jacpod's Profile

Good satire mocks the powerful, mocks the arrogant, mocks the foolish, and it mocks ourselves.

jacpod comments on Apr 17, 2018:

Like this very much - I have beely laughed my way thourgh life and it gets me through the nights.

Do you like being intelligent?

jacpod comments on Apr 17, 2018:

Whhooh very little of that applies to me although I rather thought I was intelligent enough sounds like to be thought intelligent you have to be a wee nasty piece of work. Glad to be one of the other lot!

Your unbelief. How did you get there?

jacpod comments on Apr 17, 2018:

Never was anywhere else- no one ever asked me to believe.

Are atheists really any different from anyone else, except perhaps a little more intellectually ...

jacpod comments on Apr 17, 2018:

I ma not sure that anybody is the same as anybody else I have met some really damaged people who were wonderful adn clever and funny and some people who had everything and- were bored with their life - I think its a funny old world and we are what makes it funny - I have known people whose brians were as big as a planet and couldn tmake thenselves a slice of toast - I just think we are all weird but differently.

Keep this in mind, always, always, always.

jacpod comments on Apr 17, 2018:

Absolutely thank you for putting it so well!

A question of perception

jacpod comments on Apr 16, 2018:

I dont think life has a purpose I think I have an might still be able to find many purposes for myself within my lifetime. I think as long as I can still back myself and not need to feel guilty about anything I have said or done all will be well and as long as I can be apologetic if I did get to realise I was out of order at any time. ,all will be well. I also dont need a god to keep me from being a bad person . I still like the mantra' I am enough' 'I have enough'' I do enough'

Are you an open or closet agnostic/atheist, and why?

jacpod comments on Apr 16, 2018:

Open if asked, not bothered who knows, but if any one gives me a hard time I just turn my back and walk away - 'again' -cant be bothered

[thefix.com] Who do you know who was turned off AA or NA because it was too religious?

jacpod comments on Apr 16, 2018:

I have attended a couple of meetings in the Uk with clients who wanted me to go with them (I was a 'person centred counsellor' but I actually found it to be subtly -very shame based and though I know people who have really benefitted from it I think that hte format could be tweaked to make it more user friendly for anyone -

Happily single—or not?

jacpod comments on Apr 16, 2018:

I'm single but in a relationship whihc is very loose and suits us both we complement each other and care for each other in our own ways .

Weird?

jacpod comments on Apr 16, 2018:

Doh! NO!

Why to call yourself "Atheist" instead of "Agnostic."

jacpod comments on Apr 16, 2018:

There is a group here who debate this sort of stuff its called atheist v agnostic just look for them under groups

Thoughts on people who claim not to be religious but still believe in Jesus/god/sin/heaven etc?

jacpod comments on Apr 16, 2018:

well I guess you can if you are a bit 'throughother' and arent getting a lot of the art of logic in your life. But I guess it isnt worth talking serioulsy with someone who believes two contradictory things at the same time -( Like the mad hatter in Alice in Wonderland.)

I see sometimes people using the term;Tough Love;.

jacpod comments on Apr 16, 2018:

In T.A therapy; there is, for children who have been poorly treated ,a signal for you to treat them respectfully yet with a disclaimer e.g that was really good for a lad like yourself! It is a way of getting through to children who have had a hard time and are unable to take in positive strokes and say 'thank you!' but can take them with a bit of sourness in the mix.Gradually you can lessen the harshness of the approach until they are able to really take in a compliment that comes without a kick back - I am not sure that it would work with parents doing the therapeutic bit ,their part is to come in and reinforce the postives without overdoing it . I don't really know what tough love is but as long as you are always putting the child at the centre of their own life ,cant go far wrong.

Why is everyone looking for love?

jacpod comments on Apr 16, 2018:

I am not but maybe because I am 70y.o.and have had quite a lot of love and am still with a partner of 35 years, I think its quite rare to find someone who ticks all the boxes many of my friends seem to have expectations of their partners; which they cant meet; - I think I was probably like that when I was y0unger imagining that it would all be magical and happy ever after and didnt realise the messes that could unfold and the courage to overcome them - nowadays I am pretty serene probably because I have not got a great memory.

