How would you respond to "You can't have true love without God"?

rpmazzella comments on Sep 15, 2019:

“You can't have true love for people without God"? That is B.S. How do you feel about your kids? I betcha you love them more than you ever thought you could love anything. This is just a scare tactic. Religions use scare tactics because they lack confidence in their belief. They must use fear...

Triphid replies on Sep 15, 2019:

I told my daughter the exact Truth when she was about 7 years old, she grew up an atheist like me.

Kids do trump impersonations

Our_existence comments on Sep 15, 2019:

I have never heard kids impersonate anyone in the White House before like this. Sad commentary

Triphid replies on Sep 15, 2019:

Hey, you should have the kids around here doing impersonations of Tony 'Budgie-Smugglers' Abbott, they were absolute great to say the least, I wish I had a video camera to show film of them.

The reason women are critiqued for everything...

gater comments on Sep 15, 2019:

The real reasons for the differences between men and women is that evolution prepared us for different tasks. We are wired differently.

Triphid replies on Sep 15, 2019:

@gater But DID men actually make fire, hunt, etc,? Those are the things that the MALE dominated world of Anthropology and Archaeology would have us believe simply because IT suits the Male agenda. Perhaps it WAS actually a more egalitarian type society and everyone 'pitched' in instead?

Some walk Gingerly but sadly nobody Mary Anns anymore.

Triphid comments on Sep 15, 2019:

Then, with my most sincere apologies to the real Gays out there btw, No-one has seen the ántics' of the VERY flamboyant 'wanna-be' types that we get here in Broken Hill every year ( they come from all over the country btw) when they hold the Broken Heel Festival. Now, they ARE truly Mary Anns.

Triphid replies on Sep 15, 2019:

@hankster As I said, I have absolutely NOTHING against the LGBTI community, each to his/her own is my philosophy. But, a friend of mine who lives not more than 1/2 a mile from me had a garden bed in her front yard where she grew over 30 Rainbow Rose Bushes. Last year when they were in full bloom the local LGBTI community actually lodged complaints about her being a Hetero person and growing THEIR Rainbow Emblem as Roses in her Hetero garden. Now is that really the kind of the tolerance SOME of these LGBTI people are always screaming out about?

Christian Radio Host: ‘Educated Women Don’t Make For Good Wives And Mothers’ | Michael Stone

Mofo1953 comments on Sep 13, 2019:

He could never know for sure because no woman with half a brain would ever be even seen near this hypocritical cocksucker.

Triphid replies on Sep 15, 2019:

@jorj Atheists, for the major part of those who ARE atheists, do NOT attack the person who is a follower of religion/s, they criticize and often ridicule the Belief System, the dogma it spreads, etc.

Christian Radio Host: ‘Educated Women Don’t Make For Good Wives And Mothers’ | Michael Stone

NotReligious71 comments on Sep 14, 2019:

Asshole seems like a tame description for this guy...

Triphid replies on Sep 15, 2019:

Out here in the Aussie Outback we'd call him a " Dip-shit Drongo." Drongo not to be confused with bird called a Drongo btw, drongo out simply means a complete and utter idiot.

Some walk Gingerly but sadly nobody Mary Anns anymore.

Triphid comments on Sep 15, 2019:

Then, with my most sincere apologies to the real Gays out there btw, No-one has seen the ántics' of the VERY flamboyant 'wanna-be' types that we get here in Broken Hill every year ( they come from all over the country btw) when they hold the Broken Heel Festival. Now, they ARE truly Mary Anns.

Triphid replies on Sep 15, 2019:

@hankster Maybe, BUT to my mind it's just an excuse for the Drag Queens to dress up and flaunt themselves and for the Hotel to draw in more customers. Plus, perhaps it's because Sydney, N.S.W. Australia. has the LGBTI Annual Mardigras thing and some the locals decided to try doing a 'copy-cat' version of that. Personally, I have NOTHING against Gays, Lesbians, etc, I have an Each to their Own kind of attitude but I do often wonder what would happen IF hetero people decided to parade around the town in the same, often very bawdy and revealing 'outfits' as they wear in their 'events' like the Broken Heel Festival?

What’s a Jew to do during the high holy days when they question the existence of a higher power?

Triphid comments on Sep 15, 2019:

Simple, just grab a nice freshly made Ham sandwich ( after all the Kosher rules are RELIGION based anyway) or two and have a relaxing time with a picnic or sitting by seashore.

Triphid replies on Sep 15, 2019:

@genessa I WAS attempting to facetious and having a joke with my reply.

Some walk Gingerly but sadly nobody Mary Anns anymore.

Triphid comments on Sep 15, 2019:

Then, with my most sincere apologies to the real Gays out there btw, No-one has seen the ántics' of the VERY flamboyant 'wanna-be' types that we get here in Broken Hill every year ( they come from all over the country btw) when they hold the Broken Heel Festival. Now, they ARE truly Mary Anns.

Triphid replies on Sep 15, 2019:

@hankster Not actually a 'Tradition' of sorts, it ALL arose AFTER the movie "Priscilla, Queen of the Desert" was partly made here. It claims to be held as 'celebration' event every year to commemorate the movie but to many, like myself, around here it appears to not much more than an Attention Grabber for the wanna-bes, etc, plus a draw card for one particular local hotel and accommodation place in town.

Its a known fact that history is written by only the winners.

DSGavde comments on Sep 14, 2019:

Sorry to disappoint but Germany as of today is a nation of people with a mindset where they acknowledge the horrors inflicted by them and are overtly willing to make up for them. However, I believe it is nations like the US who moulded people's mindsets into glorifying Hiroshima and Nagasaki than ...

Triphid replies on Sep 15, 2019:

@dahermit No, the one Hirohito wrote days before the Pearl Harbour Attack actually, it is quoted in the movie Tora, Tora. One should try to remember that the Emperor, Hirohito, was, by the early 1940's merely a figurehead for the common masses of Japan and the Military were the ones making the ultimate decisions with the likes of Tojo holding the major power and say. Now, don't get me wrong here, I am NOT, in any way ,shape nor form, excusing the barbarities, etc, committed by the Japanese forces nor the rest of the 3 main Antagonist Powers in WWII.

I have this idea for a new product.

Triphid comments on Sep 14, 2019:

It seems to me that YOU are the puppet and your cat is your Puppeteer, try educating your cat that IT only gets fed or given 'treats' when YOU decide and not it.

Triphid replies on Sep 15, 2019:

@Booklover I've always been fond of my pets too, but I still train them to understand that I AM the boss and not them. Dogs, in particular are STILL Pack animals by nature and as such they either are the Alpha Leader or NEED to be shown that they ARE NOT the Alpha Leader and that the human IS the Alpha of the Pack. Cats, on the other hand, are naturally Domineering by nature, they decide that they SHALL rule no matter what and truly need to be educated that they do NOT dominate their human owners. Training you pet, be it either cat, dog or whatever, does NOT mean you love it any less, quite the opposite in fact, it simply means you love it enough to teach it the boundaries that it IS expected to respect in conjunction with living with humans.

Its a known fact that history is written by only the winners.

DSGavde comments on Sep 14, 2019:

Sorry to disappoint but Germany as of today is a nation of people with a mindset where they acknowledge the horrors inflicted by them and are overtly willing to make up for them. However, I believe it is nations like the US who moulded people's mindsets into glorifying Hiroshima and Nagasaki than ...

Triphid replies on Sep 15, 2019:

@dahermit Are you also aware that Emperor Hirohito actually wrote a poem that expressed his feelings AGAINST Japan going to war with the Americans?

Its a known fact that history is written by only the winners.

DSGavde comments on Sep 14, 2019:

Sorry to disappoint but Germany as of today is a nation of people with a mindset where they acknowledge the horrors inflicted by them and are overtly willing to make up for them. However, I believe it is nations like the US who moulded people's mindsets into glorifying Hiroshima and Nagasaki than ...

Triphid replies on Sep 15, 2019:

@Bobby9 Nope, No Delusions of Grandeur this way, just an ordinary everyday person, sorry to spoil your little party.

We so often learn far too late than the heroes of history were actually horrible people, and the ...

273kelvin comments on Sep 12, 2019:

We make heroes out of high achievers and gods out of heroes. Then we are suddenly surprised when they turn out to have feet of clay. The phrase "He was no saint" is oft-quoted. If you read about the lives of saints you will find that they were not too nice either. For all their faults they leave ...

Triphid replies on Sep 15, 2019:

@273kelvin ah yes, War the perfect excuse for men to chase around other countries, dip their wicks into anything in a skirt or looks remotely female and conveniently FORGET they have wives or girlfriends waiting for them back home.

I have this idea for a new product.

Triphid comments on Sep 14, 2019:

It seems to me that YOU are the puppet and your cat is your Puppeteer, try educating your cat that IT only gets fed or given 'treats' when YOU decide and not it.

