Fernapple's Profile

WORDS.

LiterateHiker comments on Jun 22, 2021:

Of course words have meanings. **Definition: ** *noun* 1. the act of defining, or of making something definite, distinct, or clear: *We need a better definition of her responsibilities.* 2. the formal statement of the meaning or significance of a word, phrase, idiom, etc., as found in ...

Fernapple replies on Jun 23, 2021:

@MikeInBatonRouge If you use a dictionary for reference, then no it is not religious. But if you use it as a source of truth beyond the "usages" of words, which perhaps you would not do, but a lot of people do, then yes it does become a religion.

WORDS.

MikeInBatonRouge comments on Jun 22, 2021:

We don't merely use words for fun. We use them to convey meaning. We are stuck with words, like it or not. As imperfect a tool they may be for conveying meaning and having that meaning understood as we intend, we are left with no preferable alternatives.

Fernapple replies on Jun 23, 2021:

Yes I quite agree.

WORDS.

MikeInBatonRouge comments on Jun 22, 2021:

Semantics. Words do, indeed have meaning, a meaning which is derived through inferences people make based on the observed usage of the words. It is subjective to be sure, but it is still meaning. Perhaps you meant no absolute meaning? The purpose of words, certainly imperfectly executed, is ...

Fernapple replies on Jun 23, 2021:

I did mean absolute meanings, my word "usages" being the same thing as, 'none absolute meanings'. But the fact that I need to define my meaning of usages further, kind of proves my point. That you can not in fact use any word and assume its meaning, without defining that meaning on that occasion. And that believing words have absolute meanings is the same as believing in gods.

WORDS.

LiterateHiker comments on Jun 22, 2021:

Of course words have meanings. **Definition: ** *noun* 1. the act of defining, or of making something definite, distinct, or clear: *We need a better definition of her responsibilities.* 2. the formal statement of the meaning or significance of a word, phrase, idiom, etc., as found in ...

Fernapple replies on Jun 22, 2021:

Ah, spoken like a true religious believer. Your holy books are a perfect guide to everything in life, but you have to ask yourself if the worship of dictionaries, is in any way different from the worship of bibles. No words do not have meaning, words only have usages. Words are human cultural constructs, used in an attempt to model reality, which we generally inherit and which were made by former generations who often had very different models of reality to ours. To make good and worthwhile use of sceptical thinking, it is not enough merely to abandon literal belief in the sky fairy. Which is only a tiny part of the worlds culturally recieved folly, and probably far from being the worst or most dangerous part. It is needful to apply a sceptical view to all of human culture, including, art, tradition, litrature and yes language, plus any other of the numerous psuedo-gods that human culture creates and sets up. It is usualy thought that, in about the fifth century BCE, the classical world first produced philosophy. Why ? Was not the recieved cultural knowledge of the classical world enough, did not Zeus and the oracle at Delphi have good enough answers ? Of course you know the answer. Which is that, it was obvious by then, that unregulated and inherited human culture was not a good source of knowledge and wisdom, it was needful at the very least to invent philosophy to bring the rules of logic found in mathematics to bare on the problems. And when once that did not prove alone to be enough, the enlightenment invented Natural Philosphy, now called science, to add extra measures and safeguards, such as the experimental method. None of that would have been needed had it not been plainly seen that recieved cultural information, was failing to give good answers or provide a good model of the world. And what was one of the first errors to be recognized, by philosophy, it was that of linguistic sophistry.

Why should the word "atheist" even exist?

richiegtt comments on Jun 21, 2021:

I prefer the term nonbeliever .I do not care for labels .Labels cause more problems .I have seen constant bickering on this site over the years between atheists and agnostics which is pathetic.

Fernapple replies on Jun 22, 2021:

@LenHazell53 PS I would really like to know and understand the reference you make to Discworld, since I have not read it, so your comment is lost on me.

Why should the word "atheist" even exist?

richiegtt comments on Jun 21, 2021:

I prefer the term nonbeliever .I do not care for labels .Labels cause more problems .I have seen constant bickering on this site over the years between atheists and agnostics which is pathetic.

