Atheist: let's assume that heaven is real.

Fernapple comments on Dec 20, 2019:

The Buy-Babble is said to make it a sacred duty to enjoy watching the sufferings of those in hell, so presumably if you care about people, you are not going to heaven anyway.

Why does god choose some to go to heaven and not others?

Fernapple comments on Dec 20, 2019:

That is perhaps the most blatant expression of the selfishness of religion I ever heard. Well at least they are honest. Unlike a lot of religions who try to fudge the issue of exclusive claims, or sweep it under the carpet.

This is wrong

Fernapple comments on Dec 20, 2019:

And some people have said that the US is not an empire ?!

Thanks to everyone that has made this the best online forum! I just hit lvl 9.

Fernapple comments on Dec 20, 2019:

Well done. And I think you are right, it would be a good idea if reasons could be flagged up when groups and posts are taken down. Though I have heard that several eights and nines have left, sometimes because they have become unhappy.

Well, this is my first post so I don't know really what to say.

Fernapple comments on Dec 19, 2019:

Hello and welcome, Enjoy the site, and do check out the groups if you have time, there is something for everyone.

“Indifference and neglect often do more damage than outright dislike”.............J.K. Rowling.

Fernapple comments on Dec 19, 2019:

And the most harm of all is usually caused by good intentions and poor understanding.

I am a 100 % sure atheist! The Bible is a fairy tale! Try to imagine an omnipotent being (God) who...

Fernapple comments on Dec 19, 2019:

Hello and welcome, enjoy the site.

Thats true

Fernapple comments on Dec 19, 2019:

You may not like all of them, but looking at them from the other side of the pond, I can say that none of them made the US look totally stupid. Some respect due.

Hell-- that awful place that we're all told to be scared of.

Fernapple comments on Dec 19, 2019:

Hello and welcome. Enjoy the site. Like any good con artist, religion changes its lines all the time to suit its victims. Its changing its attitude to hell (as well as lots of other things) now. What is really strange is how you can change everything, over and over to suit yourself, yet still claim that everything you say has the added authority of a perfect , eternal and unchanging god behind it. The trick is to stay just ultra-conservative enough, so that people without any historical knowledge can't see you changing.

Some of you say religion makes people happy. So does laughing gas. - Clarence Darrow

Fernapple comments on Dec 19, 2019:

Warm sunshine, waves on the beach, snow on the mountain, wine in the glass, the small flowers which lurk in hidden corners, busy street markets, drifts of autumn leaves, the fur on dogs noses, talking about old time with friends, cafe tables on the street, sunset and dawn, mist and rain, people eating things that I made, customers who leave smiling, waterfalls, the glow you get after a long walk. Etc. Etc.

Just in case you might possibly have forgotten; we are god damn lucky to be here.

Fernapple comments on Dec 18, 2019:

A merry winter solstice to everyone too. The light returns and the season of new life is on the way. And for our Australian friends, it will cool down soon.

You don't say!

Fernapple comments on Dec 18, 2019:

So nothing much has changed then.

“The lonely one offers his hand too quickly to whomever he encounters.

Fernapple comments on Dec 18, 2019:

He was always a cheery soul.

Terry is a wise man

Fernapple comments on Dec 18, 2019:

He was a wide man a couple of hours ago, I did not know you could diet posthumously. I bet he could have used that idea in one of his books. LOL

Hello friends, I shaved my head 😍

Fernapple comments on Dec 18, 2019:

You look fine suits you, but it may crackle on your pillow as it starts to grow back. I am a shiny top. (Mine fell out without any help.)

How do you all feel about Omnism?

Fernapple comments on Dec 18, 2019:

It depends what you mean by Omnism, there are several alternatives, but to address some. If you go into the restaurant and try to eat everything on the menu you will make yourself ill. If you go into a restaurant and say, do not show me the menu, anything will do, you are foolish. (We are defined by our choices not by our endurance of everything thrown at us.) And if you tell your friends that they can eat well in every restaurant in town, they will get food poisoning. Not everything served in all restaurants is safe or wholesome. If you tell your friends that, MOST of the restaurants in town serve at least one thing that is good, and that you should be polite and respectful when viewing any menu. Then are are perhaps wise. To quote R. Dawkins for once. "If your mind is too open, your brains will fall out."

