Evangelicals Are Optimistic That Trump Will Bring About The Apocalypse - The Intellectualist

brentan comments on Jul 25, 2018:

I think Jews in Israel are pushing events forward as far and as fast as they think Trump will allow them. They want to rebuild the temple and then Messiah will come. But which Messiah? The Jewish or the Christian Messiah? I guess each thinks the other is in for a big surprise. I think they're both in for a surprise. A nasty one, with lots of death and misery caused by themselves, and still no Messiah.

Newcomer here.... hi all

brentan comments on Jul 25, 2018:

Hello and welcome - pull up a floorboard!

If you choose to leave the United States, what country would you prefer to live in next?

brentan comments on Jul 25, 2018:

Spain - (OK, OK, I'm Irish but I want to join in).

Bertrand Russell - on faith and evidence. Very good quote by Russell.

brentan comments on Jul 25, 2018:

Many of us must remember the time we had faith. The definition is in Hebrews11:1: Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see. Some versions use the word 'evidence' instead of 'assurance'. Another word used is 'conviction'. I think they are talking about evidence from the real world that convinces them that their belief in the next world is valid. So when the scriptures talk about the wicked world, for example: But understand this: In the last days terrible times will come. For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, unloving, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, without love of good (2 Timothy 3:1-3) These verses, which are true of any age, are taken as evidence that scripture is correct and so faith is exercised in the future prophecies.

Hiìiii looking to chat and mingle

brentan comments on Jul 25, 2018:

Hello and welcome!

OK, I’ll go for it! I like to read folk’s personal experiences so I’ll put up mine and I hope ...

brentan comments on Jul 25, 2018:

I was about 36 when I joined. I liked the academic way the JWs went about scripture and I threw myself into deep study. I didn't like the group-think and I never thought anything special was going on in Brooklyn. I married an American pioneer after about two years. She was pioneering in Ireland. I struggled to rationalise the fleshly approach to the spiritual life - the career witnesses, cliques, preferential treatment etc. I started reading Robert King's webpage. After a while, Robert threw us all off his forum because he considered we had all gone too far with our criticisms. Then Facebook came along. Crisis of Conscience was an eye-opener. I stayed Christian for a little while and tried out a few different churches. But I could see the same nonsense values being played out everywhere. I eventually became an atheist and later softened into agnosticism.

"If we can't drive them out, we'll breed them out" - King Edward Longshanks in Braveheart.

brentan comments on Jul 25, 2018:

I just had to search for the verses: Like arrows in the hand of a warrior, so are children born in one’s youth. Blessed is the man whose quiver is full of them. He will not be put to shame when he confronts the enemies at the gate Psalm 127:4,5. I think there was a fear when the Irish invaded America that they would fill the land with papists but I think it's fair to say it never happened. I don't think Muslims (fingers crossed) will fill the land with little Mohammads either. With a bit of luck, they'll be too busy chasing the mighty dollar to live a fundamental life.

Perhaps something to help cope: [openculture.com]

brentan comments on Jul 25, 2018:

My idea of stoicism is enjoy when life is good and be brave when it isn't.

How to tell time.

brentan comments on Jul 25, 2018:

Four wine glasses would be a very bad sign. It wouldn't help you tell the time either, not that you'd care.

I have Estonian Ancestry and we have something called the 'Laulupidu'.

brentan comments on Jul 25, 2018:

A handsome people!

For those who have a BA/BS or higher, do you ever feel like you just don't deserve the degrees ...

brentan comments on Jul 25, 2018:

It was 1% inspiration and 99% perspiration!

I’m at a gun range in Florida. This is a target you can use. I think that’s sick.

brentan comments on Jul 24, 2018:

Only if it's someone taking a selfie is it the right thing to do.

That was then. This is now. The Law of Unintended Consequences.

brentan comments on Jul 24, 2018:

Trump says he believes that more people in employment will solve several of today's problems. He says people in work will have less reason to be concerned with race, prejudice and other inequalities because they have less time to themselves, job responsibility gives them a purpose in life and they have more money to enjoy themselves. There was talk of improving infrastructure in the lead up to the election. Perhaps that that idea is dead because so much of a modern economy is based on service industries. The economic war-cry of 'put America first' is not a bad idea. We had that idea in Ireland before we joined the E.U. Can changes in economic policy based on putting America first work?

