DO YOU THINK YOU WOULD TURN TO THE COMFORT OF THE CONCEPT OF GOD WHEN YOU'RE DYING?

Fernapple comments on Sep 24, 2019:

What is even worse is that the final comfort we give to many animals, is often denied to humans because of the historical legacy of theism.

I'm glad I'm not one of those stupid people...

Fernapple comments on Sep 24, 2019:

There are 10 kinds of people in the world. Those who understand binary and those who don't.

I'm glad I'm not one of those stupid people...

Fernapple comments on Sep 24, 2019:

Most people have more than the average number of legs. (Think about it.)

I threw an end of summer Tiki Bar party at my house last night.

Fernapple comments on Sep 24, 2019:

Great Idea.

Since "God" is a product of the imagination, the slogan, "In God We Trust", says, "We Trust Our ...

Fernapple comments on Sep 24, 2019:

Sadly perhaps not, god is the product of the imaginations of mainly criminal people who wish to use others, so in god we trust, could mean, "In criminals we trust."

Old saying, "When you assume, you make an ASS of U and ME"

Fernapple comments on Sep 24, 2019:

A consequence of urban life and the breakdown of real community, is that we all have to meet more and more people who we know nothing of, that of course means that lazy people make more and more assumptions to save effort. a lot of modern moral thinking is about trying to find ways to persuade people not to make assumptions.

Wow.

Fernapple comments on Sep 23, 2019:

Welcome and enjoy.

So many people today label themselves as Atheists.

Fernapple comments on Sep 23, 2019:

It does not matter what you call yourself , as long as you are clear when asked about your position. I usually call myself an agnostic atheist, as I think would most people here, at least those who are well informed. But I am happy to regard anyone in the skeptical spectrum as a fellow, be they, agnostic atheist, atheist, agnostic, gnostic atheist, agnostic, skeptic, humanist and even deist. Because wherever you stand on that issue, remember, that gods only affect lives if you believe that you have messages from them. The big difference is not between skeptics but with those who think that a god/gods gives the directions, a silent god is harmless, and pointless just as much as a none existent god. Therefore I am also happy to be called a 'board church skeptic'. P.S. Beware a little trick that theists sometimes play, where they define god in terms so vague that no one could deny, disprove or object to it. And then when they have got you to agree that that definition is acceptable, even to you, they suddenly start talking about their own personal sky daddy, with no mention of the massive leap they just made.

So recently, a while after losing my faith, i finally realized i didn’t know anything about the ...

Fernapple comments on Sep 23, 2019:

Yep, there is always someone here, it just takes a while for your post to come up. Look at the map under the members button you will see that you are not alone.

How many hobbies is too many?

Fernapple comments on Sep 23, 2019:

No travel in mind as well as space, the butterfly may not achieve so much as the ant or own a fine high nest, but it sees a thousand times more, and does no harm.

Thiest think that religion is above being mocked, it’s definitely not.

Fernapple comments on Sep 23, 2019:

No, its very strange that, you can mock someones politics, taste in music or films, but you must not touch their fairy-tales.

Made this for my son.

Fernapple comments on Sep 23, 2019:

And. Travel in space and thought.

So it’s been maybe over a year since I was on this site. I hope everyone has been doing well.

Fernapple comments on Sep 23, 2019:

Fine thanks, there must be a lot of new members like me who joined since you left, so lots of new people to meet. Explore and enjoy.

If you could quit your job and do whatever you wanted, what would you do?

Fernapple comments on Sep 23, 2019:

I am already doing it, but I would travel more, travel a lot more. Travel writer perhaps.

Research Has Found That People Who Talk To Pets Are Smarter Than Those Who Don’t

Fernapple comments on Sep 23, 2019:

If you like talking to dogs especially, you will love this. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=omaHv5sxiFI

Research Has Found That People Who Talk To Pets Are Smarter Than Those Who Don’t

Fernapple comments on Sep 23, 2019:

Depends how you measure intelligence, there are many skills and traits of personality which go to make up real working intelligence that is useful in the day to day world, not just problem solving, and verbal skills, but things like honesty and demanding high standards.