Triphid replies on Sep 15, 2019:

@azzow2 Imo. gullible does NOT come anywhere near enough to describe such people.

In case you wonder about the potential for addiction to masturbation.

Triphid comments on Sep 13, 2019:

It IS only the Xrstian Religions, etc, that label self-gratification as being a sinful abomination in the eyes of their god and cheesus crust ( jesus christ). And that is most likely because, a) most devout Xrstians wouldn't know a completely harmless bit of self-enjoyment even it bit them on ...

Triphid replies on Sep 15, 2019:

@BBJong I've been single and living alone since about 2014 or even earlier yet no-one has tried to be 'match-maker for me and I don't to be someone's pet matchmaking project either.

Its a known fact that history is written by only the winners.

DSGavde comments on Sep 14, 2019:

Sorry to disappoint but Germany as of today is a nation of people with a mindset where they acknowledge the horrors inflicted by them and are overtly willing to make up for them. However, I believe it is nations like the US who moulded people's mindsets into glorifying Hiroshima and Nagasaki than ...

Triphid replies on Sep 15, 2019:

@Bobby9 So you say. The British Empire said something similar about Mohandas K. Gandhi didn't they?

Its a known fact that history is written by only the winners.

DSGavde comments on Sep 14, 2019:

Sorry to disappoint but Germany as of today is a nation of people with a mindset where they acknowledge the horrors inflicted by them and are overtly willing to make up for them. However, I believe it is nations like the US who moulded people's mindsets into glorifying Hiroshima and Nagasaki than ...

Triphid replies on Sep 15, 2019:

@Bobby9 Why is that? I'm a 100% Pacifist and Humanist/Humanitarian are you afraid that IF were elected here in Australia I might legislate that Peace is the best thing for the Entire World and that the production of Weapons, Sale, etc, of the same be made Illegal World-wide?

Freedom to weaponize; freedom from compassion

MattHardy comments on Sep 15, 2019:

Remember guns don't kill people; Americans do.

Triphid replies on Sep 15, 2019:

!00% precisely CORRECT.

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

Sgt_Spanky comments on Sep 13, 2019:

How can god be the totality of reality when god himself isn't even real? Your piecemeal approach to demonstrating god''s existence as well as your conclusion ignores the accepted Xian concept of god as an omniscient, omnipotent, individual superbeing who *created* the universe rather than *being*...

Triphid replies on Sep 15, 2019:

@TheMiddleWay Yes, a dictionary CAN define what 'god' is just as it can also define what a 'Chimera' was thought to look like BUT those definitions merely suggest that those things were once thought to be real and, as a clear, thinking, well educated human being I have learned that simply describing something in dictionary such as a god or a Chimera does NOT make it a reality. Do you not agree?

Its a known fact that history is written by only the winners.

DSGavde comments on Sep 14, 2019:

Sorry to disappoint but Germany as of today is a nation of people with a mindset where they acknowledge the horrors inflicted by them and are overtly willing to make up for them. However, I believe it is nations like the US who moulded people's mindsets into glorifying Hiroshima and Nagasaki than ...

Triphid replies on Sep 15, 2019:

@Bobby9 No my friend NOT a Conspiracy Theorist, just one researches as deeply as possible into History, etc. I actually grew up through the Cold War/Nuclear Threats era, knew about the Brits testing Atomic Weapons in my own country at Maralinga and have had pen friends who WERE children born not long after the Hiroshima/Nagasaki bombings. ONLY 1 of them still lives to this day and still needs treatment for radiation illnesses, the rest, most sadly, passed away from cancers, etc, related clearly to the radiation emitted by those bombs. So, you are saying here also that whether or not the A bombs were invented and used matters not because the world (people in it) would still have suffered the same trepidations as we did KNOWING that there were NOW weapons that CAN destroy life on this planet? Were you around and able to realise what it was like to try to live in the 50's, 60's and even the 70's UNDER the ever present shadow of a Nuclear Holocaust, I was?

Its a known fact that history is written by only the winners.

DSGavde comments on Sep 14, 2019:

Sorry to disappoint but Germany as of today is a nation of people with a mindset where they acknowledge the horrors inflicted by them and are overtly willing to make up for them. However, I believe it is nations like the US who moulded people's mindsets into glorifying Hiroshima and Nagasaki than ...

Triphid replies on Sep 15, 2019:

@dahermit In case you were unaware there WAS a little more to the start of the war between the U.S. and Japan. The Emperor was against starting the war with the U.S., it WAS Tojo who pressed for the conflict right from the beginning and Yamamoto who actually decided upon the plan to bomb Pearl Harbour.

I have this idea for a new product.

Triphid comments on Sep 14, 2019:

It seems to me that YOU are the puppet and your cat is your Puppeteer, try educating your cat that IT only gets fed or given 'treats' when YOU decide and not it.

Triphid replies on Sep 14, 2019:

@azzow2 Shit Mate, I've been in the wrong country for years then. I 've been a Child/Youth Counsellor here since the late 90's and have doing it now on a 100% free basis since about 2014 only because I feel it would be an indecent thing to expect people/kids, etc, in particular to have to pay for the help they really need. BUT animals such as cats and dogs NEEDING a Psychologist, well if the humans that have them are so bloody gullible, then so be it, I should've been over your way and charging the fees that Psychologists charge just sit and listen to some cat (LOL) PURR ( excuse the pun) its poor little heart, I'd be a bloody Multi-millionaire by now.

I have this idea for a new product.

Triphid comments on Sep 14, 2019:

It seems to me that YOU are the puppet and your cat is your Puppeteer, try educating your cat that IT only gets fed or given 'treats' when YOU decide and not it.

Triphid replies on Sep 14, 2019:

@azzow2 " Psychology Therapy" for a bloody CAT, you have to be joking? Are you actually trying to tell me that the American Addiction to Psychologist/Psychiatrists has now spread to their family pets as well?

I have this idea for a new product.

Triphid comments on Sep 14, 2019:

It seems to me that YOU are the puppet and your cat is your Puppeteer, try educating your cat that IT only gets fed or given 'treats' when YOU decide and not it.

Triphid replies on Sep 14, 2019:

@darthfaja Oh yes they will and so do dogs. I've had dogs that tried 'to rule the roost' and have trained them, without resorting anything remotely like punishment, etc, that I am the master and not them. Any animal can be taught and cats are no different, even though they would have us believe different, I have also trained cats and taught cat owners how to train their cat/s.

Just heard a great quote from Dan Barker, one that I wish I had thought of myself.

Wallace comments on Sep 12, 2019:

I don’t think this is a good criticism. As I understand it, first, traditional theology has it that God’s being is simple—rather than complex—because any complex (= composite) being can decompose. Of course, this ontologically simple being has infinitely many “great-making” qualities and...

Triphid replies on Sep 14, 2019:

Yes, but even a simple one celled microbe can die and decompose just as does a complex multicellular being. If god created everything then who or what created god was a part of my thesis when I was studying for ThD ( Doctorate in Theology and Comparative Modern Religions), that thesis caused more than quite a 'stir' amongst the Believers who were studying at the time, but nowhere near as big a 'stir' as it was at the beginning when I declare to the whole class that I was an Atheist. As the widely accepted dogma of Christianity clearly states, " Something CANNOT be made/created from nothing," but their precious bible clearly states, Chapter 1, page 1, verse 1 that, "In the beginning the was the word and the word was with God." Ergo, since a mere WORD is actually nothing but vibrations then, according to their own beliefs Something was created/made from absolutely nothing, again that response caused yet another stir/uproar among the Believers in the class.

There may NOT be life on other planets

Druvius comments on Sep 13, 2019:

Dunno about the specifics of that, but I have always favored the Rare Earth Hypothesis. Our evolution might well be so unlikely that it even happening once was unusual. We simply don't know what the odds are. And Fermi's Paradox just keeps getting more annoying as SETI keeps coming up with buttkiss....

Triphid replies on Sep 14, 2019:

@Druvius But maybe by us just starting to actually think outside of the usual 'box' that we all seem to enjoy living in, then, and only then, can we truly begin to see clearly. I'm, for the most part, a regularly 'out of the box' kind of thinker and Yes it does quite often put on the wrong 'side' of the 'normal' train of thought with most of the rest of the world BUT, imho, it IS those 'out of the box' thinkers that brought humanity to the level of achievements, etc, that we enjoy today, is it not?

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

Sgt_Spanky comments on Sep 13, 2019:

How can god be the totality of reality when god himself isn't even real? Your piecemeal approach to demonstrating god''s existence as well as your conclusion ignores the accepted Xian concept of god as an omniscient, omnipotent, individual superbeing who *created* the universe rather than *being*...

