Anyone looking for a person to date in Michigan? I'm a 20 year old man.

genessa comments on Apr 6, 2019:

here is some advice: if chess com is better, why come here? if you have a reason to come here and it's not just to solicit people to go to chess com, maybe it would be best not to focus on chess com being better (in your opinion). you may instead wish to focus on what kind of interesting time you can have here. believers are welcome here, theoretically, but on a practical level, we have to wonder why a believer is hanging out here on a site created for nonbelievers. you may be asked about this a lot. you may want to think carefully about your reasons for being here and be prepared to answer, because it's a legitimate question. some believers come here to convert us. we don't like that. others come because they figure atheists, by virtue of BEING atheists, live hedonistic lives and will screw anything that moves. that's not true and we don't like being thought of that way. still others come here to gawk at us, as if we are alien creatures. think we like that much? nope! so we can't help wondering. hippydog's advice to comment and interact with the community is very good advice indeed. this is not your usual dating site where you just advertise yourself and hope someone bites and/or reach out and ask if anyone's out there. this is much better than that; you have a chance to find out what people really think and how they really feel in a safe, nondating group environment geared to all manner of topics within a wide range of categories. it's one thing, for example, to put in your bio that you like animals (example off the top of my head) and another to share pictures or stories about your cat. it's one thing to say you're of a certain political bent and quite another to have a conversation about a specific issue. it is more realistic and natural here than in the meat market. just keep in mind that many folks (myself included) are here just for the community (i'm spoken for, thanks -- also not in michigan, also not interested in believers, also old enough to be your grandmother, but all that aside, spoken for). g

Occasionally I clear out my block list because I'm human and sometimes people aren't as bad as they ...

genessa comments on Apr 6, 2019:

i don't block folks (even when they so obviously deserve it) after just one post... but yeah, eventually i do, and i have not yet cleaned out my list. it almost always (not quite always) involves people's becoming unhingedly offensive on a personal level rather than just disagreeing on an issue. i applaud your willingness to give folks second chances, but i feel that by the time i've blocked someone i've already given them a lot of chances, often across more than one or more than a few posts (call me slow). i think if i did give folks the kind of second chance you give 'em, i'd find myself blocking again just as you do lol. maybe they should rename it the asshole feature! g

Being agnostic or any other ideology is alright.

genessa comments on Apr 6, 2019:

quite frankly, for me this is a problem more with vegans than atheists or agnostics. most atheists and agnostics i know only get pushy (as well they should) when it comes to the separation of church and state. i see very few trying to "convert" believers into nonbelievers. vegans, on the other hand, are rarely satisfied to change their own views on food and such, but rather feel they have to convert others to their way of eating. i think that we are fooled into believing that atheists etc. make atheism etc. into a religion by two things: 1. evangelists of all sorts are louder than nonevangelists, so they give the impression of being more numerlous and powerful than they are, and 2. theists like to call atheism a religion and they're not quiet about that either. i am not horribly worried about it. g

So, was The Vietnam War, a Religious War?

genessa comments on Apr 6, 2019:

no, it was not a religious war it was a civil war. vietnam was a french colony until the japanese took it over in wwii. when the japanese lost the war and retreated, the french came back and tried to resume business as usual but the many of the vietnamese people, especially in the north near communist china, balked and said no WAY did they want to be occupied by ANYONE anymore. the french pushed. the vietnamese pushed back. the french called upon their ally, the united states, for help. grudgingly, we sent "advisors." when we got there and found out that the northern nalf of vietnam was seriously influenced by communist china, we, in the midst of our own communist scare, got a bit more serious and upped our presence, not to help the french anymore but to stop the spread of evil communism worldwide, which wasn't what was happening, but you know, we were crazy. by the time eisenhower was in office, yes, the way to turn americans against communism was to emphasize its "godlessness" (which is why "under god" mysteriously appeared in the pledge of allegiance and "e pluribus unum" was replaced by "in god we trust" as our motto) so that was a propaganda issue, but no, that is not how we got there or why we stayed there. it is almost a side issue. g

Just learned this odd thing at work - in the religion section at my bookstore the Jewish books are ...

genessa comments on Apr 6, 2019:

at least it doesn't work the other way around. i guess during rumspringa (sorry if i spelled it wrong, which i almost certainly have) the kids go wild and mix all the books up. g

Someone said that even if you don't believe in God, it is advisable to live your life as if there is...

genessa comments on Apr 5, 2019:

i think it's crap. first of all, which god? zeus? baldur? it is advisable to live as if you are a human among many humans among many animals among many living things among many elements on a delicate planet in a big universe. gods are at best useless and at worst destructive. live without regard for whether or not there are any gods. g

Okay.

genessa comments on Apr 5, 2019:

we wouldn't know what to protest, and our protests DO have an effect. we don't need to protest every idiotic thing he says but when he DOES stuff we need to know, and we need to tell our congresspeople what we want done. g

Lev Tahor 'cult' members charged with kidnapping children of member who fled - The Washington Post

genessa comments on Apr 4, 2019:

that is SO unjewish. isn't it disgusting when people are not only delusional but have no clue what their own religion is about? g

Carma Project - Recall Lookup

genessa comments on Apr 4, 2019:

this is about the recall of a specific type of defective automobile air bagm the takata, which has apparently caused some deaths.i myself was once knocked unconscious by an air bag that should never have been activated to start with, but i have no clue what brand it was; it was a long, long time ago and it was in france (i'm an american living in the usa). i don't even know how old the takata is. still, that experience encourages me to take this issue rather seriously. on the site i've linked you can look up whether your car has this type of air bag. g

