I never made one of my discoveries through the process of rational thinking. - Albert Einstein

brentan comments on May 12, 2019:

Yes indeed. Scientific knowledge begins with an act of faith.

Dear Karma, there is one you keep missing, (you know who) can you please ...

brentan comments on May 12, 2019:

"What goes around comes around." Maybe not an absolute truth but there is some truth in it.

I'm probably doing it now....

brentan comments on May 11, 2019:

A mortal sin!

There is no gold, but I would be happy to find this at the end of a rainbow.

brentan comments on May 11, 2019:

I think a leprechaun would be happy with that.

Atmosphere - Wild Wild Horses... if you like your hip hop literate [youtu.be]

brentan comments on May 11, 2019:

Darn uppity rappers. I bet they know what octagonal means too.

True, true...

brentan comments on May 11, 2019:

Be as specific and detailed as you can. Use any personal experience or knowledge you might have. No.

[youtu.

brentan comments on May 11, 2019:

I liked it. It looks good and the background music builds the atmosphere very well.

So true 😊

brentan comments on May 11, 2019:

One of them has a bite worse than his bark.

These would all be really good band names.

brentan comments on May 11, 2019:

I'll bet God never conceived the shit people get up to these days.

This was good to see.

brentan comments on May 11, 2019:

Vorsprung durch tecknik!

Oldest human dies at 146.

brentan comments on May 11, 2019:

I've lost everyone I love and I would be happy to live until I was 146 or older. All I would want is my health.

The art of the deal. Guess who's the better deal maker?

brentan comments on May 11, 2019:

He's the best at everything!

I think about this a lot, considering I work with kids.

brentan comments on May 11, 2019:

Too late and no ha-ha.

Let's be honest, rich or poor, powerful or weak, we all shit the same but how we cleaned up ...

brentan comments on May 11, 2019:

The sponge was a great idea. The communal aspect might have been good psychologically.

Eureka! Bacon!!

brentan comments on May 11, 2019:

No doubt.

Sad, but true

brentan comments on May 11, 2019:

I read recently that Trump lost a billion dollars over the last decade.

He's ______ Jim

brentan comments on May 11, 2019:

Thank goodness it's not Ellie May!

And books and coffee and an ashtray

brentan comments on May 11, 2019:

The cheek of single people sleeping in double beds!

Dicky D can troll with the best.....

brentan comments on May 11, 2019:

Silly Richard. Everybody will be 33 in heaven.

What a waste of a banana

brentan comments on May 11, 2019:

My ex used to make a lot of banana bread. I really miss it.

You know the feeling

brentan comments on May 11, 2019:

Yes, that's it. Very clever!

When your body gets tired, you move slower.

brentan comments on May 11, 2019:

It's amazing how the body affects the mind - rest, showering or relaxing baths, good food and exercise are some of the things that have a positive effect on the mind.

Discuss

brentan comments on May 10, 2019:

Hooray! Save the rhinos.

Want to read something hilarious?

brentan comments on May 10, 2019:

I'm all for the idea that the writers of the Bible lived around the 6th century BC and were going about solidifying a nation that was in danger of falling apart. Myth-making is part of the process of nationalising and I'm familiar with the myths of my country, Ireland, that were used to give a sense of unity and belonging to the relatively new nation. As for the usefulness of scripture for today's Christians, they read from the apostle Paul that 'all scripture is useful and beneficial for teaching' etc. That leaves them in the position of having to rationalise so much that isn't beneficial at all. Or simply adopt an a la carte approach to their faith such as believing that the prohibition against gay sex can be ignored because it was written in less enlightened times.

I've reposted this from the Sam Harris group.

brentan comments on May 10, 2019:

Sam Harris meets Eckart Tolle.

Brilliant!

brentan comments on May 10, 2019:

I would give him a coin but he needs to get a regular job.

Science, bitches!

brentan comments on May 10, 2019:

Another step forward for human progress.

Atheism is an eager presumption.

brentan comments on May 10, 2019:

It can come across as a new form of evangelism.

The funniest awards speech - ever - Spike Milligan [youtube.com]

brentan comments on May 10, 2019:

A hoot! Spike is the archetypal functioning nutcase! An eccentric, really.

footle 1 : to talk or act foolishly 2 : to waste time : trifle, fool

brentan comments on May 10, 2019:

Is it a coincidence or are you getting 'word of the day' in your e-mail?

