Is it possible to be an atheist and not even try to be?

wordywalt comments on Nov 27, 2017:

Your experience is ery similar to mine. Many years ago, by the time I was 15, I had read the Bible from cover to cover 3 times. Each time, I saw more and more things that simply did not make sense. By the end of the 3rd time, as I finished Revelations, I came to see it was the bizarre rants of a raving lunatic. I also did not like feeling like a sinner for having normal thoughts, feelings and urges. That began the journey to independence. I never tried to become an atheist. It was the natural evolution of a thinking person.

Karl Marx Was Right ..Religion Is The Opiate of The People?

wordywalt comments on Nov 27, 2017:

Opiates do not drive people to kill. They stiltify them

My friends are now saying .

wordywalt comments on Nov 27, 2017:

That would anger me. I would say to them: "My decisions are mine to make and mine alone. While you might not agree, if you are my friend you must respect my right to make that decision." and

When a friend is going through a difficult time many people say things like 'sending prayers, my ...

wordywalt comments on Nov 27, 2017:

I would say, "I feel for you. Please let me know if you would like to talk about it, or if you need a helping hand..:

Hey. Is it really necessary to organize a naming ceremony for your kids?

wordywalt comments on Nov 27, 2017:

No. In fact, most people do not have such ceremonies.

Climate change deniers...this is the final straw!

wordywalt comments on Nov 27, 2017:

Only three groups are denying climate change: (1) the greedy who want to profit from fossil fuels and the extractive industries, and (2) mindless people who let demagogues control their minds, and (3) self-serving, conscienceless politicians.

Karl Marx Was Right ..Religion Is The Opiate of The People?

wordywalt comments on Nov 27, 2017:

Religion is not the opiate of the people. Marx was wrong. Religion is the seductive scammer and controller of people. It does not lull them into apathy, but drives them into activism in the wrong direction.

How do you feel about burn survivors and amputees ? (Pic unrelated)

wordywalt comments on Nov 27, 2017:

I feel sorry for what they had to go through. I feel proud of hem if they do not let the injury mar their image of themselves.

Why dosn't the USA Split

wordywalt comments on Nov 27, 2017:

If the US were to split, my home would be in one of the states that split off due to the areas that seceded due to ethnocentirism, outright racism, and religiosity. I would rather fight than give them the stamp of legitimacy. Morality and principles are worth fighting for.

Energy Cannot Naturally Be Created or Destroyed! isn't this scientific principle proof of Eternity?!

wordywalt comments on Nov 26, 2017:

It could be. We have no proof of any beginning or end to the universe.

The real question of interest isn't whether there's a God.

wordywalt comments on Nov 26, 2017:

The anwer is HELL NO!! We MUST NOT allow them to legislate their theology into law. We must resist that by all legal and moral means possible!!

How many in the Resistance fully understand that we are now in the surreal position of needing to ...

wordywalt comments on Nov 26, 2017:

I hope that most do. It is going to take a lot of people willing to take risks and pursue a number of vigorous us actions! We can and MUST do it!!

do you agree with christian conservatives on some things ?

wordywalt comments on Nov 26, 2017:

Damned few, if any!

How do you feel about obscene language?

wordywalt comments on Nov 26, 2017:

Gratuitous obscenity bothers. One can accomplish the same thing with a good "damn" or "hell".

Does time travel exist?

wordywalt comments on Nov 26, 2017:

Theoretically, it could be possible, but is extremely unlikely. No, I do not believe that time travel has ever occurred.

Has anyone among y'all actually ever converted a believer into an agnostic/atheist?

wordywalt comments on Nov 26, 2017:

No one is "converted". Becoming an atheist is a choice one makes for himself or herself.

Sunday mornings Have a new meaning for me! Guys it's GRRRREAT as Tony the tiger once said to hang ...

wordywalt comments on Nov 26, 2017:

I agree wholeheartedly! I can remember being out on a lake fishing on Sundays, communing with nature and listening to classical music and thinking. " I am so glad that I do not have to waste the beauty of this day in church."

