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.

In this age of instant information, it’s easy to fall down the google rabbit hole.

Fernapple comments on Jul 20, 2021:

It is an issue which a lot of people have spent a lot of time on. But consider for a second that. Firstly Einstein may not have been all that familiar with Spinoza himself. And secondly that he may just have made it up as an easy dismissive answer, to what he thought of as a boring and pointless question. In other words, that even if you are a world renowned genius, it does not mean that everything single thing you say, is of great cosmic importance, and the result of deep long thinking. Especially as having a reputation for being a world renowned genius, gets you repeatedly pestered with what, you yourself, regard as trivial vexing questions, so that having an easy dismissive answer for fools, so that you can then move on, is handy.

There is a rumor going around that the universe is nearly 14 billion years old and they figure this ...

Fernapple comments on Jul 20, 2021:

The real answer is that nobody knows, there are several versions of the Big Bang theory also of the Local Bubble Theory and the Constant State Theory, nothing is really decided finally yet.

A Tourist Attraction for Texas Acid spraying critters are on the hunt for "food and love" at a ...

Fernapple comments on Jul 20, 2021:

Sorry the link does not seem to work.

Your atheism

Fernapple comments on Jul 19, 2021:

Never was in the faith thing. But if you want to know what made me not merely an agnostic atheist, but a hard working anti-religion agnostic atheist. Then that is because in the UK, many schools are still religion based, and at school I came close enough to religion to see at first hand the corruption, dishonesty , cruelty and bullying that it leads to. And since I had been raised secular that came as quite a shock.

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, from real dangers to their freedoms, since nothing takes away your freedoms like being killed. So we accept it even though it is an much more important restriction than the freedom to be anti-vacs, because unlike that, it comes with genuine economic, educational and health-care downsides, which really does help to create sub-class.

I love AOC! [youtu.be]

Fernapple comments on Jul 19, 2021:

Nice speech, but like most people of faith, she is basically wrong, in that her holy texts do try to justify just about every horror and injustice known to humans, that is what makes them popular. Because her version of cherry picking and interpretation led her to believe, that the texts promote humane and just morality, it does not mean that another person who finds the texts full of hate, racism and sexism etc. is misreading them.

Eyes on the prize

Fernapple comments on Jul 19, 2021:

One prize at a time my friend. Those who go after four or more usually fall at the first hurdle.

A 16-Million-Year-Old Tree Tells a Deep Story of the Passage of Time The sequoia tree slab is an ...

Fernapple comments on Jul 19, 2021:

Good, though a photo of the actual slab, as well as the generic Sequoia would have been nice.

“I don’t imagine you will dispute the fact that at present the stupid people are in an ...

Fernapple comments on Jul 19, 2021:

Wow, he was a glass half empty sort of person.

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 percent of small numbers which do not contain a two becomes insignificant. Yet the irony of that is, that even that insignificant percentage, is also itself infinite. It is the sort of logical paradoxical mind blower which you get into when you start dealing with infinity. Because infinity is an idea really beyond the human brain, and also why the infinity based 'proofs' that religious people and creationists love, are such rubbish.

Well, maybe the cat...

Fernapple comments on Jul 19, 2021:

It can be fun when someone is watching too. (According to a friend.)

Stupid used to be, just plain old stupid.

Fernapple comments on Jul 18, 2021:

How about "Net Fever" or "Web-Brain".

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

Fernapple comments on Jul 18, 2021:

Human population growth. And there is no solution, given that too much of the power in the world is in the hands of those who profit from there being more people, whether as customers , followers, voters, slaves, tax and tithe payers, tenants, supporters or soldiers.

I can’t say I really pay much attention to the stats on my profile page…however a few minutes ...

Fernapple comments on Jul 18, 2021:

you missed it obviously. On here it is 666 that really counts.

Suppression of information, even misinformation, is a bad idea.

Fernapple comments on Jul 17, 2021:

Only if the people who welcome misinformation also welcome discussion, which is a big ask. But certainly suppression is a worse idea.

My worldview (like if you agree): 1.

Fernapple comments on Jul 17, 2021:

Hello and welcome to the site. Good to state your position at the outset, although you will probably find that most members here, have had a lot of experience debating with theists and among themselves, so that they are likely to be critical of ideas which are not nuanced. So don't take any critical replies you get too much to heart, but try to make good use of them.