For everyone else stuck in the minefield of sex pests and scammers that is "Dating as Trans.

brentan comments on May 10, 2019:

This reminds me of a scene in Pride and Prejudice where the parson made a serious faux-pas introducing himself to Darcy. Apparently, you were supposed to wait until a mutual friend introduced you. I don't think the meaning of this custom was explained but I think it must have to do with the person making the introduction vouching for the person being introduced. I'm pretty sure this was only a custom of the aristocracy but I don't know for certain.

What are your favorite things to read?

brentan comments on May 10, 2019:

I tend towards the religious, mythological and psychological in books and videos. I don't know what's essential. Time is short and making one choice is paying the opportunity cost of another. Socrates said the unexamined life is worthless but I'm not so sure that's true.

Saw this on Facebook today - good sentiment.

brentan comments on May 10, 2019:

That's a good one.

This is utterly ridiculous

brentan comments on May 10, 2019:

It's a moot point.

New Rule; Make the Religious pay taxes... [youtube.com]

brentan comments on May 10, 2019:

Most people think the taxman is evil. The religious would be sure he is Satan.

Humans can learn much from other animals.

brentan comments on May 10, 2019:

We've only got so many heartbeats. Use them wisely.

Bach and Handel

brentan comments on May 10, 2019:

That student needs to go bach and do the year again. He or she didn't get a handel on the subject at all.

Isn’t the Internet great?

brentan comments on May 10, 2019:

If that's woke, I'm going back to sleep.

This was in Montana :)

brentan comments on May 10, 2019:

It's hard to get good staff these days.

Big, big bird.

brentan comments on May 10, 2019:

For some strange reason, I don't.

Nock, Nock puddin head, Dave's not here.

brentan comments on May 9, 2019:

Assertive, not aggressive.

This is so true!

brentan comments on May 9, 2019:

I'll phone him later.

"Anxiety Muffin" that would be my horse....

brentan comments on May 9, 2019:

Psychopathic Person.

I love science.

brentan comments on May 9, 2019:

There was an idea that science was knowledge. We were happy that it explained so much even though it had limits. In competition with religion, the ideological divide placed the two not just at complete odds with each other but curiously both now became mutually exclusive icons of truth.

How Jonathan Sacks dumbs-down Jewish history to defend Zionism | Robert A. H. Cohen

brentan comments on May 9, 2019:

This part really reaches the height of hypocrisy: *Read the Hebrew Bible and you’ll see immediately that it isn’t about the salvation of the soul. It’s about creating in the holy land a society based on the biblical ideas of justice, welfare, the sanctity of life – and caring for the stranger “because you know what it feels like to be a stranger.”* I'll bet they know what the Jehovah of the Bible would think of that. But then, they know after their experiences in WW2 that there is no Jehovah. So they play the Bible for all it's worth and live by the realpolitik of the Nazis.

Lol, here's my favorite...

brentan comments on May 9, 2019:

There is something very pleasant and meaningful about sex.

But summer is coming.

brentan comments on May 9, 2019:

I like Jen.

Bohemian Rhapsody by 6 year old. [youtu.be]

brentan comments on May 9, 2019:

Delightful!

I love this song [youtu.be]

brentan comments on May 9, 2019:

What is that particular sound? First I thought maybe it's a particularly black sound, a la Clyde McPhatter et al. But then I thought of Gene Pitney.

"The hands of every clock are shears, trimming us away scrap by scrap, and every time piece with a ...

brentan comments on May 9, 2019:

Better make the most of it!

Imagination....

brentan comments on May 9, 2019:

I discovered that through porn.

That's some bra!

brentan comments on May 9, 2019:

She's a natural beauty.

I regret nothing ...

brentan comments on May 9, 2019:

And there I was thinking of Edith Piaf.

.............

brentan comments on May 9, 2019:

Just add coffee, at least a double shot!

Look out men!!

brentan comments on May 9, 2019:

Masturbation makes sound economic sense.

Not all it’s cracked up be

brentan comments on May 9, 2019:

It's a risky business, you bet, but I'm still somewhat up for it.

Just noticed the group and wanted to drop my favorite verse, if I haven’t missed it in skimming I ...

brentan comments on May 8, 2019:

'She' in these judgements is usually Jerusalem or other cities looked on as sister-cities. The way the relationship of those cities towards immoral places like Egypt is described is very graphic, a real hoot.

Applied Bible explained

brentan comments on May 8, 2019:

It's a new way to discourage immigration.

