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How about this Robert?

I object to any pastafarian nativity displays on public property depicting baby FSM, mon. Unless it is fresh and I am hungry.

I’ve always lived in quite secular countries so the really really religious bit about Christmas has always been background noise. And the secular parts of Christmas (tree, gifts, food etc) dominate the holidays. I’m sure if I was in Folktown, Alabama and an atheist, I’d wear ear plugs and find excuses to avoid family events or else I might go…[Read more]

Simon Paynton wrote:

nearly everyone has respect due to them as a human being.

I would say “everyone”, if we follow the “veil of ignorance” and assume that any of us could have been born into the position of not being seen as human for one reason or another.

But as it says in the lecture, “there never was a [making or signing of a] social contract”, in that there was never a pre-contract phase (except pre-human) and then everyone decided to make a contract.

I think it’s much more plausible that social norms came first, and a society’s laws reflect its social norms.

I hold to the view that the social…[Read more]

Rousseau is really only talking about what is best for society in terms of its laws. Once laws are established and adhered to then social norms can develop. Not all people want to follow social norms. I ignore or disagree with many of them. Treating people with respect and kindness only becomes a social norm in societies where the rule of law and…[Read more]

Reg the Fronkey Farmer wrote:

all its members should want what it best for that society so that is can flourish to the betterment of each individual rather than for each person’s individual (selfish) needs.

I think all its members want to follow social norms, and following social norms is good for the society.  Social norms include treating ot…[Read more]

We go all out. Tree, lights, dinners, parties, presents, carols, decorations. All secular, of course. I am a huge fan of the Nutcracker ballet, The night b4 xmas poem, Burton’s nightmare b4 xmas, and my favorite old movie, “A xmas carol” based on Dickens’ book. I like the spooky part of xmas. A scapegoat is born of a virgin (1/2 the DNA, I guess?)…[Read more]

We have adult children who have their own children in some cases. In order to avoid clashing invitations with other sides of family, we invented Cranksgiving. We choose a Saturday somewhere between Christmas and Thanksgiving, and combine the traditional turkey dinner with all the gift giving.  This year it’s 15th Dec.  And somehow ‘Cr…[Read more]

We participate because its how we grew up.  We don’t celebrate the holiday with prayers or appearances at church. I think we just celebrate the season. We like the Christmas tree, the sappy Christmas music, and the family gatherings. To off set the sappiness of the Christmas music we have taken to listening to jazz Christmas music.  We greet peo…[Read more]

I am sure Rawls must have read “The Social Contract” by Rousseau (1792) and his idea of “General Will”.

In order for a society to work its members must be prepared to give up a degree of freedom by obeying the rules of that society. By doing so they gain certain advantages, such as protection, community groups and access to shared resourc…[Read more]

So Rawls rejected traditional utilitarianism as being unsatisfactory.  He proposed that a principle of state justice (which utilitarianism apparently claims to be) should be seen from the standpoint of the most disadvantaged person from behind the veil of ignorance: any of us could be that person, therefore any self-interested person would want…[Read more]

We decorate, exchange gifts, have turkey dinner, & listen to music while the fire is burning in the fireplace. No prayers, religion, or pettiness involved.

I participate in it with my family and whomever “turns up” on the day. I am fortunate that we are all atheists and the day has no religious significance. It is just another occasion in the year for us to all meet up. Sometimes I go abroad to get a week of sun and extra daylight. A few times I have forgotten that it was Christmas day. Once I was in…[Read more]

OK, my statement was too short and merits further comment.

I do not give any consideration to moral or ethical concerns when it comes to how “cosmogenesis” occurs. For the sake of argument let’s assume it is possible to create one. If China builds its own particle collider and a collision creates a “Big Bang” or it discovers a monopole that infl…[Read more]

Reg the Fronkey Farmer wrote:

Our cosmos could thus have been burped into being by the laws of physics alone. It could only come into being via the Laws of Physics.

So, anything that conforms to the Laws of Physics is ipso facto ethical?

BTW, there was a theological movement in the 1960’s called the God Is Dead or Death of God Movement. It’s…[Read more]

Here is a very interesting lecture about Rawls and the social contract.

Here’s the best lecture yet I’ve seen on how to respond to creationists. If you don’t want to watch the whole 80 minute video (which imo is good in every minute, by the way), we jump (below) into when Dr. Donald Prothero presents encyclopedic evidence for transitional species: