Every single priest, imam, bishop, cardinal, guru, rajarshi, mullah, rabbi, reverend and on and on are all philosophers of one stripe or another, and considering how absolutely fucked up they've made the world and the majority of the population that follows them with the "product" that they spew all philosophers should all be rounded up and used to test weapons on.

IMHO, of course.

@1of5 I could totally live with that. No question.

@KKGator best part? After the successful weapons tests we could get rid of a majority of the weapons.

There is no "meaning to life", it just is. So we do the best we can without hurting anybody else. Of course all the people who have "the answers" will tell you you differently. That said, it is still very interesting to discuss all the possibilities and what if's.

There is a huge difference between the intellectual masturbation of which you speak, and serious discussion of thoughts and issues.

@wordywalt so you only like jacking off to porn that has you in it?

@wordywalt so you say, definitely not I.

@SenorRotten

Exactly.

I expect better from you. You know damned well that probing philosophical inquiry is not navel-gazing.

I agree: hiking, fishing, kayaking - anything in the great outdoors (with as few other humans in sight ; children, and helping others (especially helping children) are my ‘spiritual connection’. I always felt most alive when backpacking in the Sierra mountain range in Northern California, and when fishing in the many lakes and rivers. I am now (again) living in the Great Northwest, living in a rural area with many hiking trails, rivers and lakes nearby. I am also involved with supporting my grandkids and other children via 4-H. Life is good. I feel ‘connected’ again. Living in Florida - not so much.

I do feel a need to point out that I don’t consider the study (or interest in) philosophy as navel-gazing. I suspect this wasn’t your intent either. Of course, I don’t include Eastern religion/philosophy in the same category as wester classical philosophy. Much of the former is, indeed, navel-gazing, in my view.

@wordywalt, @SeekingWisdom

"Navel-gazing" was a joke!

@SenorRotten In my lifetime, I have spent thousands of days in the out-of-doors. Wherever I am, I am observing, mentally "digesting" what I observe, and thinking.

@LiterateHiker Some people can't take a joke, especially philosopher groupies.

@LiterateHiker I like Naval Gazing! I haven't gazed a navel in a long time. The last time was when I was sixteen and,,,,,,,,,,,,,never mind.

@LiterateHiker there are some navals worth gazing at.....just not our own....

@LiterateHiker, @Sticks48 ..it is always a joke until someone gets hurt....

@blzjz

"I was just joking," is the lame excuse of mean, sarcastic people.

eye roll

@blzjz Hurt how?

So is life.

@wordywalt So is life!! Now lets try to convince others.

Philosophy is like deep sea diving.

When admin stopped curating the feed on the front page, a few months ago, the high falutin thinker posts get less airtime. Im hoping it stays that way. Admin shouldnt have been promoting the "mental masturbation" of the few (to use terminology from the post author)

You do not understand philosophy or intellectual discussion.

@wordywalt you assume much.

Undoubtedly why this was posted in "general & hellos"

You only get two "...isms" per post.

Eat the bill for breakfast, and you bum will look fine.
See, all problems solved.

Mel Brooks referred to them as “stand up philosophers”

@Haemish1 I like that!

Huh?

Yo9u do not understand what philosophy really is or how important it is in refuting poorly developed thought and customs -- such as religion.

Engaging in real philosophical inquiry helps to expose false ideology and corruption.

@JohnnyQB if someone such as a parent when you were a child were to constantly tell you that you was no good scum worthless crap and as a child not knowing any better to handle the 18 years living with such a parent and those cursing of words all thru out child hood cause a mental illness related to depression and other known mental diseases, could those parents not be considered demons?

@JohnnyQB religion... pure and faultless is this: to help widows and orphans [while conflated with] avoiding worldly corruption. James 1:27

@JohnnyQB maybe you are one of those demons that wants to speak a curse of delusional on me.

@JohnnyQB in terms of logic it was be the sin of ad hominem fallacy

@JohnnyQB you defination of what religion is may not be pure and faultless, but to consider helping widows and orphans while avoiding worldly corruption as your only form of religion would be rather pure and faultless.

@JohnnyQB police academy and my other college studies where I got up to around 70 or 80 college credit hours with a 4.0 gpa.

One semester I took a full load of 24 credits in one 3 month semester.

@JohnnyQB I give up trying to guess, where on your scale am i?

@JohnnyQB hey boo boo, I think I am smarter than the average bear. ... that really sounds gay in a literal way, too funny. But seriously I am no gay bear.

@JohnnyQB it is your scale, if that works for you

@JohnnyQB For there are eunuchs who were born that way, and there are eunuchs who have been made eunuchs by others--and there are those who choose to live like eunuchs for the sake of the kingdom of heaven. The one who can accept this should accept it." Matthew 19:12

@JohnnyQB depends on how you define wrong or how you are implying.

To be gay in the strictest of sense would be the wrong way to be evolutionary fit. Evolutionary fitness is about rate of reproduction. In strictest of human gayness to my knowledge there would be 0 fitness of reproduction.

As to wrong as a violation of a law, that depends on the jurisdiction the gayness is going on in. If gayness is a violation of a law in a Jurisdiction then it would be considered wrong because violation of laws are considered wrongs.

@JohnnyQB morals have to do with principles of right and wrong and/or good and evil behavior.

One aspect of morals is comparing a person's actions to standards of right and wrong such as laws. It would have to be understood that laws can be arbitrary. Good and evil behavior can be complicated to evaluate but basically for simplicity is there harm or what is harmed or benefited? Is someone forcing their gayness on someone else against their will?

