Thy Plague Doctor

@bellerose you’re saying you can’t describe what it would FEEL like to be on a desert island.  You are not confused as to what a desert island is.  The equivalent is that you cannot describe what it FEELS like to believe in god.  It doesn’t absolve the need for an understanding as to what god is.

@Bellerose. Love is an emotion.  Not a ‘thing’.  A response to a ‘thing’ perhaps, but not a ‘thing’.   I do not want to quote others who have defined love far better than I have, in terms of its evidence.  Richard Dawkins wrote a letter to his very young (at that time) daughter covering exactly that.  It’s not the point. Emotions are our reac…[Read more]

@bellerose in the interest of clarity could you give some other examples of things that cannot be defined?  I realize you are referring to a deity, but I’m asking what other, non deity related things cannot be defined.

Belle Rose wrote:
@davis

Show me mobilization of troops

http://www.cnn.com/2017/09/22/politics/pentagon-f-22-raptor-f-35-upgrades/index.html

This is what I was talking about. That is not mobilization. It is not even close. This is what I mean by hysterical over reaction. They are not mobilizing troops. They are showing off technology…[Read more]

Belle Rose wrote:
@davis

Show me mobilization of troops

http://www.cnn.com/2017/09/22/politics/pentagon-f-22-raptor-f-35-upgrades/index.html

Belle, every day I face terrorist threats. The train I take to university was blown up 10 years ago and the train station I pass through was bombed. The airport in both Madrid and Brussels (which I pass…[Read more]

Belle Rose wrote:
Please believe me!!!!

Nope. I see nothing new. Wow…Trump and Kim BOTH MAKING REDICULOUS STUPID DRAMAQUEEN TWITTER LIKE PREPOSTEROUS CLAIMS? When have we ever seen that?

Show me mobilization of troops and defense strategy briefings and specific threats from the mouth of a political leader (North Korea will blow up Seattle…[Read more]

Belle Rose wrote:
@davis

Did Dr. Bob write this non-answer?

What do you mean?

What I mean is, Reg obviously spent time thoughtfully phrasing a problem (the conflict between God’s plan vs praying to him to change his plan) and then asking you a clear question about it. What he asked was an interesting, reasonable and valid question as part of a…[Read more]

jakelafort wrote:
Does it occur to you that Belle is bonded with people here and in turn others may be bonded with her?

I have to agree to some extent with Jake (and that is coming from me of all people).

Dang: Belle is not a troll in the least and she has a lot to offer.

Simon: No. Dang should not leave because you don’t like him. Why don’t y…[Read more]

@bellerose. I noted you are unclear as to what can and can’t be quoted from the Bible, and it’s a fair point.  I’ll try to clarify a bit.

If you want to quote a verse to discuss its content, feel free to do so.  If there’s a huge chunk of verse, a hotlink is preferred.  A huge chunk is usually not for the purpose of discussing its content ho…[Read more]

@jakelafort. If you have a problem with a poster, please take it up in private message.  Leave the chastising to the mods.  We are much more effective.

Did Dr. Bob write this non-answer?

_Robert_ wrote:
We are unique in the animal world in that we pretty much destroy everything.

Indeed.

Strega wrote:
Their way of life is going to have to catch up some day – it would be wrong to try to trap them like flies in amber.

In the case of the people on the Island, it is beyond clear that these people do NOT want to be contacted, integrated, changed, modernised, or have anything at all to do with us. If non-interference has any v…[Read more]

PopeBeanie wrote:
sunless planets is (imo) highly unlikely

Organic material can arrive via comets/meteors or some other way. Microbes are known to survive in frozen near vacuum space for a very long time. But even then, it’s still concievable that life forms in a dark sea under a big layer of ice.  Stable water (doesnt boil and doesnt freeze for…

[Read more]

This is quite similar to The Ship of Theseus. For those unfamiliar with it, it is an important philosophical question about the continuity of identity. It goes something like this: That is, a ship replaces various planks and parts over its life. Eventually not a single original plank of wood or other part remains…meaning the ship is not…[Read more]

I sent a message to the Hemmingway Cat Hotel just before the hurricanes hit them, to ask if there was anything I could do to help.  They responded “include us in your prayers”

WTF?  If I was a prayerette, I’d already have done that, but the automatic assumption that I had a direct line to god was jaw dropping.  I politely replied, “not really re…[Read more]

I think the prime directive applied to other races or entities, not humans in a different culture.  On the tribe front, that’s a whole separate debate. That is humans making decisions over other humans.  Their way of life is going to have to catch up some day – it would be wrong to try to trap them like flies in amber.