Key Differences Between Atheism and Agnosticism

genessa comments on Apr 4, 2019:

i cannot prove for sure that my sidewalk isn't purple. you can look at it and say it definitely isn't purple, but i could counter by saying it was a shade of purple only i could see, and really mean it. i have the kind of certainty about there being no gods that i do about my immediate environment, and even without scientific proof i can be that sure, because the whole idea of there being a god or gods is so ridiculous and unproven and unprovable, just as is the tooth fairy, or leprechauns. i don't feel the least bit compelled to say i don't know whether there are any gods. i am THAT sure. (and no, that's not arrogance. that's rationality.) g

[aol.

genessa comments on Apr 4, 2019:

he's a smart guy and i don't happen to like him. if by some chance, not a good chance as it happens, he wins the nomination, i'll vote for him, but that's a no-brainer. he won't be my choice in the primaries. g

WHO ARE YOU?

genessa comments on Apr 3, 2019:

i am me: imperfect but myself. it's a dirty job but someone's gotta do it. g

Attorney General Barr is holding onto to the Mueller Report on the auspice of redacting the mention...

genessa comments on Apr 3, 2019:

i was gonna comment on the new title but others beat me to it lol. i am frustrated right now because i can't tell (i can't read the nyt) whether the leak is of actual report content or just a leak of comments by some team members. either way a leak is good but i suspect the latter and crave the former. g

[myjewishlearning.com] The best Jewish food in Los Angeles

genessa comments on Apr 3, 2019:

cool, langers is still there! i used to eat there and of course at canters. i am surprised there is no mention of the plethora of bakeries that used to line fairfax avenue in the vicinity of canters (north of melrose). maybe they're not there anymore. that would be sad. g

Trump. Suffering dementia? Signs? [facebook.com]

genessa comments on Apr 3, 2019:

quite frankly, i don't think he is suffering from dementia. i think we are suffering from his dementia. g

I never heard of...

genessa comments on Apr 3, 2019:

not sure. i once had an online friend i visited in person and she seemed normal but her husband was one of those moon landing hoax conspiracy fellows. i am not sure if he was religious. she didn't seem to be but i don't think she was an atheist either, just not religious. i don't hang out much with religious folks soi don't know couples where either party is religious, except for one born-again friend of my guy's whose husband i assume is also evangelical or she wouldn't have married him. i think he's a bad influence on her; she's getting worse. g

Quran: Chapter 9 verse 14: “Make war on them so that Allah may punish them by your hands and ...

genessa comments on Apr 3, 2019:

yes and most muslims live normal lives, according to the rules of law of their home nations, including the united states, and do not make war on anyone, any more than christians in general follow this: zechariah 14:2 i will gather all the nations to Jerusalem to fight against it; the city will be captured, the houses ransacked, and the women raped. nor do i know of any jews who are actually stoning adulterers to death. you cannot judge modern practitioners of a religion by their ancient texts, but rather byhow they interpret and live them. you cannot judge muslims by islamists, you cannot judge christians by westboro and you cannot judge jews by the ultra-orthodox (who, by the way, are STILL not stoning anyone to death). you can understand that religion itself is ridiculous and many of its practitioners delusional, but you cannot smear everyone who is affiliated with a certain religion with the actions of its extremists or with the more gruesome aspects of its ancient texts. well, actually, you can, and i see that you do, but you cannot do it correctly, accurately or truthfully. g

If Russia hadn't entered Syria and Asad regime fell, we might have seen Islamic State forming ...

genessa comments on Apr 3, 2019:

isul doesn't know how to govern and has no interest in governiing. it has been terroristic so long it only knows that. it also isn't islamic, no matter what it calls itself or claims to be. it destroys islamic artifacts as easily as other things, and it commits terroristic activities on its holy days. the only thing islamic about it is the extreme and orthodox restrictions it places upon its people, many of whom are virtual slaves (especially the women). it defies islam while it claims to BE islam. it's islamist; it is not islamic. it cannot produce a saudi arabia anywhere. it can't even produce a real islamic state anywhere. it is definitely a threat to those it terrorizes, but it is never going to be the nation it thinks it already is. g

How do you use the word 'belief'?

genessa comments on Apr 3, 2019:

i don't use believe the same way all the time. if i say i believe man landed on the moon it is because i am convinced of it. if i say i believe it might rain, i mean i am guessing. english is flexible, unlike some of the people who get really heated (as you have noticed) about the differences between atheists and agnostics. i had to block someone this morning because after i explained why i am an atheist, he said i was an agnostic whether i liked it or not, PERIOD. so i told him he didn't get to tell me who or what i was, period. to this he cackled that he just had, and added that i was just calling myself an atheist because i thought it sounded cool, whereas in fact it made me sound ignorant. that is when i blocked him. is one label COOL or IGNORANT? i use words to describe or identify, as best i can, what i am trying to say. i don't use them to be cool and although i may be ignorant in some areas (please do not ask me about trigonometry) i am not overall an ignorant person, and i am certainly not ignorant about my reasons for being an atheist. so... back to beliefs: i believe i am an atheist and that is one of those "i'm convinced" beliefs. i believe i will go back to bed soon, but i am not totally convinced of that because it's almost lunchtime and i have a doctor's appointment i believe i might cancel. i won't say i believe i have covered this topic comprehensively but i hope i've made some sense. g

Fans of serial works like series of novels, comic books, movies, TV shows, and computer games are ...

