physeter

jakelafort wrote:
In regard to islamaphobia it is pretty obvious ya gotta define the term. Are you referring to Muslims or Islam? Ideas or people?

It’s not one or the other. It’s about patterns of thought and systems of belief characterized by irrational bias and/ or antipathy.

For instance, there is nothing irrational about opposing honour…[Read more]

@Enco

One of the big reasons given to justify people having guns is for self protection.

Where is the statistic showing that a significant number of those killed and wounded by guns became statistics due to some gun owner protecting him/herself?

If there is one, I believe you’ll find it’s somewhere in the single digits painfully close to 0%.

@Enco

There’s another saying that goes by the wording “Live by the sword, die by the sword.”

Militant Christian nationalists should know the source:

In the Gospel of Matthew, Matthew records what happened the night Jesus was betrayed in the Garden of Gethsemane, “‘Put your sword back in its place,’ Jesus said to him, ‘for all who draw the swo…[Read more]

Reg and Fellow Unbelievers,

As always, this is not an attempt to change anyone’s mind on the subject of gun ownership–whether anyone practices it is their choice–but simply to point out the distortions of truth and twisted arguments used by supporters of gun control.

White evangelicals seem to have made America’s gun culture integral to t…

[Read more]

Immanuel Kant’s Categorical Imperative is a fundamental principle in his moral philosophy. It can be summarized as follows:

“Act only according to that maxim whereby you can at the same time will that it should become a universal law.”

In simpler terms, when making moral decisions, individuals should consider whether the principle or rule…[Read more]

In regard to islamaphobia it is pretty obvious ya gotta define the term. Are you referring to Muslims or Islam? Ideas or people?

If it is ideas then indeed it is an obnoxious term. Aint nothing irrational about fear/hatred of Islam.

Antisemitism is not a congruent term. The long history of hatred against all things Jewish is all encompassing.…[Read more]

Reg the Fronkey Farmer wrote:
Kant’s Categorical Imperative.

This is a good article explaining Kant’s Categorical Imperative for a beginner (like me).

When we are trying to decide what the morally right thing to do is, what should we take into account?  Is it the consequences of the action that matter the most?  Or, is it the intentions of the…

[Read more]

Reg, Autumn, and Davis,

All great points. Exposing the contents of “Holy Books” rather than burning them would be just the ticket for attacking ideas without attacking people and without making a mess and involving the Fire Marshall.

And such exposure could also encourage Muslims with only nominal or familial ties to Islam to get in on…[Read more]

I mean, burning nylon is problematic, unless you are really desperate for a cheap, toxic and short lived high. Though I would say paint thinner might work better?

My major issue with burning flags is I think most of them these days are either made or treated with synthetics that you probably shouldn’t be inhaling. I mean, no smoke is particularly good for you, but melted nylon? No thanks.

I am not against people having the right to burn books, flags or symbols. But it is obnoxious. If you don’t like the book or flag, throw it out or recycle it. Burning it is pointless hooliganism.

I have a problem with people who call someone who criticises ideas from Islam or Judaism or policies within Arab countries or Israel as “Islamophobic” or “Anti-Semitic”. We should be able to criticise ideas, especially those which assault the dignity of others or encroach on the basic rights of people.

However I don’t believe that this means…[Read more]

Reg the Fronkey Farmer wrote:
I really dislike the term ‘Islamophobia’. I think Islam is a bad idea and of no practical benefit to anyone. I consider Christianity in a similar manner.

Whether you like the term or not, it encapsulates elements of irrational bigotry and unjustified moral panic toward the mere existence of Muslims in certain pop…[Read more]

Reg and Fellow Unbelievers,

The best thing anyone protesting Al-Qu’ran or The Holy Bible or any other religious text can do is get on a PA or a megaphone and actually read the text of it for all to hear.

The audience will either hear and understand what absurd and bloodthirsty texts these are and reconsider or they’l turn away from sheer boredom…[Read more]

And this represents a big part of the reason why. Islamophobia is a thing. In Canada, we have people who ascribe to irrational fears that Muslims are taking over and that we’ll be a Sharia state any day now despite coherent evidence to support the claim. We have violence and hate targeting places of worship in some cases indiscriminately. We h…[Read more]

Re: book burning…

Let’s be clear about what the real problem is and where it lies.

All book burning does is create interest in the books being burned. It’s the same with any attempt to suppress books by taking copies out of existence. The example of the attempts in the 50’s  and 60’s to ban pornographic books like Burroughs’ Naked Lunch or…[Read more]

Reg the Fronkey Farmer wrote:
Blasphemy law is no answer to bigotry in the wake of Denmark’s Qur’an burnings.

From the article:

All book burnings are, to my mind, senseless, whether it be Christian pastors torching LGBTQ+ books or trans activists torching copies of Harry Potter. They are at best crude attempts to make a political point. Nor sho…

[Read more]

Thanks, Reg 🙂

Have a great week!!

Davis,

Sorry to see you feel that way, and “feel” is the operative term.

Perhaps I do come at this from a place of bias because as of yesterday, my Half-Sister now has a new kidney, a win for both Rational, Scientific Medicine and private, voluntary charity.

This would have been inconceivable at the beginning of the Twentieth Century and not…[Read more]