patrick.net

SoftShell says

this is just common sense stuff...even the liberal professors say so..

Who says you have to smoke marijuana. There are plenty of ways of consuming it. Besides, its the THC that's the active drug, and that doesn't cause lung cancer.

The Professor says

So your religion is atheism?

The faithful sure do love that talking point, but it's been thoroughly debunked for years.

http://www.A41WZBcmnfc

Idiots must stop claiming that atheism is a religion.

Everything Bill Maher says in the above video is spot on. And it ends the talking point that atheism is a religion.

Strategist says

I don't think you can say it is completely harmless.

I'm distinguishing between using marijuana to get high and smoking it. You don't have to smoke it to get high. Therefore, it is smoking, not pot, that is harmful. Also, the studies that smoking pot specifically cause lung cancer seem to have been debunked (see links in prior posts).

If you want to be very picky, nothing is harmless. Even water and oxygen are lethal in high enough doses. That hardly means we should treat either as a toxic substance.

SoftShell says

Evidence, please.

Dan8267 says

but you don't accept man-made climate change as a fact

The Internet is full of scientific studies that definitively demonstrate that man-made climate change is out-of-control. Start with NASA.

http://climate.nasa.gov/scientific-consensus

And even ignoring climate change, pollution causes many health problems and shortens lifespans. And you're bitching about pot being dangerous. HA! Coal power plants are dangerous. They poison the air, the water, and the food supply. Everyone who eats, drinks, or breathes is harmed by coal power plants.

SoftShell says

you want to get high? Do a 5 mile jog nonstop...you will have a 4 hour buzz gaurenteed.

Jogging is dangerous.
JAMES F. FIXX DIES JOGGING; AUTHOR ON RUNNING WAS 52
Two brothers suffer fatal heart attacks 10 days apart while jogging in city park
The brother of athletics hero Steve Cram collapsed and died while out jogging, it has emerged. He was 39
Jogger dies on Scranton trail of heart attack
Joggers dropping like flies

That's a hell of a lot more people dying from jogging than have ever died from marijuana (a total of zero so far).

I'll stick to my philosophy. If you don't attack your heart, your heart won't attack you.

The Professor says

We love Dan but he has a devout, almost religious, belief that there is no creator.

I'm devout to the truth, not to any belief. I'll gladly accept that a giant Smurf penis created the entire universe with a single ejaculation, if the evidence supports that case. I'd even accept that giant Smurf penis as god. However, I do demand evidence.

The religious refuse to be convinced by evidence. We skeptics demand to be convinced by evidence. These are polar opposite philosophies. To equate them is like equating warmongering and pacifism.

The Professor says

I don't try to proselytize my beliefs and I let others believe as they choose.

There's nothing noble about that. If a person chooses to believe he is president when he's not, and tries to enter the Oval Office, he's going to get shot. It's not noble to let people persist in delusions.

Would you let a 12-year-old girl kills herself because she believes she will be reunited with her dead dad? Is that noble?

Fuck no. I'd convince the 12-year-old girl not to waste her life on that lie of an afterlife.

And as shown in the above thread, this story is a tragedy if and only if the afterlife is a lie. Which means, anyone who believes the girl should not have killed herself, really doesn't believe in the afterlife.

Professor, you try to imply that it doesn't matter whether or not people believe in a god, but it does because people who believe in these false gods actually make important decisions on these lies. There are hundreds of millions of Muslims in the Middle East ready to sacrifice their lives to inflict suffering on Israel or America because of their belief in a god. It is not an academic issue.

A perfect example of why religion is bad...

250 schoolgirls kidnapped by Al-Qaeda.

To say religion is not the primary cause of this kidnapping would be a bold face lie. When you base your decision making on lies, you get bad decision making like it is god's will that girls do not go to school. Funny how the religious are always certain of god's will, and it's usually pretty evil.

Wrong evidence.
Evidence that I, Softshell, do not accept man made climate change as fact.

Dan8267 says

SoftShell says

Evidence, please.

Dan8267 says

but you don't accept man-made climate change as a fact

The Internet is full of scientific studies that definitively demonstrate that man-made climate change is out-of-control. Start with NASA.

They were both high on pot while they jogged.
'nuff said.

Dan8267 says

That's a hell of a lot more people dying from jogging than have ever died from marijuana (a total of zero so far).

No.
If you read your own link, you would see those joggers most likely dropped due to excessive water intake prior to jogging.

