Sunday School

[Reg the Fronkey FarmerModerator]

Another Texas pastor reminds us of the bigotry of many Christian leaders.

Court won’t allow public money to be spent on private schools in South Carolina.

Iowa Religious Freedom Restoration Act used for the first time in court.

A Project 2025 adviser has defended slavery in Haiti.

If pastors can’t keep their own churches safe, they should not be running the country.

World of Woo: Homeopathic company refuses to recall life-threatening nasal spray, FDA says.

Environment: 100% humidity heatwaves are spreading across the Earth.

Richard Dawkins on reverse engineering evolution’s perfection.

Who was Amber Nicole Thurman? Now watch all of the video in this story.

Astronomers can’t agree on how fast the universe is expanding. Could it be at the same rate as their ego’s?

The connection between Light and Matter is at the heart of scientific exploration and could hold the key to unlocking the universe’s secrets.

Life is starting to look a lot less like an outcome of chemistry and physics, and more like a computational process.

Project 2025 with Katherine Stewart on the conservative Heritage Foundation’s plan for restructuring the entire federal government.

Long Reads: The unoriginal sins of the Evangelical movement. Why some Christians don’t want the Bible back in Public Schools. The high cost of Catholic charity when it comes to healthcare. Selling happiness through illusions. Not all public education is created equal. The Consciousness Panel.

Sunday Book Club:  The Exvangelicals: Loving, Living, and Leaving the White Evangelical Church.

Some photographs taken last week. Some great photography here.

While you are waiting for the kettle to boil……

Coffee Break Videos:  Dr. Joe Mercola, expertly debunked as a snake-oil grifter.  Melting Sea Ice pushes walruses to the brink. George Orwell’s warning to the world.

[Reg the Fronkey FarmerModerator]

Have a great week everyone!

The moment we want to believe something, we suddenly see all the arguments for it, and become blind to the arguments against it. It is not disbelief that is dangerous to our society; it is belief.

–George Bernard Shaw

[Simon PayntonParticipant]

Reg the Fronkey Farmer wrote:

It is not disbelief that is dangerous to our society; it is belief.

That is very true.  One of the best answers is “I don’t know”.

[StregaModerator]

Thanks, Reg!!

[Reg the Fronkey FarmerModerator]

One of the best answers is “I don’t know”.

It can be a good answer. It is better than pretending to have certainty. But humans prefer to have an answer, even if it is the wrong answer. It is like the post during the week about not wanting to think. Many no longer seem to possess any ability to do so and apart from their basic executive function, the only skill they have is boring me to death with faith based or psuedoscientific based inane commentary. People become sheep and sheeple are happy and content to be so while thinking they are not. One book is enough so long as someone else reads it then and explains it to them.

I now no longer have any religious people in my life. At least not in my immediate family or circle of friends. It is such a blessing for us all 🙂

[jakelafortParticipant]

Reg, have you deconverted many Muslims?

[Reg the Fronkey FarmerModerator]

Yes, I have helped some to de-convert themselves. These would be mostly ‘cultural Muslims’ whose parents were immigrants to Ireland. I guess many were halfway out the door and just needed to be able to reason themselves the rest of the way. There seems to be a brain fog zone where we know something is not true but can’t quite put our finger on what it is. This is because of a deep seated indoctrinated mistrust of ‘DOUBT’. Doubt is often considered to be the voice of Satan in your ear. This stops many from being able to take the last step. Some do not want to upset (or shame) their family. At this point many will do an about turn. If this is where I meet them, I can help get them out.

I will explain that having doubt is normal and healthy. I will use a Socratic approach to get them to question what they actually think they believe and keep narrowing it down until there are no reasonable grounds leave to continue professing that belief.

In writing this I have noted to myself that it does not matter what the belief is, be it Allah, any of the other ones, healing gemstones, Astrology etc. I use the same approach each time and I have ‘saved’ many more of them from the torment that Doubt can cause. I do not keep a tally but several hundred at this stage. The reward is not mine. It is all theirs.

I walked in a local bar once and Kareem raised his pint of Guinness to welcome me. It was the first time I had seen him since I helped him figure it out. He insisted that he would buy me one. I told him I did not drink alcohol , and knowing he was from Tunisa, I said, Mem Fadlick attini kawa? The irony of an ex-Muslim drinking Guinness and an Irishman drinking coffee was not lost on us 🙂

[UnseenParticipant]

Regarding the Dawkins article…

It is wrong to think, as many people seem to do, that we humans are the pinnacle of humankind, that lions and tigers are the pinnacle of cathood, that the evolutionary process is complete now.

In fact, here’s how evolution works: when a trait helps a creature adapt, it tends to become incorporated; when it becomes dysfunctional, it tends to drift away from the species. When a trait is neither here nor there—freckles on people for example—it tends to persist over time.

My point: Perfection has no place in a discussion of evolution.

[Reg the Fronkey FarmerModerator]

I agree, perfection is just a subjective opinion. A living entity just needs to evolve to be the fittest for its environment. That is, it has adapted to survive in the environment it exists in.

[_Robert_Participant]

jakelafort wrote:

Reg, have you deconverted many Muslims?

I read but can’t substantiate that 50% of Muslims in the UK (and a whopping 70% of Pakistanis) are inbred. If they have to stick to their “kind” this would certainly be possible.

[Reg the Fronkey FarmerModerator]

I was only talking about this last week with a friend who is a medical doctor from Pakistan. Marrying someone related to you is very common. I learned a new term during that conversation…..consanguineous marriage…read more here.

[UnseenParticipant]

Reg the Fronkey Farmer wrote:

I agree, perfection is just a subjective opinion. A living entity just needs to evolve to be the fittest for its environment. That is, it has adapted to survive in the environment it exists in.

And, typically, it continues to evolve toward a perfect solution, rarely, if ever, actually achieving it.

[jakelafortParticipant]

Having an affinity for those in consanguinity cause diseases that eases when we die.

I’ve wondered whether Muslims are innately lower in intelligence. Is it true? At least in the FB atheist v Muslim ability to reason is negligible. I’d expect more from a cat. Now i can hang my hat on inbreeding. And remember the Hapsburgs? Messed up features and messed up minds.

But i know Ashkenazi are supposed to be inbred and they are highest iq. So i really have no idea. And whether Islamic culture and education rings the death knell to reasoning well i can’t tell. Damn sure does not help!

https://www.discovermagazine.com/mind/cousin-marriage-can-reduce-iq-a-lot

[jakelafortParticipant]

Reg, do you think most of the deconverted are happy to have had their world view challenged and deconstructed?

Most of the apostates i know are ultimately very happy about it. It is a liberating experience. I do remember one who was unhappy but otherwise it was positive for those in my sphere.

[jakelafortParticipant]

Here are a few Muslim voices.

God mood changes so climate changes

God plans can change with the mood swing of the God with time to astonish and change people way of thinking

We don’t use black magic or white magic but if we go on to do it on atheists then they will be no more exist in this world

We Muslims must break all the statues from all over the world of humans and all personalities

Come on out from your knucker holes you atheists into the world of reality of God’s existence

There’s no Atheism.
If you want to convince me;give me an empirical evidence for your claim..

Dog is Devil’s favorite animal and wine is a favorite drink of devil

Most Atheists have submitted their desires and will to Devil but not the God who is all Good

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