There! Traded in my long winter socks I wore on my feet up in the freezing cold up north in ...

brentan comments on May 8, 2019:

It's the beginning of a dissolute lifestyle. Sin crouches at the entrance and you, for your part, will you get the mastery over it?

I've stop trying; it never works.

brentan comments on May 8, 2019:

The bastards!

"Grow up," they told me; "No thank you," i replied.

brentan comments on May 8, 2019:

Darn neurotypicals wrecking the world. Be mad and save the world.

Praying for the victims and working for the merchants of death.

brentan comments on May 8, 2019:

It seems to boil down to the choice between supporting second amendment rights and the murder of the innocents. Another way of looking at it is the choice between a principle and the human cost of that principle.

The correct answers....

brentan comments on May 8, 2019:

Often in that order.

Led Zeppelin - Over the Hills and Far Away .

brentan comments on May 8, 2019:

Well, that's not the theme song from Sharpe! It rocks along nicely, though.

Is it possible to be an atheist and a Buddhist ?

brentan comments on May 8, 2019:

I think it is very possible. I think the issue is about the relationship between spirituality and religion. They are not mutually exclusive. While religion often expresses itself in ways devoid of spirituality, spirituality doesn't need religion to express itself.

From Friedrich Nietzsche's book, Thus Spoke Zarathustra: .

brentan comments on May 8, 2019:

It seems Zarathustra is a god of life and Bacchus is like him in enjoying life to the full. I'm not familiar with Zarathustra at all. Is this just a way of saying you need to appreciate the pleasures of life first so that you fully know what you are rejecting with your pessimism?

Define progressive: I ask 20 people, and get 20 answers.

brentan comments on May 7, 2019:

A quick guess says progressives and classic liberals used to be the same thing but progressive probably means extreme left-wing nowadays.

Don't you just love it when you spend time carefully composing a comment to go with someones post, ...

brentan comments on May 7, 2019:

The bastards! I only do it to completely unintelligible posts. I use it like 'whatever'.

Thanks MCU....

brentan comments on May 7, 2019:

I'm very thorry to hear it.

I put this concept right up there with the sickest of the sickest, warped ideas I've ever heard ...

brentan comments on May 7, 2019:

That's a curious heterosexual revelation. I wonder what the homosexual version would be.

A short, animated explanation of the need for the UK to exit the EU. [youtube.com]

brentan comments on May 6, 2019:

Be bold. Britain!

The world pressure on Brunei over its implementing sharia laws such as stoning to death for ...

brentan comments on May 6, 2019:

Money 1 Mohammad 0

By the way, have a lovely summer next month everybody! What do you typically love to do during the ...

brentan comments on May 5, 2019:

It's not special for me because I'm not Mexican but everybody loves to see the big bully get beaten.

Perhaps atheists need religion to exist to justify their position.

brentan comments on May 5, 2019:

I think the Western world had to go through religion to get to atheism. Derrida wanted to tear down the old to bring in the new. I don't think he was in a position to fully understand what he was promoting. We can see it better now with cultural Marxism attempting to do all the things he wrote about. I don't know if atheism needs to justify its stance by the evil acts of religion over the centuries. Perhaps the good aspects of religion over the centuries would work against that justification.

So what do you say to people who don't believe that 6 million Jews died in the Holocaust?

brentan comments on May 5, 2019:

I give some credence to the people who argue against the mass-gassing of Jewish people based on their claim that there is no evidence of the necessaries for this method to be found in the concentration camps. I don't doubt that there was a Holocaust but the numbers may have been inflated. My main source is an Irish journalist that I respect, Kevin Myers, who wrote an article about it years ago.

The best reasons I found to become a Christian.

brentan comments on May 5, 2019:

A wise woman. I could get vaguely aroused by her attitude if it wasn't an adulterous thought.

Ancient Carvings Show Evidence of a Comet Swarm Hitting Earth Around 13,000 Years Ago

brentan comments on May 5, 2019:

This fits well with the theory that massive warming around 12000 BC created a flood that destroyed earlier civilisations. Graham Hancock, among others, has made YT videos about it.

"Where ma peeps at?" He says ironically.

brentan comments on May 5, 2019:

Time will tell. Welcome to the forum.

According to Luke, Matthew, and Revelations, in the visions of Christ as ghostwritten by those who'd...

brentan comments on May 5, 2019:

He is described differently because he is much older. How much older depends on whether you believe the last day came 40 years after the Gospels or hasn't come yet.

A possible benefit of arming teachers?...

brentan comments on May 4, 2019:

If I was a teacher and they gave me a gun, I know who I would want to shoot.

