Paul4747's Profile

New report finds nonreligious people face stigma and discrimination

Paul4747 comments on May 6, 2020:

Meh. When people start throwing out religious talk, I let them know I don't believe in it. If they don't feel obligated to keep their religion private, I don't feel obligated to keep atheism private. Maybe they'll shut up around me once they know.

Safety versus freedom. Make of that what you will. Any thoughts?

Paul4747 comments on May 6, 2020:

That's a nice strawman you've set up. Before you go invoking the ghost of Thomas Paine again: Everyone trades off freedom for safety, every day of their lives. Why do you stop at a stop sign? That's an inhibition on your freedom. Why only drive on one side of the road? But without those agreed-upon restrictions that we call "laws", the number of traffic deaths might go from 40,000 a year to 400,000. Or 4 million. Now, if you want to live in the world of *The Road Warrior*, that may sound okay to you, but I prefer not to. There is no absolute freedom. We balance our freedom against everyone else's. Right now, everyone else's freedom* from* the risk of infection outweighs your freedom* to *walk around a store without a mask, breathe on people, go to the beach, or... whatever your gripe is. I'm a libertarian, but right now, I support social distancing, because I'm not a damn fool.

Opening America now is ludicrous.

Paul4747 comments on May 5, 2020:

I'm sorry, I overlooked the word "Opening" when I saw this post in my feed. I read, "Just posted 'America now is ludicrous'". 🤔

Tuesday Morning fire!

Paul4747 comments on May 5, 2020:

A little cosplay anyone? I'll be Bruce Banner....

Natalie Dormer!

Paul4747 comments on May 5, 2020:

Game of Nudes, no, wait, that's not it.....

Ok so I'm not sure how many parts of the country are getting it but the My Pillow guy is hawking ...

Paul4747 comments on May 5, 2020:

I'm reasonably sure Dawkins addressed this line of argument much more comprehensively than ever I could. It's in *The God Delusion*. I won't try to replicate the elegance of his explanations here, my clumsiness would tarnish them utterly.

Republican group rolls out a brutal anti-Trump ad. Love it!

Paul4747 comments on May 5, 2020:

And he's apparently already had a meltdown over it. https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/05/05/trumps-unhinged-rant-about-new-attack-ad-shows-his-weakness/?utm_campaign=wp_post_most=email=newsletter=nl_most

Σ Here's a cutie

Paul4747 comments on May 3, 2020:

Not a cutie beauty, though...

😊😍 Good morning, you sexy beast...

Paul4747 comments on May 2, 2020:

Are you talkin to me? Are you talkin to *me?* https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8GhVsLGOWX0

Why Religion Is Not Going Away and Science Will Not Destroy It

Paul4747 comments on May 2, 2020:

Unfortunately, since the time of Galileo, both 1) and 2) are true. If religion is the revealed and infallible word of a god, and science then contradicts that word, then one or the other must be false. Since science is testable and subject to repeated experiment and peer review, we can determine whether its conclusions are truth or not. Religion depends on the blind belief of its followers. And so, religious authorities are put in the position of ordering their followers to believe only in what religion teaches, not in what science discovers; and when religion was able to enforce its wishes, they ordered scientists to desist from discovering things that contradicted religion, as well. Galileo was put under house arrest and ordered not even to *think* of the Copernican theory any more. If the fundamentalist churches had the power, scientists would be banned from testing DNA and conducting other experiments that further *prove* evolution is true (not "just a theory" as they love to repeat, which might turn out to be falsified any day now, but a theory in the sense of gravitational theory, part of the way the universe works). Why? Because it contradicts the story that God created the Universe, the Earth, and all the animals and humans in 6 days. Science isn't in conflict with religion, it just contradicts it. And religion *can't tolerate that*. That's why it's religion that is in conflict with science, and is in a continuing conflict with *it.* Religion constantly tries to control science, just as it tries to control every field of human endeavor (art, sex, work, even food). Because that's the nature of religion. And when science introduces doubt- when the stories are proven wrong- people naturally question what *is* true about religion, and if there's even anything up there giving these priests their authority. It's not a deliberate campaign by scientists to destroy religion, just a natural side-effect of people thinking for themselves. And that's something religion absolutely, positively, unquestionably can't tolerate. That's why religion is in an eternal conflict with science, unless the day comes when religion gives up and admits that all the stories are.... just stories.