To all you who do NOT buy in to the Flat earth thing...but are aware of what an "equinox" is...

Fernapple comments on Sep 23, 2019:

Two equinox each year, two solstice, thirteen full moons the migration of dozens of animals. You would think that there were enough things to build secular festivals around, that we would not need the church for holidays and parties.

Woke up to find that my 2 daughter had tagged me when she shared this on FB.

Fernapple comments on Sep 23, 2019:

I guess she is a very lucky girl.

Nothing wrong with being a badass!

Fernapple comments on Sep 23, 2019:

Soon be at level 63 since it is not long until my level upgrade day, just need to earn a few more day survival points. And when you reach sixty six in the UK you get a financial prize that pays for extra beer.

why-no-contact-with-aliens

Fernapple comments on Sep 22, 2019:

Maybe they know what we are really like, and they are not stupid.

Yep. It's pretty easy.

Fernapple comments on Sep 22, 2019:

Yep, never had a orange one either.

Survival of the Friendliest - Nautilus

Fernapple comments on Sep 22, 2019:

The slight difference between this and the old, generalists are in less danger than the highly specialized, hardly counts as new.

The Funniest Tweets from Parents This Week

Fernapple comments on Sep 22, 2019:

"There is truth in wine and children." Plato quoting Socrates.

What is your main method of research that leads you to change beliefs on a topic?

Fernapple comments on Sep 22, 2019:

All of the above, but especially go for a walk and think about it.

evil spiders

Fernapple comments on Sep 22, 2019:

Yes, and watch the fun when they scratch like fury.

one more week until we are in the new house.

Fernapple comments on Sep 22, 2019:

They say that moving house is very stressful, the main thing, is to look after your health while doing it, in other words however frantic things get, make sure you take the time out to eat an d sleep properly, then you should be OK.

Interesting Things That Don't Exist Physically - Language is imaginary.

Fernapple comments on Sep 22, 2019:

No don't agree, love can not be none existent , because as you say, " produced by the cumulative effects of physical, chemical, and psychological responses in our bodies." And the cumulative effects of physical, chemical, and psychological responses in our bodies, are real, therefore love is real, what you mean is that our mistaken 'idea' of love is not real, but that is quite a different thing. And that does mater because there are quite a lot of things we commonly use which really do not exist except as ideas in that sense, for example, heritage, culture, art, society, religion of course, nation states, family, pain, pleasure, money, value, inches, pints, memberships, etc. yet they all represent something that is real.

Would you be too hot or too cold?

Fernapple comments on Sep 22, 2019:

Cooler is better for the waistline, warmer for relaxing. But people change, when young I hated it hot, but now as everything slows down with age, I like to toast myself.

Louie, my charge for the weekend.

Fernapple comments on Sep 22, 2019:

I hope he takes you somewhere nice and gives you lots of healthy exercise.

Wheelin' it in the MC - Part 1 - Street Photography 9 is in the suburb of Royal Oak

Fernapple comments on Sep 21, 2019:

Love the second one, that is a very cool lady.

We know less than we think we know.

Fernapple comments on Sep 21, 2019:

Interesting but a bit short. Still if not much known what can you say.

Need a little help.

Fernapple comments on Sep 21, 2019:

Verbascum AKA Mullin and also known as Arons Rod, for the religious, nice plant but usually dies after flowering.

I must get something off my chest: when I post and express a closely held opinion here on ...

Fernapple comments on Sep 21, 2019:

Look, just see offensive evil creeps like me as a challenge, turn it round on them lead them by the nose to the flaws in their logic. And if they block you for being really nice, count it as scoring a point. But unless they are threatening never block them, don't give the the satisfaction, but even better treat them as a chance to learn about human nature in all its forms, then you will be ready even if you meet one of us jerks out in the big world.

Name something absurd about religion that you can't believe people actually believe it.

Fernapple comments on Sep 21, 2019:

The talking donkey who could see invisible angels.

What are your most interesting travel stories?

