Agnostic.com
0 Like Show

Comments

Are there any other theories aside from the mainstream big bang theory that you think is a likely ...
WilliamFleming comments on Jun 13, 2018:
Our minds are limited to the space/time/matter model, which is nothing but illusion. Questions about when and how the universe sprang into existence can not be answered with that model, and from a higher perspective the questions are simply not meaningful. I am just reading “Reality is not What it Seems”, by Carlo Rovelli, a physicist who is working on the theories of quantum gravity. According to Rovelli, time does not exist. The experience of reality is truly awesome and thrilling and joyous, but the implications are baffling in the extreme.
Is religious eradication a step in the right direction?
WilliamFleming comments on Jun 13, 2018:
Religion was eliminated or drastically curtailed in Russia, the SSR’s, China, North Korea, Cuba, Cambodia, and other places. So far as I can see life was not made better in those places through the elimination of religion and imposition of state sponsored atheism. IMO life is better in places where there is freedom to hold whatever opinions one wishes on religion or any other topic. A person’s religious sentiments are based on his or her own private contemplation and experience. No one else should concern themselves. How would the government know if a person was having religious thoughts? What would be the punishment? I thought atheism was supposed to be just the absense of belief and that atheists do not say that they believe there is no God. This ploy is supposed to relieve them of the so-called “burden of proof”. Why then have so many atheists leapt into the arena to slug it out with their opponents in an effort to impose their ideology on society?
"When disaster strikes, people often turn to religion for comfort and support.
WilliamFleming comments on Jun 12, 2018:
A deep and profound awareness of the overwhelming beauty, majesty and mystery of reality lends the keenest of motivation to survive and live well. When life is too easy our minds tend to drift off into mundane things.
Is religious eradication a step in the right direction?
WilliamFleming comments on Jun 12, 2018:
It’s already been tried and it didn’t work out. Leave people alone.
I'm always astounded at the reasoning or lack there of of creationists.
WilliamFleming comments on Jun 12, 2018:
To say that God did it just another way of saying that you don’t know, since no one can define or understand God. To say that everything, including life just sort of fell together on accident is also just to say that you don’t know, since there’s no conclusive evidence that things can come into existence by accident.
Weird morning.
WilliamFleming comments on Jun 12, 2018:
I would meet the old guy head on with, “The Bible is just another book to me! I prefer Hindu scriptures. Every religion has its holy books, and they are all different. I get my religion from all sorts of books, and from life itself”. Have you read the Upanishads? Old people are a PITA!
People say forgive and forget, I say forget about forgiving and just accept.
WilliamFleming comments on Jun 12, 2018:
If you don’t make negative judgments in the first place you won’t have to forgive. To forgive is to allow your mistaken judgments to be corrected so as to recognize the beauty and value of the person with whom you had a grievance.
Hot Button Question 3
WilliamFleming comments on Jun 12, 2018:
There’s no such thing as capitalism—there is only trade. Trade is a boon to mankind and has been for ages. Capital is just the tools and other resources needed for production. Even communist countries need capital. Also needed for production are labor, management, and end users, but you don’t hear about laborism, managementism, or userism. Trade has greatly facilitated human progress, so that today we have better means of production, better transportation, better communication, making worldwide trade feasible. Along with this expansion is a need for large organized efforts, and also specialized markets. One of those markets is the stock market. Every effort by zealots to curtail trade has resulted in poverty and unrest. While it is true that wily and creative traders often become wealthy in terms of money, in terms of goods and services their consumption is not much more than average. Money is not true wealth. Wealth has to be continuously created.
Conservatives Vote Their Fears Liberals Vote Their Hopes
WilliamFleming comments on Jun 11, 2018:
Over-generalization based on stereotyping. I’ve heard often that conservatives tend to be optimistic while liberals see the world in a negative way. I believe that to be true. Liberals think everything needs fixing.
I wonder some people call themselves atheists but they do believe in ghosts, every time i hear this ...
WilliamFleming comments on Jun 11, 2018:
Under dire stress sometimes people see things or people who are not really there. They are images created by the mind. Everything we see is an image created by our minds. I know people who report experiences with ghosts. They are sincere, and I do not laugh at them. Some of the stories are verified to an extent, but to a closed mind no verification is ever enough.
How should we re-evaluate the biblical prophets in the light of what we now know about mental ...
