When I get into a philosophical discussion with a believer and I offer an opinion on some subject, ...

genessa comments on Dec 29, 2018:

i have a friend who thanks god or praises jesus in just about every sentence on any subject and it gets quite tedious. g

[friendlyatheist.

genessa comments on Dec 29, 2018:

nope. but i kind of understand the motivation, even though it didn't work, and i understand, too, why it didn't work. i had an online friend from alabama who said that jews in her area were receiving death threats (and i am not sure but it seems to me there were actual deaths, too). she told me horror stories. the rich jew may well have wanted jews to be safer and the only way to do that in alabama would be not to be a minority anymore. it wouldn't work unless enough jews moved all at once, and that might scare the locals so much they'd do violence, which my understanding is they're prone to do anyway. g

Controlling your Atheism...

genessa comments on Dec 29, 2018:

i'm NOT like you, at least in the respect you mention. i don't have any trouble restraining myself from trying to change people or mouth off that they're different from me, unless they're hurting others (yeah, yeah, i know, religion can hurt others, but that's not what i mean). i'll mouth off about separation of church and state. i'm not going to call names just because someone believes something i think is silly. g

Ladies, I have a question just for you: (I should I suppose, qualify this-I am addressing this ...

genessa comments on Dec 29, 2018:

kindness and intelligence. they shine through the eyes and make a man, or any kind of person, beautiful, physically beautiful. this sort of thing actually does become visible to the naked eye, at least to those attuned to it. g

Surround yourself with people who you want to be and how you want to feel- energies are contagious.

genessa comments on Dec 29, 2018:

well... partially. but i think we should surround ourselves with people who are quite different from ourselves TOO, and maybe we will find OUT who we want to be. i don't like the idea that everyone should be the same, even within a group of acquaintances. i'm not talking about people whose views are incompatible with ours; it's probably not a good idea to surround oneself with murderers no matter WHO you wish to be, and i would hate being surrounded by evangelicals (even for a night, and that actually happened!) but variety is pretty spicy and i like spice! g

Don't try to explain this to a religious person. They'll develop seizures.

genessa comments on Dec 29, 2018:

a long time ago i redid this slightly so that the "social rebellion" box color wasn't so close to the correct color. here -- i did it over, and it took less than a minute:

Does Technology Enhance or Diminish Childhood?

genessa comments on Dec 29, 2018:

technology isn't just one thing, or even one group of things. i am pretty old, and when i was a kid and teen we had tv, radio, record players, cassette tapes, movies, all of which are technology... and most kids still got outside and played with each other, and were as active or inactive as their personalities dictated. i spend most of my time online and i'm not a kid. disabled i am; a kid i'm not. i know a kid who loves the computer... and irish dancing, girl scouts, dog obedience training and other active stuff. it's easy to blame technology for our woes. it's not particularly realistic or fair. and by the way, without what we today call technology, half a century ago, kids were still mostly not going off the grid. the good old days were not gridless unless one made a special effort, and it WAS special. living without plumbing maybe an adventure but good sanitation trumps that in my book. i like technology. like anything else, it can be properly used or abused. how about we look to our own behavior instead of blaming technology? g

I was driving home from work this morning with a Chicago classic rock station on.

genessa comments on Dec 29, 2018:

atheism not being a religion or an organized thingie, there are no unified significant dates within it, any more than there are unified significant dates for people who don't like celery, or people who can do long division. people who realize that there are no gods have not, as far as i know, coordinated to produce a calendar! g

Islam or Christianity which is better?

genessa comments on Dec 29, 2018:

it's not a contest. if you are an atheist, you are an equal-opportunity atheist and disbelieve in all and any deities. i can't help noticing that your profile says you're an atheist AND a believer. how is that possible? g

I'm interested in hearing from people who tend to be holistic in their lifestyle and healing ...

genessa comments on Dec 29, 2018:

people who discredit homeopathy do so for two reasons, NEITHER of which is because they don't understand the underlying principles (since there are none; homeopathy is not all one thing; it's a catch-all phrase for stuff that isn't synthetic and is designated -- by whom? by anyone who feels like it! -- for medicinal use). reason number one: they distrust anything that a doctor hasn't prescribed or that the fda hasn't approved. this is mostly silly, since doctors are visited and given free samples by pharmaceutical representatives whose interest lies in getting said doctors to prescribe said pharmaceuticals and not, for example, something nonpharmaceutical. meanwhile, the fda is influenced by lobbyists. reason number two: they think, sometimes correctly, that some kind of panacea is being claimed, and since there is no panacea, that makes homeopathy a scam. indeed, if it is presented that way, it IS a scam. remember, too, that there is no quality control of natural products. the truth is, some natural products work for some things, others work for other things, some don't work for anything, and others are harmful. i have diabetes. metformin, which is not homeopathic, is keeping me alive. i also had a nasty cyst on my face for a while. a combination of steroid cream and cbd oil got rid of it, despite a doctor's assertion that i could keep it from being infected but in the end would need surgery (i didn't). when i get a cut, i don't use bactine; i use goldenseal extract. i do not expect goldenseal extract to cure cancer. and i do not expect aspirin, to which i am allergic, to do it either. i am not going to tout, or agree with the touting of, homeopathy as a remedy. it isn't a remedy. certain homeopathic elements are remedies for certain things. homeopathy as a way of life... yeah, i've heard the grapefruit diet is effective too... until it kills you. g

