As another example of awkwardly incompetent lies, here was Russia announcing it had raided the apartment of a Western assassin. In the picture showing the evidence, there were Nazi paraphernalia, but also 3 Sims games, and a document signed "signature unclear."
The FSB officer staging the...
Russian civic culture is so thoroughly based on lies, gaslighting, and propaganda, that I think people like Putin assume every other country does the same. I think he honestly can't imagine democracies being less corrupt and self-serving, because it's all he's familiar with. He can't understand...
There are indeed a lot of passages that seem to support the Calvinist perspective, but just as many that say faith alone is enough, or good works, or a combination of faith and works.
To address your point, I've heard Matt Dillahunty say that if his mom goes to heaven and is blissfully joyful...
Isn't Paul the only author who identifies himself, of all the writers of the bible? The rest are anonymous according to the overwhelming consensus of biblical scholars. Even half of Paul's letters are held to be forgeries. How are we supposed to trust a story with outlandish claims written by...
What? Satan made a bet with god, then god went out and did all the horrific acts. If I bet you that you couldn't kick puppies more than 20ft, and then you went out and drop kicked a bunch of puppies, that would be your rampage and definitely not mine.
All Satan ever did was refuse to do...
God is evident as the creator of the universe in the same way that trees growing is evidence for magical, invisible, tree-growing turtles.
1. "It's all about interpretation of the world and the events around us."
2. "I know the magic turtles exist because every growing tree must have a grower."...
I think some people crave an authority figure to tell them that everything is alright, there are answers for all the hard questions, and that they just need to live a certain way to be assured of comfort and conformity. Based on their personality type, this is what they want more than a...
Yes, it's very odd that their projections all estimate that the trend will suddenly slow from its clear direction.
Here is an image of their projections, but where I've added the red line for what seems like the obvious trend that they inexplicably rejected:
Pewstudy by AlexanderG posted Sep...
But is there an atheist dogma that says in plain text that atheist should discriminate against certain classes of people?
No, no there isn't. Contrast this with religious scriptures, that on their face plainly allow for slavery, oppression of women, and killing any sexual minorities or people...
Every. Single. Time. That they prioritize their prestige or reputation over the wellbeing of children, they show how unfit they are to exist as an institution, let alone lecture the rest of us about morality.
I'm entirely an atheist, but I'm also a nerd. I've always thought that if many of the gods in the pantheon from Dungeons & Dragons were actually real, I could get on board.
Divine relics with demonstrable powers, prayers of the faithful causing the instant healing of open wounds or pillars of...
Yes, good points. Still, I think that organized religion needs a critical mass in a population, otherwise enough people will feel free to question it and to visibly normalize their disbelief.
We saw this happen with gay marriage, where enough people realized that there were no objective...
Unquestioned authority is the root of corruption. The pope is a man, and the Church is composed of men, and we have seen what men will do when their authority shields them from questioning, investigation, or insubordination.
I think it will be a lot sooner than 2070. More like 2040. Christianity has been dropping by 1-2% of the population each year in the US, and the MAGA-Evangelical patchwork horror is only accelerating this trend by making Christianity look more horrific each day.
The problem is that the...
That's exactly what we see out in the world. Religions and cultures evolve over time, with their success and propagation dependent on environmental factors. Their environment is made up of the current moral sensibilities, traditions, and cultural trajectories of human groups.
Any Christian from...
Do you understand that liberals have been trying to solve the immigration issue for decades, and it keeps getting blocked in the senate? Their plans would also include giving states the resources they need to manage new immigrants.
The GOP platform appears to be based only on grievance now...
Of course I have lots to learn, and not enough time to learn it all. My sacrifice of precious time makes the things I do learn more valuable to me.
Alternatively, I can picture myself 27 quadrillion years from now, continuing on in my eternal life. I've mastered every musical instrument I care...
I think the happy ending is that a life was lived, in all its imperfection, confusion, satisfaction, and joy. The fact that it's ephemeral is precisely what makes life precious. An infinite life would make each moment worthless by definition.
I'm with @It Aint Necessarily So on this one. Rights exist only because we all agree that they do, and when we follow that up with enforcement. Abortion is a right if we say it is. I'm not convinced any gods exist, so appealing to a god just seems like you're trying to make yourself feel like...
Seems like how every religion starts. A bit of propaganda, a bit of new interpretation of old stories, a bit of con artistry, and a small core of true believers who will spread the message at all costs.
Trump already has millions of followers who believe things that are objectively...