Who can explain what the USA mid term elections are all about for us dunces elsewhere in the world.

genessa comments on Nov 5, 2018:

there are governorships up for grabs/defending as well, and state and local posts ranging from judges to dogcatchers to state senators to whatever. it's not just federal. we have 50 states with a whole lot of government going on (or round and round) in them too. g

So I became an atheist because I wanted to kill myself.

genessa comments on Nov 5, 2018:

glad you came to the right conclusion! g

Chocolate?

genessa comments on Nov 5, 2018:

why is dark chocolate not included? that's the only kind i really enjoy so i could not vote at all. g

Noy really sure..

genessa comments on Nov 5, 2018:

no one is sure. but if you have something to say or ask, make a post! i'm not sure what THIS post is saying or asking. g

What to do where to go

genessa comments on Nov 5, 2018:

look at the categories. there are posts made under those categories. choose the ones that look interesting and read them. respond to the ones to which you'd like to respond. got something on your mind? write it, and choose a category for it. browse groups and see if you'd like to join and participate in any. that's it. have a good time interacting with people on topics of interest to you, without fear of someone blessing or praying for you lol g

Came across a 70s movie called Red Sun starring Toshiro Mifune and Charles Bronson.

genessa comments on Nov 5, 2018:

no, but i have seen mifune in quite a few japanese films, notably those of akira kurosawa. i highly recommend them -- subtitled rather than dubbed, if possible. most people love the incredibly long but engaging "the seven samurai" and so do i, but there is a rare one called "stray dog" (not to be confused with peckinpah's "straw dogs") starring a young mifune (and relatively young takashi shimura, who is also in "the seven samurai") about a tokyo cop who loses his gun. good stuff! g

Dating advice.

genessa comments on Nov 5, 2018:

i'm going to respond (even as late as this, when you've made your decision, which i think is a good one, by the way) to everyone who separates friends from lovers. if you're not friends, why the hell do you want to be in a relationship? you want to date, maybe marry, someone who isn't a friend? how do you trust someone who isn't a friend? and by the way, women are not an alien race. if you just want sex, there are people who are into that, and some don't even charge a fee, but then why bother dating, why bother chatting? if you want a relationship, don't dismiss friendship. it's a good basis for WHATEVER else does or doesn't happen. i could've sworn i had more to say but it's threeish in the morning. i'll stop here and wish you, ken, the best of luck! g

Forgiveness

genessa comments on Nov 5, 2018:

despite being an atheist i like the jewish concept of forgiveness. it is, in a nutshell, and forgive me if nutshellizing has impacted its accuracy, ask for forgiveness sincerely (with the intention of not repeating the offense) even if you don't expect to receive it. the asking is what counts. forgive what you can and not what you can't, but try hard if you've been asked sincerely. asking forgiveness insincerely isn't worth anything at all. even god (yeah, there's a god in judaism, but ignore that for a moment) cannot forgive an offense or injury against another human being; the offended-against/injured party is the only on who can forgive that. (okay, done with the god part! but the point is you can't forgive on someone else's behalf so that works in real life too!) forgiveness doesn't mean forgetfulness, but not forgetting doesn't mean tormenting someone with guilt, either. if you really forgive, then really forgive. that's pretty much it. it's not like the catholic forgive me father for i have sinner, okay 102 hail marys, okay thanks, oops, i'm back i did it again and deathbed confession stuff. heaven (another fictional concept) has nothing to do with any of it. it's for here and now and life on this earth. you can translate that into a life partnership too. is it easy? hell no! i am working on it, myself. i am trying to learn to forgive for real. g

Atheism Made Easy by Dustin Hartley on B&N.

genessa comments on Nov 5, 2018:

atheism is already easy. there are no gods. there! i said it! g

Sorry fellow whovians, I had to DVR tonight's episode, someone a bit older got my attention tonight.

genessa comments on Nov 4, 2018:

i'm watching it now but it's been a dreadful day and night, my guy broke a glass ceiling lamp cover in my closet while i was watching and noisily cleaned up during the show, and my asthma is so bad i am distracted. i have no trouble with british accents, not even sheffield lol, but tonight it's hard because of my breathing. so i am glad that i TOO am also dvring this! i'll watch it again when my guy is not messing around and my lungs aren't either. g

Does anyone else feel this way?

genessa comments on Nov 4, 2018:

no. i do not feel that way. the two parties are nothing alike. if you don't vote democratic, even if you vote indie you're voting for republicans and that means you definitely will not get your country back. g

Are you liberal or conservative?

genessa comments on Nov 4, 2018:

i am more liberal than liberal. i have not met a conservative for years. the people calling themselves conservative these days are not conservative; they are profligate. they're regressive and that is what i call them. g

Dating advice.