Life would be more meaning full if we believe there's a life after death but not as the once given ...

genessa comments on Dec 29, 2018:

life would be LESS meaningful if there were a life after death. something exclusive is more meaningful and valuable than one from which you can shrug "next!" or if you literally mean it would be more meaningful if we believed in a life after death, regardless of whether or not there was one, you'd be saying that life is more meaningful if you're delusional. if that is so, who cares which delusion it is? and by the way, not all religions posit a life after death. (jewish folklore does but judaism actually doesn't, to name one example.) and what do you mean "the world that we created amoung [sic] us"? we didn't create the world. in its way, the world "created" us. g

My goal on Agnostic.com is to get 100 points in chat rooms.

genessa comments on Dec 28, 2018:

at the risk of sounding judgmental, which i do not mean to be, allow me gently to remind you that the points are to reward you for participation, which theoretically is something you want to do and enjoy doing, as opposed to the participation's being for the purpose of getting the points. i only mention this because you said the point acquisition (or at least this particular bit of it) is your goal. g

Writing on behalf on another person

genessa comments on Dec 28, 2018:

i have not experienced this in the miles standish tradition, no. if i am written to by a go-between it is usually to beg me to unblock someone. i usually end up blocking the go-between. g

Do you think that one "chooses" to become an atheist or is it more like they always were but only ...

genessa comments on Dec 28, 2018:

i never was a christian. i was raised as a very secular jew. i wasn't an atheist. i believed in a vague way in a personal god, who functioned as a kind of witness to my lonely childhood. that was comforting. when at the age of 15 i realized there were no gods, it didn't even occur to me that this meant rejecting judaism, since the parts of judaism in which i was raised had nothing to do with god's wanting or requiring me to do this or that. being jewish meant being kind to people, helping the needy, using logic (look up "pilpul"), stuff like that, which doesn't depend on the existence of a god. of course, judaism and jewishness are not the same thing, interconnected though they may be. judaism is a religion and jewishness is an ethnicity and culture. so i cannot say i either was an atheist all along or that i made a decision to become one, nor that i rejected religion per se (or at least jewish identity), though christianity has always seemed odd to me (and which as practiced these days seems actually evil in many respects). g

How do you explain to others that you have morals and ethics despite not being religious?

genessa comments on Dec 28, 2018:

why bother? if they need an explanation, they aren't necessarily capable of understanding one. (that's not true of all topics or all explanations, but to even posit the question "how can you have morals without religion?" you have to have a belief system that would balk at an honest answer! g

The fastest growing group of people in the country has been measured as being those who have no ...

genessa comments on Dec 28, 2018:

s.e. cupp is an extremely confused person, which isn't a crime, and a very annoying one, which also isn't a crime but it is off-putting. i never could stand her and i can't stand her now. she has been quoted as hoping that one day she could become religious... not wishing she were (innocent enough) but working toward it. that's some atheist there. as for conservatives, there are no more conservatives. i never liked them when they existed but they no longer exist. they have been replaced by regressives. i am neither interested in nor impressed by anything that comes out of s.e. cupp's mouth. g

Trying to get a hold of an old friend of mine who is australian and lived in new south wales.

genessa comments on Dec 28, 2018:

there are aussies here (and on facebook). post asking a resident to check a phone book for you. g

I don't like poorly reasoned arguments.

genessa comments on Dec 28, 2018:

i can write in cursive but no one can read what i write in cursive. i print prettily when my arthritis isn't kicking up. i suppose the fb poster won't argue with anyone who has no hands, either, since they can't write in cursive either (although they may know how). and how does the poster even know that everyone born after 1995 doesn't know how to write in cursive? do we only know what we were taught in kindergarten? g

Religion Considered Important to 72% of Americans

genessa comments on Dec 28, 2018:

world religion news says otherwise: https://www.worldreligionnews.com/religion-news/43-percent-americans-say-religion-important-part-identity g

Politics and religion

genessa comments on Dec 28, 2018:

why should we? first of all, you can choose not to read political posts here. they're organized into categories and you can see the beginnings of any posts listed and avoid those not of interest. you need not be stressed out by political posts. just don't read them. second of all, it is not true that all politics causes is stress. ignoring politics is a good way to give up control of what happens to your life, and yes, even if you ignore it, it impacts what you pay for gas and for milk, whether you can marry whom you love, whether your food, air and/or water poison you, whether your neighbors get picked up and deported, whether your children are taught in school that there is a god (and which god, too), whether we go to war, whether we continue to exist as a country... and more. still, it's your choice to ignore politics if you wish. it's not your choice whether we should post politically. i intend to continue to do so. you may feel free not to read my posts. g

In modern times, the young generation meet up and talk a lot, laugh hard but it’s empty in their ...

genessa comments on Dec 28, 2018:

on what basis do you make this assertion? i have not found this to be so at all. furthermore, how can you generalize about an entire generation (one you do not actually specify apart from labeling it "young" -- which to me is anyone under 60)? people are not all alike based on their age. g

It appears that to thrive on this site one must hate our President....

