What about the possibility of creating a nation of No Religion. Has Anyone here ever thought about ...

Fernapple comments on Jan 28, 2019:

In the old Soviet Union it was tried and it not only failed but faith is very strong there today. In protestant North West Europe most counties have state churches and religion is fast heading for extinction here if current trends continue. Correlation is not always causation. But......

Good quote from Christopher Hitchens

Fernapple comments on Jan 28, 2019:

Have faith friend, I can tell you that I have faith that this second hand van, with only twenty miles on the clock, that I am selling, will be the best thing on four wheels that you ever bought in your whole life. It will change the way you see driving forever.

They say when you assume, you make an ass out of you and me. Most times just yourself. Don't ask ...

Fernapple comments on Jan 28, 2019:

Hello and welcome to the site. I think you will find that a lot of people will read your Bio. Some people including me, when I can be bothered, find it a good idea to read a bit of a bio at least, before commenting on a post, because then you know who you are talking to and perhaps why they posted what they did. People also like to read the comments on posts, (they are very into reading yes) so try to do plenty of that , and do check the groups, there is something for everyone and a lot of life there. But don't post when sleepy, rambling posts get shot to pieces.

Do You want to Check My Alcohol level?

Fernapple comments on Jan 28, 2019:

I do not have a problem with trying, the problem is when you can not accept that sometimes you will fail. Life can't be made perfect by just one person.

Fashion faux pas or new trend? What do you think of socks with sandals?

Fernapple comments on Jan 27, 2019:

The ancient Romans conquered the know world wearing socks with sandals, who am I to argue.

I propose we start a new game on Agnostic.com, to be known as "Not That Question Again!" Bingo. ...

Fernapple comments on Jan 27, 2019:

1. Where does morality come from if you are a skeptic ? 2. Are there any right wing people here ? 3. Are all men/women like my ex. ?

I would like to invite everyone to join my Facebook group for our channel“Food Foresters”. ...

Fernapple comments on Jan 27, 2019:

Sorry don't really do FB if you have good content why not cut and paste it on to here, you will get a lot more genuine appreciation.

Healthy mind, healthy body

Fernapple comments on Jan 27, 2019:

Both are important to one another. But it is sometimes hard to sort them out. For example if I go for a long walk I often have great thoughts, (well great by my standard anyway, ) and I come home feeling happy and well. But is it because I have solved a problem or two, or is it just the endorphins released by the exercise. But I lost a lot of weight a few years ago and have felt better ever since, the only problem is that if I put on weight my sex drive goes up, and loosing weight kills it.

Planning the garden Last season, I missed out on ordering red currants and gooseberry bushes. I ...

Fernapple comments on Jan 27, 2019:

I love them both too. One of the best things about them is that they come quickly and easily from hardwood cuttings then mature fast, and so if you can only get one or two you can soon increase your stock. While it is always a good idea to strike a few cuttings now and again to refresh your stock as time goes by.

Who’s your favorite fairy tale character and why?

Fernapple comments on Jan 27, 2019:

Eeyore from Winney the Pooh, because he accepted the worst but still kept his humanity and managed to care.

One of the things going around that drive me nuts is this "empath" thing. I was surprised how many ...

Fernapple comments on Jan 27, 2019:

It is the Dunning Kruger (spelling doubtful) effect, all over again, if you think you have great empathy you are probably totally self obsessed and insensitive, most woo merchants are. Remind you of your own post in this group of Jan 18. "Never seen it done better."

Lol. My thought exactly. I love me some Tiramisu, but ....

Fernapple comments on Jan 26, 2019:

Its an age thing, at my age all food is better than sex.

hey everyone first time poster here, how are we suppose to believe in adam and eve if we have ...

Fernapple comments on Jan 26, 2019:

Welcome. Unlike creationism evolutionary theory, although simple at first sight, can be quite complex, and you will not access it without some effort I am sorry to say. You can get a lot of information about it from the net such as Utube but it will be disorganized. It is really needful to read deeply some books, Richard Dawkins is good , especially for a first read The Blind Watchmaker, and River Out Of Eden. For some really easy reads which cover the basics in fun ways, Ursula Goodenough The Sacred Depths Of Nature, is a starter and even Bill Brysons , Short History of Nearly Everything is not a bad taster with a few other bits thrown in.

