TOTAL ATHIEST WORLD?

wordywalt comments on Jan 5, 2018:

No, an atheist world is not going to solve all our problems. As a species, we will still make enough mistakes to give us nightmares.

I asked Trump a blunt question: Do you read? - The Washington Post

wordywalt comments on Jan 5, 2018:

The problem is that Trump lacks the basic intelligence to read serious writing with any substance.

Morning musing: One of my issues with religion vs science: "Thou shalt not test the lord your god".

wordywalt comments on Jan 5, 2018:

The key difference to the advance of humanity!!! Asking questions and testing reality is the only avenue to human progress. This is a message we should all trumpet to the world!!

Here is a "What If". Role reversal.

wordywalt comments on Jan 5, 2018:

Because the biochemistry of the female body leads to different drives and imbedded nurturing tendencies. I recommend that you read the brilliant satire on the topic, THE FOUNDER, written by Gunther Grass. Grass was also highly critical of the women's movement in Germany during the 1980s. His criticism stated that the problem was that the German feminists were trying to use power like men, and that "we already had too many stupid men in the world."

Are people really this dumb?

wordywalt comments on Jan 5, 2018:

Yes, they do. Because their minds are ruled by racial hatred, bigotry, greed, and stupidity.

THE AMERICAN IDENTITY.

wordywalt comments on Jan 5, 2018:

A person's heritage is that which they identify with and can legitimately claim to be a part of. We all have multiple heritages we could claim, but we are not obligated to claim any of them. The choices are ours, and ours alone. As an example, My family has lived in the deep south of the USA for over 280 years. The family was Methodist for a number of generations. I reject both of those, as they are at odds with who I am.I am descended from a mixture of German and Scotch-Irish ancestors. At the same time, my DNA tells me that I have traces of African, American Indian (Pima or Aztec), Scandinavian, and South European (probably Spanish) ancestry That makes me identify with American melting pot. I believe in an American democracy and in ther principles on which that democracy was founded.. Most of my roots are here in this country. So, yes, I am an American and proud of it.

If you were having a marriage ceremony, is there a specific style that would influence you?

wordywalt comments on Jan 5, 2018:

It is the joint commitment that counts. The rest is optional. I was married on-=once in the government marriage office of the city of Berlin , Germany, and again in a chapel ceremony arranged by my second wife.

Why are so many people still OK with the abhorrent practice of male genital mutilation ...

wordywalt comments on Jan 5, 2018:

Genital mutilation should be banned, period. The practice arises from a combination of religion, culturally based male domination, and sheer ignorance.

Upon the inevitable...,.

wordywalt comments on Jan 5, 2018:

Cremated, ashes scattered. No service of any kind.

What should one do when asked to tell the truth so help you god?

wordywalt comments on Jan 5, 2018:

I would respond, "I tell the truth without any outside help."

Do atheists have morals without religion?

wordywalt comments on Jan 5, 2018:

Go back and read past posts on this topic.

Why is it so hard to realize we are just like any creature that has ever lived on this planet?

wordywalt comments on Jan 5, 2018:

Totally agree!

Do you agree/

wordywalt comments on Jan 5, 2018:

I agree that our news sources have degenerated over the years. They spend far too much time dealing with talking heads and deal with often unimportant things. They no longer conduct serious investigative journalism. They feel compelled to give both sides, even when the stances or behaviors of one side are clearly immoral or wrong. An, the obsess over issues -- almost totally shutting full coverage of all news for up to days to focus on one event or issue. They truly need to get back to real journalism!

Debate or not debate?

wordywalt comments on Jan 5, 2018:

I agree that well-performed debates about religion in front of large scale audiences can be valuable. Such debates can expose major flaws in religious ideology and hypocritical behavior by believers in he religion. At he same time, I think that one-on-one private arguments about religion are senseless, as such debates degenerate into reason versus blind irrationality.

Is religion the prime source of anti-intellectualism?

wordywalt comments on Jan 5, 2018:

It is a prime source of anti-intellectualism, but certainly not the only one. Extreme commitment to ANY political, religious, economic, or social dogma is also a prime source. l

How do you feel about people saying "I'm proud of my heritage", "I'm proud of being British", etc.

wordywalt comments on Jan 5, 2018:

What the person proclaiming pride in one's heritage is doing is saying indirectly that he or she identifies with the values and beliefs of that culture. . When an American southerner says the he or she expresses pride in his or her southern heritage, he or she is says (in a masked manner) that he identifies with racism, prejudice, discrimination, extreme religiosity, and disapproval of our federal government. It is for that very reason that I , whose family roots in the deep south go back 280 years, absolutely reject my so-called southern heritage. That heritage does not exemplify who I am or want to be.