Any Thoughts?

Fernapple comments on Dec 18, 2019:

Someone said a long while ago. "The internet is the place where religions go to die." When it started religions were very keen on it, because they thought that you can use it to sell anything, you can, but if you put it out there you have to remember, it is also used to evaluate anything. What they missed was, the important thing about the net is, that because people can say what they wish, you don't have to be polite and respect peoples feelings like you do face to face. That is a harsh environment for ideas, and one especially bound to be hard, on those shallow beliefs unsupported by evidence.

One Million Moms Responds To Hallmark Channel's Same Sex Wedding Reversal With “Death to Gays” ...

Fernapple comments on Dec 17, 2019:

If even the name of your group is dishonest, well that says it all really.

When discussing life on other planets, why is it that most people assume that life in other planets ...

Fernapple comments on Dec 17, 2019:

It could well be that there are other basic life forms out there. We only have one sample of life after all and one is not a very big sample. Having said that however, there are many different environments both here on earth and on the few planets and moons close enough to us to have been explored to some degree. And so far we have only found carbon and water based life, which is a fairly strong indicator that that is likely to be the only type. Especially since, it is a reasonable assumption that a fairly rich chemistry is needed for the advent of life, and water is such a good solvent that we do not know of any other naturally solvent likely to produce anything like such a rich chemistry.

Oh Wow, just got told by my Evangeloon neighbor that I was " Being sinfully slothful in the eyes of ...

Fernapple comments on Dec 17, 2019:

You could of course tell him that you should not lay concrete at that temperature, since if it cures too quickly in the heat, it will be soft and weak.

I just got word! I am now, officially, a GREAT-GRANDFATHER! The Baby was born at about 8:15 AM ...

Fernapple comments on Dec 17, 2019:

Congratulations.

Ok I am looking into anthropology... my FIRST question is; The process of carbon dating?

Fernapple comments on Dec 17, 2019:

This is perhaps a better question for the, science or anthropology groups. But having said that, I understand that carbon dating is a fairly accurate way to date things to within a few hundred years. It is based on the idea, that living things prefer to absorb the carbon fourteen isotope rather than the carbon thirteen, and that therefore you find more carbon fourteen in living things than the background. However since fourteen degenerates into thirteen at a fairly standard rate over time, the balance changes slowly after a thing dies. I also understand that the accuracy of dates has gradually improved over the years, since the rate varies slightly due to sun spots and other climate factors. But the results have gradually been improved by calibrating carbon fourteen dating using things such as tree rings, which can be dated accurately and therefore give a precise dating measure.

Hi everyone.

Fernapple comments on Dec 17, 2019:

Welcome and enjoy the site. If you have time check out the groups, there is something for everyone.

In my opinion there is total knowledge broken up into what you know and what you don't know.

Fernapple comments on Dec 17, 2019:

Hello and welcome, enjoy the site.

Oh Wow, just got told by my Evangeloon neighbor that I was " Being sinfully slothful in the eyes of ...

Fernapple comments on Dec 17, 2019:

Aways funny how god always says whatever the believer wants him to say.

“I could not understand why men who knew all about good and evil could hate and kill each ...

Fernapple comments on Dec 17, 2019:

Thinking they knew about good and evil, was the problem, and still is. In fact you could make a good case for, even believing there are such things as good and evil, being at the heart of the problem.

WAS RUDOLPH A RED NOSER?

Fernapple comments on Dec 17, 2019:

Yep, its a fairy story. But interestingly, reindeer live in the coldest regions, and are the only deer with fur covering their noses, they would get frost bite if they did not have it. So red noses, and even the cover picture which shows the other deer with black noses are both wrong. LOL

THE RESULTS Earlier I posted a thread asking why only about 1% of registered users seem to be ...