Fernapple comments on Sep 21, 2019:

We had read that the village of Santana on the north coast of Madeira was one of the best places to see the traditional small thatched cottages which were once a major part of the local life. We were quite pleased by the handful of these picturesque structures that are exhibited in the main square for the benefit of the tourists, but I did wonder if any still remained which were as yet in use as they were first intended. So when my friend wandered off into the back streets, I happily followed. Most of the privately owned cottages however seemed to be in a dilapidated state and in use mainly as garden sheds and store rooms, eventually however we came to one which seemed more cared for than most with a neat garden and a sharp painted finish. We had paused only for a second to take a photograph, when a elderly woman came hobbling a speed down the road towards us. When she caught up to us, which she did quite easily after moving very rapidly for someone so mature. We tried to apologize for making the photographic intrusion without permission, but the lady would hear none of it, and insisted that we take more if we wished. Then she beckoned us into the garden with an invitation to please admire her potted plants. We had hardly glanced over the bright flowers in their deep pots, before she immediately asked us inside to show us around her cottage. We entered shyly but were delighted to see such a neat perfectly furnished, if small, two room building, we were then told to sit on the bed even though it was perfectly made with neatly folded sheets which matched the air of careful pride the whole cottage showed. Her family photographs were offered for admiration, then she asked us if we had ever been into a cottage of that sort before, and seizing my camera she immortalized the moment for us by taking our photograph, indeed she seemed very proficient with a camera needing none of the usual brief instructions most people ask for when using someone else's gadget. Finally she told us the long and tragic story of the illnesses which age had visited upon her, and then she held out her hand. I had rather a lot of coins in my pocket, so I dropped about half into her palm, whereupon she twitched her fingers, so I dropped the rest of my coins in just keeping back enough for a parking space if needed. The fingers however twitched again, so I parted with that too. Then satisfied she had all she could get with many smiles and thanks she showed us out of her house. However, we could not help however noticing as we left that the small cottage in fact stood in the garden of a large shiny modern bungalow. And then also there was I remember quite distinctly, the smell; that slight musty smell that you only get in houses when no one has lived there for very a ...

I do not always make the most interesting posts but I have to say this is a great community.

Fernapple comments on Sep 21, 2019:

Thanks for the flattery, but we only work for hard cash. So what do you want ?

Saw this on a guy’s shirt at my gym: “Pain is weakness leaving your body”.

Fernapple comments on Sep 21, 2019:

Pain could also be your body telling you that you are overdoing the exercise, and starting to cause damage. Remember when the 'burn' was made fashionable by a film star guru of the gym, until the medical establishment shot the idea to blazes.

My BFF’s husband made this garden gathering basket for me.

Fernapple comments on Sep 21, 2019:

BFF ? 'Brown Fox Friendly.' 'Better if Force Fed.' ?

Environmental Factor - September 2019: Lavender oil linked to early breast growth in girls

Fernapple comments on Sep 21, 2019:

At the heart of the organic movement is a strange idea, that something produced in a lab and subjected to the most stringent safety tests the law and good practice require, is less likely to be safe. (Nothing can ever be perfectly safe.) Than something produced in nature by a plant, which probably evolved over millions of years of refinement, to kill, maim, harm, hurt and deter animals like us, because we may want to eat the plant otherwise. The 'organic' religion and the whole idea of a 'caring' nature is as stupid as any theist's doctrine.

So-called experts tell us some artists, musicians and other well-known personalities are/were ...

Fernapple comments on Sep 21, 2019:

The arts as a whole are just another religion, and like all religions an empty fraud. In some religions you are asked to believe that there is an invisible man in the sky, in the arts you are asked to believe that there is an invisible line which makes one human product an art and another just a craft.

Best Remedy?

Fernapple comments on Sep 21, 2019:

Avoid dairy products, and tomatoes.

Ah-h yes .

Fernapple comments on Sep 21, 2019:

Don't forget the early middle ages, when bits like the story of the woman taken in adultery were added.

Ah-h yes .

Fernapple comments on Sep 21, 2019:

Perhaps the most beloved of all versions, because of course being riddled with contradictions, you can make it say anything you want. And then still claim you have the word of god on your side.

The tragedy is that every brain cell devoted to belief in the supernatural is a brain cell one ...

