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? I am tired of Christmas ads ...

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. what if the people that wrote the Torah (bible) were dyslexic and they actually ...

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? North, East, South, West or North, South, East, ...

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. One division I sense is on the question of why so many are ...

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. This will kill a group I ...

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 [yikes] have dealt with the god issue).... why is ...

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 ? I’m seeking enlightenment and have a question for you . ...

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? As we near Christmas and ...

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? Get past it and focus on something ...

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. (Let's call it ...

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? If so, what...

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. I am here in hopes of meeting women who are non-religious... for dating. It's difficult to ...

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. They won't swell, won't tell, & they'll be ...

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!!

Some good news: [scitechdaily.com]

Fernapple comments on Nov 11, 2019:

Some have said that you are less likely to get infections from copper coins, or ones with a high copper content, than silver ones, it being though by some that money is a major vector of disease.

Charles Darwin may be wrong about where life started on Earth: study (Darwin 'wrong' is ...

Fernapple comments on Nov 10, 2019:

A. Darwin's letter to Hooker is famously speculative, he never claimed to be anywhere near the solution. B. the hydrothermal vents hypothesis is old news now anyway.

I am fifty-seven today 😮. Unholy mother of a non-existent deity--how did that happen?

Fernapple comments on Nov 10, 2019:

You did not die at fifty seven. So that make you one of the lucky ones. Happy birthday.

Why do Christians need guns?

Fernapple comments on Nov 10, 2019:

Christians don't, but some people need more than one security blanket, and when the church is not enough then you can still hug a gun. Those who don't need security blankets don't need either.

Are atheist men, generally, angrier than Christian men?

Fernapple comments on Nov 10, 2019:

No, but people who care are.

People with go are my favorite people I am considered as young for my age so that the people I mix ...

Fernapple comments on Nov 10, 2019:

Hello and welcome to the site. Enjoy, and if you have time do check out the groups there is something there for everyone.

ah but politics was a different game then...

Fernapple comments on Nov 10, 2019:

Sound just like today, no change then.

Oh Spain, thanks for the great visit.

Fernapple comments on Nov 10, 2019:

Seville and Cordoba I loved them both, I especially loved the river front a Cordoba with the Roman bridge it seemed like the most historically beautiful place on earth.

Just a quick tech survey. Whats streaming device(s) do you use? AppleTV FireStick Roku ...

Fernapple comments on Nov 10, 2019:

I do not need a streaming device, despite my age I still manage to fully control my bladder, thank you.

I post a topic. Lots of people respond. I want to thank all of them for commenting. How about a ...

Fernapple comments on Nov 10, 2019:

I generally make sure that I like every comment, but I keep asking for a thank you button on the like menu, may get one some day.

WSJ: US Farmers Filing For Bankruptcy At Levels Not Seen Since Great Recession

Fernapple comments on Nov 9, 2019:

Trade wars are no different from any other sort of war, politicians start them and ordinary people suffer in them.

Does anyone else find the comment section under porngoraphy videos more entertaining than the actual...

Fernapple comments on Nov 9, 2019:

We have porn vids on this site, where ?

Howdy folks! Found this link in my FB newsfeed and thought I'd check it out. How nice to find a ...

Fernapple comments on Nov 9, 2019:

Hello and welcome. Enjoy the site. Do check out the groups if you have time, thereis something for everyone.

Good morning, folks!

Fernapple comments on Nov 9, 2019:

Good morning. Though I think it must be mid day with you now. It is evening here and cold and drear.

Why do people insist on believing in a magical God? As we get older and all the magic and whimsy...

Fernapple comments on Nov 9, 2019:

I don't know if that is the only reason, but it is certainly one. And the main cause of it, is the failing of the worlds education systems to provide enough true education to engender appreciation, with which all the wonders of nature open up. Trash culture which fails to fulfill anyones needs and drives them to woo or pharma, is born in the classroom, where teachers are made to program children to be victims, because that is what those who sell woo and pharma will pay for.

Posted a day early to start you thinking - For the Fallen A poem by Robert Laurence Binyon ...

Fernapple comments on Nov 9, 2019:

I like the poem, but sadly the video does not work.

"....it speaks of such integrity to refuse to pretend that you're well just to help other people ...

Fernapple comments on Nov 9, 2019:

Sorry but it does not resonate with me, taken out of its original context and being I think grammatically difficult or vague, it is hard to know exactly what it is about.

The argument of intelligent design is very popular among the religious because on the surface it ...

