THIS IS WORTH TAKING A FEW MINUTES--Call your senators today to delay Kavanaugh confirmation hearing...

genessa comments on Sep 10, 2018:

too late to delay the hearings. call and tell your senator to vote NO! g

Here's what happens when religious teachings become immoral

genessa comments on Sep 10, 2018:

religious teachings, whether or not they "become immoral," are, by their very existence, delusional. g

PEEVES! Got something that really bugs you?

genessa comments on Sep 10, 2018:

oh i hate that too, especially since i generally have some other sound going on -- a sound i have actually chosen for myself! lemme see, i must be easily irritated (and i think of myself as so easygoing, too!) not to be able to narrow down the choice of peeves to one special pet. if we're sticking to online peeves, the field is still pretty wide. the usual grammar/spelling/punctuation crap (and here i am making no initial caps, but i have my reasons) irks me, especially as i am an ex-english teacher. trolls, of course. false conflation, in or outside of memes. (we have enough money to [fill in blank with something you don't like, be it financial aid to israel, illegal immigrants or poor people getting welfare] but we don't have enough money for [fill in blank with something that tugs at the heartstrings, be it homeless vets, old people in nursing homes (apparently all run by nurse ratched) or abused puppies]. the two issues may be unrelated, and taking care of one doesn't prevent us from taking care of the other. no one ever conflates those heartstring-tuggers with tax breaks for people who have gazillions of bucks in offshore accounts and don't need tax breaks because they're already not only not paying taxes but are getting subsidies too, huge salaries and bonuses for ceos who starve their employees, or megachurches pulling in every last penny from their flocks. nope, you never see THAT in memes. so that kind of gets me. g

Responding to a Sneeze

genessa comments on Sep 10, 2018:

i say "bless you" but it is MY blessing, not that of some imaginary being, i bestow. i generally mention that, too. g

Are we free?

genessa comments on Sep 10, 2018:

the idea of being "made" at all is a false ideology. this sounds very nice and it's not an unkind thing, but we were not MADE, and not everyone was born and raised the same way, either. also, if you're black and you walk down the street, unarmed, breathing, you can be fearless if you want but a cop just MIGHT shoot you dead just for the hell of it. how free would you be then? g

What happens after a human being dies?

genessa comments on Sep 10, 2018:

i have no comforting beliefs regarding this, no stored energy, no soul, no reincarnation, no heaven, no hell. life is temporary. deal with it? what choice have i got? it is what it is. g

So US today's attacked International Criminal Court, why would then African countries respect it?

genessa comments on Sep 10, 2018:

why wouldn't they? are african countries somehow separate from the international community? maybe if something was actually attached it would be clearer.... g

WHY DO PEOPLE BELIEVE IN THE SUPERNATURAL?

genessa comments on Sep 10, 2018:

people find all that stuff comforting. it doesn't comfort me, but it apparently comforts many. it also sometimes give them a feeling of superiority -- ever hear someone say "god is not on my side! god is on someone else's side!" -- not i! once you've got one delusion going, it's easy to add onto it. (i did visit loch ness once! nessie wasn't home.) g

Why did you choose your username/avatar?

genessa comments on Sep 10, 2018:

my username is my hebrew name. i identify strongly with my hebrew name. g

Is empathy the root of human morality ?

genessa comments on Sep 10, 2018:

i am not sure what you said about apes is entirely true. we may not recognize their system of morality, as it surely differs from ours, and, well, they haven't written anything down. that doesn't mean it's not there. g

Humanists, both religious and atheist, talk about the ‘dignity’ or ‘value’ or ‘worth’ or...

genessa comments on Sep 10, 2018:

the fact that the universal declaration of human rights mentions faith doesn't mean that the central humanistic concept of human dignity ultimately rests on faith. it just means that enough people formulating the declaration were unwilling to give up the mention of faith for their own personal reasons or for fear of offending their constituency in their home countries. humanism does not revolve around that declaration. it is its own philosophy. if the declarers have added faith for whatever reason, that does not taint the original concept. g

I still see more liberal gun grabbers making poor arguments for gun control.

genessa comments on Sep 10, 2018:

you start with a false premise. liberals are not gun-grabbers. preventing people on the terrorist watch list, convicted violent criminals and underaged kids from acquiring guns isn't gun-grabbing and it's hard to conceive how anyone could think it violates anyone's rights. you need a license to drive a car, and you need to take a test periodically; if you drive drunk, if you run someone over, you get your license yanked. cars have a use besides running people over. guns have no use beyond killing. voting is an inalienable right too, but convicts don't get to vote. should they get to buy guns even if they can't vote? will waiting a week for a background check really kill you? the only civilians who need a gun RIGHT NOW are those who just can't wait to rob that bank before the truck comes to take all the money away. the right to bear arms is not our only right. life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness count too. being shot dead interferes somewhat with those. by the way, the fact is that the second amendment says we should bear arms for the purpose of keeping a WELL REGULATED militia. that doesn't just imply gun regulation; it says so, outright. you're reading it wrong. oh, and bare arms are much better than long sleeves in the summer. i would hate to give up my right to bare arms. ammosexuals. gotta love 'em. no, i really mean it. you've GOTTA love 'em, or they'll SHOOT you! g