Fernapple comments on Sep 21, 2019:

Every dollar, every hour sat on a pew, every piece of land with a church built on it......

I have a new grand-niece!! Baby Nora was born yesterday.

Fernapple comments on Sep 20, 2019:

Best wises, grab a kiss while shes all fresh and wrinkly.

How many famous people dead or alive can you name?

Fernapple comments on Sep 20, 2019:

3247 And number 2345 owned a cat with one eye.

Since it's Friday, here's a story for no reason at all.

Fernapple comments on Sep 20, 2019:

"At work today." Something is trying to tell you it is time you retired. When you start to get clumsy, can't be trusted with sharp things........

My partner says that my labeling religious people "delusional" (which has mental health ...

Fernapple comments on Sep 20, 2019:

Willfully ignorant, truly ignorant, mentally ill, dishonest, corrupt, frightened, there may be many reasons, and most believers will have a little of more than one. But I do not want to put any on the hook except the rich exploiting minority perhaps. It is far better to talk and set good examples, it will take time but but quick results usually unravel quickly, it took chistianity a thousand years plus to become established to the point it is, things change faster perhaps in the digital age, but not that quickly.

MN public school board chairwoman: Evolution is outdated because ‘it was discovered in the ...

Fernapple comments on Sep 20, 2019:

Chistianity created CE '0' to '300' ten times older.

Some weird stuff I remember about being raised a Catholic: seeing my first statue of St.

Fernapple comments on Sep 20, 2019:

No memories, but it seems obvious that if you want to control others for your own profit and power, then creating an ideology, which as Hitchins said, is. "A cult of suffering." Seems like a good way to justify all the harm you are going to do in the process.

Churchill, "In war, truth is precious.

Fernapple comments on Sep 20, 2019:

"Truth is the first casualty of war." Meaning that the lies start to fly even before the bullets.

Edinburgh Castle! ❤️

Fernapple comments on Sep 20, 2019:

Great shot, you would not believe from that shot that it is so near a busy city centre.

Magic portal

Fernapple comments on Sep 19, 2019:

Wow what a depth of field. It is amazing what can be done with digital cameras these days, though this was not easy, but we would never have dreamed of it back in the days of film.

Flag- what does this represent? Xtian but what else?

Fernapple comments on Sep 19, 2019:

Some say that the top one is based on the coat of arms of the Washington family. The lower one is a picture of an instrument of torture.

Just bought my first car.

Fernapple comments on Sep 19, 2019:

No perhaps not, but travel no matter how you do it by bus, train, car or plane, or even just long walks, will make you a better wiser, stronger more human person, as long as you approach it with an open mind. And that will make you a better, stronger more useful member of every social group you engage with, and also better at getting the value out of those engagements. Just don't use it to drive round the block and fetch the groceries.

IF YOU SAY YOU "BELIEVE", IS THAT ADMITTING YOU DO NOT KNOW, & IS KNOWLEDGE EVEN POSSIBLE?

Fernapple comments on Sep 19, 2019:

Simple there can never be absolute certainty of truth from either, you can only make approaches to the truth and try to find the closest position you can. Which usually means that which is supported by the most evidence and most resists disproof. That is why science works by disproof. If I throw a dart at a dart board, I can never get a dead center bulls eye. Even when I think I have, if I get a very fine ruler then it will possibly be a little off, and if that still shows a dead center, then a microscope will probably show that it is still a little wrong. Science has been deplored by some theists because its approach can never produce absolute truth, but only approximates. But religion/belief only fakes absolute truth, they throw the dart through the door of the games room without switching the light on, close the door and declare a dead center bulls eye. Then threaten anyone who argues they may not have won, or who wants to look, with a punch on the nose, or hell fire whatever. That is why science is the philosophy of humility and admiting what you don't know, while religion is the philosophy of pride, pretending to all knowledge.

Photographer removes our smartphones to show our strange and lonely new world

Fernapple comments on Sep 18, 2019:

But of course they are not ignoring people on the whole, they are just communicating with someone else, who is not in the photo.

Someone's Gotta Tell the Freakin' Truth.