Hyponatremia, a condition of excessive water content resulting in an electrolyte disturbance and a reduced salt concentration, has also been considered as one of the causes of death during running. It is customary to consume an excess of water prior to running proactively to prevent dehydration, but the practice may result in dangerous hyponatremia.

Dan8267 says

Joggers dropping like flies

They were thirsty prior to the run because they were high on pot.
Cottonmouth.

Nobody.
But smoking it is the most common method of ingesting it. Over 92% of marijuana is taken in via smoking.
http://michiganmedicalmarijuana.org/page/articles/health/ingestion-methods

Dan8267 says

SoftShell says

this is just common sense stuff...even the liberal professors say so..

Who says you have to smoke marijuana.

You want to eat it? Prepare to become obese or an alcoholic.
2) Cannabinoids are soluble (dissolve) in fats and alcohol, but not water. The cannabinoids, or the therapeutically active components in medical marijuana, cannot be extracted by brewing a tea or soaking in water. They must be either suspended in a fat such as vegetable oil or butter, OR steeped in alcohol.

Have I thrown enough shit on the wall for something to stick??

What is this crap?
Since when do you accept something as fact just because it seems to have ????.
If you are going to use the verb "seems" as justification for anything, then you must also accept the fact that there may be a 'creator', as the vast complexity of the universe, from the gluon on up to the largest Galaxy seem impossible to have developed on their own without some kind of intelligent abstract intervention.

Dan8267 says

Also, the studies that smoking pot specifically cause lung cancer seem to have been debunked (see links in prior posts).

The Professor says

Dan8267 says

if the afterlife is a lie.

My faith does not believe in an afterlife. Does yours?

The Bible says there is. So you are not a Christian.

The Professor says

Dan8267 says

A perfect example of why religion is bad...

Actually it is a perfect example of how some people are really messed up. Do you really believe those Islamic militants kidnapped those poor kids because of their religious beliefs?

Yes. They believe the Koran prohibits western education. "Boko Haram" what they call themselves means anti western education. They did this to make their Allah happy.

The Professor says

Strategist says

They did this to make their Allah happy.

They did this so they could rape little girls.

They call it "temporary marriages" - pathetic child molesters.

The Professor says

Strategist says

So you are not a Christian.

Christ (If there ever was a real man) had some great teachings. "Mortals go to war so that they can inherit dust. It is because their vision is distorted by the followers of the lie that they value that which is nothing. In destruction there is no victory but for darkness. The power of victory is not force but Love.", "The power of hate is strong, but Love conquers all. God is Love."

Nice. No doubt about it. Still proves nothing.

The Professor says

Strategist says

Still proves nothing.

That's why they call it faith.

Blind faith is irrational.

Dan8267 says

In fact, we're giving you way too much credit. You, Fort Wayne, are the perfect example of a person who does great evil while thinking he's doing good. And you do this precisely because of religion.

I know I'm such a monster.

Teaching my children to be good decent people, just a total rotten evil kind of parent. If I'm not stopped my children my just end up being good people one day.

The Professor says

You do know that two of the worlds greatest "physicists", Newton and Einstein, were religious men? Where would science be without them?

Newton believed in alchemy and witchcraft. Einstein was a secular Jew who had little if any belief in a god. But all these facts are unimportant anyway. I reject the fallacy of Appeal to Authority

I don't give a shit about Newton's superstitions. He was right about math and physics and wrong about alchemy and ghosts. Hell, if Netwon had been an atheist in his time, he'd have been burned alive at the stake.

Einstein was born into a Jewish culture and brainwashed to believe in an imaginary god when he was a child. Most children are brainwashed by religion before they are old enough to think critically. That's child abuse.

Einstein mostly go over this brainwashing and rejected his culture's god. Whether or not he was an atheist is not known and not important. Feynman, Hawking, Sagan, Tyson, Dawkins are all extremely intelligent, highly respected, and accomplished scientists. They are also all atheists. But that's not evidence that atheist is correct.

What makes atheism correct is the various proofs that you choose to outright ignore because you cannot find a flaw in them. There is no god. Therefore, most intelligent people when not brainwashed or subject to torture, death, and/or imprisonment will conclude that there is no god.

The Professor says

Dan8267 says

if the afterlife is a lie.

My faith does not believe in an afterlife. Does yours?

Don't be so ego-centric. You and I are completely irrelevant to the question of whether or not a god or an afterlife exists.

Turning an objective, factual question into something personal is a fallacy. The question How big is the Earth? has a definitive, correct answer that in no way affected by your feelings on the issue. The same is true about the existence of gods and afterlives. Your faith has no bearing on reality.