genessa comments on Dec 28, 2018:

setting aside the fact that this is an international site and that for most of the world trump is not "our" president, and setting aside the fact that due to his being ignorant, stupid, totally owned by putin and totally motivated by fear and greed (not necessarily in that order), and as evidenced by the fact that his opponent in the presidential race received almost three million more votes than he did DESPITE russian/republican propaganda and outright voter suppression, he is also not "our" president to a whole LOT of americans either -- setting those things aside, i will point out that there are groups here for so-called conservative atheists, as well as for republicans, libertarians and other persons with whom i personally disagree. so you can look for them. between your incorrect remark about the politics of this site (it is for atheists, agnostics, etc., not for one political persuasion) and the fact that you think trump is our president (and worthy of anything but contempt) i can conclude with confidence that you're not the most observant person around. i do not say this to insult you, or to hurt your feelings. i just thought it was important to point this out in case you wanted to correct it. g

One thing liberals and conservatives apparently still agree on, in a decisive environment these ...

genessa comments on Dec 28, 2018:

i have never thought once about lawrence o'donnell's cleavage. g

Hello everyone, I am new to this website.

genessa comments on Dec 28, 2018:

hi. i didn't actually become an atheist. i just realized there were no gods. it was kind of an easy realization, not traumatic or anything. i foget whether i already knew or found out later there was a word for someone who had come to that realization. i probably knew, but at the same time, i don't remember saying "ah geez, im an atheist!" or anything. g

cats I had to put down my 17 year old kitty on Christmas Eve.

genessa comments on Dec 27, 2018:

i am awfully sorry. all my cats are elderly and one is looking quite skeletal (at age 15 and a half). i've lost so many... and it never stops hurting but it does get easier to remember the good times. you have my total sympathy. g

FACT CHECK: Trump told troops they had not received a raise in 10 years, and that he pushed for a ...

genessa comments on Dec 27, 2018:

quelle choque! trump lied to someone about something! he probably looks in the mirror from time to time and lies to himself. there is no one to whom, and nothing about which, he does not lie. if his eyelids are flickering in his sleep, he is dreaming lies. if his lips part, put up your umbrella: it's about the rain lies. g

Trump now claims most furloughed workers 'are Democrats' - NBC News.

genessa comments on Dec 27, 2018:

1. he has no way of knowing the political affiliation of the gazillion civil servants who have been serving the country and now are furloughed. 2. if he did know, and democrats were being targeted for furlough, then he has just admitted to committing a crime, because doing this based on political affiliation would surely be criminal. 3. he lies. 4. he always lies. 5. did i mention he always lies? g

Minnesota weather

genessa comments on Dec 27, 2018:

it's raining here. overnight it snew. the snow ploughs skipped our driveway because we have a discreet swinging outdoor couch tucked away against a wall but somehow managed to plough around the car in the neighbor's drive. now the rain is going to make ice in the morning and we'll all fall down. g

The demise of another Bernie Sanders fraud - World Socialist Web Site

genessa comments on Dec 27, 2018:

purists. pure garbage. funny: russian trolls used to "support" bernie. now they try to divide us by being against him (except those trying to divide us by still being for him). he's just a senator doing his job. ocasio-cortez will do hers just fine. you can make shit up about them all you want but it's still shit. g

We always loved playing this game, anyone else?

genessa comments on Dec 27, 2018:

the last time i played it was in 1985, at a party in laurel canyon. it was a great party and i have not seen its like since. g

Breaking bread with those we care about is the best and most universal holiday tradition there is.

genessa comments on Dec 27, 2018:

yes... for our own holidays. christmas has never been one of mine. i love to share a meal with those i love on the holidays i celebrate. not a single one of them is, or has ever been, a christian holiday. g

Should we???

genessa comments on Dec 27, 2018:

advantage in what way? i don't get a day off because i'm disabled so all my days are "off." i'm jewish and had chanukah (not the "jewish christmas" but a gift-giving holiday for the last hundred years or so) earlier this month and did the giftie thing then. so of what do i take advantage? everyone mindlessly wishing each other, and me if they can catch me, joy of a holiday that was never my own? or maybe the endless stream of christmas commercials and christmas shows and everyone on tv pretending no one exists except christians, and that even nonchristians HAVE to love christmas because it's universal, not really religious at all, bla bla bla? i see no advantages. wait. there is one. egg nog. i like egg nog. but i have diabetes so... so much for egg nog. g

What happened after death

genessa comments on Dec 27, 2018:

the brain, which creates our consciousness, dies, so our consciousness stops existing. our bodies decompose. that's it. the end. g

Question primarily for women.

genessa comments on Dec 27, 2018:

i do not wear underwear of any kind so i cannot compare. as for bikinis, i am fat so i wear one-piece suits. g

Ok everyone, I need suggestions.

genessa comments on Dec 27, 2018:

goldenseal, and a cone collar. she is cute! g

The dark side of Facebook: finding out what happened to your first/old loves I've heard of a lot of...

genessa comments on Dec 26, 2018:

in what way is this the dark side of facebook? facebook didn't turn your friend into a conspiracy theorist, or even make you look him up. facebook simply made that possible. i have found many old friends and am glad i did. i found ONE who had turned into an evangelical and dropped me because he couldn't be friends anymore with a pro-choice person (it's not even as if i'd had an abortion -- i am just THEORETICALLY pro-choice, and at almost 67 years of age i am unlikely to be called upon to make such a choice). however, i was also dropped by someone i met online, with whom i had some years of history but who was not a flash from my past; he dropped me because in 2015 i compared the rise of trump to hitler's rise, and he said i was cheapening the holocaust. i turned out to be right but i have not heard from him. but that's life, and if it wasn't life on facebook, it'd be life somewhere and somehow else. it is by no means a "dark side" of facebook. g

