Today is my lucky day! The checker looked concerned and said, "Oh dear, is this alright?

Fernapple comments on Nov 22, 2019:

Did you tell her that every bar code she scans has 666 at the end, as a stop reading instruction for the computer. It may be an urban myth but would she care.

Bad habit: self-defeating but so delicious. What's yours?

Fernapple comments on Nov 22, 2019:

If that is your worst bad habit, you should be running a retreat for aesthetics.

I can no longer post pics from my Android phone to this site.

Fernapple comments on Nov 22, 2019:

A lot of people are finding it difficult now. There has for one thing been a size limit put on how big the photos put on this site may be, you could try making them smaller.

What a difference a day makes....

Fernapple comments on Nov 22, 2019:

No, we are catching it here in the UK too.

Yup fantasy

Fernapple comments on Nov 22, 2019:

On Children by Kahlil Gibran "Your children are not your children. They are the sons and daughters of Life’s longing for itself. They come through you but not from you, And though they are with you they belong not to you. You may give them your love but not your thoughts, For they have their own thoughts. You may house their bodies but not their souls, For their souls dwell in the house of tomorrow, which you cannot visit, not even in your dreams. You may strive to be like them, but seek not to make them like you. For life goes not backward nor tarries with yesterday. You are the bow from which your children as living arrows are sent forth."

We have one of the many underused chat rooms--we need to get in there and dust it out.

Fernapple comments on Nov 22, 2019:

I have never really seen that you can do anything in a chatroom, that you can not do better, with more time and thought, in post and comment.

Did the Aztecs ever take the Spanish for the returning deity Quetzalcoatl?

Fernapple comments on Nov 22, 2019:

Sounds very true. How quickly real history and political truth, degenerate into propaganda and myth within only a lifetime. Makes you wonder about other populist writings does it not. (For any theists reading, that last sentence is called, 'irony'. )

How can some one explain how great humans have being transformed to sheep? I don’t understand

Fernapple comments on Nov 21, 2019:

Hello and welcome. Enjoy the site, it will certainly answer your question, and if you have time do check out the groups, there is something for everyones interests.

Deer masks at Star Carr, what were they for? [united-cats.com]

Fernapple comments on Nov 21, 2019:

Yes I was pleased that it ends in what I would call healthy skepticism. All too often people follow the, there is no evidence therefore my idea must be right route. But the on this site, that is perhaps taking to the converted.

Well, there are 100,000 members now according to the top level stats.

Fernapple comments on Nov 21, 2019:

I think that freedom from religion and the confidence to identify as secular, are certainly growing. However I also think, that this site will tend to grow or fail on its own merits, and does not therefore reflect wider trends that much. There are many other on line places where secular people can meet, after all.

16th November 1581.

Fernapple comments on Nov 21, 2019:

He started off very well and for a long time was a good leader to the Russians, but he seems to have had a mental breakdown following the death of his wife. With whom it was said he was obsessed. Which led to his slow decline and increasingly violent and unpredictable behavior, which eventually earned him the Terrible nickname.

An atheist friend forwarded the following post from an "Native American Elder and retired Episcopal ...

Fernapple comments on Nov 21, 2019:

Honesty, that's rare.

An Ottoman supply train still resting where it was ambushed by Lawrence of Arabia 103 years ago on ...

Fernapple comments on Nov 21, 2019:

Great shot whatever the history.

Evolution FAILS in the Human Body [youtube.com]

Fernapple comments on Nov 20, 2019:

If we are made in the image of god. God needs to see a doctor.

In another post, I just saw the sentence, "God will never give you more than you can handle.

Fernapple comments on Nov 20, 2019:

Nobody wriggles, squirms and flaps around an ethical and logical problem, like a theist, there is no hole too small dark and dirty they will not squeeze through to avoid stepping out into the light. I love to watch them jumping though hoops.

Anybody else open their homes to wildlife in the winter? [lovepaws.info]

Fernapple comments on Nov 20, 2019:

Smart deer.