Fernapple comments on Sep 18, 2019:

Not all of them perhaps, but it is true that altruistic ideologies do tend to attract criminals like flies to rotten meat. Because of course if you are a fake, then you may as well be the biggest and best fake you can be, playing for the biggest prizes, and it is easy to fake religious devotion. Plus the genuine believers are among the least suspecting of people, so if you are a person with no real conscience you could not design it better for yourself.

Do we need religion to provide a sense of justice?

Fernapple comments on Sep 18, 2019:

Sorry but you need to do a search on animal morality, there are hundreds of studies out there on the instinctual origins of morality and especially a sense of justice. It does not begin with human culture. But even so whether it starts with human culture or in our animal natures, it certainly does come before religion, religions claims to have created morality and justice are no different from the claims it once made that it could bring the rains, just a way to get money and devotion out of people for pretending to provide what was theirs to start with.

Drop the Old testament?

Fernapple comments on Sep 18, 2019:

No, because the new T only makes sense in the light of the old T, and dropping it is only allowing and condoning more cherry picking. The point of a religion like Christianity is that there is so much often contradictory text available, that its followers can cherry pick whatever they like, to justify what they like, they already move on as wanted and pick the bits they want and find interesting. What is shameful however, is that having cherry picked to the extent that it is the equivalent of making it up themselves, they then attempt to claim that they have the authority of god behind their beliefs because their holy book comes from god. Like having your cake and eating it.

MN public school board chairwoman: Evolution is outdated because ‘it was discovered in the ...

Fernapple comments on Sep 18, 2019:

Ah yes, it seems she is a Christian pushing a Christian agenda, and Christianity that was created when ?

Fruit and vegetables growing on mass.

Fernapple comments on Sep 17, 2019:

I run a business from polytunnel houses. And I remember when the Japanese tsunami struck, seeing film from the air, like this but moving, of the wave coming in and flattening polytunnel greenhouses in seconds. That moved me as much as anything, since I thought about the people and what they had invested in those tunnels, yes there were far greater tragedies, but if you work in a car showroom it must bring it home to you when you see cars swept away, and if a shop, then when you see a store flattened.

The last few years of my religious life were pretty good years.

Fernapple comments on Sep 17, 2019:

Its a free country maybe, but it is certainly a free website, so feel free.

Why do many conservatives feel find public education to be so abhorrent?

Fernapple comments on Sep 17, 2019:

You do not educate slaves, it makes them difficult to control. And you do not like to educate your own kind because it may make you ask questions of yourself, and want higher standards, which if you are not prepared to meet them will only make you unhappy. Having said that, when viewed from Europe it is not just the conservatives, but the whole political establishment both left and right and education as a whole which is abhorrent, and the left wing will catch on in the end even in the US. Then you are in even more trouble.

There was a post on here a couple of days ago that listed many of the gods, prior to the god of the ...

Fernapple comments on Sep 17, 2019:

Most are not interested in their own religion, if they can go though the motions and they can convince themselves that it makes the happy, though whether it does so is open to question, why should they bother with anything else. Especially if it is difficult and could force you to do things you don't like, such as thinking, best avoided. But in any case how would you encourage it, especially as the worlds political establishments are increasingly turning away from the teaching and encouragement of history as a subject in education. First because they do not see a knowledge of history as of any practical value in the wage slaves needed to serve them in the lower functions, and because such knowledge would only make them questioning and difficult to manipulate anyway.

Not everybody wants thoughts and prayers after a disaster - CNN

Fernapple comments on Sep 17, 2019:

When the famous earthquake of Lisbon struck, the practical prime minister of Portugal at the time was Sebastião de Melo 1st Marquis of Pombal. The church, and especially the monks of the inquisition, said that the quake was a punishment from god, and that the Marquis should enforce days of fasting and prayer. He refused and said. "First I must bury the dead and feed the living." Never thought much of Marquises in general, but always kind of liked him.

Oops lol funny

Fernapple comments on Sep 16, 2019:

We are all in prisons of one sort or another. Its just that some of us have an escape plan, and some of us just sit and listen to the chaplins sermons.

For all of you who are still working for a living: 🍷😆

Fernapple comments on Sep 16, 2019:

I work weekends, and take wend/thurs off, but it makes no difference its still. Poof !

