Fernapple's Profile

Live near Philly enjoy searching for answers in spiritual realms including existential and non ...

DenoPenno comments on Jan 4, 2020:

What is non dimensional contact?

Fernapple replies on Jan 4, 2020:

You don't meet two men in zion (misspelled) called Al, perhaps?

Am I wrong?

Happy_Killbot comments on Jan 4, 2020:

[sarcasm] When talking about supernatural beliefs with you friends, always make sure that it is apparent that you are attacking them and not their beliefs. Do this by explicitly saying it up front. Never let them have a word in edge wise, and most importantly, do not listen to them and what they ...

Fernapple replies on Jan 4, 2020:

Boy! That man has the patience of a saint, and I don't believe in saints.

They say that too much salt is not good for you, well it certainly seems to have its dangers for ...

Killtheskyfairy comments on Jan 4, 2020:

This freaked out my cat. She kept trying to help the ibex with her paw. Why can’t they leave some at the bottom so they don’t have to climb? Or is this just fun for them because I don’t see a pile of dead ibexes at the base?

Fernapple replies on Jan 4, 2020:

Yes you would think that a few cheap salt licks from the agricultural merchant, could be left out each year. But having said that of course, perhaps the climbing ibex are a tourist attraction.

They say that too much salt is not good for you, well it certainly seems to have its dangers for ...

mordant comments on Jan 4, 2020:

This video is great sphincter exercise!

Fernapple replies on Jan 4, 2020:

It is certainly that, well put.

A suggestion - could members limit themselves to one a day, or a few a week?

Robecology comments on Jan 3, 2020:

@Allamanda One what a day....? And why?

Fernapple replies on Jan 4, 2020:

Sexual partners I suppose, though cutting down that much would be a big ask.

“I know of no society in human history that ever suffered because its people became too desirous ...

brentan comments on Jan 3, 2020:

Maybe societies suffer, even fall apart, when they realise their belief system - culture - whatever you want to call it, is full of shit.

Fernapple replies on Jan 4, 2020:

Yes I agree, in fact in many ways that is a major factor. For example, the Roman empire fell apart, mainly because many people stopped believing that rulers and politicians far away in Rome, were supposed to mean more to them than their local leaders.

Not everyones cup of tea but obviously a passion, and a what a display. [youtube.com]

dede18 comments on Jan 3, 2020:

I'll be walking very carefully in that garden ... once, long ago, I pulled back a curtain with fast flip motion, unaware that my mom had a very spiny, prickly cactus in the windowsill. The shock as my forearm slammed into it was horrific, almost electric! Ever since then I give all cacti a wide ...

Fernapple replies on Jan 4, 2020:

Me too.

Kentucky Woman says her strict Christian parents subjected her to FGM at age 5.

TheMiddleWay comments on Jan 3, 2020:

I don't thing FGM is legal here in the states, is it? I mean in this story, the utmost secrecy was demanded by the parents... not quite the thing you'd do if you thought it was legal. And for that reason, I don't think this is widespread but secret. It just doesn't sound like the kind of thing ...

Fernapple replies on Jan 3, 2020:

@TheMiddleWay The UK brought in laws against it, and It is widly held that the laws have done virtually nothing to stop it. Because it is done in such in secret anyway, the victims are ashamed to come forward, the victims are intimidated by religion, and families often take children abroard to have it done, and therefore for several years there have been zero cases brought before the courts.

A little New Year excitement for me! First turmeric harvest and this is one spadeful!

Fernapple comments on Jan 2, 2020:

Wow I love Turmeric and it is so good for you. Do you grow ginger as well.

Fernapple replies on Jan 2, 2020:

@Allamanda Yes my mother used to do that, but sadly my cooking and time for cooking don't reach that far.

His self-righteous papal prickdom assaults one of his flock.

Cutiebeauty comments on Jan 2, 2020:

Why would you call the woman a cunt?

Fernapple replies on Jan 2, 2020:

@Geoffrey51 Best not to be too vernacular on an international site, sometimes. LOL

"Natural selection will not remove ignorance from future generations." - Richard Dawkins

Fernapple comments on Jan 2, 2020:

It may increase it, the human brain started to shrink after the agricultural revolution.