Fernapple comments on Dec 17, 2019:

Dating. Don't have an opinion. I asked what was the point of it once, and was told that we have had several marriages ! Groups. Yes there are a lot and I think it should be made harder to start new ones, but I can not see that they put members of, and remember that if you do get the numbers of active members to grow then there may come a day when there are too few, they could even be a reason why some people stay. Age. Maybe the site is only for older people, because younger people simply take none religion for granted and don't see a need to talk about it, or think that religion/none religion is not important any more. Perhaps wishful thinking on my part. Inactive members deletion. Good idea, although they don't actually cost us anything, so not that important. But I would make it longer than a year, perhaps two. And send out a warning notice such as. 'If you do not log on in the next month.' The reason for that is. Supposing you have been very ill and have just spent a year in intensive care, you recover and try to go back to your life, then find that your account is gone and you have to start over. Or perhaps at least a way to reactivate old accounts.

What can be done about the inactive members problem on this site?

Fernapple comments on Dec 16, 2019:

That's about normal for most sites, groups and clubs, perhaps a little low but not that much. Sites of any sort which have ten percent or more active members, are very rare, lots of people join lots of things and then never take part, it is the same everywhere. We are though perhaps a little worse than average because. A. A lot of religious people come here to find out if we have horns, or swap baby cooking tips, and when they find we don't they leave. ( See my blog for recipes. ) B. Some people come looking for dates and either fail and go, or find someone and go. C. we are very boring people.

Two standard alcoholic drinks a day no longer safe, health officials say [theguardian.com]

Fernapple comments on Dec 16, 2019:

Shit. Jumping out of planes with only a fabric bag attached to your back is not safe, skying is not safe, nor is, surfing, playing football, driving cars, walking in bear country, wild swimming or having sex with strangers. But you are not going to stop people doing it.

Worst or most difficult time of year to be Agnostic, don't you think?

Fernapple comments on Dec 16, 2019:

It is hard to think that you are forced into the position of being a party pooper, when you want to join in by nature. And I can offer no cure for that. Except to try what works for me. Perhaps you should remember, as I try to, that Christmas is not a Christian festival anyway, but a far older festival, of now long forgotten pagan traditions, that have no religious meaning any longer, but still retain their natural and historic meaning. All the things that we do, such as, throwing a party, bringing evergreen decorations into the house, lighting lamps, having a big fire, giving gifts, putting on fancy clothes, all predate Christianity. And what is more, they all have far greater historical significance; just imagine how much it meant to poor, people in the past, ( and even the rich were poor by our standards, ) that the winter had reached its shortest darkest day, and that now they light would begin to return, in the days before modern lighting and heating, and when the lack of and transport and storage meant that food, especially tasty fresh food would run out over winter, while beloved animals might have to be killed because they could not be fed. So then, they threw a party, to celebrate that change and to cheer themselves, because they knew that there was still a long way to go to spring. In so doing they created all those traditions, which go back beyond the first histories. Yet may still mean much today, and even if they don't we can still celebrate their delivery, as a historical memory, just as I believe you Americans celebrate Thanks Giving. So, I light a candle and bring some sweet pine and holly into the house, and remember all those who went before, and suffered far greater hardship from the seasons than I ever will. And I celebrate that even for us today, including me, there is still much to be joyful about the turning of the seasons, especially the growing light and returning spring.

I'd like to make a suggestion as I watch more folks jump ship over moral differences with the site ...

Fernapple comments on Dec 16, 2019:

You can hide groups, just do that with the ones you don't like. If they still appear on your page then you have reason to contact Admin.

‘Journalism is dying’: US govt ‘has its tentacles’ in every part of media, reporter who quit...

Fernapple comments on Dec 16, 2019:

You have to think though. RT does not of course come from a country where the government takes a hand in the press. I have watched RT for a long time, and the complete about face, and the change from reasoned reporting to blatant America bashing which occured when Putin took over, was stark.

Surviving oral cancer and quickly regaining my full health and virility makes me feel very much like...

Fernapple comments on Dec 16, 2019:

Welcome back.

“I must not fear.

Fernapple comments on Dec 16, 2019:

I like that, though it is another one that gives the brain cells a workout.

Why the Best Things in Life Are All Backwards

Fernapple comments on Dec 16, 2019:

Good advice, especially if you stick to the end. A bit banal to many people, but there are still many for whom this would be news. Though you have to wonder, if for many people the wrong approach is built into their nature, and they would be incapable of understanding this.