Really? Gosh, I had it all wrong!

Fernapple comments on Jan 26, 2019:

Ah! Of course teachers, my worst nightmare, trying to tell me that if I don't believe in the sky daddy I'm going to burn forever and that little boys who ask questions will get even worse.

"People no longer understand how hold a rational conversation. Social media users have become savvy...

Fernapple comments on Jan 26, 2019:

Yes there is perhaps some truth in it. But you have to remember that, in the not very distant past, the opportunity to write comment and share opinion was held only by a few professional journalists and politicians, who naturally tended to be people at the top of their game, with the highest skills. Now the inter-net means that many more people are able to join in debates and conversations. It is almost certain that their skills and standards will not be as high, it may not therefore represent a true trend in the direction of lower quality debate, but only a shift of the measured average down the spectrum. And secondly as more debate and conversation takes place, then there is a strong possibility that the skills of many lower down the spectrum will improve, even if only a little, with experience. Indeed it could hardly be otherwise, since they have never been exposed to the possible good effects of any experience before. And you can not blame those who have never had a voice before, for shouting loud the first time they get to use it. In time they may learn to moderate their tone, or more likely they will just get bored and give up. For which reason it is quite possible that we are, maybe sadly, on the brink of a new age in which people will return to the idea of objective good taste, as a think which is important in defining a persons worth, after many years when relativism has been dominant. That sort of idea of "class" defined by taste was the main social ideology in the days before the popular press, when most people had an almost equal lack of voice, due to the spoken word and a few expensive books being the only very limited media. People therefore saw themselves as belonging to social groups defined by what was called taste. Then the press and broadcast media grew and became the voice of the professionals who were read by everyone, forcing a single unifying standard of taste, that of the middle and to a less degree some of the upper classes who wrote and broadcast. (Everyone else being readers listeners only.) Now in many ways we are reverting to the earlier state where everyones voice is equal, and that may lead, in a world where everyone can have, and say, whatever they want and as much as they want, to the return to a world where people define themselves by their choices, or tastes (class) once more. All these things do not of course, in the short term, stop the raised tone of the debate having bad effects in the wider world. But they may prove to be very important in the long term. And in the interests of improving debate, please read my very first sentence again before replying.

Is there a way to add friends that live near u

Fernapple comments on Jan 26, 2019:

Under search members there is a map available, where you can see the location (aprox.) of everyone, and you can zoom in on your area as you like.

My love for all here, happy to be among you

Fernapple comments on Jan 25, 2019:

Welcome. People here like it if you are active in commenting on post, and you will find a lot of life and something for everyone in the groups, so when you have some time to spare check them out.

I think I have figured out the big conflict with christianity

Fernapple comments on Jan 25, 2019:

Unfortunately his message, (if he existed ) was not just love and acceptance. That's just the religious cherry picking.

How many on here find it difficult to share your views in your communities? I live in a small town ...

Fernapple comments on Jan 25, 2019:

I am in business, so yes I do keep one foot in the closet for now, but I will retire soon, and then.

I am feeling happier today than I have felt in a little more than two years. Anyone else feel that ...

Fernapple comments on Jan 25, 2019:

Its OK today, but just knowing someone else is really happy is cheering.

If you could snap your fingers and get any project instantly done in your garden, food forest or ...

Fernapple comments on Jan 25, 2019:

Hedge and grass cutting, I have just too much of it.

It just occurred to me this morning that some names in the Book of Mormon may be coded. Take ...

Fernapple comments on Jan 25, 2019:

Neat it could be. He was a complete fraud, who must have known that it was silly to write a nineteenth century book in sixteenth century English. What God can not understand modern languages ?

