I think I see the problem...

RichCC comments on Aug 12, 2021:

Half of all people are below average at math. *** ** *David Ellis' fourth Law of Thermodynamics* ** (I know there are multiple 'laws' of thermodynamics often having to do with rates of entropy and stuff -- I'm ignoring those.) ** *If the probability of success is not almost one, it is ...

Fernapple replies on Aug 12, 2021:

@Petter Most people have an above average number of legs. Because if one person in say every hundred is an amputee, then the average number of legs is 1.99. So ninety nine people out of a hundred have an above average number.

Religion was the original traditional culture of the world, which was used to explain and justify ...

RichCC comments on Aug 12, 2021:

One of my favorite thoughts came years ago from a blogger named Greta Christina. As I've said before on Agnostic, please excuse the specific wording because I'm paraphrasing from memory. *** Over the years we've had many supernatural explanations for various events -- the sun was Apollo carrying a...

Fernapple replies on Aug 12, 2021:

Yes, I always liked that argument. And if there is a god in the gaps, then he/she/it is shrinking all the time, and has been for a long time, in fact I think it has now got so tiny, perhaps, nobody can find it anymore. LOL.

The evolved nature of human psychology is apparently such that most of us are predisposed to ...

bbyrd009 comments on Aug 11, 2021:

“ Is there a common thread to all major world religions, of which science can approve? I think there is.” what is it?

Fernapple replies on Aug 12, 2021:

Religion was the original traditional culture of the world, which was used to explain and justify everything using the authority of tradition, and the supernatural. Then two thousand six hundred years ago (approx.) in the west, the Greeks invented philosophy, because by then, it was becoming plain that religion had failed, and a better way to justify ideas had to be found. At first appeal to logic and free debate in the case of philosophy, and later by empirical evidence and the experimental method in philosophies child science. At which point 2600 years ago, religion became obsolete. But it continued to persist by using fake authority to promote ideas that could not easily be justified by philosophy and science, especially to the uneducated. Religion is therefore, the use of fake authority, tradition and the supernatural to justify ideas, in fact it is an exact synonym for the fallacy, of "argument from authority". What you have to ask yourself therefore, is who would want to use such a fallacy, it could of course only be the fraudulent and the criminal, only they would want or need false justification. Religion is therefore by its nature opposed to science, philosophy, and education, because without opposition it does not exist, and opposition is the only thing it has to sell, in order to find itself a place in the market of ideas. The apologists for religion will tell you that religion is not in conflict with science and philosophy, because they have a lot of common ground on which they agree, but the real thing to consider is that if religion agrees with science and philosophy , then its ideas, 'are', science and philosophy, supported by much better props than fake authority, and not therefore, needing religion. That is only the case of the dishonest criminal doing a bit of honest trade, "on the side", because that increases its profits and power, but it is not a justification for the crimes. ( Like this, may post it. )

5 Billion bibles have been printed according to the Guinness Book of records, and a further 100 ...

Fernapple comments on Aug 11, 2021:

It is a fact, that most of the fundies and evangelicals, almost universally, prefer the King James. Which is almost universally regarded by most biblical scholars, as the most mixed up confused and inaccurate of all the versions. Funny that ain't it.

Fernapple replies on Aug 12, 2021:

@Gwendolyn2018 Yes they also added the commandment about not making images, and an extra verse to the Song Of Solomon, the one which explains how it is really all metaphor and not sexual. They also added the resurrection story, to the gospel of Mark, since it seems that the earliest gospel did not originally include it, wonder why?

How Much Of Life Depends Upon Placebo Effects?

Fernapple comments on Aug 9, 2021:

Evolution by natural selection has no foresight, it merely adjusts any creature to be better at living in the existing environment, from the starting point of its existing adaptations to former environments. Therefore when the environment changes suddenly, as it sometimes does, all creatures are ill...

Fernapple replies on Aug 11, 2021:

@EarnestEccentric Oh I have read your peices so far, and you are certainly not thick. Though if you don't mind, I have improved the comment a bit and may make a post out of it. Then we can see if the members shred it to bits.

"COVID-19: Common question, Can the fully vaccinated spread Delta?

Fernapple comments on Aug 8, 2021:

My understanding of it is that, if you are vaccinated you can still both catch and spread all strains of the virus. BUT, IT IS MUCH LESS LIKELY. That however will be very hard to explain to the anti -vac crowd, especially the religious fundamentalist section, since they have been trained for years ...

Fernapple replies on Aug 9, 2021:

@powder Well it is just possible that this virus may be quite different from all other pandemics, and will not fade when when we get near to herd immunity, as polio , smallpox and seasonal flu all do, but somehow I think that such a rare and unexplainable exception is unlikely. Especially as that here in the UK we are begining to see just the effects you would expect as herd immunity gets near.

So it seems that yesterday or the day before, depending where you live, was.

RichCC comments on Aug 9, 2021:

I had it as Thursday, August 12th. So we may get a very temporary stay -- Ha, ha.🙂 https://m.facebook.com/events/d41d8cd9/global-prayer-to-end-atheism/942359172978622/#_=_ Sorry for the FB link and I won't be surprised if Agnostic doesn't accept it. Ha, ha again. Who is your source for ...

Fernapple replies on Aug 9, 2021:

I think my source may have been someone on this site. Never mind.

I stole this from one of George's sources... (thanks George!)

Julie808 comments on Aug 9, 2021:

Or s/he could crawl into bed to cuddle with the object of his/her affections, for a few moments, instead of spinning around getting dizzy!

Fernapple replies on Aug 9, 2021:

That probably just about, sums up the whole tragedy of the human condition. LOL

"COVID-19: Common question, Can the fully vaccinated spread Delta?

Fernapple comments on Aug 8, 2021:

My understanding of it is that, if you are vaccinated you can still both catch and spread all strains of the virus. BUT, IT IS MUCH LESS LIKELY. That however will be very hard to explain to the anti -vac crowd, especially the religious fundamentalist section, since they have been trained for years ...

Fernapple replies on Aug 9, 2021:

@powder Yes but a vaccinated person is less likely to spread the disease, that is the point of probabilities.

I don't understand why some people (likely leaning to the right) are so bothered by a vax ...

DenoPenno comments on Aug 8, 2021:

At 75 years of age I have been wondering the same thing. Anti-vaxxers forget that this is not a "choice." It is often a requirement. I have been vaccinated my entire life and have seen many bad diseases removed from society because of it. This includes polio. You just cannot cure stupid!

Fernapple replies on Aug 8, 2021:

Polio is nearly extinct in the world today, except for two countries where it still lingers. Namely Pakistan and Afghanistan, where of course, some of the religious authorities are opposed to vaccine.