Do you have an issue with people taking a knee?

genessa comments on Sep 10, 2018:

i'm not in the military but i have read and heard responses from veterans, and the vast majority of them are baffled by the issue; what has taking a knee to protest racism got to do with the flag, or with the military, is their general attitude. that is my attitude as well. i don't even think we should be playing the anthem at sporting events. are sporting events somehow more patriotic than, say, operas, or plays, or picnics? i know why we do it: the pentagon paid sports producers to do it to encourage enlistment during one of the world wars. i don't know if it worked. anyway, kneeling doesn't hurt anyone, doesn't get any soldiers killed, doesn't slap any vets in the face (not giving them health care does!) and makes a point that needs to be made. the issue shouldn't be whether it's okay to kneel. the issue should be whether it's okay for cops to kill unarmed black men for the crime of being black. g

What non-materialistic things do you do to increase your happiness?

genessa comments on Sep 10, 2018:

i can increase momentary happiness by laughing (watching "murphy brown" helps) but i know no way to increase my happiness as a person. i would, at this point, settle for not being frightened about the very real possibility of becoming homeless and the very real possibility that next week i will be told i have cancer. laughing is good but it's not a cure. g

How do you feel about people who just want to put people down, whether it's in opinions or ...

genessa comments on Sep 10, 2018:

i cannot vote because i view this case by case. i have been here maybe a week, maybe less, and i have only been attacked personally once. oh, some folks have gotten pretty close to blurring the line between disagreeing strongly with what i said and blasting me personally for saying it, but only one, so far, has called me a piece of crap -- not for who i am, which that person doesn't know, or for what i said, since that person probably didn't process what i said, but simply because i disagreed with his assertion that liberals are disgusting; he would call any liberal that, without knowing them; all they would have to say would be "i am a liberal" for him to call them pieces of crap. i have not blocked him. if he should happen to respond to my last response, which was to call him out for calling names instead of arguing logically, i might have to block him. i did report him. this isn't facebook. as far as i can tell, there is a rule against attacking each other personally. g

People will respect you if you respect them? True or false?

genessa comments on Sep 10, 2018:

false. while respect is what you have to give to get, there is no guaranteed return. it's like investment. it takes money to make money, but that doesn't mean your investment will be successful. g

One choice! IF THERE'S ONE thing in your life that you could change what would it be?

genessa comments on Sep 10, 2018:

i would change my having awakened, age three, during eye surgery. g

"The old test of piety, 'Are you willing to be damned for the glory of God?

genessa comments on Sep 10, 2018:

i don't understand why i should have a love, unselfish or otherwise, for an imaginary being. the rest is kind of irrelevant given that one point. it would've been irrelevant to me even if i were not an atheist, since i have never been a christian, and in judaism, love of god means loving god's creation, not passing tests to show how much you're willing to hurt yourself (the story of isaac notwithstanding). anyway, i have been an atheist longer than my whole adult life, so i have no interest in pretending to please that nonexistent personage. setting god aside, you don't believe that anyone can be unselfish but i do not share your belief. i think we're hard-wired (not that everyone is fully plugged in lol) to care about the group, not as much as ants or bees are to be sure, but enough to maintain the species, and then with our level of sentience, even more than that. g

If you were given 1,000 acres of land that you didn't have to pay taxes on but couldn't sell, what ...

genessa comments on Sep 10, 2018:

ideally i would turn it into village for dementia patients, but i understand that the startup cost for such a think is around $22 million and i don't think i could generate that with the land (and i have no money, myself). but with that much land in my possession i think i could write a grant for my longer-standing pet project, a dream project really, of running an equine therapy shelter for abused women and children. the land would be a fabulous start. g

Mind on display

genessa comments on Sep 10, 2018:

i would like to have some sensory understanding, literally see through the other person's eyes, to see how similar our sensory perceptions are. there must be some objective reality going on because we can agree that red is red and square is square, but maybe if i saw through someone else's eyes, red would consistently look as salt tastes to me, and square would consistently look as a bell sounds to me. we have no way of knowing. that is what i have wanted to know since i was 11. g

So my boyfriend and I who have been dating for about a year moved in together and the other night we...

genessa comments on Sep 10, 2018:

there is no way to change folks who think that way. all you can do is shrug it off with as much benevolence as you can muster, unless you can "get away with" (it depends on your relationship with your mother) asking her not to bring it up anymore. "that is not how we see it" may or may not work, but don't let her displeasure knock you down. g

Someone on Facebook asked this question: is there one God, many gods, a higher power, or only ...

genessa comments on Sep 10, 2018:

religious people seem to think science is either a force that controls things or a belief system contrary to (or in some cases strangely compatible with) their particular religion. of course it is neither. science doesn't DO anything, and it isn't a THING that sits there waiting for someone to believe in it or not. it's a study. it's the study of how things are, and how things work, in the physical world. until they understand that, even the most logical, plainly put explanation goes zzzzzzzzip! right over their heads. g

Are there any historical reason why some silent letters are there in English words like : knee, ...

