Don't abbreviate 2020. It's for your own good.

Paul4747 comments on Jan 4, 2020:

I don't even abbreviate it when talking, or, probably "abbreviate" is the wrong word. I pronounce the year properly, "Two thousand- twenty", rather than like an optometrist describing your vision. I can't help it. It's probably because of my disappointment in the lack of grandeur of the whole century so far; for example, 2001 came along and not only were we *not* exploring strange alien obelisks orbiting Saturn (or Jupiter, in the film version), we had even given up on the Moon. And *where's my flying car? There were supposed to be flying cars!!* Pronouncing the entire year's name is about all I can do to make it seem suitably impressive these days.

She reminds me a bit of Paris Hilton.

Paul4747 comments on Jan 4, 2020:

That's a terrible thing to say about anyone.

Show me stars.

Paul4747 comments on Jan 4, 2020:

Oh my stars and garters

This is going to be my last post of the year.

Paul4747 comments on Jan 4, 2020:

This is actually the first time I've looked into the group in months, I forgot I was even a member... I don't like to think of myself as "creepy" just because I don't take time to hit an emote.

She said she can do the trick of Clark Kent and Superman...

Paul4747 comments on Jan 4, 2020:

The day Supergirl forgot her outfit...

Butts and butts

Paul4747 comments on Jan 4, 2020:

Fall.... In!!

Quite a body!

Paul4747 comments on Jan 4, 2020:

nice bikini too

Up for a ride?

Paul4747 comments on Jan 4, 2020:

Who's driving? (Either answer is acceptable.)

Spankable, yes?

Paul4747 comments on Jan 4, 2020:

That's a cheeky question ;)

Tricia Heifer

Paul4747 comments on Jan 4, 2020:

Ah, Number Sex I mean Number Six

Can someone be intellectually honest about religion without being agnostic?

Paul4747 comments on Jan 4, 2020:

Make sure you're not mixing your terminology, though. An agnostic-atheist does not *deny* the possibility of some god, somewhere, existing: they only lack the evidence to believe in such a being. Whereas gnostic-atheists, like gnostic-theists, believe what they believe (although the atheist believes there is *no* god; the opposite of a theist, but with the exact same amount of evidence). As an agnostic-atheist, I think I'm intellectually honest about the issue, and if a god or goddess manifests to me, I'll change my outlook- after a battery of brain scans and psych evaluations, of course, as well as checking for trickery on the part of anyone trying to set me up, that sort of thing. (Clarke's Third Law- sufficiently advanced technology could have been mistaken for magic.)

Keeping Up With Faster People

Paul4747 comments on Jan 4, 2020:

My daughter is 16 now, so she counts. When we go out together, whichever one gets in front slows up for the other until we settle on a mutual speed. It varies day to day. I don't have long legs but I take long strides. When I walk with someone, I stroll at a pretty good pace, but I look relaxed. If we're shopping or something, I slow down so they can look at whatever. I don't forge ahead. I'm also usually looking around me constantly for whatever might be about to happen, it's the consequence of my job. (Damn situational awareness.)

Anti-Vax For Jesus: Conservative Christian Lawmaker Calls Vaccines ‘Sorcery’ | Michael Stone

Paul4747 comments on Jan 4, 2020:

OK, well, I'm the *last* one who should judge someone by his appearance (see photo on left), but that guy looks... **deranged** is the only word that comes to mind.

How do you stop swearing?

Paul4747 comments on Jan 3, 2020:

This is a rhetorical question, right? My maintenance tech and I, at the factory where I once worked, spent 9 hours (out of our 12 hour shift) working on a particular machine, finally thought we had it fixed, and started it up- then watched it run one cycle before stalling again. He just said, absolutely deadpan, "Fucking fucker's fucked."

Conservative Christians Claim Democrats Impeached ‘God-Fearing Americans’ | Michael Stone

Paul4747 comments on Jan 3, 2020:

Trump actually is an ideal Christian leader. He's egotistical, demands worship, punishes anyone who doesn't pay him homage or obeys a rival god (read: another political party), he comes out with new, nonsensical, and contradictory commandments every day, and recognizes no law other than his own whims. It's like Yahweh has deigned to move into 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. By that token, they probably do love and fear Trump as much or more than they love their god.

This post does not pretend to represent a scientific analysis; it's just a conversation starter.

Paul4747 comments on Jan 1, 2020:

For most men, it's more appealing to give advice, than to talk about feelings or beliefs. That's my answer, in a nutshell. ("How do you deal with X" can easily be perceived as asking for advice, whether it is or not.) I don't know how many or the replies were from men, but I do know what a lot of men like to write about.

A GOP legislator in Washington called for a 51st state led by a military Christian government

Paul4747 comments on Jan 1, 2020:

Remember the old Civics tests before you were allowed to vote? Now, those were a bad thing, because they discriminated against minorities and were meant to disenfranchise selected groups. What I have in mind is a requirement that one pass a civics test before being allowed to run for office. And all those like this guy (and I won't mention *coughTrumpcough*), who swore an oath to uphold and defend the Constitution- based on their current actions, they should be tossed out and charged with perjury (making false statements under oath).