Fernapple replies on Jan 2, 2020:

@brentan There are a lot of sources, but it probably was in Sapiens yes. I think that Dawkins in this case predates Sapiens, but I have heard the idea mentioned in an interview with Alice Roberts.

His self-righteous papal prickdom assaults one of his flock.

Cutiebeauty comments on Jan 2, 2020:

Why would you call the woman a cunt?

Fernapple replies on Jan 2, 2020:

@Geoffrey51 Sorry Geoffrey, but the C word is usually a slightly sexed one. LOL

His self-righteous papal prickdom assaults one of his flock.

bobwjr comments on Jan 2, 2020:

He later appoligized and she grabbed him jerking hi him forward almost a assault and he is human

Fernapple replies on Jan 2, 2020:

@Geoffrey51 No the infallable Pope was abolished some years ago, which does mean that you can ask how something divine can change if you like, but you can not ask the Pope to be infallable.

A little New Year excitement for me! First turmeric harvest and this is one spadeful!

Fernapple comments on Jan 2, 2020:

Wow I love Turmeric and it is so good for you. Do you grow ginger as well.

Fernapple replies on Jan 2, 2020:

@Allamanda Yes only in curries I am sorry to say, though I do also use it mixed with mayo as a salad dressing.

Instead of all the usual New Years resolutions: What is one inhibition you wish you could lose?

resserts comments on Jan 1, 2020:

Excessive risk aversion. I should have quit my job years ago, gone back to school, started my own company… but the illusion of security provided by a weekly paycheck has been difficult to overcome.

Fernapple replies on Jan 2, 2020:

I hope this is a help. I spent years in that position, eventually though, I did pluck up the courage to leave and start my own company. It was easy for me perhaps because I have no family. But the irony is that I have been working for myself now more than thirty years, some ups some downs. However within a year and a half of me leaving, the company I worked for was bought out and closed down, and there is now a housing estate where the offices and factory used to stand. The weekly pay cheque is no certainty. So the only thing I lost was the handshake cheque, which would have been useful to a new business, but probably not as much as that eighteen months experience and growth.

"It is man's intelligence that makes him so often behave more stupidly than the beasts.

powder comments on Jan 1, 2020:

It's the written word, the ability to record ideas and discoveries, that sets us apart more so than intelligence. Who says we are the only species that has intelligent, abstract thought? Proof please.....but there is no proof as we can't even sense or measure our own. Perhaps if say elephants or ...

Fernapple replies on Jan 2, 2020:

@powder Yes but that is fine on the positive side, what I mean is that spoken language alone could create cultures, and that is enough to "fuck things up" as you put it. Writen language certainly helps to preserve good ideas better, but for bad ideas to spread you only need spoken.

"It is man's intelligence that makes him so often behave more stupidly than the beasts.

powder comments on Jan 1, 2020:

It's the written word, the ability to record ideas and discoveries, that sets us apart more so than intelligence. Who says we are the only species that has intelligent, abstract thought? Proof please.....but there is no proof as we can't even sense or measure our own. Perhaps if say elephants or ...

Fernapple replies on Jan 1, 2020:

Even the spoken word and verbal culture, it does not need to get as far as writing. And language is both our greatest gift, and the creator of our greatest sorrows.

Conservative Radio Host Ridicules Anne Frank: 'I Don't Get My Wisdom From Teenagers'

JayOleck38 comments on Dec 31, 2019:

I'm sure the feeling is mutual.

Fernapple replies on Jan 1, 2020:

Hope the feeling is mutual as well.

I wish everyone a Happy New Year/Decade.

Organist1 comments on Jan 1, 2020:

Send that kid to law school!!! :-D

Fernapple replies on Jan 1, 2020:

I think she will go when she wants. Its her destiny and no stopping her. LOL

Interesting for me as I used to live there (around 1980) but a good explanation of Stone Age ...

tinkercreek comments on Dec 31, 2019:

That is great! I had no idea there were 3 stages of stone age, or that it began SO far back.