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

Fernapple comments on Jul 17, 2021:

That is not a happy thought.

Discovery Bay, Hong Kong 🦋 📍 the white " triangle thing" is a church but I don't have any ...

Fernapple comments on Jul 16, 2021:

Great photos. Thank you for the tilting advice LOL.

Covid: Younger adults still at risk of serious organ damage - study [bbc.com]

Fernapple comments on Jul 16, 2021:

It is not that surprising really, since as it says, they are talking about young adults admitted to hospital. The critical thing being, "admitted to hospital," since if you are, then the virus is clearly affecting you seriously, the age related difference being that, younger people are less likely to be seriously affected and require admission. Best advice is whatever your age, do your best to avoid catching it. And as it is the older population who tend to get the jabs first it is perhaps time to start to worry about the young most.

Humor

Fernapple comments on Jul 16, 2021:

Not having a sense of humour may actually be helpful to the religious, since it prevents them from seeing just how silly it all is.

Was this poster correctly responded to?

Fernapple comments on Jul 16, 2021:

The one thing that I would add to the debate, is that there are good stats, showing that where governments institute and enforce good minimum wages, those countries always enjoy better than average economic growth. Perhaps because if you give more money to poorer people they are more likely to spend it locally within the country, instead of taking it to tax havens overseas, and by forcing bad ineffective companies, who only get by because they pay minimum amounts, out of the market place, it creates a better larger market for effective efficient companies.

Humor

Fernapple comments on Jul 16, 2021:

No. You see a frail elderly atheist fall under a bus and get crushed. And just watch the Christians laugh their socks off.

Just hit Level 9.

Fernapple comments on Jul 16, 2021:

You do know that people who reach ten, have their names and details sent to a Christian mailing group don't you ? Just saying.

ALWAYS get at least a second opinion about anything! Last year, Roto Rooter fixed a plumbing ...

Fernapple comments on Jul 16, 2021:

Support your local trades people, it keeps money in the community instead of the pockets of the super rich, they are generally better and fairer, and where they are not , at least you can ask around and everybody knows about it.

Breathtakingly beautiful.

Fernapple comments on Jul 16, 2021:

They can be warning colours of course. But they can also be camouflage, since they may prey on specific creatures, and some of those may have colour vision which is quite different from the spectrum we see. Also I think that some of the photos may have had a little Photo-shop help.

Americans may be woefully unprepared for the dawn of the new space age STANFORD, CA—A new study ...

Fernapple comments on Jul 15, 2021:

Maybe you can save money by only paying for the children to go one way. Bet you would get a lot more takers for that. LOL

Saw this on fb, and I thought ideal to post in the philosophy section in these current times of ...

Fernapple comments on Jul 15, 2021:

Link missing I think.

Origin Of Everything - Why Do Women Shave Their Legs? [youtube.com]

Fernapple comments on Jul 15, 2021:

Because they want to look as little like men as possible, because men are horrible OK.

Is This the End of Forests As We've Known Them?

Fernapple comments on Jul 15, 2021:

All things such as this are made worse by other human intervention in the environment. When climate changes occurred in the past, animals and plant, even ecosystems could migrate, moving along the changing climate zones, as, for example, when many ecosystems moved south during the last ice age. But today the climate change is not only very fast, but the ecosystems and the creatures within, exist within a fragmented world divide up by agricultural, industrial and urban developments, so that there are no longer the corridors permitting movement that there always were before.

[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.

As some of you may have read, I had a bad experience with a state assigned health worker.

Fernapple comments on Jul 14, 2021:

Well done. You know what they say. Sometimes only being willing to stand up and be counted is enough.

For science, you know.

Fernapple comments on Jul 13, 2021:

Its easy, its just down to where you get the water from. You just have to make sure that you obtain your water, by squeezing it out of grapes. Problem solved. Seriously though, I once heard a tea-total Christian claim that Jesus did not drink, and that the wine in question was just grape juice. Assuming presumably, that two thousand years before L. Pastuer, they knew how to stop grape juice fermenting, as it will almost instantly, let alone that they wanted to. Just goes to prove that if you can swallow religion, then you can believe anything.

Is it me, or have the posts on "Recent Posts" been grinding to a halt recently?

Fernapple comments on Jul 13, 2021:

You have to hold the 'submit ' button down for long enough.