I always got a kick out of this Youtube channel.

wordywalt comments on Jan 4, 2018:

Well done.

Do you serve a purpose or purposely serve?

wordywalt comments on Jan 4, 2018:

I am, period. The only purposes I serve are those of my own choosing, based on the principles in which I believe.

What motivates you to get out of bed in the morning?

wordywalt comments on Jan 4, 2018:

At my age, an aching back. Seriously, m my garden, my wife, the hope that I will learn something new. Also the hope that today will be the end of Trump's political career.

Here is another article that I found interesting.

wordywalt comments on Jan 4, 2018:

The premise is correct. Reagan was a genial fellow, but under that, he was a reactionary ideologue who was a lot less intelligent than he thought he was. He led deregulation to open the doors for the culture of greed, and his "supply side economics" stoked that greed, while hurting the middle class and creating the largest national debt up to that time. After Reagan, Newt Gringrich, Tom Delay, Dick Armee, and Phil Gramm push the drive to the extreme right and to unfettered capitalism gone amok. Then Mitch McConnell started his crazy stances that money equals speech and that corporations are people, and just keep repeating it o, over and over. He then proved the premise that if a person of prominence repeats something often enough, soime fools start to believe it. Then the demagogic Atomin Scalia (unfit by temperament to be a Justice, but McConnell's demagogic tripe into the Supreme Court. From there is was been a short series of steps to Citizens United, Trump , and the moral collapse of the Republican Party -- aided and abetted by evangelical Christian leaders.

Is the brain hardwired for religion? | HowStuffWorks

wordywalt comments on Jan 4, 2018:

I believe it! When, I read the book of Revelations as a teen, I thought -- even then -- that these are the demented ravings of a lunatic.

Is the brain hardwired for religion? | HowStuffWorks

wordywalt comments on Jan 4, 2018:

I believe it! When, I read the book of Revelations as a teen, I thought -- even then -- that these are the demented ravings of a lunatic.

Self-awareness not unique to mankind

wordywalt comments on Jan 4, 2018:

I agree.

What is your moral compass?

wordywalt comments on Jan 4, 2018:

I use a similar guiding principle: minimum violation of human dignity and respect, and of the environment that sustains us.

When eminent biologists, astrophysicists, geneticists choose religion over rationalism or atheism,...

wordywalt comments on Jan 4, 2018:

Any time a scientist lets religious ideology trump his or her objective scientific thought and practice, he or she has forfeited his or her right to be taken seriously.

Religion and school

wordywalt comments on Jan 4, 2018:

Patently illegal!

Important feature of religions' survival mechanism is to train believer's to think any ...

wordywalt comments on Jan 4, 2018:

An accurate statement!

Do you have any vestigial traits left over from your religion?

wordywalt comments on Jan 4, 2018:

You use the wrong term. Traits are physically inherited. Do we harbor behaviors and beliefs from an earler time in our lives? Of course.

I always wonder about that being “in a better place”— how is being dead a better place?

wordywalt comments on Jan 4, 2018:

To me, dying is preferable to living in constant, intense pain, or to being in a state of dementia.

Since you all have been non believers, has it ever crossed your mind "what if im wrong"?

wordywalt comments on Jan 3, 2018:

If course. That is the process of belief, doubt, overwhelming doubt missed with lingering fear, to full freedom.

Men Or Women? Which Of The Two Is Most Intelligent?

wordywalt comments on Jan 3, 2018:

Intelligence has no correlation with one sex or the other.

I was messing around on Pinterest earlier and picked this up.

wordywalt comments on Jan 3, 2018:

Whoever wrote that quote must have known my first wife.

The Eternal Return : Will we re-live this life?

wordywalt comments on Jan 3, 2018:

No. That is either a pipe=dream or a nightmare, depending on how you imagine it.

Is there intelligent life on earth?

wordywalt comments on Jan 3, 2018:

What is your point, if any?

I too am new to the site those doing the Christian bashing have nothing better to do.

wordywalt comments on Jan 3, 2018:

I tend to agree. I do not want to waste my time, energy, and/or thought with religion-- period. I choose not to believe, to be free. I also choose to stay away from it in every sense as much as possible and will have nothing to do with it, except when it impinges on me and infringes my rights. To those bashers: Grow up and get over it! The more you dwell on it, the more you are still letting it control you.

Do you volunteer in your community?

wordywalt comments on Jan 3, 2018:

I spent my career helping people. Today I share the fruits of my garden with my neighbors. I also support the civil rights community. Anything I give will be of my own free will and without any outside supervision.