Saw a good post on another site comparing covid restrictions to taxes.

Marionville comments on Aug 7, 2021:

I can’t agree…I don’t see any exemptions being made here in the U.K. for the rich….the Covid regulations applied to everyone equally…as being rich or privileged was no barrier to catching it, social distancing and mask wearing was mandated for all regardless of status. Comparing covid ...

Fernapple replies on Aug 8, 2021:

Yes but being confined to home, when your home is a two thousand acre estate, is very different to being confined to a third floor bed sitting room, especially if you are a family.

Values to live by

racocn8 comments on Aug 7, 2021:

Some others not necessarily implied: Be Truthful. Seek to ennoble and inform in your discourse. Seek to understand the motives of others. Keep it brief and use simple language. Gauge your language to your audience. Only be eloquent when the occasion permits. Avoid speaking out of egotism. ...

Fernapple replies on Aug 8, 2021:

Prefer your list.

Pastor: Christians Should Reject Vaccines Since God’s Law Overrides Man’s Law | Beth Stoneburner...

DenoPenno comments on Aug 7, 2021:

God's law overrides man's law. OK. Please explain just what this has to do with vaccines. What does any of it have to do with your bible?

Fernapple replies on Aug 8, 2021:

It does ignore one of the few plain statements made by the book's central figure. "Render unto Caesar what is due unto Caesar." In other words. Obey the law of your country. And that was the Roman Empire, which had a great deal less of a democratic mandate than most modern western nations.

Wearing masks is such a minor inconvenience and so simple to do.

Fernapple comments on Aug 7, 2021:

Like you say. "Wearing masks is such a minor inconvenience and so simple to do." Can not doing it therefore really be counted as a "Liberty", in any real meaningful sense of the word. But then protesting against masks is also easy to do, and a cheap way to virtue signal. It is not like defending ...

Fernapple replies on Aug 7, 2021:

@Buck Try reading it carefully and properly, you will find that I am agreeing with you. Sorry it is a bit curt, I wrote under time pressure.

Humans are strange.

of-the-mountain comments on Aug 7, 2021:

Kindness!!!

Fernapple replies on Aug 7, 2021:

Yes but making someone fat and lazy, with the illness that accompanies that, is not kind really is it. Like I say, strange.

You're all gonna burn, heehee

bbyrd009 comments on Aug 6, 2021:

as if jesus would even go into a building with a cross on the roof lol

Fernapple replies on Aug 7, 2021:

Fool me once, shame on you, but fool me twice.....

While LOTR is a much better read than the Bible, which set of books do you think would make a better...

Fernapple comments on Aug 6, 2021:

I Think that it is best not to set up any text written by humans as an infallible god. There is really no difference between the worship of an invisible sky daddy who is perfect and beyond question, and the worship of a text which will soon be seen as perfect and beyond question.

Fernapple replies on Aug 7, 2021:

@SnowyOwl Quite, it does not matter if your god is a solid natural feature like a volcano, a hand made statue, an invisible mental construction passed on by word of mouth, or a printed text.

Humans are strange.

MichelleGar1 comments on Aug 6, 2021:

I like my men full figured, tall and kind. I could care less about the trim or muscled figures, most are conceited anyway, I prefer kind!

Fernapple replies on Aug 7, 2021:

Yes that is what I look for in a woman, and the power to make interesting conversation, body shape is of no interest.

Theists are a bunch of scared little kids

Julie808 comments on Aug 5, 2021:

That and being good - for the sake of it being the right thing to do - rather than the fear of God's wrath. They can't understand that!

Fernapple replies on Aug 6, 2021:

They have been repeatedly told that human nature is evil, and needs to be cured. That the good parts of the human condition also come from our nature, by default, since there is no where else. And that even the good parts of their religion, were put into it by humans responding to the good in their own natures. Would mean turning the whole world view they have been taught to believe on its head.

God is Actually a WAR GOD | What the Church Doesn't Want You to Know - YouTube

AnneWimsey comments on Aug 5, 2021:

"The Church doesn't want me to know?." I read the OT, duhhhh

Fernapple replies on Aug 5, 2021:

The Roman Catholic church did for centuries try to stop people reading the Buy-Bable. I don't think that you have to think long to understand why.

Humans are strange.

racocn8 comments on Aug 5, 2021:

That would only be in the US. Preferred body types everywhere else in the world are broader than 'slim'. However, I have been frustrated that shortly after the relationship becomes stable and reliable, the pounds pile on. After marriage, my ex-wife's stomach folded over her crotch in a matter of ...

Fernapple replies on Aug 5, 2021:

That is kind of my serious point behind the joke. Though I think it would be wrong to make it too sexist, as both sexes are capable of letting go and giving way to spoiling by their partners, when once they feel safe and stable especially..

The Case of the Missing Delta Where is the material that was where the Grand Canyon is?

Fernapple comments on Aug 5, 2021:

At a very rough estimate, and given that I can only find a area for the Grand Canyon National Park and not for the canyon itself. And taking an average depth of one mile, which is probably an overestimate, given the first bit, and taking the Sea Of Cortez at 62,000 square miles, the canyon could ...

Fernapple replies on Aug 5, 2021:

@yvilletom Or beyond of course, certainly some of the sediment from every river finds its way to the furthest corners of the world, depending on its boyancy of course. But the Sea Of Cortez was the area quoted by the article so I went with that. It is perfectly possible of course that if there was a suitable channel in the seas, seabed that nearly all of the sediment would be flushed out of the Sea of Cortez, but that I think would be unlikely.

Emotions, beliefs, and absolute certainties belong in one category, and a willingness to look at the...

Fernapple comments on Aug 5, 2021:

Then you mean to tell me, that you are taking back, all that which you wrote about your absolute certainty that the biblical authors, editor and scribes all wrote in the one literary genre, namely the metaphorical one ?

Fernapple replies on Aug 5, 2021:

@skado What no proper answer ?

Why didn't I think of this solution?

Charles1971 comments on Aug 5, 2021:

Why even bother with the bible on her face? Why not just rely on the invisible god forcefield being generated by her faith and prayers?

Fernapple replies on Aug 5, 2021:

Because she wanted to show off her Christian virtue, like the good little hypocrite she is. ( Virtue signaling being perhaps the important rite among Christians. Some would say the Eucarist, but nah! Virtue signaling. )

Emotions, beliefs, and absolute certainties belong in one category, and a willingness to look at the...

Fernapple comments on Aug 5, 2021:

Then you mean to tell me, that you are taking back, all that which you wrote about your absolute certainty that the biblical authors, editor and scribes all wrote in the one literary genre, namely the metaphorical one ?

Fernapple replies on Aug 5, 2021:

@skado No this time I am very serious.