genessa comments on Sep 10, 2018:

most such words come from old german, and the silent letters were at one time actually pronounced. notable exceptions among your examples are cabaret and debut, which comes from french, and the rules of pronunciation are different again in that beautiful language. those are not even considered silent letters; they are considered in combination to create a new sound. g

Begining a sentence with, "I'm not racist but," should be known as klansplaning.

genessa comments on Sep 10, 2018:

ha! yeah. but be warned: "i am not a racist" WITHOUT the "but" is often mistaken for a sign of racism. it can be a bit like the old way of determining who was or wasn't a witch. you tie a weight to the suspect and throw her in the drink. if she drowns, she's innocent! by NO MEANS do i mention this to dismiss or downplay racism. it's always been ugly and it's getting louder and uglier, emboldened by our current criminal enterprise... er, i mean government. g

Pineapple pizza

genessa comments on Sep 10, 2018:

not my thing. i won't try to stop you, though. g

I find it difficult to use phrases like, "I do not believe in God" or "I am an atheist". Why?

genessa comments on Sep 10, 2018:

yes they should. but let's face it, they have the ball right now, and they're running with it. if the most vocal folks were atheists, there would be no need for the word at all. however, religion is so prevalent, and so vocal, and so invasive, that there IS a need for the word, to describe the concept. is this how it should be? of course not. is it necessary at the moment? yes, i think so. we're not post-theism yet. g

Oh for Pete's sake, it's a F&$ing CAKE!!! [yahoo.

genessa comments on Sep 10, 2018:

oh THAT bible. well, in the jewish bible, it's a little more iffy, because 1. the christian translations have been numerous and inaccurate and 2. people are idiots. one bit folks take to mean god (not jesus, jesus has no presence in the jewish bible) doesn't want people to be gay is the story of sodom and gomorrah. the story is about inhospitality, but these misinterpreters harp on the fact that the townspeople wanted to have sex with the disguised angels, who are presumably male (i am not sure that is made clear). the problem isn't that the townspeople wanted to have gay sex. it's that they wanted to rape strangers. (note that god's just FINE with lot's offering his daughters to the crowd instead! note too that god's not at all upset that said daughters got daddy drunk and raped him! so taking a moral point from this rather sick story is iffy in and of itself!) so yeah at least in the jewish bible there is something that may confuse the intellectually impaired on the topic of homosexuality. these are the same people that get confused about cakes. g

Are we living in an era of "post-truth" ?

genessa comments on Sep 10, 2018:

fiction is useful as metaphor. if it is taken literally it is no longer seen as metaphorical and loses that usefulness. in addition, dismissing the current political situation because religion has been fooling people longer is kind of weird. it's a little bit like saying you don't have to pay attention to the cancer you just learned you have because after all you've been drinking your liver to mush so why bother? g

Rambling's of a mad woman (warning, LONG)

genessa comments on Sep 10, 2018:

i've never heard of claiming things in the name of jesus. it seems awfully selfish to me! who came up with that one? g

Do you use religious terms sprinkled throughout our language?

genessa comments on Sep 10, 2018:

i say bless you, and often add that it is my own blessing, not god's, i am bestowing, and i have only two to spare. i do not avoid any of the other expressions, although i usually add a middle initial to the jesus fucking christ. i've never been christian, by the way. somehow, oh richard dawkins doesn't work when you bang your toe or trip over the dog. however, i do not say b.c. and a.d. i say b.c.e. and c.e. i do have my standards! if i am for some reason actually speaking about jesus, i do not give him the title christians have given him. jesus wasn't even his real name, but at least it's just a name. christ is a title. i don't use it (except, as aforementioned, i am producing an excited utterance, in which case i am just using the expression as a sound). i most certainly do not say stuff like "it's in god's hands," "it's god's will" or, other than a response to a sneeze, "bless you." g

“Faith offers no way to discover the truth about anything, but it’s a great way to stay wrong ...

genessa comments on Sep 10, 2018:

unfortunately, some folks would rather be wrong than be scared. independent thinking is scary, yes? g

If you could make your pet sentient would you?

genessa comments on Sep 10, 2018:

my cats are sentient. they just can't speak english. i try to speak feline to them sometimes but i am miserable at it. they do understand a lot of my english -- nothing complex of course, but we get by. the dog... not so much. i think you mean if the cat could communicate in english and express its thoughts and feelings, which it already DOES have, which makes it sentient. oh yes, i would love to know who my cats think i am, for one thing! g

Logical Fallacies

genessa comments on Sep 10, 2018:

it depends on what kind of stake i have in busting those fallacies. i choose my battles -- wisely, i hope! so sometimes i just dismiss them. other times i may take the time to point out the fallacies one by one. g

How did you become an Atheist/Agnostic.etc?

genessa comments on Sep 10, 2018:

briefly, i was raised as a secular jew, which means religion was not spoken of much in the family. we celebrated the holidays. we ate jewish food. my folks spoke some yiddish. god? not really part of life. he made a nice occasional invisible friend but that was that. i don't think i ever prayed in my life. age 14 i decided to check it out more and study judaism. after a year of that i realized that while i found talmud study interesting, i wasn't making friends or feeling close to anyone at shul. i stopped going. then i discovered that something my folks told me as fact, and which i had just accepted, wasn't true. they'd told me long-haired boys were dirty and rebellious and i found out that this was incorrect. i decided to question everything else i knew, too. some stuff withstood the test. god didn't. oh well! g

Atheist Business Owner in The Bible Belt

genessa comments on Sep 10, 2018:

well, i am not a business owner per se but i am a writer. if i submit a piece of writing to someone, if the writing isn't about religion, there is no way the recipient knows or should know i am an atheist unless they know me personally (i'm not shy about it). it's irrelevant to the business transaction. g

I'm a dyed in the wool atheist but I went to church today.

genessa comments on Sep 10, 2018:

it's a venue, like any other. nothing to be embarrassed about. g

God and Peter somewhere in Heaven.

genessa comments on Sep 10, 2018:

i heard this from a taxi driver in london: albert einstein dies and goes to heaven, where he is met at the pearly gates by st. peter. the latter says, welcome, mr. einstein. i see you do have a reservation. have you any identification? einstein, naked, has nothing in writing, but begins to talk to st. peter about black holes and e=mc squared and all that. satisfied. st. peter opens the gates. then pablo picasso dies and goes to heaven. st. peter greets him similarly and asks him to identify himself. picasso explains his blue period, and cubism, and all manner of post-impressionistic stuff, and, satisfied, st. peter opens the gates. dan quayle dies and goes to heaven (we could substitute trump here, yes? i'll think about updating the joke later!) for reasons known only to the person who devised the joke, st. peter assures quayle that he has a reservation and asks him to identify himself. quayle is indignant. don't you recognize me? i was the second most powerful man in the world! i had my finger THIS CLOSE to the red button! what's wrong with you? let me in right now! st. peter apologetically explains, well, everyone has to go through the same procedure. it's nothing personal. albert einstein had to do it. pablo picasso had to do it. quayle explodes, albert WHO? pablo WHO? st. peter nods and says, okay, i believe you. you're dan quayle. right this way. g

Had a great day today, world didn't burn up because I'm a atheist.

genessa comments on Sep 10, 2018:

no clue, but i won't be here to see it, and i won't be anywhere else either lol g

List favorite methods of recreational non-motorized transportation, then name your favorite.

genessa comments on Sep 10, 2018:

i like riding horses very well. bicycles do not like me. g

Happy Sunday! Any great plans for the day?

genessa comments on Sep 10, 2018:

i was going to go with my guy, who is not an atheist, to shul, for rosh hashana, but we both ended up in urgent care instead. g

I am planning to have a serious medical attention, today as I walked through the hallway of this ...

genessa comments on Sep 10, 2018:

i have never met a republican doctor. i have met a lot of doctors, too! g

Caps (typing not hats)

genessa comments on Sep 9, 2018:

all caps is universally viewed as shouting. i share the universal view. SOMETIMES it is extra emphasis, but NOT WHEN IT IS THE WHOLE SHEBANG. yep, i care. yes, it matters. i don't even use initial caps in informal writing, but that is partly a stylistic thing and partly the arthritis in my fingers (yes, it hurt to type those examples above). g

OK - Advice needed.

genessa comments on Sep 9, 2018:

i don't know whether or not it's a good idea, but i've done it more than once! some things are just that important. g

So, when dating, how have some of you handled disclosing the fact that you are not a believer?

genessa comments on Sep 9, 2018:

at first i was thinking, how come this never came up? how come this was never an issue? then i realized, the few blind dates/dating service dates i ever had went to badly, there never WAS a second date. anyone else i ever went out with was someone i knew, however well or not well, in another context, so we already at least knew a little about each other. if religion had been important to the other party, it would have come up and the date would not have happened. religionists don't stay in the closet! g

I was face painting at a church last night (didn't burn up in there, lol) and this girl asked for a ...

genessa comments on Sep 9, 2018:

maybe it was her first time at a church. at the age of 10 i had never been to one. now i am wondering, what WAS my first visit? probably to a friend's wedding. we were all 21 or so. he was catholic. the priest wore tennis shoes under his robes. i was impressed by that, but not by anything else, although i was happy for my friend, as he seemed truly in love, and so did his bride, who was also my friend. he and i lost touch for a few decades and then we found each other on facebook a few years ago. (i could not find his wife's name on his friend's list.) he found out i was pro-choice, though, and said he couldn't be my friend anymore, and dropped me. he is no longer a catholic. he has become a born-again christian. i was ready to overlook that and still be his friend for old times' sake. i think he's a smart and kind person. however, even if he thinks i am a smart and kind person, our friendship became impossible for him, not because i HAD an abortion (which i never did, since i've never been pregnant) or because i WOULD have an abortion (i have no idea, since i've never been pregnant) but simply because i believe in letting other women make choices for themselves. to me that is very weird. i am still sad about his dropping me, but i've already veered way off course here. even just trying to remember the first time i set foot inside a church was a digression; now i have digressed from my digression. anyway, if she was in a church for the first time at age 10, she has had the experience half a lifetime sooner than i did! maybe she isn't christian. i never have been. it's not impossible. g