WilliamFleming comments on Jun 11, 2018:
According to Paris Williams in “Rethinking Madness”, psychoses are a person’s technique for escaping an unbearable life situation. Most people work through their psychoses and emerge with heightened spiritual awareness with joy and appreciation for life. If Williams is correct, saying that the prophets of the Bible had experienced psychoses would not be an argument against theism.
If your child started to attend a Christian youth group and started to read the Bible, what would ...
WilliamFleming comments on Jun 11, 2018:
If I start sounding too religious, some of my children get on my case.
Should I Worry?
WilliamFleming comments on Jun 11, 2018:
Just ignore it. There is nothing shameful or immoral about male sexuality. If you show respect and set a good example as a human being, he can not help but respect you in return, and other women in suite.
Sometimes I think about how much harm religion has done to scientific or just moral progress for the...
WilliamFleming comments on Jun 11, 2018:
Instead of thinking of religion as an evil force that controls and obstructs humanity, I think of religion as an integral part of who we are. That same human, awareness, imagination and creativity that is expressed as religion is also expressed in philosophy and science. What has been an impediment is organized religious groups under the control of ego-ridden, power-hungry political types. In the case of Christianity, they caused the burning of valuable books and brought us crusades and inquisitions. And they imposed a regimen of strict belief in church dogma, imposed through fear and guilt, thereby causing untold grief. Throw out the bath water but keep the baby.
I was playing "The Sims" the other day.
WilliamFleming comments on Jun 11, 2018:
I doubt if a computer simulation will ever have the kind of consciousness needed to be aware of its existence on a deep level. Such a thing has been predicted for a long time, and yet computers remain nothing but dumb machines. For that matter, I personally doubt if our organic bodies have any consciousness. Perhaps consciousness might become transferred to a computer. Such a thing happens in the book “The Staggering Implications of the Mystery of Existence”, available on Kindle.in that case, the computer understands programming and considers itself to be human, just in a robotic body. It is fully able to discuss religion and philosophy with other humans. If I prove wrong and computer simulations do become aware and start thinking of us as gods, we could ask them who they think created us humans. They’d have access to the same knowledge base as us—maybe they could figure it all out and explain a few things to us, dumbing it all down to our level of course.
Let The Mystery Be - Iris DeMent - YouTube
WilliamFleming comments on Jun 11, 2018:
Beautiful song, beautiful people! I like the message.
Did anyone else ever fantasize about creating a community of non-believers?
WilliamFleming comments on Jun 10, 2018:
Are you going to allow mystics and believers in the paranormal into your commune? Aldous Huxley was both, and he was an active member of a Hindu religious group in California, yet you are naming a street after him. I know that he coined the word “agnostic”, and described himself as one such, so maybe he qualifies as a nonbeliever, even after writing a religious book like “The Perennial Philosophy”. Maybe I’ll apply for membership.
A suggestion for those of you who did not grow up in the deep south, but still live in a warm ...
WilliamFleming comments on Jun 10, 2018:
I keep trying to grow peas and beans but they don’t come up for some reason. I replanted this time and still, almost nothing??? Any suggestions?
Top 10 Hints For Understanding Your Ontology, Epistemology and Methodology | It's not you, it's your...
WilliamFleming comments on Jun 10, 2018:
Do I understand you correctly? Atheism supposedly makes no claims nor holds beliefs. Yet there are certain assumptions about reality that are generally associated with atheism—that humans are capable of discovering the nature of reality, that reality can be understood by reducing it into parts, that there is an objective, material reality consisting of actual “things” that we perceive with our senses, and that sensory input can be trusted to reveal the nature of that reality. Maybe not all atheists make those assumptions. I suspect that those assumptions are made by many who say they believe in God. I wonder if by getting rid of those assumptions, the atheist/theist arguments would cease abruptly while people simply sat dumbfounded, realizing that they know nothing except superficially.
Euthenasia?
WilliamFleming comments on Jun 10, 2018:
I’m not sure about the clinic part. How many hundreds of thousands of dollars are they going to charge the family to euthanize Grandma? do you need a clinic? Does it take an MD to kill someone? How about just a veterinarian?
Science is not an ideology. Science is an epistemology.