genessa comments on Nov 4, 2018:

i didn't fall in love the first dozen times i met my guy. he didn't fall in love with me even after i fell in love with him (well he eventually did!) we've been together 18 years. spark shmark. sparks are overrated. fall in friendship first. g

Doesn’t happen often, but I got a pretty good picture of my Lucy this afternoon ❤️

genessa comments on Nov 4, 2018:

excellent shot of a shayna punim! g

Food for thought and action

genessa comments on Nov 4, 2018:

there is no one philosopher who completely thrills me. all were/are flawed. i am not worried about this. i like bits of this, bits of that. not everyone whose philosophy i admire is considered a philosopher. hypatia, spinoza, hannah arendt, wittgenstein and russell were philosophers but what about joanna russ, carl sagan, richard feynman, louis mumford? maybe there is no name for their philosophies because they didn't think they were philosophizing, but i like the way they think/thought. that's a short list, by the way. g

Important atheist question: When you die, would you let them bury your body or cremate it.

genessa comments on Nov 4, 2018:

i don't know where my folks are buried. the place printed on the yahrzeit candle turns out not to exist. i live in a different state. i don't need to see the dirt. they're in my heart. as for me, i don't know. i'll probably die before i decide whether to decide. g

What is going on here?

genessa comments on Nov 4, 2018:

neither. closer to #1 though. see all those categories? only one of them says "religion." wanna talk about cats without being prayed for? you're in the right place. already level two and can't figure out what the site is about? maybe not so much! it's not so difficult. g

How to Help Loved Ones with PTSD

genessa comments on Nov 4, 2018:

not a bad article though it assumes a few things that are not necessarily true, such as that the person with ptsd won't get help or isn't getting help. in addition, not all of us have nightmares -- or got our ptsd from being in the military. i got mine at least partly from awakening in the middle of eye surgery when i was three years old. g

Is there even a such thing as community?

genessa comments on Nov 4, 2018:

community is not about being psychic. to share thoughts you have to express them. communities are made. if you want to be in a community, make where you live a community. yes, there is such a thing. g

Is speed dial good for memory?

genessa comments on Nov 4, 2018:

well, not unless you watch it dial. g

What was the one thing that you liked most about Hillar?

genessa comments on Nov 4, 2018:

i can't choose one. i love (present tense, not past tense!) her sense of humor, her diplomatic skill, which doesn't include being soft; her intelligence; her ability to assess situations quickly based on real information and not speculation; her grace even in the face of an unfair defeat; the way she has dedicated her life to public service, including but not limited to her and bill's foundation, which is one of the most highly rated nonprofit foundations in the world despite the reputation the right wing has created for it; and the way she wrote to me encouragingly when i wrote to her about delta air's continuing to allow smoking on international flights (i wrote to the ceo of delta at the same time; he said too bad for me, he valued his smoking customers; hillary said she was working on it; within a couple months of those letters, delta went nonsmoking internationally!) that's just off the top of my head. there's more. g

Do unicorns exist?

genessa comments on Nov 4, 2018:

is this a serious question? i mean, does anyone over the age of, say, 11, really think unicorns exist? g

What's your "Atheist Public Persona"?

genessa comments on Nov 4, 2018:

i've never been IN the closet. i've been an atheist since i was 15, i am 66 and a half now, and i have never hidden who or what i am. the one thing about knocking the brick out of the wall is that people's prejudices can be so strong that they can know 100 black people, for example, and all 100 are good people, and they'll still say "those 100 are DIFFERENT." it's a weird mindset. so i would not count on the brick thing working as well as you hope, though i certainly would not give up trying. what else can you do? g

The bible says that God rested on the seventh day.

genessa comments on Nov 4, 2018:

ah christians. the seventh day was a saturday, if you ask a jew! technically a friday night to saturday night, since all days (not just holidays) on the jewish calendar begin and end at sundown. now, i am an atheist, like many here, but i know a really good chassidic story that deals with prayer and i will share it here. hopefully you'll see why, even though of course it has to do with that fictional character, god (and a real character, the founder of chassidism, known affectionately as the ba'el shem tov, or besht). it was friday afternoon and the sun was going down. the besht had been visiting some people in the town and was on his way home, on foot as usual, but he knew he had very little chance of getting home by sundown, the beginning of the shabbos, and he was rather sad about that. however, along came a farmer with a wagon, and the farmer offered him a lift. now he would make it home in time! after the besht got into the wagon, the farmer recognized him and began to apologize for not being as diligent a jew as he would like to be. "i work really hard," he said, "and i'm so tired when i get home -- i just don't have the energy to go to the shul and pray, but i do set aside time during the shabbos to study torah." the besht said, "when you pray, you're talking to god. when you study, god is talking to you. you've made the right choice!" the idea of bothering god on his day off reminded me of that story and hopefully now you can see why :-)) g