My Cousin posted this on FB today , needless to say he won’t get many hits from my Mother’s ...

Fernapple comments on Dec 16, 2019:

Please explain the, "Crickets on the post." expression, it sounds like fun and it is not one we use in the UK.

Be aware of what you watch, hear and read. Does it nourish you? Accept nothing less.

Fernapple comments on Dec 16, 2019:

So its goodbye to Agnostic.com then.

I am new to this site, wondering if it will be worthwhile.

Fernapple comments on Dec 15, 2019:

Seems mainly to be about US politics, which is strange really, given that it is supposed to be an international site for sceptics. Having said that there is fun to be had.

They abandoned that log ago

Fernapple comments on Dec 15, 2019:

If they abandoned the log, can I have it for the fire ? LOL

Is Santa's Sleigh Carbon neutral?

Fernapple comments on Dec 15, 2019:

Pulled by reindeer, so not much CO2 but a lot of methane.

Universal basic income tested in Jackson, Mississippi to help African American women ...

Fernapple comments on Dec 15, 2019:

I am told that the introduction of a state legal minimum wage, almost invariably in all the developed countries that have introduced it results in economic growth. Perhaps, because people on low incomes spend a higher proportion of it close to home, and it forces businesses to become more efficient to pay the raised wage bill.

A lot of the arguments in support of the bible focus on the historical accuracy of the texts, then ...

Fernapple comments on Dec 15, 2019:

The seeming consistency of the bible, is very shallow, and in fact it has very little historical accuracy if any. I think that the idea that it was deliberately rewritten to fit with historical facts, gives too much credit to the church, since if they did that, they made a very bad job of it. And it is hard to see any reason why they would want to, since if historians disagreed with the bible, then obviously the historians were wrong. What we do know also of the bible is, that it was rewritten many times by many different scribes, no two of who agreed. Accuracy was simply not valued in the same way in the past as it is today, indeed rewrittings were often said to be inspired by god, to explain away differences between different versions. What the church did do however was to keep the bible secret, not allow people to read it or to copy it into popular modern languages. One reason for this being given, that people would misunderstand it, if allowed to see it for themselves. You may see that as meaning, see it for the rubbish it is, if you like.

Madison’s reasons for Church State Separation, 1785.

Fernapple comments on Dec 15, 2019:

The other side of the coin though , is that across Northern Europe many countries have state churches of some sort, (though never enforced membership ). And guess what ? Across Northern Europe religion is nearly dead, compared with the US anyway. One of the best reasons for having a state church, is that it kills the church.

The Purpose of Life:

Fernapple comments on Dec 15, 2019:

Yes my funeral wish, would be to be left out in the woods. No waste.

I’m sure that this is true.

Fernapple comments on Dec 15, 2019:

Wisdom is accepting nuance in everything. And when you do that, there are few certainties, so wisdom equals doubt. I think..........

“The divorce between Church and State ought to be absolute.

Fernapple comments on Dec 15, 2019:

Yep. I just read your last post, and then wondered. Would the defense budget be so high, if the churches had to pay their fair share ?

Anyone else think this is madness?

Fernapple comments on Dec 15, 2019:

Spend half of that on foreign aid ?

Another Sunset shot from the Kayak.

Fernapple comments on Dec 15, 2019:

Now that is good shooting. But don't drop the camera in the water.

After a cold stormy night we had a full house for breakfast this morning, the still image belies the...

Fernapple comments on Dec 14, 2019:

Goldfinches, so tiny you wonder how they could ever make it through a single winter night.

Admin sent me a message that the Politics as usual group has been done away with because of no posts...

Fernapple comments on Dec 14, 2019:

I think both should be deleted after a while, and two months seems reasonable for a group. Members should perhaps be given longer, because people can be ill or traveling for a year or more, and if you were to recover from serious illness to find that your account had gone, that would seem very unfair. So say two years for members.

there seems to me to be way to much animosity towards religion.

Fernapple comments on Dec 14, 2019:

Yes they may pass, (not proved but ok) and I am happy in my freedom. But I reserve the right to be outraged, on behalf of those of my fellow humans, and other creatures, who still suffer, and to fear that I may one day be among them.

