Religion has always been used as a tool to control the population.

anglophone comments on Feb 13, 2020:

Answer: such people are slaves to that kind of thinking because they have been brainwashed by other such slaves. The idea that they could have been told lies is beyond them.

Been signed off work with PTSD.

anglophone comments on Feb 12, 2020:

((Hugs))

Can sex overcome religion? You know what I mean!

anglophone comments on Feb 12, 2020:

Umm, it's easier to f^ck a woman than it is to f^ck a religion. ;)

How many of you have lied or decieved a potential employer about your being agnostic or atheist.

anglophone comments on Feb 12, 2020:

If any potential employer is concerned about my atheism, then that potential employer is not worth working for.

I'm in the mood,What are some of your favorite comebacks when dealing with something religious you ...

anglophone comments on Feb 12, 2020:

1. Was your brain given to you by your non-existent god? 2. May the Flying Spaghetti Monster (PBUH) have mercy on your immortal soul. 3. So *you* need your god to stop you from performing evil deeds? (Yes, I can be exceedingly snarky.)

Someone I know is dying and has expressed that she would like to just fall asleep and not wake up.

anglophone comments on Feb 12, 2020:

Thank you for sharing that. Your post makes me wonder if the "godders" (for the lack of a better word) are in fact more concerned for themselves rather than for your friend.

You can't make this stuff up. [cnn.com]

anglophone comments on Feb 11, 2020:

The word "corruption" comes to mind.

I started to study Philosophy as I wanted to see if there was any answer to ‘What is the meaning ...

anglophone comments on Feb 11, 2020:

The more I think about the question "What is the meaning of life?" the more I realise that the question itself is nonsense, as it conflates two mutually incompatible ideas. I also commend @Atheist3's comment to you.

I wish Christians would just be honest and say they have NO idea what happens when a person dies?

anglophone comments on Feb 11, 2020:

Anybody who uses Pascal's Wager as a justification for believing in God is merely flaunting their cognitive inadequacies.

There’s always gotta be that one Christian that thinks they’ve caught you in a lie about your ...

anglophone comments on Feb 10, 2020:

I have no time for the Merchants of Woo.

Dating scammers on Agnostic.com?

anglophone comments on Feb 10, 2020:

I find the great bulk of members of this site are extremely good at identifying scammers. It is my experience that Admin deletes their accounts very fast. Scammers will use a range of psychological tricks to snare their marks. I commend @KKGator's comment to you.

The world’s oceans are speeding up — another mega-scale consequence of climate change - The ...

anglophone comments on Feb 9, 2020:

That does not surprise me in the slightest.

Bill Barr’s secularism-bashing Notre Dame speech is far from over | Rick Snedeker

anglophone comments on Feb 9, 2020:

Facts and law do not matter to raving religious lunatics.

I'm just signing up. One of the questions is: Did you "use" to believe in a god?

anglophone comments on Feb 8, 2020:

There are different versions of English around the world. (For the avoidance of doubt, I am CELTA qualified: https://www.cambridgeenglish.org/teaching-english/teaching-qualifications/celta/ ) Ping @Sticks48 @bingst

Do you think it’s possible to have a life partner if she is Christian and you are an Atheist??

anglophone comments on Feb 7, 2020:

Some people may be able to live happily in that situation, but I know that I could not.

I have an atheist YouTube channel, am active on many other websites etc.

anglophone comments on Feb 7, 2020:

Your reputation far outweighs your nationality.

Very simple.

anglophone comments on Feb 7, 2020:

Agreed. I feel sorry for those people who mistake the Bible as being evidence for the existence of their god.

Mathematicians Prove Universal Law of Turbulence By exploiting randomness, three mathematicians ...

anglophone comments on Feb 6, 2020:

That is an elegant and very powerful idea. I intend to get hold of those papers. Thank you! (L)

A convoluted argument hard to grasp for agnostics, but if it were to succeed...? [sojo.net]

anglophone comments on Feb 6, 2020:

Sigh. Any attempt to tie the Big Daddy in the Sky to the urgent need to look better after Planet Earth is a nonsense. I have no time for such confused thinking.

