Go on.

Cutiebeauty comments on Oct 1, 2020:

Such absurdity 😂 I wonder what they would think of our fashion today...

Fernapple replies on Oct 1, 2020:

Well, high heals are pretty silly really, and dangerous in both short and long term.

Last night's debate has nudged me closer to something that would not have seriously crossed my mind ...

Fernapple comments on Sep 30, 2020:

Portugal. Wonderful climate, no nasty wildlife, good people, reasonably priced, nice history, culture, countryside (hills and coast), most people speak English but language not hard to learn, human sized country but good rail and road links to the rest of western Europe.

Fernapple replies on Oct 1, 2020:

@Omnedon Moderate. quite a lot of airports because of the tourist trade.

Lowes discards: Blue Spruce marked down from 99.

AnneWimsey comments on Sep 30, 2020:

beautiful color, but is it the variety that grows to the size of drump tower?

Fernapple replies on Oct 1, 2020:

Slow but big in the end. Mine makes about six to eight inches a year.

Nice one from Trevor Noah's, The Daily Show: [youtu.be] Insightful!

Fernapple comments on Sep 30, 2020:

Video not available, in your country.

Fernapple replies on Sep 30, 2020:

@TimeOutForMe Same result, but thank you for trying anyway.

So where do you get your morality from if you’re an atheist?

PondartIncbendog comments on Sep 29, 2020:

I get my "morals" from the response I get from society and contacts. I don't get them from a book. And if I did, it would be a magazine?

Fernapple replies on Sep 29, 2020:

'Playboy.' Right?

11 th commandment .

Petter comments on Sep 27, 2020:

He is quite literate. He can understand any long sentence. eg. 20 years, life, etc.

Fernapple replies on Sep 28, 2020:

@FrayedBear https://agnostic.com/discussion/538354/the-president-s-taxes-long-concealed-records-show-trump-s-chronic-losses-and-years-of-tax-avoida https://agnostic.com/discussion/538376/trump-didnt-pay-income-tax-for-10-of-15-years-before-2016-election-nyt-thehill

Heyy look whos shirt arrived just in time for her birthday! 😮😉 its my birthday y'all, ...

PondartIncbendog comments on Sep 28, 2020:

U have it on backwards.......

Fernapple replies on Sep 28, 2020:

Don't listen to him. He just wants you to take it off and turn round.

Hmmmmm Least Religious....most peaceful?

of-the-mountain comments on Sep 27, 2020:

All Anglo Saxon based nations???

Fernapple replies on Sep 28, 2020:

No, Portugal, Sweden Norway, Japan, Germany , Ireland.

Europe sees new coronavirus peaks, countries set all-time case records - Business Insider

Fernapple comments on Sep 26, 2020:

Yep its coming back.

Fernapple replies on Sep 28, 2020:

@Jacar Yep it is different in Europe, here it went down to a very low level, but is now climbing again.

Well I'll darned, just got a a very earnest and most unexpected APOLOGY of all things from ...

Fernapple comments on Sep 26, 2020:

There hope for everybody. Just be wary of backsliding.

Fernapple replies on Sep 26, 2020:

@Green_Soldier71 No I meant Evangeloon, not Triphid.

Europe sees new coronavirus peaks, countries set all-time case records - Business Insider

Fernapple comments on Sep 26, 2020:

Yep its coming back.

Fernapple replies on Sep 26, 2020:

@Petter Well it certainly never completely went away.

Not sure if i should even post this but here goes.

Fernapple comments on Sep 24, 2020:

You may like this post and my comments on it. https://agnostic.com/post/536580/what-did-voltaire-mean-with-his-gardening-advice-that-we-must-keep-a-good-distance-between-ourselv?aid=2471222

Fernapple replies on Sep 25, 2020:

@Tutankhamun That's fine, only too pleased, here to share.

I don’t ever copy and paste other people’s statuses.

Theresa_N comments on Sep 24, 2020:

What gets me is all the celebrities in Great Britain who are coming out against masks and social distancing.

Fernapple replies on Sep 24, 2020:

Funny. I live in the UK and have not heard of any celebrities endorsing the ignoring of masks and social distancing.

Wonderful birds. [youtube.com]

Boomtarat03 comments on Sep 24, 2020:

Not available in Hongkong, embedded 😐

Fernapple replies on Sep 24, 2020:

Sorry, out of America.

Hello everyone!

Fernapple comments on Sep 23, 2020:

Hello, I hope you are well and enjoying your day and the site.

Fernapple replies on Sep 24, 2020:

@Basem Oh don't throw stones in the pond, you never know what may be lurking at the bottom. LOL One of the slight problems with the site, is that since it is centred in the US, if you are in a different time zone, it very often happens that very little will happen while you are on line, but then a lot of replies come in over night. You just have to allow for a twenty four hour delay, I have much the same problem in the UK.

You'd think this was a religious website.

Fernapple comments on Sep 23, 2020:

No I think that you do a very good job, and that most of the members find everything you share very interesting. I certainly enjoy your cooking, crafts and hiking posts, dating, well maybe not so much, but the site would be far less without you. You have to remember however that the site has a ...

Fernapple replies on Sep 23, 2020:

@LiterateHiker As a lot of people said, just ignore what you don't like.