If Jesus saves, why are all of his human representatives alway asking you to give them money?

Paul4747 comments on Dec 29, 2019:

Jesus got a lousy deal on the interest rate. And a measly toaster oven as a free gift.

California nativity scene depicts Jesus, Mary and Joseph as caged family separated at border

Paul4747 comments on Dec 29, 2019:

Great! Except for the fact that there was no mass killing of infants under Herod, and the history of the Middle East is nothing like what the gospels pretend it is, so, you know... it couldn't have happened anyway.

Better dancer: Elvis or Jesus

Paul4747 comments on Dec 29, 2019:

My money's on Jesus in a fistfight vs. Gandhi

PA GOP Wants Death Certificate, Burial For Fertilized Eggs That Don’t Implant

Paul4747 comments on Dec 29, 2019:

.... which happens more often than not, and generally without the woman's knowledge, the way I understand it. I didn't even go to med school and I know this stuff. Hell, I barely passed freshman Biology (with Jumpin' Joe Poulan- you still around, Joe? Props to the teacher!!!) and I know this stuff!! Why don't legislators know this stuff?!! Oh, right- because it's not about science and never has been. It's about outlawing abortion. If the egg has a death certificate, then it was "alive", so once it's a fetus, ***obviously*** it's alive and you can't abort a live person, **RIGHT**??? Morons.

The most common issues people discussed in therapy this year.

Paul4747 comments on Dec 29, 2019:

My thoughts are that many of these issues could be partially alleviated by disconnecting again. Turn off your phone and your computer and your TV for a while; read a book. Or, if you're like my daughter and just have to have some audiovisual input, watch a good movie. The culture of constant, 24/7 media updates that many people live in has good points, but those are negated to a great extent (in my opinion, and in the opinion of certain evolutionary biologists) by the way our minds are overwhelmed with the sense that the whole world is now our immediate neighborhood. The same terrible events are happening that were happening before, but when news was 1/2 hour at noon and 1 hour at 6, it was filtered and kept in perspective. Now the news is a constant stream, rather, a flood, and it seems to be happening on our doorsteps, even though it's across the country or around the world. Our perceptions evolved to cope with events in an area something like 50 to 100 miles in diameter, and keep track of events in that neighborhood. Now, our neighborhoods are global, and our evolution hasn't caught up. Something terrible happening across the country seems as immediate as if it's in our living room. It takes a conscious effort to maintain an emotional distance, and it feels heartless to do so. It evokes guilt to take that step back and say, "It's 500 miles away," but it's necessary to do so, or one will be overwhelmed by living other peoples' lives along with them. It's also helpful to remember that the media is in the business of sensationalizing everything they can. If it bleeds, it leads. While it is true that multiple shootings are at a new high (I dislike the term "mass" when the definition is 4 people shot- what does the word "mass" mean when the floor is 4 people? What's a "weapon of mass destruction", then?), remember that violent crime is down. We're actually still a much safer nation than we were in the Bush administration. Be alert and be aware? Certainly, but by all means, be unafraid.

A gift by way of "The adventures of Tom Bombadil" by J.

Paul4747 comments on Dec 29, 2019:

He would have to fit in better than he did in Fellowship of the Ring. Even when I was young, it seemed like he was out of place- a deus ex machina. "What the hell?" I thought. "A character nobody's ever heard of, who only lives 10 miles away?" The hobbits get in trouble, he rescues them, that's his entire job- to show how the hobbits don't know what they're doing.

I was having a conversation with a Christian friend about free will.

Paul4747 comments on Dec 29, 2019:

In the view of a Middle Eastern-based Jewish, Christian, or Islamic theology, God must know everything, including the future, or else he's not omniscient. At the same time, if we're predestined and have no free will, that's a problem, since we can't be blamed for our actions and there's no such thing as "sin", which vitiates the whole notion of needing forgiveness, grace, laws and commandments- the entire reason for a theocracy to exist. This creates a whole passel of issues for churches which only exist to dictate to (and thrive on the donations of) their members. If we're predestined to do whatever we do, then logically, nobody can be blamed, and a just god (which we are assured he is- "the judgments of the LORD are true and righteous altogether"- Psalm 19:9) wouldn't send anyone to Hell for a decision they didn't make freely, right? How to solve the dilemma? With an enigma, of course! "Predestined free will"... I was predestined to freely choose to write this reply, even though up until the very last moment, I was going to let the perfectly good replies of everyone else stand as the final word on the subject, rather than throw my two pence in. Just as I am now making a predestined, yet free-willed choice to sip my single malt (12 year old Glenlivet- delicious) as I type this paragraph. (Ahhhh. Smooth and yet fiery. Or is it fiery and yet smooth? Further experiments are clearly in order.) Of course, some denominations take it even farther and decide that even your afterlife is predetermined. No matter how righteously you live, your seat in Heaven or Hell is determined the second you're conceived, which makes it seem rather pointless living a decent life, doesn't it? Why don't Calvinists, for instance, just party all week? It can't hurt their chances, or help them to abstain from boozing it up- unless I totally misunderstand everything about their religion, which is entirely possible. And there you have it. I was predestined to write this, supposedly. For the record- maybe I shouldn't drink distilled alcohol while replying to forum questions. Although who knows- maybe it made me more entertaining than I was otherwise destined to be.