Even as a child I had a hard time believing the stories I heard in church.

genessa comments on Nov 4, 2018:

i guess i was lucky. i was raised a secular jew, never heard bible stories, only read what i have read of the bible as an adult, sort of in self-defense when nonjews look at the christian translations and say stuff that actually isn't in there (there's enough weird stuff that IS in there!) so i didn't have a conflict. when i discovered at age 15 that there was extremely little chance there was a god, or any gods, it was kind of saddening but not traumatic, and it didn't explain any inconsistencies or anything, because i just hadn't encountered any yet. as i read about christians' pre-atheist experiences i realize how difficult it all must have been! g

I couldn't figure out which category to put this in, as it jumps all around the place.

genessa comments on Nov 4, 2018:

lol sad in its way. before i forget... you may want to use the edit feature and get rid of some of the repetition! i mean like whole paragraphs and sequences of paragraphs. i know you didn't mean to do that. just a side note, an official service dog won't be jumping in anyone's lap but casually we may refer to dogs who comfort the anxious as service dogs. the boyfriend sounds like an idiot. i'd keep an eye on her to make sure he's not an abuser too. sound wild? maybe. just a hunch. g

I love cats! And you?

genessa comments on Nov 4, 2018:

i adore them, and belong to two feline groups here on agnostic dot com. i am owned by five elderly cats (and a young dog, who thinks they're HER cats). how about you? g

Jews Vs Trump - I Love It

genessa comments on Nov 4, 2018:

i love it too! there is a myth circulating that jews support trump. well, some do. we're just like anyone else -- we are diverse in many ways. but as a group, nope, nope! even if the ultra-orthodox do, what percentage of us are ultra-orthodox? (well, none, here, but i meant in the general jewish population.) sheldon adelson represents all jews to those who hate us because we're supposedly not liberal, and george soros does to those who hate us because we're generally liberal. we can't win, right? rofl! but the fact of the matter is, we jews tend to support liberal causes. it's built in. it's actually part of the religion, and those of us who are atheists and therefore do not do things because god said so still do many of those things because they're good things to do, regardless of whether or not there is a god! rachmones, mercy: tzedekah, which i am probably misspelling: charity. welcoming strangers: we're supposed to change all these things just because there is no god? nope! and trump stands for everything we stand against and he stands against everything we're for. g

How to get around without a car or money?

genessa comments on Nov 4, 2018:

oh and you may want to check out rentafriend.com. g

How to get around without a car or money?

genessa comments on Nov 4, 2018:

just make sure you get a ride to the polls and vote blue since if there IS public transportation, republicans will make sure it gets its budget cut so rich folks can get more tax breaks. meanwhile, is there not something like a craig's list where you can post your willingness to barter some kind of service for regular transport to wherever you need to go? maybe someone would be amenable to an arrangement of that sort. i'd say surely instead of maybe but i am actually in something like your position. if you're on medicaid, you may be able at least to get medical transportation. if you're not on medicaid GET on medicaid! i am, and i get rides to the doctor. to shop for food, that's more difficult. but i'm a woman so i can't really follow my own advice. it's more dangerous for us to deal with strangers, not that it's completely safe for a man. g

In universities, there are 12 Democrat professors for every Republican, striking!!!

genessa comments on Nov 4, 2018:

the word is democratic, big d or small. only republicans and russian bots/trolls use "democrat" as an adjective. this alone would make me think you don't know much at all about higher (or other) education. of course when you make a claim like this you need to back it up, and not expect others to accept your word for it, or tell them they're lazy because they don't run and look up every claim they encounter. g

Today I initiated a voluntary membership to a scientific research organization which is administered...

genessa comments on Nov 4, 2018:

tell us more! g

I'm fucking lonely

genessa comments on Nov 4, 2018:

maybe how you look has nothing to do with anything. maybe a few factors are at play here. 1. you are open to meeting women. how is a woman supposed to be open to meeting you when that is ALL you say? who are you? a woman wants to know something about you before making an approach. in addition, right or wrong, in most of today's cultures, a woman is the one who wants to be approached -- but by someone who is open about who he is. you have no profile. that doesn't make people want to approach or be approached by you. make a profile. be honest in it (see #3). 2. you have made two posts. one doesn't say anything and the other is this one. you're not trying to express who you are. why should someone choose you and not someone else if you don't care to express yourself at all? 3. you say you're an atheist, which means someone who does not believe in any gods and a believer, which means someone who believes in one or more gods. you can't be both. saying you're both cannot be true. it is not attractive to say things that cannot be true. you may want to decide who you are before you make yourself available to others. g

Are places of worship really places of God?

genessa comments on Nov 4, 2018:

how can there be a place of god if there is no god to start with? the question presumes that there is a god. i don't know if the other end of the link makes the same presumption because i rarely click through if the title is as troublesome as this one is. i mean, if that really is the question, the answer is simple: no. g