How often do you check out books from your public library?

genessa comments on Sep 9, 2018:

never. i am irresponsible and forgetful and i don't return them. then i feel bad. no, i had best just refrain, tempting though those books may be. g

Have you ever read the list of ingredients on the back of a bag of carrots?

genessa comments on Sep 9, 2018:

not all carrots are equal. by the way, i do not eat celery. g

What would it say?

genessa comments on Sep 9, 2018:

leave home earlier. be braver. g

How many think or feel that god is just nature making man as god as anything else?

genessa comments on Sep 9, 2018:

not me. i hear that sometimes. there is already something of a definition of god, and calling a tree god, or nature god, just confuses the issue. nature is not even just one thing. we see it as a big clump of... nature, but it's a combination of many things. there is no need even to clump it together and call it nature; putting a word to it that also indicates something supernatural just makes it worse. no god is love for me; call love love and call god a fictional character. no god is nature for me; call nature nature, if we must, and don't call god at all. he won't answer, you know! g

Ever been given a tough time for your intelligence?

genessa comments on Sep 9, 2018:

first of all, while intelligence and education are often a good match, they do not mean the same thing. you can be educated without being intelligent and intelligent without being educated. second of all, all black people do not speak with the same accent, enunciation or vocabulary. i heard a distinct new york accent on tv yesterday that amused me so much i turned to look at the screen and whereas i had immediately pictured a college roommate who had spoken like that, and since she was young, slender and white with dark hair, that is how i had pictured this speaker, i found that the speaker was a heavyset black woman of quite a different age from my college roommate (at that time, anyway), and there she was, sounding just like my long-island-born-and-bred white roommie. it wasn't a shock; i already KNEW all black, white or any other kind of people don't all sound alike. but it was funny to have my first impression blown sky high. and by the way, what this person was SAYING, in her new york accent, was pretty darned intelligent. so... stereotyping is downright silly. third of all, there is a lot of jealousy at play in some families. my mother was insecure, and she was always throwing my college education in my face; her parents had only had enough money to send one kid to college, so they sent her brother, who admittedly was a genius, but my mom was intelligent too, and she never got over not being able to complete her education. my younger sister didn't like to read (i read like i breathed) and did indifferently in school, and didn't complete a college education either, so my mother was always protective of her in a way that indicated that she thought i was lording it over my sister due to my higher intelligence (possible but unproven) and education (can't be denied). i wasn't, but that didn't make any difference. i was accused anyway. so i know where you're coming from in that regard, even though i don't have the stereotype thing to deal with -- not that particular one, anyway. i don't know how to solve the problem of course except to say be yourself. you are the only self you have. be that. if it busts people's expectations, if it makes people uncomfortable, well, maybe they need to have that happen. try to enjoy it. it may not be your life's mission, but it can be a little side-mission: surprise people! but always be... how can i put it? never EXPECT to discombobulate people. give folks the benefit of the doubt. enjoy it when they freak out, but don't expect it, or you'll be doing to them what you don't like done to yourself. i hope i put that cogently... and without saying you ARE doing that. just saying that when it happens so much, you can get so used to it, that you expect it and then that changes you. don't let...

A research project: What caused your shift away from religion?

genessa comments on Sep 9, 2018:

i didn't shift away from religion. i just realized there was no god. i was raised as a secular jew. i had nothing against which to rebel; i was not rebelling and i still consider myself a jew, as well as an atheist. there was no trauma attached to my realization. my realization was caused by an activity i see so little of around me. it's called thinking. g

Give me your best quote people.

genessa comments on Sep 9, 2018:

ah but in such an ugly time the true protest is beauty -- phil ochs g

Do u think Christianity is bad ? What's your opinion on it

genessa comments on Sep 9, 2018:

it's delusional of course. sometimes it causes its practitioners to become nasty, even violent. g

Can you recommend a book, please?

genessa comments on Sep 9, 2018:

maybe a funny choice for an atheist but davita's harp by chaim potok. the once and future king by t.h. white the female man by joanna russ, or any of her feminist nonfiction, such as how to suppress women's writing i won't name one, just give you the author: anything you can get your hands on, honestly, it doesn't matter which, because you'll then want to read them all, by nicolas freeling likewise any book you can find by barbara tuchman. the naked ape by desmond morris harpo speaks by harpo marx, and i'm not kidding, this is history, not just a famous person's bio. it's the best! any of oscar levant's autobiographies (i think one is called memoirs of an amnesiac) anything by richard feynman or carl sagan anything by antoine de sainte-exupéry, but if you choose le petit prince, try to read it in french. i recommend one of his other books for a start. anything by nevil shute. a town like alice is a good starting point. that should get you started, anyway! g

What's for dinner?

genessa comments on Sep 9, 2018:

i was going to make hamburgers, a green vegetable not yet chosen (maybe broccoli or zucchini), onions and maybe some potatoes, but we both have the runs today and just got back from urgent care, so we're now on the brat diet -- except we have no bananas, so it's the rat diet -- except i don't like applesauce so for me, the rt diet. g

