So, had a row with a sibling today about politics where he was essentially reciting Faux Nooz, and ...

Fernapple comments on Dec 23, 2018:

Over reaction is often a response of people who know that they are in the wrong, and can not hope to endure a reasonable conversation. People who are unable to grow or change often retreat into self delusion. They know that they are in a weak position and dare not risk a conversation which may expose the truth, on any matter however trivial; since that would require an act of strength from them. You can therefore do nothing for them until they are ready to move on, it is not your fault, and it is better to spend your energies on family and friends who will benefit from and enjoy what you do.

Many a law, many a commandment I have broken, my word never.....Sir Walter Scott.

Fernapple comments on Dec 22, 2018:

I doubt that there ever lived any human being who never broke their word, even (especially) to themselves. The whole of human civilization was built on the human ability to tell needful lies to themselves. The person who never realized that they had been misleading themselves and others, never learned anything.

My lil town. ❤️ Main Street.

Fernapple comments on Dec 22, 2018:

Here's mine. (Sorry its the church.)

How do you measure intelligence?>

Fernapple comments on Dec 22, 2018:

First you have to define intelligence, and if you can do that then you are very intelligent indeed.

Hi I'm John, and I live in Dallas.

Fernapple comments on Dec 22, 2018:

Welcome you will find good people of all sorts here. Check out the groups there is something for everyone.

My God - The majority of religions talk in terms of My God.

Fernapple comments on Dec 22, 2018:

Those who control religion for their own power and profit are bound to make it divisive and tribal. Because they have nothing else to sell. If there was a god and that god was fair to everyone and everyone knew that god fair to everyone, then who would need religion? Unfairness is its only selling point.

Why I choose to live in the rural suburbs:

Fernapple comments on Dec 22, 2018:

Mine is what I think you people from the US, call the boondocks.

My lil town. ❤️ Main Street.

Fernapple comments on Dec 22, 2018:

Apart from the few in Australia I do not think it is a good time for gardening pictures, but all gardeners love the seasons. Great picture, it looks really lovely.

I'm pretty happy to have found a forum to let go of some of the stuff I feel building up inside.

Fernapple comments on Dec 22, 2018:

Agreed, and you never know where even the smallest spark unleashed in the quietest corner may one day start a fire. The important thing is to say it to someone or it dies.

If You Look at Context, Evolution is a Religion! - Viced Rhino [youtube.com]

Fernapple comments on Dec 22, 2018:

It is a sad feature of the western worlds education systems failings, that such arguments even have to take place in the twenty first century. Would that the oppositions arguments were not so much less wrong even just less banal would at least be a improvement.

I have the end wall framed up and the door hung plumb!

Fernapple comments on Dec 22, 2018:

If you are covering it in plastic and it is still as warm with you as you say. It will be best to get the plastic on as soon as possible since it stretches and goes on far better when the weather is warm, and it then tightens as it cools.

Happy Solstice and Cool Yule, Y'all!

Fernapple comments on Dec 21, 2018:

And may the returning sun warm your world.

Happy Solstice Everyone! [timeanddate.com]

Fernapple comments on Dec 21, 2018:

Happy solstice.

Experience, the name men give to their mistakes......Oscar Wilde.

Fernapple comments on Dec 21, 2018:

Learn to treasure your mistakes. Don't know who this quote is from but someone once said. "The man who never made a mistake never made anything."

Got the door for my hoop house built and ready to install.

Fernapple comments on Dec 20, 2018:

Really good doors for hoop houses. Well Done.

I may lack in spirit this year, but I will not be this.

Fernapple comments on Dec 20, 2018:

Try the next one that comes up, Cheap Flights, as well.

What could possibly go wrong?

Fernapple comments on Dec 20, 2018:

If only they had known ? Wolf bones have been found in caves alongside humans, dated from about forty thousand years ago. It seems that DNA could be extracted and it shows that the wolves were already adapting to a diet containing large amounts of starch, in other words some apes had been sharing food with them for some time. If only it had stopped there.

Question regarding responses, mainly on memes, but really on any post I guess.