[investors.com] The UN admits that the Paris Climate deal was a fraud

genessa comments on Nov 4, 2018:

investors dot com is your go-to source about a climate agreement? that ALONE raises alarms. but the agreement was certainly no fraud. if you want to identify a fraud, go look at 1600 pennsylvania avenue. there is a fraud living there. g

Has anyone watched How the Universe Works narrated by Mike Rowe? Fascinating!!!

genessa comments on Nov 4, 2018:

i listen to this show all the time (my eyes are bad but i look up from time to time). wonderful show. i keep the science channel on much of the time. exceptions: 1. when they play big noisy machine shows, 2. when something else is on i want to see or 3. when i don't have the tv on. how the universe works is one of my favorites. g

Sorry, I didn't mean to elaborate so much for any one who gets bored reading long posts.

genessa comments on Nov 4, 2018:

i can't watch that show. i think it's great that they bust myths. i would think that was great whether or not they were scientists. however, they're noisy, and the show is noisy, and i really DON'T like blowing up shit. i don't think noise makes a show more exciting. i think noise makes a show impel me to change the channel (and i adore the science channel). so i have nothing against it, theoretically. i am glad it's there for folks to learn from and enjoy. i just can't. my ears hurt. g

Don’t believe in a caring god ,, or a god that directs us ,,

genessa comments on Nov 4, 2018:

actually i disbelieve in all gods, caring or not, directing or not. i don't know why i have to qualify my disbelief in gods; i don't have to describe the character of the tooth fairy before dismissing her, or admit that there might be unicorns but only green ones. g

I’m ashamed to have been a part of the Christian Right, all those years ago..

genessa comments on Nov 4, 2018:

you're here now :-)) many are not, yet, may never be. it takes courage to recognize and admit one has been wrong, and change you have courage. welcome to the land of the heart and brain! g

Teen crushes when we plastered our walls with pix from these.

genessa comments on Nov 3, 2018:

ha, sorry, nope. the monkess, and buffalo springfield. g

Social media

genessa comments on Nov 3, 2018:

i had no job to lose by the time i got to facebook and i have been on facebook a very long time. as for friends, their supporting trump got rid of some of them for me. i have been challenged by strangers regarding my atheism but my friends support me even if they're believers; i have very few (two i can think of offhand) who are religionists, as opposed to just private believers, and one of them isn't on facebook anyway. the other one, well, i just hide her religious posts from my page. i don't need to argue with her. for all i know she hides my atheist posts. that's fine. g

Who is your "Go-To" atheist?

genessa comments on Nov 3, 2018:

i don't have a go-to atheist as far as atheism itself goes. a lot of people i like happen to be atheists; others are not, but i forgive them for that. i don't even know the religious or nonreligious views of most of the folks i like. it is often by accident i find out who is an atheist and who isn't, since most of the stuff i am in the mood to read has nothing to do with atheism. i mean, there is only so much you can say. "there are no gods." "really?" "yeah." "okay!" i don't care why there are no gods, or even why some people think there are gods. i don't feel it necessary to prove there are no gods, or read other people's "proofs" (or lack thereof) that there are or aren't any gods. i think the idea that there are gods is sufficiently silly and unlikely that i don't worry about it. there just aren't any, that's all. sometimes i am called upon to defend my atheism. i'll do that from time to time. i don't need to read a book about it, though! g

[ufos-aliens.co.uk] what do you think of this article?

genessa comments on Nov 3, 2018:

i think it is suspicious that it's on a site that appears to be dedicated to aliens and ufos, and that the pictures may well be pictures of stonehenge being rebuilt... or almost anything else being built or rebuilt, pictures don't lie, but people do lie about pictures. since there is no way to know. i cannot say from this article whether everything it claims is true, but i can tell from other things i've read that a lot of it may be exaggerated, and there is nothing wrong with putting back toppled stones. that's hardly tampering. i was at stonehenge, and it was so long ago i don't remember how close i could get, but there are hours of the day when tourists may go right up to the stones and no one has died of shock at concrete bases yet. so the verdict is still out. g

Is it possible to have the posts show which category they are from or how to block a category?

genessa comments on Nov 3, 2018:

you can adjust notifications under settings in your profile. i don't think you can block a whole category. the posts show groups if any, but not categories -- i don't think that is adjustable in settings either. of course one filter would be just to click the categories in which you are interested. then you know all where all the posts there fit lol g

Alot of people hate me. i hate alot of people. seems fair to me then again i have a heart of stone

genessa comments on Nov 3, 2018:

self-fulfilling prophecy? i ask based on some of your other posts. g

First Time I've Seen Jewish Lives Matter.

genessa comments on Nov 2, 2018:

a good thing! a very good thing! g

Marriage and the non believer...