What are your views on marriage and its association to Religion?

wordywalt comments on Nov 26, 2017:

Marriage should be a cultural rite independent of religion. Religions have come to try to use it to breed a captive audience.

Ever feel like you’re just in a boat drifting off somewhere without a destination in mind?

wordywalt comments on Nov 26, 2017:

I did as an early adult, because I did not know where I was going or why, We all need a dream.

Is America (USA) mostly of Christian population?

wordywalt comments on Nov 26, 2017:

Now, yes. But, the trend is slowly downward.

Do you seek out other skeptics/ atheists?

wordywalt comments on Nov 26, 2017:

Not generally. But, I am pleasantly surprised when I encounter one or more.

Hello Mayor! You can change any 3 things about the city you live in. What are they?

wordywalt comments on Nov 26, 2017:

1. Transportation -- too damned many cars and traffic congestion. Years ago I lived in Berlin Germany for a few years and that city had a superb transportation system -- busses, subways, elevated trains and most of the time one did not need a car. 2. Lots of open green space -- people need that for a variety of reasons. 3. Integrity and honesty in government.

Monogamy and evolution

wordywalt comments on Nov 26, 2017:

I think that your assertions are off base. I believe that marriage arose as a device to protect women and children, not as some evolutionary device. But, unfortunately men and cultures have too often turned marriage into a means of dominating and diminishing women. A good marriage does protect women and children -- and benefit our society and evolution.. Conversely, a bad marriage can be destructive to all.

Why does evil exist?

wordywalt comments on Nov 26, 2017:

Evil does not exist in and of itself. It is the impact of decisions and actions that is sometimes evil. Any time that one chooses to act in a manner which harms people and/or the environment, he is acting in an evil manner.

When religious piety is used for political advantage in the discourse of our society, what is the ...

wordywalt comments on Nov 26, 2017:

By pointing the cynical and false use of religion to gain political advantage on one hand, and by making the making the person stay on topic with relevant fact-based arguments.

Can a 2nd grader be unpatriotic?

wordywalt comments on Nov 26, 2017:

I don't think that a second-grader (or many adults) really understand what patriotism really means. I understand your behavior. I learned earlier on to fight only he battles that really need fighting and that it does not pay to fight city hall head-on. It gives one the space to be quietly independent.

The day i finally gave up religion was the day i actually felt what freedom is!!

wordywalt comments on Nov 26, 2017:

I agree. And, I also recognized that I -- and no one else- am responsible for my own choices and behaviors and their consequences -- a burden a was and still am more than willing to take on.

What should I do when I get threaten with going to Hell?

wordywalt comments on Nov 26, 2017:

I would respond that the only hell that exists is the senseless pain experienced on earth by cruel and thoughtless people -- and often by highly judgmental ultra-religious people.

What does anybody think of John Lennox?

wordywalt comments on Nov 26, 2017:

Who is John Lennox? I have never heard of him.

Is war always a bad decision?

wordywalt comments on Nov 26, 2017:

Sometimes it is the lesser of evils, but the only moral choice. The fact is, most of our moral choices are not between absolute goods and absolute evils, but between competing values. As an example, I believe that our entering World War II was our only choice if we did not want Nazi and imperial Japanese aggression to rule our world.

Why are there so many people in the USA ready to condemn an agnostic or atheist in questioning the ...

wordywalt comments on Nov 26, 2017:

Because belief in God constitutes the core of their belief system. Take that away and they have nothing -- or that is the way they see it. They cannot tolerate that possibility.

I have no need to convert people to the same way of thinking as me.

wordywalt comments on Nov 25, 2017:

he tightly knit group within a congregation use others to constantly reinforce the :true believer" adherence to the dogma. On one hand, the belonging attracts people and group dynamics holds them.

