onyangomakagutu

Enco,

Funny stuff on cult/religion. Funny cuz of its accuracy. And as i’ve indicated here a discreet cult of say 500 carrying on precisely as hard core Muslims would be viewed as a departure from any form of decent way to live. Cult members would be seen as victims who outside world helps to deprogram.

The deliberate entanglement in the…[Read more]

Jake:

How many 10s or 100s of millions have died as a direct result of beliefs? Without looking at a search engine a group of educated people could come up with the goods to back the numbers i have given. Pol Pot was not a Scot.

There was one scholar who compiled the numbers of people murdered by their own government, not including warfare, in…[Read more]

Can you imagine the opposition to critical thinking as a key aspect of curriculum K through 12 and into higher ed? The opposition to opposition of the imposition of reason would be viewed as treason. Parents having little Johny and Jane asking questions about the bs in the temple, mosque or church? They would freak. Magas would go wild. Obviously…[Read more]

By 1st grade our critical thinking students ought to be leary of hero worship, of any system of thought that requires faith. Oh my aching back latch. How stupid to drop your guard and accept on “good authority” the BS that follows.

If ya ain’t got the goods shut your fucking mouth or sell it to somebody who is no brighter than a rock baking in the sun.

Yeah man, Enco.

Beliefs. How many times have i heard sentiments along the lines, ‘i don’t care about other’s beliefs as long as it does not affect me.’ Fooling a human is no more difficult than a dog that we train. There is nobody home in the majority of cases in which humans are hoodwinked by you name the ideology: communism, palestinianism,…[Read more]

Fullermingjr:

You wrote:

You asked where I work. I have worked in higher education for over 35 years as staff and recently as faculty, and I have watched the broader culture change. The changes in culture and law involve gender, pronouns, marriage, and related, and thus these changes impact corporate environments including policy.

I see.

Are…[Read more]

@TheEncogitationer

Ok, that’s a fair question. The word “forced” is too strong. In the article, the employee was offended by the email. I mean “forced” in a similar way. The issue is corporate culture, and indeed, the broader culture. You asked where I work. I have worked in higher education for over 35 years as staff and recently as faculty, and…[Read more]

FullermingJr:

Even so, customers should not be giving out their tracks unless they strike up a friendly conversation with another customer or even an employee and it’s a personal interaction.

If religionists wish to give out literature on a street corner while picking up any litter and allowing free movement of pedestrians or if they want to r…[Read more]

Reg:

Remember Kim Davis in Kentucky? She was an elected county clerk who refused to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples. Courts ordered her to comply. She refused and was briefly jailed for contempt of court.

Can a public official refuse to carry out a legal duty because of personal beliefs? There are two fundamentally different ways to…

[Read more]

Fullermingjr:

Even so, one could tolerate her beliefs and maybe an opportunity may arise where a real dialog could happen.

As I recall from my reading, the gods mentioned in both The Tower of Babel myth and the Icarrus myth were jealous gods who didn’t want Man getting literally uppity. Believers in gods like these can’t possibly have a high…[Read more]

Yes, Fuller, i did say and i do mean that religion is make-believe.

Were it not for indoctrination and the personal stake and emotions of wish thinking then god(s) would be as easy to discard as Santa Clause or fill in the blank. It is childish. It is infantile. But we are human and there you are.

@fullermingjr No religion is rational by the very definition of the word rational – derived from logic and reason etc.

A religion is by definition a faith based construct, for which belief  is required, not reason.

A Venn diagram of Religion and Rationality would barely touch at their potential meeting point.
I suppose Religion could be…[Read more]

@TheEncogitationer

“Well, I don’t believe in learning other languages. I believe God gave men different tongues and divided them at The Tower of Babel and that’s how it’s meant to be.”

How very sad!  The woman’s faith system that said that statement… that thinks humanity should be divided this way has completely missed (a) the point of Babel a…[Read more]

Fullermingjr:

To address your workplace concerns, first, understand, I’m not lumping you in with other religionists, but I’m just recounting what I’ve encountered:

I myself take my breaks and eat my lunch alone and only try to talk shop, not philosophy or religion. Politics sometimes unavoidably comes up at work with talk about health care…[Read more]

I would think the distinction between employee in private v official government position or quasi government is pretty straightforward. Compelling and accommodating trickier.

Modern workplaces bring together people with fundamentally different worldviews, be they religious, secular, scientific or ideological and then ask them to cooperate as if those differences don’t matter. But in reality, they do matter. The trick is deciding when they matter at work and when they don’t.

For me the issue is never “belief vs belie…[Read more]

Fuller be good.

Hi Fuller

Oh i remember. I recall. Not that i forgot at all. The afternoon, the street. Sweet convergence then unknown but put down with a given with the pencil of intent in which true meandering is written.

So i have been mulling Craig the apologist shill piece of human excrement aka a holy mofo and his takes on morality. I…[Read more]

Greetings Reg. It’s been a few years! Do you remember me?

The article you linked on the topic, “Federal workers are having to endure Christian indoctrination in the workplace.” is interesting. As a theist, I strongly oppose the overall ideas, seeming values, and many of the practices of the current MAGA movement and the current US executive and…[Read more]

Reg:

But when the “me” and “you” are are skeptics or blasphemers, or mothers and children not living and toiling in laundries as “us” dictate as “proper,” or a builder wanting to build new housing that might run against the aesthetics of “us”, the “us” can be a real buzz-kill on life.

And while having necessities and amenities within 15 minutes…[Read more]

“It’s a very collective society, not huge on individualism like in the US.”

People tend to think in terms of community, family, and shared identity. There’s more value placed on cooperating and supporting each other. I would say that social norms often lean toward “we” over “me”.

But it is also a liberal society. We do have a small but vocal…[Read more]