What do you think about the connection between those who long to follow rules, who actually feel ...

genessa comments on Dec 26, 2018:

trump doesn't follow rules. he doesn't even follow laws. in fact, he doesn't KNOW most of the rules or laws. so those who feel lost without rules and latch onto trump obviously don't care if anyone else follows rules! g

Ok its Boxing Day, I am bored.

genessa comments on Dec 26, 2018:

i don't work because i cannot work. i wish i could but i cannot. i do not get bored. i get sleepy and exhausted, am in pain and depressed, and put upon to make ends meet and keep the place livable while also taking care of my alzheimer's-afflicted guy. bored, no. g

Please be selective and vigilant about clicking on links.

genessa comments on Dec 26, 2018:

one good thing to remember, apart from just plain not clicking on anything suspicious or even unfamiliar, is that if you hover your mouse over a link without clicking, you will be able to see, at the bottom of your browser, its true destination, even if it's called something else in the post. if there is a mismatch or you don't recognize it, don't click! g

I just finished viewing The Post for the first time.

genessa comments on Dec 26, 2018:

yep, too obvious lol! there is a reason the movie was released when it was. wonderful movie. i've seen it twice. funny thing is, what sticks with me most is how unconsciously graham was treated as inferior for being a woman. those were not mean or bad people and they didn't hate her, yet look at how they disrespected her, walked in a cluster in front of her to exclude her, wouldn't listen to her ideas unless a man said them. it was all very natural for them. that struck me even more than those so-obvious parallels! g

Did you make something interesting for Christmas dinner?

genessa comments on Dec 26, 2018:

we had nothing special today; today isn't a special day for us, as we're jewish (and i'm an atheist, although he isn't). the only thing december 25 means to us is it's his late parents; wedding anniversary, which occasion doesn't carry with it any culinary traditions. we had an unrelated holiday earlier this month, and for chanukah i cooked something totally untraditional: a 12-1/2-pound turkey! boy did we eat a lot of turkey all throughout chanukah, and even after (i froze some) but i did fit in some latkes, and one night i did bread and fry some (already cooked) turkey. g

If Cannabis Can Kill "Incurable" Brain Cancer, Why is it Criminalized?

genessa comments on Dec 26, 2018:

the liquor and tobacco industries, who compete for customers (and lose) wherever pot is legal, have big lobby power. big pharma has a lot to lose as well. g

Ag.

genessa comments on Dec 25, 2018:

i believe it is the same scammer coming back after being banned, again and again, in different names, but always with a harmful link. i don't think raising the level will help. i have seen them reach respectable-seeming levels. they're not that clever but they're that persistent. again, i say "they" because naturally there is more than one scammer out there, but i truly believe the ones we've been seeing here in the last week or so are all the same person. g

Do you believe Chiropractors are effective?

genessa comments on Dec 25, 2018:

i have friends who swear by them. i have been to a few and none ever helped me a bit. one molested me. i do not blame chiropractics for the molester but whatever good that field may offer it has never offered me. g

Anyone out there??

genessa comments on Dec 25, 2018:

out where? on this site? you can certainly see that by looking at the posts under the various categories. out in the universe? gazillions and gazillions. g

The one thing that religion offers that secularism fails to equal is the transcendence of self, the ...

genessa comments on Dec 25, 2018:

religion does not always offer that, and secularism's job isn't to offer anything. we get that elsewhere. why should we look to our views about whether or not there is a god for transcendence? g

?

genessa comments on Dec 25, 2018:

apparently already reported. very persistent spam-scammer. do not click. g

Who believes in the supernatural?

genessa comments on Dec 24, 2018:

i do not believe in the supernatural. i believe in the natural. i do not believe in the spirit as a thing. we can talk about it as in "she has real spirit" or "he gave a spirited speech" or "we have team spirit" but as in ghosts, souls, all that? no. when we die, we decompose. the consciousness that we identify as our selves stops existing because it is generated by the brain and the brain stops functioning when we die. g

So, people.... who is all alone this evening?

genessa comments on Dec 24, 2018:

i am with my guy but he is watching wrestling as he does every monday night, and i am listening to rachel maddow as i do every week night. we're jewish, and i'm an atheist. christmas has never meant anything to me but a day off, or, for a few years, an invitation to a nonreligious party thrown by a couple of my friends. if i were alone for some reason, it would be no more meaningful tonight than it would be on any other night (it would probably mean my guy was in the hospital and be distressing on that level). i have nothing in particular to celebrate this evening. tomorrow is his late parents' wedding anniversary but we're not doing anything beyond making note of that. g

I find it to be interesting that "holistic" and "aholistic" have the same meaning.

genessa comments on Dec 24, 2018:

sort of like flammable and inflammable. g

To all who celebrate it, in whatever way, have a Very Merry Christmas, or whatever you call it.

genessa comments on Dec 24, 2018:

i am curious. what do you think people call christmas besides christmas (or yule, same thing, right?) i mean, that phrase threw me. is there some secret name of which i am unaware? g

