Quik Posted January 7, 2016 Share Posted January 7, 2016 So you agree that we should timetable exams on Saturdays and Sundays because otherwise we are pandering to a minority who consider these days to be Sabbaths? No I don't agree with that. We and the majority of the world have a saturday/sunday weekend. The muslim world generally has a friday/saturday weekend which I respected when in their countries. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Solomon1 Posted January 9, 2016 Share Posted January 9, 2016 No it's not. But you made me laugh. They are a group of hackers-out to destroy the church of scientology. Best of luck to them-it's going to be hard. Scientology? I doubt that's barely registering Here's what anonymous do! :banana: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harrystottle Posted January 10, 2016 Share Posted January 10, 2016 I heard a phrase last year that summed up our democracy pretty well. It is that we have a "Potemkin democracy". Potemkin was allegedly a Russian nobleman who constructed nice looking fake villages along a route taken by Catherine the Great of Russia, to impress her. From a distance they looked like real villages; close up, you could see that they weren't. Which is very like our democracy - it looks fine from a distance, but when you look closer, maybe not so good. We have a dismal first past the post system which doesn't reflect the will of the electorate and rather worse, we have developed a separate political class which most certainly does not reflect the views of the electorate. So no matter how you vote, it is doubtful that your views are going to be represented. Nobody joins political parties any more, so they only stay afloat due to the donations of rich people and rich organisations; these are the people whose views will be echoed by the political class, not ours. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blake Posted January 10, 2016 Share Posted January 10, 2016 Given the rise in religious fundamentalism. Is "Western Democracy" under serious and grave threat of being overthrown and replaced by Theocracy ? The enemies of secular society are many . in the time of the "Enlightenment ", they were representatives of the institutional Church who drew inspiration from, the likes of "Bossuet" who wrote, "I have the right to persecute you because I am right and you are wrong". In my opinion, the enemies of secularism are out there,and they are legion. "Modern European history from the, Renaissance to the Enlightenment , from Erasmus to Rousseau, is the history of the strengthening of the separation between public institutions and religious traditions, and the growth of individual freedom" (In Defence of The Enlightenment.Tzvetan Todoro)". Are "Western Democracies" in danger of being toppled -from without and within- and replaced and governed by "Theocratic" regimes, peddling a: moral and ethical belief system that predates the "Enlightenment" ? Sorry, but this post is total tosh. Religious belief is falling away in every single one of the West's liberal democracies INCLUDING THE UNITED STATES where every year more people declare they profess no religion. And in fact this is chipping away at the Republican support base there. Christianity is on the back foot in Europe, the Middle East, and the Americas and in fact this is a matter of grave concern to. Church people. Only in Africa and parts of East Asia like Korea, which seems to be in the process of becoming a Christian majority country, is it doing OK. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cassity Posted January 10, 2016 Share Posted January 10, 2016 "This page can’t be displayed". Could be this... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
petemcewan Posted January 10, 2016 Author Share Posted January 10, 2016 Sorry, but this post is total tosh. Religious belief is falling away in every single one of the West's liberal democracies INCLUDING THE UNITED STATES where every year more people declare they profess no religion. And in fact this is chipping away at the Republican support base there. Christianity is on the back foot in Europe, the Middle East, and the Americas and in fact this is a matter of grave concern to. Church people. Only in Africa and parts of East Asia like Korea, which seems to be in the process of becoming a Christian majority country, is it doing OK. Don't you mean, the concept in the thread is "tosh"-not the post. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tinfoilhat Posted January 10, 2016 Share Posted January 10, 2016 I heard a phrase last year that summed up our democracy pretty well. It is that we have a "Potemkin democracy". Potemkin was allegedly a Russian nobleman who constructed nice looking fake villages along a route taken by Catherine the Great of Russia, to impress her. From a distance they looked like real villages; close up, you could see that they weren't. Which is very like our democracy - it looks fine from a distance, but when you look closer, maybe not so good. We have a dismal first past the post system which doesn't reflect the will of the electorate and rather worse, we have developed a separate political class which most certainly does not reflect the views of the electorate. So no matter how you vote, it is doubtful that your views are going to be represented. Nobody joins political parties any more, so they only stay afloat due to the donations of rich people and rich organisations; these are the people whose views will be echoed by the political class, not ours. What's your top 5 countries whose political systems we should emulate? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
onewheeldave Posted January 10, 2016 Share Posted January 10, 2016 What's your top 5 countries whose political systems we should emulate? I quite like Bhutan, as it provided the origin of "Gross National Happiness", and, their political system takes the concept seriously. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gross_National_Happiness Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shreddie Posted January 10, 2016 Share Posted January 10, 2016 Could be that we get democracy started in this country first! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tinfoilhat Posted January 10, 2016 Share Posted January 10, 2016 Could be that we get democracy started in this country first! So, if we had democracy (which I thought we had, what with all the elections and that) which country would you like us to emulate? You could give us your top 5 if you like. ---------- Post added 10-01-2016 at 16:57 ---------- I quite like Bhutan, as it provided the origin of "Gross National Happiness", and, their political system takes the concept seriously. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gross_National_Happiness Thank you Dave. I've had a quick look and I promise to look a bit further. Surprisingly though it comes in at number 33 in the corruption scale. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corruption_Perceptions_Index Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now