Isn't this what the Olympics are supposed be?

Fernapple comments on Aug 5, 2021:

Your story has disappeared, the link now goes to something else.

Fernapple replies on Aug 5, 2021:

@FrayedBear Yes it works now.

Online Dating Vocabulary: What You Need to Know.

Fernapple comments on Aug 4, 2021:

Here is the bottom line. MEN ARE EASY. Most of us will fall over, roll on our backs, and play dead for any female who can stay awake long enough to give the orders. Therefore it follows that any man who is on a dating service, is a reject who has been passed over by the last thousand and a half ...

Fernapple replies on Aug 4, 2021:

@Lorajay And there is a whole ocean between us, or I would be on the next bus. But never give up hope, and remember, one good friend is worth a thousand poor lovers.

Copied from Facebook. One reason why I am not a fan of home schooling.

barjoe comments on Aug 4, 2021:

Antivaxxers are big on homeschooling to keep from protecting their kids’ health

Fernapple replies on Aug 4, 2021:

@Beowulfsfriend Yes I remember that story smart kid, but sadly it is the, not quite so smart kids, who are realy vunerable, and can't so easily stand to have a ball and chain put round their ankles at the start..

Online Dating Vocabulary: What You Need to Know.

Fernapple comments on Aug 4, 2021:

Here is the bottom line. MEN ARE EASY. Most of us will fall over, roll on our backs, and play dead for any female who can stay awake long enough to give the orders. Therefore it follows that any man who is on a dating service, is a reject who has been passed over by the last thousand and a half ...

Fernapple replies on Aug 4, 2021:

@Lorajay That is sad, I know when I was newly widowed the message went round the grape vine, and in no time I had three lady friends, who all wanted to date me in pretty quick time. But I was not ready and we soon moved on, and I guess that eventually the grape vine was sending out the message, that I was not interested. Which in some ways was a shame because a couple of years down the line, I easily could be. But it is because of that personal experience, that I recommended enlarging the grape vine by cultivating more friends, as perhaps the best way forwards.

Online Dating Vocabulary: What You Need to Know.

Fernapple comments on Aug 4, 2021:

Here is the bottom line. MEN ARE EASY. Most of us will fall over, roll on our backs, and play dead for any female who can stay awake long enough to give the orders. Therefore it follows that any man who is on a dating service, is a reject who has been passed over by the last thousand and a half ...

Fernapple replies on Aug 4, 2021:

@LiterateHiker Seriously, perhaps the best way to find a good partner, is to cultivate the widest possible circle of high quality friends of your own sex. (Applies to both men and women.) Because few people can resist the thrill of matchmaking, and you then get to find the best choices in your circle of like minded people as soon as they become available.

I broadcast fennel seeds in my shady beds in hope of attracting swallowtail butterflies.

Fernapple comments on Aug 3, 2021:

I love fennel for its own sake as well, it is not just a great herb but looks so attractive too. I don't know why more people don't grow it, though the fact that there are the two forms both the root vegetable and the leaf herb can cause confusion.

Fernapple replies on Aug 3, 2021:

@glennlab It seems that our swallow tail here, lives on the Milk Parsley, Peucedanum palustre , so perhaps I would not get it on fennel anyway. You say that you do not like the licorice flavour, does that mean that you are growing the Florence Fennel type with the edible white bulbs at the base ? Have you tried the leaf herb, which has more of an anice flavour.

I broadcast fennel seeds in my shady beds in hope of attracting swallowtail butterflies.

Fernapple comments on Aug 3, 2021:

I love fennel for its own sake as well, it is not just a great herb but looks so attractive too. I don't know why more people don't grow it, though the fact that there are the two forms both the root vegetable and the leaf herb can cause confusion.

Fernapple replies on Aug 3, 2021:

@glennlab I wish mine would attract the swallow tails, we can I think just get them in the UK, but I am fairly well north.

“Social media gives legions of idiots the right to speak when they once only spoke at a bar after ...

Fernapple comments on Jul 31, 2021:

Yes, but such things often bring about a reaction in time, we could be on the verge of a new age of faith in traditional education and the idea of 'good taste' as and objective standard, which can be taught. When everyone can have unlimited trash delivered to their screen for free, the real ...

Fernapple replies on Jul 31, 2021:

@Diogenes Yes but Constantine only made it state religion after it had gained a huge following and as a politically motivated move, because it seemed likely to be a uniting force. He remained himself a pagan and unbaptised until he was on his deathbed. Pagan also means villager, to imply that villagers were slower on the uptake and more primitive....

“Social media gives legions of idiots the right to speak when they once only spoke at a bar after ...

Fernapple comments on Jul 31, 2021:

Yes, but such things often bring about a reaction in time, we could be on the verge of a new age of faith in traditional education and the idea of 'good taste' as and objective standard, which can be taught. When everyone can have unlimited trash delivered to their screen for free, the real ...

Fernapple replies on Jul 31, 2021:

@whiskywoman Yes I love Facebook like a cat loves a cold bath.

@Admin.

Fernapple comments on Jul 31, 2021:

I get the opposite, likes and no notifications.

Fernapple replies on Jul 31, 2021:

@FrayedBear In your settings.

@Admin.

Fernapple comments on Jul 31, 2021:

I get the opposite, likes and no notifications.

Fernapple replies on Jul 31, 2021:

@LenHazell53 Yes but I have them on and still don't get all of them.

“Social media gives legions of idiots the right to speak when they once only spoke at a bar after ...

Fernapple comments on Jul 31, 2021:

Yes, but such things often bring about a reaction in time, we could be on the verge of a new age of faith in traditional education and the idea of 'good taste' as and objective standard, which can be taught. When everyone can have unlimited trash delivered to their screen for free, the real ...

Fernapple replies on Jul 31, 2021:

@Marionville Yes that is the current state of things. But the growing division between the thinking discerning faction and the credulus faction, will eventually lead to a point where it becomes obvious that the discerning are gaining benefits that others don't recieve. ( For example. A lot of people in the anti -vax communities, even if only a tiny minority so far, must be starting to ask. Why did my grandmother die, and not theirs. ) Then people start to ask questions like. How does this work ? How do I change sides ? Can I learn to do this ? Is discerment the real qualification that defines the upper class ? For I think that sadly the reaction, will also bring with it a new growth of class distinctions, and the death of liberal relativism. (Mixed blessings.) Remember what happened to Christianity in the Roman world, at first it was seen as a despised cult, for rebelious Jewish peasants only, until it was realized that it could be a uniting force in a decaying empire, and in the end everyone adopted it, to the point where they invented "pagan " as an insult word for the few who would not change. And with modern technology, at first nearly everyone rejected it, the Luddites hated it, and the church deplored it. Yet apart from a few groups like the Armish, were would you find anyone today, who would not like to own more of it.