Topic for Discussion

Fernapple comments on Jan 25, 2019:

In one way I do not think that the quote is factually accurate, since I do not think there was ever a time when societies worshiped the Goddess alone. Before monotheism people worshiped many things not merely the Goddess but male gods, animal gods, spirits and even material objects. However there is a theory, which should be taken with a pinch of salt perhaps, that in early times people did not understand the male role in fertility, and therefore the mother Goddess was worshiped because womens ability to produce babies from nowhere was seen as magical. And when the truth was discovered misogyny meant that many male religious leaders tried to assert the male as foremost. Of course this did not happen at the same time everywhere, and so there were some societies who accepted the new order and some who did not, and of course humans being what they are, that meant both conflict and evil propaganda. Then in the end since the monotheist male religions won, and the winners write history, it was their propaganda which survived. I think however that there may be another factor as well, which is that the monotheist religion arose in the desert areas of the middle east. In those desert areas nature is at its harshest and survival therefore means more than anything, having the support of the group in those areas. That gave much more powers to strong violent males who could bully and control groups. Because in the desert there was nowhere else for dissidents to go, no river to voyage down, no forest to hide in and most of all no food except the social group's flocks of animals, nor any natural diversity to encourage different ways of life. And of course Religion reflects the societies which make it.

5 Reasons Going To Mars is a TERRIBLE Idea | Answers With Joe - Joe Scott [youtube.com]

Fernapple comments on Jan 25, 2019:

A very good video, I am sorry to say that a lot of people seem to think naively that space travel is a lot easier than the reality. They should be made to watch a video like this about the difficulties of just getting to the next planet, let alone escaping the solar system, before they are allowed to speculate about visiting aliens on other star systems or them visiting us.

The USA experience from a UK perspective.

Fernapple comments on Jan 25, 2019:

It is the sad old truth that, those who know they will loose all the arguments are the first to reach for their guns. Many people are brought up in the religious world where "faith" or belief without evidence, is praised as a virtue. And with that comes the idea that truth is not an objective thing, to be sought at any cost, but is always that which confirms what you wish to be true. When you have two such different approaches to understanding as that, then there can never be a meeting of minds, if you have spent your whole life being taught that if you like it to be true, then that is truth, the idea that truth could demand effort and personal pain to find and involve having to go through revision of your world view, which is the rationalist approach, is completely alien.

Hello Everybody. Im here just to have a place where i don't have to mind my P's and Q's about the...

Fernapple comments on Jan 25, 2019:

Welcome, sounds like you will fit in well here, if you don't like woo there are a few woo merchants on the site, but you can just ignore them, or they may block you which just means you don't see them any more, great. Check out the groups there is something for everyone and a lot of the site's life is there. Enjoy.

I was just asked to approve a comment from a new member, as you sometimes are, so I did. Because it ...

Fernapple comments on Jan 25, 2019:

Thanks for all the replies Everone.

Going with relatively modern anthropology spanning recent centuries in America, I am hoping for ...

Fernapple comments on Jan 25, 2019:

It sometimes seems that the twentieth century especially before the seventies, is a different world in a different age. I hope that is true though you can never be sure, but even if all that happens is that such things are driven underground, that at least limits there magnitude and scope to some degree. And that will be a small victory for the modern media.

We just ate out (very rare event). They had a magician. He knew my name and that it was spelt with a...

Fernapple comments on Jan 24, 2019:

If it was super-natural then he would be off to claim a Nobel Prize for being the first to prove it is real. So it is a trick but as such it is even more clever than winning a lot of Nobel's. Cold reading can be amazing.

WHAT'S YOUR ONE THING? -- A lot of people have a bucket list of things they'd like to do before ...

Fernapple comments on Jan 24, 2019:

To end suddenly quickly and painlessly, and be found dead sitting in my seat in front of a cafe, in warm sun on the sea front, with an empty glass on the table.

How did everyone find this website?

Fernapple comments on Jan 24, 2019:

Do you know I can't remember, I think that I was so excited to find social media that was not totally boring that it put everything else out of my mind. Or maybe it was just an age thing ?

[globalresearch.ca] Are most Americans aware of this and do they care ?

Fernapple comments on Jan 24, 2019:

One of the problems with US and European intervention is that it is often short-term. Making large numbers of quick military strikes, which are presumably done to appear to be proactive and win approval from large numbers of voters at home, who a largely ignorant of international issues. Then followed by a rapid departure, often leaving things worse than they were to begin with. Some would perhaps say that the US would be better not making any military interventions abroad. But It would also be a lot better if the US and the UK etc. made only a tenth of the interventions they do, but then spent a small portion of the resources on long term rebuilding, and securing the peace. Securing the peace and its benefits takes far longer, and is a lot harder than winning a small war, but if you do make war, you have to be prepared to stay thirty years or more, until at least one post war generation have grown up and real economic, democratic and educational foundations are laid down, but of course there are no votes at home in that. Every quick military strike may take out an enemy, but it, and the long term after effects, are the best way of breeding ten more enemies yet invented.