Fernapple replies on Jun 22, 2021:

@LenHazell53 Yes , of course, you say. "Therefore using the incorrect words or using words incorrectly is a way to royally screw things up. " Quite. And what I am saying is, that it is impossible NOT to use words incorrectly. And that any usage of words is amost, (not quite always, I do not believe in absolutes, ) bound to skrew things up to a degree. I made a post giving this as an example. Atheist for example. (Only for example.) Is a very badly used word in many cases, since most, so called, atheists, are actually what you could call 'asupernaturalists' or 'anti-suprernaturalists', since they do not believe in anything supernatural, nor any, none theist religions, like Buddhism, Spiritualism or Animism either. So that it could well be that when we call ourselves atheist, we a conceding to theist imperialism, trying to pretend that only theist religion, (god belief ) matters and is somehow higher than other religions. To make good and worthwhile use of sceptical thinking, it is not enough merely to abandon literal belief in the sky fairy. Which is only a tiny part of the worlds culturally recieved folly, and probably far from being the worst or most dangerous part. It is needful to apply a sceptical view to all of human culture, including, art, tradition, litrature and yes language, plus any other of the numerous psuedo-gods that human culture sets up. It is usualy thought that, in about the fifth century BCE, the classical world first produced philosophy. Why ? Was not the recieved cultural knowledge of the classical world enough, did not Zeus and the oracle at Delphi have good enough answers ? Of course you know the answer. Which is that, it was obvious by then, that unregulated and inherited human culture was not a good source of knowledge and wisdom, it was needful at the very least to invent philosophy to bring the rules of logic found in mathematics to bare on the problems. And when once that did not prove alone to be enough, the enlightenment invented Natural Philosphy, now called science, to add extra measures and safeguards, such as the experimental method. None of that would have been needed had it not been plainly seen that recieved cultural information, was failing to give good answers or provide a good model of the world. And what was one of the first errors to be recognized, by philosophy, it was that of linguistic sophistry.

Why should the word "atheist" even exist?

richiegtt comments on Jun 21, 2021:

I prefer the term nonbeliever .I do not care for labels .Labels cause more problems .I have seen constant bickering on this site over the years between atheists and agnostics which is pathetic.

Fernapple replies on Jun 22, 2021:

@LenHazell53 No words do not have meaning, words only have usages. Words are human cultural constructs, used in an attempt to model reality, which we generally inherit and which were made by former generations who often had very different models of reality to ours. Believing that words have meaning is merely to make a god out of inherited human culture, which is why they so often fail. Words are at best, poor second hand tools, ill suited to the purpose to which they are used, using them to model reality being like, trying to build a butterfly out of house bricks. And the myth that they have wisdom and meaning, built into them, is no better than the belief that there is wisdom and meaning imparted to us by a literal god though holy books. The biggest mistake you can make, having thrown out a belief in god, is to set up human culture as an alternative god instead. Like this may use it elsewhere.

Do you think there is such a thing as a, nice people fallacy.

MikeInBatonRouge comments on Jun 22, 2021:

If I understood your intended point, I agree.

Fernapple replies on Jun 22, 2021:

Thank you. Yes it was not my plainest post, late night idea. But it got some interesting replies.

“We are dust and to dust return.

Fernapple comments on Jun 19, 2021:

No we are mainly water.

Fernapple replies on Jun 22, 2021:

@HelenRoseBuck The evaporate eventually condenses, and comes down as raindrops, so it is still very much there. In fact dust is ill defined, and may included particles which eventually fall apart, yeilding even more water. While water is one of the toughest and most durable molecules known.

Do you think there is such a thing as a, nice people fallacy.

wordywalt comments on Jun 21, 2021:

Well-intentioned and civil people an be misled, and can be drawn into behavior which they would avoid if they knew the truth.

Fernapple replies on Jun 22, 2021:

That is it exactly.

Do you think there is such a thing as a, nice people fallacy.

AnonySchmoose comments on Jun 21, 2021:

Well, yes... I think it is a fallacy to think that nice people cannot support bad things. If one does not support bad things, and yet ***does nothing*** to counteract bad things, that is not opposing bad things. If one believes something is wrong, one needs to do something about it, even a ...