Satan and I in Florida .

Paul4747 comments on Dec 28, 2019:

.....huh. I have a visceral reaction to those mammals, since my previous house had an invasion of them one year with little critters somehow making their way down from the attic in the middle of the night and scaring the living shit out of my women (truth be told, I wasn't fond of them either). I had to take out a 401 loan and pay a guy a ridiculous amount of money to do an "exclusion", which he could only do after their breeding season, so it was an extra 6 months of nightly tension and wondering if this would be the night to hear flapping wings. But I'm glad you're happy.

I hear from my brother frequently about how concerned he is I'm going to hell.

Paul4747 comments on Dec 27, 2019:

Hell wouldn't be so bad, from all accounts. For one thing, the Devil's supposedly got all the best musicians.

I would like to know more about how we view ourselves.

Paul4747 comments on Dec 25, 2019:

Cynical Intelligent Hopeful

Have you ever thought about why religions think they need to sacrifice a goat, a lamb, a virgin or a...

Paul4747 comments on Dec 24, 2019:

Hmmm... Can I just answer "See below"?

Married to a JW

Paul4747 comments on Dec 24, 2019:

It's no easy choice, Gerard. My ex-wife gradually became more and more involved in her church as our marriage went on (and as I became less and less involved, in fact as I realized I was an atheist). That wasn't *the* catalyst for our divorce, but it doubtless played some part. I can't say you'll meet someone instantly if you were to split up, after all, I've been single over two years now and although I date often, there's been nobody who has clicked with me for more than a couple months. But being alone is not the same thing as being lonely. Ask yourself if you really feel that you're in a fulfilling relationship as it is. I discovered that being alone is just fine for me, since I realized the alternative was stifling me.

Happy Solstice.

Paul4747 comments on Dec 24, 2019:

In case we missed naming any holidays.... Krusty has our back. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bASvwP2U_m8

How do you deal with Holiday family gatherings?

Paul4747 comments on Dec 24, 2019:

Divorce took care of all that for me. I used to just show up and sit on the periphery of things, just letting things happen out there in the room, watching people, and then fall asleep on any available couch.

How long would be long enough?

Paul4747 comments on Dec 24, 2019:

Ask me when I don't have to work and have enjoyed myself to death.

What's a funny saying your parents said?

Paul4747 comments on Dec 24, 2019:

Not sure how funny it was, but the old man would always greet people with "'Morning" no matter what time of day it was... because, "It's morning somewhere." A habit I've taken up myself. (Probably unfortunately, but I remember him this way best.) And if you recall the series *In The Heat of the Night*, with the introduction featuring a police car sitting at the railroad crossing as the train goes through... **every week** Dad would quip, "One of these weeks he'll beat that train to the track." https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bebgBmf14TE

Trolls turned 911 into a weapon. Now cops are fighting back.

Paul4747 comments on Dec 22, 2019:

I was Swatted twice by my neighbor of all people. The first time terrified and confused me, ending up with me in handcuffs and bare feet on the sidewalk outside my front door while the police searched my apartment. Luckily one of the officers was a former colleague of mine from the Department of Corrections who recognized me when I responded to the pounding and inarticulate screaming at my door at 1 a.m. with a handgun held behind my back (that's how push-in robberies start, after all... and not once could I distinguish the word "police" in all the screaming and shouting), otherwise it could have turned very nasty. It transpired that "someone" had reported a woman screaming at a man and brandishing a gun in my apartment, where I live **alone**. Next time was at lunchtime, when the police were much calmer and more professional, knocking at my door and showing their badges instead of the muzzles of their guns. This time they just asked if I had a pit dug in my floor where I had people buried. Well, I answered no, of course. My neighbor, they told me, apparently takes medication, and she's fine when she does. When she doesn't, she fantasizes things happening in the neighborhood and calls 911. I can't blame her for this, and if the PD didn't know this at first, I can't blame them for responding to her reports. But they should have been a *lot* more professional the first time around, knocking at the door and clearly announcing themselves instead of pounding and screaming. That's how people wind up dead.

Afterlife thoughts... Do you believe in an afterlife?

Paul4747 comments on Dec 22, 2019:

You're correct that no-one knows, and there's no way to prove it unless and until someone actually dies and comes back with scientifically valid (repeatable, verifiable) proof, proof that isn't merely brain chemistry playing tricks on us and creating fantasies out of our own minds. The "90 Minutes in Heaven" experience is wishful thinking and confirmation bias at its worst; a man in a near-death state hallucinates what he has been programmed to expect after death. I doubt one would have to look far for Muslim accounts of visiting the garden of the afterlife, or other religions' accounts of similar experiences. What might surprise me is if a person from a completely different religion reported encountering a Christian afterlife during a near-death experience. In the absence of proof, however- by which, again, I mean verifiable evidence (as in, someone somehow records or repeats the same experiences more than once, and who would volunteer for that?), we default to assuming that there's no afterlife.

