Simon Paynton

Unseen wrote:
You have to remember the difference in what they may believe to be moral.

I think religious morality has plus and minus points.  “To please God” or “to get into heaven” aren’t bad reasons for doing moral things.

But like you say, different people think different things are moral.  The biggest drawback with religion is its t…[Read more]

Reg the Fronkey Farmer wrote:
“Name one moral action performed by a believer that could not have been done by a nonbeliever.”

I think that’s not the point.  It’s not either/or.  It’s good that both exist.

_Robert_ wrote:
Simon, isn’t the main point of Christianity to evade responsibility for immoral behavior? No matter what you do, just believe and you will be OK. That’s why Jesus lives mostly in prisons. It’s why evangelical preachers do the shittiest things…and then often issue a statement and then just get on with the grifting.

It’s not news th…[Read more]

Reg the Fronkey Farmer wrote:
Your point about Christians and the stereotype of atheists lacking a moral compass is a bugbear of mine.

Our motivation to be moral is the same as that of Christians: i.e., 1) conscience – the motive to follow moral and ethical principles; 2) consequences of our actions for ourselves and others.

Reg the Fronkey Farmer wrote:
• When someone doesn’t conform to the group’s moral norms (in this case, religious belief), our brains flag them as risky.

• That “risk” is translated into perceived harm.

• Result? Atheists are not just “wrong,” they’re “dangerous.”

That makes sense.  I’d never thought of it that way.  On that basis, there’s a ver…[Read more]

Reg the Fronkey Farmer wrote:
Yes, theists think I am hard-hearted at times.

From the second paper:

Christians’ negative impressions drew primarily from the Authority foundation, and both groups drew heavily from the Care foundation in both their positive and negative depictions.

In human moral psychology, immorality is perceived as physically h…[Read more]

Reg the Fronkey Farmer wrote:
Assuming religious people are more moral than atheists without evidence is a conjunction fallacy driven by representativeness, not actual probability. Further reading here.

The “further reading” article is interesting.  Apparently, religious people don’t trust atheists because they think we’re rebellious and…[Read more]

That’s one thing I love about the Irish, they love reciting poetry and singing songs.

jakelafort wrote:
Which identity English or Jewish is more likely to cause a problem?

English.

jakelafort wrote:
It is kind of amazing that there is not more resentment of Brits as it relates to the Irish. The shit during the famine was so damn cold.

If you’re English and you go to Ireland, it’s well to mind your manners.

_Robert_ wrote:
That was the idea of being ‘woke’. To have empathy at least. Guess what? It worked. Gen Z and later IS woke. When my racists-as-fuck boomers and gen x cohorts are all dead; it is gonna be very different.

I agree, after wokeness hit us, everything is better in many respects.  People feel more included and there is less unki…[Read more]

He who is without sin shall cast the first stone.  We know you’re not an icorrigible rogue.

@strega – isn’t there a difference between individuality, and individualism?  Individualism can be a social situation, the opposite of communitarianism.  People rely on themselves and a small circle of people, while in communal societies, people rely on the whole community.  Community societies are “shame” cultures where the community governs th…[Read more]

What’s the difference between critical thinking skills and conspiracy theorising?  I guess it’s the quality of the evidence, and a willingness to have an open mind.  If you get all your evidence from Youtube, and won’t change your mind no matter what, that’s not critical thinking.

Reg the Fronkey Farmer wrote:
the White House Faith Office

What’s that for?  The Office of Slippery Hypocrisy?  Can they think back to the exact day they lost their personal integrity?

jakelafort wrote:
Obviously Islam causes humans to be much worse than their natural inclinations.

It is human nature.  There are many similar situations throughout history.  But there are unique things about Islam.

There’s a special combination of moral purity, God, and sacredness.  The religion itself has been made sacred and therefore su…[Read more]

_Robert_ wrote:
He’s turning the Iranian sponsored malfeasance at Harvard into another anti-woke shit-show instead of dealing with Iran like he promised. Hey, we all know anti-woke nonsense is way more important than having a democracy, a free market economy, an educated public or rule of law.

He doesn’t have to be such a dick about it.  I’m no…[Read more]