Your purpose

genessa comments on Sep 9, 2018:

i have a lot of plans. purpose? you mean, as in decided for me by someone else, possibly a higher power? naw, i don't believe in any of that crap. i'm trying to make a difference in the world. does that help? g

My pastor preached from the pulpit that if you are over 40 years old you are not allowed to shop at ...

genessa comments on Sep 9, 2018:

jesus had a thing about shopping? now, i have not read the christian bible but my understanding is that he handed out fishes and loaves, not prayers. also he was (if he existed as described) jewish. jews don't substitute prayer for good works. if your neighbor is hungry, you feed your neighbor. it's amazing how unlike the purported jesus some of his self-professed proponents are. g

Alright....

genessa comments on Sep 9, 2018:

gnostic atheist: i BELIEVE, not i KNOW. the meme got it wrong. g

Anyone have advice on how to come out ofthe atheist closet?

genessa comments on Sep 9, 2018:

i've never been in that closet. it sounds as if your mom will be accepting and understanding, so based on what you've said, i'd just say, "mom, i am an atheist." you can proceed from there based on how she responds. g

What’s your favorite kind of candy bar?

genessa comments on Sep 9, 2018:

i don't eat candy because i am diabetic but if i were to indulge and had access i would have a skybar and some joyva jells, along with some halva. anything with dark chocolate and either mandarin orange or raspberry jelly inside works for me. milk chocolate leaves me cold. hershey's, ick. g

Describe the perfect Lasagna

genessa comments on Sep 9, 2018:

white sauce instead of red. lots of cheese. NOT vegetarian, for me, thanks. g

People often talk about raising children with an open mind, letting them make their own decisions ...

genessa comments on Sep 9, 2018:

let's imagine someone was bringing up their kids to make up their own minds about religion, and that this meant exposing them to religions. which ones? all of them? there are an awful lot. would this mean finding a druid for some special instruction? is there still a norse or ancient greek temple around to visit and perform some rituals? i think teaching kids to have an open mind means telling them something like "there are a lot of religions out there. people are going to talk about their religions. some of it is going to sound awfully attractive to you. make sure you understand it before you jump into it. i personally don't believe in any of them, and i can tell you my reasons if you're interested. maybe it would be better if i did that when you came to me with some specific questions, perhaps about a specific religion, but they all have to do with a god or some gods, and i believe there is no such thing as a god. now go do your normal thing and i'm here for you if you have any questions. don't be afraid to ask. now drink your milk and go play." g

I am currently reading "Flight or Fright" - it is a book of short horror stories about flying.

genessa comments on Sep 9, 2018:

i'm terrified. i do it anyway, or i did when i could afford it. g

Jehovah's Withnesses

genessa comments on Sep 9, 2018:

they are entitled to believe such foolishness as they will. they do tend to have a bit of a problem with sexual abuse within the congregation (whether this involves clergy, as it does in the catholic church, or just the clergy's admonition that the abused remain silent, i do not know). to that they are NOT entitled. i understand they do not wish to vote or be involved in other worldly matters, as god is in control. naturally, as an atheist, i think that's dumb, but people have a right to be dumb, even in large, organized numbers. but they really should be investigated for the child abuse thing. that's not legal and it goes beyond religious freedom. g

Where do you find meaning?

genessa comments on Sep 9, 2018:

i don't find the issue of meaning a good argument at all against atheism. of course there is meaning without a supreme being but let's imagine for a moment that life is indeed meaningless. if it is, it is! and if we don't like that, we don't like that! does our not LIKING how something is prove it ISN'T that way? that is one of the worst arguments against atheism i've ever heard, APART from the fact that we make our own meaning and the whole meaningless-without-god thing is bogus from the git-go. as for your last question: life is a characteristic, not a thing. it can't have a purpose. people can have a purpose. life itself? it is its own purpose, just as the universe is. to attribute purpose you have to attribute will, and to attribute will, you have to have someone to exercise the will . that implies (in this instance) a supreme being. i believe there are none of those. so i don't use the word purpose with regard to life or the universe. i may have one. i decide that! g

I was thinking about a conversation I had recently with a woman who had been sucked into joining a ...

genessa comments on Sep 9, 2018:

She was vulnerable and she was snapped up like a tasty fish. i am sorry to hear it. g

What's a phrase you vehemently despise?

genessa comments on Sep 9, 2018:

One? hard to say, but among the contenders: "it's god's will" and "it's in god's hands now." in some circumstances, i dislike "it takes time" because it is used to explain why something isn't happening. in most cases, "it takes WORK" is more appropriate. in japan, i taught a woman's group and when i brought up women's rights they'd tell me "it takes time." i'd respond, "then you'd better start NOW!" g

Are we meant to be with one person forever?

genessa comments on Sep 9, 2018:

I have trouble with the "meant" part of the question. you mean are humans hard-wired for monogamy? probably to an extent, but with our supposed sentience, we tend to wander off, so to speak. marriage, of course, is just an arrangement. through most of history it was an economic one. if that is no longer an important reason for marriage, then marriage is redefined. g

Interested in your thoughts on two different topics: 1) Karma 2) Soul-mates

genessa comments on Sep 9, 2018:

1. as usually defined (what goes around comes around, or people getting what they deserve): magical thinking. attractive and ridiculous. 2. people can be sympatico without bringing souls into it. g

Do you believe in Karma?

genessa comments on Sep 9, 2018:

Lol karma by the definition you present (by example)? no, not even a little bit. karma as in remote and seemingly random cause and effect? yeah. for example: i am reading a book but the phone rings so i put the book down and it falls on the floor and the dog eats some of the pages. a friend comes over to borrow that book but it's been destroyed so she borrows a different one instead, and the book she borrowed instead makes her mad and she throws it at her boyfriend, who leaves her because she is always throwing things at him and that was the last straw. he takes up with someone else and they have a child, and the child grows up to be a brute who murders women. so women died because my phone rang. it's true and silly at the same time. it's just cause and effect and it's not a matter of people getting punished or rewarded for their behavior by some kind of "fate." g

Do you collect anything?

genessa comments on Sep 9, 2018:

Gund stuffed animals. i like to squeeze them. g

Can men and women just be friends?

genessa comments on Sep 9, 2018:

Of course. haven't you ever? i have always had friends of both genders (and some fluidly gendered people too). i don't fall in love with people just because they're there or available. g

Should women still act like women and men like men?

genessa comments on Sep 9, 2018:

Why would a woman have to ACT like a woman unless she wasn't sure she was a woman? why would a man have to ACT like a man unless he wasn't sure he was a man? and what does a woman or a man act like anyway? how do you define femininity? wearing makeup or heels? acting stupid so a guy can feel smart? some women are strong and others aren't as strong. the same is true of men. why does everyone have to follow the same path? if men feel insecure that a woman is strong, maybe that's just a little residual patriarchal privilege trying to be heard. i'd ignore it. g

Do men have a duty to provide?

genessa comments on Sep 9, 2018:

That is entirely up to the couple/family involved. that's not for the general public to decide. if the wife has a career and the husband doesn't, for one of many examples, why shouldn't she provide economically for the family while he provides other services? i assume you meant financially. that is not the only provision a family needs, and tradition-be-damned, there is no reason why familial duties have to be sorted by gender. g

Where you should be?

genessa comments on Sep 9, 2018:

My so-called career was almost completely accidental. i was not able to fulfill my prepubescent career dreams of becoming either an animal psychologist or a spy; i did not have the fortitude to try to make it as a stage actor, which is what i wanted in my college days; i took and passed the dga training test thrice, and made it to the interview stage thrice, but was never chosen for the program, so i did not become a film director (which is not what the apprenticeship is supposed to lead to but that was my plan anyway). i did deliberately leave a secretarial job to go work as a book copy editor and that led to my becoming a magazine's associate editor, and that is as close to choosing a career as i ever came. that is not to say i did not love some of the jobs i've had, or that this was my only writing job, either. that's not the same as a career, though. now i am old and disabled. i have no career. i still write. i am too tired to write for a living. g

Can a moderate have a place in this agnostic site?

genessa comments on Sep 9, 2018:

Which theist? anyway, we're all different. the only thing we have in common is that we don't believe there are any gods or we believe there are no gods. everything else is just the normal variation one might find among theists, atheists or whomever. what is it you think you have in common with theists, and do theists all have it in common with each other? g

Do you find it offensive when theist think without a belief in god/gods, it’s impossible to have ...

genessa comments on Sep 9, 2018:

yes. also frustrated. it happens a lot online. face to face, the worst i have had to endure recently was someone's assuring me that atheism is a religion. g

What political party do you consider yourself to be?

genessa comments on Sep 9, 2018:

i am, and always have been, a registered democrat. by the way, we don't have as many political parties as we are purported to have. the republican "party" has been taken over by a criminal enterprise. i am not being snarky. i am stating a fact. g

Debating Atheism

genessa comments on Sep 9, 2018:

atheism not being a religion, it hasn't got any rules. it's just a descriptive definition of a state of not believing in any gods, or in believing there are no gods. atheists sometimes find themselves in a position to make a quick choice whether or not to debate. that's not a rule. that's circumstance. if i am not in the mood for a long conversation, the tooth fairy is a convenient reference. i generally mention that she still owes me a quarter. i don't always go into enough detail to add that with inflation and interest to consider, she owes me an awful lot more now. g

What would make you believe in a God?

genessa comments on Sep 9, 2018:

nothing would make me believe in a god, as we understand the term. nothing. if a god came down from, let's say, a heaven, and announced himself, i would call my shrink. g

What would you say to God if when you died you were faced with him?

genessa comments on Sep 9, 2018:

that would depend on which god it was. g

If a stranger approached you to have a friendly chat about your god position, what would go on in ...

genessa comments on Sep 9, 2018:

i have no idea! i don't think it would be the same thing every time. it would depend on the time of day, whether i'd eaten yet, whether the stranger was approaching with a bible in his/her hand, whether or not the stranger was smiling, whether or not i believed the smile if any, where we were, what was going on at the time, and a while bunch of other stuff. g

Are you a friendly or unfriendly, atheist or theist?

genessa comments on Sep 9, 2018:

i'm a friendly person. i'm also an atheist. whether i am friendly to others when atheism is the topic of discussion depends on what the other person is selling and how aggressively s/he is selling it. i am not going to define myself as a friendly atheist or an unfriendly atheist, as that plays into some stereotypes about atheists. our only unifying characteristic is that we either don't believe there are any gods or believe there are no gods. g

What is a particular creative piece -- a work of art, a book, a movie, a song, a performance, ...

genessa comments on Sep 9, 2018:

jewish atheist here and look what i listen to: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DO2mGdhosXo g

What’s a movie or song that you can never get tired of?

genessa comments on Sep 9, 2018:

the grateful dead's live dead album g

Share with me some music.

genessa comments on Sep 9, 2018:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0aDtqjc4v0I g

Do animals have "souls"

genessa comments on Sep 9, 2018:

by your definition of "soul," with which i am uncomfortable, yes. i just don't wish to call it soul. g

What's your dream job?

genessa comments on Sep 9, 2018:

part-time film director, part-time ethnomusicologist, moonlighting as animal psychologist and secret agent. g

If you had to get a song lyric tattooed on your body, what would you choose?

genessa comments on Sep 9, 2018:

can i cheat and use an album cover liner note instead? from phil ochs: "ah but in such an ugly time the true protest is beauty." g

So what is your most hated song of alltime?

genessa comments on Sep 9, 2018:

too many to list, but pretty much anything with a certain diminished chord in it. it's a chord debussy (whom i dislike) used a lot. i'm blanking, can't think of anything but "tangerine" at the moment that also has it. off the top of my head, among the songs without that chord that i can't stand, "my way," "is that all there is?" and "the long and boring song..." oops i mean "the long and winding road" -- the only beatles song that i, an avid beatles fan, can't stand -- stand out. it's morning. i don't do mornings. my mind is mostly blank. g

What song was 1 on your 14th birthday?

genessa comments on Sep 9, 2018:

it's not that i don't remember what was number one on the charts on my 14th birthday. it's that i paid no attention to the charts and would not have had a clue what was on them in any position, much less number one. i didn't even like rock 'n roll until i was 15! at 14 i was listening to the incidental music from egmont, by beethoven, and an album called "invitation to the dance" that had some short classical pieces on it by liszt, weber (whom i didn't like that much) and others. there were others but those spring immediately to mind. g

What is good for your soul?

genessa comments on Sep 9, 2018:

i understand your definition of soul, but i view it a little bit as i view the redefinition of god as a vague appreciation of nature: that word is already in use and has a powerful definition that is hard to transcend. so i will try to answer but with the caveat that i do (however gently) object to this use of it in the context of an agnostic site :-)) so what resonates with me? so many things, most of them musical, notably the grateful dead's live dead album. but so much more. g

Do you support Trump?

genessa comments on Sep 9, 2018:

sorry, he deserves as much respect as a painful rectal itch, which he closely resembles. he is not the office and the office is not him. i respect the office, which he does not. asking for no disrespect sort of scotches the poll, doesn't it? if you mean no disrespect for each other, that's fine; we can be civil here. but no disrespect for trump? disrespect doesn't even BEGIN to cover the contempt with which i view him. you ask why? well, he's a self-serving, lying little wannabe dictator who, for reasons not yet specified, feels more loyalty (i use the term loosely) to putin than to the united states; he's a white supremacist; he's a misogynisyt; he's a moron; and he's a moron. also he's a moron. did i mention he's a moron? g

As a non theist, what are your top 3 political issues you would like to see addressed in the ...

genessa comments on Sep 9, 2018:

three? only three? i know prioritizing is important but everything is going to, oh pardon the religious expression (we really do need to do something about our language) hell! yes to everything i see here so far but NONE of it will happen until we flip everything blue. not a bit of it. so my FIRST priority is getting people into power who want to do all these things too. otherwise it's just a useless wish list. g

Would you or wouldn't you?

genessa comments on Sep 9, 2018:

i will have to answer this question soon. my endometrial biopsy isn't until the 17th. i've been trying to answer it in advance and i can't. g

Do you believe that 'necessary' evil exists? Why or why not?

genessa comments on Sep 9, 2018:

no. evil is never necessary. g

Would you want a Christian God to be real?

genessa comments on Sep 9, 2018:

hell no. i wouldn't want the christian god to be real. i've never even been a christian but if christians are any indication of what their god is like, i want nothing to do with him/it. g

For believers, fear of atheists is fueled by fear of death

genessa comments on Sep 9, 2018:

i think it's much simpler than that. i think religionists sometimes fear atheists because atheists, to a religionist, are THEM, and religionists, to a religionist, are US. g

Do you decorate your home for Xmas or any other winter holiday?

genessa comments on Sep 9, 2018:

never having been christian, i do not decorate my home for any christian holidays. one year when my folks were out of town, when my sister and i were young, we decided to see what it was like to have a christmas tree. it shed needles and the cats ate them. that was enough of an education for me. g

What is everyone's thought on this?

genessa comments on Sep 9, 2018:

why would that be surprising? college grads don't automatically lose the superstitions, prejudices and delusions of their parents and their upbringing just because they attended some classes. it's not as if they've been deprogrammed! g