Cult leader who claims to be reincarnation of Jesus arrested in Russia | Russia | The Guardian

oldFloyd comments on Sep 23, 2020:

Do you think they will use a cross this time, or just use poison as that has become the way of things for Vlad.🤮

Fernapple replies on Sep 23, 2020:

Don't think Vlad will be too worried.

Darwin, we have a winner... [alternet.org] .

Fernapple comments on Sep 23, 2020:

Life is the ultimate teacher, but sadly a cruel one,who never give the slow a chance to catch up. Sad to be booted out of class before the most important lesson, (The universe was not made for me. ) is complete.

Fernapple replies on Sep 23, 2020:

@Petter I think it is often the same thing. Learning not to be bigoted is another of lifes lessons.

What did Voltaire mean with his gardening advice?

MikeInBatonRouge comments on Sep 22, 2020:

I have a vague interest in Voltaire. I like some of his quotes I have seen. But as with much, they are open to interpretation. I think he was brilliant, but Hey! Just my interpretation. It is basic serenity "prayer" principles, to focus one's energies first on the personally achievable, ...

Fernapple replies on Sep 23, 2020:

Think you put it better actually.

What did Voltaire mean with his gardening advice?

Fernapple comments on Sep 22, 2020:

No I do not agree. Voltaire's garden was not about a self absorbed, turn your back on the world, egocentric search for personal happiness at all. As the narrator implies. You have to remember that the main acts of the Turk and his family in the book, were those of hospitality, and improving with ...

Fernapple replies on Sep 23, 2020:

@MikeInBatonRouge Thank you. Sorry to steal your thunder, but pleased to make you smile.

If you think wearing a mask doesn’t help, still wear it as you’re told & shut up about it.

Fernapple comments on Sep 22, 2020:

Looking across the ocean from Europe, people here are jaw dropping amazed, that masks could even be an issue. Yes there are a few lazy selfish a######s here who can't be bothered, but they are seen as just the cheap stupid freaks they are. It is not a political issue, it is just a couple of ...

Fernapple replies on Sep 22, 2020:

@Fred_Snerd Sure?

The Self-Attribution Fallacy [monbiot.com]

callmedubious comments on Sep 22, 2020:

such hard lives. yet they keep breeding like rabbits. Schopenhauer is right.

Fernapple replies on Sep 22, 2020:

@altschmerz It has also been said time and again. Empower women, and the economy grows far faster and the birth rate goes down.

This came up on another post.

Holysocks comments on Sep 22, 2020:

For the past 8 months, I have been the answer to life, the universe, and everything. Soon, I won't be. Let truth be whatever makes people comfortable. I am sure there are going to be plenty of you punching my online nose for typing that.

Fernapple replies on Sep 22, 2020:

Soon be 43 ?

Friedrich Nietzsche - The Gay Science : Book III - Aphorism 125

HenAgnDon comments on Sep 22, 2020:

Nietzsche foresaw the present time when the churches themselves have abolished "God". But he already saw them do it in his own time. Because religious leaders who claimed influence throughout society had neglected their duty outside the churches (as well as inside), we are where we are. Duty ...

Fernapple replies on Sep 22, 2020:

Sadly the churches to survive and prosper, have to provide an alternate voice, which offers something that mainstream society and philosophy does not. And when, especially post socialism, mainstream society began to become the main source of ethics and logic, the churches had to head into the darkness.

This came up on another post.

waitingforgodo comments on Sep 22, 2020:

"But I think the real bottom line difference, is very simple." Go on, you don't say. Unless it's simply that one is fact and the other fiction.

Fernapple replies on Sep 22, 2020:

No I said that one is the result of, work, care and effort and one is not. You can see it as fact and fiction, but that is very absolute, and I would never say that religion did not contain any truth of fact at all, only that if it does, then it got there mainly by accident.

Dear Red States. We decided we're leaving.

Fernapple comments on Sep 20, 2020:

That's cruel. At least give them Hollywood, then with the preachers and evangelists, they get full control over the twaddle supply, and don't have to depend on imports for their main consumable.

Fernapple replies on Sep 22, 2020:

@dalefvictor Best of luck, it must be hard to live in a country which provides little or no healthcare. I do not think that I would be here today if I had been born in America.

Seek daily to fulfill thine - highest - aspirations & dreams - desire & aspire to fully express & ...

Fernapple comments on Sep 21, 2020:

Love on brother and - plaster the world - with little lines - little lines - rule, - and you can never - have too many - little lines - . Humans will only - ever achieve their full - potential - through accepting the lines --. And the lines - are all love - and the lines - are all life - and the ...

Fernapple replies on Sep 22, 2020:

@KWAPELL7 "UR not supposed to reply or respond to - God - " So if you are God, why have you been hiding all these years ?

Have words and numbers vanished from your posts?

Fernapple comments on Sep 21, 2020:

No, a lot could be to do with the device you are using, to both post and view, the site always seems to work better on some devices especially desk tops than mobile devices. Why not, next time something disappears, message me, and I will look to see if I can see it on my device for you ?

Fernapple replies on Sep 21, 2020:

@LiterateHiker Right sorry, only trying to help.