Christian Uber ? [facebook.com]

brentan comments on Jul 24, 2018:

Gosh, I hate talking to taxi drivers worse than I hate paying the fare.

Are you so confident that you can stay for your opinion even if no one agrees?

brentan comments on Jul 24, 2018:

I think more about my opinion when no-one agrees. But I don't think truth (or a correct opinion, really) is confirmed democratically.

I have noticed some incredibly sloppy and prejudiced thought on this site lately.

brentan comments on Jul 24, 2018:

"I'm only human after all Don't put the blame on me." Or if we challenge the assertions, use a bit of tact.

Not a virtue.

brentan comments on Jul 24, 2018:

I think that's going too far.

Fuhrer Trump's Military Parade A Waste?

brentan comments on Jul 24, 2018:

I guess North Korea and Russia are having an effect on him. It's just a huge dick-measuring session. Dicks for dicks.

Do you feel weird when asked to approve someone's comment on a post?

brentan comments on Jul 24, 2018:

I do feel weird. I start to tremble. Power is a terrible thing.

What about

brentan comments on Jul 24, 2018:

There's a lot of that about. I usually hear it from Muslims on Facebook.

Someone really did not Proof read this particular bit of Christian Bigotry

brentan comments on Jul 24, 2018:

Black people will be relieved to hear it. They can expect to turn more and more white as they continue to pray to Jesus.

"The Moonshiner" - PigPen Theatre Company [youtube.com]

brentan comments on Jul 24, 2018:

I was really cool with that too! What about that part 'I eat when I'm hungry, drink when I'm dry'? Is that part of another song added to this one? Anyway, many thanks for the post - great song!

Gamers– where you at?

brentan comments on Jul 23, 2018:

Just finished Detroit: Become Human. Waiting for Red Dead 2.

So I'm gonna put this out there right out the gate.

brentan comments on Jul 23, 2018:

I would be horrified to think a 20-year old would turn me down because I'm old and fat.

Question about dating after divorce.

brentan comments on Jul 23, 2018:

Go. Enjoy. Be careful.

For those of you who used to pray, help me out here.

brentan comments on Jul 23, 2018:

It is amazing that people have been praying for thousands of years and haven't recognised the pattern of the responses, or lack of responses. It must be the enormous power of hope that keeps prayer going.

I saw an ad for this site on Facebook, and being the lonely, miserable fuck I am, I decided to give ...

brentan comments on Jul 23, 2018:

Hi. You're very welcome!

Is there a purpose in living?

brentan comments on Jul 22, 2018:

Don't go crazy, now! "Moderation in everything", as my dear old Daddy used to say.

Love this. ;)

brentan comments on Jul 22, 2018:

True, and the New Testament says drunks, adulterers etc. won't get into heaven. Even cowards won't make it. I think the psychology of Christians hating gays is much the same as the psychology of criminals in prison murdering pedophiles.

For s group that doesn't believe in gods or don't know one way or the other, there is a lot of talk ...

brentan comments on Jul 22, 2018:

I do it because I think gods are an older expression of our pschology.

Woot! I finally got my major gaming rig fixed.

brentan comments on Jul 22, 2018:

Enjoy! I often do that too, but on the consoles.

Psychic dies after stabbing himself to prove his immorality.

brentan comments on Jul 22, 2018:

It's hard to feel sorry for him.

An Open Letter to Those Who Still Give a Damn

brentan comments on Jul 22, 2018:

The article was about giving a different kind of damn.

The Superiority Of Secular Thinking vs Religious Thinking (Suggestions for additions or refinements...

brentan comments on Jul 22, 2018:

So that's why I've been a bit smug lately.

I am getting closer to level 8.

brentan comments on Jul 22, 2018:

Be mean, mysogynistic, racist - whatever it takes to get the virtue-signallers posting. I'm sure it can all be justified. After all, it is a t-shirt, and not just any old t-shirt.

Jul 22 2018 [pbs.twimg.com]

brentan comments on Jul 22, 2018:

Wouldn't you wonder at the morals of the time that dictated sacrificing your daughters for your guests! I think Lot's key obligation was hospitality. It seemed to trump care for his daughters.

Sea Level The tall wind sweeping across from all points of the compass in all seasons— ...

brentan comments on Jul 22, 2018:

That was really good. Really, really good.

What is a word or term that instantly causes you to lose respect for someone when you hear it?

brentan comments on Jul 22, 2018:

I hate that word 'guesstimate'.

