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If you had to name the current chapter of your life, what would you call it?
David1955 comments on Dec 23, 2017:
On the downside of the mountain, picking up speed, heading inexorably towards oblivion.
POPE FRANCIS HAS said that it is better to live your life as an atheist rather than be a Catholic...
David1955 comments on Dec 22, 2017:
Not often I agree with Pope Frank -- Old Papal Eyes - but, as Stephen Fry once said to the late Robin Williams when the latter was raving, "Your Right. Your completely mad, but your right." Frank is right, but mad. Right that if your gonna be a damn Catholic, then following their damn Bronze Age nonsense and stop pretending that Frank is going to reform it all. He's mad to think that anyone should actually follow their Bronze Age nonsense in the first place. Honestly, Kitchen Catholics should take deep breath, hold to something firm, and take a 21 Century reality pill.
Has anyone ever been successful in de-converting a religionist?
David1955 comments on Dec 22, 2017:
From my experience a religionist will NEVER admit to a non-believer that they have influenced them, or contributed to rethinking their religion. I believe that this change occurs usually gradually, a kind of de-partitioning of that part of their mind that protects delusional thought. While endless debate with people who are totally absorbed by their "faith" is usually a waste of time -- they see it as an attack on their identity, not debate over belief -- I think we can never be sure how much the questions we raise with the religious can have an osmotic effect on their thinking over time.
God is a ____________?
David1955 comments on Dec 21, 2017:
a.... big disappointment... If that's the best he can do he should will himself out of (my) existence.
What's on my mind is the Pentagon having a completely secret research project into UFOs in very ...
David1955 comments on Dec 21, 2017:
Yes, it's an interesting hypothetical. If we were to have clear evidence of ETs, or even more dramatically, have contact with them, how would religions react. I suspect badly. Earthly religions would suddenly look very parochial, especially if advanced species were well and truly beyond this kind of thing. I suspect it worries religions, and the ruling elites of the world, should human perspective have such a dramatic change. My bet: they would denounce the ETs as evil, infidels, out of grace with God... etc... "It's not us its you." Long term, though, I believe it would be another death blow to religions through conscious raising.
I noticed that there are a lot of old people on this site and very few Millennials.
David1955 comments on Dec 21, 2017:
Oh dear, this post seems to have touched a nerve with some of the 'young at heart' in this site. Might I suggest we all agree that support for Atheism and related views has nothing to do with age, but mental outlook and (hopefully) our shared hope for a rational, reason-based world.
I noticed that there are a lot of old people on this site and very few Millennials.
David1955 comments on Dec 20, 2017:
Actually I have been impressed by the presence of younger age groups here, reflecting growing secularism in younger generations. I totally welcome that. Younger generations are always the hope of the future. I get frustrated when I see so many in my age profile (generally, not here on this site) who are so reactionary conservative and support bigoted politicians and parties and policies. What happened to you people? I often ask myself. People born in the 50s and 60s shouldn't have turned into right wing trogs as they got older. Be like Bernie Sanders.
How many people here watch Athiest YouTubers?
David1955 comments on Dec 20, 2017:
I watch a great deal of atheist material on YouTube. It's just invaluable. If by Youtubers you mean channels by atheists, then I really like Secular Talk by Kyle K. Like him a lot. I follow US politics closely too.
How comfortable are you with the word "Atheist" ?
David1955 comments on Dec 20, 2017:
Completely comfortable. But, just to give context, I am also an A-fairyist, A-Lock-Ness Monsterist, A-floating tea cup around Mars-ist, and so on. Wasn't it Stephen Fry who said that if people kept coming up with stupid ideas for which there is no evidence then he would keep saying he was a non-believer. If they didn't keep making them up, he wouldn't have to. Amen.
Favorite Animals?
David1955 comments on Dec 20, 2017:
1. Cats only 2. No, still haven't gotten over last one who 'passed'. I believe in heaven for cats. Just not for people.:-) 3. Lizards. They're very dignified in their own way. They only do good. We have blue-tongued ones here. They are known to mate for life. I wonder what their secret is? 4. Cats, of course. They're independent minded, don't take crap from anyone, see through phoney people, and can be a smudge ruthless.
As an atheist or agnostic, how do you perceive and interact with spiritual people?
David1955 comments on Dec 19, 2017:
I think spiritual is one of the most over-used words amongst the so-called religious people. It's used as a kind of boast, oh I'm so high in my thinking, I'm so connected to the higher realms...Baloney! Press them and you find the same guff as in all religions: mysticism, supernaturalism, and magic. Carl Sagan, great man that he was, used to say that he could look up at the cosmos and be filled with wonder at its mysteries, a kind of spiritual awe, and he did not mean things and whistle and squark from the 87th Dimension, through "another way of knowing" from the Great Cosmic Consciousness. He meant science! The word spiritual should be wrestled away from religionists and pseudo-religionists, the mystic pizza eaters, as I call them, and returned to its true meaning: an appreciation of the mysteries of things as known through logic, reason and evidence based human thinking. This is what I say to so-called spiritual people.
Who is your favorite Horseman of New Atheism?
David1955 comments on Dec 19, 2017:
I admire Dawkins for his passion and fearlessness. I admire Sam Harris for his brilliant ability to neutralize religious arguments and cut through to the essential issues. I admire them, really, equally well. The attacks upon them, from both the religious folk and the regressive left, annoy me greatly, and I say that as a very progressive (but not regressive-left) guy. I like Daniel Dennett for his contributions and for the charm of the man. The late Mr Hitchens made an excellent contribution to the field, and could be devastating in debate, but his political biases, apologizing for neocon causes, and attacks on progressives, left me without affection for him, I am sorry to say, though I regret his passing at a relatively young age. The higher votes for him here surprises me.
How do you deal with Door-knockers?
David1955 comments on Dec 19, 2017:
I look them straight in the eye, tell them I'm a committed atheist and a proponent of secularism, atheism, and the dying out of religion on this planet, that I admire the New Atheists greatly, and that I am the very definition of them wasting their time, and I do it in one breath. Been practicing. These days that say in reply things like: "Do you know anyone nearby we could help?" I reply, "Why, so you can spread your religious virus to them? You must be joking." By then they've had enough and leave. All I need is a black cat to hiss at them as they turn to leave and it would be perfect. Point here: tell them straight and let them know we are non-believers in the 21st Century and we are different.
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