genessa comments on Nov 2, 2018:

i was against marriage before i was an atheist, and i've been an atheist since i was 15. i wasn't opposed on religious grounds; i just equated it, as i saw it, as it was practiced on tv and in other popular culture, with prostitution. a woman exchanged her sexual, housekeeping and child-rearing favors in exchange for financial security. i always had in mind that some day i might meet a guy and want to have an equal partnership (domestic and romantic) with him, and that eventually happened. we're engaged but we can't afford to marry; we are disabled and we'd lose the slim benefits on which we barely survive. on the other hand we'd have standing with regard to each other. we don't care whether or not we have that piece of paper; i wouldn't be changing my name (i'm 66 and a half already -- i should change my NAME?) at any rate. it wouldn't be an ozzie and harriet marriage, no june and ward cleaver, no donna reed and whoever she was supposed to be married to, so i no longer object on political grounds. it's probably not going to happen, though. we'll probably die first. g

Oddly and a little sadly, the more I come here the less I find.

genessa comments on Nov 2, 2018:

that is not my experience of the site. i am newer than y'all but still. g

Where have all the members gone and why after such a short time.?

genessa comments on Nov 2, 2018:

members of what? membership of this site is rising, so you can't mean that.... g

Do you have a book you bought perhaps as a holiday read that never got read and still sits on your ...

genessa comments on Nov 2, 2018:

what's a holiday read? g

You are a rare pattern.

genessa comments on Nov 2, 2018:

my dna is. i'm not. i'm not a pattern at all, even if i may be the result of a pattern. i'm a person. g

Atheists argue that " thoughts and prayers" r useless, meaningless and empty statements.

genessa comments on Nov 2, 2018:

arguing that "thoughts and prayers" is useless is not solely an atheist thing. it's a gun control thing. plenty of theists think that something more active and activist needs to be done about gun violence than offering thoughts and prayers, regardless of whether one thinks there is a god to whom to pray. and how do thank you and good morning relate to thoughts and prayers anyway? this is a totally false conflation. when you say good morning to someone, you are greeting that person, which shows friendliness. no one says "good morning" as an antidote or even a casual response to someone's having been shot in a school. thank you expresses gratitude to an individual, a real, live person who might actually appreciate being appreciated. it is also not a response to someone's having been mowed down at a concert. at any rate, arguing against thoughts and prayers, specifically as an antidote to gun violence, has nothing to do with atheism, much less with defending an atheist position. i didn't even know i HAD a position. i just happen to be aware that there aren't any gods. g

Atheists Are Sometimes More Religious Than Christians - The Atlantic

genessa comments on Nov 2, 2018:

i love the atlantic but sometimes it deliberately pubilshes titles that irritate. this is one of them. g

Non-religious communities

genessa comments on Nov 2, 2018:

it's funny that all the responses i see (at a glance anyway) are churches of some kind! i don't know for sure but i suspect the girl scouts have some kind of god thing going; i know the boy scouts do, alas. so... how about irish dance, or some other kind of athletic/artistic group endeavor? is there a way for kids to volunteer in some meaningful way? sorry, i don't have kids but it seems to me there must be something out there. g

The alt-right misreads Nietzsche. But they aren't the only ones

genessa comments on Nov 2, 2018:

alt righters can read? g

How Do You Say It? Keep adding to the list...

genessa comments on Nov 2, 2018:

i was born in philly and my folks had heavy joisey/philly accents. i also studied speech and acting. so i say "can" you help me to rhyme with "cat" or "hat" (for most americans or brits) but open this "can" to rhyme with "slam" for most americans, but not brits. go figure! g

I Bet Hillary Is Still Wondering Why She Lost The African American Vote

genessa comments on Nov 2, 2018:

clinton got 89 percent of the black vote (and won the popular vote overall by almost three million). this video is bullshit. hillary won the black vote by miles. https://ropercenter.cornell.edu/polls/us-elections/how-groups-voted/groups-voted-2016/ oh and someone doesn't know an ironic JOKE when they hear one. do you not know what an EYE ROLL means? how naive can you be? or... are you spreading propaganda on purpose? (and to what effect? she's not even running for anything!) g

Billions of god-believers have had thousands for years to come up with valid reasons for believing ...

genessa comments on Nov 2, 2018:

doesn't a god have to have lived to be dead? god is not dead. god is just fictional. g

As a greeter this is my first response from a new member.

genessa comments on Nov 2, 2018:

i am not a member of this group so i hope it's okay that i respond. a month or so back i got a weird response too, to my standard greeting. the person didn't ask me to correspond via email but did ask me to tell him all about myself and he would not relent even when i reminded him that i have a guy, i am not looking for anyone, i am here for community, etc. when even that did not deter him from saying he wanted to be my CLOSE friend, i told him that if he persisted i would report and block him. he shut up after that. g