Anybody else open their homes to wildlife in the winter? [lovepaws.info]

Fernapple comments on Nov 20, 2019:

Yes many times. Many years ago we had a hedgehog wander into the house one night, and it spent and hour or two on the rug in front of the fire. A strange thing however has happened in resent years here in the UK. ( Resent = since my youth, forty plus years. ) We used to have a very common species of mouse called the house mouse, because it often lived in people homes. It does not however seem to like modern houses, perhaps because there are few holes in the brick and wood work, and also it may not like central heating. So that it is becoming quite rare, and is certainly not seen in houses very often these days. Yet we now find that wood mice which used to be very shy of coming into homes, are now coming in in ever greater numbers, certainly the last two I saw were wood mice. The wood mouse is a lot prettier and does less damage, yet it is sad to think that the house mouse is on its way out.

Secretive energy startup backed by Bill Gates achieves solar breakthrough [edition.cnn.com]

Fernapple comments on Nov 20, 2019:

Very interesting story thank you. But I could not resist a smile when I read the line. "Cement, for instance, is used to make the concrete required to build homes, hospitals and schools." Aliens from exactly which planet are intended as the readers ?

Watch this young woman destroy the ark encounter: [youtube.com]

Fernapple comments on Nov 20, 2019:

I really like this young person, not for taking apart the ark encounter, that's not all that hard. But the shameless way that she manages to repeatedly plug, "my book". There is nothing with so much charm as earnest young enterprise. And she will probably need to sell several of them to pay the, eye watering, cost of those Ark Encounter tickets. Best way to make anyone believe religion is a money making rip off, get them to buy the tickets. LOL

An important distinction. [youtube.com]

Fernapple comments on Nov 20, 2019:

Good point and well worth making. Only wish that perhaps there could have been a better tag to hang the, very real, observations about human relations on, than the definitions of two words, which are very vague and subjective words anyway.

Grow food not lawns.

Fernapple comments on Nov 20, 2019:

Lawn has to be the most expensive garden you can have, in every term you could imagine. Requiring the highest carbon footprint, the most time and effort, the highest chemical inputs and giving the lowest returns to both humans and wildlife. It is truly criminal that such things should be enshrined in the law of some countries.

For some reason this site won't let me upload photos any more.

Fernapple comments on Nov 19, 2019:

Just make them smaller, its a size limit.

What about the good parts?

Fernapple comments on Nov 19, 2019:

Yes there are many good parts to many religions, such as christianity, and you can cherry pick them out if you wish. But you are by doing so still supporting that ideology including the bad bits, and not everyone will cherry pick so nicely, which leaves you sharing in their crimes. Why not instead choose an ideology of which there are many which does not come with the vast evil baggage.

We easily see the role of religion in trying to alter human behavior, so that it is tempting to see ...

Fernapple comments on Nov 19, 2019:

Monasticism does have a secular tradition, besides a religious one. Besides the many modern communities, the Epicurians in classical times established a whole range of communities, across the Roman Empire, which probably provided the inspiration for the Christian monastic tradition.

It has been almost a year since I last posted here.

Fernapple comments on Nov 18, 2019:

Hello I am a newby here compared with you, It is good to meet someone who feels the same way I do about the site.

Flat Earthers Are Whining About How Their Friends Think They’re Idiots | Hemant Mehta | Friendly ...

Fernapple comments on Nov 18, 2019:

That's very sad, but don't tell them, its a big secret, some of their none friends think they are idiots too.

Why I'm an Agnostic I'm no stranger to churches.

Fernapple comments on Nov 18, 2019:

Hello and welcome. You will find a lot of support here and a good community if you take part. Most of all you are not alone in the world, nearly everyone here shares some of your experiences. Don't worry about levels and points they come soon enough, and are there to help keep trolls out, just enjoy the site.

Hi I have just joined so i thought I would say hello from the isle of wight.

Fernapple comments on Nov 18, 2019:

Hello and welcome. There are quite a few UK members here, and even I am from Lincolnshire which is nearly in the UK, even if the rest don't agree.

A Black Hole Threw a Star Out of the Milky Way Galaxy [nytimes.com]

Fernapple comments on Nov 18, 2019:

looked really interesting but the page requires me to log in to continue reading, sorry I try to limit the cookies planted on my computer.

Im wondering how many messages i need to post before i get to level 2 .

Fernapple comments on Nov 18, 2019:

2 takes no time at all, if you just enjoy the site and take part, the levels come quickly when you are not looking.

I think more people should look into or consider investing in bio-tech so we as a species can move ...