Hi, I am a new member and have already been welcomed by a couple of people, which is really nice.

jacpod comments on Apr 16, 2018:

Wilkommen, Bienvenue .welcome!!

I was talking to my daughter today after driving an hour and a half to see her and my son-in-law, in...

jacpod comments on Apr 16, 2018:

yes ma'am! my lips are sealed

What is the best way to have a convincing moral argument?

jacpod comments on Apr 16, 2018:

be passionate about what youre saying?

Why to call yourself "Atheist" instead of "Agnostic."

jacpod comments on Apr 16, 2018:

There is a group here who debate this sort of stuff its called atheist v agnostic just look for them under groups

Do you tell your spouse or partner who hit on you?

jacpod comments on Apr 16, 2018:

I cant remember ever being flirted with whats it like ok or yuk?

Are you an open or closet agnostic/atheist, and why?

jacpod comments on Apr 16, 2018:

open but not to people who are goign to proseletyse at me - I know who is and who isnt everyone in N.I ,knows who is and who isnt.Iys easy to keep out of teh way of those who are heavy handed about thir reliious beliefs .

Normal

jacpod comments on Apr 16, 2018:

I have nine me's, D.I.D rules ok! never boring sometime sa wee bit dangerous.

Last monday I was triggered pretty bad by a question I was asked by my therapist.

jacpod comments on Apr 15, 2018:

Hi there, shitty places dont stay like that forever, everything moves and changes - its great that you know what you need to do - I was told should's and ought's never moved anyone, just piles on the pressure - how about taking it easy and just 'being' for a bit maybe feel the shittyness because it too will pass You seem to have a knack of making yourself in the wrong so you could even try to see what its like to advocate for yourself to be in the right, or even just ok in this way out 'for a bit '

How many people in your life have been what others would call "soul mates"?

jacpod comments on Apr 15, 2018:

I am in touch with very few of them but I know I still really love them and everything they ever taught me - I have been with my partner for about 30 years it seems really weird typing that like I never thought of that number before - I think we work well together and dont actually see each other that often as we have our own flats So at least twice a day I dont have great mobility but see some old friends on facebook dont think I have fallen out with anyone in my heart except for my abusive family.

What is your atheist anthem? (Music)

jacpod comments on Apr 15, 2018:

I was at uni as a mature student doing sociology/social psychology - Half of our year were young students half were mature we all got on really well - I was fairly quiet but in one lecture in a vast round lecture hall the social history prof said that there had been no social uprisings before the 18th century and the shout was out of my mouth before i even knew it myself "What about the Diggers!" he collected himself well and it was then like the Monty Python sketch of 'what have the Romanns ever done for us?

Hi, I am a new member and have already been welcomed by a couple of people, which is really nice.

jacpod comments on Apr 15, 2018:

Hallo there I got confused with the Perth bit, but just realised there is a Perth in Australia, being a Brit and extremely poor at geography, (minus 4percent in mock o level) I have a hard time thinking of other countries my head swims.. I have always been an atheist and for me that is so much part of me it isnt of any importance to me at all just part of me. After a very varied set of jobs I was a lecturer in Person centred /Rogerian Counselling and later when I retired volunteered to work in mental health advocacy and sat on the Bamford Review of mental health and leanign disability as a Service User, which was awful. Our task was to review all of the committee work, overviewing everythign it was hard work thankless and seriously fraught by professionals underestimating us and then Patrick Bamford died, and it got worse! I must out myself as a huge glutton for punishment as I stayed as long as I could and now dont even know if any of our reccomendations were implemented. Good ot have you thanks for coming.

What is your atheist anthem? (Music)

jacpod comments on Apr 15, 2018:

if I can have another it would be the diggers songhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PCXnol8NGbg

What is your atheist anthem? (Music)

jacpod comments on Apr 15, 2018:

I dont know if I am joking when I say this or not but i was told by my grandmother that her father sang the red flag at his open door every evening British translation Billy Bragg's Revision[17] American version First stanza Arise, ye workers from your slumber, Arise, ye prisoners of want. For reason in revolt now thunders, and at last ends the age of cant! Away with all your superstitions, Servile masses, arise, arise! We'll change henceforth the old tradition, And spurn the dust to win the prize! So comrades, come rally, And the last fight let us face. The Internationale Unites the human race. So comrades, come rally, And the last fight let us face. The Internationale Unites the human race.