Fernapple comments on Dec 20, 2018:

I find a lot of the memes dull, so if I liked them all that would devalue the likes that I give to the rare ones who really do make me smile. (Or maybe I am just a boring mean old grouch.)

I usually post pics of my abandoned office but this afternoon it's full of revelers, enjoying the ...

Fernapple comments on Dec 20, 2018:

It is usually just superficial and shallow, pretending you like it just to score popularity points is dishonest and mind numbing. I never liked parties either, get out as soon as you can and spend the time (you only have one life) doing something you really enjoy. Making you endure party chat to prove you can fit in, is not really the act of friends, anymore than it would be if they told you to go to church.

Admin especially or anyone who can help, a post has appeared on the gardeners page which looks very ...

Fernapple comments on Dec 20, 2018:

Thank you all, I have done it, not easy to find the report button, so I perhaps far behind a lot of others who will have reported it by now. But now I have done it should be quicker if I see something again.

I want to write a poem today, but I feel kinda empty

Fernapple comments on Dec 20, 2018:

Go for a long walk, there is a neurological connection between the exercise of walking and the creative sections of our brains which are stimulated by it. And when you walk something interesting turns up anyway. Last time I got caught by heavy rain half way through, but a farmer stopped his truck and gave me a lift. He was such an interesting person, I had enough material for a novel by the time he dropped me off.

Food for thought regarding the potentil government shutdown.

Fernapple comments on Dec 20, 2018:

Since all people like progress and to do better than the earlier generation, and progress comes in two forms, getting more out, and putting less in. Therefore it follows, that for the political establishment the ultimate destiny of all governments is to take everything in taxation and give no services in return. OK that is a joke yes, but it is also true that the only thing which prevents this, is strong active democracy by the people, people get the best they can force government to give.

Which one is better for atheists? Twitter or Facebook? Why?

Fernapple comments on Dec 19, 2018:

Neither, they are both boring, get a life, then if you have any time to spare, come here.

How do these people justify killing non believers if you think your god made humans then will you ...

Fernapple comments on Dec 19, 2018:

Sadly it goes even far beyond that. Many of the Christian churches teachings have involved the idea that this world is only a poor substitute for the one to come, and that therefore worldliness, including care for the environment and animals was anti-Christian, we should even welcome such things as global warming because they will bring the worlds end quicker. Early Christians often prayed for the worlds end. All of which leads to the obvious response. "How can you honor God by despising his creation." Human or any other. It is one of the central pieces of illogic in the theists thinking, and they can not honestly resolve it.

All caps. Ugh

Fernapple comments on Dec 19, 2018:

Even more irritating than no caps at all. 1. The shift key is the one between, Control and Caps Lock. 2. Caps Lock is the key you push, IF YOU WANT TO DESTROY YOUR LIFE COMPLETELY.

Good morning, disbelievers!?

Fernapple comments on Dec 19, 2018:

Good morning, round here you are free to disbelieve anything you wish. My first choice has always been the idea that staying in hotels is fun, but I do god as well.

Just in time for the season... Virgin Mary... Miracle or Misunderstanding?

Fernapple comments on Dec 19, 2018:

Given the number of times that the texts of the bible were copied, translated and reedited, after having been passed down in some cases by word of mouth for years; it not hard to see how nearly all the supernatural events and other things could be the result of textural errors. For example, perhaps someone once recorded that their hero. "Stood up and walked about while the boat was on the waves." A brave thing to do and worthy of recording, but take out four words and you have. "Stood up and walked about on the waves." Add a couple more bad copings before you come to the gospels that survive and you have the bible story.

I went to a Chinese take-out place to get some dinner for my daughter's family and myself.

Fernapple comments on Dec 18, 2018:

Only dead fish swim down stream.

Here a good video Amy Yankie made on harvesting seeds from the Florida Cranberry/Jamaican Sorrel...

Fernapple comments on Dec 18, 2018:

This can not be the same plant that we call Red Sorrel in the UK, we use that name for a type of Rumex which looks like a dock and self seeds without any help ?

Pagan celebrations

Fernapple comments on Dec 18, 2018:

Great photo. Soon the solstice will be here and the long slow return of life begins. Enjoy some good feasting.

Wondering exactly what this site is about.

Fernapple comments on Dec 18, 2018:

Check out the groups, you can find almost anything you want there.

3 of the Strangest Mountains in the Solar System - SciShow Space [youtube.com]

Fernapple comments on Dec 17, 2018:

Rheasylvia may be big which is impressive, but of course higher mountains are in many ways more likely to form and remain on smaller bodies with less gravity. So perhaps that has more to do with the size of the asteroid.

How about creating our own fairy tales for children ?

Fernapple comments on Dec 17, 2018:

There is a wonderful and growing wealth of fantasy fiction available, much of which is very secular in origin, think of Philip Pullman and others. But it is true that in the arts and heritage generally the secular movements are far behind the churches and temples. However, that is only because they have a multi-thousand year head start so we will catch up in the end. So in the mean time, get writing, painting, compose music, and design buildings to express the glories of reason, skeptic thinking and science, it does not have to be great art, everyones contribution is worth while, if only because it adds to the growing movement, and you may even get lucky, like the humble country flute player who inspired Mozart, to be the trigger for something bigger.

Theological Dot Points.

Fernapple comments on Dec 17, 2018:

I think that the line. " Not all of the major religions can be true, but all can be false." Is wonderful a perfect nutshell.

The "God of the Gaps" argument- reminds me of that arcade game "Whack-a-Mole" from the eighties, as ...

Fernapple comments on Dec 17, 2018:

God just gets smaller and smaller all the time.

Taking one more spin through the parking lot.

Fernapple comments on Dec 17, 2018:

For both a member of a evangelical church and the political establishment, he seems to show high moral standards.

Dear Believer: Why Do You Believe?

Fernapple comments on Dec 17, 2018:

Given the amount of proselytizing that religions do, I think that your small act is a long way from even balancing the scales, and you did not (hopefully) use any social pressure to compel him to accept any of this, therefore you are only stating your case, which is not proselytizing. Thank you for posting this it is one of the best short essays I have yet seen, on what i think is the most important argument.

Just a thought...

Fernapple comments on Dec 16, 2018:

Ironically the church in Europe, especially northern Europe, seems to be nothing like as strong as it is in America. One reason for that could be that as the church here became part of the political establishment it became more exposed to open debate and to being tainted by political wrongs, and that killed a lot of its support. It may well be therefore that the separation is the thing which has kept the churches alive in America. Those theists who want to end the separation should perhaps remember the old saying. Be careful of what you wish for; you may just get it.

Con Artist Monthly..

Fernapple comments on Dec 16, 2018:

Where can I get copies, so that I can leave them lying about in church halls?

A Visit to the Vet.

Fernapple comments on Dec 15, 2018:

That is true,. But sadly, it is also true that good intentions often do much more harm than deliberate cruelty. For every person who beats their dog into ill health, there are a hundred who think nothing of feeding their pets inappropriate food until their health is destroyed by obesity and type two diabetes etc. We all know this on this site, because we know that it is the way of the world, that huge harm is done by things like religions, most of whose members are quite sure they are there for the very best of reasons.

My favorite poem - Dharma by Billy Collins

Fernapple comments on Dec 15, 2018:

Maybe you are not her god. A dog is perhaps the only creature on earth who looks at a human and sees only an ape and nothing but an ape, yet loves you with passion for being just that.

I made many mistakes today.

Fernapple comments on Dec 15, 2018:

Please explain tiger candy, it looks lovely.

So let's take a look at your qualifications.

Fernapple comments on Dec 15, 2018:

I really love the way you do things, but I think that I can help to make it even better.

“A custom loathesome to the eye, hateful to the nose, harmful to the brain, dangerous to the ...

Fernapple comments on Dec 14, 2018:

Yes its true, even he could see it, and he was the man who never took a bath and of whom it was said that you tell what the royal kitchens had been serving for the last week, by reading his shirt front.

My garden. Love the green..... legal weedfairy

Fernapple comments on Dec 12, 2018:

If it grows it is beautiful, if it makes you smile that makes two.

To what degree should instincts be reined in?

Fernapple comments on Dec 11, 2018:

Depends on how you define instinct, but since I am happy to accept genetic determinism, that is what I will call instinct and I will go with my own usage, to say. We are sailing ships. Instinct is the wind, emotion the sail and reason the rudder. Loose any one of the first two and you are a passive lump which goes no where until you starve, loose the last and you are either wrecked, (crime) or lost (religion).

Success is not the key to happiness.

Fernapple comments on Dec 11, 2018:

If you love what you are doing you are already successful; even if you never earn a penny from it and everyone else does it better.

Hi just joined.

Fernapple comments on Dec 11, 2018:

Welcome, do check out the groups, that is where the fun is.

Yes many things have changed. I survived lol

Fernapple comments on Dec 11, 2018:

And the sixties, wonderful, everything was cold and damp especially bathrooms, bedrooms and doctors surgeries, you had to force yourself to eat the food, (plants cooked to tasteless mush, who knows what meat in tins and tasteless white bread) school teachers stood you against the wall and used you as punch bags, (they had to keep warm too) the cars and the plumbing gave you lead poisoning, children were not allowed in libraries, there were only two TV channels, then only after five o'clock at night, to get a phone you had to go on a six month waiting list and produce references from your employers etc., and people thought that in the future people would live in space, but they never imagined mobile phones or home computers let alone the internet.

My beautiful death

Fernapple comments on Dec 10, 2018:

That is a very nasty story. It is often said that when the environment is damaged it is the creatures at the top of the food chains who suffer most, especially from poisoning, sadly people including people who do no harm are often at the top of the food chain. We seem to have woken up about lead now, (perhaps too little too late) but there are new uses being found for all forms of exotic heavy metals all the time, how long before we know what the effects of these are?

HISTORICAL TIDBITS FROM NAPOLEON TO NAZI GERMANY [patreon.com]

Fernapple comments on Dec 10, 2018:

Yes, except for the bit about melting down the statues to make cannon, that was all new to me. Makes you wonder if the opposite of beat out their swords to make plough shares is, melt down their statues to make cannons.

I am so glad I found a locksmith willing to help me with my lock cylinder for my car who doesnt ...

Fernapple comments on Dec 10, 2018:

Its a bit like when you find a really lovely place to walk in the country, and then you turn the corner to find a landfill site.

Decembers are hard.

Fernapple comments on Dec 8, 2018:

Thank you for the cat picture, always welcome but please don't make it wear that silly outfit too long, cats have pride too. And thanks for the post, being a UK member I was getting a bit fed up with hearing all about Thanks Giving from the US, even though most of it was critical. I thought it was just me because it means so little to us over hear, and I thought that next year I would take revenge by putting up hundreds of posts about Guy Fawkes night. However now I hear that some of you get as fed up with the season, I will forgive, (spirit of my year not just one season) and forget. So no bonfire night posts, unless I can think of something really funny.

A cool little documentary about saving the island fox: [youtu.be]

Fernapple comments on Dec 8, 2018:

Wonderful creatures I had never heard of them before this video, thank you for posting.

There does seem to be a lot of dead wood on this site which might usefully be cleaned out.

Fernapple comments on Dec 8, 2018:

There is a value in keeping an open record of who joined in the past which is active and available. And it is important to remember that some people may be away for a long time though no fault, such as being critically ill for perhaps months, it would be cruel for them to loose their account, (Though I know it is easy to start again.) and find themselves out when they recover. If it is done it should at least be a very long time, such as a couple of years, and at least an email warning should be sent.

I'm very upset with myself.

Fernapple comments on Dec 8, 2018:

I tried some vegan sausages, and they were quite good too, I just worry that I may start wanting to wear bamboo flip-flops next. Oh no, it is alright I forgot every pound of flour contains at least one rodent hair, and twenty insect body parts, so there still has to be some animal in there OK. And anyway I am an atheist so I'm not going to give up on eating babies right?

What Kind of Atheist are You? - Mr Atheist [youtube.com]

Fernapple comments on Dec 8, 2018:

It is no doubt useful to have a very complete definition of the whole range of terms, even if a little nit picking, but at least there is some comfort in knowing that there are people out there even more OCD than me, and they still thrive and prosper.

Delphinium from seed planted years ago.