How do you guys deal with anger?

brentan comments on Jul 22, 2018:

Some anger is justified. I'm not sure that it should be stifled. My way of reducing anger is to look at how many people suffer very badly - born in the wrong place, to hopeless or dangerous parents etc. All these things and a general look at the newspapers make me realise that I'm not a serious victim, just somewhere average on the bell curve of suffering humanity.

Assisted Suicide If you became terminally ill, would you consider ending your life at some point ?

brentan comments on Jul 22, 2018:

Yes. If the suffering far outweighed the enjoyment of life, I would. I think the moral imperative comes from the idea of rejecting as not good what God has pronounced good - that is, life. I'm not sure how our ancient cave-dwellers thought about it. They needed on hands on deck to get things done but if you were more a liability than a help....

Think first.

brentan comments on Jul 21, 2018:

Sorrow Shame Regret Dismay

She was just standing there Unaware That her every breath Was drawing me deeper into her world.

brentan comments on Jul 21, 2018:

She represents chaos. Protect yourself. Tie yourself to a tree. Think manly thoughts.

And the REAL Sin of Sodom....

brentan comments on Jul 21, 2018:

The prophet Ezekiel puts sins in perspective. He's thinking in terms of unfairness in society. He proclaims them as God's thoughts. That thinking continued into the New Testament and was expressed as liberation theology in our day. But let's simplify all that and just hate gays.

Devotion and Desire.

brentan comments on Jul 21, 2018:

I don't get it!

I'm in Florida and I'm staying

brentan comments on Jul 21, 2018:

Life is short. Go to Washington State. Now.

Summer reading question.

brentan comments on Jul 21, 2018:

I'm reading The Master and Margarita. It's great fun, supposed to be educational, but I have no idea what it's about.

Whatcha doing this weekend? Any big plans?

brentan comments on Jul 21, 2018:

Darn, I wish you had asked me last weekend.

Price of poverty

brentan comments on Jul 21, 2018:

That brings a new meaning to 'the rich get richer and the poor get poorer'.

Every time I think I'm ready to start dating.

brentan comments on Jul 21, 2018:

Me too. I'm not separated very long, almost three years, but in that time I think I have got very selfish and set in my ways.

I welcome you to tell us your experience with being thrown out of a place in the world.

brentan comments on Jul 21, 2018:

Wot you talkin' bout, Willis?

The biggest miracle Jesus ever pulled off was having 12 close friends in his 30's.

brentan comments on Jul 21, 2018:

I guess it was too good to be true!

What idiot called it a "prison compound" and not a "guilt complex"?

brentan comments on Jul 21, 2018:

The authorities think all the prisoners are guilty and the prisoners all proclaim their innocence. One thing for sure is the prisoners are in a prison compound! Don't contradict me on this. I've watched OITNB.

Greetings to the community.

brentan comments on Jul 21, 2018:

Hello and welcome. I bet you have a lot of stories to tell!

I just love some HLM every now and again...

brentan comments on Jul 21, 2018:

Never heard of him but that strikes me as true.

Looking for a no soliciting sign, obviously more pointed towards the Bible thumpers in my area.

brentan comments on Jul 21, 2018:

How about 'I'm going to hell. Why don't you do the same?'

Hi everybody

brentan comments on Jul 21, 2018:

Welcome aboard!

Greatest living atheist debater right now?

brentan comments on Jul 21, 2018:

You're probably right. I like the new guys too.

The best smoke

brentan comments on Jul 21, 2018:

Very good drawings. Smoking can look so classy, sexy even. I love photos of Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall smoking.

When I start thinking of God the first thing comes to my mind is where it is and how it looks.

brentan comments on Jul 21, 2018:

Maybe that's the cosmic god, not the boyo with the beard!

Forty-nine years ago on July 20, 1969, humanity stepped foot on another celestial body and into ...

brentan comments on Jul 21, 2018:

I wonder was America so disheartened at Russia's successes in space that they counterfeited the landing on the moon. I'm suspicious because they have never made a return visit.

Spooky Language

brentan comments on Jul 21, 2018:

I think the West's influence, where lack of belief in a god is prevalent, depends on its economic and political power. Those powers are waning. Nonetheless, I don't see a future for non-believers like the one envisaged for women in The Handmaid's Tale. While fear exists of African Christianity and Muslims coming to change the religious face of Europe, the Internet itself is probably making more progress for secularism and unbelief in their own countries. With a bit of luck, the Christian and Muslim extremists in America will cancel each other out.