WilliamFleming comments on Jun 10, 2018:
Whatever it is, science can not answer all our questions about reality. There are deep questions that are not even addressed, and which may be beyond human ability to understand. Science provides mathematical models which describe phenomena of nature as observed, but the question of is verboten. Overlook this fact and science might become your ideology.
A question that I hope will not turn ugly as I truly don’t mean it to be.
WilliamFleming comments on Jun 10, 2018:
The way to overcome the paradox IMO is to become a libertarian.
Death is only real because we believe in it's inevitability.
WilliamFleming comments on Jun 9, 2018:
Individual bodies come and go. Our common spirit lives forever. “You were not born and you will not die.” Bhagavad Gita
Hi all.
WilliamFleming comments on Jun 9, 2018:
Great attitude. Live and let live.
Who else starts their day with a crossword puzzle to blow the cobwebs out of their mind over a cup ...
WilliamFleming comments on Jun 9, 2018:
I used to do the daily NYT crossword on my iPhone, but it started costing too much so I switched to paper and pencil version. Great fun!
Do You know Your Ancestry?
WilliamFleming comments on Jun 9, 2018:
Americans of English descent should not delve too much into their ancestry lest they learn that their ancestors were transported to the new world in lieu of being hung for some criminal offense.
Whilst my heart goes out to anyone who suffers so intensely as to feel there is no other option but ...
WilliamFleming comments on Jun 9, 2018:
I never heard of the guy until now. I respect his decision. No agony necessary.
Is it a 'Wonderful World' as suggested by Mr Armstrong or is this a Pollyanna view with a deceptive ...
WilliamFleming comments on Jun 9, 2018:
Being in association with an organic body will not always feel wonderful, especially if that is your sole identity. As viewed from a higher perspective, from consciousness itself, “wonderful” is way too mild of an adjective.
When raising children is it OK to let them go with a friend to a Bible camp?
WilliamFleming comments on Jun 8, 2018:
It’s all about indoctrination: prayers, preaching, bible reading, etc. I’d look for something else if it were my kids.
Is life meaningless if we can live forever?
WilliamFleming comments on Jun 8, 2018:
In the first place, life is not meaningless. Life is a grand tour, full of wonder, awe, beauty, and mystery. How long a body stays alive has no bearing on the issue. My personal opinion is that the sense of personhood as a separate individual is an illusion, sustained by memory. Perhaps all these overlapping lives should be thought of as a single entity. Even if your body lived a thousand years, I think that you would be a different person. You’d have no use for those old memories from a thousand years ago—they’d be hard to manage. The question of personal identity is tricky. I address that issue in “The Staggering Implications of the Mystery of Existence”, available on the Kindle Store.
What do you think about this?
WilliamFleming comments on Jun 8, 2018:
This reinforces my feeling that we should extend respect and empathy to everyone, regardless of their religious practices.
What Religion Gives Us (That Science Can’t)
WilliamFleming comments on Jun 8, 2018:
It’s something worth thinking about. Even if you disagree, I think that if possible we should support and respect everyone regardless of their religious sentiments. On the other hand, a certain amount of anger is to be expected from those who are fighting their way free.
What About Mandatory Mental Health Classes in Schools?
WilliamFleming comments on Jun 8, 2018:
I’m for it if the students learn about the horrific side effects of psychotropic drugs. Also, the students should study in detail “Help Yourself to Happiness” by Maxie Maultsby Jr., or similar literature.
How has your life improved since leaving religion?
WilliamFleming comments on Jun 8, 2018:
I kept the best parts of my religious upbringing. When I found the courage to be true to myself I felt liberated. Life gets better and better.
More about the insanity of rape by muslims and the silence of the the reality::: [youtube.com]
WilliamFleming comments on Jun 7, 2018:
People from certain countries might very well tend to commit more criminal acts, but I doubt if it is because of their Islamic religion. I’ve known Muslims who were good people and outstanding citizens.
I maybe WAY off the mark here, but can anyone explain to me how all religions are not a cult?
WilliamFleming comments on Jun 7, 2018:
Not all religions are the same. New thought churches generally require no belief. There’s Unitarianism, also the Society of Friends. I wouldn’t classify any of those as cults.
So desperately are many believers clinging to their comforting delusions (despite those persistently...
WilliamFleming comments on Jun 7, 2018:
It is nothing but myth that you can’t prove a negative. Every assertion can be couched in negative terms. Google it. God can not be defined, and if is silly to even talk about a proof one way or the other. Proof simply has no meaning at that level of awareness.