Would you stop eating animals if you thought they dream?

genessa comments on Nov 2, 2018:

nope. i know for a fact my dog dreams, as it happens (i don't eat dog, as it also happens) and so do other animals, but humans have teeth and organs designed for meat consumption. our brains evolved as they did at least partly because we as a species began to eat meat. with the orange ass in the white house, we can clearly see our brains still have a long way to go, so i do not intend to stop eating meat (especially since i am diabetic and would starve to death without some animal protein). g

Parent Problem!

genessa comments on Nov 2, 2018:

if she isn't pestering you about religion there is no need to bring it up. if she is, then you may want to let her know. how depends on her methodology and her personality, as well as your relationship. all else being equal, i'd be as direct as possible and try to choose a time when you're not arguing about religion (or anything else). choose a calm time and say (in your own words) "mom, i have something to tell you and you might not like it, but i assure you that even if it seems bad now, it's really okay. i just wanted to tell you because i love you and i think we should be honest with each other. mom, i don't believe in god." then pick her up off the floor. g

Hi there everyone, I am brand new to this site and so far it seems like a very welcoming place, ...

genessa comments on Nov 2, 2018:

welcome! you'll find us diverse in almost every way. hopefully you will have a good time :-)) g

My entire family believes in god, and or goes to church.

genessa comments on Nov 2, 2018:

wow twice a week is... dedicated. lots of people believe in god without making it a huge deal. people who go to church twice a week are making it a big deal. also putting peer pressure on you to go to church with them, THAT is making it a big deal. would they dump you if you declined? don't they have any other activities in which you could join them? g

Friends with similar beliefs

genessa comments on Nov 2, 2018:

almost all of them. i have not taken a poll so i can't give a percentage. g

Why?

genessa comments on Nov 2, 2018:

sorry, but every week someone posts this. it's a valid arguing point if you don't believe in god because you're mad at god, which to me makes no sense. i am not worried about the nature of god. there is no such thing and i am not worried about why there isn't. there just isn't. g

If you were diagnosed with a terminal condition that you knew would drag your loved ones down and ...

genessa comments on Nov 1, 2018:

i am the caregiver of my guy with alzheimer's. how selfish it would be of me to abandon him. g

Inquiring minds want to know: Can you ever go back to McTenders after having tasted the dark side ...

genessa comments on Nov 1, 2018:

back? as if i eat junk food? when i visit the u.k. i may indulge in a kabob on the street. i haven't been to the u.k. for ages. meanwhile, i do not eat at mcdonald's. ever. ever. g

I did believe in god but not any more I’m a true atheist and I believe in Satan

genessa comments on Nov 1, 2018:

i think no one here knows you're joking. i hope i am correct that you are joking. g

Please everyone am I welcome here?

genessa comments on Nov 1, 2018:

okay i did notice ONE thing. it's not about being welcome but it IS confusing. you say you're an atheist and a believer. an atheist is a nonbeliever so you can't be both. so that gives off a confusing vibe. you may wish to clarify that on your profile! g

Notes on Antisemitism

genessa comments on Nov 1, 2018:

leupp admits that the gospels are full of fiction and yet uses a story from them to explain his point (give us barrabas -- yeah, was that even a THING?) some interesting points, some... not so much. g

I have a pretty little two-year-old mostly long-haired chihuahua (with a touch of papillon) who has ...

genessa comments on Nov 1, 2018:

i just brought one of the bowls (not the one that made her yelp) into the bedroom. she is eating. she is taking ONE kernel, running away from the bowl, eating it across the room, then going back for another kernel. g

Please everyone am I welcome here?

genessa comments on Nov 1, 2018:

let me give you a test that we never give anyone and i am not in charge anyway. 1. do you hate cats? no? you are welcome here. 2. do you frown when cats do funny stuff? no? you are welcome here. 3. do you take yourself seriously and never laugh at cat memes? no? you are welcome here. well, that's MY test anyway! do you pass? you're welcome here! g

Do you celebrate Christmas after realizing you don't believe in the reason for it?

genessa comments on Nov 1, 2018:

i'm jewish. i never celebrated christmas. there never was any reason for it even before i became an atheist, at the age of 15. jesus, christianity, trees, lights, songs about kings and babies, never meant anything to me except an intrusion, a two-month (now three!) ubiquity, someone else's religion pushing its way into my unwilling consciousness. i've been to nice christmas parties. that's not the thing. it's just that it's EVERYWHERE. you can't escape it. people are wishing me merry christmas. people are ASSUMING. as an atheist, i never feel more stubbornly jewish than at the end of the year, when i long to hear chanukah songs! and by the way, almost all the of chanukah story is about an actual was; only the very end is the "miracle" bit and that doesn't detract much from the story, which is about religious freedom (which extends, as far as i am concerned, to freedom FROM religion as well). so i don't mind, and even enjoy, celebrating the holidays of my people. most of it is about "they tried to kill us. we lived. let's eat!" g