Fernapple replies on Jan 1, 2020:

@Allamanda THat's sad, never admit to being British. LOL

Interesting for me as I used to live there (around 1980) but a good explanation of Stone Age ...

tinkercreek comments on Dec 31, 2019:

That is great! I had no idea there were 3 stages of stone age, or that it began SO far back.

Fernapple replies on Jan 1, 2020:

That in itself is interesting and shows the cultural differences across the Atlantic. Because in my day at least, the three stone age eras were taught in UK schools at the most basic level. And few would forget because they were taught in interesting ways.

What gave you joy in 2019?

ATDayHiker comments on Dec 31, 2019:

Your post made me go back and check my FitBit stats for the year. I only had 18 hiking trips with significant elevation gain, but I managed a total of 42,000 feet for all of those hikes. The hiking mileage was probably about the same as yours, but FitBit gave me a total of 2500 miles for the year ...

Fernapple replies on Jan 1, 2020:

That's one good looking hiking companion.

The hospital clerk asked my religion before a medical procedure.

Geoffrey51 comments on Dec 31, 2019:

For that purpose yes. They need to know if there are any ethical concerns that might need to be addressed. I am surprised there wasn’t a ‘no religion’ category.

Fernapple replies on Jan 1, 2020:

@freeofgod Oh that's not so good, in this day and age that should be there. Yet we have had terrible trouble in this country even getting Atheist Agnostic on the census forms.

Who has noticed in the last day or so there has been a resurgence of Islam bashing.

Fernapple comments on Dec 31, 2019:

There is a little yes, but Islam is, or should be, as open to bashing as all the rest of the Abrahamic rubbish, for those who like bashing, though I am not fond of it myself. There are however two questions which have to be addressed, which are, is Islam a more threatening and intolerant religion ...

Fernapple replies on Jan 1, 2020:

@Storm1752 Happy to let you bash. All three of the Abrahamic religions have a portion of fundamentalists, who are prepared to use violence, and to find the justification for that in their holy texts. But in Judaism the violence is limited mainly to law enforcement, therefore internal, and to the territorial claims on a small part of the middle east and therefore limited. While in Christianity they are mainly metaphorical, i.e. Jesus. “I come to bring the sword.” Is almost certainly a spiritual sword rather than a metal one. So that it takes extreme interpretation to make that into an instruction for aggressive violence and conquest. Islam alone comes with instructions for violent conquest, on a global scale if needs be, and its creator and early leaders set examples of just that. In that case, there is a clear instruction to violence in the texts, and the extreme interpretation, is required by those who wish to see it as merely a spiritual and metaphorical war. Some do, but that is a hard push against history and the real intentions of the religions creators, while the violent fundamentalists find easy justification.

RICHARD HAWKINS COMMENT. somebody as intelligent as Jesus would have to be an athiest.

Geoffrey51 comments on Dec 30, 2019:

Someone s intelligent as Dawkins should realise Jesus is not a historical character!

Fernapple replies on Dec 31, 2019:

@Geoffrey51 Sorry my mistake, I don't usually look for irony on here. And there are a few who like to Dawkins bash.

Are you truely agnostic or an athiest in hiding?

LenHazell53 comments on Dec 31, 2019:

Right children can you spell non sequitur?

Fernapple replies on Dec 31, 2019:

New members have a right to ask the same old questions. And sometimes yes, they do get so carried away in excitement, that they may ask two questions at once. We have all done it.

Are you truely agnostic or an athiest in hiding?

TristanNuvo comments on Dec 31, 2019:

Ah, the tired old Agnostic vs Atheist rhetoric. ,.....Yawn.

Fernapple replies on Dec 31, 2019:

New members.

Here we are at the end of another year and another about to begin.

Fernapple comments on Dec 31, 2019:

Not really true anymore since BC was replaced by BCE. But I agree the equinox would be better, and new year does not fit the solstice either, it was just a date in the Roman calender fitted to the ancient South European agricultural cycles, Roman tradition and the whims of the Emperor Augustus, ...