Do you give money to beggars?

brentan comments on Jul 21, 2018:

Never. We have a social welfare system. Those who can't access social welfare are illegal.

I agree with this completely...

brentan comments on Jul 21, 2018:

I think we are born thinking the world revolves around us and we need our parents and society in general to wean us off that idea by teaching us morals, which is the same as teaching us that the other people matter.

Cartoonist Rob Rogers fired after drawings criticising Trump | News | Al Jazeera

brentan comments on Jul 21, 2018:

Surely you mean drawings of Muhammad?

Do you think growing up in religion makes you kinkier in bed?

brentan comments on Jul 21, 2018:

I always understood that as a Catholic thing. I guess its about the natural response to repression. And the constant focus on sin. Yummy! On the flip side, after marriage, the song comparing the freedom to have sex and actually having sex is a hoot in Monty Python's Meaning of Life: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PDBjsFAyiwA

Jul 21 2018 [pbs.twimg.com]

brentan comments on Jul 21, 2018:

I find the apostle Paul's academic approach to interpreting scripture fascinating to read. The idea that there are two laws governing mankind, the old and the new 'covenants'. If you follow the old covenant, you do well but miss the prize of salvation through faith. If you commit to the new covenant, you are saved through faith that has mercy built into it so it is not necessary to be a perfect man.

Favorite fictional characters?

brentan comments on Jul 21, 2018:

Mr. Dick in David Copperfield. Jesus.

If reincarnation is a "thing", and you had a choice - who would you be in your next life?

brentan comments on Jul 21, 2018:

I would like to come back as myself, knowing what I have learned in this life, and then going on to learn more in the new life. I think it would be impossible to be a baby with the thoughts of an adult but perhaps all the things previously learned coming to mind in the early adult years. This is a topic discussed in some religious circles about the young Jesus and what he may or may not have known about his alleged previous existence in heaven.

Hey hey folks. New to the site!

brentan comments on Jul 20, 2018:

Welcome aboard! Pull up a floorboard.

New Law Declares Israel a Jewish Nation-State with Hebrew as Sole National Language | Democracy Now!

brentan comments on Jul 20, 2018:

I guess they assume that they have a green light from Trump's administration to go all out to achieve their goals. I think they are being foolishly arrogant. Antisemitism isn't dead by any means. European Jews will probably suffer for it in the near future but I fear a huge backlash against the Jews coming slowly down the road.

Is it irresponsible to have more that 3 children knowing what we know about our future Earth?

brentan comments on Jul 20, 2018:

Is there a problem?

Smile it is Friday.

brentan comments on Jul 20, 2018:

I give up.

Manning up and womanning down! [nytimes.com]

brentan comments on Jul 20, 2018:

Don't let your woman earn more than you. Stay at home and do the housework. Oh wait, that won't cover the bills!

Fossilized snake in Amber over 99 million years old.

brentan comments on Jul 20, 2018:

But, but, but.....the one in the Garden was special!

Where do you see yourself in 5 years?

brentan comments on Jul 20, 2018:

In a nursing home, if I'm lucky! Can't wait!

Jul 20 2018 [pbs.twimg.com]

brentan comments on Jul 20, 2018:

He enslaves them. lets them go again, has them slaughtered again.........

When I go into a grocery store and they don't have peach soda, but they have grape.

brentan comments on Jul 20, 2018:

I'm so glad this problem isn't being ignored.

Not long till the edinburgh book festival over 900 authors illustrators etc attending this year ...

brentan comments on Jul 20, 2018:

I knew there a festival for comedians over there every year but this is the first I've heard about a book festival. I wonder could it worth the expense. Maybe if they have interesting authors giving talks.

I'm just tired

brentan comments on Jul 20, 2018:

Focus on yourself, I say. Do what you can do. Make the world you live in happy.

Annunaki and other EBEs

brentan comments on Jul 19, 2018:

All I know is that a huge leap forward was made in Mesopotamia about 6000 years ago and we're trying to understand was it from gods or natural progression.

Use four words to make an impactful sentence...

brentan comments on Jul 19, 2018:

Be nice to me.

Only one word.☺

brentan comments on Jul 19, 2018:

Beer.