Have you ever debated with a Scientologist?
WilliamFleming comments on Jun 7, 2018:
Careful with lumping together everything with which you disagree. I fell into an argument over money with my Scientologist landlord back in ’68. He declared me to be a “suppressive person”. Oh woe!
In Guatemala el Volcán de Fuego has already take the lives of 100 (known) people; the situation is ...
WilliamFleming comments on Jun 7, 2018:
They are not stupid or retarded. Some of the most intelligent people down through history have been theists. As fellow sentient beings they deserve our respect and support.
I just read an article about the recent school shooting in Texas in a magazine called The Week.
WilliamFleming comments on Jun 7, 2018:
Obsession with violent video games might well be a precursor to mass murder, but I’m not sure if anything can be done about it—after all, the media is rife with violence. Even some of Shakespear’s plays are extremely violent. Primates tend toward violence. What is not mentioned is the role of psychiatric medication. Just google “school shootings and psychiatric medication “ and you’ll see what I mean. In nearly every case these shooters are taking psychiatric drugs, yet that fact is seldom mentioned in the media.
I'm an atheist.
WilliamFleming comments on Jun 7, 2018:
You have written a beautiful essay.
Another post made me think of this.
WilliamFleming comments on Jun 7, 2018:
It has generally been men’s role to perform the most dangerous jobs: to hunt, fight wars, erect buildings, etc. The reason is that women are biologically more valuable and can not be risked. The playing field has already been leveled by nature, and in fact has been tilted in favor of women IMO. That is good and well, and I would not venture to complain about nature. But be careful about aspiring to the male experience—it might be a step backwards.
Religion is the waste deposited by human philosophy.
WilliamFleming comments on Jun 7, 2018:
True religion is the highest and greatest human experience, and is the basis of all human creativity. You are talking only about the defiled gibberish of organized religions. But even churches offer some benefits to their adherents, else there’d be no churches. A degree of anger might be necessary in order to escape ones childhood indoctrination, and that is ok.
Meaning of existence
WilliamFleming comments on Jun 7, 2018:
Without church dogma in the way you are now free to experience the REAL value of life. Every second of conscious awareness is a phenomenon so great that it staggers the mind and taxes the emotions. The implications are beyond anything you have ever thought of in scope. Existence is a grand journey, beautiful, joyous, magnificent, mysterious!
Columbia and Yale scientists just found the spiritual part of our brains — Quartz
WilliamFleming comments on Jun 6, 2018:
Does this mean that if I experience deep awareness and appreciation for the mysteries of existence it is only the firing of neurons, and that my experience is invalid? If certain neurons fire while I am looking at a work of art, does that prove there’s no such thing as art. If certain neurons fire when I am reading about science, does that mean science is bogus? Wait, this IS science.
In the future people will ask the question 'What's an Atheist?
WilliamFleming comments on Jun 6, 2018:
Traditional church religion might dwindle, but true religion is based on deep awareness and appreciation for the staggering mystery of existence. It has nothing to do with belief in anything. Religion represents mankind’s highest essence IMO, and is the driver of science and all artistic expression.
I'm a survivor, how about you???
WilliamFleming comments on Jun 6, 2018:
When I was a small kid there were no seat belts or turn signals. Bike helmets were unheard of. However, I probably owe my life today to a bike helmet. That is either good or bad, depending on who you talk to. Is there something wrong with wooden spoons? We use them all the time.
Racial "Start Over Day"
WilliamFleming comments on Jun 5, 2018:
It’s an individual thing. You can’t make people start over. You can set an example.
When to tell children we don’t all believe in God
WilliamFleming comments on Jun 5, 2018:
If they broached the subject I’d give my opinion straight out. The heck with the parents. Children are not fragile.
FIFA World Cup Is the interest in this confined to this side of the Atlantic?
WilliamFleming comments on Jun 5, 2018:
What is FIFA?
What religion do you view as most threatening to democracy and why?
WilliamFleming comments on Jun 5, 2018:
I don’t feel threatened by any . The Catholic Church was once dictatorial, but not now, and it’s on the wane, at least in the US. There is a plethora of noisy, cultish things but none of those have much power.
Today is my 53rd birthday.