"Lack of belief in God is still too often taken to mean the absence of any other meaningful moral ...

Fernapple comments on Jul 13, 2021:

You need someone who is an easy and obvious target for blame, because without that you have to look for where things are really going wrong, which is hard, and sometimes when you find it, you even have to address your own failings.

Reading is fundamental

Fernapple comments on Jul 13, 2021:

Yes I think they know that. The witchcraft bit is just a ploy.

"I'm an atheist, and that's it.

Fernapple comments on Jul 13, 2021:

Yes very wise. It also reminds me of the question religious apologists always seem to think should stump non-believers. "Without a belief in god, why would you do good ?" And apart from all the other many good answers to that question, I always felt that the simple. "What makes you think that being good is not the default position ? " Was as good as any.

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.

i was just asking @julie808 about what the "tropical" flavor included.

Fernapple comments on Jul 13, 2021:

I like Mediterranean with a touch or Boreal Forest added, perfectly accompanied by a side dish of alpine.

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".

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 up to the fact that your own failings had a share in creating and perpetuating most of them. Witch ! Witch ! Witch !

Ten Thought Patterns That Trip Up Former Bible Believers

Fernapple comments on Jul 12, 2021:

A good summing up. Even in some parts of post Christian Europe, it is still possible to see to a very large extent, the toxic legacy at work.

'Pre' means before.

Fernapple comments on Jul 12, 2021:

It may be facetious to say so, but facetious contains all five vowels in alphabetical order.

maybe those anti-vax folks are right and all the people who have died from this bug are just faking ...

Fernapple comments on Jul 12, 2021:

The Bible recommends giving them a kick to make sure. That should do it.

Here's a handy meme to help your challenged religious friends.

Fernapple comments on Jul 12, 2021:

Your religion says nothing, the con-men who created it said it.

Gallup agrees with Pew.

Fernapple comments on Jul 11, 2021:

We face a perfect storm it seems. With several environmental and pollution crisis all coming at the same time, plus global warming bringing many others, possible collapse of the oceanic ecosystem, a widening gap between rich and poor, large numbers of vital resources running out, an mass extinction threatening bio-diversity which is our main cushion, fast growing population, a break down of news media, possible catastrophic failing of global communications as things like satellite and power networks reach their sell by dates, increasing loss of trust in science (our only hope for reasoned judgments ), a decline in democracy, increasing political corruption and now a rise in the more extreme forms religious fundamentalism, and the religions of nationalism and hate, with the inevitable decline in education that goes with those, someone could have a major accident with as yet undiscovered technology and cause a global melt down (oops), and they could all be made worse by a global natural disaster (especially volcanic) which we do not have the tech to predict or manage yet, coming at just the time when we are struggling with everything else. Plus a few other things that I will remember later. Looks like the new dark ages could be very dark indeed folks. But on the other hand, only fools think they can predict the future. For example you never know but a really fierce global pandemic could come to our, few surviving, grandchildren's rescue, and cut human population down to sustainable size....... But that may not be fun either.

When I was a little kid I thought all cats were girls & all dogs were boys.

Fernapple comments on Jul 11, 2021:

Genetic engineering improves all the time. The kitten-pup may not be long coming.

The Bible is useless

Fernapple comments on Jul 11, 2021:

It can be a very useful work of reference, when you want evidence to prove to a Christian that their belief system is based on rubbish.

10th July 1040…English history: Lady Godiva rides naked on horseback through the streets of ...

Fernapple comments on Jul 10, 2021:

Cute horse.

Hello Level 8! :-)

Fernapple comments on Jul 10, 2021:

Well done. Level eight is when you get the invoice.

The Bible is useless

Fernapple comments on Jul 10, 2021:

Smart young lady, she only makes one big mistake. Which is that she assumes that, useful, always has to mean useful to good well intended people. Some things can be very useful to bad, ill intended, people.

What Nobody Told You About Cain And Abel - YouTube

Fernapple comments on Jul 10, 2021:

Well if you put a lot of twaddle in you get a lot of twaddle out. Fun.

The Evolution of the God Gene by Nicholas Wade “This and other research is pointing to...

