Simon Paynton

Unseen wrote:

I’m not sure why the U.S. should even belong in NATO since it is European nations which need to worry about Russia invading

But the world is interdependent.  The US can’t survive alone, with a busted-up Europe.  It would fuck up the world even worse than it already is.

Unseen wrote:

I’m not sure why the U.S. should even belong to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, not being a North Atlantic country.

If Russia isn’t held back, it’s going to try and take over Europe.  The country has gone nuts.

Autumn wrote:

Pretending to be a victim when one has their abuse called out is also a tactic taken by abusers and enablers of abusers.

That’s true.  It also is.

Autumn wrote:

pretend to get cancelled?

It is funny.  But it’s also the classic line taken by victimisers and abusers everywhere:  “look, I did X bad thing.  But the victim isn’t really suffering.”

Noel wrote:

Thanks Davis. Just asked for this definition in another post. What you said. What I think it is too. Guess if someone does not wish me to wield that word they can weaponize the shit out of it and cause the rest of us mere mortals to never use it.

Here is a very interesting series of 15-minute programmes on BBC Radio 4 recently, about…[Read more]

Davis wrote:

Why is there pushback against it? Because hearing otherwise destroys their world view that they aren’t part of the problem, that we live in a post-biggoted world, they have to make tiny changes in the way they behave and speak with is too much of a burden or downright conservative biggotry. Some or all of the above.

It’s the o…[Read more]

rhonjon wrote:

What’s important—what will help us to start communicating and answering the original question—is not what the word “spiritual” means universally in all its ubiquitous manifestations. All we need to know is what the poster meant when he asked the question.

It’s a broad subject, that deals with broad themes, like “society”, “science”…[Read more]

Spirituality could be described as an umbrella term.  Also, many of its constituent concepts are vague and fuzzy too.  That doesn’t mean they don’t refer to anything.

_Robert_ wrote:

It is interesting that communes or commune-like setups can work and have worked on a small-scale level. I guess you gotta have the right group of like-minded people. It just doesn’t scale up well.

There are striking similarities between the morality of ancient small groups (open borders, free sharing, equality, autonomy) and t…[Read more]

Mindfulness is a spiritual practice in that it develops the ability of the self to flourish in the long term.  Since we live in an interdependent social world, this can only be done in an ethical way, regarding how we treat others.

Russia is trying to flourish in the long term, but since this is at the expense of everyone else, they are doomed…[Read more]

jakelafort wrote:

What do you mean by “spiritual”, in this case?”

See what i mean? Worthless word. If we can’t understand the speaker without asking their definition then we have come upon a word that ought to be obsolete and archaic.

I think “self-improvement” or “self-purification” are spiritual concepts that comes into play in this case.

Unseen wrote:

Were the Samurai spiritual? I think they were.

What do you mean by “spiritual”, in this case?

rhonjon wrote:

I think what this thread is trying to determine is whether we can reap the benefits of spirituality (peace, love, happiness, social harmony, a sense of awe) without having to resort to religious delusion, supernaturalism, mysticism.

This article says that happiness comes from a good environment.  This is like a flower in the…[Read more]

rhonjon wrote:

What we feel for Russia is not love but a calculated understanding that we would benefit from a healthy Russian society. Or if not benefit directly, then at least not fear nuclear attack.

I think in general we need to have compassion for our enemies, or we’re all lost.

If we want Russia to be doing well, what’s the practical…[Read more]

Unseen wrote:

To love someone is not to want them to be happy. What might make them happy could be, to quote Conan The Barbarian, “To crush your enemies, see them driven before you, and to hear the lamentation of their women”

The West wants Russia to be happy, at least in the sense of being well functioning and well adjusted.  As things stan…[Read more]

Obviously people used to claim that the Bible is a science book.  But that was before we had actual science.

The passages about salvation, going to heaven, immortality, etc., look pretty wacky to an atheist.  This is one point where our paths completely diverge.  But I presume that people sincerely get their spirituality from the Bible and the li…[Read more]