Hmmm, it's an interesting side effect, KatieO. I'll give it some thought.

>>credibility is lost over that one small departure, ie. when it comes to debating Poly. Even Pericles acknowledges that my interpretation may be justified given the history.<<

But to find myself, after your gentle chiding, on the receiving end of some classic Boaz condescension, is simply too much to shrug off.

Boaz, I really didn't need yet another interminable lecture from your good self about bloody Surah bloody 9.

>>You are perceived as beligerant because you are.. and you spend more time on pedantism than core issues, attacking credibility based on that pedantism and avoiding like the plague anything resembling reasoned argument on simple issues like 'Surah 9'<<

Has it not yet penetrated that skull of yours that I couldn't give a tinker's cuss about bloody Surah bloody 9?

It is your hobby-horse, not mine. Your fixation. Your paranoia. Your knee-jerk reaction. Your infatuation. Your monomania.

Boaz, there is no "reasoned argument" to be had with you on the topic of bloody Surah bloody 9.

You have taken great pains to prove that, many times over.

>>you neither understand that chunk of (un)holy writ, nor its circumstance, nor the character of the writer and thus, you have no grounds for attacking the ARGument.. so you go for the arguER<<

Understanding or not understanding is not at issue. As far as I can tell, yours is itself an idiosyncratic reading.

But what I object to more than anything is the manner in which you use it - and other carefully selected snippets - as a kicking-off point for one of your whack-a-mozzie rants.

And you know it.

Sorry, KatieO, I had to get that off my chest.

After reading Katie0's last post, I didn't know whether to swoon or puke.

But many thanks to Pericles for cutting through the crap and providing a chuckle on the way.

Incidentally, I don't think anybody's provided a cogent, rational or persuasive argument for retaining the recitation of the Christian prayer at the opening of Australian parliaments.

Like I said before, the sooner we get rid of it, the better. It's divisive, anachronistic and - above all - rubbish.

Ah, the measure of maturity (raised by Katie O)...

According to Encyclopedia Dramatica,

"People who are truly mature do not
need to advertise their maturity,
because their actions basically speak
for themselves. Ironically people
who are the least mature use words as a
weapon to claim superiority over their
rivals..."

Or as another poster wrote,

"Well, I must be regressing, because I
find maturity drab, and boring.

Excuse me... I must go and pull faces at
my neighbours."

Foxy,

You read ED? OK, now I'm impressed.

Actually.... this thread, and the sweeping dimensions of some of the posts, is .. dare I say it... becoming almost like a good episode of FRAZIER... which is VERY therapeutic for me as I've now seen the re-runs on FOX so many times.

Pericles asks:

<<Has it not yet penetrated that skull of yours that I couldn't give a tinker's cuss about bloody Surah bloody 9?>>

Ok..I already knew that Pericles.. I mean..by now I soooooo know it, it ain't funny. THE PROBLEM is.... that most of what I write contra Islam is BASED on that very surah... and here you are saying:

"I don't give a damn about it" but that illustrates the very problem of your belligerance against me.

IF.....

a) you don't care about it.
b) you don't understand it.

WHY then.. do you attack me when I refer to it:) That my dear P is irrational. You are attacking me for speaking about something YOU don't understand... now.. some head scratching might be in order here.. as you contemplate this.

How in this wide world can you declare someones posts a 'whack-a-mozzie' when you don't comprehend the reasons for the 'whack' ?

Such an approach is.. to be kind..absurd.

Nuff said on that.

CJ is stretching out his shepherds crook and reigning us all back to topic...

COGENT ARGUMENT 'FOR' retaining the Lords Prayer?

I don't have one CJ.. I'd just say that it is a valued cultural tradition which gives me a 'feel good' moment.

Dear Foxy.. all your words are noted. But please don't poke your tongue out at ur neighbours, they might not come to help when the next intruder invades and you scream :)

Spikey.. are you noting this acknowledgment?

Oh, I most certainly can, Boaz, believe me.

>>How in this wide world can you declare someones posts a 'whack-a-mozzie' when you don't comprehend the reasons for the 'whack' ?<<

Once upon a time, there was this guy called Oswald Mosley.

He was well educated, well brought up, well off - a bit of a toff, actually - and mixed with the top echelons of society.

He had this thing about Jews.

He believed that they were at the heart of all that was wrong about British society, especially a society that was going through hard times.

He also disliked foreigners. He believed that they were anti-British, and were taking away jobs that rightly belonged to Englishmen.

He made it his life's work to bring these facts to the attention of the British people.

So far so good, I hear you say.

Sounds a perfectly reasonable thing to do - everyone has to have an interest in life, after all. And looking after the welfare of your fellow citizens - that's a pretty worthwhile objective too, is it not?

Now, our Oswald didn't have bloody Surah bloody 9 to help him. Or any other number come to that.

But he did use "evidence" that - coming from a bully-pulpit, and from someone so eloquent and totally engaged - sounded very convincing to the man on the street.

In large numbers. On many streets.

Helped along by guys with small brains and substantial muscles, to keep any objections from the crowd to a minimum.

The "evidence" was largely in his own head. It involved attributing conspiracy, hatred, financial duplicity, all manner of crimes, to his enemies.

It did not involve much by way of fact. What facts that did exist were twisted and distorted.

Because of this, no intelligent argument was possible. Only he could make sense of it, which allowed him to continue rabble-rousing for a very long time.

Nobody could understand the reasons for his "whack-a-Jew" stance either, Boaz.

It still didn't make him "right".