Volunteering... it's an important community contribution. Do you volunteer and if so what do you do?...

Fernapple comments on Jan 24, 2019:

It is a bit limiting living in the country, but I find time to help with the village itself, help to run two sports clubs though I don't play much myself, I help to run a couple of gardening clubs, it was once three but I had to give one up because it was too far away. And I manage a couple of websites for groups.

How a Big Mac Explains the Existence of Religion | Andy Thomson - Richard Dawkins Foundation for ...

Fernapple comments on Jan 24, 2019:

A few good ideas, though not new, but I thought the whole was a bit rambling and did not jell very well.

Why is there no Comrade Chump approval group here on agnostic?

Fernapple comments on Jan 24, 2019:

Most of the site is US led, and although Judd Trump is a really great sportsman, and a hansom intelligent young man with great style and many admirers, I do not think that he is that well known on your side of the pond.

Sometimes Being An Atheist is Hard. It's those moments of human emotion when emotion and reason ...

Fernapple comments on Jan 24, 2019:

I am very sorry for your loss I lost both parents in the last three years, and had to arrange christian services for both, since it is what they and others wanted. Just remember that nine out of ten of the other people there will not believe either, most people don't. We only go to these things for the people, not the religion. There is no lose of principle in attending church at any time, it is only a building and a service is only words without meaning.

Should Reality Make Us Glad or Sad? - Scientific American Blog Network

Fernapple comments on Jan 24, 2019:

Another thought is of course that happiness and sorrow are only programs in our brains, put there by evolution to make us do the things required of us to survive and reproduce. And they are in balance. I pick berries because they have food value, and nature rewards me with a nice taste to make me do it. As the berries get fewer and I have to reach further the thorns prick me and the pain tells me to stop, because the damage to my body now outweighs the food value of the berries. The stick and the carrot if you like, and as you must know if the donkey escapes from fear of the stick, or gets the carrot, it stops running. And of course nature needs you to keep running.

Should Reality Make Us Glad or Sad? - Scientific American Blog Network

Fernapple comments on Jan 24, 2019:

I prefer reality, but I do remember reading many years ago, (so don't ask where to find it ) that a medical study performed by a group in Oxford, found that, people suffering from clinical depression were much better at predicting the future than the average person. They asked a series of verifiable questions, like do you think shares will rise, will the war be over by, etc. and then checked them against what really happened. Which means that most people are deluded and the delusion is usually far too optimistic. Be happy.

I had another nice tomato harvest today. (Repost...For some reason, the photo didn’t post the ...

Fernapple comments on Jan 24, 2019:

They look beautiful. Do you do salad crops as well and is Desert in a very warm zone for the US or are these from a greenhouse ?

This pisses me off to the point I'm going to join the Freedom from Religion Foundation and donate my...

Fernapple comments on Jan 24, 2019:

It is just a thought, but in the UK and in a lot of northern Europe we have state churches, and religion is dying fast while as a political force is nearly dead.

What is it about your partner/spouse that you wish you knew about before getting married/committed ...

Fernapple comments on Jan 23, 2019:

We courted so long before we took the plunge that we really knew one another very well by the time we married. What I wish I had known, was that we should have married far quicker, because we found out that we were perfect together. And unfortunately after courting so long, we did not have long because P. passed away following a sudden illness just under three months into the marriage.

What do you think of raising the level to contact other members to level 4 or 5? This would have...

Fernapple comments on Jan 23, 2019:

Would the site get more members, especially members who stay, if it dropped the dating thing. How many who would enjoy the community here do not join, because they give a promotion they see a quick glance and think. "Oh that's a dating site."

I think it's time. I am heading to the hospital in a bit. Check you chumps later.? If you want a ...

Fernapple comments on Jan 23, 2019:

Best wishes, and get ready for big changes.

For the Antivaxxers.

Fernapple comments on Jan 23, 2019:

The one extinction I think that nobody will regret is that of Smallpox, which used to kill or disfigure a quarter of the worlds population at one time. And we nearly sent polio the same way, but it is now staging a comeback in some countries thanks entirely to anti-vaccine movements promoted by religious fundamentalists.