Marijuana for recreational or medicinal? Dont be shy?

wordywalt comments on Jan 3, 2018:

No. I tried it several times over 40 years ago and did not like its effects.

Tithing, Taxes... is there a difference?

wordywalt comments on Jan 3, 2018:

No religious institution controls a dime of my money -- and never will. I pay taxes voluntarily to pay my fair share of governmental services and to be a responsible citizen -- as everybody who is not a freeloader should!

In your opinion, is natural selection the best way to improve a species?

wordywalt comments on Jan 3, 2018:

Yes.

We are constantly debating the principle of a "religious liberty".

wordywalt comments on Jan 3, 2018:

Absolutely. Its collusion with duplicitous and demagogic evangelical leaders is eroding our freedom FROM religi9n

Those who have lived the bulk of their lives as a theist and woke up , what resources helped you ...

wordywalt comments on Jan 3, 2018:

The only resources the average person of average intelligence or aboveneeds are the exercise of reason and critical thinking.

So atheist or agnostic men don't shave, huh?

wordywalt comments on Jan 3, 2018:

Where did that comment come from?

Most Personality Quizzes Are Junk Science. I Found One That Isn’t. | FiveThirtyEight

wordywalt comments on Jan 3, 2018:

I tend to agree. When purported psychological instruments are used, we need to take real care that they really measure what they claim to and that the descriptors they use have merit.

My religion is kindness and rational thought.

wordywalt comments on Jan 3, 2018:

We do not need a religion or even to use the word religion in describing what we do and who we are.Ifyou want to say that kindness and rational thought comprise your modus operendus, goo for you!

An Atheist believes that a hospital should be built instead of a church.

wordywalt comments on Jan 3, 2018:

I agree wholeheartedly.

I believe in the power of faith.

wordywalt comments on Jan 2, 2018:

You and I define "faith" differently. I define faith as blind loyalty and trust. What you describe, I simply call confidence or serf-confidence. To me= they are very different things.

FFRF blocks Alaska city giveaway to church 

wordywalt comments on Jan 2, 2018:

Actually, if might not be a bad idea if (1) churches could only tax their members, (2) could not receive any additional funds from any source -- including tithing, and if (3) the church were required to have nothing to say about politics in any form. Actually, in Germany, the Federal government ask citizens what religious groups they belong to, and if they belong to a denomination, they are taxed a certain amount and the taxes are given to the denomination. Atheists pay no such taxes. Tithing is not common in German denominations. The result is that church income is more modest and the church tends to play a lesser part in German society.

Have you written a Letter To an Editor for publication?

wordywalt comments on Jan 2, 2018:

Yes. at least a dozen or more over the years In Galesburg, Illinois; in Salina. Kansas; Wichita, Kansas' in the Tampa Tribune and in the Tampa Bay Times. A couple drew responses from people on the political right, and among the evangelical community.

Cemeteries, creepy, or peaceful?

wordywalt comments on Jan 2, 2018:

I find them interesting for the stories they can tell. You can see who lived there, when an who probably knew each other and intermarried. You see ate ages at which people died, and sometimes what they died of. It might even tell you if a pandemic type illness struck the area. You see how large families were. The size of the stones or monuments tells something about status.

How does your mind deal with the concept of “nothing.

wordywalt comments on Jan 2, 2018:

You, as an entity, will cease to exist when you die. Your energy will be recycled, a will your molecules, but you are gone forever as the entity that you are today. That is a fact. So, what is there to worry about?

What are views on nationalism? Do you think it is as dangerous as religion and god?

wordywalt comments on Jan 2, 2018:

Aggressive nationalism is a scourge of mankind. But, nationalism, in the sense of people identifying with the principles and processes of a nation, can be healthy. This form of nationalism breaks the bonds of tribalism and lessensethnic hatreds.

Breaking Crosses

wordywalt comments on Jan 2, 2018:

That is a GREAT one!

Does evolution occur in leaps or slowly, both?

wordywalt comments on Jan 2, 2018:

Both. It depends on the suddenness and degree of environmental change, and on the impact of specific mutations.

The Illusion of Truth - How Cognitive Ease Can Be Artificially Created

wordywalt comments on Jan 2, 2018:

We all need to track the manipulators, what they are doing, and how they are doing it!

Hello, new here.

wordywalt comments on Jan 2, 2018:

You have some things worth saying. But, you need to do a much better job of organizing your thoughts and of writing succinctly if you want people to pay more attention to what you say.