Fernapple comments on Dec 8, 2018:

What a good range, the great thing about seed is that you can always get something special that just turns up out of the blue.

I've suffered with mental illness since the age of 15.

Fernapple comments on Dec 7, 2018:

I have no relatives either and sometimes the house can seem lonely, but I found that doing things for others helps you to find friends. Seek help if you need it, but try giving help, it can be just as good for you, many charities need volunteers.

Theists say that the main purpose of life is to pray to and worship God.

Fernapple comments on Dec 7, 2018:

They just spell it wrong, the main purpose of human life is not to make gods happy, its to make dogs happy.

[youtube.com]

Fernapple comments on Dec 7, 2018:

Love the humor could listen to him all day.

That’s A Whole Lot of Bull! There’s a whole lot of bull that features in the mythologies and ...

Fernapple comments on Dec 6, 2018:

Yes a lot of bull, and of course in the ancient world, a bull, which gave neither carves nor milk, and was costly and difficult to keep, was about the most expensive thing that you could own. Like a super car, a yacht, or a gold watch today, so of course they feature widely in art and myth for economic reasons as well.

Poor Gamma....

Fernapple comments on Dec 6, 2018:

Beta that hurt !

“No he is not an Irishman.

Fernapple comments on Dec 6, 2018:

Surely if you are born in a stable that makes you God? Sorry god/British duke, same thing.

The Big Silence.

Fernapple comments on Dec 6, 2018:

Of course one thing is that we are only a few billion years from the big bang, and it is a reasonable thought that life can only form around second generation star systems like ours, which take time to form, and then life has to evolve, which also takes time. Therefore it follows that it is quite possible that life is only just reaching the technological level everywhere.

Thing you can't live without

Fernapple comments on Dec 5, 2018:

The spoken and written words of my friends.

Hello all i just joined and just to say hi from Norfolk .

Fernapple comments on Dec 4, 2018:

Hello from Lincolnshire that's the equally cold and windy place just round the Wash. Good to know that there are Two of us in the North east at least, anyway if it gets told cold and bleak then at least now we have this site for distraction.

Where do you draw the line?

Fernapple comments on Dec 3, 2018:

All my relationships just happened, there was never any issue of making a choice. Life sends what it does and you make the most of it if you can.

I think one of the best things about living without faith is the beauty that exists in and of ...

Fernapple comments on Nov 26, 2018:

True. Some faith thinks that the universe was made for us and that is why it suits us so well, but in fact evolutionary theory tells us we were made for it, and that is why it gives us everything we could possibly ask for, if only we are not taught to despise it in exchange for fantasy.

Call me an egotist

Fernapple comments on Nov 26, 2018:

Since I see that my obvious joke, which I thought was very funny, has been used twice already, big punch in my ego; I will be serious. Just tell your story, no frills, remember, only people who are interested will look at you profile anyway. It will not make you seem like you have a big ego, and those who are interested can read between the lines, and get much more from it than you think.

How many of you enjoy the parody of the Flying Spaghetti Monster?

Fernapple comments on Nov 26, 2018:

Prefer the china teapot.

Please, by all means. Like some of my photos. Leave a comment (can you even do that?

Fernapple comments on Nov 26, 2018:

They show up fine now, like the captions.

Former cult members, at what moment did you go, “oh fuck, I’m in a cult”?

Fernapple comments on Nov 26, 2018:

A teacher told me that I should not read the classics, Plato, Aristotle and the stoics etc. since they had been superseded by modern thought and were of no value any longer, (He was a theist and a far left aristocrat !). So being a kid of course, I just had to read them. I did not understand all of it, did not agree with all of it, but I did know that it answered some of the lies that I had long felt I was being taught, then I knew I was not alone, and that the whole education system was a cult.

How do you express the thoughts you can’t describe?

Fernapple comments on Nov 26, 2018:

Go for a walk and think about it hard. Then forget about it and go to bed for a few nights, then when you go back to it "how to" will pop into your head.

What will historians 2000 years from now regard as a barbaric practice of the 21st century that we ...

Fernapple comments on Nov 26, 2018:

Carpets. Covering the floors of your house with bits of dead animal hair which soak up dirt and are rarely washed or changed.