Fernapple comments on Nov 18, 2019:

Except that it will be mainly available to the rich, and their children, creating even more of a two tier society. But it will happen anyway , you can never hold back the tide of technology, people the rich especially will find ways to cheat no matter what laws are deployed. So why not embrace it, at least if you do that the greater number will have access to some degree. Where restrictions will only inflate the price.

Leave it to the Quakers. Maybe this could solve the pronoun problem? [nytimes.com]

Fernapple comments on Nov 18, 2019:

Interesting bit of history I did not know that. And it shows that history and usage decided the matter in the end then, and they will again.

Am I wrong?

Fernapple comments on Nov 18, 2019:

A lot of country people here. I think that the site give a false impression, because there is a deliberate fudge built in to the locator and map features, based on the nearest town, so that people are not giving away their address on line. I am in the country by UK sandards, but it would not be remote by US standards.

One of my biggest gripes with the religious is with those who insist on grace before a meal, and ...

Fernapple comments on Nov 18, 2019:

In answer to your question. Yes. Though I am not sure if you can show gratitude to something like nature for example, which undoubtedly exists, unlike god, but which does not have consciousness or intent. The cooks, truckers and farmers are the best choice. There is an old British story, I don't know if you have it in the US or not, so I will risk retelling it. There was once a poor old man called John, who went round the village knocking on the doors of all the landowners. He asked if they would mind, should he dig over all the spare rough weedy corners of land, in the village, the little bits in the corners of fields, the unused bits where lanes met and at the bottoms of gardens, and so on. Most said. "Fine do as you wish." So he dug them all, putting in a great deal of labour to get rid of the weeds, trim the hedges, manured the earth and sowed seeds. Most everybody was happy to see all the untidy corners cleaned, and by mid summer he had a fine crop of vegetables, even though it was spread across twenty tiny plots. One day, as he was working on one of the bigger patches, the priest walked by and said. "Hello John. I see that with the lords help you have grown a fine crop." "Oh no" Said John. "You should have seen what it was like when the lord had it to himself."

Myth and magic - the first feminists? [theguardian.com]

Fernapple comments on Nov 18, 2019:

Interesting, and a new piece of literary history to me. But I do think that they are straw-manning the brothers Grimm, since they were not really on the same page or the same place at all.

Brand new here and hoping to meet some likeminded folks for a change in this here buckle of the ...

Fernapple comments on Nov 18, 2019:

Hello and welcome, enjoy the site. If you have time it is a good idea to check out the groups, there is something for everyone, and don't worry too much about levels they come fast when you are not looking.

Hello one and all i'm new here question.

Fernapple comments on Nov 18, 2019:

Hello and welcome enjoy the site. As to your question, you have to be more specific than that I think. Your location is entered on to a map feature, which tends to work on a roughly five mile grid. Your nearest town is best, but it is difficult for those who live on borders.

“It is amazing how complete is the delusion that beauty is goodness”..........Leo Tolstoy.

Fernapple comments on Nov 18, 2019:

Yes and I sometimes wonder about the. "Beauty is truth, truth beauty, that is all. Ye know on earth, and all ye need to know.." Of Keats. It would be nice to think it so, but I suspect that truth is just as often ugly.

Of all the things that someone could say about you, what would make you feel the best?

Fernapple comments on Nov 17, 2019:

You tried to make a contribution and it is appreciated.

Hi all! Im checking this site out to see all you heathens out there.

Fernapple comments on Nov 17, 2019:

Sorry I think we had one or two Trump supporters once, but I think they got eaten. Anyway welcome to the site, hello and enjoy.

Upload pics from ipad

Fernapple comments on Nov 17, 2019:

Site at this time can only handle small photos, make them smaller and you will be fine.

How do you like being single if you are?

Fernapple comments on Nov 17, 2019:

You have sometimes to be content with the little things in life which are good, and enjoying them alone. But it is hard to forget, ( and I don't think you should ) that good things are always ten, a thousand, times better when shared.

How is intelligence measured?