WilliamFleming comments on Jun 5, 2018:
Enjoy your birthday young lady.
Is Reality a Scientific Concept?
WilliamFleming comments on Jun 5, 2018:
Through consciousness I experience SOMETHING, but I’m sure that I don’t know what it is.To call it the world or the universe seems inadequate. Frankly, I am bewildered by the whole thing. Donald Hoffman’s “Conscious Realism “ seems to resonate somehow. In any event, the implications of existence are staggering.
You don’t have a right to believe whatever you want to | Aeon Ideas
WilliamFleming comments on Jun 5, 2018:
If a person believes something that he has no right to believe, what should be done with that person?
I've recently realized that for most of my life I was a romantic, playing with gauzy notions about ...
WilliamFleming comments on Jun 4, 2018:
Many years ago, when I was down and out after a divorce, a neighbor gave me a copy of “Help Yourself to Happiness” by Dr. Maxie Maultsby Jr. For me it was like flipping a switch. After one of the exercises I felt much better, and I continue to this day using his method. It might not be for everyone—I’m just saying what helped me. Every second of conscious awareness is a precious, joyous event if only we look at that rather than garbage.
Here is an example of religion run amuck .
WilliamFleming comments on Jun 4, 2018:
Your argument makes sense only if you think we are only our bodies. If “God” is a unified field of consciousness, and our true essence lies in that field, it little matters what becomes of bodies. They are only robots, and they are being made faster than they are dying.
Does anyone think if we get serious that we will be able to save the earth from overheating?
WilliamFleming comments on Jun 4, 2018:
It’s a loaded question. I am not 100% sure there’s going to be any overheating. The cycle might well go the other way. I’ll probably get clobbered for saying it, but I also think that abundant, clean energy is just around the corner in the form of LENR.
Browsing around and seeing an awful lot of people who believe in a god with great certainty.
WilliamFleming comments on Jun 4, 2018:
I don’t know about the “great certainty” part, but I lean toward the idea of universal consciousness, which could be given the God label if one was amind. I greatly enjoy this forum because it is full of caring, intelligent, independent-minded people. Having diversity of opinion adds legitimacy to the word “forum”.
How do YOU cope?
WilliamFleming comments on Jun 4, 2018:
You are being courageous and open in seeking support, therefore your future happiness is in the bag. Every second of conscious awareness makes it all worthwhile.
What or Who created the universe?
WilliamFleming comments on Jun 4, 2018:
We have only the faintest superficial glimmer of what the universe is. How can we be expected to know how it was created. Maybe the concept of creation simply has no meaning in the context of the universe.
The US Supreme Court has sided with the baker who refused, on religious grounds, to make a wedding ...
WilliamFleming comments on Jun 4, 2018:
This from CNN: “Louise Melling, deputy legal director of the American Civil Liberties Union, emphasized the narrowness of the opinion. ‘The court reversed the Masterpiece Cakeshop decision based on concerns unique to the case but reaffirmed its longstanding rule that states can prevent the harms of discrimination in the marketplace, including against LGBT people,’ Melling said in a statement.” There is no reason to panic.
Just before his death in 2010 at the age of 95, Professor Frank Fenner left a chilling warning for ...
WilliamFleming comments on Jun 4, 2018:
Could happen. There’s nothing to be afraid of. We’ll just do the best we can and go with the flow.
What Religion Gives Us That Science Doesn't
WilliamFleming comments on Jun 4, 2018:
IMO some forms of religion are perfectly rational and benign.
What’s are some of your Pavlovian responses?
WilliamFleming comments on Jun 4, 2018:
It’s greatly abated at this point, but in high school I could hardly stand up without being embarrassed by an erection.
'Science without religion is lame.
WilliamFleming comments on Jun 4, 2018:
I have posted some of his quotes, but I know that he was not infallible. However, nearly all of the founders of modern physics were deeply religious in a certain way. What I conclude is that it’s not necessarily a dumb, ridiculous thing to be a non-atheist. 51% of scientists believe in God, 41% Don’t. http://www.pewforum.org/2009/11/05/scientists-and-belief/
If you left being a part of a religion...
WilliamFleming comments on Jun 4, 2018:
Back in ‘61 I attended a Baptist seminar with some folks from Auburn. As I sat there, it suddenly occurred to me that I didn’t believe anything that was being said. On the way back in the car, I openly expressed my opinion, The others were surprised, but offered no criticism or arguments. Other than for funerals I haven’t been back. I am not an atheist, I just reject Christianity as presented by traditional churches.