Triphid replies on Sep 14, 2019:

@TheMiddleWay Nice try there my friend BUT the dictionaries have words such "Chimera" in them plus a description of what a "Chimera" was/is BUT, here's the cruncher, A "Chimera" IS a creature of myth and legend, and just like god, no-one has either ever seen one nor found any evidence that it existed. Ergo, just because something is defined in WORDS does NOT mean that it MUST exist or have existed.

This occurred in a comment on another post, but I thought it worth quoting.

LimitedLight comments on Sep 14, 2019:

There's a video about this.

Triphid replies on Sep 14, 2019:

@LimitedLight Loved watching it, a perfect example of the Circular Reasoning used by both Salespersons and Religion Peddlers ( who are just Salespeople anyway).

There may NOT be life on other planets

Druvius comments on Sep 13, 2019:

Dunno about the specifics of that, but I have always favored the Rare Earth Hypothesis. Our evolution might well be so unlikely that it even happening once was unusual. We simply don't know what the odds are. And Fermi's Paradox just keeps getting more annoying as SETI keeps coming up with buttkiss....

Triphid replies on Sep 14, 2019:

@JeffMesser Yes but these 'rules' you so cite are ONLY rules devised by man are they not? To my mind, IMPLY that there MUST rules governing the workings of the Universe, Nature, etc, simply infers that there MUST have been a sentient power/being to first write those rules from the very beginning , i.e. A Supreme Omnipotent Creator, can see that such a thing is also illogical given what we have learned about the Universe in the last 100+ years or so? As I posted before, JUST because mankind says that 1+1 MUST equal 2 simply because that is how mankind sees it should be, it IS more than likely not HOW things really are elsewhere in the Universe.

Do you listen to religious music?

WilliamCharles comments on Apr 2, 2019:

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=xtolv9kM1qk

Triphid replies on Sep 14, 2019:

@WilliamCharles I've always like the instrumental music/work in this song Spirit in the Sky), BUT the lyrics are so blatantly Xrstian/Religious that they're enough to make the most ardent masochist cry out for mercy in my opinion.

Its a known fact that history is written by only the winners.

DSGavde comments on Sep 14, 2019:

Sorry to disappoint but Germany as of today is a nation of people with a mindset where they acknowledge the horrors inflicted by them and are overtly willing to make up for them. However, I believe it is nations like the US who moulded people's mindsets into glorifying Hiroshima and Nagasaki than ...

Triphid replies on Sep 14, 2019:

@Bobby9 Ask yourself this, A) Was the dropping of the A-Bombs on Japan TRULY necessary, or, B) was it Americas way of saying loudly to Russia, etc, " We have this weapon now, see what it CAN do, sit on this ( extended middle finger btw) and rotate," And whilst you are considering those questions, think about the utter chaos , fear and terror that those 2 acts brought into everyone's lives since then as well. Instead of merely wiping out 2 Japanese cities and thousands/millions of civilians ( including here those who are STILL suffering the after effects of radiation btw) COULD NOT America, etc, simply have blockaded Japan and forced them into a surrender?

We so often learn far too late than the heroes of history were actually horrible people, and the ...

273kelvin comments on Sep 12, 2019:

We make heroes out of high achievers and gods out of heroes. Then we are suddenly surprised when they turn out to have feet of clay. The phrase "He was no saint" is oft-quoted. If you read about the lives of saints you will find that they were not too nice either. For all their faults they leave ...

Triphid replies on Sep 14, 2019:

@273kelvin Yes, and like most 'visiting' troops they 'plowed the furrow, planted the seed and then went on their merry way' with little or no though as to what the resultant 'crop' would yield.

CONFESSIONS OF AN OVER THE WALL GRATEFUL RECOVERING CATHOLIC First Communion, Confirmation, ...

Triphid comments on Sep 12, 2019:

I can't for the life of me figure out WHY Churches need to be so ornate and opulent for a god that can create ANYTHING, supposedly, that it wants and yet allow/permit literally millions, if not BILLIONS, to live, starve and die in abject poverty.

Triphid replies on Sep 14, 2019:

@K9Kohle789 Very succinctly put may I say. It's the ' Bread, Bibles, Blankets and Bangles' game that the Xrstians have been using for centuries and most times when those little tricks didn't work out to plan then came the Booze and Bullets solution. After that came the land grabs, the shackles and slavery followed the rape and pillaging of the natural resources, etc. Oh what wonderful humanitarians these Xrstians truly were and, in some cases, still are.

There may NOT be life on other planets

Triphid comments on Sep 13, 2019:

Just as it is posited that "Life as WE know it"may not exist elsewhere in this vast Universe IT is only, imho, Human arrogance to think that we are correct. Who is to state definitively and empirically that, for example, IF the Asteroid Impact that killed off the Dinosaurs around 65 Million Years ...

Triphid replies on Sep 14, 2019:

@JeffMesser Does not man decide that these 'so-called' "Laws" of the Universe exist simply because man needs to rationalize, organize and normalise everything into terms only he comprehends and understands? For example, Humans deemed that there MUST be 60 seconds in every minute, 60 minutes in every hour, etc, and called it "Time," but the birds, animals, etc, have NO real concept of seconds, minutes or hours, etc, all they see and live by whether or not it the light of light or the of dark, is that not so? Ergo, man THINKS up these 'Laws of the Universe' and expects them to adhered to by the Universe itself, BUT the Universe is NOT as well an ordered thing as we seem to think it should be, it is more often than not found to be chaotic, irregular and unpredictable. Astronomers have shown that in our own Solar System there is one planet that rotates on its axis opposite to the others, is that not a blatant breach of these 'Laws' of the Universe? Who knows for absolute certainty what other 'breaches' of these human-made Universal 'Laws' are occurring elsewhere in the vast and still unknown Universe, what these 'breaches' of these so-called Laws laid down by humans can result in elsewhere NO-ONE really knows but just because certain conditions happened on this tiny and insignificant hunk of rock we call Earth to create life as WE know it does NOT mean that EXACTLY the same conditions and effects MUST occur everywhere else, to assume that is Human arrogance at its greatest in my opinion. To simply state that because A+B =C here on Earth it MUST also be precisely the same everywhere else, am I not correct?

There may NOT be life on other planets

Druvius comments on Sep 13, 2019:

Dunno about the specifics of that, but I have always favored the Rare Earth Hypothesis. Our evolution might well be so unlikely that it even happening once was unusual. We simply don't know what the odds are. And Fermi's Paradox just keeps getting more annoying as SETI keeps coming up with buttkiss....

Triphid replies on Sep 14, 2019:

@Druvius I think you may be a bit too dismissive of the possibilities at times. Other extraterrestrial intelligent life-forms " trying to contact us by exotic means" isn't really "special pleading" it is and could well be a probability since we have evolved, technologically as far as relatively simply E-M transmissions and weak lasers that can be bounced off of the Lunar surface. I tend to think that we humans are still stuck with the ideas of a) the bible SAYS clearly that THIS IS the place in existence where there is life of any kind, or, b) since this IS how far we have evolved socially and technologically ergo IT must be exactly the same everywhere else in the Universe. But rationally and logically WE are just mere technological babies in comparison to what could easily have evolved and developed on other worlds thousands or even millions of BEFORE our early, very primitive anthropoid ancestors climbed or fell down out the trees and took their first tentative bi-pedal steps in an up-right position. Organisation such as S.E.T.I. are doing the best job they can with the very LIMITED abilities, etc, that our technological advancements and knowledge have furnished them with, they concentrate on the EM Bands, visual telescope images, etc, simply because We have NOT yet discovered for ourselves any other 'exotic' possibilities/ways to transmit/COMMUNICATE over the absolutely immense distance that separate our tiny little Solar system and Galaxy from the rest of the truly Immense Universe. Who can state with absolute certainty and beyond even the tiniest mere shadow of a doubt that the 'so-called' woo-woo myths and legends handed down generation after generation by word of mouth from older cultures are NOT based somewhere upon contact by some 'exotic' means? Yes, as Atheists/Agnostics we tend to dismiss everything in Goat-Herders Guide to the Galaxy as woo-woo, myth and fire-side tales, etc, BUT there certain parts in certain chapters of it that make mention of one or characters being "carried up into the sky by things such as " a Great wheel spinning within another Great Wheel and making a Whooshing sounds as it rose." Yes, almost ALL the O.T. was pirated from legends, etc, of other and more older cultures/civilisations BUT there were cultures on the other side of the world, completely isolated at the time from the Middle Eastern region that have their legends that, except for slight differences in descriptions, are somewhat similar to those from the Middle Eastern region nd even the Australian Aboriginals have a legend referring to the Wandjina, the People who came down from the skies and taught them the Lores of the land in which they live. Yes, dismiss them as coincidences BUT when a number of coincidences corelate and support each other so well ...