Conversion Therapy Minister in Australia Arrested on Child Sex Abuse Charges | Val Wilde | Friendly ...

anglophone comments on Feb 6, 2020:

He is one horribly mixed up person.

[dailymail.

anglophone comments on Feb 6, 2020:

He could do himself a favour and start using his own brain.

If Adam and Eve only had two sons, Where did the son that lived wife come from?

anglophone comments on Feb 5, 2020:

Answer: at least one of the two sons had sex with his mother.

How and why do some people "know" there is a God?

anglophone comments on Feb 5, 2020:

Such people do not understand the nature of knowing and the nature of knowledge. They are usually significantly cognitively challenged.

Is it possible that you could be wring about everything you know?

anglophone comments on Feb 5, 2020:

Anybody who asks me that question immediately reveals to me that they are cognitively challenged. I have no time for such dimwits.

Borrowed from Facebook: By Donald Phagan When I worked in the funeral business as a counselor to ...

anglophone comments on Feb 5, 2020:

That difference may come from different people's different abilities to accept cold hard facts and to come to terms with such facts as may be upsetting.

I find it interesting, the amount of older folks on here who claim to be evolved due to extricating ...

anglophone comments on Feb 5, 2020:

My excuse for my own bigotry is that I do not suffer fools (translation: those who are willfully ignorant) gladly. I also have no time for homophobes, sexists, racists, ageists, xenophobes, narcissists and anybody else who regards themselves as superior to other people.

I would like to know how many of you would vote against someone soley due to their open religious ...

anglophone comments on Feb 4, 2020:

It would for me depend on just how egregious was their religious agenda. The tax exemption for churches I can and do tolerate, but compulsory religious education is an absolute no-no.

Dave Daubenmire Hopes to Sue the NFL for Putting His Eternal Salvation at Risk With the Super Bowl ...

anglophone comments on Feb 4, 2020:

Let's face it, he is not overburdened with brains.

Attorney General Warns of 'Militant Secular Effort' to Drive Out Religion

anglophone comments on Feb 4, 2020:

So the Attorney General has an issue with the push back by the Sane People against the bullshit and lies peddled by the God Mob? Somebody give him a jelly baby - it might help him to feel better.

I would like to propose that we view religions in a manner that would make them a lesser source of ...

anglophone comments on Feb 4, 2020:

Please be aware that religions are systems of thought. As such, they cannot supply services. Religious *people* may supply services, but that is an entirely separate issue.

Some thinking on drawing a line between moral decisions and religious decisions.

anglophone comments on Feb 4, 2020:

In my view, moral decisions have nothing to do with religious decisions. Moral decisions are concerned with how individual people relate to other people. Religious decisions are concerned with how egomaniacs who are in positions of power are able to subjugate other people for their own purposes through the (fictional!) threat of Hell.

Thought I’d share this video to discuss.

anglophone comments on Feb 3, 2020:

There are gullible people who believe this sort of nonsense for the whole of their lives, whereas you had the common sense to grow out of it.

Has anybody run into the Contingency Argument before? It's much like the Cosmological Argument

anglophone comments on Feb 2, 2020:

I had not heard of it before. Leibniz, great mathematician though he was, was clearly not using his brain.

A Nashville Art School Will Purge All Non-Christian Faculty Now That It Has Been Taken Over by a ...

anglophone comments on Feb 2, 2020:

Such people suffer from debilitating personal insecurity and they use that as an excuse to bully other people.

I can't say I'm very shocked by these comments, but it does make me wonder how these people could ...

anglophone comments on Feb 2, 2020:

Such people are merely carrying out the wishes of their psychopathic genocidal god. It is not possible to have rational debate with them.

Christian groups are outraged by the Super Bowl drag queen ad / LGBTQ Nation

anglophone comments on Feb 2, 2020:

Aw, bless their God-given (= non-existent) little brains! :D :D :D

Could I be considered an atheist or a deist?

anglophone comments on Feb 1, 2020:

You are an atheist when it comes to the Abrahamic God. When it comes to the other half of your question, I would call you an assumptionist: you assume that the universe was created. To answer your question: I would consider you to be an atheist *and* an assumptionist.

