jakelafort

You bring up some good points Robert.

As to tax cuts and based on two polls, Americans are aware of massive tax cuts for wealthy but only 17 percent in one poll and 21 in the other realized that there are tax cuts for most Americans. Perception counts more than reality. Stock market is crazy high and that means fat retirements and that is…[Read more]

Ivy,

I am relying on the election, recent polls and the popular support for his impeachment.

What makes you think there is a majority of support for Trump?

Your at first it really astounded me comment is how i used to think of religious people. How in the fuck can something so transparent fool so many?

But Trump is NOT a reflection of the majority, rather of a frighteningly large minority. The appeal is also to nativism, authoritarianism and conservative religious values. I don’t think he will win…[Read more]

stand in the middle of Fifth Avenue and shoot somebody” and not “lose any voters.”

Half of the population would vote for a cantaloupe before they would vote for Trump. You’ve heard, if you had a brain you would be dangerous? Cantaloupes don’t have that problem And they are a nicer shade of orange. Nor will a cantaloupe be a pawn for the religious right or the dictators. So a fractured democratic party may not be the obstacle it…[Read more]

It would be interesting to examine the brains of atheists. It would be extra-interesting to see the brain imaging of apostates who were raised by fundamentalists. I predict there is no damage to those areas of the prefrontal cortex. Further, i think said apostates who reject fundamentalism at an early age are well above average in intelligence.

Reg, i read God is not Great. Had forgotten the how religion poisons everything part. But that little man behind the scenes surely noticed.

Ivy,

It is only extreme language if it is a gross exaggeration. If you called a baby sitter poison or her behavior cancer because she was on the phone while babysitting instead of playing with your kids but was otherwise responsible then i would agree such language is extreme. As i have previously mentioned we don’t think it is extreme for…[Read more]

Simon,

Are you sure about that?

If religion is not there to discover what is true, it certainly has done its part in preventing nonreligious from discovering what is true. It has done enough murdering of those who contradict its version of truth.

Ivy,

I never denied there is a huge difference between observation of natural world and modern science.

I am open to wisdom/truth whatever its source. There are primitive people who have medicine that is effective. Religion gives us the golden rule. So does common sense or reason but i approve of it.

My world view is a result of everything i…[Read more]

Ivy, religion definitely causes bad behavior. It uses brain washing or indoctrination to instill its poison. It poisons the individual and it poisons the culture.

At some point perhaps some advanced secular civilization being aware of the neurological impossibility of many young children resisting the indoctrination will require parents to wait…[Read more]

Pope,

I take exception to your characterization of the relative offensiveness of calling me elitist v. me calling religion a cancer. A theist can believe in god and still recognize religion as a cancer. In fact i have met a number of such individuals. It is demonstrably true. If you want to sanitize religion that is your business. But it is an…[Read more]

Ivy,

You asked me to explain how it is seculars have culture and what the hell i mean by THAT. I did not and still do not understand what you mean by that question. How is it germane? So i defined culture for you. I let you know that even other primates have rudimentary culture. So if other primates have culture secular humans have culture.

Of…[Read more]

Ivy,

Scientific method is only 400 or so years credited to Francis Bacon who was contemporary of Elizabeth 1 who died in 1603. Roots of modern science i would put at least as far back as Sumerians and Indus River Valley Civ, somewhere around 5 thousand years. They had some shit we would say, oh snap! And who knows about other civilizations or…[Read more]

This is a good place for sophists/charlatans to visit before they attempt to capitalize on gullibility/stupidity, the will to believe. If you can get your shit by us you surely can sell your shit. So all ye peddlers of bs come polish your shit.

But just maybe there is something to it? I am confident that the astral projection of the collective…[Read more]

How so?

I think just the opposite. Remaining mute in the face of oppression, remaining silent at the injustice, the entrenched power structure is either apathetic or not giving a shit. I don’t want gays to be persecuted. I don’t want women to be either property or second class citizens. I don’t want the wars that are a direct result of religion.…[Read more]

Ivy, atheists have culture. Seculars have culture. Surely, you can see religion is a cancer on civilization and we would be better without it.

Mike, no on sophistry. Sophistry is using bs arguments, logical fallacies to deceive the listener. It is a way of getting over on the target-not daydreaming.

I am not sure Einstein was aligned with Spinoza on the notion of god. His letter late in life made it clear he rejected a personal god, but more than that i think he rejected any iteration…[Read more]