Rabbi invokes Jesus' name at Pence rally, setting off social media firestorm [usatoday.com]

genessa comments on Dec 24, 2018:

messianists are not jews and messianist priests can call themselves rabbis (or chopped liver, or fred) if they want but they're incorrect. they're christians. celebrating sabbath friday night to saturday night and avoiding pork do not a jew make. i, an atheist, am actually a jew. the rules of judaism say the only thing that gets you kicked out, so to speak (there is no excommunication; there isn't that kind of hierarchy anyway) is taking on another god. that would be, in this case, jesus. that makes a jew who becomes a messianist an apostate. but most messianists never even were jews, so they're not apostates; they are christians who decided to be messianist. "jews for jesus" was created by a baptist minister, with the stated intention of eradicating judaism by converting all jews to christianity with the ploy of calling it a kind of judaism. ironically, that makes it a kind of antisemitism. no wonder pence embraces this so-called rabbi. g

So.

genessa comments on Dec 24, 2018:

okay, i am not trying to be judgmental but first of all you do not bring a child along on a first date, and yes i know the nature of the date was to bring the child, but you just don't make that your first date, and that goes quadruple for a blind date. how did you know he wasn't a pedophile and/or kidnapper? in a crowd of screaming kids, he could've grabbed your baby and run. and second of all, once he grabbed your boob that was a pretty good indication that the date should've ended. maybe he thought you were that desperate? if you stayed after that grope, maybe he was right about that! whoever set you up owes you an apology, but you owe yourself one too. g

Please excuse my ignorance here but I don’t understand.

genessa comments on Dec 24, 2018:

the government needs a budget to operate. trump has refused to sign any budgetary bill that does not include funding for his stupid wall. not only that, but he insists on an exact amount, so compromise is not possible. he was offered a bill that gave him some wall funding. he wouldn't sign it. he would rather shut down the government for the third time this year, and at a time when businesses expect people to spend more money and children expect presents (and of course landlords expect rent and everyone needs to eat) than get even a part of what he wants, when he shouldn't get ANYTHING toward that wall. g

At root I blame Trump for the government shutdown.

genessa comments on Dec 24, 2018:

you blame the democrats more? you blame the democrats, in the minority in both house and senate in 2016, for 2016's federal spending? seriously? in addition, the wall is not just a frivolous expenditure. it is would be environmentally disastrous, it would displace homeowners and other species as well, and it's a horrible message to the world. and do you know where that wall money will be found? it won't be taken out of military spending. it won't come out of the tax break for gazillionnaires. no, it will come from the social safety net, and that is not an insignificant cut. how about open your damned eyes instead of crying to open the damned government at ANY cost. this cost is too high, and not just in dollars. g

Is anyone else NOT celebrating Christmas? I feel like i'm the only one.

genessa comments on Dec 23, 2018:

i'm jewish. christmas, to me, is an annoyance, and would be even if i were not an atheist (which i am). g

Man I freaking digity dang frackity love Christmas.

genessa comments on Dec 23, 2018:

i sincerely wish you joy of your holiday. it's not my holiday, never has been, never will be, and i feel bad for months because i am inundated with it. so i will not be having a holiday, wonderful, romantic or any other kind. this doesn't mean i resent other people's enjoyment of it. i just wish it would be quieter. no offense to you, not calling you noisy. you're not the problem. g

The top 100 best science fiction novels of all time seems to vary between whoever publishes it, but ...

genessa comments on Dec 23, 2018:

i don't know what the purported best 100 sf (speculative fiction, thank you) novels (so short stories and collections are out) are but i have my own list, not necessarily of 100 or even nearly 100, and in no particular order, and this seems as good a place as any to try, off the top of my head, to record it: i am only numbering these to keep track of how many i can think of. this in no way represents ranking. it is, i repeat, off the top of my sleepy old head. 1. stranger in a strange land 2. mindswap 3. door into summer 4. the moon is a harsh mistress 5. the lathe of heaven 6. tramontane 7. fahrenheit 451 8. something wicked this way comes 9. the time machine 10. the female man 11. ice and iron 12. the year of the quiet sun 13. the man in the high castle 14. crompton divided 15. a boy and his dog 16. alice's adventures in wonderland 17. alice through the looking glass 18. frankenstein 19. the hitchhiker's guide to the galaxy 20. so long and thanks for all the fish 21. the restaurant at the end of the universe 22. life, the universe and everything 23. mostly harmless 24. riverworld 25. a clockwork orange 26. 1984 27 animal farm 28. brave new world 29. ape and essence 30. city 31. podkayne of mars 32. dorothy and the wizard of oz 33. ozma of oz that's as far as i can get for now. a lot of fine books are missing from the list because i have not read them, even if i have heard of them, know what they're about, maybe even saw movies based on them. if i have not read them, they're not on the list. g

What do you traditionaly cook on December 25th?

genessa comments on Dec 23, 2018:

being jewish, i have no christmas cooking traditions. quite a long time ago, the first of the two times i lived in los angeles, i had a friend, older than i, who invited me over for christmas day, which was meaningful to her (but not in a jesusy way), every other year, and she made either ham or turkey. the years when i did not spend christmas day with her i spent it with my very best friend, and we had no particular culinary traditions; we spent the day together, we are something good, but i don't recall a specific dish. both friends are dead now (not, i assure you, of food poisoning). after i moved away and spent that day alone, which time represents most of my life, it was just a day like any other, as it had been throughout my childhood, when at most it was a day off from school, and throughout my young adulthood, when at most it was a day off from work. now i am no longer alone but christmas day is meaningless to me and my guy except for one thing: it happens to be his parents' wedding anniversary. since his parents, like mine, whose anniversary falls three days later, are dead, we make note of the day but have no special traditions, culinary or otherwise, associated with it. so what shall i cook tomorrow? whatever is in the fridge or freezer, without regard for its being someone else's holiday. g