How do you tell religious people that you're an atheist?

jacpod comments on Apr 15, 2018:

I dont , what good would it do them or me its my business and as unimportant to me as anything could possibly be - An absence of soemthing is hardly newsworthy. If you are trying to stop peopel talking to you about religious stuff just have an imaginary errand to urgently run plus - I'll get back to you on that !I have been practising getting away from awkward conversations forever - My partner is from N.I and people always want to know if hes protetan tor catholic he says "Now if I told oyu that you 'd know everything about me wouldnt you? And they do shut up .

Why are we hated for hating xmas?

jacpod comments on Apr 15, 2018:

I dont advertise the fact that I dont do christmas thats my business luckily I am old enough to be hte backstop in the family the oldest member so basically I can do as I please I think if I started to ennumerate all of the things that make me weird in other peoples eyes I'd never stop so just doing what I want to do is good enough for me!

Are we all tired of being classified by a color, or what???

jacpod comments on Apr 15, 2018:

I notice colour who doesnt - I am not colour blind but it doesnt affect how I am with anybody if someoen is ok with me I ma ok with them - Lots of twisted peopel of all colours and to call white people white, is weird I am only white when I have a shock or are sick, I am sort of yellowy browny pink.

Inquiry To All

jacpod comments on Apr 15, 2018:

I am pretty choosy about who I interact with because there are always some troublesome areas - if I am feeling strong I can let them go but sometimes it just remains as a hurt I cant get rid of - I have in my past been alcoholic and also depressive but now that I have reached seventy - my metaphorical balls seem to have dropped and I have started to not suffer fools gladly but I realise that there has to be a littl ebit of give and take none of us are perfect especially me!

Why to call yourself "Atheist" instead of "Agnostic."

jacpod comments on Apr 15, 2018:

I think you'll find that there is a 'group' set up for this dicussion as so many want to talk about it. I dont know if I am in it right now but I prefer to call myself Jac.

Anyone else a huge bookworm like me?

jacpod comments on Apr 15, 2018:

yes me too I learned to read at a really young age and it was in my house very safe to have your nose in a book.(Very war damaged parents) I think it might have damaged my capacity to fit in with other children but I am never without a book to dive into - People usually leave you alone if you are reading.

I'm new here, but I've posted a few times to see what it was like and I am so floored by how amazing...

jacpod comments on Apr 15, 2018:

wow! thank you for your kindness. I do get heateed sometimes but am sure others have the sense to cool me down. (LOL)

Whats your best garage sale find?

jacpod comments on Apr 14, 2018:

I have nt ever had one.

What are some ways to fight depression?

jacpod comments on Apr 14, 2018:

I garden a fair bit and it cheers me up - I love doing things with my hands and knowing that some plants are going to come up however gung ho I am about it .

Air strikes on Syrian regime in retaliation for chemical weapon use.

jacpod comments on Apr 14, 2018:

Sounds pretty bonkers to me -Not a well thought out response but I ma quite twisted at the moment spent 2 days crying now a day being apathetic - Nothing makes any sense especially my Theresa May led government.

If ya have a moment, I'd like to know.

jacpod comments on Apr 14, 2018:

https://www.google.co.uk/search?ei=s17SWpu5GsLBgAaeiJiIDA&q=james+sit+down+next+to+me&oq=James+-+sit+down+next+to+me=psy-ab.1.0.0i30k1l6j0i5i30k1.17690.23753.0.28753.3.3.0.0.0.0.60.152.3.3.0....0...1c.1.64.psy-ab..0.1.60....0.CMkHFuQIRG0

If ya have a moment, I'd like to know.

jacpod comments on Apr 14, 2018:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bKgM8MRot9Y

Just formed a group where people can debate and discuss what the terms atheist and agnostic mean.

jacpod comments on Apr 14, 2018:

Good for you I always wanted this - (I dont mean to join)

Reflecting on my family life since I came out of the closet as being an Atheist almost 15 years ago ...

jacpod comments on Apr 14, 2018:

I hope that some of the compensaton for having had insensitive parenting is that you were able to take control of your own life an ddecisions -If I had staed in my abusive family I htink I would have killed myself - we survived, its enough, its good!