Fernapple replies on Dec 31, 2019:

@Sofabeast Sadly yes, but it has to be pointed out to narrow minded people, that they live on a planet with a global culture today, and that if they wanted to live in a medieval village, they have missed their chance by a few centuries.

RICHARD HAWKINS COMMENT. somebody as intelligent as Jesus would have to be an athiest.

Geoffrey51 comments on Dec 30, 2019:

Someone s intelligent as Dawkins should realise Jesus is not a historical character!

Fernapple replies on Dec 31, 2019:

Sorry, but I think that someone who has a large part of his life in the study of religion, would be well aware of the arguments about the possible fictionality of Jesus, the statement is made as it is because the reality of Jesus is not really relevant. The statement works both for a historical Jesus and for a character in historical fiction called Jesus. As in. "Someone as intelligent as Einstein would have been a tea drinker." "Someone as intelligent as Sherlock Holmes would have been a tea drinker." Both work equally as well.

The hospital clerk asked my religion before a medical procedure.

RobinGray comments on Dec 31, 2019:

Should there have to be another category? Seriously stupid!

Fernapple replies on Dec 31, 2019:

In this context I do not think that there needs to be another category no, certainly not for any practical reason. But I understand that some agnostics and atheists are sensitive about their ideas being classified as a religion, because under some circumstances that is used by theists, as a lead in to the argument they use, that, there is no such thing as not believing.

The hospital clerk asked my religion before a medical procedure.

Geoffrey51 comments on Dec 31, 2019:

For that purpose yes. They need to know if there are any ethical concerns that might need to be addressed. I am surprised there wasn’t a ‘no religion’ category.

Fernapple replies on Dec 31, 2019:

There may have been a 'no religion' as she only stated that atheist was there, not that there were no other secular beliefs listed.

The hospital clerk asked my religion before a medical procedure.

skado comments on Dec 30, 2019:

If you have to fill out a form that asks the color of your car, and you happen to have a white car, you put “white” in that space, even though white is not a color. You don’t ask the DMV to make a new space on the form for “Acoloration”. It’s not the hill to die on.

Fernapple replies on Dec 31, 2019:

@KKGator Great line must remember that, it will make a quote.

Why Does Cold Weather Kill Your Phone? [youtube.com]

glennlab comments on Dec 30, 2019:

I never thought that you could dumb down freshman chemistry, I was wrong.

Fernapple replies on Dec 31, 2019:

The question, why should you need to dumb it down, needs to be asked.

This shows the change in Arctic sea ice. Especially for those of you still in denial. [twitter.com]

Fernapple comments on Dec 30, 2019:

Link seems to lead to a lot of comments, but no actual content.

Fernapple replies on Dec 31, 2019:

@ToolGuy Could not see a video.

“Unfortunately, however much we may deplore something, it does not stop being true.

Marionville comments on Dec 30, 2019:

This is self evident I’d have thought!

Fernapple replies on Dec 31, 2019:

Not to a lot of people it seems. It is the big difference between the religious mind and the secular. To the secular mind truth is truth, however much it may differ from what you want to hear. To the religious mind truth is anything which confirms what you want to hear, regardless of evidence.

How open-source software took over the world [cnbc.com]

Fernapple comments on Dec 30, 2019:

Page would not download due to many very large adverts. Sorry.

Fernapple replies on Dec 30, 2019:

@FearlessFly Thanks.

Why do Christians get threatened and terrified by Atheists?

Marionville comments on Dec 29, 2019:

They are afraid that their whole life has been built on a lie...a false premise, and that thought is too unthinkable for them to contemplate. The anger and denial are perfectly understandable in that context, because to believe that what we say is true would bring the whole edifice of their life, ...

Fernapple replies on Dec 29, 2019:

Very true. But that is one hell of a long sentence. LOL

It seems that if you believe in evolution that it’s kind of hard to believe in the Abrahamic ...