Fernapple replies on Jun 22, 2021:

@AmyTheBruce I was thinking more about your lady being someone who supports gay rights, and believes in kindness to all, yet goes to a church which has a gay hate policy, puts money in the tin and recruits new members. Because it is her community church and she thinks the community matters more than abstract political views, (All gay people in her communty are closetted, so she has never knowingly met one.) and because she thinks that the church is not really doing anything.

Well I finally lost it with a potential customer.

Fernapple comments on Jun 21, 2021:

The main thing which put me off religion in the first place, was the character of most Christians. Either the religion has a corrosive effect, which destroys honesty and empathy, or the religion only attracts those who lack those qualities in the first place.

Fernapple replies on Jun 22, 2021:

@Lorajay Yep, that's the trick.

Quantum physics.

Fernapple comments on Jun 21, 2021:

How very silly. Our perceived world is a model constructed by our brains, based on information they receive from our senses, why would there ever have been any reason to suppose that that it was ever anything but a model ? The model may be an accurate representation, of certain things, ...

Fernapple replies on Jun 21, 2021:

@yvilletom Yes a slap to the face is a model constructed in the brain. Pain is no less a mental construct than anything else. You can not feel anything if your brain is put to sleep with anesthetics, but you are perfectly capable of feeling a ghost pain in you leg, like syatica, even when the real injury is to your back. I am sorry you found my post a little long winded, Lenhazell53 does put much the same thing far more succinctly, but then he is very smart. If mine was a little long, perhaps it would have been smart on your part to stop reading before the end.

Quantum physics.

rainmanjr comments on Jun 21, 2021:

If we're hovering then doesn't that resist gravity?

Fernapple replies on Jun 21, 2021:

Effectively electrical levitation.

It is better to be an outspoken atheist than a hypocrite.

twitch comments on Jun 20, 2021:

This pretty much says it all...

Fernapple replies on Jun 21, 2021:

And if your behaviour involves borrowing second hand beliefs, from unwashed, unlettered, bronze age goatherders, then that says a lot about you.

Well I finally lost it with a potential customer.

Fernapple comments on Jun 21, 2021:

The main thing which put me off religion in the first place, was the character of most Christians. Either the religion has a corrosive effect, which destroys honesty and empathy, or the religion only attracts those who lack those qualities in the first place.

Fernapple replies on Jun 21, 2021:

@BufftonBeotch Plus the arrogance that comes from thinking they are special people and chosen to have special wisdom and insight.

Who believes in life after death

Matias comments on Jun 20, 2021:

I am sure that life will not go extinct after my death.

Fernapple replies on Jun 20, 2021:

Sadly, a lot of it may go extinct before your death.

I'm finally back in Menorca after 20 months absence.

Fernapple comments on Jun 16, 2021:

Wonderful. Do you also know the Balsam Poplar, Populus balsamifera, we can just about grow it here in the UK, but its scent is never as good as it is in the heat of the Med ? It also can be a bit untidy, but also worth the tolerance.

Fernapple replies on Jun 20, 2021:

@fishline79 Interesting thank you.

Why do you identify as being agnostic?

RichCC comments on Jun 19, 2021:

I 'identify as agnostic' in situations where people seem uncomfortable discussing atheism. I read a thought from Greta Christina many years ago that represents my thoughts on the issue well. I'm paraphrasing from memory here so I apologize for inaccuracies in the specific wording. Throughout ...

Fernapple replies on Jun 19, 2021:

Reminds me of the comment about the God Of The Gaps. The gaps are getting smaller all the time, your god keeps shrinking, but never seems to grow back.

Why do you identify as being agnostic?

MrDragon comments on Jun 19, 2021:

I am agnostic because I am open to all probabilities.

Fernapple replies on Jun 19, 2021:

@MrDragon You are very wise.

Why do you identify as being agnostic?

ChestRockfield comments on Jun 19, 2021:

I suppose I'm agnostic about those things too, and atheist about all of them. If you want to consider theoretical degrees of agnosticism, I guess I feel there's a greater degree of certainty about unicorns and faeries because there's no currently-unknown information they can fill the gap for and ...

Fernapple replies on Jun 19, 2021:

@Cast1es If you go by the old testament desription, it is so obvious that they are refering to rhinos, that you wonder how anyone could think anything else.

Why do you identify as being agnostic?

MrDragon comments on Jun 19, 2021:

I am agnostic because I am open to all probabilities.

Fernapple replies on Jun 19, 2021:

@MrDragon No you just could not remember how to spell it. True ? LOL

Has anyone heard something like, " Progressive Christians are going to hell"?

xenoview comments on Jun 19, 2021:

Sounds like your friend likes to judge people when his bible says not to. Just ignore the threat of hell. Ask him or her to show you where in the bible it says your going to hell.

Fernapple replies on Jun 19, 2021:

Yes that is right. Even Jesus, if he said anything at all, only said put the weeds in the fire and burn them, as in once, not forever.

This works whether or not you believe in science or magic, highly effective.

KateOahu comments on Jun 16, 2021:

Have been employing that incantation for years.

Fernapple replies on Jun 17, 2021:

@MsKathleen Oh you can do it in European English as well !

“And if there were a God, I think it very unlikely that he’d have such an uneasy vanity as to be...

Fernapple comments on Jun 17, 2021:

"I want my god to be a small god, a petty god." I can't remember who said that.

Fernapple replies on Jun 17, 2021:

@Marionville I think that may be it, well done.

“I’m afraid I don’t believe there is such a thing as blasphemy, just outrage from those who ...

Word comments on Jun 16, 2021:

I did some research on blasphemy because of this post. Thought it interesting what I come across. Blasphemy is an insult that shows contempt, disrespect or lack of reverence concerning a deity, a sacred object or something considered inviolable.[1][2][3][4] wikipedia - blasphemy Clicking ...

Fernapple replies on Jun 17, 2021:

@Word Theocracy can not be a, "government by gods" since even if gods exist, which seems unlikely, they certainly don't govern. Theocracy has to be religion turned into a legal system, because there is nothing else. Religion is "helping widows and orphans" is only your definition of religion, but it is in the nature of religion that every religious person gets to define it however they want. So if I wanted to create a religion which made, pushing widows and orphan off the pavement and into the paths of oncomming cars, a requirement of true faith. Then I can do so, and it would be every bit as true a religion as yours.

“I’m afraid I don’t believe there is such a thing as blasphemy, just outrage from those who ...

Word comments on Jun 16, 2021:

I did some research on blasphemy because of this post. Thought it interesting what I come across. Blasphemy is an insult that shows contempt, disrespect or lack of reverence concerning a deity, a sacred object or something considered inviolable.[1][2][3][4] wikipedia - blasphemy Clicking ...

Fernapple replies on Jun 16, 2021:

No, your logic breaks down in several places. In particular in you last paragraph, you equate, disrespect for life, with, disrespect for the sanctity of life. Which are not the same thing at all. I can, for just one example. Respect life as it expresses itself in a tiger, even though I know that one of the main ways in which life is expressed in a tiger, is as a near perfect killing machine which has no respect at all for the sanctity of life. And I can moreover respect that expression of life in a tiger alone, without regard to any other part of a tiger's life, such as its maternal skills and values. Moreover, of course, you also equate killing with disrespect for life, but that is not logical at all, since the main function of all life, not just tigers, is to kill other life. Even plants are evolved to be the most effective killers they can be, since smothering the life out of other plants, in order to dominate the solar energy, water, and mineral supplies, is the main survival strategy of all vegetation. And what about the mercy of helping those animals and humans to die, who are in pain and distress and beyond recovery. Is not helping them out of pain and misery a way of respecting their life, yet without respecting the so called sanctity of life, as defined by, living and not dead. Moreover these things are not even remotely problems to me, or probably to Fry. They are only the sort of problems and complications you get into, when you dip your toes into religion.

As I get older it seems like no matter how slow I'm going I need to remind myself to go slower.