Great we just bombed syrIa wag the dog?

jacpod comments on Apr 14, 2018:

Apparently 70 out of the 100 missiles fired were shot down so Theresa May is in no position to gloat, also there will be an inquiry into whether she acted illegally regarding interenational law and parliamentary procedure.

Is a married human being happier than unmarried one?

jacpod comments on Apr 14, 2018:

i'd say it depends upon the human being in question I live with my best friend but we have separate flats in teh same building, I cook and sometimes clean for him and he looks after out finances and does the thinking and research about what to buy etc. we see each other at least twice a day so we have time alone and time together it works nicely.

Bombing Syria......what does everyone think about the US, UK, and France sending missiles to Syria?

jacpod comments on Apr 14, 2018:

I think that I hate Donald Trump Theresa May and Macron.

Trump just attacked Syria! Get ready for WW3

jacpod comments on Apr 14, 2018:

I was sick yeesterday I am even sicker today not really functioning ,

Great we just bombed syrIa wag the dog?

jacpod comments on Apr 14, 2018:

Theresa May dragging uk into this is barmy I have been cryng since I found out! why does ever pesky leader think we will love them more if the take us into war - Take us into peace please!!!!

Something to keep in mind.

jacpod comments on Apr 14, 2018:

Sometimes it so feels like they are though!

I just found out my best friend from college killed himself three months ago.

jacpod comments on Apr 14, 2018:

So sorry you lost a friend it is hard - dont be afraid to grieve it helps, doctiors are a a profession a risk .

Can we get some Apolitical, Secular Holidays please?

jacpod comments on Apr 13, 2018:

April fools Day is non secular, plus mothers day ,and fathers day. In Burnley Lancashire there is the day of the Nutters and also a day of the Hummers when children come into your house blacked up with soot and start humming and cleaning your house and you have to give them money to go away - plus all those cheese -rolling down a hill days I could probably think of some more in the middle of the night At halloween whci surely cant be christian people walk up Pendle Hill where the last witches were hanged.

How do you deal with Door-knockers?

jacpod comments on Apr 13, 2018:

I do as my granny did let them in make tea and biscuits and agree with everything and usually end up (because in a previous life i was a lecturer in person centred counselling) being a comfort by actively listening to their tales of woe about the church - Many of the people whom i have seen have been vulnerable adults who have me horrific stories of abuse in their church, which htey dont seem to understand thenselves & I just hope I have been humane enough when they go on their way - We have had in teh past quite a litany of sexual abuse from priests in this area and its all under wraps and no one will really tell. But i have lived in sheltered accommodation for the last eight years so its not a place people easily come to here.

Do you tell people you don't believe in god? Or let them find out?

jacpod comments on Apr 13, 2018:

Only if they ask - I live in a religious area people get off to mass every day- I dont see them being any kinder than the ones who dont go .quite the reverse actually.

Do believer friends invite you to their Church?

jacpod comments on Apr 13, 2018:

I was really upset once and went to see a friend to ask her what to do she said it didnt matter if I were religious or not but it was a very calming thing to do to go into the chapel and light a candle and you didnt have to believe anything and no one would question me - I did it and it worked and I did feel really calmer - I now light candles at home when I feel out of sorts, for the comfort for myself not for a god .

What's your favorite charity?

jacpod comments on Apr 13, 2018:

I am in the UK favourite charity is Age N.I - (Northern !realnd) I do small jobs for people washing ironing and mending they give me money and when I get to a hundred ounds I send them a cheque I dont think htey get much support, but do good work for the elderly.

What, me worry?

jacpod comments on Apr 13, 2018:

I thought I had figured it out and then got freaked out today by the Go ahead for the war with Syria- so I'd better start reconfiguring

How old were you when you had your first realization that your thoughts were private?

jacpod comments on Apr 13, 2018:

My mother was a spiritualist and I was very afraid of meeting spirits on the stairs going up to bed as the first flight had to be negotiated in the dark I always knew my thoughts were private. or it didn't register that they might not be 'I didnt have a god in my life but I did have ultra wacky intrusive parents - I think I was about six years old when I realised my parents were not the same as those of other kids in the street My mum was manic and my father depressive. Both my brother and i just went out and stayed out till dusk

When folks say "I can't eat vegan because.