Religion can heal and harm. We've seen both during the pandemic - CNN

Paul4747 comments on May 2, 2020:

There are decent people who are believers (and if there weren't, the world would never have got this far, considering) and decent people who don't believe. There are also crap people who believe and crap people who don't believe. Your qualities as a person are not connected to your religious beliefs or lack of same, but what you do in life. A generous person will be moved to give, whether or not because of their belief. A selfish person will be selfish, believer or not. It's that simple. For those who need it right now... well, good for them, and I hope they don't fall into any scams.

For the grammarians: The atheist might say, “If there WERE a God there would be no unjustified ...

Paul4747 comments on May 2, 2020:

You may be thinking about this too hard....

A former client I had went up to me and said "You're a really intelligent person aren't you?

Paul4747 comments on May 2, 2020:

If you think pro wrestling or other forms of "reality" TV are actually real... well, it would cast some doubts, is all I'm saying.

White House Blocks Anthony Fauci From Testifying Next Week

Paul4747 comments on May 2, 2020:

I feel like I'm in *1984* when I read this kind of doublespeak: “While the Trump Administration continues its whole-of-government response to COVID-19, including safely opening up America again and expediting vaccine development, it is counterproductive to have the very individuals involved in those efforts appearing at congressional hearings,” White House spokesman Judd Deere said in a statement Friday. “We are committed to working with Congress to offer testimony at the appropriate time.” So it's counterproductive because we don't like Congress much and they might ask questions we don't want answered at this time, and the appropriate time is sometime later. We think the more questions that are asked, the worse it will be for our guy's poll numbers. It's definitely not the right time right now, but we're committed to getting those questions answered.... sometime. We'll call. Pinkie swear.

By asking to be paid for materials, did I violate an unspoken rule?

Paul4747 comments on May 1, 2020:

That's what I'm wearing in my picture. "Mask made out of thin air." (If anyone asks.) (Kidding! That pictures like 2 years old now? but the same amount of gray hair in the beard)

“If God isn’t real, what's the point of living at all when one day you’re just going to ...

Paul4747 comments on Apr 30, 2020:

"If there's no great glorious end to all this, if nothing we do matters.... then all that matters is what we do." Joss Whedon, *Angel*

A little kinky

Paul4747 comments on Apr 30, 2020:

Yeah, the boots *are* a little on the freaky side

Thank you for the warning. Much appreciated.

Paul4747 comments on Apr 29, 2020:

I am nonplussed by this warning.

Daily calculation of my estimate of extra US cases and deaths caused largely by incompetent and ...

Paul4747 comments on Apr 29, 2020:

If the figures are correct (and I have no reason to doubt) it says a great deal not only about the federal leadership, but about various state administrations and indeed the characters of many individuals who refuse to give up their "rights as Americans" for the good of everyone.

Christian ‘historian’: People who don’t believe in God are scared of coronavirus because they ...

Paul4747 comments on Apr 29, 2020:

I'm also cautious of places a brown recluse spider might be, because they're poisonous as hell from what I hear. And rattlesnakes or other pit vipers. *Sane people avoid pain and death* if they can. Plus, I don't go skydiving because I have a fear of the ground.

How would you feel if someone gave you unsolicited advice about your appearance?

Paul4747 comments on Apr 29, 2020:

I suppose a hearty "Fuck you and the horse you rode in on" would be considered impolite? Yeah, that's something I would do... so, impolite.... but did you give him a glare to that effect?

Let's all stay in shape at home! Click on the link to see this amazing video... [facebook.com]

Paul4747 comments on Apr 29, 2020:

And the Olympic judges give a 9.9 for that performance, Jim...