One year ago today (Sun.

Fernapple comments on Nov 26, 2018:

Good. I am glad to know that, especially since I have only been here a quarter of that time it is nice to know it lasts. Congratulations on your first year.

48 year old living with dreadful anxiety for.

Fernapple comments on Nov 26, 2018:

Welcome you will find what you want here, if you take the time. And as I have said before, check out the groups first there you will find people who are even more like you.

How do you think better behaved children become that way?

Fernapple comments on Nov 26, 2018:

I do not have children so I can't speak from inside the problem, but I do know a lot of families and from outside this seems true. I generally see a lot who fail, but those who do not seem to have one thing in common, which is honesty. Honesty is the most important thing, because the people who most often fail are the ones who have a deliberate child rearing policy. Children learn mainly by imitation, and they will easily pick up any deliberate attempt to train them and realize that their parents are not being true to themselves. They will then assume that you and your teachings are insincere and will not respect you or them. Be true to yourself, explain what you do and don't like, and don't expect that your children will be just what you want them to be, they are their own people with their own minds.

So, I considered myself agnostic for most of my life.

Fernapple comments on Nov 26, 2018:

Be open and set a good example, (which I am sure you were going to anyway ), he will always remember his grandmother who was good and kind, and he will always remember that she did not need god to tell her to be so. That will be enough to plant questions in his mind, and if he asks questions that is all you can hope for.

I am a veg gardener

Fernapple comments on Nov 26, 2018:

Welcome, I love my veg too. Mind you, I do a little of nearly all gardening, just because I can not concentrate.

I take it a lot of you heard about the recent slaying of a illegally trespassing missionary off the ...

Fernapple comments on Nov 25, 2018:

He must have been made delusional by religious indoctrination, and the belief that God/Jesus made him all powerful, since no one could be so stupid as to not think that. One: He did not speak their language. Two: They did not speak English; and three: Walking towards uncontacted , hostile and frightened people holding something (his bible ) aloft and pointing it at them, was not good body language either. Only delusion could make you do that.

Making Mince meat and Christmas cakes.

Fernapple comments on Nov 25, 2018:

I love both, but have not tried cooking the christmas cake myself yet, though the mince pies turned out OK. I think that I heard that the reason O. Cromwell tried to ban them was not because he did not like tasty food, but because there was a tradition of marking a cross, in other words, catholic idolatry, on the top.

Have you known anyone who is a non believer /skeptic that keeps their beliefs private and attends ...

Fernapple comments on Nov 25, 2018:

Nearly all of them.

Well, put this way, it makes sense.

Fernapple comments on Nov 25, 2018:

Five pounds sterling minimum recommended donation in the church collection on Sunday. Two and a half pounds cheapest pint of beer in the pubs happy hour on Sunday.

I came from Islamic back ground , now I don't believe in all religion , I believe that God or what ...

Fernapple comments on Nov 25, 2018:

Hello enjoy, check out the groups there is something for everyone.

Is Christmas a well earned break from the working world or a major inconvenience because you can’t...

Fernapple comments on Nov 25, 2018:

Drives me mad. You get together all the things you need for a DIY job which should be big enough to get you through the week without going mad with boredom. And then on Christmas eve you find that you are short one bolt or tin of paint you can't start the job without. Then by new years eve you are watching repeats of Christian propaganda on the TV while trying to chew your leg off in frustration. And the following day you start back at work with a heap of expensive unused parts blocking the way out of the garage. (Still at least this year I have this site, unless the internet goes down of course.)

I read a post on Facebook yesterday with a bunch of christian friends saying they know the Bible ...

Fernapple comments on Nov 25, 2018:

Cherry pick, choose, make it up as you go along, ignore or change the bits you don't like. But never forget that your beliefs have the authority of god, unlike those of the none believers.

Voting . . . . Is like wishing for a unicorn to show up.

Fernapple comments on Nov 25, 2018:

People who can not be bothered to vote get the governments they deserve. Governments who can not be bothered to educate get the people they deserve.