genessa comments on Apr 2, 2019:

judaism has been around a lot longer than 3000 years. we are currently in the year 5779. that makes judaism almost twice as old as your reckoning. why are you calling him jesus christ? christ is itself a kind of retcon; christians retroactively translate "messiah," which means "anointed one" (referring to the fact that human kings of judea were anointed with oil as part of their coronation, as it were) as "savior" (which is what christ means) even though there is no such concept in judaism (ostensibly the religion of the person whose name could not possibly have been jesus, he not being greek). isaiah refers to a young woman; later translators conveniently retranslate that as "virgin," which is a different word in hebrew but shhh we're retconning, don't point out such things! recon isn't necessarily a bad thing in series fiction. it can be annoying or fun depending on your mindset (and the particular fandom). there are no real-life consequences. i suspect for most people who claim affiliation with a religion but are not especially religious there are few or no real-life consequences to their ret-con. for the victims of those who use religion to influence politics (or shoot up public places) there are, alas, real-life consequences. g p.s. i will note here, without saying anything further about what this phenomenon means, that matt, markie, lukie and johnny were not the only folks who contributed to what later became, and rebecame, and rerererererebecame, the christian bible. a whole lot of authors got kicked to the curb. later it was found out that even the aforementioned four books were forgeries. at least with trek we have videos to which to refer!

[alternet.

genessa comments on Apr 2, 2019:

i don't see it as a part of larger problems. he's a touchy feely guy -- with guys as well as gals. his not having malicious intent is part of its NOT being a larger problem. it's only a part of course; he has a small problem with personal space (everyone's is different and i imagine he feels less invaded by physical closeness as well). everyone is making it a big problem and comparing it to trump's malicious intent to own and control women as if they're things. i don't see him as treating women condescendingly. it's a personal space thing. if it was about women he wouldn't do it to men too -- but he does! g

Not since Teddie Roosevelt, some 110 years ago, has any Republican president or the national ...

genessa comments on Apr 2, 2019:

actually eisenhower initiated the highway system, ostensibly to improve the lives of the people of our country. i don't think that was the real motivation though. i think it was the auto industry's way of squashing public transportation and ensuring its profits. i don't know whether ike had good motivations or was in on it. he certainly was not the worst republican ever but he was just as certainly not a good president. meanwhile, yes, the rest holds true; the republican party has, even in teddy's time (which is why he had to create his own offshoot of the party) long been the party of corporate greed. the defection of the dixiecrats to the republican party and nixon's southern strategy clinched it, and its deterioration was from then on much faster and much more deliberate. now i don't even consider it a party. it is a criminal operation posing as a political party, having acquired enough political power to do so. g

Attachment is the beginning of sorrow.

genessa comments on Apr 2, 2019:

defnitely do not agree. without attachment to other people, animals and the world in which we live, why bother to live at all? g

Do you remember this?

genessa comments on Apr 2, 2019:

this is the card you'd find in a pocket attached to the inside front or back cover of a library book, keeping track of who had checked out that book when, and when that person had returned it. g

The local Baptist minister just rang my doorbell offering me a pamplet for the upcoming celebration ...

genessa comments on Apr 1, 2019:

i don't wear clothing in the house and i don't answer the door unless i am expecting someone. in japan, i told some mormon knockers to go away and they started calling me names. i called their supervisor and he said he'd have to talk to them. i'll never know whether he chastised them or congratulated them, but they still never got me to open the door. g

MAYBE WE'RE WRONG -- Recently I've found myself wrestling with the question of God.

genessa comments on Apr 1, 2019:

in case your post is NOT an april fool's day joke: if all humans have parents, and those parents have parents, and those parents have parents, who needs the extra parent in the sky? by the way, god offers no reasonable resolution to any question whatsoever. g

MAYBE WE'RE WRONG -- Recently I've found myself wrestling with the question of God.

genessa comments on Apr 1, 2019:

april fools? g

Everyone believes that their religion is the right one, but who is right?

genessa comments on Mar 31, 2019:

you are entitled to believe in whatever you want but i no more believe in karma as popularly understood than i believe in any gods or other supernatural beings at all. i also love my female dog, ramona, and would not compare anything bad to her by calling it a bitch. g

Not a pencil neck. What's the right word?

genessa comments on Mar 31, 2019:

cuntneck. g

How can someone be agnostic and a believer both?

genessa comments on Mar 30, 2019:

you have been reading scammer's profiles :-)) g

No believers in foxholes, if the atheist is begging for for god not to kill him it's just what the ...

genessa comments on Mar 30, 2019:

there are in fact atheists in foxholes. my late best friend was accosted in his office one afternoon by a pair of bad'uns who tied him up and left him that way for hours. at one point he could hear them discussing whether or not to kill him. in the end, they didn't. my friend told me his main worry was that his secretary would come back from wherever she was and be tied up and maybe harmed, and that if he was killed his dogs would have no one to take care of them. he told me too that during all those hours, the thought of a god, or of praying, or anything related to religion, never crossed his mind. i myself have had moments of great danger, though not as extended as that, and experiences that put me in great fear, and i have never once even considered calling upon a deity, since there are no deities. i might as well call upon donald duck or mickey mouse. now, i am not saying that there is some reason to criticize someone who, in extreme distress, does fall back on religion (for some it would be farther back than for others). i have never been religious, and i certainly have never been christian. that may have made a difference. but the old saying about no believers in foxholes is, at any rate, provably false. g

If I were single, I would never date a person with tattoos.

genessa comments on Mar 29, 2019:

i hate the way tats look, but if i were available and not already in love and i fell in love with someone, i would no more reject him for having tattoos than i would for their not looking like a model, or for being deaf as my guy is, or for any other thing that hasn't really got to do with the psyche and inner being of the object of my affection. g

Posts beginning with "As an agnostic, do you...?

genessa comments on Mar 29, 2019:

i don't mind that so much. i mind more the posts in which atheists mock agnostics and agnostics tell atheists they're arrogant. i am an atheist and i may be arrogant or not (you may never know) but not by virtue of being an atheist, nor do i mock those who are agnostic. i have to admit i am a little bit suspicious of the spiritual, but i try to be polite. g