Religion was destroyed! By whom?

Paul4747 comments on Apr 28, 2020:

Correcting you there; the Republican Party was destroyed by religion. *drop mike*

Christian Nationalists Call For Secession, Formation Of White Ethnostate | Michael Stone

Paul4747 comments on Apr 28, 2020:

So... how many of these "immigration patriots" ancestors immigrated here from another country? (I'm going to guess "all of them"...)

I've been inching my way to level 8 for eternity.

Paul4747 comments on Apr 27, 2020:

I'll help out a fellow Michiganian!

My friend Kimmy from Vancouver, I will not say which Vancouver, authorized me to post her pics which...

Paul4747 comments on Apr 26, 2020:

There's more than 1 Vancouver?

What sayings would one have to stop using if they wanted to fully De God their life?

Paul4747 comments on Apr 26, 2020:

These phrases are part of our shared culture that goes back hundreds of years. To "fully de-god" one's life, one would also have to give up literary references like "a drop in the bucket", "a house divided", "a labor of love", "all things must pass", "to all things a season", "by the skin of my teeth", "a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush", "a fly in the ointment", "a two-edged sword", "a wolf in sheep's clothing".... all from the KJV. I argue that the language would be a great deal poorer without these phrases, regardless of the source. Using the phrases or words doesn't mean we believe in the mythology the book sells.

Would you like to understand reality?

Paul4747 comments on Apr 26, 2020:

It may be that at the subatomic level, matter as we encounter it doesn't exist. However, that's not helpful to consider at an everyday level. On an everyday level, a baseball hurled at your forehead will knock you out, because both it and your forehead are made of matter. And the universe exists, independent of the brain inside your head. It's not a construct of your perceptions. The universe *as you perceive it* may be a function of your mind: Scientifically, though, incoming data reacts with everyone's sensory system in the same ways, barring injury or disorders. (Sensory systems that are far less acute than many other animals, by the way.) So it's only your reaction to what you sense that makes "your" universe different from anyone else's. Furthermore, this sensory data is there whether you're there to perceive it or not: a flower in a greenhouse puts forth its scent and color whether or not anyone or anything is there to observe it. Further proof that the universe has an independent de facto existence.

Scamvangelist Praises Donors for Buying Him the World’s “Finest” Private Jet | Hemant Mehta | ...

Paul4747 comments on Apr 25, 2020:

I should have been a televangelist. The vast majority of preachers/pastors/priests care deeply about the people who go to their church and live as modestly as their parishioners. Many have to work on the side to make ends meet. Assholes like this give the rest a bad name.

Mat Staver: Church Lockdowns Are “Targeting” Christians Like Nazis Targeted Jews | Beth ...

Paul4747 comments on Apr 25, 2020:

Oh for christ sake. :p

The Satanic Temple Is Now Officially an IRS-Approved Tax-Exempt Church | Hemant Mehta | Friendly ...

Paul4747 comments on Apr 25, 2020:

Good, give the Devil equal time. Or as suggested by @Donotbelieve, "Give the Devil his due."

😋😜 Look what I got.. Nah nah... 😂 I can touch them anytime I want...

Paul4747 comments on Apr 25, 2020:

And thanks for letting us watch

Texas wanted to secede

Paul4747 comments on Apr 24, 2020:

A list of states that could secede without my noticing or much caring: Texas Florida Georgia North Carolina South Carolina Oklahoma Nebraska Kansas Iowa Kentucky Tennessee Arkansas Alabama Nevada New Mexico Arizona North Dakota South Dakota Alaska Texas again But they would notice when their federal funds went away. The states in the middle of the country get a LOT more funding proportionately than they put into the tax coffers, and yet they complain like hell about being overtaxed and over-regulated. They are emblematic of the noisy minority who think we should be back to business as usual, no matter what global pandemic is killing Americans by the thousands. I don't think "idiots" is too harsh a term. Not everyone in each of those states, of course, but for crying out loud, the governor of Georgia is opening up again already and even Trump knows that's a bad idea.