Left to Right: Han Solo, Darth Vader, Chewbacca, Princess Leia, Luke Skywalker, R2-D2

Paul4747 comments on Dec 22, 2019:

"This is a story of love and loss, fathers and sons, and the foresight to retain international merchandising rights."

The Italian Mafia is now accepting gay mobsters - Even the freaking mob is more progressive than ...

Paul4747 comments on Dec 21, 2019:

Pretty sure they all are gay once they get to prison. But the mob guys are Top, not Bottom.

Man in Walmart: Wow! You have long hair.

Paul4747 comments on Dec 21, 2019:

I salute Nature's God (in the sense that Jefferson and the other founders understood that phrase; the natural processes resulting in our world and everything around us) for giving us beautiful ladies with long hair. (L) Seriously, though- was this guy talking out his ass? Women keep their hair covered for religious reasons. I've never seen anyone who let it grow and showed it off because of religion. Men and their neckbeards, yes- women and their hair, no. Another reason, from my point of view, to think religion has made our world worse. I have to see extra ugly while being deprived of beautiful.

Bernie Sanders is Losing Steam.

Paul4747 comments on Dec 20, 2019:

Somebody (Warren?) replied to Bernie's health care rant by telling him, "Nobody has a monopoly on good ideas." I like the idea of a public option while maintaining the market choice for those who want it (Obamacare +), it's a more libertarian option. More choice for everyone. I'm not persuaded that Sanders has crunched the numbers sufficiently for his Medicare For All and I don't believe he would get the public so vastly on his side on Day 1 that they will then pressure their representatives to pass the program instantly. That's how Obamacare was supposed to go, after all, and we know what happened there.

Impeachment: President Trump only has himself to blame.

Paul4747 comments on Dec 20, 2019:

Trump sees everything through the lense of what Trump wants. He has never cared about the nation or the law, I don't believe he genuinely understands there's a law that he must follow. He simply saw an opportunity to polish his "brand" by running for president at a time when the Republican party was in turmoil and hatred of President Obama had primed them for his kind of rhetoric. Trump has been able to buy his way or use legal loopholes to squeeze his way out of almost everything up until now. Sad to say, the Republican Senate, barring a very unlikely attack of conscience, will let him out of this too.

So coming up to Christmas please tell me Athiests what you think of the Holiday season since you ...

Paul4747 comments on Dec 20, 2019:

It's that season of the shortest daylight in our hemisphere, when we light lights to remind the sun to wake up and do a proper job of work. Some of the lights are quite pretty, as well. We exchange gifts to mark the passing of another year and celebrate relationships. Every year is another rebirth. The birth of a child in the story is symbolic of the birth of a new year and the innocence with which we hope it will be better than the last.

"Your next post should be People Who Over Post."

Paul4747 comments on Dec 20, 2019:

If he doesn't want to read your posts, why does he?

I am just beginning to understand how interesting this site could become.

Paul4747 comments on Dec 18, 2019:

I see it as a sort of willing suspension of disbelief. For example: I absolutely love the movie *Dogma* (and I recommend it as an example of great humor, drama, and religious criticism). For the 100-something minutes I'm watching, I completely believe and accept, in the film's terms, the existence of angels, prophets, disciples falling from Heaven, a God who likes to manifest himself as an old man and play skee-ball, and all the rest, because it's so damn well done. And then, when it's over, I blink a couple times, and then go back to the real world. I think believers suspend their disbelief all the time. It's unbelievable that a voice would speak from a burning bush, or that someone could raise their hand and part an body of water, or return from the dead; but because they *want* to believe it, they *do*.

Is it still okay to use a mental health condition as an adjective?

Paul4747 comments on Dec 16, 2019:

I have a diagnosed stress disorder, but then I don't get too bothered when people say, "Man, I have PTSD from this Christmas shopping" or something along those lines. So... take it for what it's worth... one can understand that everyone uses terms they don't really understand.

1 Million Moms, is freaking out over a commercial showing two people kissing

Paul4747 comments on Dec 16, 2019:

Wait a minute- this is a ridiculous quote... " Now, parents can no longer trust Hallmark because **Hallmark is no longer allowing parents to be the primary educators when it comes to sex and sexual morality.**" It sounds more like the "Million Moms" are upset that they can't rely on TV to be their babysitter. Sounds like they were using the TV as their primary educator.

Catholic archbishop claims LGBT activism is the new communism

Paul4747 comments on Dec 14, 2019:

If I ever see troops in rainbow uniforms with AK-47s rounding people up for re-education... then I would concede he has a point. Until then, not so much.

I pray that my first post on this website is a success and that it helps me level up to eventually ...

Paul4747 comments on Dec 14, 2019:

Isn't your opening sentence sort of a contradiction in terms?

