pirana

Why do discussions with Atheists always degenerate into them speaking of examples of silly childhood or insane imaginative characters with which they try to compare? Is it just frustration setting in? Actually, they (dieties, fairy tale creatures, ghosts & goblins, etc) tend to share approximately equal amounts of solid evidence of existence. They also have at their roots some shared foundations in the form of the myths from which they grew. " . . . the lust for power can be just as completely satisfied by suggesting people into loving their servitude as by flogging them and kicking them into obedience." -- Aldous Huxley

Don't forget the Rastas and the Copts. " . . . the lust for power can be just as completely satisfied by suggesting people into loving their servitude as by flogging them and kicking them into obedience." -- Aldous Huxley

My guess is most atheists do not believe in such a thing as a soul. Usually, lack of belief in a diety is part of a system that does not support incorporeal entities. It's amusing watching one of my friends struggle with the fact I do not believe in afterlife, heaven, hell, soul, etc. I really have no thoughts or concerns about my soul, because I do not believe in such a thing. As Alan Watts said: "This is it." No matter how much we really, really, really might want there to be more; there is not one shred of good hard evidence that there is anything beyond THIS. Enjoy IT, treasure IT, and don't leave anything on the floor. Because if you get to the end of IT, and find out you were wrong, you'll be very disappointed. " . . . the lust for power can be just as completely satisfied by suggesting people into loving their servitude as by flogging them and kicking them into obedience." -- Aldous Huxley

Quote . . . you have more important things to do than that. Like get your skis tuned up for next year. Quote Appreciate the reminder. I have them poorly stored and should get them in for a pre-storage tune-up. Astrology, Tarot, the various seers & sayers and others who peddle it ARE my pet peeves. And don't get me started on Santa Claus. " . . . the lust for power can be just as completely satisfied by suggesting people into loving their servitude as by flogging them and kicking them into obedience." -- Aldous Huxley

The percentages appear to be very misleading. So NYC got cut 40%. Oh My God! Later however it is revealed the will be getting shitloads more than most anyplace else. Whiners. " . . . the lust for power can be just as completely satisfied by suggesting people into loving their servitude as by flogging them and kicking them into obedience." -- Aldous Huxley

Exactly. If they truly didn't care about the money, the suit would be for some token amount (as you suggested, yes, $1) or for some reasonable amount, like maybe $100K. No way do I believe they don't care about the money when the suit is for, what is it, $70,000,000? That would be like me saying I don't care about beer while on my way to the liquor store to attempt a purchase. " . . . the lust for power can be just as completely satisfied by suggesting people into loving their servitude as by flogging them and kicking them into obedience." -- Aldous Huxley

So choosing not to be religious is being religious? If I choose not to buy into astrology am I being astrological? I'll give you that believing God does not exist is a belief, but not that it is a belief system. Religion with it's rituals, worship, martyrs, sacred places, etc. is a belief system. A person with no awareness of religious beliefs, and therefore no opinion on them, would not have a belief in God. Using your logic, they would be religious. Just to reiterate, because I get a lot of questions that obviously try to corner me as anti-God or anti-religious. I have no problem accepting others religious beliefs as valuable to them, and respecting them and their beliefs as long as they stick to matters of faith - such as belief in God's existence. I do take issue, and strongly oppose any attempt to institutionalize dogmatic beliefs that are proven untrue (such as the Earth being created in 7 days and other such tripe). " . . . the lust for power can be just as completely satisfied by suggesting people into loving their servitude as by flogging them and kicking them into obedience." -- Aldous Huxley

Are you saying that science is now the giver and sustainer of life? Have you considered the possibility that your friend has had a spiritual experience, which science simply doesn't have the technology, and probably never will, to define as real. No, don't think I said that. Simply put, the practicing of anatomy, biology, chemistry, etc. resulted in knowledge that saved his life. It could be said that his will to live was involved also, but that had nothing to do with faith (he found God quite a ways down path of recuperation. I would definitely consider that he had a spiritual experience, but that is not religion. Spritiuality is individualistic, religion is a group activity. I am very spiritual, but not in the least bit religious. As far as science being concerned with whether or not a spiritual experience is/was real or not; I do not know what you mean or what you are asking. You seem to be stating that science doesn't have the technology to determine the real-ness of a spiritual experience. Agreed, if what you mean by that is some sort of vision or epiphany manifested as a thought process. Don't think science is a consideration there. On the other hand, if it is like someone claiming to see ghosts or experience other supernatural phenomena, then science can be brought to bear. " . . . the lust for power can be just as completely satisfied by suggesting people into loving their servitude as by flogging them and kicking them into obedience." -- Aldous Huxley