Moral Compass

Paul4747 comments on Apr 20, 2020:

If it harms someone and that harm can be avoided, it's wrong... unless that prevents a greater injury (as in, this vaccination hurts but it prevents a child getting a deadly disease, or, the truth hurts but a lie will hurt more in the long run... or if I must injure or kill someone in self-defense or defense of another, and there's no other reasonable course of action). It can be elaborated out to many degrees, but that's my basic moral compass... first, do no harm. Hippocrates got it right.

Broadband, WiFi, smartphone, iPhone, laptop, tablet, email, SMS, text messaging, Skype, Zoom, ...

Paul4747 comments on Apr 20, 2020:

Nothing can stop us being connected with each other. Nothing, except for Comcast mysteriously dropping their network on a clear sunny day for no apparent reason and with no explanation. And that was *before* the pandemic....

Making home self quarantine sound more heroic.

Paul4747 comments on Apr 19, 2020:

I have my sword right here. And a better one as soon as my Ebay order gets in. But nothing beats Mjolnir.

Any tips on how to not feel so weird about using dating sites/apps?

Paul4747 comments on Apr 19, 2020:

My advice is less valuable, number one, because I'm a man and so I lose less if things go all fruit-shaped on a date. I guess I have more to fear from being accused but less to fear from an actual physical or emotional confrontation. That said, just be yourself. You're not out to impress anyone. If they're impressed with you putting on a show, then you're going to be putting on a show forever for fear of what happens when you let your guard down. Don't be afraid to be funny, quirky, weird, shy, brash, whatever mood hits you... there's someone out there who is all those things and will find those qualities charming. I should know, someone finds me charming right now, weird, quirky, and brash as I am. The important thing, other than being safe (and by all means be safe), is not giving up. It can be depressing or even heartbreaking to have dead end after dead end, but it's like sifting gravel in search of a gold nugget. There's a lot of gravel and not much gold in the world, but if you manage to find gold, it can be so very rewarding.

😒😌 Good morning all and happy Sunday... Tan lines... Yea or nay?

Paul4747 comments on Apr 19, 2020:

Yay!! Such milfy goodness...

"Once you go Asian, you never go Caucasian"?...Maybe, maybe not but what a delight!

Paul4747 comments on Apr 19, 2020:

I feel like a little Chinese for dinner... no idea why

Let's discuss censorship.

Paul4747 comments on Apr 18, 2020:

A) Censorship generally means something the government does. This is a private site, it's their house and their rules. The 1st Amendment has nothing to say about it. B) That said, I self-censor more than anything. I have a skewed sense of humor, but I ask myself, "Would I want to read this, if someone else wrote it?" and I dial myself back 2 notches. C) Last but not least, you play with matches, sometimes you get burned. I was once cited (on a gun owners' site, of all places) for using the acronym "WTF". (Which made me say, "What the fuck...?) We have... *considerably* more leeway here.

A plane went down and all people on it died; they were a mix of Christian, other religions, and ...

Paul4747 comments on Apr 18, 2020:

Recommended reading (although it's dated and terribly unfeminist in a lot of ways): Robert Heinlein, *JOB: A Comedy Of Justice* It resounds with this same kind of thinking.

It seems like with so many different beliefs and religions in the world it would be impractical if ...

Paul4747 comments on Apr 17, 2020:

It occurred to me many years ago that if any god existed, and said god cared about being believed in, it would be a simple matter to appear in the sky in an unmistakable way and remind the world once a month or so that he/she/it was still around. Something like, **"Just checking in, sorry about the COVID-19, but that's evolution for you, I'm afraid. It's okay, though, all those who've died have already been reunited with their loved ones in Nirvana!"** Or words to that effect. But, mysteriously, that doesn't happen, leaving me to conclude either A) gods exist but don't communicate, B) gods exist but communicate only with illiterates and televangelists, and in either case makes sure nobody else can verify this contact, or C) gods just plain don't exist and all these people are talking only to themselves. Schizophrenia, after all, is a much better documented phenomenon than heavenly communication.