Geoffrey51 comments on Dec 29, 2019:

The belief in Genesis as a literary concept is not what the early church fathers considered. Augustine certainly consider most of the bible to be allegory which is the great irony. These guys were the fundamentalist thinkers that began the systematic approach to Christianity. Bearing in mind ...

Fernapple replies on Dec 29, 2019:

Yes but Augustine is only a small sample of one of the early church fathers, we simply don't know what most of the early christian leaders thought, because they left no records.

At least she has good taste in Whiskey.. 😋 [sun-sentinel.com]

Fernapple comments on Dec 28, 2019:

It says website not available in Europe. Sorry.

Fernapple replies on Dec 28, 2019:

@Captain_Feelgood Ah, explained thank you. " It's a shame the system there can't find better people to hire for these jobs." Perhaps. Though would better peoople want those jobs ? And do they pay enough ?

Even though I am an atheist, I recognize that we have had great theologians, whose thoughts are ...

Fernapple comments on Dec 28, 2019:

The established churches don't have to make ground. Evangelicals have to sell themselves, and dogma sells, because it appeals to our base instincts like, laziness, I don't want the bother of thinking, and hate, I want to blame someone else.

Fernapple replies on Dec 28, 2019:

@wordywalt It take a millenium at least.

Do you think we'll ever reach a point when atheists are the majority and when?

Geoffrey51 comments on Dec 28, 2019:

Hope not. How dull would that be. They would still start fighting as is evidenced here on this site.

Fernapple replies on Dec 28, 2019:

As someone once said. If ever one single ideaology came to represent the views of the whole world in unity, then it would imeadiately have to split into the orthodox and the reformed versions, so that people could continue fighting.

I have a loquat tree, and with the need for pollination I feed the bees to keep them coming back.

Fernapple comments on Dec 27, 2019:

Great. But it is generally thought better to feed bees with white sugar, there is some evidence that brown can give them bowel disorders.

Fernapple replies on Dec 27, 2019:

@glennlab Check out a beekeeping website if you have time, they usually have instructions for bee feeds.

"Love, Friendship, Respect and Admiration, are the emotional response of one man, to the virtues of ...

Fernapple comments on Dec 27, 2019:

Seems a little obvious and banal really, it has to be said.

Fernapple replies on Dec 27, 2019:

@SeekingWisdom Sadly true.

Today's Factoids: Phobias Somniphobia: Fear of sleep Caligynephobia: Fear of beautiful ...

Fernapple comments on Dec 27, 2019:

Is there a word for, can't get enough of any of those ?

Fernapple replies on Dec 27, 2019:

@LenHazell53 That's a good one, though it was the things themselves rather than the phobias that I wanted more of. I don't need more belly buttons personally of course, one is enough for my present needs. But I was kind of hoping to bend the rules a little, and get them as a package with the beautiful women.

The Saint-Bernard Catholic Church was constructed between 1910 and 1942.

Fernapple comments on Dec 27, 2019:

That is always a difficult one. In the UK we have many old historic churches, which can be a joy to visit, or some times just shelter from the rain when out walking. You feel that having benefited from and enjoyed the architecture, you should give something for is upkeep, especially as many of them ...

Fernapple replies on Dec 27, 2019:

@Robecology Yes that's the conclution I reached, so I don't give them anything now. Yet it would be a sad lose if all those beautiful old buildings fell to bits or were changed into private homes, so that only a few got to enjoy them. Still a small price for world freedom.

Dave Daubenmire: I Went to a Zoo and Saw How Interracial Marriage Is Wrong | Hemant Mehta | ...

mordant comments on Dec 26, 2019:

Sometimes I think these idiots can't be that stupid and are just parroting what keeps the $$ flowing in. Cynically pandering to people's prejudice and fear and willful ignorance associated therewith. After awhile though they do start to believe their own BS, and it becomes hard even for them to ...

Fernapple replies on Dec 26, 2019:

The old shock jockey trick, still keeps the money rolling in, but there still has to be a lot of stupid out there, because you have to be pretty lacking to fall for old tricks like shock jockeying.

I would like to know more about how we view ourselves.

