Blair 'to devote life to faith'

[Deckard]

Former prime minister Tony Blair has promised to "spend the rest of my life" uniting the world's religions.

Well, all I can say is, great start Tone. :rolleyes:

And "rest of my life" presumably doesn't rule out your lucrative roles at JP Morgan, Zurich, and the whole after-dinner circuit. Terms and conditions apply, eh?

Sorry but my cynicism knows no bounds with this guy. And to think that, back in 1997, I was as excited by and optimistic about him as I am now about Obama.

[Rog]

How distasteful!:mad:

[jOHN rODRIGUEZ]

Damned if you do, Damned if you don't. (I want my damned smile thingys back!)

[cacophony]

i love when politicians make blowhard claims that make them sound about as deep as a miss universe pageant contestant.

like how john edwards announced that he would spend the next 10 years working to eliminate poverty. oh yeah. that's totally going to happen. thanks to you, john.

[jOHN rODRIGUEZ]

. . . thanks to you, john.


Who me?

I've been thinking about you.

How are your twins? And give a listen to "Baby Luv" by Groove Theory, so many smiles on the way!!

[cacophony]

i was thanking john edwards for his magnanimous efforts to eliminate the un-eliminatable.

i have an ultrasound tomorrow and should get definitive confirmation of their genders. it's week 18 so as long as they cooperate and smile for the camera (as it were) we should be able to see teeny genitals.

so we'll be looking for either hotdogs or hamburger buns. i've been told that's what they look like on ultrasounds. i can't think of a grosser analogy.

[cacophony]

^ we saw hotdogs. :)

http://www.gofalldown.com/cacophony/myimages/BabyA18wks.jpg
http://www.gofalldown.com/cacophony/myimages/BabyB18wks.jpg

[Deckard]

aw sweet! :)

[chuck]

I was going to start a new thread for this one - but it seemed appropriate enough here.

And in breaking news (http://www.flickr.com/photos/arbernaut/2476955162/).... absolutely No News (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q4pY3QtiGyo).

[IsiliRunite]

That's definitely a really big finger.

World religions will never be united unless we bring reason back into the human gene-pool!

[Deckard]

And in breaking news (http://www.flickr.com/photos/arbernaut/2476955162/).... absolutely No News (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q4pY3QtiGyo).
Well that's good news.

(groan)

[Deckard]

Incidentally, I think in retrospect I was probably a little too cynical in my initial post of this thread. It's just that it's hard not to choke at the thought of someone - so closely aligned with action that was always going to exacerbate existing religious tension - miraculously explaining how he's now going to foster global peace and understanding. Even besides the obvious gorilla of Iraq, it's hard not to recall, for instance, his silence following the Israeli bombardment of Lebanon, among several other examples.

But perhaps you're right jOHN, we should give him the benefit of the doubt. When I hear remarks from him like "faith will be fundamental to how the world develops" I tend to interpret it as "what we need is more faith", and my kneejerk reaction is one of utter disagreement. But on reflection, I guess his position is at least based on pragmatism - like it or not, faith IS going to be fundamental to how the world develops over the coming decades, and let's face it, it's unlikely we're going to see some mass exodus from religion, at least certainly throughout most Islamic countries. So yes, the world does need more inter-faith dialogue, and it does need voices of moderation. At least, until we reach the next new Enlightenment, that is.

(assuming humanity survives that long)

[jOHN rODRIGUEZ]

(assuming humanity survives that long)

We will.