Why did 'god' create Atheists (or Agnostics, or Secular Humanists)

Paul4747 comments on Apr 17, 2020:

Seems like a trick question.... This is yet *another* paradox for believers. If God knowingly, deliberately created humans as flawed and free-willed creatures (Psalm 103:14, "For he knoweth our frame; he remembereth that we are dust"), how then can we face eternal punishment for exercising that free will in flawed, human ways? The punishment doesn't fit the crime. It's a clear-cut case of disproportionate retribution. "God", creating humans as we are, *must* expect us to behave as we do. Furthermore, as a supposedly omnipotent and omniscient being, he *has to* expect us to behave as we do, considering he supposedly *made us this way*; and we have *no choice* but to follow his omnipotent, omniscient plan. According to the arguments of religion, we can't defy God's will, therefore, if we're atheists, it's *because God wants us to be.*

Saw this on Facebook.

Paul4747 comments on Apr 17, 2020:

The core truth is, most people are afraid (on some level) of dying. All religions address that fear, either by promising that death is not the end, or by training one to rise above fear through meditation in some form. Atheists also deal with the fear of death, whether by ignoring it, by adopting a stoic attitude toward it, or by a philosophical attitude that we should enjoy life as fully as we can up until its natural ending. That's the only "universal truth": death comes for everyone, and we have somehow to cope with that fact.

Wonder woman

Paul4747 comments on Apr 16, 2020:

Always liked a woman who can kick my ass.

💰📷 She's beautiful... What's holding her blouse up?

Paul4747 comments on Apr 16, 2020:

Is this a rhetorical question? There's a little gold spaghetti strap from the top around her neck, and some more around her back. Or maybe they're decorative chains. Either way, it's not magic (except that it is).

Velma was never my fave, but...

Paul4747 comments on Apr 16, 2020:

I preferred Velma. Smart girls are often the kinky ones. ;)

‘Tremendous Victory’ For Wildlife: Federal Judge Invalidates Keystone XL Pipeline Permit

Paul4747 comments on Apr 16, 2020:

America is now the biggest petroleum producer in the world. *In the freakin' WORLD*. What do they need with a pipeline?

Darwin Awards- Conservative idiots protest Michigan stay-at-home order.

Paul4747 comments on Apr 16, 2020:

Quoting from the Washington Post editorial on this very subject: "The irony, of course, is that what’s being protested is, in broad strokes, what Trump himself has advocated at the state level: efforts to reduce interactions and, therefore, limit the spread of the virus. What’s noteworthy is that the original order appears to have had an effect. The goal of stay-at-home orders is to limit person-to-person transmission of the virus. Since it can take two weeks for symptoms of the virus to appear, it’s generally assumed that the effects of limiting interactions will be seen about two weeks after those limits were put in place. Data compiled by Johns Hopkins University show that about two weeks after the March 23 order, the number of confirmed cases in the state each day began to drop. A few days later, the number of deaths from covid-19, the disease caused by the virus, did, as well. In recent days, though, those figures have moved back up. One conservative group supporting the protest, Michigan Freedom Fund, used that drop as a rationale for rescinding the order. This is a false dichotomy. Rates of infection are dropping almost certainly *because of* the stay-at-home order. As we’ve seen elsewhere, the effectiveness of a measure to contain the virus is being used as a rationale for revoking the measure." Or, to put it in a nutshell: They're tired of being safe, they want to go back to getting sick.

Trump's name to appear on stimulus checks, likely delaying payments

Paul4747 comments on Apr 15, 2020:

The CDC sent me (and doubtless hundreds of millions of Americans) a postcard with the splashy logo, "President Trump's Coronavirus Guidelines For America". Only at the bottom corner was the CDC logo revealing who actually put out the guidelines. It's yet another act of blatant narcissism and self-publicity. I only hope some group like Public Citizen sues to make his campaign pay for them.