As a civilization are we de evolving?

wordywalt comments on Nov 25, 2017:

It is frightfully possible. Unless we can stop the moral rot and corruption in our politics, blunt the evangelical Christian drive for political power, stop the buying of politicians by big money, the arms industry and the energy extraction industry, our culture is in deep trouble. We must begin concerted action to stop this now, keep up the pressure, and not let up.

It is not that I enjoy watching the news these last several troubling years, it is that I fear not ...

wordywalt comments on Nov 25, 2017:

I am also watching the new closely, mainly hoping that the news will be like Watergate in 1974 -- a new shoe dropping nearly every day leading to impeachment. The news about what is happening in the Neuller investigations keeps feeding my hope that Trump will be impeached and hopefully also imprisoned and that we will be rid of his entire damnable cabal. What I fear is (2) what damage the sociopath can do in the meantime, and *2( the deep dread that the SOB could even get away with his crimes. That would be the worst future possible.

Isn't Heaven evil when you really think about it?

wordywalt comments on Nov 25, 2017:

Yes, the idea of heaven has some built-in contradictions. But, as heaven does not exist, really don't care about that. Incidentally, Mark Twain once said, "heaven is said to be a place where people are constantly being good and striving to be even better. If that ain't hell, I don't know what is."

Over the past few years I've had the opportunity to become friends with a wide range of individuals.

wordywalt comments on Nov 25, 2017:

Your mother was probably trying to protect you from unwanted sexual exploitation. But, overall, her advice was bad. A number of my best and enduring friends have been women and I never tried to hit on any of them. Also what matters in friendship is not age, but intelligence, shared interests and values, and ability to open and honest with each other.

I don't think we should get all offended when someone challenges our intelligence.

wordywalt comments on Nov 25, 2017:

We all need to have our thoughts and beliefs challenged. It helps us to strengthen and improve them , to improve and clarify our reasoning. We should all relish a good, friendly challenge.

What kind of catalyst are we waiting on to change the human thought process and brain activity to ...

wordywalt comments on Nov 25, 2017:

I would recommend that you do some study of human cognition, social psychology, culture, enculturation. You tend to write global, utopian questions but show little understanding of the concepts in the topics above.

Have we limited love entirely?

wordywalt comments on Nov 25, 2017:

I find it difficult to interpret your statements. Please write with more precision, clarity, and directness.

How well do you know the enemy?

wordywalt comments on Nov 25, 2017:

William_Mary's depiction of communism is very inaccurate. He has obviously not read the original source documents of communism -- Marx, Engels, Trotsky, Mao -- on which communism was based.. The communist movement in Russia and Eastern Europe DID follow the Marxist model and it was a tyrannical system which would never have evolved into the communist utopia they depicted. He also has never read THE NEW CLASS by Milovan Djilas, the greatest analysis of communism ever written. Djilas was a commynist leader in Yugoslavia who became disillusioned with the ideology when he saw its flaws in design and implementation. Anyone who depicts it as a potentially good is simply ignorant of the facts.

What do you want for Christmas?

wordywalt comments on Nov 25, 2017:

A quiet day with my wife, maybe a little classical music - like Max Bruch's Violin Concerto No. 1 in G Minor performed by Schlomo Minsk.

Not trying to generalize, but to you agree, do you think religion is a mental illness?

wordywalt comments on Nov 25, 2017:

Not normally, but extreme religiousity comes close.

If god is all knowing than how can he have free will if he already knows what's going to happen?

wordywalt comments on Nov 25, 2017:

A good point of inconsistency!

How would you go about making our government more representative of the majority of the middle class...

wordywalt comments on Nov 25, 2017:

You can bet your bottom dollar that it would be a damned sight better!!

Sarcasm: If you are sarcastic, do you find that it often turns into a double-edged sword?

wordywalt comments on Nov 25, 2017:

Yes. There are times that the human costs were not worth the sarcasm.