Holysocks comments on Jun 14, 2021:

We need to listen to our body. I'm sure all of us have done stupid things when we were young. Some of us pay for it now. I just quit a job after four days because they had me bending over and reaching to the floor for several hours. I did that for 11years and it trashed my back. Listen to your body!

Fernapple replies on Jun 15, 2021:

Went in part deaf, using heavy machinery, that was in the days before ear protectors.

Interesting message from a Mormon friend who just moved back to Utah.

Secretguy comments on Jun 14, 2021:

Baby steps.

Fernapple replies on Jun 15, 2021:

@deepeddy When I was about three years old, the family doctor told my parents to start me off with Port or Sherry, a little each night to help me sleep. (I was a hyper child.) Good gateway drinks.

They clear felled this area of forest, but left behind the Ash tree, because they only wanted the ...

KateOahu comments on Jun 14, 2021:

Could have been worse; they could have just cut it down for the hell of it.

Fernapple replies on Jun 15, 2021:

They could have, but generally I must say our forestry are very good, and very conservation minded, they will always try to favour native species.

Took a walk today in a nearby meadow, famed for its flowers, and thought that I would do a Monet ...

Davekp comments on Jun 13, 2021:

Orchids or a variety of lupines?

Fernapple replies on Jun 13, 2021:

No orchids, if you take a look at the flowers closely. Besides which we have no Lupins like that in the UK

"It is difficult to get a man to understand something when his salary depends upon his not ...

JackPedigo comments on Jun 12, 2021:

Sad state of affairs and we went through this very thing with the tobacco companies and now the gun companies.

Fernapple replies on Jun 12, 2021:

Not to mention the preisthood.

Growing a few weeds in my garden.

RussRAB comments on Jun 12, 2021:

These flowers grew wild in my grandparents' home in northern Ohio. As little kids, we would pick them along with all sorts of other wildflowers. But I don't recall the flowers being quite as large as yours in the pictures. Could be a different variety. I agree with @HippieChick, "weeds" are plants ...

Fernapple replies on Jun 12, 2021:

They are perhaps not quite as big as the photo makes them seem, but they do have fluffy thistledown heads of seeds as well.

Today's hike: Climbing Mt. Beehive and blue Lupine showing off.

Fernapple comments on Jun 11, 2021:

Great photos. I wonder who gave the mountain its name, and what it looks like from afar. In other words, if it is really beehive shaped.

Fernapple replies on Jun 11, 2021:

@LiterateHiker Lovely Photos. Thank you.

This does not go into any great depth sadly.

K9Kohle789 comments on Jun 9, 2021:

I watched it and the first bird got it right all the time cuz the guy never changed hands with the treat.

Fernapple replies on Jun 10, 2021:

@K9Kohle789 I had to look twice.

"We must rewild the world.

Buttercup comments on Jun 9, 2021:

It could help global warming to restore the tundra grass ecosystem. Plus bringing back woolly mammoths would be so cool.

Fernapple replies on Jun 9, 2021:

@Buttercup Great idea.

This does not go into any great depth sadly.

K9Kohle789 comments on Jun 9, 2021:

I watched it and the first bird got it right all the time cuz the guy never changed hands with the treat.

Fernapple replies on Jun 9, 2021:

I think that the video is on a loop.

“Dear future generations: please accept our apologies.

mcgeo52 comments on Jun 9, 2021:

Not a great excuse, even though it has been true. No longer an excuse.

Fernapple replies on Jun 9, 2021:

@Marionville Some will never be convinced, even when they are on the point of death, from hunger and thirst, in a desert of their own making. They will still gasp with their last breath. "But it was not our doing."

A truly inclusive vision of America recognizes the nonreligious, too .

Lorajay comments on Jun 8, 2021:

I hope he can figure out how to do it without alienating the religious.

Fernapple replies on Jun 9, 2021:

That is of course hard. Because many of the religious want to play victim, so they are deliberately looking for the chance to be alienated. But having said that, that atitude is probably, mainly or even completely on the nationalist right of religion, who are already alienated from Biden. The left however could see it as building bridges, so that they will not change their support for Biden because of it, meaning that it could make little difference to the religious vote, if handled carefully, and presented as bridge building.

