Quote Originally Posted by Banquo's Ghost View Post
Well, the dominant position of nearly all Catholics until probably the 20th century was the belief that Protestants were devilish heretics that should be tortured/broken on the wheel/used for garden mood lighting upon detection. This is why Religion is Fun ® and should be available to all children.
Aye, a fine example of the Catholic Church to adapt to maintain its power. 500 years ago if you disagreed on a minor point of doctrine you were burnts at the stake, now they are building a palace of all religions in Rome and JP2 says every person in the world is saved.

Quote Originally Posted by Banquo's Ghost View Post
Just to indulge my curiosity, why is the city called Babylon not, y'know, the actual city called Babylon? (Yes, I know - too simple).
A fair point, but put it to the rest of the criteria. Was it built on 7 hills (was it, I don't know?)? Did it exercise great influence over the peoples of the earth? Is it clad in scarlet and purple and fine gems (apparently not, since it's rubble now). As I said, the term Babylon was a codeword which Jews used for Rome since for obvious reasons they couldn't speak against Rome directly.

Quote Originally Posted by Banquo's Ghost View Post
What's ridiculous, my friend, is that anyone actually thinks there might be a beast of Revelation. Entertaining, but ridiculous.
And to the early patriarchs, the idea that one might claim supremacy over all others was ridicolous. To a Catholic in the Reformation, the idea that a Pope might claim infallability was ridiculous. To a Catholic 100 years ago, the idea that a Pope might build a palace of all religions in Rome was ridiculous. To everyone 2,000 years ago, the idea that the Jews might survive unlike any other diaspora was ridiculous. To anyone 200 years ago, the idea that a Jewish state might once again exist in its historic homeland was ridiculous. In the early days of the Jewish settlement when Palestine barren and Jews and Arabs shared their Palestinian identity, the idea that Israel might be divided along the lines Daniel states seemed ridicolous. A lot of crazy stuff has happened, how much is left to complete the picture...