Glen D

I was brought up  Irish catholic and attended  only catholic schools.

This came up when I was 16. We were actively discouraged from reading the bible ” Lest you become confused. “(truly) So naturally I went home and read the whole thing as soon as I could. It was a ‘fuck you’ gesture rather than from piety.

I read the Quran as  background for so…[Read more]

As an outsider, I don’t think trump can win honestly.  Possibly just wishful thinking.

I’ve visited the US several times to see relatives and have a holiday. Always had a wonderful time.  A magnificent country and everyone I met treated me with civility and friendliness. (even New Yorkers) Relatives treated me like visiting royalty.

However, h…[Read more]

The end of “us”?

At 70-ish, unlikely AI will ever have any noticeable effect on me. As for say a person born today? I have no idea and lack the technical knowledge for an informed opinion.

Seems there’s an assumption that sentience for AI is inevitable.  Not convinced that is the case.  However, I’m most interested in learning the basis for s…[Read more]

There’s no such thing as a holy/sacred book.  However, there are lots which are considered holy book.

Below are the few of which I’ve read at least part:

The Old and New Testaments.

The Quran.

Parts of the Mahabharata. Specifically the Bhagavad Gita

Parts  of The Rig Veda .

Parts of the Upanishads.

(the Indian texts are revered. Hinduism h…[Read more]

“A contradiction is false both because it’s evidently false (common sense)”

You mean as self evident  truth?

Bullshit.

That claim is simply a form of argument from ignorance. Often used by theist apologists to prove the existence of God; they intuit such being .

“and because logic is axiomatic, rule-based, and a contradiction is anathema to an…

[Read more]

Oh for goodness sake!

Is that still around?.

IE. The Nigerian Prince/Spanish Prisoner/Advance Fee Fraud  / Nigerian 419 scam. I’m sure there are other names for it.

Last time I received an email of this scam, I replied :

“Thank you for your advance fee scam email. I have forwarded the details to INTERPOL. With luck you should  be hearing fr…[Read more]

“That’s a wonderful argument against a claim I haven’t made.”

Yet you said:

“I’m willing to go out on a limb and say that I KNOW there is no God. Prove me wrong.”

(1) That’s an affirming claim

(2) You’re the the one making the claim Up to you to prove your claim, not  to me to disprove it***”

“A contradiction, by contrast, is simply false.…[Read more]

@Unseen.

You position reminds me of a section in Gulliver’s Travels, in Lilliput I think. The Court philosopher is yelling at Gulliver to go away.  This because the philosopher has just proved a creature such as Gulliver cannot exist.

My point is that logic is a limited tool for arriving at a truth.  Generally speaking rules of inference begin w…[Read more]

“Dr Bob used to say that Creationists are an embarrassment to “mainstream” Christians and it is a relatively young movement. There’s no reason why God is incompatible with evolution.”

Just so

At the catholic school I attended, we were told the Church has no problem with evolution.

The reason is because we have no idea of how long a day was a…[Read more]

“@Glen

Ad Hominem attacks are not allowed on the site.”

Mea culpa.My bad.  I  was provoked.  Will try not to do it  again. Will say nothing further to you or about you on this topic.

“…And whether or not you believe that is completely a matter of faith.”

Finally.

I had not realised I was dealing with a disingenuous/wilfully ignorant theist apologist. Such people are usually impervious to reason or facts.

Usually I won’t engage with such people. It’s not only a waste of time, but if I try to persevere, I usually end up s…[Read more]

Is religion in conflict with science? In principle, absolutely .The extent depends on which sect or which religion.

Eg The Catholic church accepts evolution. I was taught that Catholics accept evolution because we don’t know how long was each day of creation; could well have been eons.

Science is accepted by religion if and only if there is no…[Read more]

@Ivy I’m not the one making the claims.  It is you who are claiming you can prove the existence of god. It is not up to me to disprove your claim. The burden of proof belongs to the person making the claim .

I’d be truly thrilled to be able to believe in a god.

“Now YOU’RE the one talking about “PROOF.” I challenge you to skim my words and se…[Read more]

“Trust me Glen there is PLENTY of evidence to back up my claims (did you even read the first one I presented?)

Trust you? No, I don’t think so; you insist on conflating ‘evidence ‘and ‘proof’ .They are NOT synonyms for one another.

I’ll repeat;  there is  no proof of the existence of god. N…[Read more]

@Davis:

My position is that all human  pervasive behaviour has a purpose. That religion meets some very real human needs. If it did not, it would not be universal.That  some of the needs  certainly  increase chances of survival.  (at least they did when the notion of something greater than oneself first  emerged.)

Some of the needs are:…[Read more]

With respect Ivy, you  ‘know’ no such thing. I accept that you have that belief.  Making such a claim  means you have burden of proof.   Believe what you like ,by all means, but expect to be challenged if you make truth claims.

@Davis

No need to be jealous.

Carl Jung asserted the labels used for sexuality;(hetero, homo, bi etc etc) are nonsense. That human beings are simply sexual, but that most have a strong preference.   I make no comment about the veracity of the claim. I simply mention it as  something I’ve come across.

Carl Jung (1875-1961) was a con…[Read more]