Fernapple comments on Nov 9, 2019:

But there I think lies the big difference between us and the theist. I think that there is an impossible gulf, not in the quality of thinking but in its style, which could never be bridged. Because the sceptic approaches truth, thinking that. "It will be best won if I do not care how much discomfort and loss of joy the winning of it requires, truth is its own reward." While the religious believer approaches it, thinking that. "Truth is that which brings me the greatest joy and comfort, and most confirms what I wish to see."

----Walking under ladders, four leaf clovers, broken mirrors---- I was never really religious, but ...

Fernapple comments on Nov 9, 2019:

None out of habit, but I do like to salute Magpies. Not for habit or superstition, but just because it seems to be such a fun thing to do, the magpies, especially the European ones, are such jaunty birds that they seem to be asking for a smart hello.

“Truth never damages a cause that is just”............Mahatma Gandhi.

Fernapple comments on Nov 9, 2019:

Is there a difference between the two ?

I have a very specific question for you experienced gardeners. I have about 40 bulbs to get in the ...

Fernapple comments on Nov 9, 2019:

If they are first planted below the frozen soil. Then the sooner the better.

Is there an investing group?

Fernapple comments on Nov 9, 2019:

Don't think so.

How do you feel about exaggerating to make a point? Saying 'over 20 years' do you think people will...

Fernapple comments on Nov 9, 2019:

I would say. Do I fail to see the point of this post ?

A different way to define the religious impulse and experience, or to get away from terms like ...

Fernapple comments on Nov 9, 2019:

The three main theories are of course not mutually exclusive, but could reinforce each other.

How would the mythical Noah's ark crew have perished, first?

Fernapple comments on Nov 9, 2019:

Parasites, they had to infect themselves with so many diseases and bugs, they would never have made it up the boarding ramp. LOL

Since this seems to be an actual problem that riles people up here: Spirituality is.... (please ...

Fernapple comments on Nov 9, 2019:

I am sorry, but you will never get a final definition of 'spiritual', the whole point of the word and what makes it attractive to people is that it has no real meaning, and can therefore be redefined to mean whatever the speaker/writer wishes. Some on this site have proposed, something like. " Emotional awe at the wonder of nature." As a secular meaning, but you will never stop people using it in a million other ways anyway, even if you do get that, and nothing else, put in all the dictionaries.

Solitaire is an unfair game. I play Spider Solitaire when I'm bored. Its obvious very quickly ...

Fernapple comments on Nov 9, 2019:

Perhaps it exists to teach sympathy with those who have been given bad stacks by life. Or maybe it is just badly designed.

New here, saw on Facebook last year and decided to try this site out, consider myself agnostic

Fernapple comments on Nov 9, 2019:

Hello welcome and enjoy. Just a couple of small tips, do check out the groups there is something there for everyone, and don't worry too much about points, they come fastest when you are not looking. Some people value a good bio highly.

The image asks the question, "Why didn't god just kill the pharaoh?" . . . . the answer is . . . ....

Fernapple comments on Nov 9, 2019:

According to the Bible it was god who "hardened" Pharaohs heart anyway. So if he could harden Pharaohs heart why could he not soften it, or did he just want to show off how effectively targeted his weapons of mass destruction could be ? Interestingly, some people have proposed that the killing of the first born may have been down to a common fungal infection of Ergotism, which infected the grain making it poisonous. It being said that in times of famine, (and the others plagues could have caused famine,) the Egyptians had a tradition of only feeding the first born from the granaries, the other children and animals had to fend for themselves. This meant that the damp infected grain was eaten only by the Egyptian first born, while the Hebrews, who did not have that tradition, were spared, or at least only suffered mild collective poisoning.

And all of life is there! no but seriously, potted philosophy but really well done - [aeon.co]

Fernapple comments on Nov 8, 2019:

I do love the Epicureans, but I think that some of the history here is very doubtful, and certainly the view presented of the Stoics is very much a straw man picture.

Came across this and found it interesting. Thought many here would be intrigued and curious as to ...

Fernapple comments on Nov 8, 2019:

OK so he has set up the usual straw man of a hard atheist, so what. There are a couple of million people in that line ahead of him. And he is kind of in a round about way saying that that represents all atheists, without actually saying so, which is not new either. And then he is kissing the feet of a few theists for a massive cash prize. Even I would do that. Then it seems he is letting everyone thing that the prize he won was for physics, not the Templeton prize. So it seems that he may not be great at physics, but he is very good at dishonesty.