It is IMPORTANT TO NOTE this is informal, conversation among peers, in a respectful group ...

anglophone comments on Feb 1, 2020:

I should introduce myself. My own mental health is going downhill since September of 2019. I have been under the care of a number of professional psychiatrists since 2018. (For the avoidance of doubt, both those years are correct.) I am not suicidal, and I have discovered that I am incapable of suicide. I am here to share my own experience and to learn from other people's experiences.

Christian TV Host: Coronavirus Sent To Punish Those Who Mock God | Michael Stone

anglophone comments on Feb 1, 2020:

Facts mean nothing to the willfully ignorant.

You guys need to stop with this "scientific method" worship

anglophone comments on Feb 1, 2020:

I have never worshipped the Scientific Method. I am incapable of following your injunction.

Humans Are Hardwired to Dismiss Facts That Don’t Fit Their Worldview

anglophone comments on Feb 1, 2020:

I see this as a manifestation of the lack of cognitive flexibility among conservative people.

The Corona Virus is pretty scary stuff! But my dad is convinced that it's the starting of the ...

anglophone comments on Feb 1, 2020:

When people are frightened it is common for them to stop thinking clearly.

One of the thoughts that has occurred to me, when considering biotechnology, is that if humans can ...

anglophone comments on Jan 30, 2020:

It may be conceivable, but would it be desirable?

Are we afraid of religion?

anglophone comments on Jan 30, 2020:

I am not afraid of religion. I am afraid (if that is the right word) of people who coerce, bully, rob, rape, torture and murder in the name of their religion.

Coronavirus is a punishment from God: Conservative Christian TV Host Rick Wiles claims that the ...

anglophone comments on Jan 30, 2020:

I wonder if coronavirus will purge the world of stupid people.

Long ago I was with a group at a get-together after a funeral.

anglophone comments on Jan 29, 2020:

I prefer the term "cognitive failure" rather than delusional. I need to justify the above remark. Such people consistently use logical fallacies to justify their positions. Moreover, they are never able to justify their assumptions. The words "facts, truths and beliefs" are worthy of some consideration along with the idea of "a model of reality". Facts, to quote Eugenie Scott, are a dime a dozen - they are things that you can observe and measure directly. Truths are personal - one might even go so far as to say that everybody's truth is different, one has only to compare an atheist's truths with a theist's truths. For my money, a belief is a position claimed without any supporting evidence. Different people have different models of reality, which is why some people can function in this life better than other people: people who pray for a cure for their cancer are far more likely to die early rather than those who seek a medical cure.

So, several months ago, a friend of a friend on FB posted some pro"Christian," pro conservative BS.

anglophone comments on Jan 29, 2020:

I have no time for people who refuse to use their (God-given, hence non-existent?) brains!

I'm so tired of seeing all this stand-up-for-Jesus and conservatism on FB! I reacted to my sister's ...

anglophone comments on Jan 29, 2020:

There are two things that I value most highly in other people: compassion, and the ability to think. I have no time for people who willfully engage in making logical fallacies.

I might have fucked up on Facebook, ya’ll.

anglophone comments on Jan 29, 2020:

Religious nutters all regard themselves as being oppressed when they are prevented from ramming their particular god down other people's throats. They often resort to threats of violence when they are forced to use their (God-given, hence non-existent) brains.

Here we go again. An article on Trump's Middle East Peace ( ?

anglophone comments on Jan 28, 2020:

Everything that King Midas touched turned into gold. Everything that Donald Trump touches turns into sh!t.

Christian Website: The Bible Says an Asteroid Will Crash Into Earth in 2029 | Hemant Mehta | ...

anglophone comments on Jan 28, 2020:

There is one thing for which religious nutters can be relied upon: a jolly good LAUGH!

When I know that a friend is coming over and will try to engage in a religious conversation I like ...

anglophone comments on Jan 28, 2020:

I don't bother to cite any sources, as the works by the likes of Sam Harris and Richard Dawkins mean nothing to them. I prefer to tie them up in their own logical fallacies - I find that is much easier, much faster, and much more effective.