What do you think of raising the level to contact other members to level 4 or 5? This would have...

Fernapple comments on Jan 23, 2019:

I can only say that my own experience was that I did not feel confident to mail anyone until I was at seven anyway, so would not have missed it. Having said that I joined for the community and not for dating, people who join for that may not see any point in a site which does not let them make contacts.

9 Signs Cats Are Plotting World Domination! - YouTube

Fernapple comments on Jan 23, 2019:

They have already got us to give them food, water beds and home, and then to clean up after them, so that they can spend all their time sleeping or torturing and killing things for fun; what more do they want ?

Just letting the community be informed on this subject: I've been a greeter for several months (6+)....

Fernapple comments on Jan 23, 2019:

Well done, so many people work hard to keep this site good and it works. Though having said that, I would really like to see at least a photo of their stuffed heads hanging on your wall.

A nice bit of feline woo, with thanks to @Remi who shared it in the Feline Fanatics group... ...

Fernapple comments on Jan 23, 2019:

It was hard to get beyond the "expand-your-consciousness" tag. Do people really use titles like that and not cringe ? First class woo, thanks again.

I rebelled against my atheist parents by going to church. You know the cliche where the family is...

Fernapple comments on Jan 23, 2019:

Good for you. The most important thing for a parent to know is that you can, and will, go your own way, and if they love you, then, when they come down off the ceiling, they will be proud of you for being your own person. But your parents should know that the more you know about religion the more you are likely to be put of by it.

Does anybody else have a problem with thinking while speaking?

Fernapple comments on Jan 23, 2019:

If it was easy it would not be part of the exam, but remember you think best when you are relaxed. So the important things are to have a few fillers memorized, that may have little to do with any of the questions you may be asked, things like asking for repeats or just saying honest things like "I find speaking the hardest," which you can drop in when needed, the point being that you will not use them in all probability but just knowing they are there will help you to relax.

So, today I was called emotionless. I think the person who said it is right. Perhaps I cannot ...

Fernapple comments on Jan 23, 2019:

The fact that you are posting on here and thereby talking to people, proves that you are a caring person even if you do not wear your attachments on an arm band, which can often simply mean that people don't mind offending others by showing off. Really cold people do not post on sites like this.

Just got to New Orleans today and found this bar made from an old church. Best conversion ever.

Fernapple comments on Jan 23, 2019:

Have one for me.

An Agnostic's Prayer - A Condemnation of Blind Submission to Authority and the Perpetration of ...

Fernapple comments on Jan 23, 2019:

Am more atheist than agnostic, but this still contains much truth if you see god as a hypothetical concept. Taking the agnostic possition is always a useful way to argue with or combat theist dogma.

Wouldn’t it?

Fernapple comments on Jan 23, 2019:

A smart kid like that will either end up as an atheist or a bishop, or most likely both.

"Remember — the lesser of two evils is still evil, and the enemy of my enemy is not my friend."...

Fernapple comments on Jan 23, 2019:

Interesting, I think that the quote which I have heard before is actually an old East European saying.

Its snowing. Why are boys so good at maintaining internal temps? I have two sons, an ex (who is from...

Fernapple comments on Jan 22, 2019:

When married, I always knew you had to be careful in bed at night, because if you were sharing it with a woman you always knew that if you reached out there was likely to be a cold shock, since there were bound to be two ice cold feet, two ice cold hands, but worst of all two ice cold buttocks in bed with you.

Quote from Douglas Adams

Fernapple comments on Jan 22, 2019:

Exactly what I think, in fact I would go so far as to say that if you go looking for fairies, then you risk bypassing a lot of the really good and beautiful things there are in this universe, which you would find if you gave your attention to them.

Is the Atheist Community a Cult? - Genetically Modified Skeptic [youtube.com]

Fernapple comments on Jan 22, 2019:

I do hope that this is not too optimistic but it seems to ring true at this time, although in looking just at the ACA he is taking a very small sample.

Interesting bit of information technology history:

Fernapple comments on Jan 22, 2019:

It was a bit slow having to carve the letters on to the stone by hand, but still I suppose it was quicker than a land-line in a rural area.

Are morality and empathy basically the same?