There may NOT be life on other planets

Druvius comments on Sep 13, 2019:

Dunno about the specifics of that, but I have always favored the Rare Earth Hypothesis. Our evolution might well be so unlikely that it even happening once was unusual. We simply don't know what the odds are. And Fermi's Paradox just keeps getting more annoying as SETI keeps coming up with buttkiss....

Triphid replies on Sep 13, 2019:

@Druvius OR, their civilization/species may have already gone extinct?

In case you wonder about the potential for addiction to masturbation.

JackPedigo comments on Sep 13, 2019:

I was looking for it and there it was: *"...more frequently men ejaculate, the lower their risk for prostate cancer."* If you don't use it you may lose it (prostrate).

Triphid replies on Sep 13, 2019:

100 % a true medical fact there.

In case you wonder about the potential for addiction to masturbation.

MissKathleen comments on Sep 13, 2019:

Share the news: National Masturbation Day https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Masturbation_Day

Triphid replies on Sep 13, 2019:

Oh YES, come all Ye faithful, it IS National Masturbation Day...LOL. Sorry, my somewhat 'risque' Aussie sense of Humor took control here.

Open ended question for y'all.

A2Jennifer comments on Sep 11, 2019:

You could try spending 20 years in a toxic relationship to inoculate against any feeling you need a relationship. Actually I don’t recommend that, even though it did the trick for me.

Triphid replies on Sep 13, 2019:

@A2Jennifer As I was told by my Dad, "It takes 2 to Tango, BUT only 1 to break step," and as for the Forgive and Forget/Turn the other Cheek bit, well, you'd look like a candidate for the Funny Farm trying to Tango all alone wouldn't you and as for Forgive/Forget, etc, bit well, that's all fine and dandy for the Bible-bashers to preach about BUT I'm only HUMAN, not some Invisible, Imaginary Sky Daddy and I don't want a FREE rouge treatment from some Arse-hole at the best of times.

There may NOT be life on other planets

Druvius comments on Sep 13, 2019:

Dunno about the specifics of that, but I have always favored the Rare Earth Hypothesis. Our evolution might well be so unlikely that it even happening once was unusual. We simply don't know what the odds are. And Fermi's Paradox just keeps getting more annoying as SETI keeps coming up with buttkiss....

Triphid replies on Sep 13, 2019:

@Larry-new Considering that it takes approx. 8 minutes and 29 seconds for a Photon to leave our sun and strike the Earth, Light travels, according to Theories that is, at a velocity of 186,000 miles per second in a vacuum, and travels approx. 6 Million, Million miles in the span of a Earth year, then do the maths, Any civilization NOT of this planet or even this Galaxy and far older and more technologically advanced than we, mere, humans are now MAY have sent out messages of some kind OTHER than our mere PRIMITIVE Electro-,Magnetic Transmission ( Radio Waves) while our ancestral Predecessors were still fumbling around trying to make fire may have not even reached the half-way point as yet. If memory serves correctly, the NEAREST Star cluster to Earth is the Centauri Group, in OUR Galaxy btw, and that is approx. 7.5 LIGHT Years away, the distance is Mind-Boggling to say the least, is it not?

We so often learn far too late than the heroes of history were actually horrible people, and the ...

273kelvin comments on Sep 12, 2019:

We make heroes out of high achievers and gods out of heroes. Then we are suddenly surprised when they turn out to have feet of clay. The phrase "He was no saint" is oft-quoted. If you read about the lives of saints you will find that they were not too nice either. For all their faults they leave ...

Triphid replies on Sep 13, 2019:

@273kelvin They also coined another, less kindly, name for the Yanks, which still is in use here today at times, Seppos = Septic Tanks which rhymes with Yanks and as with Septic Tanks nothing good ever comes out them. Though having said that I must say that I have quite a few very decent and good American friends on this site, so to them I apologise and say that we relies that NOT all Yanks fit that description.

List: Every abusive Catholic church priest, clergy member named in every state in past year ...

Freedompath comments on Sep 9, 2019:

If ‘one’ can’t keep himself in check, why hide out in the church and trick people into sexual behavior while your nose is stuck in the ‘good book!’ And, it is not part of the rituals either! I would love that explained to me...just maybe it can be prevented? There are reasons for ...

Triphid replies on Sep 13, 2019:

@TheoryNumber3 Well not really any closure at the times BUT I got a sort of closure to begin with, unfortunately, when my 12 year old daughter came home from an Access Visit to her 'mother's home' and after days of having to stand guard outside the bathroom door when she showered, etc, she told me that her 'mother's' boyfriend " tried to grab her between her legs." Yes, I saw red, Yes, I was ready to go and avenge my daughter, but sense made me call a good friend and serving police officer and the police took it from there. Later I told Lorrae that I had suffered something similar to what she had experienced and after I had finished we both sat together and cried for quite some length of time.

Anyone try Facebook dating yet?

Triphid comments on Sep 9, 2019:

Signed up for Zoosk on Zuckerbook many. many years back and got inundated with scammers from Ghana, Nigeria, etc, worked out for myself that most Dating Sites are about as useful as a One legged man in an arse kicking contest. Even though Agnostic.com purports to be a 'Dating Site/Group' of sorts I...

Triphid replies on Sep 13, 2019:

@Mike1947 Listen to those trepidations my friend, it smells very much like a SCAM to me. As my 'born again, Evangelist' neighbor found out a few years ago to his great financial costs, Ghana/Nigeria, etc, ARE hot-beds of Online Dating scams raking in thousands of dollars at a time from people in other countries. I don't know exactly what it cost him money-wise BUT I remember him complaining that he had maxed out 2 separate Credit Cards at the time, both worth $5,000 Australian each. The woman (???) had given him a name, town of residence, e-mail address and a photo of herself (???) plus a long sob-story of how she and her Grandmother, etc, were always struggling financially and her income as a Nurse at their local hospital was never enough to cover their living costs, etc. Me being me, a kind-hearted person, decided to quietly ask a favor of an old and trusted pen-pal in Ghana, an ex-Pat Aussie btw, to do a little quiet research on this person for me, I'll leave it your imagination as to what the results came back as.

List: Every abusive Catholic church priest, clergy member named in every state in past year ...

Freedompath comments on Sep 9, 2019:

If ‘one’ can’t keep himself in check, why hide out in the church and trick people into sexual behavior while your nose is stuck in the ‘good book!’ And, it is not part of the rituals either! I would love that explained to me...just maybe it can be prevented? There are reasons for ...

Triphid replies on Sep 13, 2019:

@TheoryNumber3 I guessed that you were using a kind of sarcasm, for want of a more appropriate word, towards the 'god' ideology that wants to rule over everyone it can. I will ,however, openly admit to two things, and they being the ONLY two things relating the demise of two of my abusers. On the evening when the first of my abusers died in the car roll-over and fire I was riding my motorcycle home along the same outback road after visiting a friend and his family who lived 15 miles from town. I was about 1-11/2 miles away from the accident site when I saw the car roll over and start to burn, being already in my career as a nurse, I stopped quickly and tried to wrest open the car door but the heat and flames were beginning to singe my hands, then I saw who it was inside the car just as the Fire Brigade and Police arrived and was dragged away from the car. My natural impulse to save a life seemed to quickly disappear and I felt absolutely nothing for the person dying in the flames. I was actually rostered on the ward where the third abuser was a patient in the last stages of dying from Testicular Cancer, I was requested to relieve the Nurse assigned to Special Care for him for a few minutes while she went to answer a call of nature. Seconds after she had left the room, he woke up, looked at me and said, " I know you from somewhere, don't I ?" All I did was reply with " You should remember me from almost 10 years ago, I was the 10 year old boy you and 2 other held down and Anally raped you bastard, I'm going to live and you are going to die slowly and painfully BUT not by my hand, the cancer that is chewing away at your body will finish you off, so die slowly." 3 weeks later, while working on another Ward of the Hospital, I heard that he had died after begging for someone to give him something to end his torment, I felt no sympathy, etc, for him but I did feel sympathy for his wife and children though.

We so often learn far too late than the heroes of history were actually horrible people, and the ...

273kelvin comments on Sep 12, 2019:

We make heroes out of high achievers and gods out of heroes. Then we are suddenly surprised when they turn out to have feet of clay. The phrase "He was no saint" is oft-quoted. If you read about the lives of saints you will find that they were not too nice either. For all their faults they leave ...

Triphid replies on Sep 13, 2019:

@273kelvin The Aussie soldiers had a name for the Yank troops, they called them "Overs" because they were Over-paid, Overfed. Oversexed and Over Here.

Nothing gets your heart pumping like having to deal with a rattlesnake.

Triphid comments on Sep 13, 2019:

I'd rather come face to face with a rattlesnake than an Australian King Brown or Black Snake any day. At least your 'rattlers' make a noise, ours are silent, deadly and bloody swift when they bite.

Triphid replies on Sep 13, 2019:

@azzow2 That, my friend IS an understatement.