How many would like to transform their body?

genessa comments on Dec 23, 2018:

well, i could do without the fibromyalgia, the diabetes, the broken eye tendon and indeed the legal blindness in the affected eye, the cataracts, the asthma, the diastasis rectii and even the gerd, not to mention the lupus that was diagnosed in japan but seems to elude doctors here in the usa. hell, even getting my chronically painful toe back to normal would be cool. the obesity that goes with most of the above is a pain in the everything, and the pain in the everything keeps me overweight. i need to get rid of my ptsd too so i can have the surgery that will probably save me from the suspected cancer too. new body? hell yeah! g

Questions

genessa comments on Dec 23, 2018:

i have no need to break down theists. no one who knows me tells me i am foolish for not believing, and strangers who try to do so don't get a lot out of me. however, it can be done with two words: "talking snake." g

I wonder if this counts as gaslighting.

genessa comments on Dec 23, 2018:

https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/here-there-and-everywhere/201701/11-warning-signs-gaslighting psychology today, 11 warning signs of gaslighting g

As the new year approaches.

genessa comments on Dec 22, 2018:

odd, since i am watching a dvr'd episode of "how we got to now" that deals with the measurement of time. g

There Is No Such Thing as Conscious Thought - Scientific American

genessa comments on Dec 22, 2018:

from what i can tell, an awful lot of his theory rides on the idea that we don't perceive every single thing in the universe, and in fact not a whole hell of a lot of it. that's a weird conflation. in addition, i don't see why thought and sensation need to be separated so strictly in order to admit that we have conscious thought. it may be true that some of us have more than others; it may even be true that some have virtually none. he sure has a lot of thoughts for someone who says those thoughts are not conscious. g

Conflating possible with probable

genessa comments on Dec 22, 2018:

i don't understand statistics so well myself but i flatter myself that i have a little common sense, and that makes up for a bit of that lack of statistical facility. thus i tend not to turn blue waiting for the improbable. g

Have you noticed that the biggest Bible thumpers, don't get God to heal their booboo.

genessa comments on Dec 22, 2018:

actually a good number of them don't, especially when it's their child's booboo instead of their own. result: the kids die, the parents call it "god's will." g

What would cause you to end a relationship?

genessa comments on Dec 22, 2018:

i have ended three romantic relationships. i had one ended for me by the other party because he found someone else, but we both knew we were basically friends with benefits anyway. the first relationship i ended was my first sexual one, and every time we made love, it hurt. i left him for a married man who made love to me in a way that did not hurt and was pleasant, and whom i actually loved, although i was not in love with him. i left him as a lover because, as i told him, i wanted to find someone to be mine, just mine. he said he didn't mind if i did that while we were lovers. i said that i did mind. we stayed friends for decades. he was older and stopped answering my emails, and lived overseas so i had no other way to contact him. i fear he may be gone now. i have no way of finding out, alas. the third relationship i ended was not even a relationship yet; i met a guy at a party and my then-roommate flirted with him shamelessly there. we both gave him our numbers and he called me, and said that he was turned off by how she threw herself at him, and that he liked me. he came to visit, we hit it off marvelously, and we ended up in bed. after we made love, he said he had something to tell me. uh oh. he was in a relationship. i said, oh, i thought you were going to tell me you were married. yeah, that's it, he said. i refused to see him again, at least sexually, and he had no interest in just being friends, which didn't exactly thrill me either. he could've told me BEFORE we made love, and let me decide whether to proceed. telling me afterwards is... well, cheating. so those are the three i ended. g

Merry Christmas and a happy new year to all the ladies out there.

genessa comments on Dec 22, 2018:

how come you have all the atheist words and all the believer words on your profile? how can you be an atheist and a believer? g

AND.

genessa comments on Dec 22, 2018:

the general idea of the site is for unbelievers to gather in a safe place (safe from being blessed or cursed anyway) to talk about whatever all pleases us. there is no such thing as a post that has bugger all to do with that general idea, since the idea is pretty damned general. do we have to sit around and talk about nothing except not believing all day long? that would be a bore! g

This xmas invite old folks to your xmas day........... some may die without food or company.....

genessa comments on Dec 22, 2018:

i AM old folks. i also am not christian, never have been; christmas is meaningless to me except as a ubiquitous, seemingly endless winter annoyance. g

How do you measure intelligence?>

genessa comments on Dec 22, 2018:

i used to use a measuring cup but i could never see the ounce side, only the milliliter side, because of where they put the handle. i switched to using a tape measure but the cats broke it. now i just take a string and wrap it around the intelligence and measure the string later with a ruler. g

Why aren't you a Trump supporter?

genessa comments on Dec 22, 2018:

the same reason i wasn't a charles manson supporter. g

I like to sleep in the buff.

genessa comments on Dec 22, 2018:

you will not learn here what percentage of free thinkers and agnostics in general think about sleeping raw. at best you will learn here what percentage of free thinkers and agnostics who have discovered this site and also happen to be interested in your question claim to think about it. i myself sleep in my birthday suit. i can only speak for myself, though. g