These rockin' grandmas are performing this song on the Today Show as I type this..AWESOME! ...

Fernapple comments on Nov 8, 2019:

When you have got it, you never loose it.

Has anyone got any ideas? I would like to set up something to counter the churches and the bovine ...

Fernapple comments on Nov 8, 2019:

Join and encourage secular charities. One of the main assets the churches have are the ready made communities they provide, when their are six churches in every town, then let there be seven charity shops with a call in centre and a coffee shop inside, and the chance to volunteer and join in.

I need a book suggestion. One of my kids has agreed to read a book her xian conservative dad gives...

Fernapple comments on Nov 8, 2019:

Go for a soft option, not a hard attack. Try. 'The Book of Atheist Spirituality.' by Andre Comte-Sponville. Or even more indirect. 'The Sacred Depths Of Nature.' by Usula Goodenough.

So this isn't a women's forum but I don't think anyone is going to be offended by this - and also, ...

Fernapple comments on Nov 8, 2019:

Not really relevant to me, but I have to just wonder, at the vast amount of misinformation out there on every subject imaginable. What sort of idiot, pedaling what sort of woo, persuades women to put things like cleaners and steam up their vagina, and what sort of education system does a country have to have in order to produce people so uncritical that they do it ?

It seems there are people in this world that believe that there is historical truth and accuracy in ...

Fernapple comments on Nov 8, 2019:

I would not take it anything like that seriously. See, Williams comment below for all else you need to know.

In the profile questions, this appears: "Is there more than a 10% chance that the following are real...

Fernapple comments on Nov 8, 2019:

I think the list is there to pick up theist trolls who often try to enter the site. It forces them to openly admit who they are or to give false answers.

I have an idea!! Let’s talk about the word “spiritual”!!! No one’s thought of THAT yet! ...

Fernapple comments on Nov 8, 2019:

I usually get my spiritual feelings from a bottle of gin. (Not a joke, it is quite literally true, that both usages have the same root. And certainly in the past some people believed that drunkenness was literally a form of spiritual possession. Whether that is true of the Last Supper metaphor, is something for fools, sorry serious theologians, to argue about.)

Should you doubt the forces of life and the power of renewal, simply observe the miracle of a ...

Fernapple comments on Nov 8, 2019:

The organic acids which living things give off eventually dissolve concrete, yet grass which renews each year can last unchanged for millions.

brutalgirth -- who is this dipshit? Not a scammer but he seems a bit dodgy and mental. Weird bio ...

Fernapple comments on Nov 8, 2019:

His only post read like random twaddle, I just ignored it.

And back to another low-light evening shot, Fuchsia can be a good subject…

Fernapple comments on Nov 7, 2019:

Warm low evening light, both brings out the colours and lights the full form.

Hi, just wanted introduce the gardener in me this group. My first career of about 20 years as as ...

Fernapple comments on Nov 7, 2019:

Wonderful story. Welcome and enjoy.

Better an uncomfortable truth than a comfortable lie? What say you?

Fernapple comments on Nov 7, 2019:

I think that there is an impossible gulf, between believers and sceptics, not in the quality of thinking but in its style, which could never be bridged. Because the sceptic approaches truth, thinking that. "It will be best won if I do not care how much discomfort and loss of joy the winning of it requires." While the religious believer approaches it, thinking that. "Truth is that which brings me the greatest joy and comfort, and confirms my beliefs."

SPIRITUAL. Let’s agree on a new definition once and for all!! The topic of what is to be ...

Fernapple comments on Nov 7, 2019:

Nice try, but sadly I think that you have no chance. The reason why people like to use the word spiritual, is because it has no fixed meaning, and therefore they can use it to mean anything they want, and moreover if they are challenged about any part of it, they can simply shift the meaning evasively. It is in other words a popular word just because it is a meaningless none word, give it a fixed meaning and people will stop using it, but first you would have to find a way to force people to do what they don't want.

One of the best TED Talks I've seen in awhile. The best quote "We live in a machine that is ...

Fernapple comments on Nov 7, 2019:

If someone could sell you a route to happiness, then they would only get to sell it to you once. However if they can make you unhappy and persuade you to buy a fake cure, then they can sell you that over and over again.

One of the best TED Talks I've seen in awhile. The best quote "We live in a machine that is ...

Fernapple comments on Nov 7, 2019:

Good talk, and I read fearlessfly's link which help to explain the personal experiences which got him there, which was also worth while.