Question (mostly for guys).
WilliamFleming comments on Jun 4, 2018:
She might have been considered beautiful in certain ways, but I doubt if she was much desired by young men. A fat woman can survive famine better, but slenderness projects youth, energy and agility. Perhaps media portrayals reflect popular opinion rather than the other way around. I was a lusty young buck before television, and my preference was for basically slender girls with a thin padding of fat.
Humans are not thinking machines or feeling machines, but rather feeling machines that think.
WilliamFleming comments on Jun 4, 2018:
Where’s the proof for this assertion? I will withhold belief until convincing proof is presented. The burden of proof...
I think if all humans could understand and really have the following beliefs take hold, then the ...
WilliamFleming comments on Jun 3, 2018:
Maybe I understand #1. As an analogy, I do not author my computer’s “thoughts”. A computer’s internal processes are regulated by programming and by input data. If we have a higher essence outside our bodies, and that higher essence is our true identity, then it makes sense to say that “we” do not author our thoughts, rather they are automatically generated. #’s 2&3 seem to say that our higher selves do have ultimate control. I do not control the internal processes of my computer, but I do have general control and oversight of what the computer does. #3 seems very reasonable. It is a mistake to make harsh negative judgments on others, and by proxy, ourselves. If our computer goes off course anger and blame are senseless. There is a reason for everything that happens within a computer. To fix the problem higher oversight is needed, not guilt, blame, or demonization.
Why is it easier to accept someone is gay than it is to accept someone isn't interested in sex?
WilliamFleming comments on Jun 3, 2018:
If a guy has the hots for you, all it means is that he’s responding to deep instinctive desires which BTW, are good and natural. Anyone can understand, on a mental level, that some people are gay, and if they are empathetic they’ll accept the person as they are. It’s two separate categories.
Should there be a social statute of limitations for misbehavior?
WilliamFleming comments on Jun 3, 2018:
Absolutely! Should we wallow forever in our judgmental condemnations? Forgiveness and moving on with life would seem the better option. If a person is engaging in antisocial behavior, it is society’s obligation to curb that behavior. Once the behavior stops it should be end of story. We have all made mistakes.
Hypothetical: what r ur thoughts if atheists rule the world, would it b a utopia, would wars ...
WilliamFleming comments on Jun 3, 2018:
Was it a utopia in Stalin’s USSR? Was Cambodia a utopia under Pol Pot? Is Cuba a utopia? North Korea? China? IMO there will never be a utopia until humans truly respect and love each other. A disbelief in God has nothing to do with respect and love. What about progressive atheists? Would their rule be a utopia? IMO, there are many human behavior patterns that have natural causes and are necessary and good, but which are generally not understood or appreciated by many progressives. Progressive politicians have been trying to fix society for a long time, and the results have been dismal. For example, some think the way to cure poverty is to disband corporations or hamper trade, even when experience shows those fixes to be bogus. Perhaps if humans come to realize that our true essence is a unified field of consciousness, then there’d be no need for anyone to rule the world.
This topic has been covered a few times on here.
WilliamFleming comments on Jun 3, 2018:
If you are going to send such a picture, consider reducing a dollar bill down to half size on a printer, and use that for perspective. She’ll never find out because your chance of ever meeting the lady is nil. I’ve never done that, mind you, and have no plans to. It’s just an idea. In my case I’d need to enlarge the bill so as not to scare her off. :-)
Why don't atheists like showing respect and kindness toward God believers?
WilliamFleming comments on Jun 2, 2018:
Respect and kindness are the default modes for all humanity. To live otherwise is to wallow in untrue, judgmental thoughts, thereby experiencing pain, anger, fear, loneliness, depression, poor health, stress, and early death. It takes a lot of hard work to create unhappiness but to gain happiness is as easy as flipping a switch. But what the hell? Go ahead and divide up into opposing groups. With each lambast you’ll be rewarded with a little surge of pleasure as your victim mentality is reinforced. Neither side has the least idea of what they are talking about, but that doesn’t matter in the least. It’s not about truth and never was.
Just asking, but what do you think about the more"millitant" athiests?