Fernapple comments on Nov 17, 2019:

Some people think that problem solving brain power, or knowledge, which can indeed be measured objectively, are measures of intelligence. But I think that real every day working intelligence, the sort which helps make you a better contributor to the world, is more complex. Involving some emotional qualities at least, such as intellectual honesty, being unwilling to accept second best answers, and unwilling to accept your own interests as a guide to truth, are perhaps even more important. Plus the power of appreciation which helps to set good values. But those things are mainly, though not completely, subjective, and perhaps overall they just mean caring. Having said which of course it is perhaps an ironic truth that. People who take an interest tend to gain knowledge, and that therefore levels of knowledge are in many ways a measure of how much you care. Which at first glance at least, seems to be against the liberal view that, ignorance is not a failing. But of course that is too simplistic a view, because it is really a failing, not of the ignorant themselves, but of those who educate and do not teach caring as a first principle. Which is a nuance, and in the end caring is all about being prepared to do nuance, and conflict is usually not being prepared to listen to nuance.

I got a 106 points to level 6, I'm tired, it's dark, and I'm not wearing sunglasses!

Fernapple comments on Nov 17, 2019:

Good. Well taking your sunglasses off in the dark, is a good start. Proves your brain is still functioning OK. Now all we have to do is find you a worthwhile hobby, so that you don't need to spend time on sites like this. LOL

Most of the world now thinks religion is the cause of the world's problems! [usnews.com]

Fernapple comments on Nov 17, 2019:

Religion is merely a symptom of greed, the lust for power and the willingness to use deceit for selfish ends, as many here have said. Yet it is perhaps the most dangerous symptom, because it allows those who use it, to claim extra supernatural authority, beyond that which they themselves could normally gain by their own abilities. Which is why of course it is the first choice of the deceiver, and the morally bankrupt.

Did Islam cause the Dark Ages?

Fernapple comments on Nov 17, 2019:

Classical culture was largely destroyed by Christianity, long before the barbarian, or the Islamic invasions began. Though in truth it was a long slow decline which went back as far as the Punic Wars at least. This is a simplistic view at best.

According to the site stats, there's nearly 100,000 registered users of this site but there's never ...

Fernapple comments on Nov 17, 2019:

I think that it is in part that they never delete an account, so that there are a lot of ghost accounts belonging to people, possibly theists, who came to take a look and then went, when once they had satisfied their curiosity. And sadly in most clubs and social groups, you will tend to find that only ten percent of members ever take part.

I think we have to think about sustainability in the broader sense as we might think about our own ...

Fernapple comments on Nov 17, 2019:

I have always gardened in the spirit of curiosity, try something and see what nature will do with it, since I came to gardening from an interest in natural history in general. A lot of the problems that people experience, come from the idea that gardening is a competitive sport, with a goal. Which is of course the way that the multi-billion pound/dollar horticultural industry wants to promote it, since that keeps people buying the products in order to keep up. If you plant cabbage seed and the butterflies eat some of the cabbage, and you see that as a lose, then you will never win. But if you plant cabbage seed and the butterflies eat all of them, but you say. "I sowed cabbage seed and harvested butterflies this season." Then you will never loose.

Hello, I am new to this community and would like to take this time to reach out and say hello to ...

Fernapple comments on Nov 16, 2019:

Hello and welcome. Enjoy the site.

How true this is!

Fernapple comments on Nov 16, 2019:

I don't know about read, but understood cover to cover yes.

Megachurch Pastor: Effort To Impeach Trump Is Effort To Impeach Christian Values | Michael Stone

Fernapple comments on Nov 16, 2019:

Yes well they should be impeached.

"I'm spiritual not religious"

Fernapple comments on Nov 16, 2019:

A lot of people on this site define it as, a feeling of awe in the face of nature. Which is a fairly specific emotion. Personally if someone tells me they are spiritual, I wonder what they will taste like, blended with some soda and a dash of lime.

Is it too early to make fun of Winter?

Fernapple comments on Nov 16, 2019:

Really love these, they are some of the best memes yet. And don't you just love it too, when the snow has melted a bit and the you get cold rain on top of the slush. Or maybe you don't get that in Michigan.

These are the kids who should get full support from the education system.

Fernapple comments on Nov 16, 2019:

There is a lot to be gained from helping the most able move the world forward, Yet there is also a lot to be gained from making sure that the least able do not move it backwards.

On the afternoon of August 1st, 1979 I received the most profound phone call of my life: I was ...

