 464AD. The whole celibacy thing wasn't brought in until about six hundred years later in 1022AD by Pope Benedict VIII...

I'll bet our 'Holy Saint' was ridin' all around him as he slaughtered the local yokels (druids)... ;-P

They'll probably go after St. George after that. That shield of his clearly violates the Red Cross' trademark.

I am a Catholic, president of the finance committee for my parish, occasional technical consultant for my diocese and frequently write about religious topics on my own blog. The principal is a tool and this has little to do with Catholicism. In fact, it can quite easily be criticized on the grounds of interfering with parental rights (did you see any parental input at all in this policy?) and discouraging evangelization. From a Catholic perspective, this is poor pedagogy and a bad example for our youth.

If I were at this school, I would immediately start a Catholic evangelization blog and provide reflections on my personal religious life. For an extra twist of the knife, I'd call it St Isadore's Shrine. If this is going to go to court, let "religious discrimination" be the grounds for the 1st amendment suit. If the blog didn't get shut down, the school has other problems in that it's not enforcing its rules evenhandedly and providing a bad moral example for the students.

http://www.catholic-forum.com/saints/sainti04.htm

Patronage
computer technicians; computer users; computers; the Internet; schoolchildren; students

ISIDORE of Seville
[Saint Isidore of Seville]

Also known as
Isidore the Bishop; Schoolmaster of the Middle Ages
Memorial
4 April
Profile
Son of Severianus and Theodora, people known for their piety. Brother of Saint Fulgentius, Saint Florentina, and Saint Leander of Seville, who raised him after their father's death. Initially a poor student, he gave the problem over to God and became one of the most learned men of his time. Priest. Helped his brother Leander, archbishop of Seville, in the conversion the Visigoth Arians. Hermit.

Archbishop of Seville c.601, succeeding his brother to the position. Teacher, founder, reformer. Required seminaries in every diocese, wrote a rule for religious orders. Prolific writer including a dictionary, an encyclopedia, a history of Goths, and a history of the world beginning with creation. Completed the Mozarabic liturgy which is still in use in Toledo, Spain. Presided at the Second Council of Seville, and the Fourth Council of Toledo. Introduced the works of Aristotle to Spain.

Proclaimed Doctor of the Church by Pope Benedict XIV in 1722, and became the leading candidate for patron of computer users and the Internet in 1999.
Born
c.560 at Cartagena, Spain
Died
4 April 636 at Seville, Spain
Patronage
computer technicians; computer users; computers; the Internet; schoolchildren; students
Representation
bees; bishop holding a pen surrounded by a swarm of bees; bishop standing near a beehive; old bishop with a prince at his feet; pen; priest or bishop with pen and book; with Saint Leander, Saint Fulgentius, and Saint Florentina; with his Etymologia
Additional Information
Google Directory links devoted to or with information about Saint Isidore Domestic Church, by Catherine Fournier
Catholic Encyclopedia, by John B O'Connor
For All The Saints, by Katherine Rabenstein
Zenit.Org news story re patronage
Ecole Glossary, by Karen Rae Keck
New Catholic Dictionary
Lives of the Saints, by Father Alban Butler
Translate
español | français | deutsch | italiano | português
Readings
Prayer purifies us, reading instructs us. Both are good when both are possible. Otherwise, prayer is better than reading.

If a man wants to be always in God's company, he must pray regularly and read regularly. When we pray, we talk to God; when we read, God talks to us.

All spiritual growth comes from reading and reflection. By reading we learn what we did not know; by reflection we retain what we have learned.

Reading the holy Scriptures confers two benefits. It trains the mind to understand them; it turns man's attention from the follies of the world and leads him to the love of God.

The conscientious reader will be more concerned to carry out what he has read than merely to acquire knowledge of it. In reading we aim at knowing, but we must put into practice what we have learned in our course of study.

The more you devote yourself to study of the sacred utterances, the richer will be your understanding of them, just as the more the soil is tilled, the richer the harvest.

The man who is slow to grasp things but who really tries hard is rewarded, equally he who does not cultivate his God-given intellectual ability is condemned for despising his gifts and sinning by sloth.

Learning unsupported by grace may get into our ears; it never reaches the heart. But when God's grace touches our innermost minds to bring understanding, his word which has been received by the ear sinks deep into the heart.

from Book of Maxims by Saint Isidore Heresy is from the Greek word meaning 'choice'.... But we ar

At one point in the article a student prays to Mary and wonders what a better patron saint would be for underwater robotics.

I checked here and found that, though there is no patron saint of robotics there is a saint of the Internet, computers and computer technicians (Isidore of Seville)

A good saint for them to pray to next time (or maybe MIT can pray to) would be Erasmus who is listed as the saint for watermen, sailors, mariners and seasickness.

Plenty of Catholics died in the holocaust, so the Church was also a victim. One of those was Maximillian Kolbe who gave up his own life in a concentration camp to save another man with a family.

Revelation 17:9 states "And here is the mind which hath wisdom. The seven heads are seven mountains, on which the woman sitteth". Can you find a single source that says Jerusalem was known at the time John wrote Revelation (90-95 A.D.) as a "city on seven hills"? It doesn't have seven hills, Mount Moriah is its chief feature. Or perhaps you could admit that even today Rome is universally known as the "city on seven hills"? Additionally, the source you quote confuses the Whore

OF Babylon with the city, as he cites OT references to Jerusalem as a harlot city. The Roman Catholic Church is not the city of Rome, but it's located there. Thus the seven hills are the hills on which the women sitteth. Further, when John wrote, Jerusalem had been destroyed at least twenty years earlier. It was rubble, not one stone was left on top of another.