Now that Kelly and Mattis are gone, or on the way, who is be left to protect us from Trump's ...

genessa comments on Dec 21, 2018:

since when did either of them protect us from trump? trump didn't listen to mattis, and kelly is a vile racist liar. everyone said he would keep trump in check. he didn't -- and who was there to keep kelly in check? g

Is it accurate?

genessa comments on Dec 21, 2018:

people who want someone to talk to may still not be naive enough not to be suspicious of a stranger walking up to them. that is not how to alleviate someone's loneliness lol. i think you know that. shy people need a context for communication. my dad was shy. when he and mom got old, they decided to sell stuff at a flea market. she took the indoor shop and he had a table outside, where he sold watches. this gave him a context -- he could greet people and make small talk, and i think it alleviated the loneliness that often accompanies shyness. solution, from the outside? want to help a lonely person? that person may be suspicious of a private message out of the blue, but if you see someone whose profile says they're lonely, find where they've posted, and you post too, honestly, whatever it is you honestly think about the topic. if you are of like minds, you can respond directly to that person's comment. after some time, you may feel as if you know each other better. g

Can someone advise me on how to live with a muslim family who'll absolutely shun me if I tell them ...

genessa comments on Dec 21, 2018:

don't tell them. it's none of their business. if they ask about religion say "my religious views are very personal and i don't talk about them." g

This time of year is difficult for some people.

genessa comments on Dec 21, 2018:

it's even worse if you're jewish. even before i was an atheist, i was inundated with christmas to the point of feeling oppressed. as an (atheistic) adult i did for a time enjoy the parties thrown every christmas eve by certain friends of mine. there was a tree and beyond that no mention of christmas at all. it was just a party. but the rest of it -- the ubiquitousness of the whole christmas thing, the decorations, the songs, the sales clerks wishing everyone a merry christmas even though a significant percentage of those receiving that wish might not be celebrants and/or might even be celebrating holidays of their own, the ASSUMPTION that everyone is christian -- i find it oppressive. g

BANNING OTHERS IS BAD FORM.

genessa comments on Dec 21, 2018:

banning others is not necessarily bad form. blocking doesn't reduce admin's access to a damned thing. if someone thinks i am the one to be block, that person is free to block me, just as i am free to block trolls, scammers and anyone else with whom i don't want to engage for any reason, none of which is anyone's business. if i think a member is behaving badly but not breaking an ag dot com rule, reporting to admin is useless. it is also possible to report AND block. in addition, it would be foolish to assume that just because one has blocked someone, one refuses to engage at all. it is possible to recognize a troll quickly. one does not have to engage for long, seeking "understanding," to know one has better uses of one's time and energies. g p.s. telling others whether or not to use a feature (provided by the site for a purpose) is bad form.

Has it occurred to any of my fellow site members that Trump's actions to pull our troops out of ...

genessa comments on Dec 21, 2018:

is there anyone, excluding trumpkins, to whom this has NOT occurred? g

Am i hallucinating or did senator mazie hirono just say "bullshit" on tv (all in with chris hayes)?

genessa comments on Dec 20, 2018:

i THOUGHT so! and she said it appropriately, naturally and correctly, and i don't think hayes even blinked! i wonder if it'll be censored in the rerun? i hope not! g

I am 30, and am just now considering using my GI Bill to attend university.

genessa comments on Dec 20, 2018:

university is not for learning a trade, in general. there are exceptions: medical school springs to mind! but if you want to learn a trade that will be in demand, i can't help you choose an appropriate industry but i can say trade school is a better bet. university is for becoming a better educated person who has developed new and existing cognitive skills, found out who he is and is on the road to being that, to the best of his abilities (i am speaking of you and that is why i have chosen a specific pronoun). i am not saying one cannot prepare at university for a career. i think i may have made it sound that way. i am just saying that you should not choose your course of action based on that, except for the exceptions, which should be clear. don't even choose a major in your first year. take the core courses and look around, see what's what. if you just choose an industry based on what no one really knows, namely what will be in demand in the future, you may find yourself unhappy in it, and then it won't matter what kind of material success you have in it. i know you found out a lot about yourself in the military; that is inevitable. find out the rest of it, the civilian self, find those old passions or new ones. don't just train. learn. g

The “impending” bump stock ban is unconstitutional.

genessa comments on Dec 20, 2018:

the new law doesn't suddenly make people criminals. it gives them every chance to comply. g

Waxup posted one of those Holiday Greetings links , that can take out the site , under the gardening...

genessa comments on Dec 20, 2018:

i have reported some of the posts and her profile as well. i think this is the same person who spammed so many groups with a similar link a few days ago. g

What quality(ies) of the opposite sex do you appreciate the most?

genessa comments on Dec 20, 2018:

i am not being sarcastic when i say that i refuse to generalize. i don't divide up admirable qualities (or the other kind) by gender. g

Question regarding responses, mainly on memes, but really on any post I guess.

genessa comments on Dec 20, 2018:

it is insulting not to click on someone's meme that they posted just to get points? isn't it insulting to post a meme just to get points? i would pay no mind to THAT information! some people apparently are easily insulted. g

Have you, or will you put up a tree this year?