List: Every abusive Catholic church priest, clergy member named in every state in past year ...

Freedompath comments on Sep 9, 2019:

If ‘one’ can’t keep himself in check, why hide out in the church and trick people into sexual behavior while your nose is stuck in the ‘good book!’ And, it is not part of the rituals either! I would love that explained to me...just maybe it can be prevented? There are reasons for ...

Triphid replies on Sep 13, 2019:

@TheoryNumber3 I'm pretty certain there is/ never was anything even closely resembling a God. I tend to think and trust that Natural Justice was served upon them as it SHOULD be for ALL Abusers of Children, Youths and Adults as well. Consider this, IF there was a Supreme Omnipotent, Omnibenevolent Being watching over everyone, as the Faithfools would have us believe, then WHY would such a Supreme Being allow such horrific things to happen in the first place?

Is everyone out gazing the the Waxing Gibbous?

Cutiebeauty comments on Sep 12, 2019:

Nope.... What is that?

Triphid replies on Sep 13, 2019:

@azzow2 Medically speaking we ALL have pretty much the volume of water in our bodies, though women do have a slight bit more than men, so I very much doubt if the 'tidal shifting' of water has anything to with it.

Is everyone out gazing the the Waxing Gibbous?

DavidGreen1 comments on Sep 12, 2019:

Tomorrow is the harvest Moon

Triphid replies on Sep 12, 2019:

How and what does one harvest on the moon....LOL.

Is everyone out gazing the the Waxing Gibbous?

Cutiebeauty comments on Sep 12, 2019:

Nope.... What is that?

Triphid replies on Sep 12, 2019:

@azzow2 Oh yes, when I was working as a Nurse we always expected a much BIGGER rush of the 'crazies' to come to the E.R. on the full moon.

Is everyone out gazing the the Waxing Gibbous?

Triphid comments on Sep 12, 2019:

Nope, it's day time here, hence we've only got the sun shining atm, but will take a look at it tonight though.

Triphid replies on Sep 12, 2019:

@azzow2 Change of Climate on the scale we are NOW experiencing is NOT wholly down to axial shift, the majority of it is primarily due to human industrial activity and the pollution that it causes. Btw, the Earth wobbles on its axis all the time, science has proven that.

Is everyone out gazing the the Waxing Gibbous?

Cutiebeauty comments on Sep 12, 2019:

Nope.... What is that?

Triphid replies on Sep 12, 2019:

@azzow2 And the loonies will be out in full force....LOL.

Is everyone out gazing the the Waxing Gibbous?

freeofgod comments on Sep 12, 2019:

Yes. And it's interfering with my meteor showers ;) There are ten of them going on this month.

Triphid replies on Sep 12, 2019:

I hope you take a towel, soap and shampoo when you go out into those showers....LOL.

Is everyone out gazing the the Waxing Gibbous?

Triphid comments on Sep 12, 2019:

Nope, it's day time here, hence we've only got the sun shining atm, but will take a look at it tonight though.

Triphid replies on Sep 12, 2019:

@azzow2 Yep, and we get summer while you get winter, only our summer this year looks very much like being even hotter, drier and worse than last summer was.

Open ended question for y'all.

A2Jennifer comments on Sep 11, 2019:

You could try spending 20 years in a toxic relationship to inoculate against any feeling you need a relationship. Actually I don’t recommend that, even though it did the trick for me.

Triphid replies on Sep 12, 2019:

@A2Jennifer Do I detect a note of sarcastic ironic humor in your reply? The only that helps slow down abuse is to bring it out into the Public Eye, except of course IF you are man TRYING to report Domestic Abuse/Violence to the Police and then, like they told me, " You ARE a man, handle it like a man."

We so often learn far too late than the heroes of history were actually horrible people, and the ...

273kelvin comments on Sep 12, 2019:

We make heroes out of high achievers and gods out of heroes. Then we are suddenly surprised when they turn out to have feet of clay. The phrase "He was no saint" is oft-quoted. If you read about the lives of saints you will find that they were not too nice either. For all their faults they leave ...

Triphid replies on Sep 12, 2019:

@273kelvin Churchill was told repeatedly that the Gallipoli Campaign ( Slaughter) was a terrible idea both from the Land Invasion and from the Sea perspective as well. An Australian submarine, yes we had them during WWI btw, was sunk in the Straits near Gallipoli BECAUSE Churchill sent it in there and REFUSED to send Minesweepers in first, the entire crew was lost with the submarine, so add that to the list of Anzacs SLAUGHTERED at Gallipoli and blatant Pommie arrogance and mis-management. Btw, the Gallipoli Slaughter IS NOT a 'Myth' it IS a 100% dyed in the wool FACT just as the slaughter of countless Anzacs used as cannon fodder by the Poms during WWI in Europe and even as many during WWII in Europe, Africa and S.E. Asia as well. I lost 5, count them FIVE, relatives from BOTH sides of my family at Gallipoli and NONE were killed by Turkish fire, they died from disease preventable by the Poms IF they gave them adequate nutrition and clothing. I had 2 Uncles who fought in WWII, ONE was a Rat Of Tobruk, the other fought first in New Guinea on the Kokoda Track and then through the islands, neither ever had a good word to say about the Pommie Army, etc,

We so often learn far too late than the heroes of history were actually horrible people, and the ...

Spongebob comments on Sep 12, 2019:

While I agree in general, I do not agree with some examples you have provided. Tesla is by no means a footnote. He was popular during his times and remains so. His fault was probably in the business end of his inventions. Edison certainly doesn't deserve being called a theif. He was an inspirational...

Triphid replies on Sep 12, 2019:

IF it were left up to Edison there would be NO AC/DC electrical power being supplied to home in America since Edison INSISTED that household/industrial Electric Power supplies SHOULD be D>C. ONLY. Edison is well recorded for exerting pressure upon Tesla's Financial Backers for them to withdraw their support from Tesla. Edison also PUBLICALLY Tortured and slowly EXECUTED an Elephant by using D.C. Current to TRY and prove that he was right and Tesla was wrong. Tesla, although a somewhat eccentric, highly driven person WAS a True Genius and Edison was just a mere Grifter by comparison.

We so often learn far too late than the heroes of history were actually horrible people, and the ...

273kelvin comments on Sep 12, 2019:

We make heroes out of high achievers and gods out of heroes. Then we are suddenly surprised when they turn out to have feet of clay. The phrase "He was no saint" is oft-quoted. If you read about the lives of saints you will find that they were not too nice either. For all their faults they leave ...

Triphid replies on Sep 12, 2019:

Don't talk about Churchill to any Aussies who fought at Gallipoli or had relatives who fought there my friend. The whole Gallipoli campaign (SLAUGHTER) was his idea and so the blood from the Anzac soldiers who died there will ALWAYS be on his hands. The 'beloved' Pommie Hero, Churchill also wanted to abandon Australia to the Japanese in W.W.II simply because HE wanted OUR soldiers to FIGHT ONLY on the European and African Fronts and the lands that were more lucrative to England and Australian Prime Minister, Pig-Iron Bob, Menzies was in total agreement with Churchill. Luckily, Menzies got outed, we got a TRUE Aussie Prime Minister who stood up and told Churchill NO.

We so often learn far too late than the heroes of history were actually horrible people, and the ...

Triphid comments on Sep 12, 2019:

History is ONLY written by the Winners and those who backed them, BUT never by the Losers. I often ponder over who/what will write the History Humankind after we are all dead and gone.

Triphid replies on Sep 12, 2019:

@GarytheGondolier I was talking about REAL History here and REAL History IS always written by the Winners. For example, Did the Incas get to write their side of the Spanish Conquistador Invasion/Slaughter? How about the Native American Indians then, ever read anything telling THEIR side of the Genocide committed against them by the Non-Indigenous Americans? No IS the answer to both examples BECAUSE they were the losers, well except for when the Sioux Nations kicked Custer's arse firmly and squarely up between his ears NUT then WHITE American History always has painted them as the Bad Guys and Custer, who attacked a peaceful village full of old people, women and children early in the piece, is painted as the Hero.

Open ended question for y'all.

Triphid comments on Sep 11, 2019:

Been going it 'solo' for so many years now, no-one trying to tell me how I should live, etc, given up hope of finding someone who will just take me as they find me, so I'd say that I'm more than merely 'coping' I'm mostly going great guns and being my own true self.

Triphid replies on Sep 12, 2019:

@Listener59 That's the best and only way imho.

We so often learn far too late than the heroes of history were actually horrible people, and the ...

demifeministgal comments on Sep 12, 2019:

Another that is annoying is mother theresa... who became a goddam saint.... she let kids and the poor suffer because she thought it brought them closer to god.... yet when she became ill, she got herself medical treatment! fckng hypocrite and if you say any critical truth about her, people become ...