Agnostic vs Athiest

Fernapple comments on Nov 25, 2018:

You define all words (including Agnostic Atheist) how you like, the only obligation is to make your own usage clear to the people listening to you. That is why arguments about defining words are ultimately a waste of time, and also why theists love them because they know that you can prove anything if you start by defining the words to suit. E.g. 1+1=2, I will now start using the word "four" to mean two, therefore 1+1=4. The trick is, that they know many people who are naive think that words have fixed meanings, and that therefore if you define a word once, then what applies to that definition must always apply. But for what it is worth, I always call myself a "Broad Church Skeptic" because although I have very strong views on where I stand, I do see rejecting religion as the main and big thing, and can therefore be tolerant of a wide range of skeptical thinking as long as the thinkers are tolerant of others. You should also check out, Google, the difference between hard atheism and soft atheism, if you wish to understand the "common" usages well.

Religion is like a blind man looking in a black room for a black cat that isn’t there, and finding...

Fernapple comments on Nov 25, 2018:

I like this, though D. Allen I think in "Iamnoboddy's" post below seems to do it better. While sadly, I am sorry to say, the resort of many who claim to find the cat, is then to threaten to punch anyone who casts doubt on the black cat.

Inspiring Philosophy PWNS "God of the Gaps" - Prophet of Zod [youtube.com]

Fernapple comments on Nov 25, 2018:

It is an argument I have heard many times but this is a very careful and systematic journey through it, with some sharp explanations.

Homeopathy and Regression Toward the Mean - Professor Stick [youtube.com]

Fernapple comments on Nov 25, 2018:

One reason I find for homeopathy having a high regard within popular culture, is simply because many naive people do not understand that there is a difference between homeopathic and herbal medicine. So that homeopathy often gets credit for cures and symptom relief given by herbal cures, some of which do work and are recognized by main stream medicine, ( Though some grannies cures are untested and can be dangerous. ) This is especially so because they often list the same ingredients. And it is yet another example of poor education, in the western world.

Christian Group Wants Native Tribe “Brought to Justice” for Death of Missionary [patheos.com]

Fernapple comments on Nov 25, 2018:

If an invader arrived on the shores of a western country, with the declared intention of overthrowing the culture and introducing disease what would we do? Perhaps we would not shoot but the islanders do not have the resources, prisons, police, etc. we do.

I joined this site in June and want to let you all know that I have never done anything I have ...

Fernapple comments on Nov 25, 2018:

Rare and wonderful video. I have not been on this site as long as most people who posted on this page, so can add little to what has been said below, but will say that your posts always have quality and one of the first icons I look for when I switch on, is, to quote some not so good music, that lady in red.

“There is actually no such thing as atheism.

Fernapple comments on Nov 25, 2018:

It is all about how you define words like worship, I do not usually find that debates about the usages of words interest me. However one useful way to look at this may be to say, that the difference between an idea being worshiped and merely being held important to us, is whether we would be prepared to alter it in the light of new evidence.

Talk about an unholy alliance.

Fernapple comments on Nov 25, 2018:

You must know that Boris will go anywhere they give him lunch.

Dogma - I want to share some thoughts on dogma. What do you think?

Fernapple comments on Nov 24, 2018:

You say. "religions often do a better job of worshipping their dogma than their God" Well yes, that follows because their dogma exists, while their god does not, dogma and ritual are the cartoons which pretend to be the image of god. And dogma is a lot easier than thinking anew about each problem, while sadly we are all a little lazy because when we had to survive in the distant past saving energy and resources was important.

Any other self-employed people here? What online platforms are best for your business and why?

Fernapple comments on Nov 24, 2018:

Get together with other businesses in your area and make a local directory and hub website. It worked well for the group I am with.

The last of my week of daily quotes by Dorothy Parker, I have left the best, and most controversial ...

Fernapple comments on Nov 24, 2018:

OK you are brave.

Chaos Theory for beginners , see also quantum theory and string theory, or go to university ?

Fernapple comments on Nov 24, 2018:

It is a very quick overview of what is very deep and beautiful, but a great start for those who have never met it before. It is one of the basic things that no child should leave school without a good understanding of, like statistics, and evolutionary theory. Yet I wonder just how many do leave our schools today without even knowing they exist.