Do you always use the maimed as the point of your jokes? Nothing wrong with a little humor on the topic. One of my wheelchair bound friends has got the bst repetoire of gimp jokes. On another note: Could everyone who believes in psychokinesis please raise my hand. Thank you, thank you. " . . . the lust for power can be just as completely satisfied by suggesting people into loving their servitude as by flogging them and kicking them into obedience." -- Aldous Huxley

[replyHe doesn't give two shits about the money. He'd much rather kick the shit out of Moore. Asking for 10's of millions of dollars is a funny way of showing how little he cares about the money. " . . . the lust for power can be just as completely satisfied by suggesting people into loving their servitude as by flogging them and kicking them into obedience." -- Aldous Huxley

Actually, I tend to think that the existence of matter is infinite - that it has always been here and always will be, in one form or another (or something like that). Atheism very simply put is defined as not believing in God (or any diety). It does not directly claim, or imply, knowledge of the origins of the Universe. A person who is an atheist may have faith in certain things, and it may be appropriately or inappropriately placed depending on whether those things can be known or not. But atheism does embody not having faith in the existence of a diety. So yes, a particular atheist may have faith that nothing existed at some point in time (since such a thing is not knowable one way or another), but atheism does not require a person to hold faith in such an idea. Atheism does not require a lack of faith. It requires a lack of belief in a diety. " . . . the lust for power can be just as completely satisfied by suggesting people into loving their servitude as by flogging them and kicking them into obedience." -- Aldous Huxley

That is a personal opinion. Do you believe the statment That when your number is up, your ticket is going to be punched? No, that is a fact. Evidence means nothing to him anymore if it contradicts the dogma he now believes. His critical thinking skills have willfully been tossed aside. " . . . when your number is up, . . ." What does that mean exactly, and by what mechanism does it work? Do you think God is like some delicatessan manager who personally decides the fate of everyone that has pulled a number by entering the world of his deli? The mechanism is the part most true believers miss. There is never an explanation of how their believed in process works. Not even a clue. Every effect has a cause. When it comes to superstitions, astrology, divine intervention, and whatnot; the only supporting mechanism is the person's desire for it to be so. Hope and desire are good things, but substituting them for critical thinking limits the chances of a person accurately interpreting the world around them. No way. I am a solid believer in free will and creating the future by the choices a person makes. Nobody died for my sins 2000 years ago. " . . . the lust for power can be just as completely satisfied by suggesting people into loving their servitude as by flogging them and kicking them into obedience." -- Aldous Huxley

Exactly how deeply rooted? " . . . the lust for power can be just as completely satisfied by suggesting people into loving their servitude as by flogging them and kicking them into obedience." -- Aldous Huxley

Me neither. Bush was never my first choice but the alternative would have been a lot worse. - Give 'em a break. Just a bunch of good old boys doing what good old boys do best. They are like an older, stuffed shirt version of the Dukes of Hazzard. Just some good old boys, Getting rich off the war. Scratching each others back, Getting rich off Iraq. Meaning noone no harm, So the boys lost an arm. Just to prove that we care, The replacement will be covered by our version of health care. (You need to really move the cadence along quick on that last line). " . . . the lust for power can be just as completely satisfied by suggesting people into loving their servitude as by flogging them and kicking them into obedience." -- Aldous Huxley

Somehow I doubt this. I'm -almost- certain nuclear power and aviation lead the way. Oh oh oh, I know the answer! Pick me, pick me! It's pharmecueticals. No, I meant to say automobiles. No, no, wait a minute; did I say automobiles. I changed my mind, it's stepladders. Oops, I thought it was litigation, not regulation. I'll go back to drugs. " . . . the lust for power can be just as completely satisfied by suggesting people into loving their servitude as by flogging them and kicking them into obedience." -- Aldous Huxley

Actually, there is A CHANCE you will die. Last I looked there had been something like 150 or so deaths on Everest. That was back when the number of successful ascents was about 1200 or so. There are no good numbers on the number of attempts made. I think that at least 50% of the people to climb would have to die on the mountain for your statement that ". . . chances are, you will die." to be true. " . . . the lust for power can be just as completely satisfied by suggesting people into loving their servitude as by flogging them and kicking them into obedience." -- Aldous Huxley

Why do so many Christians think that there is either God or nothing? A freind of mine who found God after being severely injured in a motorcycle crash went from being a healthy skeptic to a totally illogical and unquestioning true believer. I'm OK with his faith in God, though I miss our intellectual dissection of issues. What irks me is he has now bought into many of the wacko fundamentalist ideas and has become heavily anti-science. This despite the fact that with anything less than the current state-of-the-art nueroscience advances, he'd be a vegetable today. Keep faith where it belongs and stop trying to credit supernatural explanations for perfectly explainable natural phenomena. If you want to believe in a diety that is fine, but denying reality just destroys your credibility as a rational person. " . . . the lust for power can be just as completely satisfied by suggesting people into loving their servitude as by flogging them and kicking them into obedience." -- Aldous Huxley