WilliamFleming comments on Jun 2, 2018:
The answer to pig-headed ego-ridden militancy by church dogmatists is not pig-headed, ego-ridden militancy by atheists. No one has the complete picture. No one can define or understand God. No one understands reality on a deep level. We don’t know the nature of conscious awareness, or even who or what we are. Rather than a childish food fight over something we know nothing about, the most honest response would seem to be total bewilderment. “No thanks, I’m not interested in talking about this” is all you have to tell those folks. Maybe you could talk about another subject.
One of my favorites:.
WilliamFleming comments on Jun 2, 2018:
Very Kafkaesque! I’ve got to think about it. My immediate impression was that Kafka was complaining about stupid bureaucracy. Is our existence like that? Does it have deeper meaning?
There was a discussion a few days ago of men sending women dick pics.
WilliamFleming comments on Jun 2, 2018:
I heard about this country boy who pulled up to an intersection in his pickup. There was a woman in an adjacent car who looked good to him so he threw a chicken in her car. It was a suave and creative introduction and before long they were married.
Firebrand atheists
WilliamFleming comments on Jun 2, 2018:
I think it depends on what you feel inside. I’m not an atheist at all, but to break away from my Baptist upbringing required a measure of anger, so I was a firebrand rebel for a long time. I absolutely was not going to allow myself to be lulled back in, and anger was needed. At this point I have no need for anger. There’s no threat at all. I know who I am and what my values are, so anger would just be an impediment to happiness. Some of my best friends are Baptists. (Not that I’d want my daughter to marry one).
For those of us that are old enough to remember when this was how romance stayed alive.
WilliamFleming comments on Jun 2, 2018:
You don’t look all that old to me.
How Faith Breaks Your Thinker
WilliamFleming comments on Jun 2, 2018:
I agree with Carter in some ways, however, I think there is a type of religion that requires no faith or belief. IMO true religion is not based on belief, but on deep awareness and appreciation for the staggering implications of the mystery of existence. I know what he means by faith, but in general the word is worn out. Everyone exercises faith all the time. In order to click on your link I needed faith—faith that the link would work, faith that I would read something of interest, faith that Carter is a real person, etc. Perhaps a better word in general would be willingness, as in a willingness to proceed as though something is true until proven otherwise. The kind of faith we detest is the kind demanded by church leaders under threat of eternal damnation. Whoever came up with such a stupid idea should have been whipped. Yet there are a lot of examples where children were subjected to such indoctrination and subsequently went on to become critical thinkers. So no, faith doesn’t always break your thinker.
How many people eat organic?
WilliamFleming comments on Jun 2, 2018:
I’m allergic to organic—eat only inorganic stuff. Actually we grow most of our own food, but we use chemical fertilizer. Also use liberal applications of dihydrous oxide, a chemical so deadly that just a teaspoonful breathed into your lungs will kill you in minutes. It causes the plants to grow faster though—just have to be careful.
Do you live to work or work to live?
WilliamFleming comments on Jun 2, 2018:
When I started my little practice, my business plan was not to get rich, and I succeeded beyond my wildest expectations. :-) When I was younger, I thoroughly enjoyed working in a deep way—still dream about working, but work was just a way to repay society for what I needed for a modest living. Best to take lots of time off for family, friends, hobbies, sports, reading, travel, etc.
How would you handle a situation if you just met someone socially and they said something you found ...
WilliamFleming comments on Jun 2, 2018:
A left jab to the head followed by a quick right undercut to the chin ought to take care of it. Teach’em some manners.
I'm not an atheist, and here's why.
WilliamFleming comments on Jun 2, 2018:
There just might be some truth there, interpreted in a certain way.
Ok so it’s like 9:45am and it’s already 1000 degrees! Here’s to hoping it can finish these 5 ...
WilliamFleming comments on Jun 2, 2018:
Hang in there man. You’re looking great!
Flat Earthers I think the only reason Flat Earthers exist is to give scientologists something to ...
WilliamFleming comments on Jun 2, 2018:
I don’t pay’em any mind. I suspect they’re just trying to get attention. As I said in an earlier post, the planetary model with a spheroidal earth orbiting the sun is nothing but a mathematical model. Reality is much different. Models are useful for different purposes. The flat earth model is useful by land surveyors for small surveys.
What’s your favourite small piece of technology you would be lost without ?