Fernapple comments on Jan 22, 2019:

I am sorry but the statement, "people I find slightly disgusting" is surely a lack of empathy.

Does unhealthy food make you happy sometimes? Even for a little while? I eat healthy the majority...

Fernapple comments on Jan 22, 2019:

Yes but I go for one item or meal about twice a week. Actually I don't think that there are many harmful foods except perhaps white sugar, there are only foods taken to excess, and it is perhaps better to have a small amount now and again rather than binge out, because that gives your organs a hammering.

Encase you weren't aware....

Fernapple comments on Jan 22, 2019:

So wherever I go, it will be the same place as everyone else then. Great!

"How on earth can religious people believe in so much arbitrary, clearly invented balderdash?....The...

Fernapple comments on Jan 22, 2019:

Community is one of the things that the skeptics have yet to build to any great extent. When there is a church on every street and a church coffee shop as well, plus a meeting hall, and a bookshop in every major town, it is a hard uphill battle to equal that. And I do not even think that you can build a community on a negative, "do not" ideal, it would be a hard ask. Perhaps the best way is to invest time and effort in secular charitable institutions, set a good example of living well and for the larger community and hope that something grows. Still we have a start here.

Why can't I get over my first true love?

Fernapple comments on Jan 22, 2019:

It is harder to face things when you feel that you are the one to blame, but you have to accept the truth is that we all make mistakes and that forgiving ourselves is the most important form of moving on there is. There is no act of forgiveness more important than forgiving ourselves. You have to teach yourself that your loss and the reason for it, are two different things which you have to deal with differently, otherwise they will keep on feeding each other in an endless loop. Moving on means accepting that these things are now a part of you and your history, and that you have learned and can grow to be better and stronger now you have more experience. Saying to yourself that; now thanks to my greater knowledge I am a far better more able person who can make a better job of future relationships and give a lot more to them, and therefore I can aim higher. Good luck with your search.

The Star Spangled Banner played in a minor key, sounds a bit Russian.? [good.is]

Fernapple comments on Jan 22, 2019:

BB is the funniest there is.

The Supreme Court has become political and it was designed to be impartial. How can we get back to a...

Fernapple comments on Jan 21, 2019:

Make it jury led instead. In ancient Athens where they first came up with democracy the highest courts were jury led, and despite more limited resources they had three hundred members, enough to make a good sample of public opinion, not the tiny statistically hopeless twelve we have now.

Can the UK possibly recover from the Brexit pantomime (in or out)??

Fernapple comments on Jan 21, 2019:

Europe including Britain like the US are dying failed civilizations, the leadership of the world will soon pass to Russia, China and the Southern Hemisphere, it little matters if Britain sinks alone or goes down with the rest of Europe.

My pond refroze overnight. Yesterday's thaw made a good piece of bluestone heave. Good to see the ...

Fernapple comments on Jan 21, 2019:

A little open water if you can thaw or break a bit, is really useful to the birds.

The devotion of the human dad separates us from other apes | Aeon Essays

Fernapple comments on Jan 21, 2019:

This certainly has a lot of truth in it, but the author shoots himself in the foot to some extent by supporting it with the completely false idea that male apes of other species do not have any role in caring for infants. This is completely wrong, even though to a degree caring in most of the other apes is shared by whole extended family groups. A sad case of a good idea being overblown by hubris, and a wish to exaggerate.

When say I Trump is a winner. I am not talking about some overt narcissist wannabe, I refer to Judd...

Fernapple comments on Jan 21, 2019:

Yep that trump is a smart, cool, slim, good looking and intelligent young man. He did so well you love him so much you think he should be president. But you should not have added the Judd bit until the US members had opened the post.

Art demands sacrifices.

Fernapple comments on Jan 21, 2019:

It worked especially well on my screen because I had to scroll down to see the bottom of the picture.

The greatest truth is the knowledge ... reframing yourself .. Faith begins with knowledge, and does ...

Fernapple comments on Jan 21, 2019:

Well it should stop at its borders. "If you are too open minded, your brains drop out."

[whale.to] Yo! I hit the Woo jackpot o' crackpots.

Fernapple comments on Jan 21, 2019:

Yes you certainly hit the woo mother load there alright. At least until the next time, you know what they say. "If you make it fool-proof, someone will just design a better grade of fool."