Sometimes Scotland is beautiful in the early mornings!

Fernapple comments on Sep 16, 2019:

Since little is more beautiful than Scotland, except perhaps the dawn, getting both at the same time is almost too much. Best dawn/sunset photo I have seen on this site so far.

British scientist, Susan Greenfield is interviewed by Robert Lawrence Kuhn of “Closer to Truth” ...

Fernapple comments on Sep 16, 2019:

Interesting talk, though not that much that is altogether new. The ability to think in metaphor is perhaps the main human trait, ( there may be others small ones ), but it is certainly the thing which gifted us most of our great abilities. Yet it is also our greatest curse, since with it came the gift of a capacity for lying which went far beyond the deceptions most of the great apes could play. Ultimately creating the great lies, such as culture and religion which now control us even though we created them. To use a metaphor. The unruly children have taken over the house, and the parents are locked in the naughty room.

I'm trained in photography, but the only real camera I have is a 35mm Canon A1.

Fernapple comments on Sep 16, 2019:

Pick one you like the feel of, stick with canon of course if you want your old lenses to work, but if you do buy a DSLR remember that most of them are very good, since most phones and laptops have a built in basic camera these days, the camera makers have to make good ones to justify buying a specific camera.

“Mankind does not strive for happiness; only the Englishman does" .... Friedrich Nietzsche

Fernapple comments on Sep 15, 2019:

He was not exactly the expert on happiness.

Found this amaze T-shirt while scrolling through Facebook. [dls-store.com]

Fernapple comments on Sep 15, 2019:

Only if they are studying your belief. (Some scientists have a lot of spare time.)

Interesting piece.

Fernapple comments on Sep 15, 2019:

I love the bit where it says."People with very infrequent religious attendance are even less happy than never-attenders; in terms of happiness, a little religion is worse than none." In other words when you go to church they tell you to say you are happy, and they tell you it more the more you go.But ifd youdon't go often they tell you to feel guilty.

Watching Secrets of the Dead on PBS, it about a complete Bronze village in the Fens of England.

Fernapple comments on Sep 15, 2019:

There is some evidence which says that our brains started to decline after the advent of agriculture.

New Study Builds on Correlation Between Tea Consumption, Healthier Brains, and Reduced Risk of ...

Fernapple comments on Sep 15, 2019:

That's good news, I have just had to give up coffee for health reasons, so that there may be some good in the tea is great.

Our sedum is finaly turning. I'm always impressed by the variety of bees it attracts.

Fernapple comments on Sep 15, 2019:

And butterflies too.

✶On the the stunning selfishness of Christianity✶ .

Fernapple comments on Sep 14, 2019:

The fact that it offers only a selfish salvation, even if not hell in a literal way, is the central dark heart of chritianity, which encourages "me" thinking across all the communities it infects.

There may NOT be life on other planets

Fernapple comments on Sep 14, 2019:

Your headline should read " intelligent life" not just life, since that is what you are talking about, that is not a very intelligent headline. The rest is very interesting, pity that spoils it. Though it has to be said that there may be more than one genetic route to high intelligence, and there are certainly examples of convergent evolution on this planet, heading in the direction of high intelligence. The octopus for example, which may be more intelligent than many mammals yet whose ancestry split from their's long before brains were highly developed.

What do you think about this photo?

Fernapple comments on Sep 14, 2019:

The sun, a star, begins its annual journey in the northern hemisphere at the mid winter solstice, which starts around Dec 25th, and lasts approximately three days, moves through twelve traditional constellations, reborn every year.

Famous writers and their odd ways of writing: writers -- 9/12/19

Fernapple comments on Sep 14, 2019:

Sad they don't mention one of the commonest, going for a walk first, many used that one including Charles Darwin.

Just a thought that I've had since I was young trying to understand the rotation of the earth, and ...

Fernapple comments on Sep 14, 2019:

Yes si-fi time travel is complete bunkum, look up the time travelers paradox as well.

The UK used to be one place that defended human rights in courts. WTF happened?