May I wish you all Happy Holidays. Thank you for your responses to my Christmas/Saturnalia post.

Fernapple comments on Dec 14, 2019:

Enjoy the break.

Christian Hate Group Condemns “Bizarre Disgrace” of Singular Pronoun “They” | Hemant Mehta |...

Fernapple comments on Dec 12, 2019:

Its been around a long time, it is not even a modern usage.

But the "Talking Snake" story is a good one:

Fernapple comments on Dec 12, 2019:

Every bit of science is a discovery and repeatable. But every lie has to be minted new.

O great, the pope says all atheists can get into heaven now. Like we care right?

Fernapple comments on Dec 12, 2019:

I would not want to go anywhere that would let a Pope in anyway.

Just a reminder: don't slap women on the ass without their consent.

Fernapple comments on Dec 12, 2019:

Most men would not change their minds at all, because most men do not think it is a good idea anyway. But theist men, now, they are made in Gods image and can think and do no wrong therefore, so if they want to do it it must be right.

Hoping for the Best The leftover taco meat was heating up in the microwave and the fixin’s were ...

Fernapple comments on Dec 12, 2019:

Good short biography of your though system. And not hard to read. Well done.

24-Year-Old Woman Who Spoke Out About the Harms of Conversion Therapy Found Dead | Hemant Mehta | ...

Fernapple comments on Dec 11, 2019:

Every thing is relative, and from where I am in life, twenty four years old is still practically a child. Not time yet to have grown into a fully developed person, able to stand up to bullies, and truly form her own thoughts. You talk about preying on easy targets.

New and learning about this site

Fernapple comments on Dec 11, 2019:

Hello and welcome. The best thing is do your Bio first, then check out the groups, there is something for everyone.

From Facebook so I have no knowledge of its authenticity.

Fernapple comments on Dec 11, 2019:

So three levels of doubt about the authenticity then. At least.

Newbie here, do mostly landscapes as I spend a lot of time outdoors hiking/backpacking etc.

Fernapple comments on Dec 11, 2019:

Lovely. I envy you the time.

Wisdom for today: “Life is too short for shoes that hurt your feet, friends that make you feel bad...

Fernapple comments on Dec 10, 2019:

Can't argue with that. Now lets have fun, give me something I can argue with !

Anti-vaxxer group says the label is 'derogatory' so Twitter roasted them with some hilarious new ...

Fernapple comments on Dec 10, 2019:

I like "smallpox karen" because it sounds like an historical reference to Typhoid Mary. ( T.M. was an unskilled kitchen worker in nineteenth century London hotels, who single handed created a typhus outbreak.)

Do you think that " I have found god" should mean the same as "A get out of Gaol/Jail free" card.

Fernapple comments on Dec 10, 2019:

If they really think that they have found god, then they believe that they will be rewarded by god with less time in purgatory, or what ever silliness they subscribe to. Therefore they have got their reward for converting, there is no need for earthly law to give them a second one.

Do you think that " I have found god" should mean the same as "A get out of Gaol/Jail free" card.

Fernapple comments on Dec 10, 2019:

If they have really converted they should have their sentence lengthened.

I posted it sometime before but here we go again because after some time it is still a problem.

Fernapple comments on Dec 10, 2019:

You could copy and paste the play-list somewhere else.

I think someone in Admin should look into member "Blah Blah" before they make level 7.

Fernapple comments on Dec 10, 2019:

Its anti-fred back from the dead. Relax and enjoy. You don't have to read him, but sometimes it is worthwhile.

The Price of Recycling Old Laptops: Toxic Fumes in Thailand’s Lungs The e-waste industry is ...

Fernapple comments on Dec 10, 2019:

Use a desktop, they have a longer life can be repaired and updated, and when finally recycled are much less toxic. Plus you get a much better screen and user experience, as a bonus.

Considering this is Agnostic.com , why are so many posts dealing with God or religion ?

Fernapple comments on Dec 10, 2019:

The site and its members have a need to explain themselves to new members and others. Not everyone will have escaped the same distance from religion and its culture. If you have climbed out of the cesspit of ignorance, on to the green open levels of reason, there will still be people behind you on the ladder trying to climb out. You can waltz of selfishly, it is your right, or you can turn round and offer a helping hand. Though yes, that will mean that you have to look back into the pit again. But its your choice, and if you wish to, you can spend your time in the groups, they need more input, and ignore the front pages altogether.