A truly inclusive vision of America recognizes the nonreligious, too .

KateOahu comments on Jun 8, 2021:

Can’t see the article, as I am not a subscriber.

Fernapple replies on Jun 9, 2021:

There is a 'close' button on the pop-up which blocks the page, but the button is top left instead of top right as is normal, and its rather faint. I have a feeling they may be trying to hide it.

This is a link to an article is about some of the well known people in the atheist movement and how ...

David1955 comments on Jun 8, 2021:

Yeah, this article is doing the rounds, here and online. The last of a long line of attacks against prominent atheist activists. It seems I've been reading such articles since the early 2000s. I pay them little mind.

Fernapple replies on Jun 8, 2021:

@creative51 Yes but you have to remember that, to a large extent, especially in countries like America, with strong theist political and media present, the theists get to pick the face of atheism. Therefore some you may approve of will languish in the medias back rooms, because the last thing the theist media wants is nice atheists.

A question for this group, or anyone who may know something about the practice of genetics, there is...

Buttercup comments on Jun 7, 2021:

Sequences overlap and differ in length, so you won't find a non human chain in between two human chains. It was a huge problem when first sequencing the entire human genome and remains a problem to this day when sequencing paleontological samples because they are so broken up. Also many sequences ...

Fernapple replies on Jun 7, 2021:

Outstanding, thank you.

As I’ve continued to free my mind from the 30+ years of brainwashing, and indoctrinated , There is...

Fernapple comments on Jun 7, 2021:

If you have an inerrant code to work from, then you gain two benefits. Firstly, you do not have to make any effort or think about any issues, address any moral questions, or find the strength to live with uncertainties. It is the ultimate, lazy and cowardly, get-out. While secondly, if you pick ...

Fernapple replies on Jun 7, 2021:

@abyers1970 Yes that is very true. The other big thing of course is social conformity, wanting to fit in not be different and not rock the boat.

Just a passing thought.

Petter comments on Jun 7, 2021:

Red is also the colour of danger. Draw your own conclusions!

Fernapple replies on Jun 7, 2021:

And blood.

Godless grifters: How the New Atheists merged with the far right | Salon.com

Fernapple comments on Jun 7, 2021:

So what. Nobody is ever perfect, if you waited for a perfect person to come along before you would consider any of their views worth listening to, then you would be sitting alone in perfect silence for a very long time.

Fernapple replies on Jun 7, 2021:

@Druvius Beware of the echo chamber, and not getting out among enough people. I am pretty sure that I personally have BOTH, views right wing enough to make Rush Limbaugh blush, as well as some so far left, they would make Leon Trotsky gibber. Plus a lot in between, and some that nobody else would believe could even exist. And what is more I don't see any logical inconsistencies between them. And I am not that sure I am all that different from a lot of people.

Is there a pseudoscience you absolutely hate? Why?

Fernapple comments on Jun 6, 2021:

That is a pretty good list. But there is of course no hard boundary between the two, so that one or two do have some limited scientific respectability. Such as fasting, without the brackets (body cleansing), which has some genuine scientific support.

Fernapple replies on Jun 7, 2021:

@Pedrohbds That is perfectly correct, my thoughts too. The problem of course is, that if people are not trained and or encouraged to follow critical thinking and healthy sceptical methods, then anything sourced from anywhere, including good science and philosophy, is no different from religion and can be used, and misused in the same way.

The Horse Chestnuts are in flower now in the UK.

RussRAB comments on Jun 6, 2021:

They remind me of Ohio Buckeyes which is the state tree of Ohio. Also known as Horse Chestnuts, they appear to be different species - Aesculus hippocastanum referred to here as the European Horse Chestnut, and Aesculus glabra for the North American variety. Here in Texas, I've seen a Mexican ...

Fernapple replies on Jun 7, 2021:

Ah, you call them Buckeyes, I did not know that, thank you. Great photos.

The Horse Chestnuts are in flower now in the UK.