Fernapple comments on Dec 26, 2019:

Curious. Friendly, Good humoured. But you have to have the negative as well. Hyperactive, and can't concentrate. Thoughtless. Pedantic. That's why you have to have these as well.

Fernapple replies on Dec 26, 2019:

@Donotbelieve One step ahead of me as always. (Its the can't concentrate thing.) LOL

The greatest story ever told, does not I think come from the bible.

Cast1es comments on Dec 26, 2019:

Apocryphal , should have been in the unusual words list - new one to me , at any rate . Meaning , an adjective meaning sotry widly thought to be true , but not .

Fernapple replies on Dec 26, 2019:

In the biblical sense of added on at the end.

There are individuals who believe that being spiritual and religious are not the same thing.

LiterateHiker comments on Dec 25, 2019:

Hiking is a transcendent, uplifting and spiritual experience for me. I have been an atheist since age 13. Since age 21, I have hiked over 200 miles/year with over 50,000' of elevation gain. It's awe-inspiring. I feel grounded and centered high in the mountains.

Fernapple replies on Dec 26, 2019:

@BitFlipper Yes no one is sure why but I have heard that too, several times. It may also provide inspiration and enhance problem solving. It could be that back in the day when we were hunter gatherers, our brains took walking as a sign that we had started work, and that it was now time to put our high mental powers into gear.

Viburnum X bodnantense is perhaps the best winter flower there is, nearly all though the winter it ...

dede18 comments on Dec 25, 2019:

it's a small shrub, isn't it? would love a twig of that in the house right now :-) for the fragrance

Fernapple replies on Dec 25, 2019:

Medium sized, six to ten feet after twelve years.

Camus passed in 1960, so this quote was written as a minimum 59 years ago.

Freedompath comments on Dec 23, 2019:

I believe!

Fernapple replies on Dec 24, 2019:

@Freedompath Ah! I thought that you were being ironic, and using believe in the theist sense.

"After the game the King and the pawn go into the same box". Italian proverb

IamNobody comments on Dec 24, 2019:

Well we are interested while the game is on, not when it's over and everything goes back to the box. Of course IamNot Italian, so......

Fernapple replies on Dec 24, 2019:

Having a literal day are we ?

A vase a bowl and some Holly from the garden, it seem enough to celebrate the winter solstice, at ...

dede18 comments on Dec 24, 2019:

love the composition, and wish I had a bench in front of a window like you do! I was curious to find the berries on your holly, so I tweaked your pic to enhance the light ... still no berries, but beautiful variegated leaves :-) I've only seen the ordinary, solid green leaves and I love yours! ...

Fernapple replies on Dec 24, 2019:

No, that varigated form is male, so no berries. It is a common joke that the two best known varigated forms are Golden King, which is female, and Silver Queen, which is male.

A vase a bowl and some Holly from the garden, it seem enough to celebrate the winter solstice, at ...

Killtheskyfairy comments on Dec 24, 2019:

What no ivy?

Fernapple replies on Dec 24, 2019:

@Killtheskyfairy Here you go. Enjoy. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MhYFzaWlQz8

Why are some people barred from the Senate? It doesn't sound very democratic.

Fernapple comments on Dec 24, 2019:

I thought that the senate was the only place where you could not get barred ?

Fernapple replies on Dec 24, 2019:

@FrayedBear Strange, why would you bar someone from the senate and not kick them of the site altogether ?

A vase a bowl and some Holly from the garden, it seem enough to celebrate the winter solstice, at ...

Killtheskyfairy comments on Dec 24, 2019:

What no ivy?

Fernapple replies on Dec 24, 2019:

@Killtheskyfairy Its a lovely song, do you also know. "The oak and the ash and the bonny ivy tree." Or is that just a UK thing.

A vase a bowl and some Holly from the garden, it seem enough to celebrate the winter solstice, at ...

Killtheskyfairy comments on Dec 24, 2019:

What no ivy?

Fernapple replies on Dec 24, 2019:

No Ivy grows like a weed in my garden, I get fed up with it, may bring some viburnum in tomorrow for the scent though.