I was wholeheartedly a pro-BREXIT campaigner but now I want the UK to remain in the EU ! Though as ...

genessa comments on Mar 29, 2019:

i am glad you changed your mind but i would like to point out that withdrawing from from the eu would not make you any safer from islamists (and i am glad you used that term instead of muslims, since they are not the same thing; not many people know the difference and i applaud you). withdrawing from the eu would make putin VERY happy, though. he wants to regain control over eastern europe and a weak western europe makes that more of a possibility. he wants to be a world power, and the easiest way to achieve that is to sap power from others; brexit certainly would do that. one way that is achieved is by turning people against one another. note that not all, or even most, migration is illegal (or even unwanted). g

Does the fact that you are agnostic with regard to religion make its way into effecting your ...

genessa comments on Mar 28, 2019:

well, i am not an agnostic. i'm an atheist. when i was a teacher, i told my students that "i don't know" is a good answer... with caveats. if it's an opinion question, and you've thought about it, and you haven't enough info to have an opinion, then it's a good answer. if it's an opinion question and you're just too lazy to think about it, then it's not a good answer. also, "i don't know... let's find out!" is a BETTER answer! of course there are some questions in which someone may legitimately lack an interest. for example, today was the opening home game of the minnesota twins. who was pitching? i don't know and i don't care! furthermore, science wouldn't have helped me had i cared (except to the extent that science made technology possible and that made the internet possible and i could look it up on google, providing i knew how to tell the difference between fact and fiction -- if someone posted that elvis had come back to life and was pitching today, i pride myself that i would look for an alternative source of information!) that being said, people DO need better education in scientific principles, which can be used as historical research principles as well. science isn't the only subject sorely in need ot attention in this country, but it's an important one. g

Mueller Report Exceeds 300 Pages, Raising Questions About Four-Page Summary By Nicholas Fandos, ...

genessa comments on Mar 28, 2019:

well, for one thing, he left out at least 296 pages. for another, his so-called summary is his personal interpretation of the report, filtered through trump's personal needs and both trump's and barr's commitment to hiding anything critical of trump (which means the whole report). this report shouldn't be redacted at all. for the public, maybe grand jury info, or info about american and allied intelligence agents' identities should be redacted; to congress, not a damned thing should be redacted. g

Where is the middle ground in U.S. politics?

genessa comments on Mar 27, 2019:

not all televised news is equal. i prefer news analysis by educated people to talking-head tv news. i have no idea were centrists gravitate. i have never been a centrist. g

I'm pretty far left I'm just against religion no matter which one...

genessa comments on Mar 27, 2019:

there are a few things wrong with the meme. one is the assumption that the two religions named are the only religions in the world. another is the assumption that all liberals are anti-christian. there are liberal christians. they still believe in something i find ridiculous, but they also believe in things i do NOT find ridiculous, like (among many other things) equal rights for all people, common sense gun legislation, the right to health care.... even separation of church and state! yet another is the declaration that rightwingers criticize islam. they don't. criticism would involve analysis and understanding. they don't know how to criticize. they only know how to produce hate speech and they aim it right through islam at muslims, including muslims who just go about their lives minding their own business, periodically praying to a nonexistent god, but still minding their own business and sometimes being pretty nice, otherwise smart people. there are unreasonable muslims who want to kill infidels;they don't understand their own religion. there are unreasonable christians who want to kill or otherwise harass nonchristians; they also do not understand their own religion (westboro springs to mind). i don't need to waste my time criticizing someone's religion. i feel free to criticize what some people do in the name of their respective religions. g

I'm wondering about something which is going to cause me to post this same question twice, once from...

genessa comments on Mar 27, 2019:

i have no idea why people choose privacy settings they do. it's different for each person i am sure. i don't have any privacy restrictions at all here or on facebook, except for specific people and sites i have blocked. g

Should the American call for a general stike if Bob Barr refuses to release the full report by ...

genessa comments on Mar 27, 2019:

that won't happen. too many people live paycheck to paycheck. a march would be better. g

This is to inform as many members of Agnostic that if points are mysteriously removed from your ...

genessa comments on Mar 27, 2019:

you may refer at will to my comment on your other identical post, but here is another consideration: why sunday? today is wednesday. are you giving us time to beg you not to leave? s'not gonna happen. g

Sadly, the country's electoral college system voted in Trump and...

genessa comments on Mar 27, 2019:

the country did not vote in trump. the electoral college did. the country gave hillary clinton almost three million more votes than they gave trump. however, not all of the votes counted the same way. for example (one of many), one vote from a citizen in wyoming has the same weight as 3.6 votes from citizens in california. why does wyoming have more say in a federal election's outcome than california has? no, americans did not elect trump. there are, in addition, other concerns about the electoral college, why it was implemented and its effects on our elections. https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/electoral-college-slavery-constitution some contend, convincingly, that it was created to give slaveowners more power. g

This is to inform as many members of Agnostic that if points are mysteriously removed from your ...

genessa comments on Mar 27, 2019:

did admin ignore you? or have they not gotten back to you fast enough? funny, that hasn't happened to me. i lost points once but i knew why i lost them. i actually read their thing about how points were calculated. i read it even though i don't happen to be obsessed with points. i check them sometimes and i am interested, furthermore, in how sites work, especially those in which i participate. i don't come here to get points. i come here because i enjoy communicating with people on a variety of topics without being prayed for or preached to. the points are just there as a barrier against folks who come here and don't want to participate beyond, say, scamming the naive or trying to convert folks. (i am not saying you've done that; i am only explaining the benefits of having a points system.) but if you like this site so little that something this small can set you to ranting (TWO posts about it!) and leaving (i guess we're not that interesting here) then have a nice life.. elsewhere. i won't try to detain you. g