Fernapple comments on Nov 16, 2019:

Very sorry for your lose. But you are not alone, everyone in the world knew someone, now gone, who they never said, I love you, to often enough and hard enough. But we tend to know when we are loved, by the things which are not spoken.

Gardener friends--any favorite crops or varieties that are vaguely obscure and you think everyone ...

Fernapple comments on Nov 16, 2019:

Angelica, just chop the young tender stems in spring into any fruit you are cooking, no need to preserve it. Lovage for a rich celery type flavour in soups and stews. Angelica is a biennial but self sows and lovage is a tall herb, neither are difficult to grow.

Proud of this kid, wherever he is. [wfxg.com]

Fernapple comments on Nov 16, 2019:

I some times get really bored and toe curlingly embarrassed, with the constant succession of kids, being paraded out, by their far too proud teachers and parents, to parrot the shallow and banal opinions, they have been indoctrinated with about things they won't really understand for another twenty years, (If they work at it.) even when I agree with what they say, let alone when I don't. Then one like this comes along, and I have hope for the future !

Beets me why anyone would want to pray.

Fernapple comments on Nov 16, 2019:

I pea all by myself, and need no kelp doing so.

And people here think that Religion is a problem in the USA. I had not heard of this. Had you?

Fernapple comments on Nov 16, 2019:

Yes I was aware of the Nigerian "witch" problem , and I think that most people in the UK will be. I do not however know if it is known globally, and this is just an example of how remarkably closed a country the US is, or if it is just the UK where it is widely known.

A new study indicates non-believers are more intelligent than the religious, but we already knew ...

Fernapple comments on Nov 15, 2019:

Seems genuine, But it will meet a storm of false modesty on this site. LOL

As a Businessman, Trump Was the Biggest Loser of All | The New Yorker

Fernapple comments on Nov 15, 2019:

I did read when he was first put up for election, that in total, all his business ventures that he inherited, had made less than bank interest rates in his time. Which is about as failed in business as you can get without going broke. So why did all those people say, it will be great to have a business man for potus, when the qualification , "failed business man", was just waiting to be said.

Largest U.S. Christian Charity Reportedly Donated $56.1 Million to Hate Groups

Fernapple comments on Nov 15, 2019:

I really like the line. "Donor-advised funds allow individuals sending the tax deductible contributions to remain anonymous from the IRS and instruct where they want the payments to be sent." So in other words you can donate to any hate group you want, and get the tax relief, as long as you do it through a registered middle man. Wonderful world isn't it. (That's called irony, for any of the christian right who may be reading this, funny word, if you have a dictionary you can look it up. )

Freedom? In America? [friendlyatheist.patheos.com]

Fernapple comments on Nov 15, 2019:

Sorry the link does not work.

Hello world how's it hanging

Fernapple comments on Nov 15, 2019:

Hello and welcome, Enjoy the site and don't worry too much about points and levels, they come fast when you don't look.

Apparently, in order to post in the movie community, you've got to run up the score in the welcome ...

Fernapple comments on Nov 15, 2019:

Hello and welcome. It dose not take long, and the points system does protect the group against trolls, who would come here to disrupt and swamp the site.

Since when did “Black Friday” become the entire month of November?

Fernapple comments on Nov 15, 2019:

Its the same here in the UK, and I am told that even some none Christian countries like Japan do it, so there really is nowhere to escape.

"The entire capital of our bankers, merchants, manufacturers and large landowners is nothing but the...

Fernapple comments on Nov 15, 2019:

Yes but sadly for him, he forgot to add 'governments' to his list.

Largest U.S. Christian Charity Reportedly Donated $56.1 Million to Hate Groups

Fernapple comments on Nov 15, 2019:

Link does not seem to work sorry.

I am railing: Sir Rod Stewart reveals his epic model railway city [bbc.com]

Fernapple comments on Nov 15, 2019:

Beautiful, obviously a very multi-skilled man.

Just a thought.

Fernapple comments on Nov 14, 2019:

Hello and welcome. It is amazing that a new member has already understood that we like the really OLD jokes here. Enjoy the site. Do check out the groups if you have chance, there is something for everyone.

What is the difference between being religious or being spiritual. Is there a difference?