There's a Pooping Man in the Catalan Nativity Scene | HowStuffWorks

Organist1 comments on Dec 23, 2019:

Funny! I'd love to see one made of Trump!

Fernapple replies on Dec 24, 2019:

There is a photo of one in the article.

Camus passed in 1960, so this quote was written as a minimum 59 years ago.

Freedompath comments on Dec 23, 2019:

I believe!

Fernapple replies on Dec 24, 2019:

I hope not.

Being with someone with dementia

1of5 comments on Dec 23, 2019:

I'm getting to deal with both my mom and stepdad's losing battle with dementia. It's hard dealing with the bad decisions, forgotten dates, fixing thier financials on a quarterly basis, worrying about them hurting themselves (again), dreading every call from them or the doctors office, and putting ...

Fernapple replies on Dec 24, 2019:

@1of5 Yes it must be very hard when it is very slow, mother only took about three years in all, though there were a few early signs. My wife died of cancer in my ealy forties, and fortunately that was also relatively quick, only three months, as did my father, so I will not have to face that with them. But I am sorry to say that my best friend and traveling companion, who is a lot older than me, shows signs that may be the beginings, hoping not, because she was such a vibrant person, it will seem doubly sad.

Sometimes a concept is baffling not because it is profound but because it is wrong. - E.O. Wilson

Fernapple comments on Dec 22, 2019:

And sometimes it is dressed in baffling language so that you can't see where it is wrong.

Fernapple replies on Dec 24, 2019:

@Diogenes Possibly, though I think that there have been far better exponents of it. But then I think there have been far better exponents of everything.

I am currently watching the Hollywood epic "The greatest story ever told".

Fernapple comments on Dec 23, 2019:

I don't think that the film is an accurate account of any of the four biblical stories, and many people before have said that the bible stories themselves do not make any sense anyway. One common theory is, that Paul was responsible for putting a pro Roman twist on to the story, but that it was not ...

Fernapple replies on Dec 24, 2019:

@Moravian Yes it was on our TV last night, only caught a bit of it, but Telly Savalas asks Jesus what god it is he follows. So are we to think that, he is living in an empire where there is a huge Jewish population, and has been made govenor of the Jewish state, and he does not know what god the Jews worship ?!!!

Being with someone with dementia

1of5 comments on Dec 23, 2019:

I'm getting to deal with both my mom and stepdad's losing battle with dementia. It's hard dealing with the bad decisions, forgotten dates, fixing thier financials on a quarterly basis, worrying about them hurting themselves (again), dreading every call from them or the doctors office, and putting ...

Fernapple replies on Dec 23, 2019:

A lot of us have been there, and you are never alone. Take care of yourself first , you may need your strength. I watched my mother go, and in the end her brain lost it power to regulate her body temprature, so that she spent the last weeks of her life in bed taking the blanket off, saying I am hot, and then pulling it back again, saying I am cold, fifty times an hour. But at least in her case it was mercifully quick, just a year or so.

I am just loving the country now that it is all bleak and bare.

creative51 comments on Dec 23, 2019:

Nice picture, but if you think these are bleak and bare, you have just not really seen bleak and bare. Just saying.

Fernapple replies on Dec 23, 2019:

Only bleak and bare by UK standards admitedly.

Maybe adding appeal to secularism, rather than talking stink on religion, is a more productive ...

oldFloyd comments on Dec 23, 2019:

How does one add appeal to rational thought.

Fernapple replies on Dec 23, 2019:

Yep, it either is or it isn't. And if it is, then, it is, whether it is popular and liked or not.

“If someone tells you who they are, believe them." - Maya Angelou

Sticks48 comments on Dec 22, 2019:

They still see the Emperor as fully clothed.

Fernapple replies on Dec 23, 2019:

Ah! Trump naked. Please don't put that picture in my mind. LOL

I am just loving the country now that it is all bleak and bare.

Lincoln55 comments on Dec 22, 2019:

I love this type of shot. the road starts at bottom right corner and leads your eye directly to the tree, stark against the cloudy sky. Beautiful picture.

