Quite so. Also I get a kick out of their body language. They remind me of the characters in the old Movie "Invasion of the Body Snatchers". Notice the blank stare next time you're with one.

I wrote a lot of comedy stuff in my time. I'm thinking about this one. But remember Muslims aren't allowed to drink, Gotta figure out a way to work that in.

Thanks for the compliment. Ethymology has been a hobby of mine ever since high school. In the Spanish Inquisition millions were cruelly tortured on burnt to death for the crime of heresy. The word comes from the Latin word for "other". They were killed becasue they believe something outside the approved orthodoxy.

@Aristippus

In high school you were thinking about the inquisition?

I think I was mastering the art of driving while listening to Red Hot Chili Peppers.

Anyway. For your next debate I hope you get a question about the value churches add to the community and that you have the opportunity to bring up that little thing called the inquisition.

I noticed that too. I guess a little hyperbole is okay when it supports ones own hunch.

I don't understand how you could possibly ask if I'm a believer. I said a few times I'm a strong atheist.
I use the word "strong" becuase in science nothing is 100% certain, so I leave the door open just a tiny bit. I always liked the line of the great scientish of the 20s JEB Haldane: "The world is queer than you imagine. Queer than you are capable of imagining."

<<<As to this after death nonexistence you believe in, what do you have to support this belief?>>>

At first I thought you were joking but now I see what you're asking. Nobody ever came back from death but now I see you were asking how do I know we won't exist after we die. Sadly that can't been proven.

I always like this comparison. With a pipette place a drop of red dye in a fish tank. The red dye enters a new dimension. Does it stay intact or break up to diffuse throughout the whole tank? In the same way I conjecture when we die our energy diffuses throughout the universe and we become an infinitesimal part of the Great Heat.

What do you believe happens? And try not to use word soul because it's outside the realm of science. .

@Aristippus you ask " What do you believe happens? And try not to use word soul because it's outside the realm of science. ."

I do not claim to be a cognition expert nor an expert on the physiology of the brain as it houses cognition. So then my terminology may not be the best or most accurate. Having said that, at death the body and brain dies. At this point the brain no longer maintains the kinetic energy environment of brain waves, chemical reactions and such that would seem to house a cognition capability. It's like striking a match brings fire, that fire could be passed on. Is there some means that a cognition capability could transfer from the brain energy state to some other? I do not know of any specific documentation that would support this ideal other that the biblical text is saying that the Egyptian Osiris to Horus reincarnated really happened. The means that the biblical text indicates this was done was by cognition of thoughts giving for spoken words that the kinetic energy of spoken words then brought about the purported reincarnation.

As to the word soul: I equate the old word soul to be almost the same meaning as what we now call personality. People have such a unique personality that for all eternity or for all of time I would guess that never ever would there ever be 2 exact personalities developed to be exactly perfectly the same. As to the soul or personality lasting for ever, I don't know, and I am not interested in lasting for ever to find out.

Beautiful I've been wondering about this my whole life and it's the major reason I became a writer in my retirement. We have to consider and worry about human evolution. We haven't evoluved much since Nero who said to just give the masses "circuses and bread." -- panem et circenses. Our president says mostly, "just give 'em football and hamburgers."

We have to resume to evolve because rleligion has placed us in a mental cage. It looks like it'll soon die out but it might be too late. That's why I wrote "Saving Gaia."

[amazon.com]

Sorry, as I said beofre I'm terrible with computers. Which one are you talking about? The debate photo in on my profile.

@Aristippus link takes me to my own profile photos. No debate shown or anything like that.

True, but that shouldn't concern us because we're still alive now. As Ben Franklin''s epitaph says "Here lies the mean of worms". But that didn't disturb or limit him in the least. His burial site in the Trinity Church in Philadelphia lists his accomplishments. The list takes of the whole wall.

Sadly. Check out my next post when we consider the evolution of the planet and the life on it. We're lucky to be here.

Right on. Check out Dostoyevsky's "Brothers Karamozov." The promise of heaven is a scam to keep them working like surfs.

Thank you. Why have we gotten hooked on the "passed" thing? When my late partner was dying she wanted people to say so. She often would ask "what did they pass, gas?" In a great documentary "Obit" the NY Times obituary columnists said they do not use the pass word only died and death.
It's funny but when our rechargeable batteries quit we say they have died. They have really 'passed' to another state. Otherwise they become zombie batteries. Jesus was either a zombie or he did not rise!

KK Beautiful. Absolutely true.

Well said. Many Christians do tend to think our lack of investment in the 'hereafter' is reason to worry about our moral rectitude. Yet they fail to see that this world contains everything that we hold dear.

Very good. Let me turn you onto the great Greek philosopher. Epicurus. He's associated with gourmand food but he's a lot more than that. Life is to enjoy pleasure and fun. He was the dominant philosopher on the planet until Christianity came along. Emperor Constantine called him a pagan and we all know what happened.