WilliamFleming comments on Jun 2, 2018:
I am thoroughly addicted to my iPhone.
Why is science willing to update models, theories, and books, while the bible and religions still ...
WilliamFleming comments on Jun 2, 2018:
Most religious organizations seem stuck on their dogmas, but there are some vivid examples of individuals who are evolving dramatically. What about that Christopher Langan guy? There is also the New Thought movement, which IMO is a definite upgrade.
For a number of days now I’ve noticed a big spike in posts reflecting hopelessness and giving up.
WilliamFleming comments on Jun 2, 2018:
Excellent post! Every second of conscious awareness makes it all worthwhile.
What age was the best year of your life and why?
WilliamFleming comments on Jun 2, 2018:
75. That’s where I am now. Every year I become stronger, smarter, happier and better looking!
Who or what?
WilliamFleming comments on Jun 2, 2018:
I’m actually not agnostic or atheist, but I do reject church dogma, especially Christianity. I was raised in a Baptist Church and subjected to the normal hell and brimstone rants, however, my mother was very critical of those rants. My father once told me that I didn’t have to believe what the preacher said, and that I could believe whatever I wanted. The stage was set. I buckled to peer pressure and lied, saying that I accepted Jesus as my savior, and I was baptized. (Well, it’s hard when the peer is a sexy girl.) The answer to the question is that my wonderful parents were broad-minded.
Can something be termed as 'good' or 'bad' objectively or is it a function of continuously evolving ...
WilliamFleming comments on Jun 2, 2018:
A bad event is something I don’t want to happen. A bad personal is one of whom I disapprove. Good and bad are not opposites. From a higher perspective everything is good. I am your insufferable optimist. :-)
I’m glad I found this little group.
WilliamFleming comments on Jun 2, 2018:
I’m having to think about this. I live in a very rural part of Alabama, and though not an atheist, I, like you, reject Christianity as presented by traditional churches. I have no problems whatsoever—in fact most of my friends are non-believers who never go to church. I interact well with everyone. Only a tiny fraction of people seem interested in my religious opinions. I wonder if the difference is my 75 year age, or maybe it’s something else. Hmm...
How the social bias has affected your interaction in society ?
WilliamFleming comments on Jun 2, 2018:
They might not call themselves atheists, but there are huge numbers of non-believers who never go to church, even here in my rural neighborhood. Even among church-goers only a tiny fraction give a damn what your opinions are about religion. If you trumpet your atheism in a way that demeans believers I imagine you would be met with defensiveness or hostility, but in that case it would be you who was biased, not society. I might even argue with you.
Have you ever had reoccuring dreams “perfectly sober” that took you to a different place in your...
WilliamFleming comments on Jun 2, 2018:
All the time.
Should anyone suggest that the US is a Christian nation: 'Philip Alston, the UN special ...
WilliamFleming comments on Jun 2, 2018:
I doubt if all those changes will be made. Trump is sort of blustery, but even if he wanted to do those things his power would be limited. He’d need congressional backing.
Lost Highway Hank williams - YouTube
WilliamFleming comments on Jun 1, 2018:
I’m a fan of ole Hank.
I have a very big dilemma that i need help with to make sure that i am not in the wrong here, any ...
WilliamFleming comments on Jun 1, 2018:
I wouldn’t do it. It’s a matter of being true to yourself.
Here is a question for men: how do you react to a woman crying?
WilliamFleming comments on Jun 1, 2018:
Ask’er what’s wrong. If I’m the one who hurt her, apologize and try to make amends. Otherwise just listen. She’s smart enough to figure out a course of action.
The myth of race, debunked in 3 minutes - YouTube
WilliamFleming comments on Jun 1, 2018:
It comes down to a matter of semantics. Race is whatever it is defined to mean. There really are genetic differences among various groups. The fact remains that everyone alive is descended from a very long line of survivors, and as such, is entitled to the utmost respect and love.

Photos

0 Like Show
2
2 Like Show
Skeptic, Freethinker, Spiritual
Here for community
  • Level8 (88,038pts)
  • Posts80
  • Comments
      Replies
    3,117
    2,499
  • Followers 23
  • Fans 0
  • Following 19
  • Fav. Posts 2
  • Joined Apr 18th, 2018
  • Last Visit Over a year ago
    Not in search results
WilliamFleming's Groups