Damn Catholics.

genessa comments on Mar 27, 2019:

wow, that practice was supposed to have ended a few popes ago! it was never part of the actual religion (until whatever pope it was said so). it was strictly to help the fishing economies of greece and italy. political, not religious. is there a big fishing industry near where you live? g

What do you say about near death experiences where the person claims they've seen heaven or hell?

genessa comments on Mar 27, 2019:

i think the people who make those claims are not lying; they're not correct, but they're not lying. dreams and hallucinations can be quite compelling. g

What Are Your Thoughts About Spiritualism ?

genessa comments on Mar 27, 2019:

spirtuality, as in the title of this category (being what some on this site call spiritual), and being a proponent of spiritualism, which has an actual definition, are not the same thing. you mention seances so i know you are using the word "spiritualism" correctly. and you have pegged it correctly too; it is bullshit. don't let the category title fool you into thinking that spiritualism is a big thing for us on this site (although there may be sone stray believers). meanwhile, spirituality is, to me, just religion light. spiritualism is... not even religion light. it's just crap. g

What will cause the apocalypse?

genessa comments on Mar 27, 2019:

why choose? they're all dangerous, and saying THE apocalypse is suspiciously religious-sounding. we are not limited to one, and the ones that come may not be sudden. g

Remember these two items? I've never seen them before.?

genessa comments on Mar 27, 2019:

they look famliar. they were not part of my life, though. g

Mom called me this morning at 5am (because fb said I had been online 11 minutes earlier) to debate ...

genessa comments on Mar 27, 2019:

thanks for the input mom. if there is a god, he will tell you to let me go back to sleep now. g

Is it me or this app feels like a religion or govt?

genessa comments on Mar 27, 2019:

it's just you. what do you need the points for? no one is forcing you to strive for them. indeed, they're not even something for which to strive. they're just a way to cut back on trolls by making it harder for those who don't want to participate to infiltrate. there is no master. if you feel like an animal, look inward, not at the site. no one is manipulating anyone or treating anyone like an animal here. geez, you may as well complain that you can't reach as high when you're three as when you're four. it must be a PLOT. if you don't want to participate, why are you even here? g

So, the neighborhood kids were playing in the backyard with mine.

genessa comments on Mar 27, 2019:

singapore is a muslim country. i had to get special dispensation from singapore airlines to chew gum on takeoff and landing when i flew with a bad chest infection that had congested my ears; they agreed because they understood i didn't want my eardrums to burst. chewing gum is illegal in singapore. that is all beside the point, which is that kids are great and can get along without worrying about going to someone's hell, but i thought i'd mention it since you weren't sure what religion someone from singapore was likely to be. g

So I had Jehovah witness come to door the other day and they started with there usual questions .

genessa comments on Mar 26, 2019:

i don't wear clothing in the house so it's probably good that jw don't come to my door. if i opened it, i would probably not bother to dress. that would likely answer any questions they thought they had for me. g

We would have laughed at the information of life underwater if we had never been under water.

genessa comments on Mar 26, 2019:

many things are possible; we can only deduce what is likely based on what we know while admitting that we don't know everything (not even close). but we have observed fire and it is VERY unlikely that life as we know it thrives inside of fire. g

Is there anybody here, like me, who was never religious?

genessa comments on Mar 26, 2019:

i was not always an atheist (not until i was 15) but i was nonetheless never religious. i was raised in a secular jewish family. we were so irreligious, despite a strong cultural identity, that it wasn't until, as an adult, i phoned my folks from all the way across the country to ask them whether they believed in god that i found out that my mom wasn't sure but thought she did and my dad wasn't sure but thought he didn't. we'd never talked about it. g

Fear of Death

genessa comments on Mar 26, 2019:

i have no idea what most humans, freethinkers, agnostics or atheists think about death, because there is no credo and nothing guaranteed for us to have in common beyond a lack of belief in a deity, or a belief in the lack of deities, or both. i can therefore only say what i feel or think, and i am afraid of dying, and i am annoyed that i won't get to achieve goals i have set for myself before i die. i am also afraid of being ill and in pain (well, more pain; i am already in pain). i am afraid of what will happen to my guy and my pets after i die. afraid of being dead? well, i don't expect i'll know i'm dead, any more than i knew before i born that i was going to exist. g

Hardest part of not believing in God is living in the south.

genessa comments on Mar 26, 2019:

that's why they call it the bible belt :-)) try finding a few jews. if you're in alabama you might not find any who are willing to talk. there are, i understand, death threats. but if you can find some, you'll see that it's a similarly difficult situation in the south. g

Age & Belief I am curious to know if belief in a god changes as we age and get closer to death.

genessa comments on Mar 26, 2019:

same here. i realized at age 15 that there was no god, and i promised myself then to reexamine my beliefs periodically. i've kept my promise. still no god. g

Which came first: society or a fear of god? | PBS NewsHour

genessa comments on Mar 26, 2019:

society of course. there would be no concept of god without a society to create one. g

My news feed is full of God/ religioousity posts. WTF is up with that?

genessa comments on Mar 26, 2019:

1. you have the wrong friends and/or belong to the wrong groups and/or 2. you need to start blocking people and/or groups, and/or 3. since facebook offers you a choice of what to do with individual sponsored links, you need to make your choices and tell facebook you want none of that. my feed isn't full of those things. i have ONE friend who is a minister and i hide the posts she makes in that vein, but i have not hidden her posts blanket-style. i am good friends with her mother and have reason to want to see some of her own posts, just not the religious ones. i have folks who are on my friends list because we used to play certain games in common, and i have not weeded them out but do tend to hide certain of their posts. if they get too obno, then i do unfriend them. as a writer i like to have a big audience, so i don't like to unfriend people but sometimes i just have to. g