jacpod comments on Apr 13, 2018:

I grew up vegetarian (My mother was veggie) ;and enormously faddy wouldn't eat anything that wasn't the same texture all the way through and wouldn't eat anything on my plate that had touched anything else on my plate and would stop eating if my older brother pinched something off my plate . Then I was vegan for many years and then coming up to seventy decided to start to eat white fish fillets because my joints were going - I am less faddy these days. Sometimes I go along with the idea that its all about control. I make rules about eating - I' not skinny - look well fed enough but I guess food is one of the things you can play about with and have likings and antipathies about without upsetting anyone else. Yes my partner is mostly vegan -

Do you have compassion for the believers?

jacpod comments on Apr 13, 2018:

No I dont think so - I am friends with quite a few believers but we stay off that topic and talk about other thigns if it becomes religious I get off . I dont have compassion, that would seem patronising to me - I respect their right to have a sky god and just dont want to be bothered talking about some thing that doesnt interest me in any way - It is often quite hard to be atheist amongst groups of believers so it works both ways.

Who cares? It's just stuff!

jacpod comments on Apr 13, 2018:

I have stuff but mainly stuff I have made myself( apart from computer stuff) tehse days i buy books from thrift schops nad give them back after I have read them to be resold which helps. I also only have two rooms apart from vonveniences and airing cupboards so that also helps especially as the freezer is in my bedroom - Most of of the other stuff is origami and wool - pens pencils rubbers seewing machine etc. Most of my stuff doesnt really fit inot any category so i have three pencil sharpeners in one drawer drives me crazy but i dont know of any way to make it simpler.

What are your thoughts on banned books?

jacpod comments on Apr 13, 2018:

I remember reading a true story about a book that was banned 'The sorrows of young Werther' in l775 .The hero kills himself due to unrequited love and it set off a chain reaction in real life of young men reading it and copycatting -

A question of perception

jacpod comments on Apr 13, 2018:

I dont get this much - because maybe I dont have friends who would quiz me in this way - your story actually did make me laugh because I could imagine it - It does rather sound as if these people are a bit 2 dimensional and are needing to live a safe life. I dont really think life has a purpose I think I am purposeful in the minutes - and so give my life purpose; So I am writing this now its thought out -purposeful; next I will be making purposeful dinner for my friend and I then I will do some shopping and gardening and washing - all purposeful - If there actually was a man called Jesus without the hype he would have needed a bit of dinner - I think I try to make the ordinary special because I do mostly the same things every day and its really up to me to make them purposeful and count it does at the end of hte day make me feel happy to see a weeded bed finished or a dinner plate washed up. Its enough!

Where were you when you realized you were an atheist?

jacpod comments on Apr 13, 2018:

At free school I was about four years old there were about eight of us and one of the things we did was recite the creed together every morning I had never learned it as my family are all athiests and strangely the meaning of the creed was never explained to us - I cant tell you how weird it was I remember that I had a very loud vioice so everyone could tell what bits I remembered. I liked the 'suffered under pontius Pilate' because my dad was a Pilot in the RAF and I imagined him shooting down enemy planes which he did in the war which ended when I was minus three years old . Apart from that, which I thought was just a poem about my dad I was free to learn anythting I wanted - Books were my thing and I read a lot and the characters were very 3D to me, they were my frends - I went to Sunday school a few times with friends who asked me to go with them but found it too boring and the stories structulreless and wanted to get back to real stories so i have never had use of a god .

I’m starting to think it takes as much self hypnosis to not believe as it does to believe.

jacpod comments on Apr 13, 2018:

I think there is a distinct difference betwen people who were never asked to believe and didnt nad those who were introduced to it and gave up - Not ever having had a god is just simple - no problem just live your life best way you can. Morality is a choice- I think most of the soul searching and debating about terms for 'godlessness' is in it s own way a hangover from a religious past.

What are your thoughts on Faith?

jacpod comments on Apr 13, 2018:

I dont really think about it much because I am not sure I have any - Everybody in my early life abused me or let me down, so I gave up on people. I certainly dont have faith in most people. I dont need to trust because i learned to look out for myself . I wouldnt say I am strong but I am certainly self sufficient and dont see why I would blindly trust anyone with anything that is precious to me.

Chronic Pain.