Pattern-chaser

N.B. I have described one benefit of religion. There are more, but many of them are more difficult to argue, so I chose the simplest one. :wink:

Members of religions work together. If the religion is widespread enough, then we end up with large numbers of us working co-operatively, which is the...

Yes, I suppose it does, but I wasn't even addressing that. My comment was as fundamental as it looked. By "work better" I meant work optimally, to the...

I escaped from a forum that had turned into a sciencist talking-shop. 'Unscientific' topics were trolled by members and moderators (!) until discussio...

From me too. :smile:

highlighting.] Sorry about the delay in replying. There are good reasons ... which you really don't want to read through! :wink: I take your "you" to ...

OK, but it looked to me as though you were. The OP asked us to consider, not theism and atheism themselves, but whether theism or atheism is "better f...

The OP is asking which is "better for us", theism or atheism. It is not asking which one is right or correct.... :chin:

I think religion (using the exact words from the OP title) is "better for us", because it encourages us to behave better. Better for our species. Some...

:up:

That's because it's presented axiomatically. It is defined to be true. There's nothing wrong with this, but we should be aware that it's being done. T...

I don't know. I can only assume they are sadists, and enjoy the pain or discomfort their words cause? The whole idea is foreign to me; I can't empathi...

Because you are taking a human-centric view, and God is the God of all living things. If you get ill, you think it's "bad", but if you were the germ(s...

To me, the individual/society spectrum is the defining one in politics. But I don't argue with what else has been posted here. This could turn into a ...

All good points. It would seem that British participation in the forthcoming elections makes as much sense as allowing 90-year-olds to vote on Brexit,...

If our elected representatives cannot find a way to implement the result of the first referendum - and it seems so far that they can't - is there any ...

Well put. I'm not convinced that the strictures societies place upon their members are moral laws, though. I think they're just pragmatic strictures, ...

:smile:

Denial.

No, they aren't opposites. They are the choices we have in this particular context. But rudeness is a form of violence. A mild form, admittedly, but v...

But Trump is lying to his audience. There's nothing more to it than that. I'm not happy about it, but what he's doing is not complicated or mysterious...

So you don't accept that intolerant speech enables, permits, supports and encourages intolerant action(s)?

Yes, I should have been clearer in what I wrote. Because (intolerant) speech enables, permits, supports and encourages (intolerant) actions, the two c...

From the Cambridge English dictionary: I'm not trying to cite a dictionary as an authority, but simply as a good description of political correctness ...

And yet the intolerant speech, and the thinking/opinions that lie behind it, enable and permit the intolerant actions you decry. :chin: I think this i...

You don't think I get it, but you are posing a specific example relating to my question: In this example, you ask whether it is appropriate to force p...

Wikipedia says "The term political correctness is used to describe language, policies, or measures that are intended to avoid offense or disadvantage ...

If that is true, then I wholeheartedly support your opposition to it.

Agreed. ... But does your post offer a reply to mine, or just a continuation of the discussion? I see only the latter. Maybe that's because I'm readin...

I think you are referring to the false definition that characterises 'PC' as something negative, so that it may be attacked, and thereby dismissed. Po...

No, that's not PC, nor is it polite. That's just trying to make others do it your way, which does nothing (constructive) for anyone.

Exactly. :up: Politeness disallows the former, while facilitating the latter.

The only thing that politeness prevents, while maintaining honesty, is personal insults. And that's its point and purpose. Address the message, not th...

It is quite possible to deliver any opinion honestly and with courtesy. "Political correctness" is just another name for courtesy. Politeness. :roll:

I'm not convinced that 'pro-conformist' is a position one would choose. Societies (communities) are quite demanding of their members. Conformity is on...

If you have understood that I posted a personal moral verdict, I have miscommunicated, and I apologise. I merely note that any community would conside...

:up: Definitely. :smile:

I quite agree with what you're saying. :up: :smile: But your sense doesn't quite come through (to me!) in the above text. The external thing isn't pre...

Oh, I thought we had reached a realisation that we had no significant disagreement here. :chin:

Then your morals would be out of step with your community. That would put you 'in the wrong'. Unless you think there's some kind of natural law that d...

Really? I think that the only significant way in which the doomsday (climate-change) predictions have failed is in when they will occur. They start of...

:up: And so we can conclude that morality is a matter of collective (social) preference, can't we? :chin:

I think this has a lot to do with the bidirectional nature of shared speech. I utter some words, and I intend for them to carry a particular meaning. ...

Agreed. But lack of mention means that this accounting is far from obvious.... :chin:

I think that meaning must be considered alongside context, as indicated here. The OP focusses tightly on meaning, but does not even mention context. I...

:up:

Yes. I've always found that bit difficult to believe. Why do people allow themselves (and all around them) to be controlled by this empowered and enti...

Propaganda issued by the 1% - the super-rich - who own everything and control everything? :chin:

Yes, I don't (especially) want to sound like a raving commie (:joke:) or anything, but the underlying theme here is that capitalism has destroyed the ...

I see your point, but who has considered these things? Can we read about what they achieved or concluded? Where? The paper linked in the OP is the fir...