Triphid replies on Sep 12, 2019:

mother theresa, the butcher bitch of Calcutta yet another the 'saints' made by the Catholic Church who were, in reality, true mongrel Bastards of the First Order.

Open ended question for y'all.

A2Jennifer comments on Sep 11, 2019:

You could try spending 20 years in a toxic relationship to inoculate against any feeling you need a relationship. Actually I don’t recommend that, even though it did the trick for me.

Triphid replies on Sep 11, 2019:

I reckon I know where you are coming from, my first marriage ( 14 years of it) was literally a Hell on Earth except for the birth of my beloved daughter, still carrying the scar, physical and emotional, from the cruel, domineering, abusive UTTER bitch. The thing that I enjoy these days is KNOWING that she died all alone and was NOT found until almost 9 days later and I am still alive and kicking.

List: Every abusive Catholic church priest, clergy member named in every state in past year ...

Freedompath comments on Sep 9, 2019:

If ‘one’ can’t keep himself in check, why hide out in the church and trick people into sexual behavior while your nose is stuck in the ‘good book!’ And, it is not part of the rituals either! I would love that explained to me...just maybe it can be prevented? There are reasons for ...

Triphid replies on Sep 11, 2019:

@Freedompath Thank you for your kind comments, they are appreciated.

ISN’T THE BIGGEST THREAT TO THE CREDIBILITY OF CHRIST, HIS EMBRACING OLD TESTAMENT TEACHINGS?

Mofo1953 comments on Sep 10, 2019:

who is Jesus Christ? There is only a fictional jesus, the moniker Christ was adopted by the church authorities who wanted to link the fictional jesus with the prophecies of the old testament that mentioned in greek a Kristos, or annointed one, or messiah. Easy to do after the fact, right?

Triphid replies on Sep 10, 2019:

!00% correct there, the moniker " Christ' was adopted by the Messianics ( later to be recognized as 'Christians/Followers of Christ' ) AFTER the Council of Nicaea in 325 A.D. ( C.E, as it is called these days) convened by the Pagan Roman Emperor, Constantine. The word 'Christ' was derived from the Greek word " Kristos" to give false credence to the mythical and founded Jesus stories spread about by the Messianics.

Anyone try Facebook dating yet?

Triphid comments on Sep 9, 2019:

Signed up for Zoosk on Zuckerbook many. many years back and got inundated with scammers from Ghana, Nigeria, etc, worked out for myself that most Dating Sites are about as useful as a One legged man in an arse kicking contest. Even though Agnostic.com purports to be a 'Dating Site/Group' of sorts I...

Triphid replies on Sep 10, 2019:

@Canyonrunner My own personal saying is kind of like, " If it wasn't for Bad Luck, then I'd have No luck at all," LOL.

List: Every abusive Catholic church priest, clergy member named in every state in past year ...

Freedompath comments on Sep 9, 2019:

If ‘one’ can’t keep himself in check, why hide out in the church and trick people into sexual behavior while your nose is stuck in the ‘good book!’ And, it is not part of the rituals either! I would love that explained to me...just maybe it can be prevented? There are reasons for ...

Triphid replies on Sep 10, 2019:

@Freedompath As I was taught by my father, when one makes a Promise/Vow/Oath such a thing MUST be kept because it reflects upon the Honourability of the person making the promise, etc, and, I for one, firmly adhere to that. When I was almost 10 years old, I was brutally, anally RAPED by 3 very DEVOUT Catholic men who worked in the same mine as my father, a Art Ferguson, Charles Paine and Raymond Emmanuel, while Dad and I were on a fishing trip about 70+ miles away from home. Dad, being the ONLY sober male there, was asked to drive back to the nearest town, about an hours round trip, to get more ice for the ice boxes and after he had left they attacked me then threatened to kill my Dad and my younger sisters ( who were still at home at the time) should I tell anyone. After they had ' finished' with me, they then returned to their camp some 1/4 of a mile away, I went into the nearby river and, whilst crying , etc, washed myself as clean as I could and there swore, in my own blood, an OATH that I would " Do whatever was in my ability to either prevent or help any other child possible from either being a victim or to recover from being a victim and NEVER to be like those who abused me in my life EVER." I have kept that Oath, given much of my time towards helping other victims, not only abuse victims but all kinds of victims such as homeless teens, etc, and WILL continue to do so until my last breath. Ergo, IF these ' so-called' Men of God TRULY are what they claim then, in my opinion, THEY SHOULD have had the Decency, Integrity and Honour enough to stick to the vow they made at becoming a Priest, all it really takes, imho, is having the Decency, Integrity and Honour to do so. Btw, my 3 Abusers died not by my hand in any way, shape nor form, the first died when he rolled his car on an open road, was crushed inside the cabin and the car caught fire, the second was killed in a mining accident when timbers collapsed and rock crushed, the third died from Testicular Cancer in hospital, a very slow and painful death.

Anyone try Facebook dating yet?

Triphid comments on Sep 9, 2019:

Signed up for Zoosk on Zuckerbook many. many years back and got inundated with scammers from Ghana, Nigeria, etc, worked out for myself that most Dating Sites are about as useful as a One legged man in an arse kicking contest. Even though Agnostic.com purports to be a 'Dating Site/Group' of sorts I...

Triphid replies on Sep 10, 2019:

@Canyonrunner Heard that one before, many many times before and STILL NOTHING.

Now at last I can have the vicar to tea, because finally I have something really suitable to wear.

Triphid comments on Sep 8, 2019:

Are you going to 'serve' the Vicar with a nice side dish of salad and fava beans perhaps....LOL.

Triphid replies on Sep 10, 2019:

@Fernapple About as flavourless as any Catholic I believe....LOL.

I bought a new Mr.

Triphid comments on Sep 8, 2019:

Ages ago I gave up boiling a kettle to make coffee, then last year friends gave me a Nescafe "Dolce Gusto" Coffee Maker for my birthday and Xmas. It's great, just put hot or cold water from the kitchen tap into the water container, add a coffee pod ( they come in many various kinds btw) into the ...

Triphid replies on Sep 10, 2019:

@WonderWartHog99 I'm not quite a ' coffee/caffeine junkie' but I do, these days enjoy my coffee made with my Dolce Gusto machine. I'm mostly a 1 or 2 cups per day person with the rest of the time focusing on water or soft drinks to quench the thirst. Though I do prefer a good hot mug of the Aussie Outback favorite, i.e. Tea in a billy boiled over an open fire and black as soot with at least 2 teaspoons of sugar in it.

Can all 'why' questions be translated into 'how' questions?

FatherOfNyx comments on Sep 9, 2019:

I've always held the position that if you answer how, you'll also answer why. It's not a popular position because every neeeeeeds to know why and don't accept how.

Triphid replies on Sep 10, 2019:

@TheMiddleWay But to try to understand the WHY first you need to find out the How and the WHY as well. Without knowing/understanding them both together then are you NOT simply wasting your time?

Ignorance curiosity and unity what made us evolve this far.

gater comments on Sep 10, 2019:

What I have discovered is that scientists are not bright enough to realize that Einstein was a just an average guy with some false theories - Time is a constant - it does not slow or stop. The ridiculous Big Bang Theory is based on the idea that gravity effects time - it doesn't. But if you post ...

Triphid replies on Sep 10, 2019:

So many people literally RAVE over Einstein and his ' so-called' genius mind but they never bother to try and realise that he, like many others, merely ' borrowed' the ideas/postulations put forward by others from centuries ago.

Does anyone have a favorite book that helped you in your transition out of your religion?

Triphid comments on Sep 8, 2019:

I started really questioning religion when I was about 8 years old or maybe even younger BUT I tend to think that actually reading the Bible, aka The Goat herders Guide to the Galaxy, word by word, verse by verse, page by page, etc, plus being expelled from EVERY Xrstian Sunday School by the time I ...

Triphid replies on Sep 10, 2019:

@realneal54 Hey, not only was I expelled from every Xrstian Sunday School, my friend, but also marked down as " Not Wanted" in Primary School and High School Scripture classes as well. I can still remember clearly being sent once a week for the best part of 2 months to the School Library, as 'punishment' ( so they called it) to spend a whole hour alone to read books until one day 2 more kids joined me, a week later another 4 joined us and so it went on until we actually became known as the 12 Unwanted Ones, so named by the Scripture Teachers. That carried on right through Primary School and on into the first 2 years of High School until the Education Department finally saw sense and abolished Scripture Classes in schools. I often sit and think to myself " If sending us to the Library was THEIR idea of punishment. DID they realise that by 'punishing' us they were, in all reality, rewarding us and making Good, Decent, Free-thinking Atheists instead ?

List: Every abusive Catholic church priest, clergy member named in every state in past year ...