Seek daily to fulfill thine - highest - aspirations & dreams - desire & aspire to fully express & ...

Fernapple comments on Sep 21, 2020:

Love on brother and - plaster the world - with little lines - little lines - rule, - and you can never - have too many - little lines - . Humans will only - ever achieve their full - potential - through accepting the lines --. And the lines - are all love - and the lines - are all life - and the ...

Fernapple replies on Sep 21, 2020:

@barjoe W - T - F . LOL

Have words and numbers vanished from your posts?

Fernapple comments on Sep 21, 2020:

No, a lot could be to do with the device you are using, to both post and view, the site always seems to work better on some devices especially desk tops than mobile devices. Why not, next time something disappears, message me, and I will look to see if I can see it on my device for you ?

Fernapple replies on Sep 21, 2020:

@LiterateHiker Well it can be because they can be using the same system.

What would you never forgive?

resserts comments on Sep 21, 2020:

I suppose I could forgive pretty much anything except a lack of remorse.

Fernapple replies on Sep 21, 2020:

I like that. " How can you punish those, whose remorse is already greater than their misdeeds." Kahlil Gibran.

“So that, in effect, religion, which should most distinguish us from beasts, and ought most ...

Theresa_N comments on Sep 21, 2020:

Very true, but wasn't Locke outspokenly racist?

Fernapple replies on Sep 21, 2020:

Perhaps, but everyone was then and here he is talking about religion , not race.

Dear Red States. We decided we're leaving.

Fernapple comments on Sep 20, 2020:

That's cruel. At least give them Hollywood, then with the preachers and evangelists, they get full control over the twaddle supply, and don't have to depend on imports for their main consumable.

Fernapple replies on Sep 21, 2020:

@LiterateHiker Yes so is my answer, nearly.

Survey: The average worker experiences career burnout — by the age of 32! [studyfinds.org]

ThinkingFree comments on Sep 19, 2020:

Because people don't follow their heart when it comes to employment. They take jobs for a paycheck, to pay the bills, and don't consider what they really want to do. A paycheck becomes more important.

Fernapple replies on Sep 20, 2020:

@MissKathleen I know, and I was simply being a tease, since we need a even a half sad smile now, especially when there is little to raise a full one. I have no doubts that you can live up to the highest standards anyway. There are no degrees of perfection.

“A lot of is the ability to zoom out, like you’re in a city and you could look at the whole ...

Freedompath comments on Sep 20, 2020:

A lot of ‘seeing’ comes from wisdom...study and observation with added experience, gives us a better view of everything.

Fernapple replies on Sep 20, 2020:

Yes, the Jobs quote, is from a longer piece about his friends, and how he observed that in them, and how it was those with different backgrounds who saw more.

This came up on another post.

Gwendolyn2018 comments on Sep 20, 2020:

"Truth" can be subjective opinion. I prefer using "fact" over "truth" when discussing issues that can be proven by empirical evidence. However, even "facts" can be disproven because an aspect was "understood" without enough information, i.e. people used to believe that the earth was the center of ...

Fernapple replies on Sep 20, 2020:

That is exactly what I was getting at. All attempts at facts call it truth if you like, are subjective attempts at an unobtainable objective reality, whether they come from religion or not. That is why I prefer to emphasize personal attitude and personal commitment, rather than the pretence that pseudo objective methodology is a real difference, maybe a little bit perhaps there are no absolutes, but not so much.

This came up on another post.

TheMiddleWay comments on Sep 20, 2020:

To me: Scientific is merely a framework meant to explain a phenomena. To apply "true" to it would be dangerous since it can be overturned based on new evidence. However, in seeking truth, it seeks the objective truth, statements and frameworks that apply regardless of who and where the statement ...

Fernapple replies on Sep 20, 2020:

Quite, that is exactly what I was getting at. All attempts at truth, are subjective attempts at an unobtainable objective reality, whether they come from religion or not. That is why I prefer to emphasize personal attitude and personal commitment, rather than the pretence that pseudo objective methodology is a real difference, maybe a little bit perhaps there are no absolutes, but not so much.

Some more confirmation of the benefits. [telegraph.co.uk]

MikeInBatonRouge comments on Sep 20, 2020:

I saw this. Hopeful, indeed. I hope it is accurate.

Fernapple replies on Sep 20, 2020:

If they are it is a bonus for wearers, if they are not, you are still protecting everyone else.

Some more confirmation of the benefits. [telegraph.co.uk]

Lorajay comments on Sep 20, 2020:

I hope they are right.

Fernapple replies on Sep 20, 2020:

Nothing to be lost by wearing one anyway. ( I look better in mine.)

This came up on another post.

MrDragon comments on Sep 20, 2020:

Truth is subjective.

Fernapple replies on Sep 20, 2020:

Of course. You may like this. https://agnostic.com/article/528342/an-old-story

This came up on another post.

MikeInBatonRouge comments on Sep 20, 2020:

I agree that falsifiability is an essential element to the scientific process, and it is not at all in religion, though more thoughtful religionists might try hard to reinterpret their religious tenets if scientific discoveries make their existing versions seem silly(for example, the Biblical ...

Fernapple replies on Sep 20, 2020:

I like all of that, especially your last paragraph which says more or less the same thing as the post, but is much more sharply expressed.