Bishop who preached 'God is larger than this dreaded virus' dies of COVID-19

Paul4747 comments on Apr 14, 2020:

I really don't want to make a mocking comment at this time. They're stuck in the worldview they were brainwashed to believe, it's not easy to escape and look at the world rationally. The whole world is in an unexpected situation right now and dealing with it as best we can. His comments are best viewed as dramatic irony.

If a church holds services and a person get covid an dies can the family sue for wrongful death or ...

Paul4747 comments on Apr 10, 2020:

As I said in reply to Tom: Anybody who goes to church, in full knowledge of the risks, can only blame themselves for the consequences. It only occurs to me that someone might sue for fraud, given the number of churches who've promised that their worshipers are under "holy protection" from the virus when they come through their doors, or that they have some kind of special spray device set up that excludes viruses from the premises, when there's no such thing and the churches should damn well know it. But then again, so should those attending.

Irish sheep farmer uses large pair of shears for lockdown haircut

Paul4747 comments on Apr 10, 2020:

Much more interesting than me, my mirror, and my trimmer. I've been cutting my own hair for years like this. Then again, I haven't done a video either.

Oh shit, I should've it would too good to be true.

Paul4747 comments on Apr 10, 2020:

You'd really rather have this guy... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QqaQ_Bhgmrc

A Landlord of a Church Locks Doors to Save Lives LockWNvbnRpbnVlLXRvLWhvbGQtc2VydmljZXMiLCJwbHVn

Paul4747 comments on Apr 7, 2020:

If this is a link it's broken...I'd like to read this story.

Why is this app called “Agnostic”?

Paul4747 comments on Apr 6, 2020:

"I don't know".

CNN Host To Pastor: How Is It 'Pro-Life' To Pack People Into Church Amid Pandemic?

Paul4747 comments on Apr 6, 2020:

“We were supposed to be at a million-and-a-half body bags,” he added. “We’re at 8,400. So the narrative is false.” In other words, because people staying at home and staying away from large gatherings *works*, obviously it was all a lie and the disease wasn't as bad as everyone says it is. Or, just possibly, he's taken the worst-case scenario (what would happen if we did *nothing*) and claimed that was the prediction for what we were expecting in the *very best* possible situation.

The Americans defying Palm Sunday quarantines: "Satan's trying to keep us apart"

Paul4747 comments on Apr 5, 2020:

They just don't get it. It would be more comprehensible to them if someone were bombing gatherings, and death was more of a sure thing... but then again probably not. They would still piously say "It's God's will if we live or die," and not exercise the brains their god supposedly gave them. If there were tigers roaming the street... would they consider *that* a sign that God wanted them to stay the hell home?

Near death experience

Paul4747 comments on Apr 4, 2020:

Every day. It's called "living".

Why all the hate?

Paul4747 comments on Apr 4, 2020:

I don't hate religion as such. I hate ignorance and hypocrisy. Those traits are found in religion more than anywhere, along with politics and sport (which both resemble religion in their blind devotions to "my team, right or wrong"). Along with these is the fact that religion considers itself above criticism. A public policy may be debated and decided, but if it's because of religion, it's now immune to debate. Claiming "God says this is so" is supposed to settle it all. Which would be okay, I guess, if the religious did not feel they have the right to impose their rules on everyone else, by law and sometimes war. If they want to live by the rules of their "god", fine, but the choice should be made as consenting adults, not by indoctrinating children and by coercing unbelievers to follow the same rules. Face it- if kids weren't exposed to this mythology from the age of 2, but instead were taught science, religion would be seen as ridiculous fairy tales.

A raging example of why I've had quite enough of all this religious BS.

Paul4747 comments on Apr 4, 2020:

I'm sorry, man.

I'm ready, are you?

Paul4747 comments on Apr 4, 2020:

I am now

Something to brighten your self distancing Thursday

Paul4747 comments on Apr 4, 2020:

Nice curves!

Its about time for the President's Press Cartoon.