Morality without God

genessa comments on Mar 26, 2019:

you could ask your relative how s/he knows what is right or wrong WITH god -- how s/he knows that what she is calling god and calling right and wrong isn't just his/her devil playing mind games? how does s/he feel about killing animals? is killing animals okay? s/he seems to think so, saying a person is JUST another animal. does s/he not have an inner feeling about what is right or wrong, so that s/he can recognize it without consulting the bible in each and every case? does s/he not trust him/herself? and if god is the only reason s/he doesn't murder or rape or whatever, how much more moral an atheist must be, to be beholden to no god and even SO not murder or rape or whatever! g

What is the most dangerous superstition?

genessa comments on Mar 26, 2019:

i think you mean wield, don't you? superstitions are not in and of themselves dangerous. they can be dangerous tools in the hands of those who want to wield power over others. do not be so hard on authority; it is unbridled power that is dangerous. anarchy is dangerous too. we delegate authority and that's a good thing. we often delegate it unwisely, and when we do that, our delegates use that authority as power instead of representation. that's what we need to be against, not the authority itself. meanwhile, superstition is, as i say, just one of many tools such people use to maintain power. g

So, we nonbelievers are now tied for top spot in reported religious affiliation.

genessa comments on Mar 26, 2019:

sorry but "nones" are not all, or even mostly, nonbelievers. they just claim no religious affiliation. g

And we're off and running for Benghazi 2.

genessa comments on Mar 25, 2019:

nope. not even close. kevin mccarthy accidentally admitted that the purpose of the benghazi investigations was to discredit hillary to keep her from becoming president. nonetheless, its emptiness was always apparent. mueller's investigation was by no means empty! in addition, we have not seen his report. all we've seen is a short so-called summary by a biased individual, and an insane reaction from the so-called president. we don't need, and i don't expect, an investigation of the investigation. we do need, and i hope for, the results thereof, not rumors pertaining to those results. g

A great tweet from David Frum; David Frum ‏ Verified account @davidfrum Follow Follow ...

genessa comments on Mar 25, 2019:

haha i don't always agree with frum, though i like him, but this is spot on! by the way, mueller hasn't said no collusion. barr's so-called summary says it does. i don't believe barr. g

Religion. The root of evil?

genessa comments on Mar 25, 2019:

no. just a tool. g

Britain is dying a painful death.

genessa comments on Mar 25, 2019:

is there even a speck of evidence that britain's government officials are all muslims? that sounds, well, insane to me. meanwhile, tommy robinson (not his real name, not his only pseudonym) is a violent criminal who gets drunk and assaults people, including cops, and is also a fraudster. no one is trying to silence him per se, though it would be nice if he sat down and shut up. his own behavior has led to his criminal convictions, not some monstrous government plot to silence someone who is speaking truth to power. nothing he says resembles truth, unless you are sucked in by fascist, racist rhetoric. i'm not. g

I can not tell you all how depressed I am.

genessa comments on Mar 25, 2019:

in what manner did we find out that the pos hasn't committed any crimes? this simply isn't true. what we found out is that barr lied in a four-page so-called summary of mueller's report, which as far as anyone knows has NOT exonerated trump. everyone keeps talking as if we have received the report. we have received a white-wash from barr. that's what we have received. so no, we did NOT find out that the pos hasn't committed any crimes. g

March 23 was Atheist Day. What did you do to celebrate?

genessa comments on Mar 25, 2019:

nothing. i didn't celebrate blonde day, bespectacled day or name-begins-with-g day either. atheism is one of many, many elements that help to define me. g

Usernames.... How did you choose your username for agnostic and what's the story behind it.... ?

genessa comments on Mar 25, 2019:

i wouldn't change it; it's my hebrew first name! i had it before i had my english one and this is it. i'm named after one of my great-grandmothers. g

Atheists, what was the hardest thing to accept when you became atheist?

genessa comments on Mar 25, 2019:

absolutely nothing. it wasn't traumatic for me at all. i wasn't religious anyway and neither was my family, though we had (and i still have) a strong jewish cultural identity. i didn't have to accept anything except oops, that god i vaguely believed in and thought of as a personal friend of sorts didn't exist. no biggie. g

Congrats to our Leftist Group! We just reached a milestone and hit 180 members.

genessa comments on Mar 24, 2019:

mazel tov! i just had to block someone (not from this group!) who referred to "regressive liberals." can you imagine? we argued back and forth a bit but he used typical regressive tactics, such as constantly changing the subject and never addressing what i said to counter his ridiculous assertions (such as that we find it okay to attack christianity but not islam), and trying to say i (and those liberals like me) am responsible for terrorism. it took me a long time to decide to block him even though i knew he would never be convinced because it was his job to propagandize, not think or understand, i knew others could be reading and his propaganda, as ridiculous as it sounded to me, might be moving the naive. when i felt i had said all i could say, i blocked him. i am glad the leftists group exists; i don't expect to find such creeps here as i have just described! g

Would you sleep here?

genessa comments on Mar 24, 2019:

what are the alternatives? the bed looks clean enough. the pipe is a bit worrisome. i love the skylight! g

Anyone else ever wonder what percentage of "religious" people are simply faking it to fit in?

genessa comments on Mar 24, 2019:

nope. i never wondered. i never met anyone who was faking it then again, i was raised in a secular jewish household. i didn't hang out with a religious gang (of any religion). so it never occurred to me to wonder. g