What’s one thing that a religious person has ever done to make you very angry?

wordywalt comments on Jan 2, 2018:

Try the embrace of Trump by major evangelical leaders!

Got the news that a close friend has inoperable brain cancer.

wordywalt comments on Jan 2, 2018:

Evidently you have not been through some of the days that I have.

Do you trust that what you believe to be true, is true?

wordywalt comments on Jan 2, 2018:

We should always examine what we believe for substantiation, rationality, and morality. Do we? Not always.

Quick poll.

wordywalt comments on Jan 2, 2018:

That was never my response. I simply moved away from religion.

The admistration has twice denied a reply I made on the website.

wordywalt comments on Jan 2, 2018:

Very good! You have always suffered from the incivility of most right-wingers.

America’s 100 Largest Churches Are All Anti-Gay and Mostly Led By White Men – Friendly Atheist

wordywalt comments on Jan 2, 2018:

That I would expect. They are largely evangelical -- the most bigoted and hypocritical.

What makes you break out your soapbox?

wordywalt comments on Jan 1, 2018:

I get on mu high horse if I hear something patently false stated as absolute truth; when someone says something that is needlessly or senselessly hurtful; when someone tries to "cram something down my throat. These things gel under my skin quickly.

You might find this hard going.

wordywalt comments on Jan 1, 2018:

And, today, they are not worshiped by anyone. So much for omnipresence.

DARPA Is Planning to Hack the Human Brain to Let Us "Upload" Skills

wordywalt comments on Jan 1, 2018:

the whole idea is lunacy. I am sure that it does appeal to authoritarians who want control, but is not possible now or in the near future.

Nobody is laughing at the Religious Left in 2017 – ThinkProgress

wordywalt comments on Jan 1, 2018:

The more that can be done to expose Trump's evangelical "leader" supporters as the hypocrites and charlatans that they are, the better If this results in a real rift in the evangelical community good. It would cause some to leave religion, and would shame the charlatans.

You are given 5 choices of television stations with the luxury of no commercial breaks, but can only...

wordywalt comments on Jan 1, 2018:

Have always been a history buff.

Did you experience Religious Trauma Syndrome in leaving religion?

wordywalt comments on Jan 1, 2018:

Leaving religion behind made my life more pleasant then and thereafter.

So, today is the day when everyone joins a gym for a week!

wordywalt comments on Jan 1, 2018:

Yes, that happens. But, I have been going regularly to the gym for the 11 + years and intend to keep going until I physically can't. It is literally the thing that keeps me going physically at the age of 80. It makes a difference!

Why don't churches have to pay taxes?

wordywalt comments on Jan 1, 2018:

I believe that all religious organizations and political PACs should be required to undergo audits by a licensed CPA *chosen at random from an accredited list) on a yearly basis-- with the results available to the public. I also believe that all religious organizations involved in generating funds should be taxed.

Do you taunt the religious?

wordywalt comments on Dec 31, 2017:

No. I try to treat all people with dignity and respect.

Would you marry for money or more freedom?

wordywalt comments on Dec 31, 2017:

If you are not sure, don't.

Religious Hypocrisy In the past I worked with this guy who was an Evangelical Christian and I was...

wordywalt comments on Dec 31, 2017:

Their behavior is knowlingly hypocritical. They choose immoral behavior which they know their theology would label sinful, then try to use the religion to find forgivenessThey know that their behavior is a lie. They also admire Trump, because, in their yes, Trump is a successful knowing "sinner" and liar.

Do you taunt the religious?

wordywalt comments on Dec 31, 2017:

I fault religious leadx\ers and demagogues.

"Christian" slander/libel you may be quite happy, then they ask you, are you angry I'm picking up ...

wordywalt comments on Dec 31, 2017:

Snart.

Are atheist/agnostic people more susceptible to depression?

wordywalt comments on Dec 31, 2017:

Depression is largely a matter of two things -- the ongoing wearing away caused by heavy stress, and by our own brain chemistry. It has nothing top do with you belief systems.

Should we be making plans for "when the shit hits the fan?

wordywalt comments on Dec 31, 2017:

We MUST belief that we can stop the malevolent union of nationalistic ethnocentrism, evangelical Christianity, the culture of greed and reactionary ideology -- and do everything we can to stop it. I have reached the latter years of my life, but Ai shudder to think of what life would be like for my daughters and grandchildren if we -- ALL of the American people do not act to stop it. We owe it to our progeny and to our ongoing, living dream of democracy in our nation to CRUSH this damnable malignancy!!