[youtube.

brentan comments on May 4, 2019:

That's a wonderful piece of music - a tonic for the spirit.

Do you drink tea?

brentan comments on May 4, 2019:

I drink tea. They tell me it contains fluoride so I shouldn't. Or perhaps drink white tea but I don't know it or what it tastes like.

Religious fundamentalists and many of today’s atheists share the same approach to texts.

brentan comments on May 4, 2019:

We have words and a huge amount of study on those words. We have context which is a huge field of study too. What's left to employ to properly understand these texts? I think historical and cultural knowledge but that's probably part of the contextual understanding. I think most important thing is the intent. The best lectures I've seen on this subject as Yale University's Bible studies with Christine Hayes and Dale Martin.

Good morning! Today's question is: For what in you life do you feel most grateful?

brentan comments on May 4, 2019:

It starts with waking up. Then I'm grateful that my Dad gave me a love of reading and learning.

"Why 30 Minutes of Nature a Day Is So Good for Your Health" "Science is showing how immersion in ...

brentan comments on May 4, 2019:

I try to walk every day. I realise the benefits. The trouble is, I need a reason. Such as walking to the shops (I don't have a dog). But it's boring so I listen to music on the headphones.

If you were God, what would you do about this? [images.app.goo.gl]

brentan comments on May 3, 2019:

Feeding the 5000 must have been a one-off.

I just gonna leave it right there... Hommies.

brentan comments on May 3, 2019:

Lil bitch.

I discovered this piece about 1 + years ago and was blown away.

brentan comments on May 3, 2019:

It's different sure enough. It sounds experimental. I didn't really like it. I read his violin concerto wasn't liked either but I really do like it, 'discordant' notes or not.

After 5 years /15k hours, i would like to write up my observations about debating atheists and it's ...

brentan comments on May 3, 2019:

Well, I'll be darned!

Jesus Christ in his Own Words

brentan comments on May 3, 2019:

I've spent a lot of time with that book and I'm convinced these words attributed to Jesus are to be understood in the context of the last days, that is, the generation living at his time that would not be completely gone before his return to bring in the new world. In other words, about 40 years. This, if true, makes sense of the idea to 'let the dead bury the dead' because of the shortness of the time remaining. Time was precious and there were very few to bring in the harvest.

Maybe it should be called the violent book...

brentan comments on May 3, 2019:

To be fair to it, if there were no concept of a need for salvation, there would have been no perceived need for the book.

If from one man and one woman stemmed all humans, why do i and alot of others have 0% middle eastern...

brentan comments on May 3, 2019:

Racist genes, I guess.

Morality is not contingent on knowing right from wrong.

brentan comments on May 3, 2019:

Traditional morality is hard to live up to. The teaching in the gospels made it even harder, commanding us not to even have sin in our hearts. Thankfully, the law is more reasonable and doesn't get into thought crimes. You're very hard on yourself, I think. Life is hard enough without us getting in on the act too.

Here's an idea for potlucks, block parties, work get togethers.

brentan comments on May 3, 2019:

The smiley faces are a hoot!

Lately I have been drinking home-made cold tea in the morning.

brentan comments on May 3, 2019:

Well, you can learn something new every day! I'm 64 and had to look up teaball. I watched a video too to see how it is used and found it can be used to add flavour to the pot! Thanks! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=230h1UWbeaw

Lenin . . . .

brentan comments on May 3, 2019:

Russia was known for speaking truth to power at the time - from the Gulags.

If you want progress, you need to be content to fulish, senseless and nonsense. Any objection?

brentan comments on May 3, 2019:

No.

This is why Finnish schools are the best in the world. What do you think of this system?

brentan comments on May 3, 2019:

This is what happens the closer you get to Russia. Happy maths, I ask you!

Definitely not going there

brentan comments on May 3, 2019:

You wouldn't want to be the black sheep of the family.

“I would rather experience the ups and downs of a life I have chosen, than to suffer the regret of...

brentan comments on May 2, 2019:

I didn't really choose a road less travelled, I just couldn't travel the one presented to me. I spent my whole life trying to figure it out and finally concluded I'm somewhat autistic. I paid a high price for choosing an alternative road, as anyone will who does it, but I honestly think I could never have coped with what I think of as the tragedy of regular life. One other thing needs saying, though. If I had understood myself early in life, I would never have married and had children. I think a wife needs a regular man and children need a traditional upbringing to sustain them through life.