Freedompath comments on Sep 9, 2019:

If ‘one’ can’t keep himself in check, why hide out in the church and trick people into sexual behavior while your nose is stuck in the ‘good book!’ And, it is not part of the rituals either! I would love that explained to me...just maybe it can be prevented? There are reasons for ...

Triphid replies on Sep 9, 2019:

I tend to think that Churches on a whole ARE the 'ideal' hiding places for such scum as these priests since, especially in Catholicism, there exists, most regrettably and ridiculously, etc, the seal of the Confessional, aka a "Get out of Legal Trouble Free" card. Over the last few years, in my honest opinion, Religions have been proven to be breeding grounds for almost every kind of corruptions imaginable for centuries, Catholicism being the PRIME example here. To remove the weed (source) of the corruption one must first cut it off at its roots exactly as one does with unwanted plants in the garden. WE MUST begin to PROTECT future generations of Children ,etc, from the corruptions of the Churches and those scum who hide within them and think/know full well that these institutions will hide and protect them.

Can all 'why' questions be translated into 'how' questions?

FatherOfNyx comments on Sep 9, 2019:

I've always held the position that if you answer how, you'll also answer why. It's not a popular position because every neeeeeeds to know why and don't accept how.

Triphid replies on Sep 9, 2019:

@TheMiddleWay As the 'Laws' of motion state, An Object in motion will remain in motion until acted upon by an external force, an object at rest will remain at rest until acted upon by an external force, etc, etc, hence that is the how and why the ball is either rolling or remaining motionless, theoretically. As to the How and Why of the evolution of Life happened on this planet we may never know the answers or why and how the Sun rises in the East and sets in the West instead of vice versa we may never know as well, BUT those who truly want to know WILL keep searching for that is the nature of the thinking human.

Now at last I can have the vicar to tea, because finally I have something really suitable to wear.

Triphid comments on Sep 8, 2019:

Are you going to 'serve' the Vicar with a nice side dish of salad and fava beans perhaps....LOL.

Triphid replies on Sep 9, 2019:

@Fernapple Don't bother with even trying to cook the brain because I doubt if Vicars have one worth cooking....LOL. But may I suggest adding a nice Dianne sauce to the meat before serving it, it might just help to get rid of that bland, holier than thou flavor inherent with most men of religion...LOL.

How many here never had religion or never was a believer?

NoPlanetB comments on Sep 8, 2019:

After reading your stories a thought came to me.... when I was in grade school, about 2nd or 3rd grade, approx 1965, was about the time they quit "making" you say a prayer at the lunch table in school. You could but it could not be teacher led or forced. It dawned on me then that if they were sure ...

Triphid replies on Sep 9, 2019:

Even to this day I can never understand why the Faithfools insist upon 'giving thanks' to their Invisible, Imaginary God for the meals they are about to eat, etc, when, truth be told, at least ONE of them has worked to EARN the money to purchase or grow the foodstuffs and, in most cases, another toiled away over a hot stove to cook and serve out the finished meal. To my mind doing that diminishes and belittles the people who ACTUALLY worked hard to prepare, cook and serve the foods they are going to eat.

I bought a new Mr.

Triphid comments on Sep 8, 2019:

Ages ago I gave up boiling a kettle to make coffee, then last year friends gave me a Nescafe "Dolce Gusto" Coffee Maker for my birthday and Xmas. It's great, just put hot or cold water from the kitchen tap into the water container, add a coffee pod ( they come in many various kinds btw) into the ...

Triphid replies on Sep 9, 2019:

@WonderWartHog99 Yep, one pod= 1 cup of coffee but the water tank holds enough to make a second cup by using another pod.

Now at last I can have the vicar to tea, because finally I have something really suitable to wear.

Killtheskyfairy comments on Sep 7, 2019:

Why have the vicar for tea? Doesn’t sound like fun to me? Are you a masochistic glutton for punishment?

Triphid replies on Sep 8, 2019:

@Fernapple " Convert Him," you'll probably send him into fits of epilepsy or something similar, I like your style, GO for it.

Now at last I can have the vicar to tea, because finally I have something really suitable to wear.

Hicks66 comments on Sep 7, 2019:

What is that? A scare-vicar?

Triphid replies on Sep 8, 2019:

@Fernapple We still sometimes refer to Priest as 'Crows' out here in Australia and Nuns as Penguins too.

Did atheism somehow cause - or contribute to - the rise of science?

xyz123 comments on Sep 6, 2019:

While that's a nice thought -- most scientists throughout history have been religious. Some people are curious about the world and universe. Many people slaughtered by religions around the world and history have been poets, philosophers, and scientists. Religion cannot stand for any type of thinking...

Triphid replies on Sep 8, 2019:

@xyz123 Yes, they would have been children BUT the religious pressures imposed during those centuries would have meant that the parents would have HAD to be followers of the predominant religion of the times thus passing the belief on to the child/children, such was the fear and power that the Catholic Church wielded throughout most of Europe for many, many centuries. As often happens, even in this day and age, a child with a very inquisitive mind begins to question the things he/she is expected believe whole-heartedly such as religion and runs afoul of those around him/her merely by wanting to know more and not simply accepting things with the 'blind faith' required OR they will hide behind a veneer of belief but still question anyway. That, in many cases, is how Believers have become Atheists or Agnostic and here I can honestly state it applies to me since I started questioning religious beliefs from around the early age of 8 years old. So, in my opinion, it IS the questioning of the 'standards' put forward by religions that gave rise to both the thinking Atheist within those discoverers of Sciences, etc, that brought about the so-called Revolution/s in the advancements of human knowledge, understanding and the continuing search to know more about like, the planet and the universe on a whole. Had the Iron-fisted grip of Catholicism not been weakened by the likes of Martin Luther and Henry the 8th ( though his rebellion against the Catholic Church WAS mostly for his needs and aims, not for the good of his subjects imho) then scientific development, etc, would, most likely have been stymied for even longer and We, the Atheists, would still 'hiding' in the shadows and fearing for our lives as those before did then.

Lovely warm and sunny day here yesterday, wore my Agnostic.

godlessinal comments on Sep 4, 2019:

That's great man!! Did the site give you one? You'd think that they would like the advertising, but Idk. I wore my American Atheist shirt last weekend in ATL, and got noticed for sure..

Triphid replies on Sep 7, 2019:

Got my T-shirt, along with a really nice pen as well, FREE from this Site when I reached the Level 8 mark. Now I can alternate it with my " My Darwin shark ate your Jesus fish" one.

Lovely warm and sunny day here yesterday, wore my Agnostic.

Jolanta comments on Sep 4, 2019:

Someone should pay you for doing that.

Triphid replies on Sep 7, 2019:

Nah, I do it for FREE and the enjoyment as well.

Ummm...what? Facebook is now trying to hook us up?

slydr68 comments on Sep 7, 2019:

FB has hosted the dating app Zoosk for a long while before they made it their own...this is nothing new.

Triphid replies on Sep 7, 2019:

Yep, and it's about as worth using a 20 cent watch from Woolworths too.

Did atheism somehow cause - or contribute to - the rise of science?

xyz123 comments on Sep 6, 2019:

While that's a nice thought -- most scientists throughout history have been religious. Some people are curious about the world and universe. Many people slaughtered by religions around the world and history have been poets, philosophers, and scientists. Religion cannot stand for any type of thinking...

Triphid replies on Sep 6, 2019:

I think you may find that the earlier Scientists and the like were FORCED to be religious just as were the rest of the populace. Some like Galileo actually were attacked, verbally if not physically, by the religious Authorities of the time for putting forward discoveries, etc, that, either directly or indirectly, went against the 'teachings' of the Church/Bible. Even further than Galileo was Hypatia of Alexandria, Egypt who was persecuted by and murdered by the Christian Movement in Egypt for her theories, etc,, one of which went completely against the bible idea that Sun and Universe revolved around the Earth, a theory that was, many centuries later, proved to 100% correct. So, YES, I'd say that a form of disbelief did, in some ways, lead to the steady rise of scientific thought, etc. IMHO, we MUST NEVER forget that RELIGIONS held sway over human developments in knowledge for centuries with a very hard, iron fist and do everything in our power to ensure that it NEVER happens again.

One of the most confusing thing I deal with as an atheist is Christians asking me in public ( work ...

Triphid comments on Sep 4, 2019:

On the nowadays very rare occasions when I get accosted by the odd annoying Xrstian ( Faithfool) I usually respond with, " Jesus, you mean the real FIRST ever fan of the Nine Inch Nails, is that the bloke your talking about?" Their reactions ARE truly priceless and YES, I am a very 'out there' ...

Triphid replies on Sep 5, 2019:

@NoMagicCookie Hey, feel most free to use it anytime, anywhere you wish, help spread the word.

Do religious people really believe what they say?

Triphid comments on Sep 4, 2019:

To my mind, they believe ONLY what suits them at the time and often discard anything that doesn't suit the time or occasion, etc. Though having said that, there are those, Mormons ( Morons) for example, that are so entrenched in their beliefs and dogmas they, quite literally, can't see anything ...