[msn.com] Another missing link. This may upset some theists or maybe not. I remember meeting a ...

Fernapple comments on Nov 7, 2019:

Well done. If you can start someone looking or reading, then that is the best thing you can do for them.

Proposition: No one is totally pro-life. 1) If you are totally pro-life, you would be obligated ...

Fernapple comments on Nov 6, 2019:

The believers do with the life issue exactly what they do with every other issue. That is, they cherry pick just what they want, ignore logic if it does not support their preformed conclusions, and put their fingers in their ears to shut out any outside input. You give the whole system too much credit, by offering it well reasoned arguments.

Talk is cheap. Reduce oil consumption or die.

Fernapple comments on Nov 6, 2019:

While I agree that both oil use and overpopulation are killing the planet, I think that this is a very simplistic model. Correlation is not proof of causation. It could for one thing, be the other way round.

When I was growing up, I was in a pretty much constant internal conversation with God. I did all the...

Fernapple comments on Nov 6, 2019:

I don't know, I never talked to god, but I still sometimes talk internally to my long dead father, especially when doing craft work and construction things. Saying things like. "You see if we use the large one, the cover won't slip over, but the small one only holds one tray up, so what we need is something between the two. And that we have not got. Problem."

So this might be for Brits only but would love a general opinion...So bonfire night is with us once ...

Fernapple comments on Nov 6, 2019:

No it is not just you. And it is all because we are supposed to celebrate the survival of a king, who most people then and now would think better in prison than ruling a country, in a war of terror fought over religion. The only true traditional part is the bonfire, which was once lit to celebrate the Autumn season, and hearten people before the winter, fair enough, but these silly people should get it that it is the bonfire, not fireworks, which has a true traditional meaning. A lot of them now don't even have the fire, just an annual excuse to play dangerous games with explosives.

Does anyone else find it strange (and kind of creepy) when a person's bio on here describes them ...

Fernapple comments on Nov 6, 2019:

Don't often read the Bio, I take what they write as their front page.

Ok, a lot of grumbling about us who haven't got faces. Its not my fault. At least I'm not blank. ...

Fernapple comments on Nov 6, 2019:

I think that it is a good face. Could do with a shave, but better than mine.

Do y'all FB (AOL,Yahoo!) users think you are critical thinkers and have a nose-for-news ? Read all ...

Fernapple comments on Nov 5, 2019:

Facebook is rubbish end of story. The Z is just another little dictator trying to build an empire, out of other peoples stupidity.

Daylight Savings--Would you turn the clock back an hour only to turn it forward in the spring?

Fernapple comments on Nov 5, 2019:

Dose not make any difference to anything, if shops, schools, businesses want to make maximum use of the daylight, they can set their own hours for different seasons. Come on this is the twenty first century, in the western world we are said, (may not be true) to have had more than a century of universal education, surely everyone can understand a clock, and know that it only measures time according to arbitrarily allocated symbols.

Hello folks, I just joined the site, thought i'd say hey. Reason and the scientific method of ...

Fernapple comments on Nov 5, 2019:

Hello and welcome. Enjoy the site. You will find it best not to worry too much about points and levels, they come quickly if you don't look. But do check out the groups, there is something for everyone.

Randomly decided to look-up the "latest/newest religion on earth" and was directed to this: ...

Fernapple comments on Nov 5, 2019:

Be careful what you google for, you might just get something nasty stuck to your hard drive.

I received this gem on my door a couple of weeks ago. You already know it’s 2 for me. How about ...

Fernapple comments on Nov 5, 2019:

Looks like the same sort of leaflet we get here in the UK, same cheap paper and everything. https://agnostic.com/post/421695/they-are-back-for-a-long-time-i-have-not-had-a-visit-from-the-jw-banging-on-the-door-i-understood . They must print them globally.

Science and Nature ...one in the same.

Fernapple comments on Nov 5, 2019:

God was a personification of nature created by us when we could not understand nature, but thought it would be easier if we made it human, although we did not then understand humans as well as we thought we did either. Now that we can begin to understand nature, the god delusion is just in the way of understanding.

Feeling blue about the state of the world. And so it's fantastic to remember that people like Billy...

Fernapple comments on Nov 5, 2019:

Interesting that the Tianamen Sq protesters were singing the Internationale, history repeats itself. When Napoleon hijacked the French Revolution, for the sake of his outdated fantasies of monarchy and empire, one of the things he did, was to ban the Marseillaise.