Paul4747 comments on Apr 3, 2020:

It's past time for the real media [I'm excluding Faux News, we know their point of view (*coughTrumpreelectioncommiteecough*)] to stop carrying these press events live. For every 10 minutes he talks, it takes 30 to unpack all the disinformation, mistakes, and outright lies. Trump is now rewriting history so he knew it was a pandemic *before* the rest of the world; which doesn't explain why he didn't *do* anything until it was too late to prevent it taking hold in the U.S. (And also, it was all China and Europe's fault, in other words, anyone's but his.) It would be easy enough to release stories summarizing his briefings and also correcting them at the same time, so the public has context and he doesn't get a free campaign event nightly on national TV.

Don't mind me--it might not be you.

Paul4747 comments on Apr 3, 2020:

Meh- there's a lot of it going around. I've had migraines all week. It's a really mixed blessing being an "essential employee", I get to go out and mix with people, but then again I *have to* go out and mix with people.

We shouldn’t hate Christ as a person in spite of what his philosophy has done to humanity over the...

Paul4747 comments on Apr 3, 2020:

Which part of the philosophy? Loving other people sounds okay, actually, even though "love thy neighbor as thyself" is an impossible ideal. "Go and sin no more" isn't bad, it means forgiveness for past offenses- but then again, was the "sin" of adultery really such a sin? I don't hold sexual morality that big a deal as the ancient Hebrews did. The bit about coming back to life after you die, though, that's just mythology, or else the words of a raving nutter.

Would "the apocalypse of peter" have changed your mind about christianity?

Paul4747 comments on Mar 28, 2020:

The concept of "slightly modified eternal hell" is no less unjustifiable in moral terms than an eternal hell would be. Back when I was stuck halfway between Gnostic Christian and agnostic, I questioned the existence of hell in the first place, and the morality of any god who would dish out that kind of disproportionate retribution for human errors. In the bible mythology, humans are created as fallible, and then threatened with hell unless they basically apologize to god all their lives for the things they do out of their fallibility. The whole thing's a setup. Even if such a god turned out to exist, I would actually prefer hell.

😃 Nice boobies, yes?

Paul4747 comments on Mar 27, 2020:

Damn, this thing is getting to me. All I could think about at first was how they're not 6 feet apart.

Figures, Trumpers! FBI learned of coronavirus-inspired bomb plotter through radicalized US Army ...

Paul4747 comments on Mar 27, 2020:

Wait, WHAT???

Trump Signals Break with Medical Experts as His Base Attacks Fauci Conservative commentators ...

Paul4747 comments on Mar 27, 2020:

So what's morally wrong about mailing Rush more cigarettes? As long as they're unfiltered, that is. It's no surprise that Trump is ignoring the medical experts, as he has ignored experts in every other field for his entire term (and his entire life, for that matter). His "gut" tells him what's right, and it's no coincidence that what his gut tells him, happens to be what he wanted to do anyway. The jumbo-size Trump ego can't entertain the notion that anyone has any knowledge that he himself doesn't already possess, or that might contradict what he thinks he knows. Science doesn't matter if it runs contrary to how he wants the world to be- just as economics didn't matter when he was explaining how a tax cut would generate twice its revenue (it didn't) or how Iran would be driven to the negotiating table (they weren't). In Trumpworld, things happen because Trump wants them to, and for no other reason. Any reality is merely a temporary malfunction on the part of life. Let me put it this way- of all the possible people to have been Commander-in-Chief at this moment, it's very hard for me to imagine who could have been worse for our nation, and indeed the world. I would have taken half of the Republicans and almost certainly any Democrat on the national stage, over Trump.

😘😄 It's create your own caption time...

Paul4747 comments on Mar 27, 2020:

We're just going to hold your arms while Debbie sits under the table and tickles you...

😘😄 It's create your own caption time...

Paul4747 comments on Mar 27, 2020:

That was your sixth beer, now the mandatory table dancing!!

Jewel Staite

Paul4747 comments on Mar 27, 2020:

There sure are a lot of celebrity fakes out there, aren't there....

Modern Neoliberal Capitalism.