People Who Overtalk

Paul4747 comments on Dec 14, 2019:

Oh... I thought this was about people who talk *too much*. Carry on....

there seems to me to be way to much animosity towards religion.

Paul4747 comments on Dec 14, 2019:

I'm plenty happy with my freedom. Religion, on the other hand, is not. Therefore, like Jefferson, I have sworn eternal hostility against every form of tyranny over the mind of man.

Unfollow | Megan Phelps-Roper | Macmillan

Paul4747 comments on Dec 14, 2019:

I feel as though I'd like to read it, but can't help feeling the first part would make me physically ill (her time in the Westboro church). I will have to debate with myself if it's worth it...

As often as I have brought this up with believers I have never had a lucid response. ?

Paul4747 comments on Dec 14, 2019:

I wouldn't expect their historians to record the execution of an itinerant street preacher and rabble-rouser, either. It's clear that the historical person Yeshua ben Yosef, if he existed, had little of the importance given him by the books of the NT. He would never have been judged by Pilate in person, would never have been the victim of a conspiracy of the Jewish rabbis, and it is very doubtful that he preached new doctrines to attentive crowds. What he might have done (what doubtless happened, in fact) is attract a core of disciples who embellished his deeds over decades, then added the template of the Greek mystery hero who dies and is born again to make him an immortal Messiah (thus one-upping all the other Messiahs). That's IF he existed. In that backwater of the Roman Empire, as I said, I don't find it that surprising that he escaped the notice of history until much later, when he had become the central figure of a religion.

It's ironic when a Christian say that gays have more rights than them now.

Paul4747 comments on Dec 14, 2019:

The complaint isn't "more" rights, it's "the same" rights. Complain about a Gay Rights parade? Well, nobody needs a Christian Rights parade, because Christians have been a privileged group since the founding of the Colonies. There are actually 6 states with blasphemy laws still on the books (including Michigan, to my undying shame). When religious restrictions no longer trump secular rights, that's when the complaints start.

If he can't write coherently, he's out. I'm not 14.

Paul4747 comments on Dec 14, 2019:

"Eye" have to believe that one is made up... so many deliberate misspellings in one sentence? It almost has to be a joke.

Lin-Manuel Miranda's 'dream team' presents long-awaited 'In The Heights' trailer

Paul4747 comments on Dec 12, 2019:

I hope musical lovers will enjoy it. (Too bad, I'm not one of them...)

The cutting edge of Human Evolution is the integration of science and religion.

Paul4747 comments on Dec 9, 2019:

This is probably why I stay back away from the cutting edge. If there's such a thing as rationally-based religion, it would cease to be religion and just be- more science.

WSJ Essayist: Atheists Should Just “Lie” to Their Kids When Talking About Death | Hemant Mehta |...

Paul4747 comments on Dec 7, 2019:

Hell, while we're at it, let's lie about Santa and the Easter Bunny too.

"I believe Donald J. Trump was sent by god"...

Paul4747 comments on Dec 6, 2019:

But seriously folks- What frightens me is the way religious conservatives are able to selectively believe in the divine right of presidents (and other elected offices). Republicans are chosen by God to win their elections, and opposing their policies is also going against the divine Plan- and yet Democrats are NOT chosen by God, and it's the duty of Xians to fight against their godless atheist heathen socialist ways at every turn (like, say, health care for poor people, because we all know how Jesus hated the poor). And yet their philosophy hinges on a quote in Romans in which Paul preaches obedience to kings and governors, since *all* have been put in place by God. It doesn't give an option based on liking the ruler, it's all or nothing. You believe God runs everything, including politics, or you don't. It's just a selective, self-deluding self-justification meant to reassure themselves that their views are endorsed by a Big Sky Daddy.

MO Attorney General: It’s Okay for Football Coaches to Push Christianity on Kids | Hemant Mehta | ...

Paul4747 comments on Dec 6, 2019:

But I thought JHVH was a Longhorns fan.

Republican Rep. to Step Down After Redrawn Maps Undue GOP Gerrymander

Paul4747 comments on Dec 6, 2019:

Holding wrote, ".... if it is part of the Good Lord’s plan, I will someday return to public office." Translation: "If the Republican National Committee can fund me up a Senate run, Imma be all up in that be-atch."

So I am attempting to start a new group, ( it was bound to happen one day ).

Paul4747 comments on Dec 6, 2019:

The entire drive of human history, as far as I can tell, has been to get as far away from nature as possible. Who am I to buck the trend. Good luck, though...

I expect to reach level 8 in the next month or two, which earns me a free Agnostic.

Paul4747 comments on Dec 6, 2019:

I don't know about clothes, but- About every 4th car around here has a Jesus fish or something similar on the back end, and barns out in the country have bible quotes painted on them in huge letters like billboards (my favorite was one that said "Behold, I come quickly- Jesus"- which I guess was when he was fooling around with Mary Magdalene). Every so often, though, I spot a car with a Darwin fish. That's the Jesus fish with legs.