Fernapple comments on Nov 14, 2019:

Religious, you like to have your nonsense dictated to you by an authority. Spiritual, you like to make up your own as you go along. Though some people on this site like to use spiritual to mean, a feeling of awe in the face of nature. Fair enough. I like it to mean there is a lot of alchohol in the liquid.

In what order do you say your cardinal directions?

Fernapple comments on Nov 14, 2019:

Interestingly early Christian maps always had East, not north, at the top. Roughly the direction to Jerusalem from western Europe of course.

All-time, best selling work of fiction.

Fernapple comments on Nov 14, 2019:

And of course it is the King James version, perhaps the most extreme rewriting and mistranslation of them all, which is always the fundamentalists favourite. J.R.R. Tolkien wrote. "They loved books filled with things they already knew, set down fair and square without any contradictions." And especially give us our fairy tales just how we like to hear them.

I welcome the diversity on here.

Fernapple comments on Nov 14, 2019:

You can also see religion as the ultimate sales pitch. You see an advert for a car, it tells you that the car has an extra overdrive which will save you fuel. ( Perhaps true.) It also shows you good looking smart happy people, going out into really beautiful country for a picnic, hint, if you buy the car it will attract good looking smart happy friends who will want to take you out. (Perhaps false.) But it does not matter to the sales person/ advert designer, whether you buy the car for a real reason or a false one, as longs as you buy the car. With religion since god does not exist, and you don't take delivery of the main goods until after you are dead. It makes god/religion the ideal product for the seller, since it can be fitted with any feature you want, at no cost, any claims can be made for it, and if the buyers are disappointed, they certainly never ask for their money/time/effort back. Therefore what do you want? We have got it.

Article about when the concept of homosexuality was actually introduced into translations of the ...

Fernapple comments on Nov 14, 2019:

I am no expert on old languages , but the tone of the article makes it sound like contrived revisionist spin to me. Note that it starts by talking about German and other central European languages, why not Greek, Hebrew or Aramaic ? They must know that the original bible was not writen in German, so why start with a late mistranslation, unless of course you have an agenda.

Any ladies here believe in paganism?

Fernapple comments on Nov 14, 2019:

People here tend not to believe in anything. It tends to be a site site for skeptics.

This past summer I did about 250 miles of the Camino de Santiago, much/most of which followed the ...

Fernapple comments on Nov 14, 2019:

Sounds like a wonderful trip it is on my bucket list. In Britain we have a weed commonly called Ground Elder, Aegopodium podagraria, which is a widespread menace. It is not however a native, but is believed to have been brought here by the Romans as a medicinal plant, thought to cure gout especially. For which it gets its other common name of Bishop Weed.

The latest glitch doesn't allow people to post high resolution pictures.

Fernapple comments on Nov 13, 2019:

Having said that it may be true. But it is also true that 99% of the people viewing this site will be looking at it on either smart phones or laptops, neither of which will show high res anyway.

As a whole American evangelical Christianity is based on rigidly fundamentalistic and authoritarian...

Fernapple comments on Nov 13, 2019:

Yes but of course in many ways it is giving them what they want, and what they came to it for. To be told. 'You are superior, you can be as lazy as you like because we will tell you all you need to think, no effort required from you, and everything you have is yours because you are naturally good and deserve it.' The dream ticket!

Philosophy vs. Religion

Fernapple comments on Nov 13, 2019:

This came up on another post but it works here too. No religion does not provide answers, religion provides pseudo answers , because if it provided truthful honest answers, such as. "Nobody knows learn to live with that." Then people would not keep coming back for more, like any pedaler it is part of every religions remit to keep the addict coming back, and so the successful ones, provide only pseudo answers which create as many problems as they solve. Instead of saying for example, you can solve moral problems by looking into your instincts and thinking things through for yourself, and then helping to provide the skills needed to do that. Religion says, come to us with your moral problems and we will provide a ready made answer, which comes from our holy books and therefore has the extra authority of the supernatural and so will trump any arguments from other people with different opinions, plus enable you to be as lazy as you wish. ( In other words there is no need for conversation. ) And of course that means that without thought or converse with any other interested parties, and promised a happy world in which listening to dissent and thinking are not needed, the religion addict keeps coming back over and over whenever there is a moral issue. Perfect marketing, every drug dealer should go to church to learn how its done best.