Is gayness moral depends on such as Jurisdiction laws and the arbitrary fact of them combined with harm or benefit.

Should laws dictate gayness or restrict it? Icould it be considered a right thing to be in violation of an arbitrary law? From the point of those imposing and enforcing laws, violation of arbitrary laws should not be violated. It could be onsidered a wrong to impose and enforce arbitrary laws.

So, more could be said about discussion of the morals of a gayness person....

As to the majority of my friends, co-workers the past few years there has been several with gayness or bisexuality. I myself, do not consider myself bi or gay but have been involved in 50 shades of Jesus alternative BDSM life styles group activities of a public mannor. I have been a member of 2 bdsm dungeons. If you don't know what that is. Look up woodshed orlando

@JohnnyQB In case you are not aware of BDSM 50 shades of Jesus stuff. Bondage, domination sadomasochism

Jesus was a submissive slave and in some S&M activity he got tied up, whipped etc.

Matthew 20:28 just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, ...

@JohnnyQB If you want to be gay don't let me stop you unless you are wanting gayness with me, that would be something I consider the wrong thing to do if you are about imposing your gayness on me.

@JohnnyQB being gay in the strictest sense is wrong for reproducing for evolutionary finess. Another words. Being gay in the strictest sense is not going to bring about reproduction.

@JohnnyQB maybe I need to say it this way. If you are trying to reproduce for evolutionary finess but yo are attempting reproducing activities in a strictly gay way, then you are going at reproducing in the wrong way.

@JohnnyQB yes I come from my mother thanks to the contributions of my father, that makes me their child. Was you thinking I just whiz banged my self into existence?

@JohnnyQB you make demands of specific answers for my answers you seem to not like. How is such a demand show for freedom of cnversaation?

@JohnnyQB I come from my mother origionally thanks to the Contribution of my father. Grew up in Texas otherwise.

@JohnnyQB hyperbole perhaps, but truth to it

@JohnnyQB now that's word salad

@JohnnyQB jesus, Angelic lord of host Lucifer the devil. Elohim is a title for powerful people, judges of government etc. and is the word translated into English as God. So, Jesus was considered son of elohim(god) and son of man.(manmade)

@JohnnyQB in my early 20s I had dreams of seeing future events along with other prophetic experiences. Long story short, dreams come to pass and from seeing in a dream I met this man I had seen in a dream, he called himself by 4 titles: alpha and omega, grim reaper. son of Lucifer, nameless-faceless one. Since I left christianity after researching that it would be what currently I could label for lack of better terms a Jesus style God.

@JohnnyQB I was Christian until I met what I can at best for now label as a "Jesus style God" I then research and have come to conclusions for the most part that according to Egyptian, Jewish text Jesus is Angelic lord of host Lucifer the devil.

@JohnnyQB you are most likely using the paganish defination for" faith" not the definition of faith given in biblical text.

@K9Kohle789 I am not saying gayness in a derogatory way.

@JohnnyQB I do not use the word faith in the mannor you are "churchy" accustom to.

As Paul the apostle explains, Faith is knowledge, skill, or a substance. Church teachings do not teach the biblical defination of faith as explained by Paul's writings.

@JohnnyQB appologies if my gayness speach seemed offensive, no offense intended.

@JohnnyQB you asked me if gay was wrong. I tried explaining the only ways I find gayness wrong is for 2 reasons: 1 strictly trying to reproduce by gayness is the wrong way to reproduce human animals, to my knowledge that does not work at all that way.

#2 gayness imposed or forced onto me I would consider a wrong someone is doing to me.

As I clearly stated, If you want to be gay, don't let me stop you, that is totally your choice as far as I am concerned so long as you are not forcing me to be gay with you or anyone else.

@JohnnyQB I will call up my gay friend and ask him to read my comments. I would much more consider my gay friend and his husband"s evaluation if my comments are offensive. I did ask my gay friend one about the topic gay by choice or by birth, or both. He told me he thought that was an offensive question, I just was asking his thoughts of his experience because of my curiosity to hear from someone that is gay.

@JohnnyQB no, I have been opposed by people that would like me to be considered mentally I'll because I have opposed their racists devil worship and European invasion raping this land from those of my ancestry that has been here for 1000s of years prior to the European invasion of 1492 and the Masonic lodge secret religion racist devil worshippers freedom of England July 4th, 1776.

So, those people that are "Patriotic " to the secret religion of the Masonic lodge secret religion racist devil worshippers call United States of America (the government), they think I am mentally ill for opposing racist devil worship governmental terrorism, taxation and oppression.

@JohnnyQB I have known my gay friend for over 7 years, he us hardcore illogical atheist when it comes to theism. However, his husband is a seminary... I do remember if he just decided not to go to theology school because of gay or if he dropped out because of gay, but otherwise I think the husband, which I have only met but do not talk regularly with. I think the husband would be something of a "believer" or at least not atheist.

Religion is philosophy without the freedom

@twill What if freedom is my religion?

No. Philosophy encompasses much more that religious ideology.

@wordywalt More what? Facts? Undoubtedly. But religion doesn't need facts (obviously). It needs faith, and nearly all religions are, as we've all noticed, certainly deliver. At least for sheep, with no minds of their own. If you were going to do something, anything, you first have to know how, then you need to have faith that it will work.
But as far as why folks seem to be obsessed with how/why, I think it boils down to need to figure out how to get rid of the more tyrannical, more "organized", mainstream ones that have hijacked everyone's common sense. Just my angle on it.