Is this apparent existence a dream within multiple cycle of dreams?

genessa comments on Mar 22, 2019:

by the way, no one who is prominent and well known calls themselves prominent and one of the most well known (which isn't even a phrase; it should be "best known") anything or anyone. it smacks of vanity. and by the way, not all atheists are apostates. in judaism i am not an apostate because of my atheism. i would be an apostate if i took on another religion. g

Is this apparent existence a dream within multiple cycle of dreams?

genessa comments on Mar 22, 2019:

not even remotely an original thought. by the way, no. g

I want sex

genessa comments on Mar 22, 2019:

on a more serious note: you claim to be a believer in allah, the god of islam. all are welcome here but do you really think just declaring that you want sex (also that you don't know what you want, also that you want friends), on a site full of atheists and agnostics, is going to get you sex, or indeed anything but scorn? do you perhaps think that people who do not worship a god just go about having sex with strangers all the time; is that why you chose this site in particular? if so, you've been misled. meanwhile, most of us are not in kuwait and at any rate would not want to have sex with a stranger whose profile is nothing but a short song title. if you're not willing to put yourself out there, why should anyone be willing to put out? g

I want sex

genessa comments on Mar 22, 2019:

i want world peace, not to lose my home, for my guy to stop losing his mind to alzheimer's, for my cats to live forever, for my medical issues to vanish, to be young and beautiful while we're making ungrantable wishes.... sorry, did you mistake this for the take-out window? g

[alternet.

genessa comments on Mar 22, 2019:

well, first of all, since there is no god, this is nuts on the face of it. within the reality of normal people affiliated with a religion but not extremists or fanatics, god doesn't get involved in politics (if he appointed trump, he also appointed obama -- TWICE! -- one would have to point out). and within the reality of the fanatic, there are still questions. some are reporting that he says trump was chosen by god to help save the israel, and some say the jews. so is it israel, the democracy, which needs to be saved from its fascist leadership, much hated by the israeli people, and from the policies from that leadership? or is it the leadership that needs saving? or is it the jewish people all told, most of whom do not live in israel? and are they being saved as in rescued or saved as in collected (not a spurious question, considering that fanatic christians believe that all jews must gather in israel to bring about the end times so that christians can then ascend to heaven, presumably leaving those helpful jews behind)? i read elsewhere that pompeo added that it is purim (well, it just was, but maybe he said this on purim), a holiday in which esther saves israel. this is not actually what the holiday is about. it is about queen esther, a jewish (but closeted) queen of PERSIA, saving the jews of persia. israel isn't involved in the story. in fact, no deity is mentioned in the story! the hero is esther, not a god. just thought i'd mention it to point out pompeo's ignorance about judaism, which is evident from his thinking jews need saving to begin with, since that's not actually part of judaism. "messiah" does not translate as "saviour"; that is a greek concept (thank you, paul!) gosh this got long; let me summarize: pompeo is an idiot and an ass. there. i said it. g

Spiritual family is someone with who you support and help each other grow by sharing love and ...

genessa comments on Mar 21, 2019:

well, no. why call it spiritual? to me, spiritual means religion light. and soul? sorry, i don't believe in souls. we need new language to say family can be your circle of sympatico friends, even friends who are far away. oh wait, i just said it, without inserting any religious mumbo jumbo. g

The regressive left is just as bad as the religious right.

genessa comments on Mar 21, 2019:

regressive liberal is an oxymoron, and i think if you have an actual point here it is buried in your prejudices and inaccuracies. there is no regressive left and no leftists are lashing out of harris or dawkins. criticizing islam for being a religion is one thing. criticizing it for being a particularly bad religion because it is murderous or terroristic by nature is a lie. islamists and muslims are not the same thing, and by the way, in a dictatorship, criticism DOES lead to murder. feh. g

Is it better to remain in the closet or profess your disbelief?

genessa comments on Mar 21, 2019:

it depends on your situation. for me it was not a matter of professing or hiding anything. no one was particularly interested in what i thought. if i was asked, or had occasion to mention it, when i was 15 (which is when i realized there were no gods) i was truthful. it didn't come up much; my family wasn't religious. are there practical consequences to telling people you don't believe in any gods? would you be shunned? is there something dishonest involved in not telling them (like telling them you DO believe, for example)? i mean, if they'd lynch you, keep your mouth shut. if they'd drop you, they were never your friends to begin with. g

Can you be atheist and agnostic?

genessa comments on Mar 21, 2019:

i am an atheist. i am sure there are no gods, the way i am sure there are no leprechauns, without proof but based on logic (and of course the lack of evidence that either gods or leprechauns exist). therefore i am an atheist who believes there are no gods. however, there are atheists who, rather than believing there are no gods, simply refrain from believing there are gods. then there are agnostics, who say they really don't know. the latter form of atheist is an agnostic atheist. i'm not one of those but they do exist. the two are not mutually exclusive and you won't find either of them praying. the distinction is not (to me, anyway) an important one because the distinction has no practical impact. g

Always interesting to see the latest in psychology regarding women's thoughts.

genessa comments on Mar 20, 2019:

dead wrong, dangerously wrong, offensively wrong. you can't understand women's emotions, plural. every woman is different. furthermore, you have said elsewhere that women speak through their emotions... as if every woman is alike! that is total crap. this does not help you as a man, or as a human being. stop it. g

