jakelafort

Hi Pope. Hope you have not been offended when i have called you Bean Man. Bean Man was a stoner from my college…super cool guy.

My background is different. Never indoctrinated and father who is extremely bright, is an outspoken atheist who i observed in debates with various theists and professors and he always dismantled them. Once at a…[Read more]

Yes, it is an oxymoron. Being incapable of reasoning without reconciling the outside world to the certainty of the religious delusion is not thinking. It is avoidance of thinking or at least reasoning. And that is what we mean when we say thinking.

If it weren’t the Abrahamic religions then it would have been some other religion, no? Was there…[Read more]

And i meant to indicate that apostates who begin in those areas in which religion is dominant are the ones who are impressively smart.

Robert, you are fortunate she is of a like mind. I have been adversely impacted in romance by women with infected brains.

And you are correct that in many places it is tantamount to social suicide-obviously any place in which fundamentalism is dominant but among blacks it seems to be the case almost ever place. I notice that apostates are way…[Read more]

I like Hitch..quite the orator and thinker but i hate the tendency among atheists to worship the guy.

No doubt there are theists who might be shocked into thinking a bit but that flavor of criticism can go on almost endlessly and it is stuff i thought about independently as a child. No doubt 100s of thousands or greater have as well..

Norm Crosby ha?

The maladrop does not fall far from the tree.

Hope there is no schism using a neologism.

No circumlocution, obfuscation or ambiguity…me likey dat article from Smithsonian about the old believers lost in Siberia.
What an interesting story.

Jody’s typo intending guilt but writing quilt reminds me of an episode of Curb Your Enthusiasm. Larry is charged with inditing an obituary for Cheryl’s aunt…the published version says…beloved cunt. One letter can change the meaning a whole lot.

Were we to discover life on another planet and learn that some significant minority define themselves as A- we may conclude shit has gone terribly wrong there.

Reg, your first paragraph might have been written by me. Precisely how i feel although my zeal in opposing theism has waned over the years.

Yes, i figured it out a while ago. You are a good man.

Jody, without the clarification i would have pictured you in a metaphorical quilt of guilt.

Reg, did you get any response?

It is amazing that anyone believes. It is just so painfully obvious that it is all man made and that the greater the power/influence of the church the greater the harm that results. Am tired of disputes with theists. Have had a few deconversions. You fight the good fight and enough Reg’s will make a difference.

I gotta show i am on a level with a monkey and stop discussing Jesus. You are not gonna back off your jesus fetish any more than Michael is gonna back off his prophesy nonsense. Just a song.

Simon, you say Jesus is an additional source of love and charity, and that we need secular and any other source.

It is behavior that counts. Not words. Over the centuries Jesus was near and dear in the hearts of Christians. Notwithstanding their love of Jesus they have proven themselves to be vicious, the exact opposite of the things you uphold.…[Read more]

yeah i marvel at the ability of Christians to read god’s mind, to know that this or that natural event is the judgment of condemnation against some hated group or sinful behavior.

Is god in control of the weather, geology and infections? If so how come he punishes so many innocents? If he can control weather and geology why not make it…[Read more]

Reg, that is a working definition and application of the word spiritual that i can subscribe to.

Reg, i read theologians and apologists when i was 12 and 13 years. Found it all wanting. Other than excerpts i refuse to read or listen to long videos.

You are like a cerebral flagellant in suffering through such tripe. But have you encountered any apologists/theologians who make sense? Impressed with any of em?

Far be it from me to argue any pope is a half-wit.

Does it follow that his dimwit nature negates his pantheistic expressions/sentiments?

Reg, my knee jerk reaction is identical. But upon reflection i wonder what is the position of the church on the natural world.

Man has free will. I think that is undisputed. God intervenes in human affairs in response to prayer i guess although i don’t see how that can be reconciled with the notion of god’s plan. Theologians are wont to read…[Read more]

Simon i was not isolating the church. Instead it was an examination of your love and charity claim. Nevertheless what is it that you claim the church has done that is good and would not be in equal or greater measure in a secular society divorced of political/religious ideology?

You did not answer or counter any of my points.