Fernapple replies on Dec 22, 2019:

Thank you. Do my best to entertain. I put a slightly different version of the same shot in the Natural History group if you want to compare. https://agnostic.com/group/naturalhistory/post/441101/i-like-the-country-when-it-is-bare-but-it-is-a-wonder-that-the-wildlife-survives-at-all-without-an

I think we've had very similar quizzes before - it's very quick, 15 Q's, and at the end an ...

hankster comments on Dec 22, 2019:

14, they got the one about the automatic salvation in protestantism wrong.

Fernapple replies on Dec 22, 2019:

Me too, I think that was the one we all struggled with, it was a little, arguable, as Allamanda says.

Is the entire universe God?[mindmatters.ai]

Storm1752 comments on Dec 22, 2019:

Just a question; I've read the article twice and it still makes no sense but, hey, if all these scientists think it's absurdity is not obvious, who am I to laugh?

Fernapple replies on Dec 22, 2019:

You are perfectly entitled to laugh, not to do so just because there are so many, would be an example of the 'vox populi fallacy'. Enjoy.

I think we've had very similar quizzes before - it's very quick, 15 Q's, and at the end an ...

AnonySchmoose comments on Dec 22, 2019:

14 ... Did not think I would do that well.

Fernapple replies on Dec 22, 2019:

You did very well, the same as me. After all we would not want people to think we are perfect would we.

I am just loving the country now that it is all bleak and bare.

Lavergne comments on Dec 22, 2019:

It's funny you say that....we are on 10 acres of heavily wooded land and most people think its ugly during the winter months when the trees are bare. I think the property is actually very pretty during the winter - the entire ground is carpeted with the fallen leaves - like a huge brown mosaic - ...

Fernapple replies on Dec 22, 2019:

Sounds wonderful. Is that the Apellations

I am just loving the country now that it is all bleak and bare.

Robecology comments on Dec 22, 2019:

I'm guessing you rarely see snow there. Beautiful images. Enjoy a damp, cool, but sunny winter!

Fernapple replies on Dec 22, 2019:

I do, though I could do without the damp. And yes snow is rare, we get five or ten days most winters a month sometimes.

[cnn.com]

FearlessFly comments on Dec 22, 2019:

I'm annoyed at the ongoing use of BC/AD instead of BCE/CE

Fernapple replies on Dec 22, 2019:

You wonder if they normally use CE but change it for populist articles, because they want to appease the more stupid christians. Yuk.

Ancient Evenings Fun!

EyesThatSmile comments on Dec 21, 2019:

Very nice! (But my second thought was...doesn’t a tigress usually have more than two teats?)

Fernapple replies on Dec 21, 2019:

@MoonTigerII Lioness. The godess of the Nile.

Had a chance to stop and take a snapshot with my phone on my way to school to pick up the kids.

Fernapple comments on Dec 21, 2019:

Good shooting, but don't take your eye of the road too long.

Fernapple replies on Dec 21, 2019:

@Mark013 Yep. me too I have the maximum no claims on my insurance. I never saw the point of reckless driving, if you want to take risks, there are plenty of off road and race tracks venues where you are not endangering anyone but yourself.

Albert Camus was always the optimistic, and he was good....

Freedompath comments on Dec 20, 2019:

If it just didn’t signify, cold waiting in the wings!

Fernapple replies on Dec 21, 2019:

Makes you aware of just how important it is to grab every vital second.

Why Doing Good Makes It Easier To Be Bad.

Fernapple comments on Dec 20, 2019:

Especially as so much of Christianity as a religion is about providing people with fake ways to do good. Examples. Donate to the church when they hold out the collection plate, saves you having to find a charity and make sure your money is well spent. Confess to the priest, saves you having to own ...

Fernapple replies on Dec 21, 2019:

@linxminx I think that another way of looking at it is. We all have only so much to give, money , time, care, effort etc. and if we use that up in church, there is nothing left for the rest of the world. Its the same idea just looking at it from the other side.

Why Doing Good Makes It Easier To Be Bad.