I'm sure all the men on this site already knew this but occasionally you guys need a reminder.

Fernapple comments on Jul 30, 2021:

My grandmother used to say. Horses sweat. Men perspire. But ladies glow.

Fernapple replies on Jul 31, 2021:

@waitingforgodo Yes, but she does not glisten, she is just being modest. She shines brightly, so brightly that I can see the glow on the other side of the world. ( Go no, now ask where the puke emoji went. LOL )

There is nothing more obnoxious to me than an evangelistic Christian trying to convert me.

xenoview comments on Jul 30, 2021:

I don't care if a person is religious. I do have an issue with religious organizations.

Fernapple replies on Jul 31, 2021:

@LenHazell53, @xenoview No it is not true that it is fine as long as the religious keep it to themselves, because what they do among themselves, is still on the conscience of every human. That is the argument which leads to thousands of little girls, being flown to foreign lands where they do not understand the culture, being taken into dark back rooms to be painfully mutilated by stranger using a dirty knife, in an attempt to turn her into a passive beast of burden. I do not think that you really mean to say. " As long as it is not my daughter, I am fine with that."

There is nothing more obnoxious to me than an evangelistic Christian trying to convert me.

xenoview comments on Jul 30, 2021:

I don't care if a person is religious. I do have an issue with religious organizations.

Fernapple replies on Jul 31, 2021:

@LenHazell53 Yes I agree with you, but of course every member of every cult is not there by choice. Many are threatened, frightened, decieved and bullied into giving support. And if the wish is to get more people out of those cults. Then helping them to escape, is much better than threatening them, which only drives them deeper in, and confirms what the cult leaders tell them, which is invariably that the world outside the cult is a threatening and nasty place.

Haven't gotten one of these in awhile. Do elder guys really respond to these??? 😆

SpikeTalon comments on Jul 30, 2021:

I'm sure some fools would.

Fernapple replies on Jul 31, 2021:

@FrayedBear Yes I got one of those, chatted for a while mainly pointless stuff, no dating or sexual things. Then suddenly she wrote. "Can we move this conversation to another platform." WTF, I thought. OH, you mean an empty disused platform, that the rail company does not bother to light anymore, where your pimp and a couple of thugs are waiting in the dark to grab my savings. No thanks, bye. LOL

There is nothing more obnoxious to me than an evangelistic Christian trying to convert me.

xenoview comments on Jul 30, 2021:

I don't care if a person is religious. I do have an issue with religious organizations.

Fernapple replies on Jul 30, 2021:

@LenHazell53 I would not, because there are such things as former KKK and Nazi party members, some of whom later made valuable contributions to humanity in exactly the opposite ways to the intentions of those groups. Very few people are unable to change or learn, and on one should be prevented from making personal growth or changing for the better, because they are kept locked in a pigeon hole by the assumptions of others.

Many people dying in hospitals think that Covid is a "hoax" and have a "cold.

Fernapple comments on Jul 30, 2021:

You may be basically right, but I would ask where you got the stat if any which proves the "many people" statement from. While I have heard anecdotally of an odd case or two of people dying in hospital, still claiming that the virus is a hoax, it was not many, and it was only anecdotal. You are ...

Fernapple replies on Jul 30, 2021:

@Tourirst Well done. Keep up the good work, and don't let anyone least of all old pedants like me get you down.

I'm glad I don't live in Anchorage Alaska ...but wait I live out with the Wasillabillies?

Fernapple comments on Jul 30, 2021:

Why am I reminded of Amity Island, so many things sound so familiar, certainly nobody is coming up with any new plot lines ? ( Joke only for those over a certain age.)

Fernapple replies on Jul 30, 2021:

@FrostyJim Just when you thought it was safe to give someone a hug....

I have often been mad as heck for about five years and this week, I am mad as heck again.

BDair comments on Jul 29, 2021:

The odds of an 8 year old dying from Covid 19 is statistically zero. The odds of a child dying from vaccination, are greater than that of the virus. To date there have been 337 CV19 deaths in the 0-17 year old group in the U.S.. ...

Fernapple replies on Jul 29, 2021:

@BDair Yes, there are other methods (protocols if you like ) available to control the virus. But none of them including the vaccinations are mutually exclusive, in fact a lot of them complement one another. While if you have one which renders the vacs unnecessary, you had better write about it to the WHO and let the world know, because there are a lot of countries fighting the virus and failing, even with the vaccinations. And your Nobel prize I am sure will be a certainty.

Certainly a big factor in my dating preferences. :)

AnneWimsey comments on Jul 28, 2021:

I have Warlord-ess potential, need an armor-polishing sword-sharpening sidekick that can cook & groom the horses!

Fernapple replies on Jul 29, 2021:

@AnneWimsey Consider it a deal, come Armagedon I will be on the first boat. (There probably wont be planes.)

I have often been mad as heck for about five years and this week, I am mad as heck again.

BDair comments on Jul 29, 2021:

The odds of an 8 year old dying from Covid 19 is statistically zero. The odds of a child dying from vaccination, are greater than that of the virus. To date there have been 337 CV19 deaths in the 0-17 year old group in the U.S.. ...

Fernapple replies on Jul 29, 2021:

Yes but she is not talking about the child being vaccinated, only the general and older population. And there is a small risk to children, plus the unknown as yet, long term effects, which may be nothing, but may also exist.

I like Chris Cuomo's classification of the two groups in the US today: the "Vaccinated" and the ...

t1nick comments on Jul 28, 2021:

Cuomo made another good observation. The anti-vaccine crowd insist that ,"it's their body, their right to control their body, and their right not to get vaccinated". They are the same people who choose to deny women' the right to control their own bodies.

Fernapple replies on Jul 29, 2021:

I am not very familiar with US culture, but I have also heard that you have a subculture which takes a pride in saying that it would be prepared to. "Take a bullet for my country." But not it seems a tiny jab from a very small needle. Presumably because that is really scary. Forgive me, but to a foreigner this seems really strange. LOL

Certainly a big factor in my dating preferences. :)

AnneWimsey comments on Jul 28, 2021:

I have Warlord-ess potential, need an armor-polishing sword-sharpening sidekick that can cook & groom the horses!

Fernapple replies on Jul 29, 2021:

@AnneWimsey Do I get to make shallow jokes at their expense, when you finally stand over your enemies with your foot on their chest and your sword at their throat ?

Certainly a big factor in my dating preferences. :)

AnneWimsey comments on Jul 28, 2021:

I have Warlord-ess potential, need an armor-polishing sword-sharpening sidekick that can cook & groom the horses!