This came up on another post.

Cyklone comments on Sep 20, 2020:

That's all a bit random, like an exercise in free association.

Fernapple replies on Sep 20, 2020:

Yes I was looking for the basic drive which perhaps lay behind the technical solutions, like fasifiability. “A lot of [what it means to be smart] is the ability to zoom out, like you’re in a city and you could look at the whole thing from the 80th floor down at the city. And while other people are trying to figure out how to get from point A to point B reading these stupid little maps, you could just see it in front of you. You can see the whole thing.” Steve Jobs

Any time one allows absolutes to exist in the mind, that person has joined the ranks of the ...

Fernapple comments on Sep 20, 2020:

There are absolutely no absolutes.

Fernapple replies on Sep 20, 2020:

@K9Kohle789 'A' is the same as 'B' only if 'A' signfies the same quantity and quality as 'B'.

This came up on another post.

anglophone comments on Sep 20, 2020:

All truths are personal, this despite what any God Mobster or scientist might tell you.

Fernapple replies on Sep 20, 2020:

You may like this. https://agnostic.com/article/528342/an-old-story

This came up on another post.

TaylorWalston comments on Sep 20, 2020:

Falsifiability is important. Otherwise I get to do things like saying Aphrodite is responsible for erectile dysfunction and you should give her offerings through me until she is pleased to stop doing this. Let’s say ten guys do and 3 guys it appears to work. Those 3 tell ten guys, repeat. We...

Fernapple replies on Sep 20, 2020:

Oh don't get me wrong, I am not saying that falsifiability is not important, it is perhaps the most important thing of all. All I am saying, is that falsifiability itself, comes out of something more basic and simpler. You may like this. https://agnostic.com/article/528342/an-old-story

Please raise your hand if you're an atheist AND antitheist.

David1955 comments on Sep 19, 2020:

My profile identifies me as exactly that, and I don't care who knows it.

Fernapple replies on Sep 20, 2020:

@David1955 Yes sometimes he throws out remarks like. Interesting talks with sophisticated theologians, who do not take the bible literally. And says that he has more respect for that. He also pedals, the bible as heritage line, a little bit too often to be healthy to my mind. And although I have great respect for the man, I do sometimes wonder if his judgement is not a little distorted by the fact that of course he lives and works in Oxford Uni, which is the main seat of high theology and BS capital Britain. A lot of the popular view of him of course is made by appologists attempts to straw man him as the untimate in intollerant atheism, which is not true by any means, he is a great deal more nuanced than that.

Survey: The average worker experiences career burnout — by the age of 32! [studyfinds.org]

ThinkingFree comments on Sep 19, 2020:

Because people don't follow their heart when it comes to employment. They take jobs for a paycheck, to pay the bills, and don't consider what they really want to do. A paycheck becomes more important.

Fernapple replies on Sep 20, 2020:

@MissKathleen I like your new pic. But it will take a lot of living up to.

Please raise your hand if you're an atheist AND antitheist.

David1955 comments on Sep 19, 2020:

My profile identifies me as exactly that, and I don't care who knows it.

Fernapple replies on Sep 20, 2020:

@antireligious That sent me to his bio too. Very good. Though I think that R. Dawkins is acutally more prepared to compromise, sometimes he goes soft on the high theology woo end of religion.

I just overheard my neighbors phone conversation.

DavePeet comments on Sep 19, 2020:

I find it funny that most people find God by going to jail

Fernapple replies on Sep 20, 2020:

It earns you points with parole boards. If you can't make it fake it. LOL

Want to draw attention to the plight of children, parents, teachers, and schools, pan-India.

AmyTheBruce comments on Sep 19, 2020:

I'm confused. This article makes reference to Delhi's public schools, but the goes on to talk about tuition and fees. In the States, public schools do not charge these fees, but private schools (and colleges, both public and private,) do. So, what am I missing? Is there no truly public option?

Fernapple replies on Sep 19, 2020:

I think they use the English term Public School, which means one open to anyone who can pay, as opposed to church or grammar schools, which were once only open to sellected pupils, and state schools which are the free ones payed for by taxes. Public schools in the UK and India are therefore exactly the opposite of its meaning in the states.

"The great merit of the capitalist system, it has been said, is that it succeeds in using the ...

Fernapple comments on Sep 17, 2020:

No that is private enterprise, not to be confused with capitalism. Private enterprise means that a stage of civilization was reached, where our natural tendency to compete for resources was best served by trading with others. Therefore our natural tendency to compete was subverted, into competing to...

Fernapple replies on Sep 18, 2020:

@WilliamCharles No that is beside the point. People assume that capitalism and private enterprise are the same thing, only because traditionally they are seen as opposed to socialism, and capitalism is often a sub set of private enterprise. But in fact Private enterprise and capitalism, are two quite different things, even more different than capitalism and socialism. Capitalism has existed for perhaps two and a half thousand years, since the invention of money, at most. While private enterprise goes back into the deep past, perhaps to the very beginning of civilization or beyond, ten times as far at least. And it is perfectly possible to envision a modern society, ( As Marx did before his ideas and name were stolen by the communists. ) where private enterprise exists without capital. Basicaly imagine a state where private enterprise is allowed, but all banking, is nationalised.