Does anyone else notice people creep your profile but never say "Hi"? And by creep I mean look at ...

Fernapple comments on Jan 21, 2019:

I agree with Lucy-Fehr a lot of it could just be accident, the profile menu is where my mouse naturally tends to go when I move it to one side, and the profiles that pop up can be annoying. At the same time I think that it is often a good idea to check the profile of a poster before commenting, as this helps you to understand the post better, and I wish that I was more disciplined and had the patience to do it more often.

Some people have a head start and don't even know it! [youtu.be]

Fernapple comments on Jan 21, 2019:

Good video, pity it ends with a bible quote it did not need that.

What regional sayings amuse you?

Fernapple comments on Jan 21, 2019:

We have a very local one here in the north east of the UK. "Put th'a wood in't hole." Meaning, do not leave the door open.

What regional sayings amuse you?

Fernapple comments on Jan 21, 2019:

"You can't have your cake and eat it. " I could never understand that one as a child since it sounded so obvious it was surely a tautology. It was only when I grew older and realized that it was an answer to people with a excessively high sense of entitlement that it became clear.

These Ex-Jehovah’s Witnesses Are Destroying Their “No Blood Transfusion” Cards | Hemant Mehta ...

Fernapple comments on Jan 20, 2019:

Every small step is one more towards a better world.

Winter Frost

Fernapple comments on Jan 20, 2019:

Wow have not seen frost ferns for years, they alway were on the windows when I was a child, but double glazing put an end to them.As a child the bedrooms in the old house used to get so cold that you would try to get dressed in bed, and then when you had to get your feet out you would try to bury them in the fur rug as fast as possible while you found your socks. It was fox fur my father skinned and cured, and I still remember just how soft and warm it felt.

Everyone has an art. Everyone is an artist. By 'art' I mean the way one best expresses themself. A ...

Fernapple comments on Jan 20, 2019:

I would put in a vote for gardening, since it is one of the few which is a science as well, it is the only one which deals with the living environment, in time and space, it teaches humility because nature always messes with your efforts, and it always turns out better than your vision because nature upgrades your efforts. So much so, that when you really get good at it, you hardly do anything at all, because it is you that have grown even more than the plants. Lovely picture of the Natural History Museum.

It is okay to disagree.

Fernapple comments on Jan 20, 2019:

Where it comes to religion, because I disagree with you I pity you.

Ethics, a prescription for human conduct is not the sole property of any religion. I think that all ...

Fernapple comments on Jan 20, 2019:

Actually a rationalist/skeptic/atheist, is less likely statistically to kill you, rob you, rape you, or commit any major crime against you, for any reason. And morality in simple forms is found even in some none human animals so it has to predate religion.

What are knickers for? I mean I must have a few 1000 pairs in my life and I am not fully sure why we...

Fernapple comments on Jan 20, 2019:

They are there because they are fun for someone else to peel off of course.

Thanos and God

Fernapple comments on Jan 20, 2019:

Don't expect logic from religion, it does not do that. It is however fun to research the history of Satan, because the whole story is so wonderfully silly, there are a couple of good videos on U-tube you can find easily. In the Christian old testament he/it/they (may be several) starts as an servant of god doing as he is told, which some sects still think he does. The original meaning of Satan in old Hebrew roughly translates as "adversary" with the slight meaning of legal council as in prosecuter. God sends "an" Satan (obedient servant) to bring the plagues to Egypt, then it becomes gods drinking pal in Job and only finally becomes the antichrist in the new testament. There is nothing in the Bible to connect Satan with the snake in the garden of Eden, that is a quite post Biblical idea. And of course the first thing that god creates is light. "Let there be light." which may be why there is the alternate name of Lucifer, and that may go back to ancient Persian Zoroastrian myths.

Thoughts about meaning and personal influence in the world. (Ignore the video label, it's ...

Fernapple comments on Jan 20, 2019:

Bull central, should be on the Woo page.

Demosthenes for democracy

Fernapple comments on Jan 20, 2019:

Or even that a small group should be more powerful than the people, representative democracy is an oxymoron.

Love and friendship

Fernapple comments on Jan 20, 2019:

Very cynical but may be quite true generally. However the human condition being as variable as it is, you can find exceptions to just about every rule you can make, and I am sure there will be some to this one too.