Fernapple replies on Jul 28, 2021:

Yep, I can do that, but I don't come cheap.

After having a scope recently, I couldn’t help but wonder why someone chooses proctology?

K9Kohle789 comments on Jul 28, 2021:

The patient is knocked out and quiet. Easy money.

Fernapple replies on Jul 28, 2021:

Not in the UK, here they keep you wide awake.

I've practiced Spanish at least five minutes a day for 188 days, per my Duolingo app.

Pralina1 comments on Jul 27, 2021:

Breathing . Avoiding killing assholes .

Fernapple replies on Jul 27, 2021:

The second can be much harder than the first.

It has been brought to my attention that in one of my recent acerbic, satirical posts that perhaps I...

Gwendolyn2018 comments on Jul 24, 2021:

I have been criticized for falling into the teacher role when I am not in the classroom. This was more so when I was a substitute teacher for seven years. One does not sub for that long and be successful at it unless one is strict but fair and kind. Teaching adults is a bit different and is even ...

Fernapple replies on Jul 24, 2021:

@t1nick The trouble with that is, that it is often someone else who gets sick with the virus they passed on.

Wise Words

Fernapple comments on Jul 24, 2021:

Yes but which one ?

Fernapple replies on Jul 24, 2021:

@FrayedBear No its my shirt. And some like me to wear it one way and some the other. They say things like. "It makes your belly look better that way." or "It does not look smart." And confussing things like that.

Who is paying?

Fernapple comments on Jul 24, 2021:

Yep vaccinations are dirt cheap in real terms.

Fernapple replies on Jul 24, 2021:

@nicknotes Quite. In my country the tax payer pays, and of course since they are long term and intensive that comes to a lot of money, I would say that from the tax payers point of view, the vacs is a bargin.

In 1860, William Henry Burr produced a list of 4 self-contradictions in the Bible.

273kelvin comments on Jul 24, 2021:

The problem with a literal interpretation of the bible is not only its absurdity but that it throws the baby out with the bathwater. Whatever good messages the book might contain is obscured by an all or nothing approach. It antagonises the atheist, agnostic and vaguely spiritual alike. Now if you ...

Fernapple replies on Jul 24, 2021:

@Gwendolyn2018 Yes literal interpretations can make it worse.

Wise Words

Fernapple comments on Jul 24, 2021:

Yes but which one ?

Fernapple replies on Jul 24, 2021:

@Spinliesel No the UK.

In 1860, William Henry Burr produced a list of 4 self-contradictions in the Bible.

273kelvin comments on Jul 24, 2021:

The problem with a literal interpretation of the bible is not only its absurdity but that it throws the baby out with the bathwater. Whatever good messages the book might contain is obscured by an all or nothing approach. It antagonises the atheist, agnostic and vaguely spiritual alike. Now if you ...

Fernapple replies on Jul 24, 2021:

True. The Old Testament is "a chronicle of a peoples transition from a nomadic existence to an agricultural one", but it is also the story of how that was achieved by ultra nationalism, racism, warfare, land theft and the genocide of the existing agriculturalists. Taking the literal god belief out of it does not redeem it completely, or make it a good example. Nor does it prevent people of criminal intent cherry picking it to justify their evil intentions, by claiming those cherry picked parts to be justified by tradition and to be grand archetypical metaphors of their own interpretation of human nature. The ancient Greek and Roman stories were used in just that way, to justify many of the most horrible aspects of European imperialism, including slavery, misogyny and racism, despite the fact that they were not believed literally by any Europeans since the five hundreds.

“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, ...

mcgeo52 comments on Jul 24, 2021:

With all due respect, I have to disagree. Technology has done more to change the world, for better and worse, than almost any small group of thoughtful, committed citizens. Indeed, technology has created a greater need for small groups of thoughtful, committed citizens.

Fernapple replies on Jul 24, 2021:

Yes and technology is the product of hundreds of thousands of people, across a hundred or more centuries, all moving forward together, even when some of them did not want to.

Wise Words

Fernapple comments on Jul 24, 2021:

Yes but which one ?

Fernapple replies on Jul 24, 2021:

@Spinliesel Thats a good plan, yes. Except that they tend to pull in different directions on some issues. ( Like if you should have your shirt in or out of your pants, when not wearing a jacket. ) Has got me into all sorts of trouble has that one.

This Meme is going places

FrayedBear comments on Jul 23, 2021:

1000 year old real estate agent's lies.

Fernapple replies on Jul 24, 2021:

Someone knows his history.

I changed a light bulb.

powder comments on Jul 23, 2021:

How many dyslexics does it take to change an leciterc blub?

Fernapple replies on Jul 24, 2021:

Dog knows !

Having a debate, would love for you to weigh in: If a singer/artist/actor you used to love turns ...

Fernapple comments on Jul 24, 2021:

Would depend if I can access the art free, in which case I am not providing any money which could be used to support things I do not approve of.

Fernapple replies on Jul 24, 2021:

@NYTrink Scandal would not have any effect, in fact, it is not something I would even take enough of an interest in to even know most of the time.

Remember when you are feeling low or very happy, you can always get on here and vent.

Fernapple comments on Jul 24, 2021:

As long as you are not boring. (Thats my job.)

Fernapple replies on Jul 24, 2021:

@anglophone I have acheived that nivana like state of self awareness in only 64 years. Not wishing to belittle your own acheivement, since you are probably not quite as boring as me, takes a little longer to get there.

What are your goals for 2021?

Julie808 comments on Jul 23, 2021:

My goal this year is to get my house clean enough for company again. After 18 months of not allowing anyone in, I've let it get cluttered. Housekeeping is not my favorite thing and I get bored with it after 15 minutes per day, so it will take a while! In the mean time, I'm hoping to keep my life ...

Fernapple replies on Jul 24, 2021:

Yep that is my plan as well.

So here we are again, more rainy, gray days.

Fernapple comments on Jul 23, 2021:

In the UK, the government placed us all under virtual house arrest because of the virus. I have got cabin fever, if I could get out I would just run and run rain or not.

Fernapple replies on Jul 24, 2021:

@Jolanta Thank you, I am doing. And if I go out it is somewhere where I can be quite alone.

Googling

hankster comments on Jul 22, 2021:

lots better than the old stone tablet days.

Fernapple replies on Jul 23, 2021:

I don't know, but I will take an old guys word any day. I only go back as far as scrolls, still don't really get on with these folding flippity paged books thinks yet, give me something I can roll out properly.

Googling

holdenc98 comments on Jul 22, 2021:

am i the only one who finds google crap compared to a good library? all google is, is easy.

Fernapple replies on Jul 23, 2021:

I find them complimentary, I like having both.