Even stranger than having an imaginary friend is having an imaginary enemy.

genessa comments on Nov 1, 2018:

actually having an imaginary enemy is standard practice in authoritarian nations. if you keep the people hating on someone else, you have diverted their hatred from yourself (if you happen to be a dictator, or an erstwhile dictator). i am thinking of a certain caravan.... g

The aftermath ???

genessa comments on Nov 1, 2018:

lol. reminds me of a picture i took of one of the biggest zukes i grew. that's woody, a very large cat in his day, examining the produce. g

There are posts here about the recent shooting at the synagogue in pittsburgh.

genessa comments on Nov 1, 2018:

i am seeing some answers to this post that are as bad as what my post is talking about. so let me make it really simple. i'm an atheist. i am also a jew. i do not follow judaism; i have told you already, i am an atheist. yet ethnically i am a jew. it's part of my cultural identity. i am not israeli. i am american. so some of you think i should be dead, or at least that i am worthy of your hatred, for a variety of reasons, some of which are stated in my post. i think those of you who think that way are haters and that there ARE no good excuses to hate me unless you know me personally and find me hateful. hating me for being a jew is stupid. there is nothing you can say about israel, religion, gods, devils, nazis, palestinians or little red wagons that will justify your hating me because i am a jew. if you hate me because i am a jew, you're an antisemite and that is a BAD thing. i hope i made that clear. g

I'd like to hear some wisdom.

genessa comments on Nov 1, 2018:

i try not to indulge in philosophy but i do remember my mother saying (not original to her but i heard it from her) "my right to swing my arm ends at your nose." it's a good thing to remember in daily life. daily life is all we've got. g

I live in an assisted living affair and believe it was a mistake on my part to move here.

genessa comments on Nov 1, 2018:

counties vary. it would be worth checking anyway. meanwhile, would it be better to seek another facility, or is it the very concept of being in such a place what bothers you? if we knew why it was a mistake (and what you'd prefer) we might better be able to help. if your county is anything like mine, and you're on any kind of county, state or federal assistance, they've taken all your money to pay for the facility, but that doesn't mean you are not allowed to leave, and you'd still get the assistance, which means you might not be able to get a down payment going anywhere but someone, somewhere would understand and be able to help. g

When a close friend or family member is "asking for prayers" and you want to wish them well what ...

genessa comments on Nov 1, 2018:

i'm thinking about you. i'm hoping for the best. i don't mention prayer. g

Does this app have real people or are you all bots?

genessa comments on Nov 1, 2018:

why in the world would we be bots? have you never been on a social media site before? and if we were bots, would we admit it? or would we even answer appropriately? sorry, i just find this an awfully strange question. g

What is your ideal self? What does it mean to be your highest self?

genessa comments on Nov 1, 2018:

i don't believe in things that are ideal. i have no conception of an ideal self or a highest self. i can't even imagine if someone THINKS s/he's ever going to be an ideal anything, or the highest anything, s/he is not only delusional but aiming at the wrong thing. how about just being as good as you can be? why isn't that okay? g

When did you start drinking coffee and why?

genessa comments on Oct 31, 2018:

i started drinking coffee when i began my second full-time job, as a switchboard operator for a d.c. saving and loan association. we got 15-minute coffee breaks and there was nothing i could do during them BUT drink coffee. i soon found out that one cup was wonderful and two cups gave me what later were identified as severe migraines. g

Do you ever wonder why most people in any given generation are just spending their time cleaning up ...

genessa comments on Oct 31, 2018:

no, i don't, because it isn't always so. g

Don’t Forget To Vote

genessa comments on Oct 31, 2018:

i voted weeks ago. i always get an absentee ballot because i never know if i will be well enough to go out on election day. i mailed mine in... oh i forget how many weeks ago, and my guy did too! g

What's your favourite show or channel to watch on TV?

genessa comments on Oct 31, 2018:

i have no fave channel but i do keep the science channel on more than any other. shows: until 1982 i refused to follow more than one drama and one comedy, but then a second drama pulled me in and my tv viewing has not been the same since. so one? ha! here is what i follow at the moment: doctor who, murphy brown (the new show), murphy brown (two different seasons of the old show, in syndication), new amsterdam, law and order svu (new season and if i happen to catch it in syndication, and the other law and orders as well), hill street blues (in syndication), mystery e.r., untold stories of the e.r., how the universe works, planet earth, the brain, live from lincoln center (when it's on), inspector george gently (when it's on), endeavor (when it's on), american masters, anything by ken burns, other stuff as it occurs, like nova and nature and a bunch of stuff on science channel i might not be remembering right now. g

