physeter

I wish that all the people
who peddle God
could watch my mother die:
could see the skin and
gristle weighing only
seventy-nine, every stubborn
pound of flesh a small
death.

I wish the people who peddle God
could see her young,
lovely in gardens and
beautiful in kitchens, and could watch
the hand of God slowly
twisting her knees and fingers
till…[Read more]

Have a great week!

Fellow Unbelievers,

Something I noticed in the frog-swallowing story in Quillette. You might want make room for some crow along with the frog:

But as I ponder the possibility of Israel’s destruction; as I witness the collaboration in the legacy media with the lies of Hamas; as I hear threats against Jews, not just in the Middle East, not just i…

[Read more]

Reg,

With Zappa dropping smart lyrics and smart melody and smart beats, who would need “smart drops?” 😁

One thing I admired about Zappa (aside from his iconoclastic satire and critique of institutions and versatile music style) was that, while he didn’t care how others ran their lives, as for him and his musical house, he was sober and insisted…[Read more]

jakelafort wrote:
Is there such a thing, a default human morality, that is innate? Or are we hairy apes so malleable in our beliefs and behavior that there is no such thing as an accurate representation of human morality?

Morality appears to arise in pursuing joint goals.  Each evolved joint goal, together with an evolved method of achieving it,…[Read more]

Simon, you wrote, “The problem with religious morality is that although it’s an accurate representation of human morality.”

Is there such a thing, a default human morality, that is innate? Or are we hairy apes so malleable in our beliefs and behavior that there is no such thing as an accurate representation of human morality?

Unseen wrote:
the idea that there is some cosmic, universal, absolute, undeniable, provable ethical system or even individual ethical facts (“It is always wrong to…” “One must always…”) would require an appeal to a cosmic rulesmaker. A deity, in other words.

I think you’re right, that’s the only way it makes sense.  Because God says so.  However…[Read more]

I remember the concert as an intense experience of sound and light. Sound mostly. It was a last minute thing. I lived in London at the time and got a ticket from some friends I bumped into that afternoon.  I was never a big fan…I absolutely respected them as musicians – but they were not on my radar that much.  I knew of them from the “Smoke o…[Read more]

Reg the Fronkey Farmer wrote:
I was at this Zappa concert and I did partake in some “smart drops” beforehand 🙂

Is it true? Do they have a helluva band? Does the J-man play tambourine?

Thanks for the date correction onyangomakagutu. It was the 25th when I started it!

Enco – I was at this Zappa concert and I did partake in some “smart drops” beforehand 🙂

“The separation of church and state is a misnomer,” Johnson said in an interview on CNBC’s “Squawk Box.”

Rep. Johnson doen’t know what a misnomer is. By an analysis of the word itself, it means “wrongly named.” Separation of church and state isn’t a name, it’s a politico-legal concept expressed as a phrase and not as a name.

Ethics has a foundation among people who can agree on one. However, the idea that there is some cosmic, universal, absolute, undeniable, provable ethical system or even individual ethical facts (“It is always wrong to…” “One must always…”) would require an appeal to a cosmic rulesmaker. A deity, in other words.

Reg the Fronkey Farmer wrote:
Ethics has no foundation.

In my opinion this is an interesting attempt to justify moral realism without any evidence or reason.  The author, Andrew Sepielli, ends by invoking the difficulty of how we can know anything.  Hmm.  The problem he has is that he has an irrational attachment to the idea, for no good ap…[Read more]

Reg,

Those “Smart Drops” sound like “Cosmic Debris.”

Thanks, Reg!!!

Reg, I think it is Sunday school 26th Nov.

Have a great week ahead

Have a good week!

Reg,

The use of Reason to understand the Natural Universe combined with applying that understanding to produce life-serving goods and services is the part of Secularization that creates prosperity.

However, I also understand where tbe causal confusion comes from too. Greater prosperity also encourages and reinforces greater Secularization,…[Read more]

Unseen,

No one brought up capital punishment. Strawman aborted with herbicide before the grass could grow out of the ground.

Michael Shellenberger has also condemned what his fellow “Progressive” officials have done to destroy U.S. cities as well.

Some people need to know the consequences of their acts. It doesn’t have to be fatal, though if…[Read more]