Among Mormon Women, Frank Talk About Sacred Underclothes

CuddyCruiser comments on Jul 22, 2021:

Oh let me guess…….men who wear pink are “Evil” and women who wear black are “whores”. These people probably believe Doctor Seuss was a brain surgeon.

Fernapple replies on Jul 22, 2021:

No, it is even crazier and funnier than that. They have to wear special long pants and vests, a lot like winter thermals all year round. They are supposed to be sacred temple garments, so that they are in the temple all the time.

Dating site gives "final warning" to man who criticized me for being atheist.

Fernapple comments on Jul 21, 2021:

Everyone has some beliefs which they hold to be true even though they are not supported by evidence. And I don't believe he has a B.S in anything, especially not Biology.

Fernapple replies on Jul 21, 2021:

@Sierra4 That I can believe.

What evolutionary advantages might there be, if any, of the currently observable level of stupidity ...

Fernapple comments on Jul 21, 2021:

Since agriculture came along and gave us abundant free food without having to hunt for it. The most stupid have taken the opportunity to breed as fast as they could, and the human brain which had been growing up until then has been shrinking ever since, the last five/ten thousand year or so, because...

Fernapple replies on Jul 21, 2021:

@yvilletom Yes certainly metaphore, just to illustrate the point about foresight. You have to be very careful though, really the story is rubbish in that although factually correct, it needs so many qualifications and nuances added, to make it even approach being a respectical comment on science, that it would go on for pages, or be open to willful misunderstanding. But fortunately most of the people on here are relatively science savay, so I content myself with just saying "not fully objective science" at the start.

One of my very good friends is very angry with me because I do not believe that covid is just a hoax...

Fernapple comments on Jul 21, 2021:

Someone who wants you to change to suit their needs, is not your friend to start with. Sorry, you may be fond of this person, but that is the truth, she does not love you the person, but only the thing she wants you to be in her life.

Fernapple replies on Jul 21, 2021:

@Jolanta Sometimes you have to be a little forgiving. You never know to what extent the church may be manipulating them. I have a friend who is quite elderly, nearly ninety. She had a best friend who she went to school with, and they were pals all their lives, never out of touch. But sadly her friend was born into a family with JW links and they got sucked ever more deeply into a fundi sub section of an extreme type. A couple of years ago, just before the pandemic, my friends old school friend passed away. But the family and the church closed ranks, and all non JW people including my friend were kept from the bed side, and of course from the funeral. My poor friend who is quite frail and grew up largely secular, and therefore innocent of the ways of churches, found it all impossible to understand. Becoming convinced that they had had a rift for some reason she could not fathom. There were storms of tears, and questions asked like. "Why is she doing this, I wanted more than anything to see her before she died ?" If the churches never did anything worse than keeping two frail and eldery people apart, to die more alone than they had to by nature, it would be more than crime enough.

Should there be a word for people who have rejected Covid-19 vaccination and later regretted it?

Marionville comments on Jul 21, 2021:

Damascene converts!

Fernapple replies on Jul 21, 2021:

That is a very polite one yes.

Christianity is collapsing | Freedom From Religion Foundation

domos comments on Jul 21, 2021:

Christianity is not going anywhere or falling apart. Institutionalized Christianity is just being reformed... Probably splitting between explicit white supremacy and a more progressive norm of classism... White supremacy light-ish. Institutional religion that's kind of taking a hit around the ...

Fernapple replies on Jul 21, 2021:

It can will and does reinvent itself endlessly. The Christianity of the second century A.D. was a completely different thing from that of the first, and that was another thing entirely from that of the post Roman dark ages, whose people would in turn not understand the medieval version, post reformation the Roman church and the new churches were both different again, and they changed again in the nineteenth century, then it reinvented itself many times in modern times. If you have a good label you keep sticking it on. If the man in the shop selling fake reproductions, made in a third world sweat shop last week, has a good label which says. "Genuine antique." He sticks it on every new thing that comes out of the back room.

Glenn Kirschner - Trump Associate Tom Barrack Indicted for 7 Felony Crimes, Unlawfully Acted as ...

Charlene comments on Jul 20, 2021:

Wonder if Trumpo will pay for his lawyers..😂😂😂😂😂

Fernapple replies on Jul 21, 2021:

Trumps lawers have already decided how they are going to carve up all of Trumps estates, there is nothing left, not already spoken for. LOL

My yellow poinciana is blooming and covered in bees.

MizJ comments on Jul 20, 2021:

Apologies that it loaded sideways

Fernapple replies on Jul 21, 2021:

Yes, but getting the bees to fly on their sides is really clever, we are impressed.

IFixit CEO names and shames tech giants for right to repair obstruction iFixit chief Kyle Wiens ...

FearlessFly comments on Jul 20, 2021:

The "right to modify", being inseparable from the right to own, is inalienable by definition. And the ability to modify is strongly correlated with the ability to repair.

Fernapple replies on Jul 20, 2021:

Sadly the right to own is in decline. Everything is getting more complicated, with the right to own being limited and restricted and your contracts when you buy saying that you can only have limited ownership of certain parts of things for certain uses at certain times in certain ways, and and up to certain points. The one thing that is certain is, is that none of the changes are for the consummers benefit.

Some thoughts I have after chatting with a friend about some exploitative patterns in relationships.

Fernapple comments on Jul 20, 2021:

I think that if you have reached the point, where you are starting to think about making rules and plans for a relationship, then it is probably not going anywhere anyway.

Fernapple replies on Jul 20, 2021:

@domos Understanding your partner is the maimn part of doing your best, and if they want to lay down rules for you that is fine and they are best respected, the problem comes when you start trying to invent rules to cover over conflicts. It is just about attitude.

Some thoughts I have after chatting with a friend about some exploitative patterns in relationships.

Fernapple comments on Jul 20, 2021:

I think that if you have reached the point, where you are starting to think about making rules and plans for a relationship, then it is probably not going anywhere anyway.

Fernapple replies on Jul 20, 2021:

@domos I always observed just one rule, which was. If doing my best all the time for this other persons happiness is not at the top of my mind all the time, then I need a new relationship because this is not workable, or I am an asshole who does not deserve it.

So it appears mandatory vaccine passports are becoming a thing in France.

Fernapple comments on Jul 19, 2021:

People have a right to choose, but if that comes with a cost to them, I have a perfect right to withhold help and say, pay the cost. In most countries you can not drive a car without you, first take a test and get a license, that is a restriction of freedom, but it is there to protect others, ...

Fernapple replies on Jul 20, 2021:

@bbyrd009 The cost here in the UK was trivial, especialy when compared to the other costs of the virus. If you Americans got ripped off, ( Which given the competence of your then leader seems likely. )that is your concern, and does not affect the big picture, especially as we are here talking about France.