I'm waiting for the multi-million dollar study that will investigate whether or not people with high IQ's are smarter than people with low IQ's. " . . . the lust for power can be just as completely satisfied by suggesting people into loving their servitude as by flogging them and kicking them into obedience." -- Aldous Huxley

The offending party should be publicly stoned the next day at dawn. I think we'd see a lot more people signing up for canopy class, and maybe an increase in go-arounds. " . . . the lust for power can be just as completely satisfied by suggesting people into loving their servitude as by flogging them and kicking them into obedience." -- Aldous Huxley

OK, missed a bunch of this, but is someone advocating that their is a religion practiced by humans that was not invented by humans? Name the religion(s) not invented by humans. " . . . the lust for power can be just as completely satisfied by suggesting people into loving their servitude as by flogging them and kicking them into obedience." -- Aldous Huxley

The EU, or anybody else, expecting Turkey to confess and apologize for their atrocities is just silly political gamesmanship. Not too mention a precedent no other country would willingly follow unless forced by said political gamesmanship. While they were at it they could also own up to the genocide against the Kurds. Oh no, wait a minute, we helped them with that - let's keep that one out of the deal. Hey, maybe we coud have a big international confessional where everybody fesses up to all their past miscellaneous atrocities and starts with a clean slate. A big kumbaya and group hug. Riiiiiiiight. Thanks for the post Lok, good stuff. " . . . the lust for power can be just as completely satisfied by suggesting people into loving their servitude as by flogging them and kicking them into obedience." -- Aldous Huxley

How about Officer Krupke? Did they have an Officer Krupke? " . . . the lust for power can be just as completely satisfied by suggesting people into loving their servitude as by flogging them and kicking them into obedience." -- Aldous Huxley

Source: TCS Daily Every once in a while even the mainstream media wakes up enough to notice the remarkable dearth of conservatives and libertarians in US universities and colleges. Of course, this isnt exactly a man bites dog story. As George Will recently put it: Not a Republican rag.....no. For instance, nearly half said that their professors frequently comment on politics in class even though it has nothing to do with the course or use the classroom to present their personal political views. In answers to other questions, the majority acknowledged that liberal views predominate. Most troubling, however, were the responses to the survey item On my campus, there are courses in which students feel they have to agree with the professor's political or social views in order to get a good grade -- 29% agreed. More evidence of this not being a Repub rag.... I/m gonna go research Moveon.com.... Most troubling might be if 71% agreed. 29% agreeing is acceptable. It's probably the 29% who don't get what they consider a good grade because they don't put in the effort. That's aside from the fact that just because 29% whine about it, doesn't mean that it actually happens at all. " . . . the lust for power can be just as completely satisfied by suggesting people into loving their servitude as by flogging them and kicking them into obedience." -- Aldous Huxley

I've had a host of back and neck problems my whole life. Diagnosed with Shermans Disease at age 9. Nodes, herniated discs, scoliosis, sciatica; I've done everything but break it. The kicker was fusion of C5-6 early last summer. The injuries were from a combination of Sherman's and a life of high impact sports, I have one speed - full throttle. I've slowly given up most sports and now just ski (downhill) and skydive. The running joke is that they are the gentlest of sports for my body. Bottom line is that skydiving has some harsh moments (hard openings and botched landings happen), but unless you have debilitating ongoing pain from a chronic condition, there is a good chance you can manage even those moments. Tactics that work well for me: If you don't pack your own, know your packer. I get as SSSLLOOOOOWWWWWW as I can before I open, cupping for all I am worth. Transition to what I call "forward leaning fetal" position just before opening shock. It took a while to find this as the ideal position in which to comfortably absorb opening shock - and it works great. Protects my neck from any lateral movement and protects my lower back from getting over-arched. May or may not work for you, depending on your specific problems. If you take it up, experiment carefully, and make sure everything is discussed with your coaches well before you exit. " . . . the lust for power can be just as completely satisfied by suggesting people into loving their servitude as by flogging them and kicking them into obedience." -- Aldous Huxley

I don't think this was an accident. The files had the name, DOB, SSN, dates of service; and probably at least a few other tidbits on over 26 million people. #1 - Had to have been a few discs. #2 - Had to have been more than could be easily handled by the average home computer. If not data size-wise, then from a bumbling around with discs perspective. Think of the hassle of loading all this into your basic home PC, and playing with and sorting the files. No way was this your average I'll-take-it-home-and-finish-it-up-for-tomorrow's-meeting type of venture. #3 - House was just recently burglarized. What a convenient way to "lose" the discs. #4 - So the person gets slapped on the hand, or even fired. So what; maybe they retire on what they sold the discs for. A setup and a scam if you ask me. " . . . the lust for power can be just as completely satisfied by suggesting people into loving their servitude as by flogging them and kicking them into obedience." -- Aldous Huxley