Why do parents undervalue their own children?

wordywalt comments on Nov 25, 2017:

Not all parents undervalue their children. I am sorry to hear that you had to endure that.

I have trouble sleeping can any one recommend a drug-less cure....?

wordywalt comments on Nov 25, 2017:

I find that enough physical exertion to make me tired usually gets to sleep quickly.

Join my church! It is the Church of Non-Arseholiness.

wordywalt comments on Nov 25, 2017:

I want no part of any church of any ilk. I am a moral atheist and do not need any dogma or moral support to maintain my morality. It is -- and should be -- an individual RESPONSIBILITY.

Women and atheism

wordywalt comments on Nov 25, 2017:

I would not think so. If I were a women who is being told who and what she should be, I would rebel. It might be a hard path, but I would be motivated to follow a path of my own.

I’ve never been a believer.

wordywalt comments on Nov 25, 2017:

I am not sure what they mean by deconvertsion. It is not a phrase in my vocabulary.

If you find yourself in a box, how do you get out?

wordywalt comments on Nov 25, 2017:

That is a hard question to answer with specificity. I have found myself in many boxes or binds over time. In each, I have tried to interpret the situation and what causes and draw up a quick plan of action to resolve the situation to my satisfaction while maintaining my integrity. My exact actions have varied hugely, depending on the situation.

Hello logical thinkers, thoughts on veganism? Yes/No. Heck yeah/why not?

wordywalt comments on Nov 25, 2017:

To each his or her own.

Religion has killed and is killing people of this world, and they do it in the name of their faith.

wordywalt comments on Nov 25, 2017:

I will be damned if I will keep my opinions to myself! I will always oppose human actions and ideologies which fail to treat ALL humans -- and our environment -- with dignity and respect.!

What does coincidence in your life mean to you and how do you deal with it?

wordywalt comments on Nov 25, 2017:

We, each, are single actors in a huge system of trillions of actors, variables, and forces. A characteristic of all huge scale systems is bounded chaos. That is, we will never be able to predict, with absolute accuracy or certainty which variables and forces will affect us at any given time. So, coincidence has played a role in each of our lives on many occasions. How do you deal with it? I try to predict situations and plan for them, but when different circumstances appear, I try to read the situation quickly and adapt accordingly.

How well do you know the enemy?

wordywalt comments on Nov 25, 2017:

It is important to understand the ideology with which y9ou disagree and to understand what there is about that ideology which attracts and holds people. Having grown up in religion and in a bible belt culture, I understand the ideology and the pull. I took the same approach with Communism (another flawed total system ideology). I read Marx, Engels, Lenin, Trotsky Mao and a telling critique of communism by one of its own adherents who became disillusioned.

Do you agree one of the following three conditions is true?

wordywalt comments on Nov 25, 2017:

Deists would disagree with you on your third option. According to them, God created everything and set it in motion, then went hands-off.

Do you say "Bless You" when someone sneezes?

wordywalt comments on Nov 24, 2017:

Mo. I say, ""Gesundheit!"

What would you do?

wordywalt comments on Nov 24, 2017:

I would say,, "if this is what you want, I wish you joy and satisfaction. Please remember the Hippocratic oath for doctors: "Do no harm!"

A Few Love Quotes.

wordywalt comments on Nov 24, 2017:

Quotes worthy of attention.

Do feel the need to justify your non religious thoughts by saying your a moral, good person who ...

wordywalt comments on Nov 24, 2017:

No. As a human being, one cannot be without thoughts of what is right and/or moral -- religion or not. I simply belief in the existential point of view that we are all responsible for our decisions and actions and their consequences, because -- in each case -- we could have chosen otherwise. That being the case, I believe in the moral basis of minimal violation of human dignity.

I wish i could express my opinion without being chastised by my Christian friends

wordywalt comments on Nov 24, 2017:

I feel free to discuss everything -- science, politics, art, philosophy, history, etc, etc -- openly with others and don't mind a good, productive argument. But I never discuss religion with a general population as one cannot discuss rationally with one who stays in the world of irrationality.