On the theme of OT references to harlotry, I recommend you read the book of Hosea. The entire book is given to that theme. It shows how God views spiritual infusion of pagan practices and other pseudo-gods into worship of Him.That is what God considers harlotry against Him. And notice that Hosea is directed to Israel (and Judah as well, but primarily the northern kingdom of Israel). The book is certainly not directed solely at the capital (Jerusalem) of the southern kingdom. Now that you see what harlotry is about, examine Jeremiah 7 and 44, see what God thought of worship directed to "the queen of heaven". Then check here, here, here, here, and here. Sadly, the RCC has enthroned a co-mediatrix and called her "Mary", declaring in recent times that she was immaculate, a perpetual virgin, and assumed into heaven directly. Hence the RCC has committed spiritual adultery, worthy by God's standard of being called a whore or harlot.

Also further, the woman in Revelation 17-18 is "drunk with the blood of the saints". Jerusalem has not, from the time John was writing (you agree with me that it was after the apostles were killed, 90-95 A.D. is usually accepted), conducted enough exterminations of Christians to be drunk on the blood of saints. Yet the RCC has been the primary persecutor, tormentor, and killer of the saints (saints in the Biblical, not RCC sense). See here, or check into the history of the city of Beziers, where the pope's legate had every man, woman, and child brutally murdered because some of them deny transsubstantiation.

And although you state "since all scripture hadn't been written until after they [the apostles] died (when John wrote the book of Revelation)" showing that you realize that Revelation was written after Jerusalem was destroyed, this conflicts directly with the source you cited which claims that the destruction of Babylon in Revelation was of Jerusalem. Since Revelation 17-18 is part of prophecy, it really wouldn't make any sense to predict a past event. And the destruction of Babylon is by means clearly spelled out. In Rev 18:8, "the kings of the earth, who have committed fornication and lived deliciously with her, shall bewail her, and lament for her, when they shall see the smoke of her burning".

Your hermeneutics and exegetical principles are clearly badly lacking, and discussion with you bears no fruit. Your twisting of scripture is painful to witness, and I suggest you read the Bible and ask God directly with all your heart to open its meaning to you.

Amazingly, you see no doctrinal issues with a Bible altered to state that Methusaleh survived the flood. A basic principle in Biblical understanding is types. For example, the passover lamb is a type of Christ.

In the same way, the ark is a type of Christ. When judgment (the flood) came to destroy sin, only those safely in Christ (Noah, his wife, and his three sons with their wives) could survive. Yet from your acceptance of Methusaleh surviving the flood as the Septuagint teaches, that would mean that one can survive God's coming judgment without Christ. I realize the RCC teaches this, but it is utterly against the entire redemption message of the Bible ([N]o man cometh unto the Father, but by Me -- John 14:6).

If you don't know that, the RCC teaches this ; the current pope on December 6 of 2000, said "The Gospel teaches us that those who live in accordance with the beatitudes: the poor in spirit; the pure in heart; those who will lovingly [endure] the sufferings of life; will enter God's kingdom. All who seek God with a sincere heart, including those who do not know Christ and His Church, contribute under the influence of grace, to the building of this kingdom". Reference: here about twenty minutes in. There are many further examples if you doubt that one, see here, here, here, etc. etc.

Again proof that the RCC is not only non-biblical, it's anti-biblical. And note that here the "infallible" pope got the gospel entirely wrong.

While your acceptance of Methusaleh surviving the flood is tragic, your (and the web site you cited) claim that Jerusalem is Babylon in Revelation 17-18 is as well. Revelation 17:9 states "And here is the mind which hath wisdom. The seven heads are seven mountains, on which the woman sitteth". Can you find a single source that says Jerusalem was known at the time John wrote Revelation (90-95 A.D.) as a "city on seven hills"? It doesn't have seven hills, Mount Moriah is its chief feature. Or perhaps you could admit that even today Rome is universally known as the "city on seven hills"? Additionally, the source you quote confuses the Whore OF Babylon with the city, as he cites OT references to Jerusalem as a harlot city. The Roman Catholic Church is not the city of Rome, but it's located there. Thus the seven hills are the hills on which the women sitteth. Further, when John wrote, Jerusalem had been destroyed at least twenty years earlier. It was rubble, not one stone was left on top of another.

On the theme of OT references to harlotry, I recommend you read the book of Hosea. The entire book is given to that theme. It shows how God views spiritual infusion of pagan practices and other pseudo-gods into worship of Him.That is what God considers harlotry against Him. And notice that Hosea is directed to Israel (and Judah as well, but primarily the northern kingdom of Israel). The book is certainly not directed solely at the capital (Jerusalem) of the southern kingdom. Now that you see what harlotry is about, examine Jeremiah 7 and 44, see what God thought of worship directed to "the queen of heaven". Then check here, here, here,

The fact is that people in the Middle Ages believed in Christianity. Thousands of people devoted their lives to it, including rulers, which according to your theory should have known better. Some of the greatest saints were rich and powerful men who gave up their wealth and power to become monks. For example, St. Francis of Assisi, St. Anthony of Padua. St. Thomas Aquinas was imprisoned for two years by his aristocratic family for wanting to turn his back on his wealth and become a monk.

The fact is that people in the Middle Ages believed in Christianity. Thousands of people devoted their lives to it, including rulers, which according to your theory should have known better. Some of the greatest saints were rich and powerful men who gave up their wealth and power to become monks. For example, St. Francis of Assisi, St. Anthony of Padua. St. Thomas Aquinas was imprisoned for two years by his aristocratic family for wanting to turn his back on his wealth and become a monk.

Briefly, here's a few you might have heard of: Hertz, Pascal, Faraday, Kelvin, Pasteur, Maxwell, and Mendel.

Of course, many say the frist database was created by Saint Isidore of Seville.

See for yourself.

St. Isidore's already listed.