Sincerely Fuck You! You who didn't so much teach me to talk as train me to say things your way...

brentan comments on Jul 19, 2018:

Whoever did that to you should be arrested! On a serious note, that's a fine poem.

I am an Arabic language teacher at a major university in Detroit, the idea that the Arabic language ...

brentan comments on Jul 19, 2018:

I have heard it is very grammar-focused and full of inflection. I would love to learn more.

Should there be more women in politics ?

brentan comments on Jul 19, 2018:

Sure. It's fair to women. I don't believe it will do a darn thing to improve politics.

Got to meet this author last evening at our local book store: When it came to hunting, she was a ...

brentan comments on Jul 19, 2018:

It's good to see these stories being told. I must get around to reading Aisha: The Wife, The Companion, The Scholar by Resit Haylamaz. She was also a formidable woman in her time. We have a couple of noted formidable women in Irish history. One was Grace O'Malley, a pirate queen who had the temerity to meet Queen Elizabeth 1 on equal terms. Earlier, in pre-history, we had Queen Maeve who met men on their own terms. Her story is told in The Cattle Raid of Cooley. Maybe you'll let us know what you think of your book when you've had a chance to read it.

.... W T H ? ...

brentan comments on Jul 19, 2018:

The joy of life in an echo chamber.

 Deuteronomy 12: 23-24 23 Only be sure that thou eat not the blood: for the blood is the life; ...

brentan comments on Jul 19, 2018:

I'm pretty sure they changed it from a command from Bethel to a matter of conscience. It is a sad irony that a law to signify the sanctity of life is used to renounce the sanctity of life. Generally speaking, it was understood in the scriptures that life trumped law. The story of David breaking the law to feed his men and being assisted in it by the priest is told at 1 Samuel 21.

Someone recently asked about preferred songs at our funerals or final send-offs.

brentan comments on Jul 19, 2018:

I think its a good choice, with its flights and returns, allowing the listeners to think what they wish about aspiration, spirit or whatever might come to mind.

I've come to the conclusion that i don't really like people that much; which is slightly ...

brentan comments on Jul 19, 2018:

It's a reasonable conclusion. You'll get no abuse from me. The complicated bit here is that we are the people who bring other people to this conclusion. We all play our part and I'm darned if I know what I could do to be less irritating or downright offensive in people's eyes. It might even be that nature wants it this way, something to do with the need for death and renewal. But maybe nature doesn't have to have the last word here. Maybe that's what the history of religion has always been about.

So has anyone made it to level 10 yet? What's the perk for a level 10?

brentan comments on Jul 19, 2018:

Sympathy.

DT 7/3/18

brentan comments on Jul 19, 2018:

I would like to hear more from JWs who attended elder meetings. I think I would have lost my faith very, very fast if I had been present to watch abuse of scripture because of ignorance or selfishness.

They come from everywhere.

brentan comments on Jul 18, 2018:

That's a lot of people but maybe if they were rounded up in their own localities, they could be signed in for the help they so desperately need.

What is truth?

brentan comments on Jul 18, 2018:

I like the idea of any single truth being the aggregate of all the opinions about the thing in question.

What We Have: Plenty of Evidence of Impeachment

brentan comments on Jul 18, 2018:

I would like to read the evidence. Nothing worthy of the name has been produced yet.

So who is in control of your life?

brentan comments on Jul 18, 2018:

I don't think this post takes into account the complexities of the problem.

Who is next?

brentan comments on Jul 18, 2018:

I thought you were going to ask who will be the next icon in the music industry to die? Answer: Joni Mitchell. In science, I only know who it won't be. Rupert Sheldrake. They even removed his lecture from the Ted talks.

Given that assimilation and appropriation of external culture traits/features is a means through ...

brentan comments on Jul 18, 2018:

I wonder why people get cranky about cultural appropriation. I thought imitation was flattery. The last cranky video I saw was about white girls getting black girl hair-dos. Could there possibly be a good reason for complaining or is it a sign of having very little troubling you?

Does aggressive antitheism beget anti-atheism?

brentan comments on Jul 18, 2018:

Aggression from atheists is understood as proof of being in the right place. You will be hated by everyone because of me, but the one who stands firm to the end will be saved. - Matthew 10:22 So it is counter-productive to get testy about it.

Gillian Welch fans?

brentan comments on Jul 18, 2018:

I'm not a country and western fan really but I've seen her perform and she is very talented.