Contempt may be a compound emotion, but it is an emotion. Mockery and derision are expressions of that emotion. Only the most simple, primitive emotio...
I don't see how grief can injure other people. But derision and mockery can; expressions of contempt, envy and anger can and does hurt feelings, and t...
An easy life is one in which nothing much happens; little is longed-for, experienced, attained and savoured or lost and mourned; nothing is accomplish...
Please elaborate on the religions that do this, and the context in which their teaching is applied. I am not aware of any religious dogma that regards...
On the contrary: it seems to be reiterating, in less picturesque and more rigorous language, that humans are social animals, interacting in complex wa...
We cannot infer God's existence from anything. We do know that good and evil exist as manifestations of human desires, thoughts, schemes and actions. ...
Because society is legion. It is diverse, has many needs and interests, contains many kinds of people, whose needs and interests are even more diverse...
Didn't I ask that about eight times since page 1? Stinging nettles, alcohol on a cut, wasps, lemon juice in your eye, scorpion fish.... I've actually ...
Of course there is, and we all recognize the difference, even while we also go through the courteous motions, for the sake of social harmony. Even if ...
Pray it continues so! Imagine the harm they could do if they were united. So, rather than try to talk down individual religionists, we're better serve...
How many human lifetimes would it to take to examine the evidence for the non-existence of all the things we have conceived of that don't exist? Then ...
Yes, I heard that one, often, as an adult. It would have made no impression in a 12-year-old trying to come to grips with the injustices attributed to...
It never occurred to me to look for evidence. I rejected the god depicted in the bible on moral grounds, and since Christianity was so dominant in my ...
They - science, innovation, laws, mores, beliefs and rituals are part of culture, but many cultures predate civilization. My idea of civilization agre...
Pie is tedious to make. You have to get the proportions right, chill the dough long enough, roll it to the right thickness, bake it at the right tempe...
That is so in all areas of human endeavour. We celebrate the military victories, not the sloshing around in foxholes; thre political victories, not ha...
No, that's exactly the science I didn't mean. I mean learning the secrets of stars and clouds and oceans; learning the language of whales and cicadas;...
Oh, please do not abuse us with disenchantment! But this, I like very much. We do always include a lot of slop in big topics; it's hard, slow work, pi...
But we still can have Science - not the science of mere technology to which commercialism has reduced it, but Science as a quest for knowledge and mas...
I don't think it's incompatible, either; I never meant my comments as a direct contradiction. I only question some of the categories. But, no, I don't...
No. Taken in, possibly, but not enchanted. And the taking-in is both conditional (Will this potion put me one up on my rival?) and temporary (a new fa...
Certainly! It's not about the gold, it's about the delving. Probably. That's what makes it such fun to poke, probe, theorize, muse, speculate, make up...
We don't. We describe and name the things with which we come into contact, events we witness, sensations we experience. We don't compartmentalize down...
I never vote for anyone overtly religious. Our labour party is currently headed by a Sikh lawyer, who dresses in sharp suits and lovely coloured turba...
Name a few examples aside from Gawd. Where did I get it? I, you, and every other entity is an experiencer, whether they meditate or not, whether they ...
It's considerably more preposterous. All the rule-making, caring, interfering gods have some utility to human believers. A nebulous Something Unknowab...
Not necessarily. In casual conversation, the unstated but understood assumption would be that all dogs have a place on some scale of playfulness. Lega...
Equally, it may prompts them to seek help for the addiction, and push their families into the resolve to intervene. I don't think there is enough ince...
Round - what - five? six? Define "genuine" Define "feeling" Who is "you"? What is "society"? Where does the concept of emotions originate? Where does ...
I don't think so. It looks as if the guy is baiting her and she's holding her own. Gives the correct answer in spite of badgering, except maybe that l...
It doesn't matter whether he joins the Knights Templar or not. The point is, he takes orders - howbeit holy ones - and dedicates his life to unquestio...
Do you really? Formal chain of command, tradition, obedience, austere communal living, early rising, strict discipline, tightly scheduled daily ritual...
In what way is that a biased statement? Even Jesus admitted bringing a sword. Religious institutions, historically, have been instrumental in sustaini...
No, it doesn't depend on the myth. It depends on one's understanding of the myth, its meaning, context and significance. Just as belief of* any partic...
Which atheist has asked which theist to give up their belief? I'm an a-theist, not anti-theist. I have nothing against any of the gods I don't believe...
Because nobody understands it. Demonstrable, provable science is hard to suborn, which is why the anti-evolution arguments always try to exploit the p...
I'm not mean to believers; I'm critical of religious organizations. True believers can too easily be victimized, exploited and weaponized by hypocriti...
I'm not so sure. After all, missionaries have often been successful in making converts among colonized natives. Impressionable young people may turn t...
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