The Professor says

Dan8267 says

A perfect example of why religion is bad...

Actually it is a perfect example of how some people are really messed up.

They are messed up precisely because of religion. Yes, religion isn't the only thing that fucks up people's thinking, but it is a major thing that fucks up people's thinking. Religion, and even faith in anything supernatural, requires shutting off the rational parts of your brain in order to accept nonsense. And that is precisely how religion and faith fuck up people's thinking.

The Professor says

Do you really believe those Islamic militants kidnapped those poor kids because of their religious beliefs?

Fuck yeah!

And I'm not the only one. See Fundamentalist Views on Women and Religion’s Harm to Women. Faith is the acceptance of an assertion without proof or evidence and often in spite of counter-evidence or proof of the falsehood of the assertion. As such, faith requires not questioning the assertion. That assertion can be anything including that women are inferior to men and must be controlled and subjugated.

To say that a Middle Eastern Muslim man's view on women isn't predominately determined by his religious beliefs is not only fucking ridiculous, it is incredibly harmful to the women and girls who suffer atrocities because of those unquestionable beliefs.

http://www.-8b3vhTO248
Faith: Never let the facts deter you from your beliefs.

The Professor says

Christ (If there ever was a real man) had some great teachings.

The character or the actual man? They are totally different. And yes, there really was such a man. Archeologists found his bones. That's physical evidence of his existence and the lack of a resurrection.

In any case, the character at least is the mother of all Communists.

And the New Testament, yeah the new one, is pro-slavery. The only verses in the New Testaments that mention slavery, condone and approve of it. In contrast to the New Testament, Cliven Bundy is an abolitionist.

The Professor says

Dan8267 says

Everything Bill Maher says in the above video is spot on.

Maher does not believe in God but he does believe in the miracle of office fires causing steel frame buildings to collapse.

What Maher believes and how you feel about him personally are utterly irrelevant. If you can't respond to his actual arguments, then you have conceded their correctness. Either address the actual arguments or admit he is right about those particular arguments.

I reject your fallacy, Poisoning the Well. I also reject your assertion that 9/11 was an inside job and the buildings collapsed because our government planted explosives. That was the ridiculous conspiracy theory you were advocating? Penn and Tell debunk that shit on their show Bullshit showing all the science that explains the towers' collapses.

FortWayne says

Dan8267 says

In fact, we're giving you way too much credit. You, Fort Wayne, are the perfect example of a person who does great evil while thinking he's doing good. And you do this precisely because of religion.

I know I'm such a monster.

Teaching my children to be good decent people, just a total rotten evil kind of parent. If I'm not stopped my children my just end up being good people one day.

Teaching your children to be homophobic is not teaching them to be decent people. A decent person does not dehumanize homosexuals or consider them to be abominations.

Just remember, even Hitler thought he was doing good. Self-righteousness is not a sufficient condition for moral behavior. Wisdom to distinguish good from bad is needed. Wisdom comes from understanding. Understanding comes from science and is obstructed by religion. Faith makes fools of all the faithful.

The Professor says

Can you prove there is no God? No, you can't.

Do you even read your opponent's posts before trying to argue them?

Dan8267 says

executive summary

The Professor says

I do believe their is a super-conscious that connects all of us.

That reminds me of the guy that proved that all program can be written with only 1 loop.

The Professor says

Dan8267 says

Do you even read your opponent's posts before trying to argue them?

I am not your opponent and I am not trying to argue with you.

I am just some troll on the Internet that believes in God.

So, in other words, no.

Dan8267 says

A decent person does not dehumanize homosexuals or consider them to be abominations.

If you sleep with dogs you'll wake up with fleas. You hang out with people who have screws loose, don't expect yourself to turn out normal.

Homosexuals are abominations Dan, and I don't have to like them, and I won't.

FortWayne says

I don't have to like them, and I won't.

Then stop hiding your bigotry behind an avatar of Ronald Reagan, who entrusted his own home and children to a lesbian couple, and invited a gay male couple to stay at the White House.

BTW, Leviticus uses the word "abomination" 19 times, mainly in connection with diet; handling pigskin (football) is also abomination, so no NFL for you. Also no clothing of mixed fiber, cutting the corners of your beard, dining with gentiles, shellfish (sorry Red Lobster!), etc.

And of course, no TV for you either, because you're frightened that your TV has been taken over by black people. Forthood, you might consider becoming Amish, though they don't usually troll the Internet to vent their self-loathing.

Dan8267 says

Archeologists found his bones.