There are many things that we can debate and argue over with religion.

anglophone comments on Jan 28, 2020:

The most damaging effect is not obvious: it is the sometimes catastrophic impairment of the pre-frontal cortex part of the brain as somebody is growing up. As a result, the ability to engage in cognitive flexibility is lost, which means that they accept as true any bullshit that their parents tell them. In short, their parents and preachers tell them **what** to think rather than **how** to think. (edited for a missing word)

What are some things that you constantly catch yourself saying to theist arguing for their god?

anglophone comments on Jan 28, 2020:

"It is trivial to show that the God of the Bible cannot exist." "Where is your falsifiable evidence to support your existence claim of your God?" Theists tend to go very silent after either of the above.

This from my friend in Japan, just in case it is not clear how serious this new virus is! The ...

anglophone comments on Jan 27, 2020:

"This video is unavailable" :(

Any particular reason why people say "you scared the hell out of me?

anglophone comments on Jan 27, 2020:

Welcome to one of the peculiarities of the English language. :) Here are some more for your amusement: - Of people and dirty dishes "they do the washing *up*", but dirty trucks "get a washing *down*". - People and timber both "get dressed". - "Pop goes the weasel". - You draw up a contract, but you draw down a loan. - It's okay to forge a friendship, but it's not okay to forge a banknote.

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

anglophone comments on Jan 26, 2020:

The idea that science would oust religion is predicated on the assumption that a significant majority of people are able to think, which assumption is manifestly false.

"It just makes sense that god exist"`is an argument that annoys me to no end.

anglophone comments on Jan 25, 2020:

Theist: "It just makes sense that god exists." Me: "And your line of reasoning is?" (Waits for theist's head to explode.)

How educated are people when it comes to deciding their theistic beliefs?

anglophone comments on Jan 25, 2020:

There is a difference between being educated and being able to think. The word "belief" is ambiguous. The God Mob exploit this ambiguity to their own ends. My own usage of the word belief is "acceptance of a claim that is made without any supporting evidence". As such, I have no beliefs. (Hint: my world view is entirely evidence-based.) My world view can and does change in the light of new information. To answer your first question, there are some people who have a very clear understanding of the differences between theism, agnosticism and atheism, and there are other people who have an extremely poor understanding of those differences. The latter group of people are typified by having little or no ability to think analytically.

Watch This Christian Lady Swear Up a Storm While Preaching at Walmart Customers | Hemant Mehta | ...

anglophone comments on Jan 24, 2020:

As well as having an extremely limited intellect, she also has an extremely limited vocabulary.

Why energy drinks are worse for you than coffee of soda pop

anglophone comments on Jan 24, 2020:

I have never been a fan of energy drinks. But I do have one weakness: "I get my one coffee (strong, black, no sugar) at breakfast, and nobody gets hurt.". ;)

Why is it so easy to so many to accept The resurrection of Jesus with so little evidence to support ...

anglophone comments on Jan 24, 2020:

I regard the Bible as nothing more than a highly selective assemblage of fairy tales. The need to believe in the Resurrection usually comes being in denial about one's own mortality.

I don't know a lot about religious beliefs but the fairy tales connected with it are interesting.

anglophone comments on Jan 24, 2020:

One of the things that seems to me to be common among all fundamentalist believers of the Abrahamic religions is the lack of cognitive flexibility. The latter has been shown to be strongly associated with, and possibly caused by, damage to the pre-frontal cortex of the human brain. Putting it another way, such people lack the intellectual capacity to challenge their own thoughts.

Do you think it's possible to deliberately believe something because it makes you feel better about ...

anglophone comments on Jan 24, 2020:

I have seen an atheist become a believer because it brought him comfort even as he also knew that he was being irrational. I have no beliefs, only an evidence-based world view. (I also have personal values, but that is beside the point.)

As a Christian, I was reassured by the thought of an after life.

anglophone comments on Jan 24, 2020:

Your phobia (and I use your word both deliberately and respectfully) is real for you, regardless of whether or not it is "logical". I am content to know that I will one day be forever unconscious. It is those that I will leave behind that concern me.

I asked this question earlier but I never saw it appear, so here goes again: Are there any atheists...

anglophone comments on Jan 24, 2020:

When it comes to the God of the Bible, I am delighted that said genocidal maniac with catastrophic anger management issues does not exist.