JackPedigo comments on Jun 6, 2021:

Are you kidding. They are everywhere in this country. I have a giant one and a smaller one in my front yard. Here's two shots one of the larger and the 2nd of both the larger and smaller when blooming. Those trees have become the bane of my existence. Constant pruning and cleaning up the huge ...

Fernapple replies on Jun 6, 2021:

They can be a pest yes.

Not a bad idea, is it?

Druvius comments on Jun 6, 2021:

Turns out it's a farce, no surprise: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-57372682

Fernapple replies on Jun 6, 2021:

Me not surprised either.

A members comment just reminded me.

Julie808 comments on Jun 6, 2021:

Oh man oh man, I need a sign like that for my door! Unfortunately I would not have the guts to post it. It would be meant for one particular person, and she'd know it! Haha!

Fernapple replies on Jun 6, 2021:

Of course she would. But perhaps it would be indirect and ambiguous enough that you could get away with it. LOL

Noah's Ark: The Story That Disproves the Entire Bible - YouTube

Fernapple comments on Jun 6, 2021:

How very sad that someone, obviously not stupid or lazy, has to waste such a huge amount of time, on the trivial business of trying to disprove the literal truth of a very silly and very old mixed up story. I do hope he finds a worthwhile pursuit in life one day. Though perhaps helping other people ...

Fernapple replies on Jun 6, 2021:

@MikeInBatonRouge Yes that is how I see it.

Noah's Ark: The Story That Disproves the Entire Bible - YouTube

Fernapple comments on Jun 6, 2021:

How very sad that someone, obviously not stupid or lazy, has to waste such a huge amount of time, on the trivial business of trying to disprove the literal truth of a very silly and very old mixed up story. I do hope he finds a worthwhile pursuit in life one day. Though perhaps helping other people ...

Fernapple replies on Jun 6, 2021:

@David1955 Prefect anology.

Believing in an invisible man in the sky does not make it real.

LovinLarge comments on Jun 5, 2021:

It is the perfect scam. Imagine if you wanted to trick someone into doing something. You'd tell them if they did it, they would receive immortality. You'd tell them you couldn't prove it to them now, but if they just did what you wanted now, when they died they would live forever in paradise ...

Fernapple replies on Jun 6, 2021:

I always like to think of it as being like a car dealer. Who sells cars, that will only be delivered to your old house, after you have moved perminantly to live and work in another county. Who would buy one of those ?

Outstanding.

Fernapple comments on Jun 5, 2021:

Yes these lines are really old, at least the nineteen fifties, but they are well worth repeating. But what is really sad is that every new generation of sceptics needs to keep reviving them, like there is no progress at all.

Fernapple replies on Jun 6, 2021:

@mischl Yes I agree, it is just that sometimes when you see the same old arguments and jokes, again, it seems a little too slow.

Just had an encounter.

AmyTheBruce comments on Jun 5, 2021:

Here's a little project I'm working on for my front door.

Fernapple replies on Jun 5, 2021:

My favourite door sign I saw recently was. "Oh no, not you again."

Banished for bleeding: Tribal Indian women get better period huts

Sticks48 comments on Jun 4, 2021:

I have not heard of this before. I don't even have words for this practice.

Fernapple replies on Jun 4, 2021:

It was once standard in many Jewish communities too, and it follows from biblical law.

“All evil actions that men undertake are done either at the prompting of greed or under the spell ...

Fernapple comments on Jun 3, 2021:

That was a long time ago, perhaps an almost innocent age, before things like religious fundamentalism.

Fernapple replies on Jun 3, 2021:

@Marionville True, but then hate, and revulsion, for just two, have roles in that.

Another Oklahoma crazy story.

Fernapple comments on Jun 1, 2021:

If you were married to a pastor, what would you do ?

Fernapple replies on Jun 2, 2021:

@Lorajay Yes I suppose that would annoy his, married for life ideals even more.

"There are those who cannot distinguish a 16-cell embryo from a baby.

bobwjr comments on Jun 1, 2021:

It's gotten so severe that some want to punish those women who have a miscarriage ,that's insane . Miscarriages are a common natural occurrence since forever.