Our resident numerologist and girl with the crunchiest numbers has inadvertently alerted us to a ...

Fernapple comments on Jul 19, 2021:

To the nearest one percent, 100%, or all of them. As the numbers get larger, more and more of them will contain a two, until a point is reached where virtually every one contains a two, certainly more than ninety nine out of a hundred, and given that you are talking about an infinite series the ...

Fernapple replies on Jul 19, 2021:

@anglophone No the number can never be exactly zero, since for example 378951 there you go, even if there was only that one, the count would be short of 100%, and there is a number which does not contain 2 and there must be an infinite number of them, since I can write an infinite number of numbers just using the first digit alone, 3, 33, 333, 3333, 33333....... The problem is that when you try to bring limits into the game along with several other things, you could try, then like most people who try to curb and manage the bejumme which is infinity, you are no longer talking about infinity, it is the same problem all those creationists etc. hit.

What do you think is the biggest problem in the world and how would you solve it?

anglophone comments on Jul 17, 2021:

The biggest problem in the world? Willful stupidity and willful ignorance. There is no known solution.

Fernapple replies on Jul 18, 2021:

@Julie808 Yes I think that there is such a thing as willfully stupid. Since yes, though there are people who lack brain power, but I think they are few, and that by far the greatest amount of stupidity is caused by laziness and fear, because people are unwilling to engage with education, even when it is freely available, because it may demand something from them, or it is not comforting. So they would rather go to a preacher, for example, (There are other sources. ) who will provide easy , comforting nonsense confirming what the inner child wants to hear, than take down a text book or think things through. Even though they may well know that that is not the best way to address or research the issues.

Just as is the case today, in Galileo’s time there was no quarrel between science and religion.

Flyingsaucesir comments on Jul 17, 2021:

I recall Steven Jay Gould proposing that there is no real conflict science and religion because they are "non-overlapping magisteria." I cannot say that I agree. If people are guided by their religions, or even their mistaken interpretations of their religions, to deny facts that science has ...

Fernapple replies on Jul 18, 2021:

@Flyingsaucesir Yes it is true that literal belief has been at the bottom of the problem , and I perhaps should have included it in the list. Though it has to be said that some religions such as Maoist personality cult, which helped to kill millions, and the Nazi cult which used exactly those sorts of interpretations of both Christianity and North European paganism, plus the Hitler personality cult, did not rely on a literal theist god very much, if at all.

Just as is the case today, in Galileo’s time there was no quarrel between science and religion.

Flyingsaucesir comments on Jul 17, 2021:

I recall Steven Jay Gould proposing that there is no real conflict science and religion because they are "non-overlapping magisteria." I cannot say that I agree. If people are guided by their religions, or even their mistaken interpretations of their religions, to deny facts that science has ...

Fernapple replies on Jul 17, 2021:

@Flyingsaucesir The hammer anology does not work, it is in fact a typical example of why metaphor usually fails, since an artificial world can always be created where anything may be made to work metaphorically. A better way to look at it, using the same flawed method , (Fight fire with fire.) would be to say that once people believed, that the disease Malaria was caused by the bad air in swamps, literally "mal- air ". We now know, of course, that it is caused by a parasite carried by insects which live in swamps. The fact that swamps however do not cause malaria does not mean that swamps are safe places to go , or that you are not more likely to catch malaria near a swamp, because that is where it lives. Thus moderate religion creates the swamp which is the natural home of the extremist, by normalizing beliefs not supported by logic, or evidence and by normallizing faith alone as a souse of belief and as a justification for action and morality, moderate religion creates the perfect environment for the extremist to live in.

Just as is the case today, in Galileo’s time there was no quarrel between science and religion.

Flyingsaucesir comments on Jul 17, 2021:

I recall Steven Jay Gould proposing that there is no real conflict science and religion because they are "non-overlapping magisteria." I cannot say that I agree. If people are guided by their religions, or even their mistaken interpretations of their religions, to deny facts that science has ...

Fernapple replies on Jul 17, 2021:

@Flyingsaucesir Exactly. The idea that religion can be recovered and made good simply by leaving out the supernatural, is nonsense, the literal belief in the supernatural is probably the least harmful and silliest bit of religion, and certainly not the source of its evil. The real defining quality of religion is the awarding of fake authority to things which do nothing to earn that authority. Whether that be religious tradition, religious social groups, religious texts, religious leaders or religious metaphore. Which definition of religion covers all the main bases, and if there are elements of religion outside of that they are trivial and unimportant. The important point being, that for those people who want to promote truth, there are plenty of ways to do it and plenty of ways to justify truth, from empirical science to philosophy, spheres where authority can be questioned and earned. The only people who want fake authority and have any real use for it, are people who wish to promote untruths, often things they know to be untrue, that is the only use it has. In the past it is true that religion was often the only game in town, when it came to issues such as morality, cosmology, etc. but those days are long since gone. Which is why religions can only increasingly in the future find a place in the market place of ideas, by appealing to the criminal, and becoming the home of organized crime. That is its future if not its past.

‘The law, in its majestic equality, forbids the rich as well as the poor to sleep under bridges,...

zeuser comments on Jul 17, 2021:

Regardless of what the law says, the rich get away with it lots more than the poor.

Fernapple replies on Jul 17, 2021:

Yes, I think that A. F. was putting the best spin on it, to make his point about how even fair and equal laws, do not really deliver true justice, even more strongly.

‘The law, in its majestic equality, forbids the rich as well as the poor to sleep under bridges,...

bobwjr comments on Jul 17, 2021:

Sure but the rich don't have to

Fernapple replies on Jul 17, 2021:

Yes I think that is the point.

“Life - the way it really is today - is a battle not between Bad and Good but between Bad and ...

Diogenes comments on Jul 17, 2021:

That is just about where I am right now; between a bad legal situation and one that is unbelievable. No I am not the criminal; I am the victim. Ontario's legal system is like a weird walk through some mysterious wonderland. When I look south of the border it is even worse. Donald John Trump is ...

Fernapple replies on Jul 17, 2021:

There are no legal systems which do not provide everyone with a "weird walk". Remember that the lawyers and judges make their livings by guiding people along those walks, yet the funny thing is that the people who earn money from the difficulties of the path, are also the people who a responsible for designing the paths. The perfect "Catch 22". See also. https://agnostic.com/group/FavoriteQuotes/discussion/610022/the-law-in-its-majestic-equality-forbids-the-rich-as-well-as-the-poor-to-sleep-under-bridges

Just as is the case today, in Galileo’s time there was no quarrel between science and religion.

