Simon Paynton

Unseen wrote:
Apples and oranges.

Both are varieties of fruit.

Autumn wrote:
But the move away from treating trans identities as a disease in need of curing is based on a long history of clinical treatment.

Yes, something is only a disorder, in my opinion, if it harms the self or others.  It’s society that has harmed both gay and trans people.

Unseen wrote:
If nature gives people the wrong genitalia (or if they so believe), clearly something is wrong either in the genes or in the mind.

I think it goes deeper than belief.  Belief is just the surface manifestation.  At the moment, if something is “wrong”, it’s fixed by people psychologically identifying with/biologically changing to t…[Read more]

Unseen wrote:
I simply find it hard to believe that this belief that one’s genitalia are lying to you is not based in psychology rather than genetics.

If Nature is dishing out the wrong genitalia, I’d like to know how that could possibly happen and isn’t it really more likely something going on in the subject’s mind?

I believe it’s like being g…[Read more]

I know someone who’s just come out as trans.  It’s a genuine thing.  He is much happier now identifying as male than being a she.

Autumn wrote:
’cause if we’re talking any other facet of fairness in women’s sports then the only people who give a shit are female athletes and a subset of feminists, I suppose.

Most people care about fairness and justice, for themselves and others, which is why there are non-trans trans activists.  But I think this situation represents a genuin…[Read more]

Unseen wrote:
So, thinking out loud that it’s very very strange that seemingly all of a sudden people—especially children—are discovering that Nature gave them the wrong genitals is a way of suppressing people’s rights?

Some people may think it’s strange, and what that means is that some people think it’s strange, like a lot of things.

I believe…[Read more]

Autumn wrote:
were you merely thinking aloud

That, and aiming for you to say stuff about it.

Autumn wrote:
It’s not the same.

I can see your point: one side is fighting for their own rights; the other is fighting to prevent them having rights.

At the same time, it’s not quite as simple as that, since there’s a kind of “three-body problem” – some feminists feel that cisgendered women’s rights are threatened by certain transgender r…[Read more]

Autumn wrote:
The scare quotes around ‘debate’ pretty much sums up the sentiment. Most of what I hear is a lot of noise that kills any actual debate or discussion.

Unfortunately there is a lot of noise coming from both sides, that doesn’t necessarily help anybody.  I don’t mean you @autumn but some of the more knee-jerking trans activists, and…[Read more]

Unseen wrote:
When you know you’re right and that there is no other side to the argument, all sorts of prohibitions seem not just possible, but absolutely necessary.

_Robert_ wrote:
A good thinker doesn’t do apologetics. Every argument he ever made applies to Islam as well, so why isn’t he a Muslim?

Well, of course, any atheist would say that religion is irrational bullshit.  But there are large parts that hang together and make sense, even if it doesn’t do so as a whole.

WLC is not a Muslim because Musl…[Read more]

Reg the Fronkey Farmer wrote:
It’s not only political conservatives who worry about moral purity.

It’s true.  Dr Gray has a very interesting theory that although one side’s concerns about purity may seem silly and irrelevant to the other: they’re not so silly if we consider the possibility that they’re connected to doing real-world harm, and th…[Read more]

Reg the Fronkey Farmer wrote:
Are people really becoming less ethical?

The article argues that if people think this, it’s an illusion.  I think, people’s perceptions depend on a number of factors, such as, their life circumstances, their communities (they vary in how prosocial / toxic they are), and their faith in humanity or lack of it.  S…[Read more]

Reg the Fronkey Farmer wrote:
W.L. Craig is a master of this approach. He sounds good to the choir but most of the time he only sounds like he has answered the question, once you breakdown his replies.

I think you underestimate WLC.  He’s a true thinker, and does a good job of exploring a problem – but yes, he’s wedded to his paradigms and not…[Read more]