I am an aspiring Sci-fi novelist.

wordywalt comments on Dec 31, 2017:

In my personal career, my attitude -- as a soldier, as a teacher, researcher, writer, and educational leader, my attitude always affected my work. I find it difficult to think that one's personal attitudes do not affect how on performs his or her work.

Life on other Planets? Yes or No?

wordywalt comments on Dec 31, 2017:

There is likely life on other planers. But, without any evidence, certainty is not possible.

What, not who, makes life worth living?

wordywalt comments on Dec 31, 2017:

Learning and comprehending, the appreciation of beauty in all its forms, warm human relationships, communing with nature, our successes that make a difference, treasured memories.

Very tired of the religious world we live in where it is taken for granted that a person believes in...

wordywalt comments on Dec 30, 2017:

Take it with a real grin. They attack because disbelief threatens them greatly and causes them to act with incivility. Label their incivility for what it is and walk away with a grin.

I've been here a few days, actually level 4..., whatever that means...?

wordywalt comments on Dec 30, 2017:

More than I would like to see. although I do sometimes enjoy the debates.

This site is very exciting.

wordywalt comments on Dec 30, 2017:

I agree with the sentiment, but wonder if we need to wait until the evangelicals embarrass themselves with the support of Trump, -- and , in the meantime, finding other ways to exert influence.

I cannot lie, I am a Bibliophile

wordywalt comments on Dec 30, 2017:

I could not agree with you more! I only wish that my vision were good enough to allow me to read as much as I did for most of my life.

If you lived in the distant past, would you have been an agnostic/atheist?

wordywalt comments on Dec 30, 2017:

There is no way of knowing.

Do zodiac signs (star signs) have a significant role in your life?

wordywalt comments on Dec 30, 2017:

Astrology is about as useful as religion.

Ever wondered why people in the U.S. struggle more each year just to get by?

wordywalt comments on Dec 30, 2017:

The answer is simpler than you say. The culture of civic responsibility in the corporate world has been superceded by the culture of greed -- maximizing profits by any means possible without concern for the results. And Big money meddlers in politics and Republican ideologues are responsible.

Are there any classical music buffs out there?

wordywalt comments on Dec 30, 2017:

Ilisten to classical music every day. Favorite composers include Copland, Stravinsky, Sebelius, Max Bruch, Beethoven, Liszt, Schumann, and many others.

10 Cool Christopher Hitchens Quotes: These are ten of my favorites from Christopher Hitchens.

wordywalt comments on Dec 30, 2017:

Well done!

Are you 100% certain that there is no god?

wordywalt comments on Dec 30, 2017:

I am a 100 percenter -- and proudly so!

Does the lack of beleif in an afterlife bring you fear or comfort?

wordywalt comments on Dec 30, 2017:

If the end is the end, there is nothing to fear afterward.

Watching bill Maher when he stated some religious people pay no mind to climate and human activities...

wordywalt comments on Dec 29, 2017:

What hypocrisy. One of the many inconsistencies in the beliefs and behaviors of FAR TOO MANY purportedly religious people!

figured you guys might like this :) steal away :P I sure did lmao

wordywalt comments on Dec 29, 2017:

Absolutely true in my case.

Is anyone else here godless but with a certain set of ideas to live by?

wordywalt comments on Dec 29, 2017:

Any thinking and moral person forms and uses standards to guide his or her decisions and actions. Such action is necessary for a meaningful life.

Wall St. is doing very good! Is the 'bubble' about to burst?

wordywalt comments on Dec 29, 2017:

Likely. Todays gains are due to ridiculously low interest rates, and people are leery of real estate after 2008.So, too much money is going into the stock market, causing inflation of stock prices.

What do you think?

wordywalt comments on Dec 29, 2017:

I am not sure. Still, one does need to understand an ideology to fully know why it is to be rejected.

So on Facebook I’m friends with 2 physicists Sean Carrol and Lawrence Krauss.

wordywalt comments on Dec 29, 2017:

No. I admire and respect highly intelligent people, but I do not stand in awe of them.

What are your thoughts about euthanasia?

wordywalt comments on Dec 29, 2017:

When a person facing a long, painful, wasting away, it is an appropriate choice for himself or herself. It has to be a personal choice.

The unconscionable lack of integrity in media

wordywalt comments on Dec 29, 2017:

Don't watch such channels. Watch PBS and listen to NPR

Is it inevitable that in order to accept scientific discovery all humans must think the same way and...

wordywalt comments on Dec 29, 2017:

No. There is healthy debate in the scientific community.

are you afraid of death?

wordywalt comments on Dec 29, 2017:

At the age of 80, my answer is no.