Playing with my reflection is so fun 😅😅😅😁

Cutiebeauty comments on Sep 16, 2020:

What a cute little munchkin lol

Fernapple replies on Sep 16, 2020:

Another beaver shot ? LOL

I couldn’t let the frost kill the basil in my mother’s garden, so I cut the plants and have them...

Killtheskyfairy comments on Sep 16, 2020:

Can you share your recipe?

Fernapple replies on Sep 16, 2020:

Second that.

I got banned from FB for three days because I said, "Americans are gullible and stupid", referring ...

Fernapple comments on Sep 16, 2020:

Ugly, difficult to use, shallow and pretending to be a substitute for the web in order to fill the Zuks imperial dreams, why go there at all.

Fernapple replies on Sep 16, 2020:

@Sticks48 I know. I have to use it, because a business marketing group I am involved with, makes it a rule of membership.. But I retire soon, Yippee !

As if his idiocy were not already complete, now Trump claims that fallen trees "explode.

PondartIncbendog comments on Sep 15, 2020:

Squirrels did it. Those little bushy assholes!

Fernapple replies on Sep 16, 2020:

There should be a legal ban on selling them matches and lighters.

Another one of my heroes.

Fernapple comments on Sep 14, 2020:

Nice thought. Though technically wrong, since quite a few animals have been found which survived major breakages, in part due to social support.

Fernapple replies on Sep 14, 2020:

@Petter I would say so yes. Certainly care for the sick is a thing which, can and is, done easily within the family, and vastly predates civilization. I think that the idea that this represents civilization, comes from the same logic whereby, morallity comes from religion. Sad to say bad things about Lorajay's hero, but M. Mead has been so often discredited for so many errors, and so much fakery, that few take her seriously any longer.

Why you should worry even if you are young and fit. [theatlantic.com]

HippieChick58 comments on Sep 13, 2020:

Two of my 30ish kids had covid tests in the past week or so. Negative results thank goodness, and the one who was actually sick is feeling better. Apparently just sick, not covid. My oldest in mid 30s is expecting. It is very hard not to worry about them.

Fernapple replies on Sep 13, 2020:

@HippieChick58 Yes if you know what it is all about (microbiologist ) it tends to make you more careful, maybe it is you who should take instrution from her. I am fortunate in that I work from home anyway, and have taken to getting all my groceries delivered. I have to be super cautious, since I help to look after my nieghbour who is in her late eighties. It is not worth risking your life for groceries, you can always go without, if you can get the basics.

Why you should worry even if you are young and fit. [theatlantic.com]

HippieChick58 comments on Sep 13, 2020:

Two of my 30ish kids had covid tests in the past week or so. Negative results thank goodness, and the one who was actually sick is feeling better. Apparently just sick, not covid. My oldest in mid 30s is expecting. It is very hard not to worry about them.

Fernapple replies on Sep 13, 2020:

At this time I would say don't be affraid to nag, remind and pester, better they think that mother is a pain, than they catch that, especially when pregnant.

Harvard Has Figured Out Why So Many Black People Are In Prison

Fernapple comments on Sep 13, 2020:

Why they never asked me. I could have told them that, in less than one percent of that time, for half the price.

Fernapple replies on Sep 13, 2020:

@freeofgod Sorry.

Not an evolutionary specialist, but was wondering about the evolutionary processes that goes from :...

jasen comments on Sep 12, 2020:

Start by investigating Bi-lateral Symmetry......

Fernapple replies on Sep 13, 2020:

@Word That is why the five point starfish is placed on a different evolutionary line to the bilateral animals.

Random thought over lunch.... after making bread. 🤔

RichCC comments on Sep 12, 2020:

You point out a serious thought. We're mostly all common folks. People almost always take themselves too seriously. I've been watching a *Great Courses Plus* lecture series called *The Other Side Of History* that tries to explore how poor people lived in antiquity. It's quite interesting. But...

Fernapple replies on Sep 13, 2020:

@RichCC Quoted in the Religious Naturalism group.

Here's an unresolved argument. Did Jesus really exist?

Paul4747 comments on Sep 12, 2020:

"Maybe" is as definitive an answer as will ever be given. Generations of Israeli archaeologists have been scouring that country looking for evidence of... anything, and although they've been looking mainly for evidence regarding the Mosaic stories, they also haven't found anything regarding Jesus. ...

Fernapple replies on Sep 13, 2020:

@Paul4747 Yes I agree. But my comment was not refering to the post about Jesus, only about the accuracy of the gospels, following a line in the comments. Good comment anyway.

The many beautiful stages of a Double Delight

Fernapple comments on Sep 12, 2020:

Beautiful. Is the dew natural or did you add it ?

Fernapple replies on Sep 13, 2020:

@Heidi68 Well done grabbing the moment.

The thing that gets me the most about religious people who keep saying Thank you Jesus, for all they...

Fernapple comments on Sep 12, 2020:

Jesus said that giving the message of god to none Jews, meaning inherited Judaism thought the traditional female line, was like giving the children's food to swine, (could have been dogs, memory fails a little.). It was st Paul and later converts who went against that and accepted gentiles. So you ...