Paul4747 comments on Mar 26, 2020:

Yes, and the generals should be the first ones to pick up a rifle and march to the front. The article's proposal, while dripping with class warfare, doesn't actually achieve anything. We actually do have to walk a line between containing the virus and not utterly destroying our economy in the process, which could have just as great an impact on the health of the nation... if not worse. I would like to err on the side of caution, but there will be a balance point. We'll never be certain we're free of COVID-19 until a vaccine is produced, so, 12 to 18 months down the road. We simply can't shut down the economy for a year. There's an intelligent way to restart the economy. It is not the way Trump suggested. It won't be quick or painless. But outrage at the wealthy doesn't help anyone right now. No kind of outrage is helping right now. As for Glenn Beck, he's the same guy who claimed that the ACA would have "death panels" to decide if people were worth keeping alive. Now we're faced with the actual, horrible possibility of having to triage who can be saved, and who can't, to see who gets a ventilator- because the party Beck supports put a chimp in the White House, and he underplayed the threat of this virus for weeks when we could have been preparing for it. If you want to be outraged, direct it there. Beck said Trump's defeat in the 2020 election would be "the end of the country as we know it." It turns out his election was the end of the country as we know it, instead. Beck's faux selflessness is too little and it's much too late.

Summary of my Dating Life

Paul4747 comments on Mar 26, 2020:

Wow, I'm sorry. I don't want to seem boastful, but my last three dates all wanted it on the first date. I kept asking if they were sure; they were. Then the first one started giving me career advice. The next said it had been too soon after all.... and the last had not told me something that would have changed MY mind if I had known. So... at least we're getting dates?

What's in the $2 trillion coronavirus stimulus bill

Paul4747 comments on Mar 25, 2020:

You forgot to mention the quiet bailout specifically for Boeing, who contributed to Chump's inauguration party. https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2020/03/25/boeing-bailout-coronavirus/?utm_campaign=wp_post_most=email=newsletter=nl_most I gained a tiny bit of respect for Nikki Haley, who quit Boeing's board over their seeking a bailout.

Jerry Falwell jr, Welcomes backs students to his Liberty University!!! god will provide!!! ...

Paul4747 comments on Mar 25, 2020:

Oh, their God.

How does the atheist community react or respond to the following for example: This is Lent right ...

Paul4747 comments on Mar 25, 2020:

Since the virus actually started last year, the connection to your holiday is tenuous at best.

What's happening inside your little bunker?

Paul4747 comments on Mar 25, 2020:

I have to go out to work, Corrections Officers are essential employees. I had a sustained conversation, at 7 feet away, with a gas station attendant last night, the longest contact I've had in 2 weeks with anyone outside the department. I set up a skype account and am watching To Kill A Mockingbird together with my daughter on the other end of the line, at her mom's house. That's the closest we're going to have to her coming over for the weekend for several weeks.

To those who have a Christian background: How are New Testament theology and evolution compatible?

Paul4747 comments on Mar 22, 2020:

Those Christians I've known who accepted evolution (to be fair, it's quite a small number) fall into two camps. One group believed in "Intelligent Design", which is just another name for Creationism, but the most sophisticated of them see ID as "Evolution guided by God" to result in specific end products: beetles, birds, cows, humans. They read the passage about God "breathing life into Adam" as meaning that God imparted a soul to human beings alone, among all the rest of the creatures of the world. The others believed that humans are a special creation, and everything else randomly evolved, but, again, God made humans specially and gave them souls. I believe that admitting human evolution would mean admitting we aren't elevated above all the other species in the world, and then they wouldn't feel "special" or "chosen". I suggest that they consider how lucky it is that the chain of events leading merely to one sperm meeting one egg produced each of us as individuals, but that never gets me anywhere. I don't know as these are formal theories anywhere, or simply what the people I've known had come up with on their own. If the latter, it was a case of convergent evolution in the field of philosophy, where people with no connection to one another evolved the same theories separately. I've never heard of any church anywhere endorsing these ideas, though.

500,000 infected?