Drunk driver hits power pole. Power outage for 500 people.

Paul4747 comments on Dec 6, 2019:

A "Pole Accident" made me think something was wrong in Warsaw that affected your power grid... then I saw it wasn't capitalized that way.

Greetings! I am new to associating with people of like minds on the topics of agnosticism and ...

Paul4747 comments on Dec 4, 2019:

Welcome aboard! Please keep your hands and feet inside until the planet has come to a complete stop.

A Pennsylvania bill would require death certificates for fertilized eggs that never implant in the ...

Paul4747 comments on Dec 3, 2019:

Just one reason it's more vital than ever to fund science education in our schools. Imagine- just imagine!!!- if these people spent a tenth of the time thinking about living, *born *human beings that they do worrying about the "unborn". This is yet another attempt to push the definition of "the beginning of life" further and further back, all the way to conception, so that *no* abortion will be legal. After all, you wouldn't need a death certificate if there wasn't a living child, right? I can just hear the pseudo-logic now.

GOP Rep to plead guilty in campaign finance case he calls a "Witch Hunt"

Paul4747 comments on Dec 3, 2019:

Did the rabbit fly first class or coach?

Why men say they want "nothing" for Christmas.

Paul4747 comments on Dec 3, 2019:

It's true, there's never a good pocket knife handy when you need one. I keep one in every jacket, a couple on my coffee table, a couple on my dresser, one on the bedside table, one in the kitchen, and I *still* have to look around for one when I need to open a package. The problem is, once you've had one go through the laundry by mistake, you don't keep them in your pants pocket as often... so they become sort of non-pocket knives.

"Distance doesn't matter in a relationship."

Paul4747 comments on Nov 26, 2019:

There's distance, and then there's *distance.* And then there's **DISTANCE**. I spent a couple months driving back and forth about 35 minutes (and she drove to my place too) while seeing/dating/getting to know/ spending the nights with someone last summer. It wasn't a hard drive, but I did get weary now and then of racing home to get ready for work after being together. I generally draw the line at an hour drive, but I would make an exception if it seems like someone is really connecting. I usually don't bother to reach out to someone farther away... but again, I make exceptions. Knowing the relationship would be mostly texting and phoning can put a damper on it for most people.

Why Do So Many Hate Religion? What's ToHate?

Paul4747 comments on Nov 24, 2019:

It's not that I hate religion *per se*, but the things people do in its name, and the way they use a "good" god to justify their own worst impulses. And I hate the way religion tells its believers to deny truth, because that truth is contradictory to mythology- all while saying "the truth shall set you free". I hate the hypocrisy.

Are Believers Better Citizens?

Paul4747 comments on Nov 24, 2019:

My purely unscientific and probably biased survey based on 20 years working in prisons tells me that "believers" are certainly no more law-abiding than atheists; indeed, markedly less so. I have never, to my knowledge, encountered an atheist behind bars, and only 5 or 6 Buddhists in that time; whereas I've known countless, extremely devout Christians, Jews, and Muslims, along with several Wiccans, Odinists, and Satanists for good measure. Whether they were religious prior to committing their particular crimes, or became religious in prison, is a factor that no doubt varies from one to another. But as far as their behavior as "citizens" in the prison environment, I've seen no difference between those who go to the chapel every chance they get, participate in religious groups, and get bible publications in the mail, and those who don't. In fact, some of the most religious are also the worst to deal with, since they seem to feel they're "above man's law" and the rules of the prison because God has forgiven them. And I wager they felt that way before they broke the law, too.

I want to thank everyone for the comments, well wishes and great advise re my brother in ICU.

Paul4747 comments on Nov 24, 2019:

I wish I had some inspiring words other than, I'll keep a thought for you and your family. Again, don't forget to take a moment once in a while for yourself... you need to care for you in order to be there for him.

Should the USA try to keep Muslims out of their country?

Paul4747 comments on Nov 24, 2019:

How about expelling everyone of every religious persuasion, and turning it over to us rational atheists. Then again, some of the questions I've seen here cast doubt on exactly how rational just being an atheist makes one.

8 Little-Known, Freaky Similarities Between Donald Trump and Boris Johnson

Paul4747 comments on Nov 24, 2019:

As soon as I read #1, I looked for the "Satire" label... which does not make their real, obvious similarities one whit less frightening. Johnson, one feels, could not exist without Trump. (By the way, I navigated your post and wrote this reply with the help of my newly installed USB laptop mouse! One more step down the road of technology, into the world of... what was it... 2006?)

I've pent most of the last two weeks in an I.

Paul4747 comments on Nov 24, 2019:

I'm so very sorry for you, your brother, and your family. At times like this, the comfort is in reflecting on the lives you have led together and the time you've shared. Also, remember that 85% of those afflicted with this syndrome eventually make a full recovery, from what I've just read... so be thankful for medical science and the professionals who are going to help your brother through this. (Not a prayer chain... although, if he believes, the psychological effect could help, I guess.) This is no death sentence, as terrible as I know you feel right now. Seek out a counselor to help you deal with what you're going through. Please don't feel guilty for taking time for your own needs. You need to be in good shape, to be there for him.