Fernapple comments on Sep 14, 2019:

It does not matter how you feel about J. A. (I am no fan.) but whatever happened to habeas corpus, why should anyone have to spend years in jail awaiting a trial or hearing. While of course the legal profession are busy making money out of the case no doubt. Habeas Corpus was made part of the legal system in the first place, to prevent people being imprisoned long term without charges or trial, we cut the head of a king, (Charles 1. ) for doing that. But I suppose that doing it for political reasons may be bad, while doing it because creating a system which is deliberately slow and ineffective in order to make greater profits is OK.

Like this lady

Fernapple comments on Sep 14, 2019:

Sadly in politics mud rarely sticks.

Wanna join my gang?

Fernapple comments on Sep 14, 2019:

Are yes. Maybe they would have me, they don't have a large white porker yet.

Looking to join a group of like minded people in the Wakefield area.

Fernapple comments on Sep 13, 2019:

Have a look at the map feature under members, and then send them all a message. But you may have to get a few more points before the message feature works for you.

Sometimes I get nauseas to a point of vomiting when I contemplate just how much money has been spent...

Fernapple comments on Sep 13, 2019:

Sadly here in the UK we are busy turning them into casinos and bingo halls now they are unwanted, you could just hope they would move up two places instead of just one.

Wanna join my gang?

Fernapple comments on Sep 13, 2019:

Wonder what the photographer was doing to attract such attention ?

Happiness is...

Fernapple comments on Sep 13, 2019:

Warm sunshine.

How Close Are We To Immortality [youtube.com]

Fernapple comments on Sep 13, 2019:

Probably quite a long way yet, though the rich may soon be able to extend their lives for many decades at least, for the poor never.

I am a 100% skeptic about all things supernatural! Do any of you hold on to any supernatural beliefs...

Fernapple comments on Sep 13, 2019:

You ask this on Friday the thirteenth !?

Random ramblings of an Atheist

Fernapple comments on Sep 13, 2019:

You can rant in safety here.

In the company of new people, I suspect most of us would have no reservations in uttering the ...

Fernapple comments on Sep 13, 2019:

If you said it in the UK no one would raise any objection 99% of the time, the religious, if there, may blush and mumble, and on formal occasions the person in charge may say. "This is not the place for such debates." But thats it.

Don’t be afraid of words. Be afraid of hubris.

Fernapple comments on Sep 13, 2019:

At first it would seem that the vital question is not whether you call it god or nature, or if you call nature god, but whether it is in any meaningful way intelligent, or if nature/god is just an unthinking series of mechanical accidents. But then you have to say that even that question, even if answered, would not make much difference to us. Since to make changes in the human world, that intelligence would have to be visible or to communicate with us. Thus, since all the supposed acts of communication are plainly false, and easily demonstrated as such, it plainly does not exist or it does not have a purpose for us it wishes us to know. I am therefore content that not accepting the gods of human culture, its temples and bibles, is enough, and the rest is empty speculation.

Like the t- shirt

Fernapple comments on Sep 13, 2019:

I don't think this is a teeshirt you are supposed to like.

I'm troubled when I hear people say that we need to "respect" people's religious beliefs.

Fernapple comments on Sep 12, 2019:

It is not possible to make yourself respect, any more than you can force yourself to believe. Tolerance however is a gift we can choose to give or not.

How do you deal with muscle cramps?

Fernapple comments on Sep 12, 2019:

If hiking in hot weather especially salt is good, alway take a packet or two of potato crisps, or a high salt snack like that, with you, but don't keep doing it if you are having a rest day in the cool.

Just looking for rational friends.

Fernapple comments on Sep 9, 2019:

Yes certainly, this site has a map feature.

How do we know when something is true?

Fernapple comments on Sep 9, 2019:

We never do, but we can do our best to seek out the best evidence, and put it to the best tests we can think of. At which point we can be confident we have done our best. The real enemies of truth are not lies but fear, self interest, and laziness.

Child marriage. Should there be an minimum age limit for marriage?

Fernapple comments on Sep 9, 2019:

In an ever more complex world, where many are kept unnaturally immature for longer, in education especially, I can see a good reason for raising the age limits on everything.