Hi fellow agnostics and atheists.

wordywalt comments on Nov 24, 2017:

The more fundamentalistic and/or evangelical the person's religious beliefs, the more they disbelieve science as their beliefs involved too much magical, superstitious their thinking is. They are so committed to a fixed dogma that they live in a world of irrationality.

I hope I'm not being redundant in that I haven't searched to see if this topic has come up before, ...

wordywalt comments on Nov 24, 2017:

I had never heard of the phrase "civil religion." I guess that I feel that we can honor the worthy aspects of our history and culture without involving religion. That is what I would prefer.

The Halo Effect: Do you have a bias towards beautiful people?

wordywalt comments on Nov 24, 2017:

That depends on how you define attractive or beautiful people. There are more than a few physically attractive and well-dressed people that I would not trust "any further than I can throw a bull by its horns." People's behavior -- verbal and non-verbal -- tells me a lot.

As I have said on previous posts, I am new to the world of atheism.

wordywalt comments on Nov 24, 2017:

Don't worry about it. When they are ready to receive that information, you will give. I never said directly to my parents that I am an atheist, but I declined to go to church, declined to pray, and never talked about religion as an adult. I can still remember when I (with my two young daughters and wife)was visiting my parents one Christmas, my father said to me: "Do you want to go to church with me, son? I said no. He said, "I worry about your soul" I answered, "You worry about my soul. I worry about feeding my family.' The conversation ended. We never talked about religion again.

I feel I must qualify the statement I made about the old gods I do believe there were entities that ...

wordywalt comments on Nov 24, 2017:

I respect your right to believe that, but just like reliion: I would need proof to believe it and I see no proof

If Jesus came back today, what would you do?

wordywalt comments on Nov 24, 2017:

I don't speculate on impossibilities.

Isn't it so annoying when a religious person tells you," you're taking it out of context?"

wordywalt comments on Nov 24, 2017:

Turn the argument back to him o her by asking, "Explain. In what way am I taking that out of context.?" Challenge the challenger.

What kind of posts do you prefer?

wordywalt comments on Nov 24, 2017:

To each his own, but be prepared that the response may not always be positive.

Can both Diocese be correct

wordywalt comments on Nov 24, 2017:

Marriage is a rite or social convention. It is neither right or wrong. The acceptance of gay marriage is not an issue of right or wrong. It is simply a question of whether or not s society is mature enough to allow it.

Got into a heated argument more than once about Hitler, Stalin and Mao Zedong killing millions of ...

wordywalt comments on Nov 24, 2017:

Their statements are absolutely false. Hitler never claimed to be an atheist. He was simply a an egomaniacal sociopath. Lenin, Stalin, and Mao all swapped a religious total system ideology for a political one -- communism. At total system ideology is one which purports to include and explain everything. All total system ideologies -- political and religious -- are deeply flawed and have a history of persecuting non-believers. Christians have slaughtered tense of thousands of people in pogroms, crusades, religious wars, and inquisitions. Their religious hands are not clean.

What does this community think of the role of the military in our country?

wordywalt comments on Nov 24, 2017:

President Eisenhower warned us years ago of the growing power of the military-industrial complex. He was right. But the real culprits are the big-money arms industry and the corrupt politicians they bankroll -- particularly, but not solely Republicans. I say this as a cold war veteran.

You know I personally feel that the Bible-Old Testament is probably the greatest piece of fiction ...

wordywalt comments on Nov 24, 2017:

The bible is largely cultural mythology. The old testament was written to foster the image of the Jewish people as God's chosen people and to promote the surrounding theology. The New Testament was written totally to promote and enshrine Christianity.

I’m soon to start a career in Medicine as a physician.

wordywalt comments on Nov 24, 2017:

I agree entirely with your concerns. Please try to have the caring and respectful directness to teel your patents (when needed) that they are being damned fools, when they are. I will never forget a daring and blunt doctor I had who was a survivor of the Bataan death march. Also, please join forces with all forces you can to blunt the greed of the pharmaceutical companies. The best of luck! Do good!