Fernapple replies on Sep 13, 2020:

@Theresa_N Quite. So they would be his only true followers.

Here's an unresolved argument. Did Jesus really exist?

Paul4747 comments on Sep 12, 2020:

"Maybe" is as definitive an answer as will ever be given. Generations of Israeli archaeologists have been scouring that country looking for evidence of... anything, and although they've been looking mainly for evidence regarding the Mosaic stories, they also haven't found anything regarding Jesus. ...

Fernapple replies on Sep 13, 2020:

There is however some evidence that the gospels are fake, in that they get both the history, and worse the physical geography of the holy land (Which can't be debated. ) wrong, in ways that people who lived there at the time could not have done.

Here's an unresolved argument. Did Jesus really exist?

barjoe comments on Sep 12, 2020:

There's no evidence that Jesus ever walked the earth. The evidence against him is that all "historical" references are early 2nd century. Folklore. All of the gospels are plagiarized from the writings of Titus Flavius Josephus, born Yosef ben Matityahu, a Jewish general who defected. He made two ...

Fernapple replies on Sep 13, 2020:

@Fletch Therre are no others that refer to anything remotely close to the biblical Jesus no. He is purely a creation of the gospels. But you have to remember that there are a number of none cannonical gospels, most of which describe a very highly mythical Jesus, which would seem to indicate that you are really dealing with a much older myth, which probably began long before the biblical dates. For all of them you have to ask however, how much credibility can really be given to writings for which we have, no dates of publication, no original manuscripts, no named editors or copyers, no location of origin, no original authors names, (Even Math, Mark, Luke, John, were not added until several centuries into the Christian era, and even the church admits they are fake.) which get both the history, and worse the physical geography of the country they were supposedly written in wrong, in a way no one who had been there could, and which contradict one another, even after the more extreme versions are dumped by the chuch, in a desparate attempt to make some logical sense of them.

Absolutely perfect

Fernapple comments on Sep 12, 2020:

I suspect you are. But saying so in public is generally considered sexist.

Fernapple replies on Sep 13, 2020:

@Lorajay I see. I thought that there had to be more to it, you are not usually one of those who posts short click bait. Strenthens the assumption "Absolutely perfect" though.

Random thought over lunch.... after making bread. 🤔

RichCC comments on Sep 12, 2020:

You point out a serious thought. We're mostly all common folks. People almost always take themselves too seriously. I've been watching a *Great Courses Plus* lecture series called *The Other Side Of History* that tries to explore how poor people lived in antiquity. It's quite interesting. But...

Fernapple replies on Sep 12, 2020:

@RichCC PS may I quote this please ?

Random thought over lunch.... after making bread. 🤔

RichCC comments on Sep 12, 2020:

You point out a serious thought. We're mostly all common folks. People almost always take themselves too seriously. I've been watching a *Great Courses Plus* lecture series called *The Other Side Of History* that tries to explore how poor people lived in antiquity. It's quite interesting. But...

Fernapple replies on Sep 12, 2020:

@RichCC I think, don't be too intimidated, the common things can also be the most profoundly beautiful and meaningful, if you only train your appreciation to understand it. At the very least if you do Get up, make the bed, eat, drink, work, have some sex, listen to some music, go to bed, sleep, repeat. then you also by so doing join into a great community, I may not be going to live for millenia but the things that I do and share in doing, are nearly immortal, fundamental things. Sorry for waxing all woo, there but I think that there is more to that thought than just woo.

Here's an unresolved argument. Did Jesus really exist?

barjoe comments on Sep 12, 2020:

There's no evidence that Jesus ever walked the earth. The evidence against him is that all "historical" references are early 2nd century. Folklore. All of the gospels are plagiarized from the writings of Titus Flavius Josephus, born Yosef ben Matityahu, a Jewish general who defected. He made two ...

Fernapple replies on Sep 12, 2020:

Actually some scholars say, that the two references made to Jesus by Josephus, are later forgeries put into his work after his death. Because they do not appear in some early copies, and are writen in a different syle. So even that is doubtful.

Random thought over lunch.... after making bread. 🤔

RichCC comments on Sep 12, 2020:

You point out a serious thought. We're mostly all common folks. People almost always take themselves too seriously. I've been watching a *Great Courses Plus* lecture series called *The Other Side Of History* that tries to explore how poor people lived in antiquity. It's quite interesting. But...

Fernapple replies on Sep 12, 2020:

Yes but even that is a distortion in a way, because. "lacks of good food and clean water and even the slightest understandings of health and social practices. " Were mainly the dramatic bits which actually only impacted their lives now and again, for the most part their lives were just ordinary exactly like ours. Get up, make the bed, eat, drink, work, have some sex, listen to some music, go to bed, sleep, repeat.

Given the Machiavellian tendencies of governments do you think that they will miss the opportunity ...

Fernapple comments on Sep 12, 2020:

Given the incompetence of governments, do you think that they are capable of creating and managing a plan like that ?

Fernapple replies on Sep 12, 2020:

@Austin-Cambridge My thought is , how would we persuade government to invest in a national DNA data base. Given that there are a lot of advantages for everyone except the government.

Given the Machiavellian tendencies of governments do you think that they will miss the opportunity ...