How to understand women by understanding women emotions

genessa comments on Mar 20, 2019:

you know who will never EVER understand women? people who think there is a way to understand women's emotions. women are not all alike, and to say women speak through emotions is not only tremendously ignorant but tremendously offensive. some women do, some don't, and the same is true of men. generalizing that women do this but men do that is... well, to put it bluntly, it's bullshit. i have met women who speak through intellect and men who speak through emotion and people of both genders who do a combination of both. it's not a gender thing. calling it a gender thing is perpetuating a destructive and hurtful stereotype and guaranteeing a widespread LACK of understanding... of people! g

Do You believe in ghosts or evil spirits?

genessa comments on Mar 20, 2019:

no, i don't believe in any supernatural creatures, and i love old houses. since i don't believe in the concept of haunting either, i'd be happy to stay in a wonderful old house regardless of its reputation -- providing that, if there had been, say, a murder there, all the blood and guts had been cleaned up. g

I Have A Dream: What if we (Atheist / Agnostics / Freethinkers / Humanist and Free People of All ...

genessa comments on Mar 20, 2019:

i don't favor segregation. i favor separation of church and state. i love the united states, which is going through an ugly time with ugly institutions and an ugly administration; i'd rather work hard and save it than give up and go ignore the folks who are not like us but also populate the world. g

Tonight 2 guys from the church of jesus chrit of latter day saints can to my door I said not ...

genessa comments on Mar 20, 2019:

when i lived in japan i encountered mormons frequently at kinko's and once at my door. in the case of the door-knock, i told them i was not interested and they insisted i open the door; i was naked and told them so. they responded by calling me foul names. i reported them to their superiors and at least got an apology (and was not further called upon at home). at kinko's i got them to leave me alone by responding to the query "have you heard the story about joseph smith?" with "yes i have. have you heard the one about the rabbi?" i then proceeded to tell them a very long, detailed chassidic tale, without pausing to give them any way to interrupt. the smiles froze on their faces and they avoided me ever after, which suited me just fine! g

What is your idea of a good death?

genessa comments on Mar 20, 2019:

one that never comes. g

What's your favorite atheist show/podcast?

genessa comments on Mar 19, 2019:

i don't listen to atheist podcasts or shows. i mean i might if one fell into my lap -- i have nothing against them -- but i don't seek them out. for one thing, i don't need validation. i've been an atheist for 52 years. for another thing, i don't define myself by my atheism. i am definitely an atheist, and i do not hesitate to call myself one, but i am so much more than that, and i have interests beyond that. listening to shows about atheism is low on my list of things to hear. if they please you, that's fine, but i just don't gravitate toward them. now, if they were about the separation of church and state, that'd be of more interest to me. g

Is the "afterlife" possible without a god or gods?

genessa comments on Mar 19, 2019:

it is just as possible with or without gods: NOT lol. a basic understanding of anatomy tells us there is no afterlife. g

Does science reject atheism?

genessa comments on Mar 19, 2019:

he sounds like either an idiot or a propagandist. is he a mormon? at any rate, no, science does not negate atheism. science doesn't actually deal with atheism, which is either a belief in the absence of a deity or a lack of belief in the presence of a deity. science doesn't study that. g

Ilhan Omar is not deserving of her seat in The House.

genessa comments on Mar 19, 2019:

this is total bullshit. she is not anti-jew. she is anti-aipac, which is a REPUBLICAN-oriented pro-likud lobby group. and the democratic party is not the bigoted party. this is total lie. the rumor is also untrue and beneath any nonliar to repeat. islam is a religion, and as such is no more or less poisonous than any other religion. what a horribly bigoted, untrue post! you should be ashamed of yourself. g

Iam heider 27 y.

genessa comments on Mar 17, 2019:

this is your bio already. you don't have to turn it into a post. g

Is being someone's fetish love?

genessa comments on Mar 17, 2019:

first to answer the title question: nope. then: while it is certainly possible for anything to be a fetish, it is also possible that in your example the boyfriend's fetish did not so much involve his attraction to women of girth as it was based on his feeling more secure about "owning" a woman fewer others wanted. it may be her confidence and her new perceived attractiveness to other men that drove him away rather than her newfound thinness. g

If we are put on this earth to help others, what are the others here for?

genessa comments on Mar 17, 2019:

false IF, even assuming anyone put anyone anywhere (silly assumption) it isn't about helping others. it's about helping EACH other. g

No one wants your organs once you're sixty We really don't want your kidneys And certainly no ...

genessa comments on Mar 16, 2019:

i am not volunteering any of my bits, and my brain is far too good for anyone who rejects it on the basis of how long it's been gathering and processing information. g

Does beleif in god justify how much should people be allowed to spend on end of life care?

genessa comments on Mar 16, 2019:

you say you think religion has something to do with "this" but you just throw it in, almost as an afterthought; we probably wouldn't even notice that throwaway if it were not for the question, and what you describe isn't even end of life care (you talk about survival, not end of life care). you don't give a clue WHY you think religion is relevant to the topic. i personally do not think religion is the least bit relevant to the topic. money is. g

Is this true?

genessa comments on Mar 15, 2019:

i ate apple crumble on pi day. does it count? g

Kissing Professional Women Rant.

genessa comments on Mar 15, 2019:

if she had less class than she does, she might have responded by patting him on the crotch. with her fist. with a knife in it. g

If you say you are 100 percent certain there is no god, doesn’t this saddle you with a burden of ...

genessa comments on Mar 15, 2019:

if i say i am 100 percent certain there is no tooth fairy, am i similarly burdened? am i so burdened no matter how ridiculous the claim? if i feel that the claim that there is a god is so ridiculous that i am 100 percent certain it's wrong, why do i have to waste my time and energy providing proof that i am right? first of all, i would then have to provide proof of the lack of existence of every other god too, and some other supernatural entities as well, and second of all, i really don't care whether i convince anyone that there are no gods. i may state what i believe without requiring others to believe as i do. g