Tom Storm

Sounds like a lethal impasse for the next 10 or 20 years. That's an interesting take. I don't think I've heard it said that Trump shares the views of ...

I suspect this is correct. In your assessment, is Trump sincere or simply harnessing the available populism?

I think I agree with this for the most part. What reason do you have or holding progressive values if you do not consider them in some sense superior ...

I'm not an American, but do you think there has been an increase in deceptive behavior from politicians in recent times?

I'm not immersed in their specific theologies but generally they hold a 'ground of being' style god (to use Tillich's famous phrase). The non-literal ...

That's exactly the quesion you would need to ask them. When Zoroastrians, Muslims and Christians tell us their scriptures are divinely inspired, what ...

No question. Most scriptures from world religions are fascinating documents which contain historic and cultural narratives. But my point is not about ...

New York is a real place, this doesn't mean Spiderman is real. I'm not getting into the weeds about what bits in the Bible may be historical and which...

There are many Christians who consider the Resurrection to be a myth. The story does not need to gain its power from being literally true. Some religi...

Yes. There are Christians who are not even certain that the Jesus of the New Testament even lived. Perhaps the Jesus story was based on some radical t...

Nice.

Maybe I misunderstand this point. By high-fallutin do you mean technically complicated language, such as that used by educated professionals? Or do yo...

Yes! I was also trying to pinpoint when the bullshit began and I came to the same conclusion. He was let off the hook. But the old saying that if you ...

Nice. I think this crystallises it.

That's hilarious. Great song. I was going to post Cohen's Everybody Knows.

Unpacking this I would say that we still need to identify what counts as merit and the issue of complexity (baroque prose) in itself can't be grounds ...

I'm not sure what it even means to be without limits? Is this a capacity we have for reinvention, redefinition and ceaseless change, or does it refer ...

Nietzsche once wrote that bad writers write ALL their thoughts rather than just the final "percolated" product. Not coming from a background in the su...

And sometimes even the territory and food are imaginary.

Sorry, I was merely being sardonic. But I agree with you. :wink:

Do you think that the US might one day invade the US and impose democracy, fairness and tolerance there?

:up:

Forgot to ask - what progressive policies are you referring to?

That makes perfect sense to me. Thanks. Yes, I said to a friend yesterday that there wasn't a genuine bone in her body and, perversely, by contrast, T...

Some of my friends keep telling me that Trump is what happens when the liberals have lost their way. What do you think are the lessons for Democrats h...

When did Musk become a right-wing cartoon?

Nice anecdote. I think a lot of folk are trying to scale back their involvement in the world. Not necessarily from a higher consciousness perspective....

Isn't Trump just another celebrity, virtue signalling, identity policies wanker (albeit of the right)? Do you think that he and Vance and Musk and RFK...

I’m not an American - why do you think he won?

I think he'll call it soon .

What does existential self-awareness actually consist of? Does a recognition of mortality accompany it? When I first came to this realisation as a chi...

What is anarchy and where has it worked before?

:up:

No idea - is that what the discussion in this thread is about? If the argument is that gods and religions are 'invented' to help us manage reality in ...

Could be. But knowing Calvinists, it's hard to argue that they don't derive succour and meaning and purpose from their beliefs.

Know it well, it's the religion of my father's family. But execrable gods are a dime a dozen. I fail to see how this worldview doesn't provide people ...

Not entirely sure why you've ended up here or which god you are thinking of but I wouldn't arrive at this conclusion. A god may be irascible or capric...

You raise salient points. Although I don’t fully accept the original post, it could be argued that humans have an innate desire to understand and crea...

That is interesting. Is there a correlation (from what you have seen) between those philosophers who privilege the classical tradition (ancient Greeks...

Thank you. Yes, that's an interesting one. The kids at work now seek me out as a relic of a pervious era - 'What were the 1980's like, Tom? They must ...

Was I born damned or only after I became an atheist?

Actually on reflection, from the position of some thinkers and the religion I was brought up in, the soul starts pure and good, so I guess I’m probabl...

The soul may be immortal, but that says nothing about whether it is damned or not. The soul's essential nature is subject to change - that's the bit I...

To what extend do you feel you have been aware of, or preoccupied by your identity/ties over time? Is identity just a given that you don't really cons...

Yes but the immortality is just one aspect of the soul - which can change and has no essential attributes. Freewill and all that. Anyway it doesn't mu...

interesting- I’m not sure an immoral soul equates with essentialism unless you are saying that the nature of the soul is unchanging. Isn't the theory ...

BTW - what is he actually saying here, it seems vague.

Exactly. :up: I know little about DKE, but I do know some stupid people and they are not all the same. It tends to be those who are arrogant as well a...

Interesting. Thanks.

None of that really resonates with me. I have no significant sense of what I ought to do, only what I want to do or what might get me into trouble if ...