I thought that was a disputed publicity stunt orchestrated by The Discovery Channel?

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2007/feb/27/religion.israel

curious2 says

Then stop hiding your bigotry behind an avatar of Ronald Reagan

You liberals love using that big old "bigot" word without even knowing what it means. Like some 16 year olds who heard the word "asshole", but not quite sure how to apply it properly. Bigotry involves, fear, distrust or hatred. I don't fear, distrust or hate. I just think they are mentally ill and should seek cure.

The only hatred I see is from liberals, because liberals truly hate everyone who disagrees with their deviance's. Liberals don't like to fix their shortcomings, they want others to accept them, and government to pay them for it.

FortWayne says

Bigotry involves...

calling other human beings "abominations," which you did. If you actually have any Christian beliefs at all, you might consider the part about each person being created in the unique image and likeness of God, and whatsoever you do unto the least of his brothers that you do unto him. Your apology will follow when you overcome your self-loathing.

FortWayne says

Liberals don't like to fix their shortcomings,

You're proud of your "Brokeback Mountain" solution? Your comments read like the white trash "I fixed it" fiascos that Jay used to make fun of on TV. The person with the most obvious shortcomings is you, Forthood: you lack honesty, courage, and intelligence.

curious2 says

calling other human beings "abominations," which you did.

They are what they are.

FortWayne says

They are what they are.

And you are not what you pretend to be.

curious2 says

FortWayne says

They are what they are.

And you are not what you pretend to be.

I'm well aware that I'm not Reagan and you are also not a talking cat.

Ugh - I wasted 20 minutes of my lunch by forgetting not to feed the troll.

The reason I posted in this thread was only to ask Dan a question, then I got distracted by a troll making a fool of itself.

hee hee hee....another success story!

curious2 says

Ugh - I wasted 20 minutes of my lunch by forgetting not to feed the troll.

The reason I posted in this thread was only to ask Dan a question, then I got distracted by a troll

FortWayne says

I know I'm such a monster.

Teaching my children to be good decent people, just a total rotten evil kind of parent. If I'm not stopped my children my just end up being good people one day.

FortWayne says

If you sleep with dogs you'll wake up with fleas. You hang out with people who have screws loose, don't expect yourself to turn out normal.

Homosexuals are abominations Dan, and I don't have to like them, and I won't.

And this demonstrates exactly why religion is inherently a bad thing.

Fort Wayne is outraged that I suggest he is doing evil in the name of religion. He claims he's clearly good because all he's trying to do is raise his children to be decent people.

But what he considers decent behavior is dehumanizing homosexuals. And he is teaching his children this by example. His children are most likely to grow up as gay-hating bigots. And Fort Wayne considers this to be morally good.

Religion and faith cause people, who honestly believe their good, to confuse what is morally vile with what is morally good. This is a hard cold fact. Religion and faith are based on accepting completely arbitrary assertions as true without and most often in spite of evidence and proof to the contrary.

This is an inherent property of both religion and faith. And this is why both are fundamentally bad things.

There is no hope in getting Fort Wayne to realize his error. His mind has been so thoroughly poisoned by religion that he will never change. And unfortunately, our legal system says that parents have the right to brainwash their children into any of the religions accepted by our government. So there is little hope for Wayne's children.

Fort Wayne is just a microcosm of the problem. There are literally billions of people in the world today doing evil and getting government to do evil because of religion and faith. And this is why I vocally oppose religion and faith. And you should, too.

Socially just societies with high ethical standards can only be built on a foundation of rationality, adherence to truth over desire, and the scientific method.

curious2 says

Dan8267 says

Archeologists found his bones.

I thought that was a disputed publicity stunt orchestrated by The Discovery Channel?

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2007/feb/27/religion.israel

If that is the case, I'd gladly retract my statement and admit that we don't know if Jesus was even a real person, just a fictional character, or a fictionalized composite of several persons like King Arthur is.

However, all I got from the article above is
1. Some people won't accept anything as Jesus's bones because it would contradict their religion.
2. The evidence isn't enough.

Of course, what would constitute enough evidence? The box fits the names, the time period, and there is no sign of it being a hoax, ancient or modern. There isn't even any evidence that this was intended to be a ancient or modern deception.

So, what exactly would qualify as good enough evidence? I think those who object would never accept any evidence as good enough. They would keep raising the bar.

FortWayne says

Like some 16 year olds who heard the word "asshole", but not quite sure how to apply it properly.

Dude, where do you live that kids have never heard the word asshole until they are 16? Are you in Mayberry?