Fernapple comments on Jul 10, 2021:

I do not see why atheists (or agnostics ) should feel it is not a "welcome thought". Since most atheists do not generally feel the need for the existence of any theistic style free will. And therefore do not generally have a problem with the idea of genetic determinism, and that all things in human life follow from that. That is just silly. At least though, this is the first of these in which the point that it is the culture which "supplies the content" is plainly accepted and made, and there is not the foolish attempt at the logically impossible leap made from genetic determinism, programing natural values such as social compliance and a tendency to favour false positives over false negatives. To the idea that genetics render, plainly culturally designed artifacts, not found across all cultures anyway, such as the subset of belief known as theistic religions, inevitable. This fits with my point of view perfectly. I do wish you would be more careful in who you choose to quote.

And that is why I will never grow up.

Fernapple comments on Jul 10, 2021:

Growing up is learning to care more, and get more out of your relationship with all your favourites. Starting to care less is not growing up, it is just starting to die.

By Paolo Marini Noam Chomsky, one of the most important intellectuals in life today, has drawn ...

Fernapple comments on Jul 10, 2021:

And all of course pioneered by the worlds religions.

The human is an evolutionary perversion. Adapting to its own destruction. Carry on.

Fernapple comments on Jul 10, 2021:

We are not the first. Evolution by natural selection can by its very nature have no foresight, it only addresses the short term and fits creatures for the existing situation.

Here's one of my favorite places to get away from the noise and hassle of my little "home town" of ...

Fernapple comments on Jul 9, 2021:

I love the chirp of sparrows, it was the background soundtrack to summer in my childhood. But sadly their population has taken a nose dive here in the UK and they are now quite rare.

HEALTH CARE IN AMERICA or "How I learned a new definition for 'urgent care'".

Fernapple comments on Jul 9, 2021:

Holidays can be a real pain, I never forget that the original meaning of the word is Holy-Days, days for religious ritual. I keep thinking that, in the UK, now we are practically a post christian country, we should scrap the lot, and instead just make it a law that all companies have to give all employees ten extra days payed leave each year, to be taken when it suits them. That would make for more free and happier employees, get rid of the lost days when everything closes, allow people to travel when it was cheap, and cut out the high pressure peaks on the roads and in the travel industry. Hope you are soon on the way to recovery.

Does this sound like a scammer?

Fernapple comments on Jul 9, 2021:

Probably sells cheap pirated medications among other things.

The white ideological right states that if race is a false human concept and not a reality, then ...

Fernapple comments on Jul 9, 2021:

The reason for believing that there are no races, is it has to be admitted a partially subjective value based one, but it is a very powerful subjective judgment based on a very remarkable scientific truth. Which is that the human population passed though a genetic bottle neck a hundred thousand years approx ago. Which mean that the human species as a whole is less genetically diverse that the average family of chimps, or litter of puppies, and we do not award race status to divisions of chimps or dogs.

I want to know, how any person gets from being a drooling babbling infant to a wise sage with ...

Fernapple comments on Jul 9, 2021:

Like everything else it takes hard work. But wonderful things do happen. After all, you got from being a set of coded messages in a lipid bubble too small to be visible, to a fully formed human, made of ten trillion lipid bubbles at least, in just nine months.

"I have examined all the known superstitions of the world, and I do not find in our particular ...

Fernapple comments on Jul 9, 2021:

Great quote. I love the halves of the world bit.

Just had a state social worker check on me.

Fernapple comments on Jul 9, 2021:

If she works for the state she should be made to respect the principle of church state separation.

And then there's the politics of dancing.

Fernapple comments on Jul 9, 2021:

Who this ?

“To know that we know what we know, and to know that we do not know what we do not know, that is ...

Fernapple comments on Jul 9, 2021:

And almost impossible.

I have decided that I am a fairly happy nihilist.

Fernapple comments on Jul 8, 2021:

Good. You can join the gloomy optimists, angry pacifists, vague rationalists and dull humourists who seem to dominate this site.

Saw this gem on a fb athiest group.

Fernapple comments on Jul 8, 2021:

My favorite nasty Buybabble story, is the one about the woman slave who is pimped out by her owner, but dies after being gang raped. So her master, and pimp, who is a godly priest, gives her body a kick to see if she is faking it.

I wish it were I who took this shot.

Fernapple comments on Jul 8, 2021:

Perfect.

Everyday I get more concerned about our economy.

Fernapple comments on Jul 8, 2021:

Hyper-inflation perhaps ?

Is "dummerenfuckinghell" a word?