Space, the final frontier

Fernapple comments on Dec 10, 2019:

He looks just like Putin.

The Funniest Tweets from Parents this Week

Fernapple comments on Dec 9, 2019:

If you'd like to answer the question, "What's the meaning of that???" a hundred thousand times a day, then coming on this site might be for you."

What Is Religion? - YouTube

Fernapple comments on Dec 9, 2019:

So basically the young man is saying that the definition of the word religion is not clearly defined, and admits of enough subjectivity to require a different usage to be assigned for each user. Apart from the obvious, (That that is something which applies to every word, and that people who think the meanings of words are of any real value in themselves, and that people should not be invited to define their usages, are complete time wasters. ) You have to wonder what sort of cave, in what sort of far distant jungle, removed from all human contact, the young man has been living in, if he thinks that this is not obvious to everyone who considers it.

God belief and religion are not synonymous.

Fernapple comments on Dec 9, 2019:

This is not news, atheism means none theist, or in other words none belief in god. That does not include anything more than that, most atheists extend their position to include none belief in a much wider range of superstition and supernatural than that, but that is not contained within the word by origin or all usages.

That was smooth...

Fernapple comments on Dec 9, 2019:

Actually you can get down to the bottom much more easily and safely, by putting alternate feet on the steps, at the rate of about two per second. Works well for me. Just though I would share.

Thought that others here might enjoy reading this article.

Fernapple comments on Dec 9, 2019:

I think that the only real thing that you can say with any certainty, is that, we really can not say anything with certainty about the origins of chritianity.

I'll admit - it happens.....

Fernapple comments on Dec 9, 2019:

We have all don it.

Yesterday I went for lunch at a friends place.

Fernapple comments on Dec 9, 2019:

Wow how lovely to grow apricots, you need protection here. Sadly we are starting to live in a world, where people don't know how to deal with food if it does not have a plastic wrapper.

Hiked 1030' for this view this morning.

Fernapple comments on Dec 9, 2019:

Beautiful place, was it very hushed a quiet ?

In a previous video featuring this same guy that was posted here earlier in the week, he claimed ...

Fernapple comments on Dec 8, 2019:

I love the way they get increasingly tied up in ever more complicated knots, as they try to make logical answers out of a waste heap of fantasy and half remembered dreams.

;) Perfectly explained what "organized religion" is all about

Fernapple comments on Dec 8, 2019:

Yep. mumble to the floor, ceiling, wall and decor. But yell and scream at humans.

Just a question.

Fernapple comments on Dec 8, 2019:

I am told that in some languages, there are no profanities. It may just be an English thing, so I will write any word I like, I think the only thing you have to worry about in some places on the net , is not people, but robot programs who edit/report mindlessly. And why is it so wrong to write words about perfectly healthy things such as consentual sex, yet truly nasty references like 'Evil' for example, are OK. So I hope that tells you all you need to know , you #### ##### #### ###, evil #### ######.

So what have you enjoyed this past week that you harvested, from your garden or picked elsewhere?

Fernapple comments on Dec 8, 2019:

Leeks and parsnips. The leeks just simply boiled, I do not cut all the green away because I like the flavour, and tomorrow I may do a savory parsnip crumble.

Methinks not so far from the truth... [babylonbee.com]

Fernapple comments on Dec 8, 2019:

Oh it makes me so sad. (Irony) Of course, if the pastors were themselves genuine, then they would prefer to know who were the real faithful, and who needed more ministry, but I guess they are only interested in the churches incomes, regards less of why the money is in the tin. What a surprise. Next thing you will be telling me that, people are going to give up faking orgasim, and think what a loss to the world that would be.

My agnostic husband and deeply religious father started having a debate about whether or not God is ...

Fernapple comments on Dec 8, 2019:

When you get your husband alone gently point out to him, that. What is not made by logic can not be disproved by logic. And that the burden of proof is on the believer, so there is no need to try and disprove belief.

I am new here, and I don't have enough points(?