Fernapple comments on Sep 12, 2020:

Given the incompetence of governments, do you think that they are capable of creating and managing a plan like that ?

Fernapple replies on Sep 12, 2020:

@Austin-Cambridge They have a lot more to gain from subverting elections, and it is something they understand.

This fawn looks so tired 😪

Fernapple comments on Sep 11, 2020:

Maybe its got the Phlox. (Sorry could not resist that one.)

Fernapple replies on Sep 11, 2020:

@Boomtarat03 Phlox the name of the flower rhymes with pox. Silly old man joke.

Two different theories about birdsong.

Boomtarat03 comments on Sep 11, 2020:

While I am watching this I feel sleepy, because of the bird's sounds, it is nice to an ear☺ Sparrow is so noisy 😅

Fernapple replies on Sep 11, 2020:

Loveliest sound in the natural world, after perhaps waves on the beach.

My lemongrass bushes are sad looking.

Fernapple comments on Sep 10, 2020:

Hopefully all your hard work will pay off. I grew some one year, from the shoots I bought in the supermarket, but sadly they are not hardy in the UK even in a greenhouse.

Fernapple replies on Sep 10, 2020:

@Zoohome Will do, certainly going to have another go next year.

Nora Ephron ,a atheist, stated in her autobiography the thing she regretted leaving behind when she ...

AnneWimsey comments on Sep 10, 2020:

My dogs

Fernapple replies on Sep 10, 2020:

Sadly they would miss you too.

Astronomers find no signs of alien tech after scanning over 10 million stars An Australian ...

Druvius comments on Sep 9, 2020:

My suspicion is that life like ours is an evolutionary dead end. As technology continues to advance, sooner or later it will be possible for an individual to build a doomsday device. The end won't be much later.

Fernapple replies on Sep 9, 2020:

It may not even be deliberate, it is quite possible that there is a doomsday technology, the danger of which can never be forseen, by the technology that comes before it. And if that is so, then every technologically advanced culture is doomed.

How are you all?

Fernapple comments on Sep 9, 2020:

Fine thank you, good weather here, soon be time for beer. How are you doing ?

Fernapple replies on Sep 9, 2020:

@beerhungry Great thank you. Seems like a very meaningful expression of a sibling relationship.

How are you all?

Fernapple comments on Sep 9, 2020:

Fine thank you, good weather here, soon be time for beer. How are you doing ?

Fernapple replies on Sep 9, 2020:

@beerhungry Well done. Are you going to share a few snippets on here ?

Quite short but just a lovely sound. [youtube.com]

rogerbenham comments on Sep 9, 2020:

Exquisite. Exactly as it should be performed! Thanks so much! When I was 15 I sang Sheep May Safely with a viol da gamba and a spinet. Half way through something collapsed on the spinet and I sang the rest just with the viol. After restoration of course we did it again. I think there might have ...

Fernapple replies on Sep 9, 2020:

That sort of thing happens a lot when you are 15. LOL

So many conservative people bemoan the children of today and their lack of respect.

Fernapple comments on Sep 7, 2020:

Think there may be a word or two missing from your title. recommend an edit, I know what you mean but it does not read well.

Fernapple replies on Sep 9, 2020:

@Lorajay Well done, champion.

An interesting list; 20 most prosperous countries (as of 2019) [insider.

Fernapple comments on Sep 8, 2020:

I have read that one of the best things that a government can do for an economy, is to introduce a high minimum wage, in part because the spending power of large numbers raised out of poverty lifts the economy far more than the spending of rich people, which is slower and less likely to stay within ...

Fernapple replies on Sep 8, 2020:

@Jetty Empoyers who rely on low wages to prop up bad businesses won't like it certainly. But that only creates more trade for the good businesses, its a win win.

It really really saddens me knowing that many children were raised in a household where religion was...

Fernapple comments on Sep 8, 2020:

Passing on cultural heritage may be inevitable, but there is no reason why cultural heritage can not include a sceptical view. To those who would say that indoctrination is not child abuse, I would say that one of the symptoms of child abuse, is that the abused are often made to feel life long ...

Fernapple replies on Sep 8, 2020:

@TheMiddleWay Yep OK. Score yourself a point. LOL

Amazing how the things work out.

Fernapple comments on Sep 8, 2020:

Welcome to the blocked club, well done. Never heard of him though.

Fernapple replies on Sep 8, 2020:

@creative51 Would seem so, I have just read his bio. I do though sometimes wonder if there are not two different sites here, because people are often mentioning things people have done and how bad the fighting is, and I never see any of it.

I guess we should all strive to keep an open mind?

Word comments on Sep 8, 2020:

Does this mean everyone should have a bullet put thru their brain to have an open mind?

Fernapple replies on Sep 8, 2020:

I think that is the intended joke, yes. A bit sad really to think that extreme cynisim is somehow clever.

Dave Daubenmire: Refusing to Serve Me Because I Won’t Wear a Mask is Like Racism | Beth ...

K9Kohle789 comments on Sep 7, 2020:

As written in story: "Being Black is not something you choose. Being ignorant and dangerous is. If Daubenmire refuses to wear a mask, then he’s putting everyone else in danger". Hope he enjoys karma and he gets the virus.