" I have never heard a rational argument to defeat the smell of frying bacon". Andy Hamilton ...

Fernapple comments on Jan 19, 2019:

I remember once hearing a veteran of the Spanish civil war saying that, broadcasting propaganda persuaded a few of the enemy to desert, but we got ten times as many coming over if we told them we had sausages.

How many people have found themselves driving at night in the snow, and seen this annoying trend: ...

Fernapple comments on Jan 19, 2019:

We are very troubled in the UK by people who drive with fog lights on, they are very powerful and are only intended for heavy fog or mist. Yet the fools who have spent a lot of money on them as extras, want to show off of course, and in so doing nearly blind everyone else.

I prefer this kind of work out

Fernapple comments on Jan 19, 2019:

You can go to a garden center and spend a fortune on labour saving gadgets. Then ironically when you read their notice board they are telling you that you can join gym classes. For another good fee of course.

What is Faith? Over the years I have heard many people, who can’t scientifically or logically ...

Fernapple comments on Jan 19, 2019:

You have it sorted, I do not think there are many on this site who would disagree, with most of that. Though you can look at it another way, top down rather than bottom up, and say that faith is the excuse people give when they believe something without any evidence. It is also of course taught as a virtue in the theist religions, and given the second definition, it is not hard to see why.

Sunny and 60° Friday, cold and 35° Saturday. Texas

Fernapple comments on Jan 19, 2019:

Snow is nice, we have not had any yet this year in my part of the UK. but just like you the weather this year has been changeable, very mild two days ago, but frost the last two nights.

Those that vow the most are the least sincere.....Richard Brinsley Sheridan.

Fernapple comments on Jan 19, 2019:

It reminds me of education. Where, whenever you went to a new class or had a new teacher, you could always tell the ones on the extreme religious right and the far Marxist left who were going to preach at you. Because they always started with a phrase like. "I do not want to tell you what to think, but only to get you to think for yourselves."

Contrary to what people may say, there is no upper limit to stupidity......Stephen Colbert.

Fernapple comments on Jan 18, 2019:

I think that someone posted a while back that. You can never make anything fool-proof, because if you do someone just comes up with a better grade of fool.

Is scientology a religion or a dangerous cult?

Fernapple comments on Jan 18, 2019:

You should have a "both" option.

Knowledge and ignorance

Fernapple comments on Jan 18, 2019:

I always though that this was at the heart of what is questionable about the Plato/Socrates philosophy. Plato especially puts two doubtful ideas into Socrates mouth, one of which is the idea, which follows from this, that you only need to understand why a thing is good or bad to avoid the bad and do good, which ignores the fact that a person may well understand that a thing is evil and yet still choose to do it. And the other is his often used argument that it is always better to have more of a good thing, which ignores the fact that quantity can change a things quality; what is good in small amounts, (like food) may become an evil in large amounts.

Any words of wisdom for a newcomer to this site?

Fernapple comments on Jan 18, 2019:

Check out the groups there is something for everyone and not all of the life here is on the front page.

Dawn of Agriculture: Worst Mistake EVER? Pulitzer Prize Winner (Guns, Germs and Steel) Jared Diamond...

Fernapple comments on Jan 18, 2019:

One thing that has to be taken in to account, is that the change to agriculture may have been more of a drift than a revolution. It may well have started in small ways such as putting water on the ground in dry semi desert areas, to make grass grow and thereby attract game which could be hunted more easily. In a way which hardly changed the hunter gatherer lifestyle at all to begin with. Each new innovation may have brought some small and real gains to begin with, and to the people living though the changes it may have been so slow that they were not aware their lives were being significantly changed.

Sunset at home two days ago (Hamilton, New Zealand), because we love positive posts. Featuring the ...

Fernapple comments on Jan 17, 2019:

Great sky for what must be high summer with you.

I have just seen an item on the news saying that we should all eat less meat, dairy, etc to prevent ...

Fernapple comments on Jan 17, 2019:

Perhaps, but that is not a good way to do it, maybe there is a hope that as we become a post Christian society, we can have the benefit of euthanasia available from our health services when we become too unhealthy to enjoy life. But making yourself unhealthy to start with is a very counter productive way to go about it.