genessa comments on Dec 20, 2018:

i'm jewish (and an atheist). i don't put up trees. i like when they grow in the earth in their natural environment. g

Do you agree with encouraging Christian's not to say Merry Christmas but happy holidays instead?

genessa comments on Dec 20, 2018:

i am more interested in encouraging people to spell plurals without apostrophes. i don't care what christians say. i mean, it irks me (but does not destroy my life) when a stranger wishes me merry christmas, a holiday i have never celebrated, but i don't stop and teach them a course about it. g

So here is my rant I recently met a guy I liked as a friend on facebook.

genessa comments on Dec 19, 2018:

no, i think he's being too dishonest with himself. but do you really want to go out with a guy who believes those things? g

If I have the intention of dating, should I reveal that I am unemployed, have learning difficulties ...

genessa comments on Dec 19, 2018:

you just did! to tell you the truth, if i were dating, i wouldn't look at people's profiles unless i liked what they said on subjects other than dating, on the community side of this site. once i got to know and like someone that way and we began to message, i would be less put off (if put off at all) by any of those things it is up to you whether to put them on your profile, but don't let the profile be all there is, yes? put yourself out there! comment on people's posts on topics that interest you, and make posts on topics that interest you. once someone gets to know you they can decide how much those other elements do or don't matter. they don't have to define you. g

A federal law has been passed that requires all bump stocks to be surrendered or to be destroyed.

genessa comments on Dec 19, 2018:

https://www.atf.gov/rules-and-regulations/bump-stocks the announcement by the btf. https://www.justice.gov/opa/press-release/file/1120876/download the rule itself there is no mention of agents' going door to door demanding owners turn over their bump stocks. this rule actually just adds bump stocks to the definition of machine guns, which it misspelles as machineguns (it misspelled device as devise, too! i did not proofread it; those things just caught my attention). there appears to be no plan yet as to how to get the bump stocks from folks who do not volunteer to turn them in, nor even how to track those who destroy them themselves. people who insist upon owning bump stocks ARE a real threat to society. g

I'd like to break the mould, as it were, by suggesting a couple of good things about Donald Trump.

genessa comments on Dec 19, 2018:

neoliberalism is a good buggaboo for pretty much anything, isn't it? meanwhile, trump doesn't understand trade agreements; he just repeats shit he hears on fox. even a broken clock etc. etc., but he still doesn't get it. nor does he care, except to the extent that he will happily destroy america because that is professor putin's assignment. to that extent trump IS ideological. it just doesn't happen to be his own ideology. in addition, it is one thing not to be ideological and another to have a head completely empty of ideas at all and a heart (if any) completely empty of ethics. by the way, hillary was not referring to the working class when she said "basket of deplorables." she was referring to the kind of people who wear t-shirts saying "trump can grab my pussy any time" and go out and beat up "fags" for fun. g

Is it possible that the planet earth is just an electron and the sun is proton?

genessa comments on Dec 18, 2018:

we would be making stuff up, that's what we would be. g

Why does always feel as though we must be either or, black or white is or is not?

genessa comments on Dec 18, 2018:

i think our organizational abilities, while themselves flawed, have helped society, and evolution, and a lot more about us, more than it is has hurt us. it hurts us most in our relationships with other humans. meanwhile, of course society is flawed. everything is flawed. perfection is a silly concept. g

Why is christianity on the fall?

genessa comments on Dec 18, 2018:

why shouldn't it be on the fall? religion in general should. as for islam's being on the rise, it is an insignificant gain. look at the pie chart (among other things) on this page: https://www.prri.org/research/american-religious-landscape-christian-religiously-unaffiliated/ it will have to rise more dramatically than seems likely given the current trend for its rise to be the least bit significant. g

I'm not sure if anyone here has had to deal with package ninjas before.

genessa comments on Dec 18, 2018:

i think the correct technical term for such people is "thieves." g

Do you think the Confederacy felt they ever had a chance of winning the Civil War?

genessa comments on Dec 18, 2018:

yes of course they did. for a while there it looked as if they might, too. the real problem is that some people think they're still fighting it, fighting to reestablish slavery and all. trump and his trumpkins are not helping to disillusion them, either. g

How would you feel if you went out with someone that was Christian and thought Jews were put on a ...

genessa comments on Dec 18, 2018:

why would any jew be going out with someone like that? okay it could be a blind date, but then why would anyone set a jew up with someone like that? i am gathering that somehow it happened to you... if it wasn't a blind date, how did you happen to go out with such a person? g

How do we define existential nihilism?

genessa comments on Dec 18, 2018:

yep you're not a nihilist. does the label matter? there might not be an existing label for your beliefs. does that negate them? i think not. by the way, "feelsy idealists" are not who butchered the meaning of nihilism, if indeed it was butchered. maybe it wasn't butchered but you just found out it didn't fit you. g p.s. only you can define yourself. it is dangerous to let others define you. what you want help with is labeling yourself, not defining yourself.

This an interesting and intellectually stimulating site! What do you have to lose by checking out ...

genessa comments on Dec 18, 2018:

oh i see -- you are linking us to your profile here. well, you seem to be recommending the site and we're already on the site. as for your profile, we can get that by clicking on your name after the post, so the post doesn't have to link us to your profile. g

This an interesting and intellectually stimulating site! What do you have to lose by checking out ...

genessa comments on Dec 18, 2018:

we're already here. why are you sending us where we already are? g