Fernapple comments on Jul 8, 2021:

Ps. Did you have anyone in particular in mind ?

Is "dummerenfuckinghell" a word?

Fernapple comments on Jul 8, 2021:

It will do.

7 scientists who helped change the world | Live Science

Fernapple comments on Jul 8, 2021:

Why does Patricia Bath appear twice for the same thing ?

Trump allegedly praised hitler as doing "a lot of good things" new book claims abc13

Fernapple comments on Jul 8, 2021:

Everybody does a lot of good things, even really evil people, you do things and some of them are bound to be good, even if you try really hard to be bad. That is just the law of unintended consequences. What is ironic though, is that he may have done more good things than Trump, simply because Trump hardly did anything at all.

Textures...

Fernapple comments on Jul 7, 2021:

Fulfills the brief well.

Who do you love the most in this world?

Fernapple comments on Jul 7, 2021:

My best friend S#####.

Change my mind.

Fernapple comments on Jul 7, 2021:

Change my mind.

Change my mind.

Fernapple comments on Jul 7, 2021:

Things are more complicated than that. End of story. Wisdom is about nuance, always beware people who are trying to sell an oversimplified view, they are never trying to point out the truth.

More history you were never taught in school.

Fernapple comments on Jul 6, 2021:

You may find this interesting, the whole thing is a interesting comment on how times change as well as how they don't. Though if you want the most relevant bit skip to 25 mins in . https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ltVtnCzg9xw

A French Teenager’s Anti-Islam Rant Unleashed Death Threats. Now 13 Are on Trial

Fernapple comments on Jul 6, 2021:

Paywall

Because it can be so hard to tell.

Fernapple comments on Jul 6, 2021:

Are they sure ?

When it comes to God I'm not an atheist. I'm currently an Empirical (Weak) Agnostic.

Fernapple comments on Jul 5, 2021:

Hello and welcome. Enjoy the site, and do check out the groups if you have time.

Most Impactful National Leaders of the 20th Century - Good or Bad Do you agree with the list?

Fernapple comments on Jul 5, 2021:

I fail to see the point of ranking by mere magnitude, especially if both good and bad, long and short term, are included in the same list. If I go to a quarry to buy some stone, I ask which pile has the best stones for wall building, which for making concrete or which pile is best for surfacing a road. I do not ask which is the biggest pile, and then say. I will have some of that.

Meaning of life

Fernapple comments on Jul 5, 2021:

The first main meaning I give to mine, is to overcome the human centric arrogance which makes me think that life should have meaning. The second and lesser purpose, is to make the world a happier place if I can, and to at least enjoy my chance of happiness if I can't.

Evolution and Creationism

Fernapple comments on Jul 5, 2021:

The best evidence, is not any one piece of evidence, from one science or philosophy, but simply the huge volume of millions of pieces of evidence, supporting tens of thousands of observable facts, across multiple fields. Including at least, natural history, (We have observed it happening.) genetics, anatomy, ecology, geographic ecology, bio-chemistry, paleontology, geology, behaviorism, social science, neurology and even atmospherics.

Beer -or- Jesus?

Fernapple comments on Jul 5, 2021:

The last one is not quite true, because if you have devoted your life to Jesus, there ARE groups to help you stop as well.

Do you enjoy listening to Handel's Messiah simply for the musical quality or do you get ...

Fernapple comments on Jul 5, 2021:

Music is just an abstract sound scape, there is no need at all to pay any mind to the words, to get enjoyment from it. That does not apply however to the visual arts, although the church in the past was one of the richest institutions in the world, and it commissioned some of the worlds greatest artists, the results are still almost always banal and silly.

We are still kind to each other. [youtu.be]

Fernapple comments on Jul 4, 2021:

Yes a year or two ago, I did not have the change at the check out, only a big note. The teller said she would have to give me all coins because she did not have enough notes, and the person behind me dropped the change needed on the counter, and refused all offers of repayment.

These days, we see multiple examples of people who are “true believers” of questionable ...

Fernapple comments on Jul 4, 2021:

There is of course the problem that the popular usage of the word 'theory' is different from the scientific usage. In popular usage, 'theory' has more or less the the same meaning as 'hypothesis', but in science it is a technical term, meaning a former hypothesis, which has been raised to a higher level because it is now supported by experimental and /or other empirical evidence. In part it is just the sort of confusion people get into when they think of words having meanings, when words do not have meanings only usages, which vary according to context. The problem is that some people of course welcome and will even try to promote misunderstanding.

