Judith van der Roos

I think the fear of death can only be properly approached by those not deluded in a joyous afterlife reuniting with loved ones. It is false comfort. It keeps you from facing the loss of your loved ones with a fake crutch that you’ll see them again. It shifts the need to remember, celebrate and pass on your lost one’s values and memories in this…[Read more]

Two horrid problems you are the victim of. Many Christians and even barely-religious people think that it is they who are being opessed. They simply don’t believe that non-christian bullying exists. That if it does it is very isolated and exceptional. But it does and clearly you are suffering greatly for it. You need to be vocal about this. The…[Read more]

@Daniel

There is nothing about the United States that makes the current direction of US politics a permanent one. The overwhelming majority of the facets of American life is identical to other western countries. It’s the irrational and sometimes cold/cruel peculiarities that always stick out. Perhaps the future will see a kinder approach to s…[Read more]

@Daniel

The point of that comment had little to do with trashing the USA but instead to lampoon “cultural relativism”. Relativists claim that other worldly practices are beyond the sphere of our moral judgement as they live in their own subjective context and we have no right to apply our own moral compass onto them.

In cases like this, hard…[Read more]

@Pope

I suppose an American can make that assessment. But the rest of us…we cannot judge American culture. It has emerged from a different and beautiful culture where the people and how they express themselves is to be heard and seen…not judged. It is arrogant to think that people from social-assistance countries should have the right to look…[Read more]

English speaking countries politics have fundamentally changed from a battle of ideas to a battle of watery-ideologies/personalities. In England newspapers used to dedicate long sections of newspapers to analyse new legislation and to cover at length important cabinet decisions.

Canadian newspapers used to print entire speeches made by the Prime…[Read more]

_Robert_ wrote:
Damm-It, I was so brain-washed.  I loved the films, especially the Severus Snape character.

The Harry Potter films are utterly epic. Every two years or so we watch all 8 films over one weekend. There are so many humanist themes running through the work (despite the supernatural afterlife of wizards and a world where the laws of…[Read more]

Simon Paynton wrote:
I’ve named two metaphors which as far as I know are unique to Christianity – the living waters, and the mustard seed.

A concept can be expressed through an infinite amount of metaphors. Perhaps Jesus was the first to express the concept of the pressure to flourish with a mustard seed…but the only unique part of it was the…[Read more]

1. Indeed @Robert . The concept of a lack of something as still somehow a kind of that something…isn’t hard to understand in just about any life example except with religion. Because…you know…religion…so they say…apparently.

1. I have a blue napkin

2. I have a red napkin

3. I have no napkin

1. Wait there a minute. Take it easy. What…[Read more]

Unseen wrote:
How do you apply The Golden Rule if you’re a masochist?

Well…you reincarnate yourself as a human…wait until you are 33…set yourself up for a thrashing fest and crucifixion festival…and then offer the same experience to anyone else who asks for it. i guess the consent part is important. You don’t want to reincarnate so…[Read more]