Hint: When formulating an opinion on any subject, I do not start by consulting philosophers. I have never subscribed to a school of thought... though ...
I never said psychological effects are less powerful than legal ones. Quite the opposite: they're the most powerful forces in humans - sometimes to th...
Well, for one thing, they're older that the European, and for another, they are large, populous lands. But they've been conquered and to some degree c...
My best experience of religion was the late 1960's, the reasonable, ecumenical moment of the 20thy century, when it was quite common for church-going ...
Of course not. Every decision has a price, as does every transaction - both in the physical realm and in the metaphysical or imaginary. Yes. A psychol...
Sacred vows, like the ones at a wedding or citizenship ceremony, are very subjective indeed. And of course they're open to revision, and breakage and ...
That's its function: to investigate the external, physical world; to ferret out how it works and figure out how it can be made to work for us. It does...
The word that doesn't fit is "objective". "I Am That I Am" is an entirely subjective claim. No proof is offered; no doubt is entertained. In the cited...
You can't fail at something unless you try to do it. No spiritual system ever tried to "find" objective reality. Objective reality never went missing ...
In my early teens, my two favourite Christmas gifts were the Visible Horse one year, and the Visible Woman in Gr 9. They were wonderful educational to...
In any case, religion has not failed. It has always been and still is very successful. More than 80% of the sample of populations old enough to be pol...
Where did I say any of them lack something? What you cited is only a small part of all religion. Of-bloody-course all "major world religions" have ido...
Oh, it's like that, is it? Fine!! Ukraine Crisis Crazy Zelenskyy applied to join NATO and crazy Putin launched a crazy war, and everybody got sucked i...
Have you considered the other factors? 1. Those peoples had religions of their own which satisfy their cultural and spiritual needs. 2. Christianity w...
That is not my experience. It's true that a post-mortem examination is performed in a couple of hours, as it's presided over by an experienced patholo...
That depends on how far back in history you look. If you stick to civilizations with a written record of governance and law, then the statement is tru...
It is the story of life and love, as seen by objects that are privy to the most intimate moments. The objects are reporting significant moments, from ...
The American Dream is vastly, unconscionably oversold. Or, at least, it was when today's fathers were little boys. Debt has not gone into the stratosp...
Yes, that seems to be the conclusion. And it's the "right" ending; the one most readers would be rooting for. It's a good subject, a good POV perspect...
Some evidence; circumstantial; I can't absolutely prove my case. So I will respectfully bow out and let you and whoever wants to, speculate as to what...
Why do gods need defending? If they can't take care of themselves, even to the extent of being safe from non-believers, how will the gods take care of...
I assumed Alejandro was the bullfighter and he's already stuck the bull, so it didn't matter to him where it died. Seems that must be a local, informa...
I did get the historical reference and thought it was a beautifully constructed, intricate portrait of a place, a tradition, a social organization - a...
I liked the writing and the observation. The voice of the narrator was very clear, strong - you could discern a character there. The other people are ...
It doesn't matter: explanation is not the purpose of religion. In the beginning of human wonderment, there were creation stories to account for how a ...
I figured - why I didn't reply to you specifically. There was general speculation as to the nature of the phenomenon. My (poorly-founded, probably fan...
I've known alcoholism, close up and personal. It doesn't just lift for no reason; it doesn't just level off when somebody takes a walk. I don't think ...
It's tiny and black. Midge, gnat, fruit-fly...? It doesn't matter, because the author-observer didn't identify the insect, and didn't feel it needed n...
Now, that's what I call a micro-story! Lovely! Two questions are left unanswered, which is as it should be: the reader is an accidental eavesdropper, ...
I liked the story. Clear, compact and complete. The double irony was a bit over the top. I'd have preferred him shanked or strangled, but the suicide ...
:blush: My only real issue with this story is the missing fulcrum. What did he want? What changed? Why? I don't know what happened. Maybe, if he usual...
Not in the least. In fact, you seem to have thrown a lot of ideas into a big pot, but, like America, they refused to melt into an alloy. Really? I'm s...
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