Do you think the universe is finite or infinite? Why?

anglophone comments on Jan 24, 2020:

The observable universe has finite mass. Nobody seems yet sure about the curvature of space time, so the question of finite distance is probably not yet known. The question of finite time appears to be open.

The repeal of these regulations will mainly benefit property developers.

anglophone comments on Jan 23, 2020:

Donald Trump does not care about the environment. All he is interested in is inflating his already hugely overblown ego.

My wife was diagnosed with liver cancer a month ago.

anglophone comments on Jan 22, 2020:

I would suggest that your wife is now sufficiently stressed that she has lost the use of the rational part of her mind. Putting it another way, she is not the woman that she once was. I do not envy you. Do you have a prognosis?

White House Streams Church Service Claiming ‘Demonic Spirit’ Causes Homosexuality | Michael ...

anglophone comments on Jan 22, 2020:

Mike Pence is blind to his own prejudice and idiocy.

Pope Francis assures atheists: You don’t have to believe in God to go to heaven | The Independent

anglophone comments on Jan 22, 2020:

YTF should I give any credence to any such imbecilic claim?

Are you surprised when in a hospital they are taken aback when you declare atheist when asked your ...

anglophone comments on Jan 22, 2020:

No. There are so many religious dimwits around here that I am no longer surprised. And .. God help any "man of the cloth" who tries to sell me his or her god while I am under the influence of anaesthetic! ;)

What is the most annoying/hardest to answer argument for a diety?

anglophone comments on Jan 22, 2020:

I regard **all** arguments for the existence of a deity to be equally absurd. I find none of those arguments to be annoying. I instead find all of them to be amusing: for me they all highlight the arrogance and mental insufficiency of those who make such claims.

Trump rolls out policies that would push federal funds to religious groups and advance prayer in ...

anglophone comments on Jan 22, 2020:

Should prayers be said for Satan? Should prayers be said for those who Created the Dreamtime and the Dreaming? Should prayers be said for the Flying Spaghetti Monster (PBUH)? Should prayers be said for the removal of the Chief Dimwit of the White House?

Kentucky Christian School Expels Student For Eating Rainbow Birthday Cake | Michael Stone

anglophone comments on Jan 22, 2020:

Welcome to the absurdities and extremism of the God Mob. Their non-existent brains were given to them by their non-existent god.

The Proof: That God Exists There is a hierarchy in Animalia, not only as quantified by the DNA ...

anglophone comments on Jan 22, 2020:

What a magnificently absurd post! And I thank you for your effort in writing it: it brought a real smile to my lips. :)

Mississippi Bill Would Force Teachers to Say the Ten Commandments Every Day | Hemant Mehta | ...

anglophone comments on Jan 22, 2020:

Should the mentally incompetent legislators of Mississippi be forced daily to pay homage Zeus, Thor, and the Flying Spaghetti Monster (PBUH)?

I am so glad I found this community! Thank you all for your helpful and insightful replies to my ...

anglophone comments on Jan 12, 2020:

Such people are driven by "fear of the other": their personal insecurities are compounded by their lack of cognitive flexibility.

Tell us... WHY did you join this ragtag bunch of disassociated vagabonds?

anglophone comments on Jan 12, 2020:

I thought I could lower the tone by joining.

It’s illegal to own them.

anglophone comments on Jan 12, 2020:

The idea of owning a Christian does not really appeal to me. You have to feed them, clothe them, water them, and cope with enormous quantities of cowdung issuing from their mouths.

As a former journalist, a few (hopefully) helpful hints to fellow posters: 1.

anglophone comments on Jan 12, 2020:

My posts range from just a few words to long and highly structured pieces. I find that a good structure in other people's posts to be very helpful in reading. My posts on technical subjects necessarily include technical words. I aim for style to suit both the medium and the audience; it is rare for me to write in my journalist style on this site.

Less fear of hell?

anglophone comments on Jan 12, 2020:

Once I realised that all claims about the existence of God were absurd, my fear of Hell immediately ceased to exist. I regard Hell as a means by which vile wretches control the gullible.

my father was portuguese and my mother was not.

anglophone comments on Jan 12, 2020:

I commend @KKGator's comment to you. Additionally, it is rational to make decisions based on all the information known at the time. Your choices were rational.