Temporary non-believers

wordywalt comments on Nov 24, 2017:

Particularly evangelical Christianity is obsessed with sex and has a love, hate relationship with it. They see sex as original sin and are preoccupied with adultery, homosexuality, pre-marital sex, masturbation, abortion -- anything that has to do with sex. On the other hand, evangelical churches have a long history of ministers using their status and charisma to prey on girls and women, philandering, using prostitutes. The overall effect is to keep sex on the mind and tempts them to want to sample the forbidden fruit. In other words, there is a lot of religious and moral hypocrisy in the evangelical churches.

Greed: Is it good or bad?

wordywalt comments on Nov 24, 2017:

Surely you are kidding when you ask that question. Any thinking and moral person already knows the only moral answer.

Mental: How do you mentally prepare for a race?

wordywalt comments on Nov 24, 2017:

You actually walk the course. Then you visualize yourself at particular points in the race and develop tactics for maximizing your performance in the race. You also visualize what the physical tolls are at any particular point and steel yourself for the price you are going to have to pay. You know when you are going to need an extra burst and when you are just going to have to grind your teeth and push on.

How do humans perceive the world.

wordywalt comments on Nov 24, 2017:

Your question is a contrived one. We interact with the physical world and use those interactions to construct cognitive patterns and maps. We also derive schema or tactics for interacting with our world. But, many things intervene in those interactions -- chemical imbalances in our own bodies, cultural norms and beliefs which we have internalized, our past experiences, the patterns of meaning we have already constructed. the effectiveness of our cognitive schema, etc. Of course reality affects us, but our perception of that reality is never entirely truly accurate.

How do you handle grief?

wordywalt comments on Nov 24, 2017:

We all have to cope with grief within ourselves. We feel pain and loss, but we pick up and move on. Over time the pain lessens and we realize that we have a treasury of memories of that person we can and do enjoy calling upon.

Thanksgiving is over and now begins the winter of my discontent.

wordywalt comments on Nov 24, 2017:

I simply don't get involved in the holiday hype. My family and I no longer exchange presents. I do not send Christmas cards. My normal thoughts and activities do not change. As an adult, I have always said that hristmas is for kids.

To you, what is the difference between being lonely and being alone. No platitudes, please.

wordywalt comments on Nov 24, 2017:

Being alone is the feeling of being isolated or by oneself. One can be alone in a crowd. But, being alone is sometimes good: It leads one to rely on oneself and take the initiative to do things that need to be done. I also enjoy being alone with my own thoughts. Being lonely is the feeling of missing human contact in general, or specific person.

Anyone ever wonder why they have to exist.

wordywalt comments on Nov 24, 2017:

Every living organism faces problems which it must address if it is to survive. Why should we be any different?

I recently came to this forum considering myself to be an atheist.

wordywalt comments on Nov 23, 2017:

Two men Oliver and Shaver,wrote, in the 1960s and 1970s about an approach to moral decision-making with which I agree. The moral decision we have to make are seldom between absolute rights and absolute wrongs. Rather, they between relative goods or lesser evils. The question is what should be the basis for making choices between comparative or competing goods, and bad and worse choices. Their answer, with which I agree, is the concept of minimal violation of human dignity -- that which does the least damage to the quality of life of human beings. I would recommend that approach.

Do you agree with the Castle Doctrine?

wordywalt comments on Nov 23, 2017:

LaPierre is a ultra-greedy, manipulative, lying demagogue who has long since sold out == in totality-- to the gun industry. Nothing this man says is to EVER be believed?? I say as a gun own (although I would never own a pistol, assault rifle, or any automatic weapon who was rated "expert" with an M-1 rifle in the US Army. I oppose those weapons, gun shows, open carry, and concealed weapons carry. They all threaten the safety of our society.