Agnostic?

Paul4747 comments on Nov 24, 2019:

Agnostic Atheist is a position existing on a continuum. I occupy it myself. Gnostic/ Agnostic distinguishes between whether one claims to know or not know about the subject (generally the existence of god/gods). Theist/ Atheist distinguishes whether one does or does not believe that god or gods exist. 1) Gnostic Theist- "KNOWS" god exists. 2) Agnostic Theist- does not know, but believes god exists. 3) Agnostic Atheist- does not know, but does not believe god exists. 4) Gnostic Atheist- "KNOWS" god does NOT exist. Position 1 and 4 are logically inconsistent, as I see it, since we are discussing a subject which is not subject to rational proof. Without direct evidence, it's impossible to *know* any god or gods exist. It's also impossible to rule out the existence of some type of god/gods, however absurd and irrational the concept. Also, note that, despite the loud objections of many atheists, position 4, like position 1, *is a belief position.* There is no rational basis to state "There is no God." The most one can say is, "There is no evidence for God;" and this statement is consistent with position 3, the Agnostic Atheist. It is possible to be 99.9999% certain there is no god (and keep drawing out the 9s as far as you like), but, like the existence of Sasquatch or visitors from other planets, it can't be disproved. We can say there is no real reason to believe, but we can't rule it out completely.

The manner in which most people use the term "atheist" is unfortunate, because such usage suggests a...

Paul4747 comments on Nov 23, 2019:

I think you're on thin ice. Disbelief and non-belief are the same for some people, but not for all. Agnostic atheists don't believe there is/are a god/gods because of a lack of evidence, but don't claim certain knowledge of this nonexistence. That is non-belief, but not disbelief (if I understand your terms). Disbelief would be a position of certainty about whether gods exist. Gnostic atheists are convinced of the nonexistence of god/gods. That is both non-belief *and* disbelief. All this is just semantics in any case, and I'm moved to ask (as I think others have)- does it move us forward particularly?

Overweight man rejects overweight women. What's up with that?

Paul4747 comments on Nov 23, 2019:

Well now, that's just damn hypocritical (I mean on his part). Number one, he expects a woman to show him consideration for his physical appearance that he's not willing to show in return. Number two, it's apparently *all* about the physical where he's concerned. The only role he seems to see for women is as an audience for his stories. I can't speak for anyone else, but women of all shapes can be appealing (and have been and are) to me. It's the personality, intellect, and desire that's important, especially how those elements click with mine. Of the things that went south in my marriage, the one thing I can say didn't matter to me was my ex's weight.

Women get so emotional.

Paul4747 comments on Nov 21, 2019:

I don't know why I've always been much more willing to follow a strong and compassionate woman, over an egotistical jackass of a man. Maybe because I have more of a team ethos and am not intent on "winning" at the cost of everyone else losing.

It’s time for us to have an unapologetic atheist in the Oval Office

Paul4747 comments on Nov 18, 2019:

But I would settle for any well-trained primate who won't go around soiling the furniture, tearing up precedent, and hurling feces at the foreign policy. Like a gibbon or an orangutan. Even someone from the Greens, at a pinch.

Yeah, like I want to be told by an 81 year old atheist in a PM that he hasn't had sex in a year.

Paul4747 comments on Nov 17, 2019:

I'm not telling... at what point in a conversation or relationship the subject comes up as far as I'm concerned, but it's certainly not in the second message we exchange. It has to be organic to the conversation and feel like it's right to bring it up. It has to feel to me like she is asking the question.

Finally watching Marvel's Endgame and.

Paul4747 comments on Nov 16, 2019:

Sorry about the further spoilers, but- there is another film in this phase of the Marvel film universe that continues the overall setting on, and confirms the aftermath of Infinity War/ Endgame.

Ohio Law Would Allow Students To Give Wrong Answers Because Of Religious Belief | Michael Stone

Paul4747 comments on Nov 14, 2019:

My sincere belief that pi=3 gave me these answers on the math test. Go ahead, flunk me out- I dare ya.

This is that Monty Python Medieval Logic.

Paul4747 comments on Nov 11, 2019:

1) If Vulcans do not exist, Star Trek would not exist. 2) Star Trek exists. 3) Vulcans exist.

An incident concerning the following recently occurred in a political setting; hence, posting it in ...

Paul4747 comments on Nov 11, 2019:

Not to tee off on your friend's one particular analogy, but: "There are no good cops" until you need to call 911. As someone who works within "the system", I would tell your friend that the overwhelming majority of cops are good cops. Also overwhelmed, outnumbered and outgunned in high-crime areas, and faced with a public that is often hostile, distrusting, and shoving camera phones in their faces at traffic stops. I'm the last to say the police are always right. But the officer on the street (and the line officer in the prison system) is making life or death decisions all the time, that most people will never face. The default decision has to be to protect themselves first. It's easier to critique these decisions than to make them. Sorry... this is one of my buttons.