Flyingsaucesir comments on Jul 17, 2021:

I recall Steven Jay Gould proposing that there is no real conflict science and religion because they are "non-overlapping magisteria." I cannot say that I agree. If people are guided by their religions, or even their mistaken interpretations of their religions, to deny facts that science has ...

Fernapple replies on Jul 17, 2021:

I did view the video, and that is not really the issue it addresses, it seems more likely that Skado did not view the video, at least not with an open mind. First. The conflict between Galileo and the church, (Not religion sadly because he was very devout, and failed to see through it.) occurred because the church had bought into some very bad pseudoscience, that of Plato and Ptolemy etc. which may once have been science in its day, but which was way out of date by then. The church then tried to use its fake authority, ( Not even justified by the Bible which hardly mentions it. ) to keep the old science alive in order to promote the idea of its own infallibility, thereby putting it in conflict with Galileo. Which is exactly the problem with religion, since religion is in fact simply the fallacy of proof by authority. Which is not something that those wishing to promote truth would ever wish to use, since there are many better tests of veracity such as logic, the experimental method, etc. even the ad populum fallacy is better sometimes. And therefore religion is almost invariably only the resort of those which to promote the untrue, which puts it in conflict with all sources of truth not merely science. Secondly. The video is only one short extract from a much longer one, much of which is in strong contrast with the extracts as presented. Cherry picking. Thirdly. The opinion expressed is only and opinion of one man's interpretation of another opinions, and is therefore very questionable. Fourthly. Einstein made many statements on religion and god many of which are much more strongly in conflict with its ideas. Cherry picking again.

It's really that simple

skado comments on Jul 13, 2021:

It’s almost that simple, I agree. If the meme could be modified to say *literal* god. But when it says *any* god, that would include metaphorical gods, and I’m convinced Clapton is real. 😎

Fernapple replies on Jul 15, 2021:

@skado PS. Don't forget you are talking to a Brit. We may not have been the first people to weaponize irrony, (ancient Greeks probably as usual) but we were certainly the first to use it a our main front line arm. Now rise to my expectation and give a considered, serious, sparkling response to my sad little jest.

[bbc.co.uk] Just right for a four year old to see on a table

Fernapple comments on Jul 14, 2021:

Still missing the puke emoji.

Fernapple replies on Jul 15, 2021:

@webspider555 Now get Admin to put it back on the page menu, and I will think you are even more brilliant.

Why do the perpetually stupid think everything terrible is all a hoax?

RichCC comments on Jul 15, 2021:

You answered your own question. They're desperately grasping for causes for the calamities they're seeing but they aren't smart enough to reason out legitimate answers -- they have to make stuff up.

Fernapple replies on Jul 15, 2021:

Oh I think they are, "smart enough to reason out legitimate answers", they just don't want to. Most of it is self chosen wilfully stupid. Especially choosing to remain forever in the child like state, of refusing to accept that, I want, is not the same as, its true. And in doing so they get plenty of help, since to churches and marketing companies, perminant spoiled demanding children, are exactly the audience they want, since they will buy into any promise this week, and when that fails, be ready to buy another one next week. It is much more about maturity than brain power I think.

It's really that simple

skado comments on Jul 13, 2021:

It’s almost that simple, I agree. If the meme could be modified to say *literal* god. But when it says *any* god, that would include metaphorical gods, and I’m convinced Clapton is real. 😎

Fernapple replies on Jul 15, 2021:

@skado Yes quite well, but mine is serious humour.

It's really that simple

skado comments on Jul 13, 2021:

It’s almost that simple, I agree. If the meme could be modified to say *literal* god. But when it says *any* god, that would include metaphorical gods, and I’m convinced Clapton is real. 😎

Fernapple replies on Jul 14, 2021:

@skado Me too and this is humour as well.

It's really that simple

skado comments on Jul 13, 2021:

It’s almost that simple, I agree. If the meme could be modified to say *literal* god. But when it says *any* god, that would include metaphorical gods, and I’m convinced Clapton is real. 😎

Fernapple replies on Jul 14, 2021:

@skado Can't you recognize a joke when you see it ? Boy, talk about lost in your own little world. But even so, there is, as with all logical paradoxes, some truth to be found there. To be a metaphorical atheist would be pointless and silly. And probably not logically sound, as the existence of metaphorical gods is empirically evident anyway, even to the believer in literal gods. As in the old atheist saying. "Believers are atheists, to nearly all gods that ever existed, I just go one god more." But you would be hard pressed to find, for example, a Christian literalist, who would refuse to recognize that Odin, Zeus and Apollo did not, and could not, exist as metaphorical objects. Therefore an atheist is by definition only a literal atheist, or at least you would be hard pressed to find a metaphorical one I would think. And don't tell me that you thought that I was one, there being a big difference between metaphorical gods and metaphor as religion.

It's really that simple

skado comments on Jul 13, 2021:

It’s almost that simple, I agree. If the meme could be modified to say *literal* god. But when it says *any* god, that would include metaphorical gods, and I’m convinced Clapton is real. 😎

Fernapple replies on Jul 14, 2021:

Maybe he is a metaphorical atheist.

Anthropologists of Jesus Christ and Devils, and Satans, and Atheists

Fernapple comments on Jul 13, 2021:

Yep. Fundamentalist fence sitting leaves you with a green line across your bum, which prolongs the flight paths of migrating owls driving sales of credit card interest up.

Fernapple replies on Jul 13, 2021:

@FreethoughtKaty That is even better.

Novel plastic disintegrates in a week in sunlight and oxygen [newatlas.com]

FearlessFly comments on Jul 13, 2021:

Uses : Drinking straws Disposable medical stuff (syringes, pads, etc...) Shopping bags Food and Product packaging

Fernapple replies on Jul 13, 2021:

Being very old, I can remember that in my youth, drinking straws were made of waxed paper. It would bio-degrade very well. But guess what ? You sucked and the juice came up, just the same as the plastic ones !!!

Great song from 1956 movie The Girl Can’t Help It….

Fernapple comments on Jul 13, 2021:

Did not know that film or version, but remember it well from when it was used as the almost perfect title sequence for the TV series "Taggart".

Fernapple replies on Jul 13, 2021:

@Marionville You are probably correct I am on expert.

The thPeople on the far political right, about 30 percent of our population, are constant throwing ...

Fernapple comments on Jul 12, 2021:

Witches never existed either, in any real or meaningful sense, certainly not as worshipers of a non existent devil, or creators of black magic. But it was nice to have someone you could torture, hang, burn, and above all blame for all the problems, so that you did not have to make the effort to face...

Fernapple replies on Jul 13, 2021:

@Willow_Wisp You cast your spell over me long ago.