Fernapple comments on Dec 8, 2019:

Welcome and enjoy. Do check out the groups if you have time, there is something for everyone, and don't worry too much about points and levels they come quickly if you don't look.

Australian Suicide Prevention organisation " Beyond Blue" highlights the effect of the news on your...

Fernapple comments on Dec 8, 2019:

The news of course has a built in bias, as in. "Heart attack victim dies in hospital." Equals news. "Doctors in hospital save life of seventeenth heart attack victim this week." Is not news, even if it is more often true, in fact partly because it is more often true.

I just came across this Cornell Lab bird cam site. [allaboutbirds.org]

Fernapple comments on Dec 8, 2019:

That looks really interesting thank you.

Paronomasia sounds like a word that a doctor could diagnose someone with.

Fernapple comments on Dec 7, 2019:

Don't you dare mess with my words.

Emergence: examples?

Fernapple comments on Dec 7, 2019:

Good idea to study chaos theory first as a grounding for emergence theory. James Gleick "Chaos." is the classic and very clear text.

What are your objections to the fine tuning argument for the existence of god

Fernapple comments on Dec 7, 2019:

We do not fit 99.9999999999... % of the universe, and we fit this small bit because evolution by natural selection molded us to fit IT, not the other way round, the fine tuning argument simply puts the cart before the horse. Look up the puddle drying in the sun metaphor, by D. Adams.

I just came across this. Too good not to share. Totally something I'd do..... [dangerousminds.net]

Fernapple comments on Dec 7, 2019:

I always thought it strange, that in the US the design of bills hardly changes. Here in the UK, as with most countries, we are often treated to new designs, and have had people like Darwin and Newton featured.

I, for one, like Roman numerals.

Fernapple comments on Dec 6, 2019:

So did the ancient Romans, and look what happen to them. I think that we should change the number system, and start counting in twelves rather than tens. But sadly it ain't going to happen.

I could not believe this news reports from Tucker Carlson on Fox News. Really?

Fernapple comments on Dec 6, 2019:

Yes our local big employer, the Scunthorpes steal works has just recently escaped, hopefully, that sort of fate.

Fractured Forests Are Endangering Wildlife, Scientists Find [nytimes.com]

Fernapple comments on Dec 6, 2019:

And of course the effects could be even worse on plants and other less mobile creatures. While the effects of global warming could cause even more extinctions, if there are not continuing habitat ranges, which enable animals and plants to move as local climate changes occur.

TRAVEL... TRAVEL Who is planning to travel outside the U.S. during Christmas holidays?

Fernapple comments on Dec 6, 2019:

No wish I was, holidays will just have to wait until Jan. Regularly travel in Moslem countries though, most often Turkey, and I love it, especially hearing the call to prayer as a wake up first thing in the morning.

What's up with these conspiracy theorists in America who think the government is secretly trying to ...

Fernapple comments on Dec 6, 2019:

Because accepting that your government is just plain incompetent, is boring and asks the question why don't you do something about it, which means accepting your own share in the mess.

I think we all want to believe what we believe.

Fernapple comments on Dec 6, 2019:

The second part yes. The first part no. Thought and belief are cost free, and can therefore be kept pure and true, as long as we are grown up enough to accept our failings. I may be lazy, but I do not have to justify laziness to myself, I can accept that I would be a better person if I worked harder. That is the big difference between the imature religious thought system, where truth is that which justifies me in what I want. And the rationalist mature thinking, at the core of science and secular philosophy where truth is to be sought no mater how much I do not like it.

Gender in atheism

Fernapple comments on Dec 6, 2019:

Men generally have more time to waste. Good place to waste it though.

Mind changer

Fernapple comments on Dec 6, 2019:

I did not grow up in religion, but as a child naively thought that people who did, were bound to be good people, because they claimed to espouse an altruistic belief system, naturally how could they not be. A meeting in my teenage years with a theist teacher, who expressed the deep selfishness, narrow mindedness, snobbery and sense of exclusive entitlement, that is at the corrupt heart of religion, cured that for good. To a lesser extent, because I sort of knew it in principle anyway. I have had a couple of conversations on here with people, who convinced me that you can hold the right convictions for the wrong reasons.