What are your thoughts? [enotes.com]

Fernapple comments on Nov 13, 2019:

No religion does not provide answers, religion provides pseudo answers , because if it provided truthful honest answers, such as. "Nobody knows learn to live with that." Then people would not keep coming back for more, like any pedaler it is part of every religions remit to keep the addict coming back, and so the successful ones, provide only pseudo answers which create as many problems as they solve. Instead of saying for example, you can solve moral problems by looking into your instincts and thinking things through for yourself, and then helping to provide the skills needed to do that. Religion says, come to us with your moral problems and we will provide a ready made answer, which comes from our holy books and therefore has the extra authority of the supernatural and so will trump any arguments from other people with different opinions, plus enable you to be as lazy as you wish. ( In other words there is no need for conversation. ) And of course that means that without thought or converse with any other interested parties, and promised a happy world in which listening to dissent and thinking are not needed, the religion addict keeps coming back over and over whenever there is a moral issue. Perfect marketing, every drug dealer should go to church to learn how its done best.

Philosophy vs. Religion

Fernapple comments on Nov 13, 2019:

Religion breeds fear, that is its main product. The main, no only, point about religion is that it is a marketing strategy, and it is the marketing stategy which hit on selling the best possible product, which is nothing at all, and since it has to produce nothing it is all profit. It therefore supports anything where the money and power leads it. It can not do anything else, since it has no other reason for existing, and by doing so it is the ultimate slavery, the enslaving of the mind, for those who fall into its trap.

Are religions dying?

Fernapple comments on Nov 13, 2019:

Perhaps not, they tend to morph over time and evolve to survive. But that does mean that they could loose their supernatural claims, which is no bad thing. However it should not be forgotten that the wounded tiger is often the most dangerous, and I think that we are certainly seeing a lot of that in the theist dominated world today, and will perhaps see more. The days when Christians are releasing gas in the railway stations, may not be far off.

Scientists Finally Know the Real Reason Dodo Birds Went Extinct [youtube.com]

Fernapple comments on Nov 13, 2019:

Perhaps very true, but I do not think that any of this is really new.

Tiny deer-like species spotted for the first time in 30 years

Fernapple comments on Nov 13, 2019:

Good it is nice to know that it survived and that people are making a gesture towards helping it. Especially since humans bombed its homeland to shreds only a few decades ago, in one of their political fall outs, amazing it survived that at all, given that it was already rare.

as an atheist and agnostic group (whom I assume have dealt with the god issue).

Fernapple comments on Nov 12, 2019:

For a lot of people who come here, this is one of the upper rungs on the ladder out of the religious cesspit, but they are not quite in the open air yet. We can therefore offer a helping hand and advice on how to mount the last few steps, if it is asked for. Which yes will involve turning back and looking down the pit again, but once you have found firm ground there is nothing to be scared of. Or you can curse them for being slow, give them a kick in the face and waltz off to sniff the roses alone.

Blasphemy is back... in Greece. [keeptalkinggreece.com]

Fernapple comments on Nov 12, 2019:

Greece is in economic trouble, which always brings out the intolerance in people, and it maybe that secretly there is a racial/nationalistic element which feels menaced by its neighbors. As Turkey has taken a turn towards the fundamentalist right, so many in the Greek Christian right may feel they need to respond with like.

Maté at the Café ! [agnostic.com]

Fernapple comments on Nov 12, 2019:

Good post deserved to go on the front page forum first.

Hello there

Fernapple comments on Nov 12, 2019:

Hello and welcome. This is a great site, you get a thousand pen friends at least, do check out the groups there is something for everyone.

Are there any level 10’s on the site ?

Fernapple comments on Nov 12, 2019:

No I think that we are still waiting for the first to reach ten, or they get sucked into a vortex when they do. Mind you I have long thought that this site was secretly set up by christian fundamentalists, to create a ready made automatic hit list. So there you go two possibles.

Some of my poppies, for Remembrance Day and Veteran's Day.

Fernapple comments on Nov 12, 2019:

Great photos.

If god is willing to condemn the devil what makes people think god wouldn't do it to them?

Fernapple comments on Nov 11, 2019:

One day Winnie the Pooh's Eeyore lost his tail, which dropped off fell in the water and floated away. If that could happen to Eeyore what makes human beings think that could not happen to them ?

Can anyone with theology knowledge (or knows someone with) explain this?