The question of the so-called "fine-tuning" of the universe and its basic constants is one of the ...

Paul4747 comments on Nov 6, 2019:

I'm somewhere between explanations 2 and 3, if I understand them properly. Our thinking about the question, however, is putting the cart before the horse. To say the universe is "tuned" in some way to permit life begs the question, how do we know life would not come about in some other universe with a different set of rules? We imagine that this universe containing life as we know it is the only possible one, because we have a severely constrained imagination. We almost can't imagine what another form of life would be like. It's like trying to imagine what purple sounds like.

Catholic Church investigating nuns who returned pregnant after Africa trip

Paul4747 comments on Nov 6, 2019:

Shouldn't they be investigating the fathers? As usual, the women get the blame and the babies, too.

Criticizing the doctrine of Islam does not mean the person doing so is a xenophobe,Islamophobe, or ...

Paul4747 comments on Nov 6, 2019:

The problem is that so many xenophobes, Islamophobes, and people who hate Muslims do simply hide behind the banner of, "I'm just criticizing the doctrine!" All religions are equally false and fictional. I refuse to be co-opted into one side or the other of the religious war. I'm against all of them, because they're all (with a few honorable exceptions) against me.

Picture Not Perfect

Paul4747 comments on Nov 6, 2019:

I seem to be able to. And now I see the solution was found, so now I leave you with this meme.

It is my birthday.

Paul4747 comments on Nov 4, 2019:

I'm about to be 54 and I *wish* I were in as good a shape as you ;)

Religious anonymous??

Paul4747 comments on Nov 4, 2019:

Motivated by your question, I went looking for atheist support networks on the internet. It was a little depressing, but I did find this resource guide for atheists recovering from religion: https://www.recoveringfromreligion.org/secular-living And have you considered looking for atheist groups on Meetups?

Well hello everyone, I'm brand new here and still working out navigating the site and have stumbled ...

Paul4747 comments on Nov 4, 2019:

Yes. @LiterateHiker can explain it all. Don't ask me, though, I'm rubbish. But welcome aboard.

Anyone in Australia ?

Paul4747 comments on Nov 4, 2019:

I see the quota of clever remarks about the population of Australia has already been filled, so I will abstain for the time being.

Sweet Jesus 😂🤣

Paul4747 comments on Nov 4, 2019:

I feel like he might go against the tide and use something European. FN or maybe H&K. I always find myself bemused when European nations criticize the American arms industry. They have quite major and well-financed arms exporting businesses of their own, that support a lot of workers and would lose a lot of money without foreign sales, including sales to civilians in the U.S.

It's great to see lots of new members sharing interests and discussion.

Paul4747 comments on Nov 4, 2019:

How can I tell if I'm the old dynamic or the new dynamic? Because I feel kind of old and not very dynamic right now, until I get my arm out of this frakkin' sling.

Poll: Can we not have questions directed at one group or another without the other non-requested ...

Paul4747 comments on Nov 4, 2019:

Sometimes I answer poll questions if it seems to me that I have something to contribute, even if I'm not in the specified group that was being asked. It ought to be pretty clear from my photo what group I do belong to, in some cases, but I try to make it clear in others. If I think it's a case where I would get upset over the question, I often just stay above the fray.

Sex appeal in workplace?

Paul4747 comments on Nov 2, 2019:

As someone who, over the course of 20 years in a career, has witnessed more couples of different rank in relationships than I can count on a long day, and against regulations as they have almost all been between direct supervisors and the staff under them (no pun intended)- I'm going to say "no". It causes nothing but trouble.

Real 'Garden of Eden' where ALL humans originated 200,000 years ago finally found in Botswana

Paul4747 comments on Nov 2, 2019:

I would be disappointed if the scientists were the ones who used this phrase. As for theists- they have trouble with metaphors. They won't understand that this isn't scientific evidence of a Biblical myth.

PA Lawmakers Spent $1.

Paul4747 comments on Nov 2, 2019:

There is one (count'em, one) openly atheist member of the PA legislature. He is not allowed to give the invocation, *He is a member of the freaking House*. Everyone else, even the first Muslim member, can give the invocation, I'm baffled by the court's mental gymnastics to get around the Establishment clause and reverse the lower court decision.

Most people on here are atheists and that's cool and all but who on here is truly agnostic.

Paul4747 comments on Nov 2, 2019:

This was the view of many of the Founders. The question, though, has to be: if a god set up the universe by natural law, what set up that god? Where did god come from?

Religious Conservatives Lash Out at Kellogg’s Over “Anti-Christian” Cereal | Hemant Mehta | ...

Paul4747 comments on Oct 29, 2019:

Did I miss where "Spirit Day" is the new non-threatening Halloween or something?

Religious Conservatives Lash Out at Kellogg’s Over “Anti-Christian” Cereal | Hemant Mehta | ...

Paul4747 comments on Oct 27, 2019:

Also, it's some kind of balls for Ken Hamm (rabid creationist) to call something "anti-science". I can't even...