Fernapple replies on Sep 8, 2020:

@JeffMurray Yes it is perhaps the most persuasive of all religion, since it comes directly from our pattern making instincts. It is hard for an animal hard wired to see pattern, not to fall for correlation equals causation.

It really really saddens me knowing that many children were raised in a household where religion was...

Captain_Feelgood comments on Sep 8, 2020:

I'm guessing most of us here grew up with some sort of religious influence,,, and yet we all grew out of it,, grew to realize it's faults and how to deal with it... Otherwise, we wouldn't be here... CAN I GET AN AMEN!! 😁👍

Fernapple replies on Sep 8, 2020:

That's OK for you, but what about them many who do not escape, for whom religion continues to be a hardly endurable burden thoughout their life.

Weirdest Passages You've Read?

LiterateHiker comments on Sep 7, 2020:

A lifelong skeptic, I never bothered reading the Bible. In elementary school, I scoffed at ridiculous Bible stories. Realized the Bible is just a book of stories or fables written by men. Like Grimm's Fairy Tales.

Fernapple replies on Sep 8, 2020:

@LiterateHiker To Fairy Tales

Weirdest Passages You've Read?

LiterateHiker comments on Sep 7, 2020:

A lifelong skeptic, I never bothered reading the Bible. In elementary school, I scoffed at ridiculous Bible stories. Realized the Bible is just a book of stories or fables written by men. Like Grimm's Fairy Tales.

Fernapple replies on Sep 8, 2020:

Not at all like Grimm's Fairy Tales, they are quite a good read, even for an adult.

Dave Daubenmire: Refusing to Serve Me Because I Won’t Wear a Mask is Like Racism | Beth ...

K9Kohle789 comments on Sep 7, 2020:

As written in story: "Being Black is not something you choose. Being ignorant and dangerous is. If Daubenmire refuses to wear a mask, then he’s putting everyone else in danger". Hope he enjoys karma and he gets the virus.

Fernapple replies on Sep 8, 2020:

@JeffMurray Sadly yes, I am joking. Its a funny thing we Brits do, I know that it annoys the majority American members here, but we just can't help ourselves. Its in our cultural DNA.

Dave Daubenmire: Refusing to Serve Me Because I Won’t Wear a Mask is Like Racism | Beth ...

K9Kohle789 comments on Sep 7, 2020:

As written in story: "Being Black is not something you choose. Being ignorant and dangerous is. If Daubenmire refuses to wear a mask, then he’s putting everyone else in danger". Hope he enjoys karma and he gets the virus.

Fernapple replies on Sep 7, 2020:

Karma is in very short supply.

So many conservative people bemoan the children of today and their lack of respect.

Fernapple comments on Sep 7, 2020:

Think there may be a word or two missing from your title. recommend an edit, I know what you mean but it does not read well.

Fernapple replies on Sep 7, 2020:

@Petter Yep that was my guess too.

So many conservative people bemoan the children of today and their lack of respect.

Fernapple comments on Sep 7, 2020:

Think there may be a word or two missing from your title. recommend an edit, I know what you mean but it does not read well.

Fernapple replies on Sep 7, 2020:

@Lorajay No I think there is still some missing.

Happy Labor Day to All!

girlwithsmiles comments on Sep 7, 2020:

Really? The weekend was started here by a Nottingham company who found that letting their staff have 2 days off made them more productive. I didn’t know that was what labour day was all about.

Fernapple replies on Sep 7, 2020:

Its the US, they don't know where Nottingham is.

Weirdest Passages You've Read?

Lightupmylife comments on Sep 7, 2020:

Ezekiel 23:19-20 NET Yet she increased her prostitution, remembering the days of her youth when she engaged in prostitution in the land of Egypt. She lusted after their genitals as large as those of donkeys, and their seminal emission was as strong as that of stallions.

Fernapple replies on Sep 7, 2020:

She sounds interesting. Asking for a friend.

“The ideas of the ruling class are in every epoch the ruling ideas, i.

Fernapple comments on Sep 7, 2020:

No I don't agree with that, very often political power clashes with the ruling intellectual force.

Fernapple replies on Sep 7, 2020:

@Freedompath Strange quote from Marx, since he was trying to create an intellectual revolution to birth a political revolution. Sounds almost as though he was telling himself that he was wasting his time.

Hi , why isn't it possible to browse currently online members?

Fernapple comments on Sep 7, 2020:

You can go to members and look for the ones with the green dot. It is a bit harder than having a specific list, but not much.

Fernapple replies on Sep 7, 2020:

@MissKathleen Thank you point or dot taken.

A small part of a perhaps vast lost history ? [getpocket.com]

Killtheskyfairy comments on Sep 7, 2020:

Thank you for sharing. There were so many other good articles on that site I enjoyed as well.

Fernapple replies on Sep 7, 2020:

Yes they keep sending me links.

A small part of a perhaps vast lost history ? [getpocket.com]

Cast1es comments on Sep 7, 2020:

Who'd have thought . A signifigent change in how the war was fought and won , due to an unrecognized female scientist , who earned her degree , but wasn't given the recognition for having earned it , so males could continue the myth that women are second class citizens , and not equal in ...

Fernapple replies on Sep 7, 2020:

Yes not exactly new is it.