Triphid replies on Sep 5, 2019:

@Senex Jeez Mate, you don't know ANY Mormons, you must live way out in donga, too far away for them pedal their pushbikes then....LOL. Used have those bloody pests knocking on my door with tedious regularity for years and years, eventually they FINALLY took the hint and put me on their 'black list.' But these days we don't even see them around town as much as we used, they are very dogmatic but not anywhere those Scientology Nut-cases though. Mormons ( Morons) do, however, wear special underwear, will preach AT you until the cows come home, tell you their story of how Jeebus Crust left Jerusalem and when to America to preach to and convert the American Indians and tons of other absolute bullshit as well. Becoming a Mormon means that YOU must pay your tithes every Sunday without fail, you CANNOT drink ANYTHING that may contain caffeine, fast every Sunday, are NOT permitted to drink alcohol, smoke or swear ( use foul language), abide by the words of their Elected Prophet ( how a person gets to ELECTED as a Prophet has got me buggered) and about a miilion other no-nos as well.

I didn't really need the double warning The gun-nuts between the gum-nuts

FrayedBear comments on Sep 4, 2019:

Both nuts can be painful!

Triphid replies on Sep 4, 2019:

@FrayedBear Yeah but a gum-nut can't really do as much damage as can some gun toting half-witted idiot can. As for the 'old sore nuts' bit, I got hit in the knackers back in the 70's by the full force of the trailer coupling when a kind little 4 year old jumped on the rear end of the trailer while I was hitching it to car, now THAT is having sore knackers, it took nearly a week for the swelling to go down and over a month for the bruises to vanish. I spent 4 days in hospital enduring ice packs every 4 hours and the rest of the time try NOT to walk like some demented duck with a soccer ball stuck between its legs. Hey, IF you're going to use anything in a shanghai, try using the seed pods out of Quandongs, I use them to deter stray cats when they enter my yard, I never seen bloody cats jump as high as they do when a Quandong seed hit them in their arse or knackers. Mind you, I've scored quite few cats with head-shots as well and they don't get back up after that.

I didn't really need the double warning The gun-nuts between the gum-nuts

FrayedBear comments on Sep 4, 2019:

Both nuts can be painful!

Triphid replies on Sep 4, 2019:

Yes, but the 'Gun-nuts' are far worse than the real things, aren't they?

Dorian.

PontifexMarximus comments on Sep 1, 2019:

Mate ... You are reasoning like a normal person. Believers cannot follow you.

Triphid replies on Sep 3, 2019:

Yep, as I have learned, "You can lead a horse to water BUT you cannot make it drink," so it goes with the Faithfools in that " You lead them to Reason BUT you cannot make them think."

My brain might be working over time on this one.

273kelvin comments on Sep 3, 2019:

At least time is not all Christian. Two days are named after Norse gods and several months after Roman emperors/gods. BTW Augustus was peeved at getting less than the others so he insisted on taking some off of February. Don`t yer just hate those kinds of narcissistic rulers?

Triphid replies on Sep 3, 2019:

And let us not forget that Caesar Augusts, aka Octavian Caesar, adopted son of Gaius Julius Caesar, ALSO was quite irate that the month known as January ( the month of Janus) WAS not to be replace with August, hence every year would then start with the adoration of Caesar Augustus and not with the usual ' looking forward, looking back idea that the Roman God, Janus, was renowned for.

Can't argue with the truth!

Hathacat comments on Sep 2, 2019:

They can't get the blood out of me without difficulty and at least three tries, so I stopped. I have made a 30 year ER nurse cry, lol.

Triphid replies on Sep 3, 2019:

@Petter You know what the difference is between a Vampire and the Tax Office? A. The Vampire stops sucking ONCE you are DEAD.

A somewhat interesting discourse with a very devout Born Again Christian last night.

bradnyijuan comments on Sep 3, 2019:

Goat-herders Guide to the Galaxy.... I love it!

Triphid replies on Sep 3, 2019:

You have my expressed permission to use that 'title' anywhere and anytime you wish.

Crosses .

ShadowAmicus comments on Sep 2, 2019:

what did those little bats do to make you dislike them so much

Triphid replies on Sep 2, 2019:

Bats are ONLY a problem IF you have them in your belfry....LOL. Plus, some 'bats' are quite useful, i.e. Cricket Bats/Baseball Bats when intruders come calling.

Crosses .

tinkercreek comments on Sep 1, 2019:

I want to know WHY.

Triphid replies on Sep 2, 2019:

@darthfaja Better to just eat lots of garlic, it deters vampires as well as unwanted attention from suitors that you don't want around you anyway....LOL.

"Life After Death: Why scientist declared ‘there IS an afterlife – Memories are separate!’"...

jlynn37 comments on Sep 1, 2019:

No one knows, or could possibly know, anything about what happens after one dies.

Triphid replies on Sep 2, 2019:

@jlynn37 Of course IF you are eaten by some nasty, big carnivorous animal then chances are that you WILL come back BUT as mere animal droppings at best. Often, when I hear Ministers, etc, at Funerals say the words, " In the sure and certain hope...…." I think quietly to myself, " Utterly ridiculous those words are since there really IS no certainty or surety in HOPE, because HOPE is merely one who is living actually thinking that circumstance/s WILL change for the better but neither sure or certain that they will."

"Life After Death: Why scientist declared ‘there IS an afterlife – Memories are separate!’"...

jlynn37 comments on Sep 1, 2019:

No one knows, or could possibly know, anything about what happens after one dies.

Triphid replies on Sep 1, 2019:

All I can tell you is that once the body no longer lives then bacteria, etc, etc, take over and the corporeal body starts to rot and dissolve away, eventually leaving little more than the skeleton after many, many years, the rest just becomes nutrients in the surrounding soil after it seeps through the planks/materials that make up the casket/coffin, etc, UNLESS, of course, you are cremated and have you ashes scattered, instead of having them stored in an Urn and placed on some Mantle-piece, then the nutrients quickly mix in with soil and the plants utilize them to grow, flower and produce seeds, etc., but still you WILL know NOTHING about it anyway.

Educated women don’t make good wives, according to Christian radio host.

Triphid comments on Aug 30, 2019:

And, in my honest opinion, Bible-bashing Xrstians, especially self-proclaimed Priests, make for extremely bigotted Radio Hosts.

Triphid replies on Sep 1, 2019:

@NoMagicCookie Xrstian is my little way of writing the actual word 'Christian' and Yes, it is a kind of derogator way of doing it but I dislike the ideologies, etc, of Christianity, etc, since they are ALL based solely upon totally unproven, irrational and illogical systems of belief, etc, etc, founded, imho, upon late Bronze Age ( or even earlier in some cases) fireside myths, tales and stories designed to scare people into believing in them.

Have you ever had anyone try to guilt you into something?

HippieChick58 comments on Aug 31, 2019:

Guilting someone is another form of emotional abuse. My grandmother used it like a sledge hammer. She would threaten to have a heart attack if we did not comply. One of my brothers looked her full in the face and said "go for it." That was the last time she pulled that little trick. It was a great ...

Triphid replies on Aug 31, 2019:

My youngest sister tried that repeatedly with teachers when she was in Primary School, she was epileptic btw, BUT she came afoul with her little ploy when I started my career as a Nurse. One school I received an urgent call from her school telling me was having fits in the classroom, when I got there I asked the Teacher if she had actually fallen, uncontrolled to the floor or simply just 'dropped' carefully and softly avoiding objects such as chairs and tables and if the Teacher could remember what may promoted a fit to occur. The answer was, " No, I just asked why she hadn't handed in her homework like everyone else and if she hadn't done it she was to do it during Recess, she said, If YOU make do that then it will cause me to have a fit, then she just stood up and sort of floated down to the floor and began twitching and stuff." I looked at my very manipulative sister and said to the Teacher and the class., If she actually has an epileptic fit, you'll really know it, she WILL hit the ground/floor like a pole-axed horse, drooping like a sack of potatoes and WON'T just lay there flopping around like freshly landed live fish, she's just trying to manipulate you as does at home every time she can't get her own way, leave her where she is and ignore her." Boy the verbal abuse that suddenly spewed out my sister's mouth at me would have made a crew of Pirates blush.

My religions professor is very adamant about convincing us atheists are just as religious as ...

PhillipWalker comments on Aug 24, 2019:

We can be adamant and opinionated about religion! But to be religious can also mean to worship and that doesn't apply to us.

Triphid replies on Aug 30, 2019:

@JeffMesser I do vehemently disagree with ideology of the Caste system, it IS very divisive and discriminatory in my opinion. No person/s should deliberately place or be placed above another merely because of their 'social' rank/standing, after all, we ARE all members of the same species are we not?