I don't know that I've ever seen consecutive posts so unrelated, yet so connected.

Fernapple comments on Jul 4, 2021:

Odd things happen on this site. It is the Bermuda Triangle of the internet.

LIFE HACK: BE EXTREMELY RICH AND HAVE AN ARMY OF LAWYERS.

Fernapple comments on Jul 4, 2021:

If you have an army of lawyer, you will not be extremely rich for very long.

U.

Fernapple comments on Jul 3, 2021:

Yes but we are still using a lot of gas.

Today I learned about the Gish Gallop Description: Overwhelming an interlocutor with as many ...

Fernapple comments on Jul 3, 2021:

Yes, it is based on the fact that it generally takes a lot longer to refute an argument, than it does to make it. I can say. "The moon is made of green cheese." But to show why it is not, you can not just say. "No it is made of rock." You have to add explanation and supporting evidence, or you just have an equal claim. It is especially pernicious when used by Gish and his followers, who regularly edit recording of debates to show their believers.

Is religious belief natural or man made?

Fernapple comments on Jul 3, 2021:

As Richard Dawkins pointed out. "Children are naturally credulous. Of course they are , what would you expect ? They arrive in the world knowing nothing, surrounded by adults who know by comparison, everything. Learning by trial and error is often a bad idea, because errors are too costly. If your mother tells you never to paddle in the lake because of the crocodiles, it is no good coming over all sceptical and adult. It is easy to see why natural selection might penalize an experimental and sceptical turn of mind and favour simple credulity in children. But this has an unfortunate by-product which can't be helped. If your parents tell you something which is not true, you must believe that too. Credulity as a survival device, comes as a package." But that is where belief differs from religion, because it is possible to believe in, and be taught, things which are true, even empirically true. There are crocodiles in the lake, but not, goblins in the hills. Belief even a genetic tendency to belief is not the same thing, at all, as religion.

Is religious belief natural or man made?

Fernapple comments on Jul 3, 2021:

Without an exact definition of what you mean by the word "religious beliefs" and/or religion, the question is hardly a valid one.

More Churches Up in Flames in Canada as Outrage Against Catholic Church Grows

Fernapple comments on Jul 3, 2021:

Sadly I think that it will only add fuel to the Catholic Church's cult of martyrdom. Across the world right now, tens of thousands of priests are probably telling their congregations. "Do you see the rising tide of ungodliness, in Canada the pagans and atheists are even burning churches down, because they say it is wrong to save children's souls. Put more money in the box so that the church can fight this threat."

Well this had to be the most fun this guy ever had making a travel video! [vm.tiktok.com]

Fernapple comments on Jul 3, 2021:

Bet they do a good trade in postcards.

Global warming is here to stay, and it is not going anywhere but everywhere.

Fernapple comments on Jul 3, 2021:

I am sorry to say that a lot of it is part of the American cult of perpetual childhood, and the belief that you can have whatever you want, without any consequences or responsibilities. And that it is perfectly acceptable for grown adults to throw tantrums, as we saw with the Capitol invasion. The problem being, that if you build a culture, both political, religious and commercial entirely on selling, no one is going to try and sell consequences or responsibilities, they don't make money or earn votes. And so people get so used to living without them, and being told there are none, that they really start to believe they there are no consequences or responsibilities with anything. I do not like to be critical of other cultures, especially on a US site, and have to admit that America is not alone in this, we have a lot of it in the rest of the world, it is just that you seem to be the worlds leader in synthetic childishness.

& don't bring up "Cults of Personality" like Stalin's Communism or Mao's Cultural Revolution.

Fernapple comments on Jul 3, 2021:

I don't think so, atheism has deep roots, going back all the way to the classical world. Even in the middle ages, perhaps the high point of theism, it existed in some forms. This is the first of a really interesting series of lectures. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eb5mYqnKFlI

Matching philanthropy?

Fernapple comments on Jul 2, 2021:

I care more about the effectiveness of the charity, and it intentions, that effect how much and if I give, matching would not have any effect either way.

Those abs, though...

Fernapple comments on Jul 2, 2021:

The secret is, employ a sculptor not a trainer.