A religion is by definition a faith based construct, for which belief  is required, not reason. [emphasis added]… I suppose Religion could be arational – that might fit.
I agree that human beings often act as irr…

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Unseen wrote:
This is after clearing cache and data for the site in Chrome didn’t change anything and switching to DuckDuckGo after clearing cache and data and clicking on the Forum link on the main page.

The first time you mentioned this, I checked and didn’t have the problem. This time, I signed in as a normal user, and I DO see the p…[Read more]

I have William Blake’s “Ancient of Days” tattooed on my back shoulder and the first stars were his daughters….which often reminds me of Multivac and “Let there be Light”………

I don’t think you have ever written anything that was not well reasoned and on point.

Reg the Fronkey Farmer wrote:
@strega – Everyone else wrote “Individuality”, and she wrote “Conformity”. I had a summer relationship with a goth girl in the mid 1980’s. My style at the time (if style is the word to use) was t-shirt, jeans, sneakers and a packet of Rizla. She was full goth, all the time. She was trying to persuade me to “change…

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I had a summer relationship with a goth girl in the mid 1980’s. My style at the time (if style is the word to use) was t-shirt, jeans, sneakers and a packet of Rizla. She was full goth, all the time. She was trying to persuade me to “change my lifestyle choices” or whateve…[Read more]

Reg the Fronkey Farmer wrote:
@strega, I agree with you on ‘Fracture’. It has a clever plot with a decent twist to it. He is one of those actors you are compelled to focus on, whatever his role in any specific scene is, even when he is silent.

Yeah, that was a good one. Kinda like a modern, upscale “Colombo” episode.

“The past was erased, the erasure was forgotten, the lie became the truth.”

The Divine Comedy and Jesus: The Hidden Power of the Number 3
Dante Alighieri’s The Divine Comedy is infused with the number 3, and when analyzed numerologically, it reveals undeniable proof of Jesus Christ’s divine plan. Let’s break down this mystical pattern and show how Dante’s masterp…[Read more]

Maybe just don’t start writing a novel about what can happen to Jack when he spends too much time at work and not enough time playing. 🙂

however, it’s hard to see an earth shattering event that’s more earth shattering than a school shooting could be – but even that has passed the frequency level of being newsworthy for more than a day.

School shootings are dreadful, and as headline-making as they are, they are rare enough that the average parent and child shouldn’t becom…[Read more]

This link works equally well and is much shorter:

https://tinyurl.com/52sehhcn

There are websites that shorten long links. However, TinyUrl is supposedly the best totally free one. All the other ones have limited free plans at best.

Of course, the main problem the Sikhs have is that they insist on wearing their dastars (the head wrapping) which means that for The Great Unwashed, they must be Muslims even though vast numbers of Muslims do not wear anything resembling a turban.

BTW, maybe you know the answer. Is Sikhism an evangelical religion? Do they actively…[Read more]

Simon Paynton wrote:
@strega – it seems that there are seven passages in the Bible condemning homosexuality. This article proposes that they don’t mean that, but other kinds of non-standard sexual activity. Looks like intellectual gymnastics to me. https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0146107915577097

It’s conjecture, but I think the two mai…[Read more]

https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0146107915577097

Belle Rose wrote:
@strega

You are in our home now. Please respect the house rules.

I’m pretty sure he’s fucking with us

So climb out and see, Sister.  Sitting inside the Bus with fear is an evil spirit  “f#cking with you.  And deceiving in acting you looked at the evidence is another evil spirit f#cking with you, Sister.  That is not what your fe…[Read more]

You are in our home now. Please respect the house rules.

I’m pretty sure he’s fucking with us

I used to frequent “The Elgin” on Ladbooke Grove, which is on the Notting Hill Carnival rout. I worked nearby and would often get lunch there. It was a real dopers bar back then. I got to know some Rastafarians (they were even on Tops of the Pops) as they insisted I poured…[Read more]

Everything you rightly pointed out notwithstanding, even today there are Catholics doing relevant research in just about all areas of science. They are blind to the church’s flaws or don’t consider them flaws, one or the other, but if I wanted to do research in evolution, paleontology, cosmology, etc., I don’t think there’s any way to do…[Read more]

I appreciate your kind words. Thank you.

Thanks for the greetings, I am encouraged by those that read my posts even if we are worlds apart in  belief 🙂

A belief is something you have. An assertion is a deed, something you do or, more colloquially, make.

If you are lucky, it will. Target has become too civilized for me. 🙂

@Strega – You got me there! 😊

I have been reading the AP Calculus book that my niece is studying. It is a mystery to me 🙂

There was no broadcast-able reply 🙂

@Strega – You are most welcome, as always 🙂

@Reg yes Arch is missed

@Robert holy smokes! That is totally awesome!! The things you don’t know about someone…….

Reg the Fronkey Farmer wrote:
@strega – The pesky US clocks went forward last night so here I am at 10am feeling 9amish You are some woman for one woman if you can handle 9 Amish that early on a Sunday morning !! 🙂 Do they bring their own sandwiches?

Since I retired, the appointed time and sometimes the day of the week are of little c…[Read more]

You are some woman for one woman if you can handle 9 Amish that early on a Sunday morning !! 🙂 Do they bring their own sandwiches?

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Once while under the influence of some excellent Kush we devised a plan to rob a pizza van but after an hour strategizing we decided none of us was fit enough to drive 🙂

Good. I ‘m glad they made no bones about it or there could have been a big dust up between them.

(Reg, running for the hills).

I’m curious, Ivy, as to why you joined AZ. It appears to me that you are trying to fight an uphill battle, coming to an atheist site to wave your beliefs around.

I’ve been a member of this site since 2012. But it’s a dog eat dog world isn’t it? Since I can’t raise up any questions at all about anything without receiving an attitude,…[Read more]

@davis – those mechanisms – enforced God-believing, and threatening people with eternal torture, originated in the need to enforce long term cooperation, hopefully leading to thriving, although as we know, this often hasn’t worked out.

I haven’t ever read the Bible cover to cover.