Although I cannot/do not feel it would be feasible due to my job to come "out" as atheist, I would ...

anglophone comments on Jan 12, 2020:

Reading Karl Popper's "The Logic of Scientific Discovery", and crucially his concept of falsifiability therein, caused me to realise that all the claims of the God/Jehovah/Allah squad were baseless and absurd.

Christian “Prophetess”: Heaven Has a “Portal” So Your Dead Relatives Can See You | Hemant ...

anglophone comments on Jan 12, 2020:

Part of me feels sorry for the gullible idiots that believe this sort of crap.

Many years ago when my religious doubts were still in flux, I spent some time in Christian chat ...

anglophone comments on Jan 11, 2020:

The notion that having a worldview based on falsifiable evidence seems foreign to such people.

Does anyone else have a homophobic family member?

anglophone comments on Jan 11, 2020:

Anybody who opposes the LGBTQ community is merely flaunting their own deficiencies of personality. More specifically, they feel threatened by the behaviour of other people with whom they have no involvement.

Do atheists overreach?

anglophone comments on Jan 10, 2020:

Sorry, but anybody who answers "no" to the question "Can you be good without God?" is suffering a catastrophic failure of cognition. This immediately voids the rest of his book. I stopped reading your post when I reached that point in it. My reaction is much the same as that of @Indirect76: TLDR.

Anyone who claims to know what god wants you to do is clearly lying.

anglophone comments on Jan 10, 2020:

... for blessed are the deluded.

Martin Luther's formula for ignorance .

anglophone comments on Jan 9, 2020:

What splendidly self-contradictory words!

As a long term resident of the Philadelphia area and a casual sports fan I have to withstand the ...

anglophone comments on Jan 9, 2020:

Too much damage to their brains, perhaps?

What is the one Truth or Method of finding the truth that you hold sacred above all others?

anglophone comments on Jan 9, 2020:

Part of my own truth is that there is no such thing as "the truth". Another part of my own truth is that the word "sacred" refers to religion. Yet another part of my own truth recognises that I have values. And yet another part of my own truth is that I have used a methodology (specifically, the Scientific Method) to arrive at my atheism. Yes, I can be a fiercely argumentative so-and-so sometimes.

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

anglophone comments on Jan 9, 2020:

No. I cite animism, voodoo, and violent versions of Islam, all of these coupled with the manifest scarcity of common sense in the human species. If anybody says that I am being unduly pessimistic, part of me would agree with them.

My grandma told me that a Christian evangelist told her yoga isn't good.

anglophone comments on Jan 9, 2020:

Was that piece written by G. Ullible and D. Eluded, by any chance?

When, if ever, will the stigma toward " mental illness" (ugh..chemical brain disorder) end?

anglophone comments on Jan 9, 2020:

I have no time for anybody stigmatises, or attempts to stigmatise, mental health issues. One of my brothers is a high-functioning autistic. Edit: P.S. I am currently experiencing mental ill health, and if anybody tries to tell me I am less of a person because of it they will **really** regret their words.

Spanish driver rams his SUV into church in attempt to ‘ESCAPE THE DEVIL’ — RT World News

anglophone comments on Jan 9, 2020:

Will the Church accept blame for terrorising that poor man with claims that the Devil exists? Of course not!

I don't have much knowledge in Astronomy or Physics and would like to ask these questions to ones ...

anglophone comments on Jan 8, 2020:

Your first question involves a circular argument. The answer to your second question depends on debate currently happening among cosmologists, as time might only have become observable at the Big Bang, and the fate of the universe is as yet unknown.

A close friend of mine goes back and forth between extreme antithiesm and Pascal's Wager.

anglophone comments on Jan 8, 2020:

He might be able to help himself if he first learned to think.

My atheist family was appalled when I converted to Catholicism – but it’s given me great peace |...

anglophone comments on Jan 8, 2020:

His "I had always had a sense of God" shows his disconnect from science. It's his life, and his choice.

Are you truely agnostic or an athiest in hiding?

anglophone comments on Jan 8, 2020:

What do agnosticism or atheism have to do with not having fully explored our own planet? Why do some people imagine that great knowledge is required to know that the God of the Bible cannot exist?