Fernapple comments on Nov 11, 2019:

In the only historically recorded census around that time, that of Claudius. People were actually asked to say put and not to travel on the census day. But then the census of Claudius can not be made to fit the time of the nativity, neither can the reign of Herod or any of the Roman governors. Plus not only does the history not match that given in the new testaments, but they do not even get the geography of the holy land correct. So that you can only conclude that they were written by people who were not there at the time, and had never been there at any time.

Why are so many people on this site still obsess on religion?

Fernapple comments on Nov 11, 2019:

You need to look beyond the front page and into the groups, the front page is really only for those new to the site and general background engagements. Having said that I often wonder, if this is a site for agnostics and atheists, why is so much of the front page about US politics ? But there you go, everybody tries to find the way to fulfill their needs.

Previous silly ass query I'm a dinosaur and not very adept at computer applications.

Fernapple comments on Nov 11, 2019:

Hello and welcome. I think that it is set several levels up, to stop trolls invading the site and mailing everyone, they have had problem with that. It gives time to weed them out. Enjoy the site and don't worry too much about levels they come quickly if you are interested, interesting and active.

I am not a religious person. I do not have any belief at all. I pra.ctise peace.

Fernapple comments on Nov 11, 2019:

Hello and welcome. Do enjoy the site, and if you have time, check out the groups there is something there for everyone.

It's getting to be the holiday season. So tell me, how many people celebrates Christmas?

Fernapple comments on Nov 11, 2019:

Hate the tat, and the Christian smugness. But am happy to celebrate the winter solstice, and the return of longer days. I like giving to friends, eating, drinking, going for mid winter walks and bringing evergreens in to decorate the house.

Salient quote: "The research carried out at Emory University explains the links between the reduced ...

Fernapple comments on Nov 11, 2019:

Would be hard to imagine it could be otherwise. Though it would not just be to save energy, but also perhaps to avoid further injury, i.e. when you are sick it is not a good idea to go swinging through the trees.

Hello.

Fernapple comments on Nov 11, 2019:

Hello and welcome. Enjoy the site. Two tips if you have time, do check out the groups, there is something for everyone, don't worry about points they come quickest when you don't look. Hope you meet someone.

Attributed to Ben Franklin, "Have sex with older women.

Fernapple comments on Nov 11, 2019:

I think that this is certainly a modern paraphrase, to my knowledge he did not write about sex, but he did write about marriage to older women, giving eight advantages, Its a bit long but it is fun to read. i. Because as they have more Knowledge of the World and their Minds are better stor'd with Observations, their Conversation is more improving and more lastingly agreable. 2. Because when Women cease to be handsome, they study to be good. To maintain their Influence over Men, they supply the Diminution of Beauty by an Augmentation of Utility. They learn to do a 1000 Services small and great, and are the most tender and useful of all Friends when you are sick. Thus they continue amiable. And hence there is hardly such a thing to be found as an old Woman who is not a good Woman. 3. Because there is no hazard of Children, which irregularly produc'd may be attended with much Inconvenience. 4. Because thro' more Experience, they are more prudent and discreet in conducting an Intrigue to prevent Suspicion. The Commerce with them is therefore safer with regard to your Reputation. And with regard to theirs, if the Affair should happen to be known, considerate People might be rather inclin'd to excuse an old Woman who would kindly take care of a young Man, form his Manners by her good Counsels, and prevent his ruining his Health and Fortune among mercenary Prostitutes. 5. Because in every Animal that walks upright, the Deficiency of the Fluids that fill the Muscles appears first in the highest Part: The Face first grows lank and wrinkled; then the Neck; then the Breast and Arms; the lower Parts continuing to the last as plump as ever: So that covering all above with a Basket, and regarding2 only what is below the Girdle, it is impossible of two Women to know an old from a young one. And as in the dark all Cats are grey, the Pleasure of corporal Enjoyment with an old Woman is at least equal, and frequently superior, every Knack being by Practice capable of Improvement. 6. Because the Sin is less. The debauching a Virgin may be her Ruin, and make her for Life unhappy. 7. Because the Compunction is less. The having made a young Girl miserable may give you frequent bitter Reflections; none of which can attend the making an old Woman happy. 8thly and Lastly They are so grateful!!