All Men are Voyeurs and All Women are Exhibitionists. Where does the line begin?

genessa comments on Oct 31, 2018:

ridiculous generalization, not even necessarily MOSTLY true. not even amusing, for that matter. it's like that men are from jupiter and women are from the sewer crap. i don't buy it. we're individuals. we're influenced by our environment but all men are this and all women are that, total bunk. hokum. malarkey! g

Would you pray if your 90 year old grandmother asked you to?

genessa comments on Oct 31, 2018:

that is like asking if i could grow wings and fly if someone asked me. no. there is no one to whom to pray; how could i pray? but you don't mean actually pray. you mean to say something like a prayer. you could say "i am grateful [kind of a trigger word for me but i wouldn't be there lol] that we have food." you would not have to address the "prayer" to anyone. g

Why does religious zeal exist?

genessa comments on Oct 31, 2018:

people want to belong. g

Do you find it a bit daggy when well known people, or anyone really, get to a senior age and then ...

genessa comments on Oct 31, 2018:

the older i get, the less tolerant i am of the idea that i need an imaginary friend. there ARE atheists in foxholes, no matter how the saying goes. i am sorry for mr. hopkins. he IS a great actor and not an idiot either; i don't know what makes people go for the gods. what @bierbasstard has said i have known for a while (not the quotations, just the struggle and all that) and he is correct about aa and its god-based philosophy. that could well have contributed to mr. hopkins' reversion. g

If there is alien life, this may be why they haven’t made contact. [splinternews.com]

genessa comments on Oct 31, 2018:

the reason aliens have not made contact is that they're probably microbes. g

The American Taliban

genessa comments on Oct 31, 2018:

well, the article SAYS who they are: the evangelical christians. g

Fake rabbi? Is that like fake psychic?

genessa comments on Oct 31, 2018:

no. in judaism, if you're an atheist, you can still be a jew. if you don't keep kosher you're still a jew. if you take on another god, you're an apostate and no longer a jew. if you never were a jew and you are a messianist and call yourself a rabbi, good luck to you, but you are not a jew. someone who believes in another god is no longer a jew and a messianist believes in a divine jesus. that's another god. therefore a messianist is not a jew. you can call yourself a rabbi, you can call yourself a jew, but if you eat meat you're not a vegetarian no matter what you call yourself, and if you're a messianist you're not a jew. g

A thought.

genessa comments on Oct 31, 2018:

no. we underuse it. g

If you could make a rule that everyone had to follow, what would it be?

genessa comments on Oct 31, 2018:

no one would follow it anyway so i wouldn't bother. g

Ok so let's hear how everyone thinks on this issue.

genessa comments on Oct 31, 2018:

i generally don't need to ask. i always take them off myself, though. i did that even BEFORE i lived in japan for a decade. g

When someone says" well it was ment to be" or it was gods will. What is your reply?

genessa comments on Oct 30, 2018:

i will add that if i heard this from someone with whom i did intend to engage in conversation of some sort, i would ask "meant by whom? you know i'm an atheist, right?" g

What exactly do ppl mean when they say that they r spiritual but not religious.

genessa comments on Oct 30, 2018:

everyone has a different definition. to me it's religion light. they see god in the trees or the rainbows or whatever. i don't buy it, but it's a thing for some people. nature is nature. it doesn't need to be imbued with the supernatural in order to be wonderful. g

Religions vs Cult

genessa comments on Oct 30, 2018:

i am not religionist but i DO make a distinction between religion and cult. a cult has some characteristics share by some religions and not others. one of them, an important one, is the charismatic leader that convinces his (usually his) flock that everyone else in the world is sinning, lying, wrong, and that only he can be trusted. isolation is key. i know people who go to various churches and do not let that keep them from having normal lives, nor do they proselytize, nor do they vote on one issue (determined by their churches). they're normal people and if they happen to believe, to varying degrees, in a god, which i find silly, that doesn't make them cult members. there IS a difference. this is not in defense of religion. it's in defense of defining our terms accurately. g

I am dead broke til the 1st.

genessa comments on Oct 30, 2018:

no fat or old? to HAVE a bff you have to BE a bff. someone who judges others by age and weight is not a bff. not a b anything and not an f. that's not friendship and that's not bestship. you want young and sexy, and you're broke, i guess you can't pay for it, and you're not earning it so far. g

I want to quit smoking cigarettes!

genessa comments on Oct 30, 2018:

i helped my students to quit. this is what i told them to do (and they told me it worked): 1. count how many cigs you smoke in a day. divide that by 24. 2. whatever your result was in #1, smoke that many cigs per hour. i don't care if you're sleeping, in class, with a client, making love, excuse yourself and have those cigs. 3. after you can't stand this anymore, cut the number of cigs per hour by one. 4. by the time you get to zero you'll be so happy to have your life back! g