Tired of our government being run by radical Evangelicals.

wordywalt comments on Nov 23, 2017:

Let's work together to do something about it!! Lay on the heat and keep pouring it on!!

Has your life changed since losing religion?

wordywalt comments on Nov 23, 2017:

It gives me the freedom to explore thoughts and actions which religion discourages.

Join the club - video

wordywalt comments on Nov 23, 2017:

Love it!

There have been people in my life who, to present memory, can seem obscure, and yet, upon ...

wordywalt comments on Nov 23, 2017:

Each of us will live on in the effects which our words and deeds have had on others, whether they remember us or not. In turn, that will effect others with whom they come into contact. That is both a big burden and a deeply gratifying thought.

How could you prevent your child from becoming brainwashed by religion?

wordywalt comments on Nov 23, 2017:

If it is important to you that your child be raised with independence of thought, you will have to do several things. First, you will have to model such independence. Second, you must always tell your child that he or she has choices as to what to believe and not everything he or she is told is true Third, you will have to trust your child. I made it clear to my daughters what I believe, but I also told them that whether or not they chose to believe in any religion was up to them. Both of them did sometimes attend church with friends. Today both are agnostics or atheists, as are their children. If it is important to you, and if you fiancée would not allow this to occur, perhaps you need to think about your relationship again.

This question cropped up on Quora today and I thought it would be appropriate to post it and my ...

wordywalt comments on Nov 23, 2017:

One can have feelings of gratitude in general, without directing them toward any one point of entity.

One of our community stated that he envisioned that at some point all the universes would compact ...

wordywalt comments on Nov 23, 2017:

Why must there be a creator? Why must there be a beginning and an end to all things?

Has your life changed since losing religion?

wordywalt comments on Nov 23, 2017:

It is much richer and fulfilling in every sense.

I Am Thankful For This Community & Admin

wordywalt comments on Nov 23, 2017:

Thank you. As I said before, you are a thoughtful and caring person.

I seems to me that Mike Pence is a serious threat to agnostic and atheist views in America - freedom...

wordywalt comments on Nov 23, 2017:

Because the Republicans and evangelical Christian leaders both genuinely lust for power and are joining forces to achieve that for both -- outright collusion.

I have been married before and I learned a lot about what makes a good relationship great and what ...

wordywalt comments on Nov 23, 2017:

I learned that the two most important things in a potential mate are personality *warm, carrying, sharing, helpful, etc) and intelligence are by far the most important things. Don't ever let a preoccupation with physical beauty cloud your judgment. Some very pretty women are entirely self-centered. Another bit of advice: Don't ever overlook something that bothers you in another person's behavior by telling yourself, "I can change that later." The only behavior you are ever going to change is your own.

Do you think religions were crucial part of human evolution ?

wordywalt comments on Nov 23, 2017:

Only in the sense that they are obstacles to natural evolution. That is religions prevent us from acting in truly natural and adaptive manners in dealing with our environment.

Time is the greatest enemy of all God(s).

wordywalt comments on Nov 23, 2017:

You may be right that people eventually wise up that the claims of a specific religion are false. The question is: Will our species ever wise up enough to stop inventing new religions?

I spent years searching and a few years as a Christian before I finally, uncomfortably, admitted I ...

wordywalt comments on Nov 23, 2017:

We all need to nourish the aesthetic empathetic and humane, moral and intellectual aspects of ourselves. We also need to build the cognitive structures and schema which add meaning to our lives. I think that is what you are talking about. I don't and won't call it "soul."

To the Theists here...

wordywalt comments on Nov 23, 2017:

That is exactly the reason religions arose.

How do you deal with people who believe The Noah’s Ark story to be a true word for word recounting...

wordywalt comments on Nov 23, 2017:

I would simply say the following and walk away: " You can choose to believe anything you want to, but all of the historical, geological, and cultural evidence of the world says that Noah's ark is sheer myth."