1.) Now we know why no church president ever invited Nelson into the First Presidency as a counselor: His ideas are terrible even by Mormon standards. 2.) Men in business (or religion) are like dogs in the street: they want to pee over everything previously peed on by earlier dogs. Guys in new positions of power want to put their stamp over the stamps of their predecessors. They cancel gre
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You're welcome. https://ldsmag.com/article-1-5419#.WrCPlVa6ID4.facebook No - Amazingly, it is not a parody.
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My only other comment: Articles like this make me yearn for bringing back the stocks and public flogging. http://www.heraldextra.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/former-byu-student-sentenced-to-months-jail-time-for-sexually/article_43504f09-ea6b-5708-95c4-272140a2960c.html?utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook&utm_campaign=user-share
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http://www.ozy.com/rising-stars/the-man-who-may-one-up-darwin/39217
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Hi Thanks all (I got a little note about this thread and decided to come look). I haven't posted much because when I was honest with myself, I realized I was making very little difference in anyone's life here. I thought maybe I could find other ways to do that more effectively. There were other concerns, but that's the main one. However, if anyone wants to reach out to me in private
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https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/04/160427081533.htm
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Just to be clear, I was only wondering because I appeared on "Religulous" and the PBS thing and have appeared online and stuff (not because once, a hundred years ago, a song of mine appeared on radio; not sure that would ever be relevant to church leaders).
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I'm just watching this Jeremy Runnells video. So far, it's pure gold (I'm at the 30 minute mark right now). But I have to wonder...why haven't these guys ever come after me? As an ex-Mormon, I was on the PBS documentary, "The Mormons". I was on Bill Maher's documentary "Religulous". I've been shooting my mouth off on here, on radio, on TV, about Mormonism for twelve years.
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Aposenai I think I can help you with this. Feel free to reach out if you'd like. Best, Tal tcrbachman@gmail.com
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If by that you mean, "are they all aware the whole religion is a fraud?", the answer is: there is no reason to believe they all do, no. Ex-Mormons love announcing they do. They forget how easy it is to not see all sorts of things; to not put the pieces together, and compartmentalize without even realizing; to believe certain things but subconsciously degrade the importance of other t
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Would be drinking Jack neat if I could, but circumstances forbid it this evening...
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Koriwhore - One of the problems I have found is that no matter the premises going in, each group ends believing in the same weird stupid sorts of crap. That includes non-theist groups as much as theist groups. I attended a few meetings of the local secular humanists, and it was completely ludicrous - NO different in essence than a religious meeting: just as many evidence-free dogmas, just as much
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Jack neat, as we speak
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(This post is in response to this: http://exmormon.org/phorum/read.php?2,1766393,1767271#msg-1767271 ) Henry: 1.) At the beginning of your most recent post, you wrote: "my commitment to freewill has NEVER been the basis of my arguments against your views, or any other views. My grounds for such dismissal are based upon clear logical argument that such views are not scientifically supp
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By the way, thanks for the kind words, Henry. Although I cannot say I have agreed with a lot of the things you've written, the conversations have gotten my intellectual gears (such as they are) going big-time. I appreciate the time you take to engage. Heretic: I do not attack "atheism" on here. I myself have no particular theist beliefs. What I have attacked (and what I believe an
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Just a few quick thoughts (hopefully later I can respond in more detail): Jay - I have never argued that free will, self-determination and human autonomy do not exist. Certainly they may. But what I *have* argued against (amongst other things) is Henry's out-of-hand dismissals of propositions on grounds they are (allegedly) irreconcilable with his pet pre-commitments. (And for this reason, we
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By the way, Henry...do you agree or disagree with the following statements: 1.) Religious belief and practice have been present in all known human societies; 2.) Religious belief and practice will most likely always be present in human societies. ?
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Henry: I haven't been researching religiosity for a week; I've barely even thought about it, being busy with other stuff. I mentioned it last night because it looks like I have time to get back into the discussion over the next few days. My earlier comments, on another thread, were not "ad hominem"; I know nothing about your character or personality, and did not address them. I a
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I think that makes sense, LV...but RFM poster Henry Bemis seems to need something more. I wonder if he can clearly state it...
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If religiosity had a biological basis, how would we know? What would the evidence look like? What would *mean*, "religious belief and practice inevitably emerge from humans because of the nature of human brains"?
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Henry - I don't deny, and have never denied, that anyone proposing something about how the world operates needs to provide some sort of argument and evidence if they hope to convince others. Of course, that includes me. At the same time, I must say that I object to the fact that you yourself, certainly in earlier discussions, have refused to provide evidence to support your own claims. Over an
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By the way, Henry writes: "You can baptize a new word with some meaning; and go about pretending it has some deep significance, biologically or culturally, but when all is said and done, the reality is simply that people like to form, join, and participate in groups with others who are like minded; which sometimes generates strong feelings of commitment to a particular ideology".
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After Richard Dawkins's recent promotion of this video on Twitter ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ecJUqhm2g08 ), the Northeast Conference of Science and Skepticism ( http://necss.org/ ) has cancelled his upcoming appearance. ( http://www.patheos.com/blogs/friendlyatheist/2016/01/28/richard-dawkins-responds-after-being-booted-from-necss-conference-2/ ). I am puzzled as to why Richard Dawkins
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I'm not sure it's enough. I'll try to find time in the next few days to respond.
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n/t
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I've never heard anyone suggest that "the very notion of 'religiosity' is questionable" before. In what way do you believe it is "questionable"? Do you mean, you think it might not exist? How do you describe - or to what do you ascribe - the ubiquity of religious belief and behaviour in human cultures?
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Hi Henry: Let me cut right to the chase. You write above that "'religiosity' is the product of our biological and genetic make-up, to be sure, but coupled with our existential condition, and our human need to understand our environment, and seek the companionship and approval of our peers." Focusing on the first clause of that sentence, in what way do you think religiosity is &
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Henry: I happened to get a few minutes here, so just wanted to post a few follow-up questions to help me understand what exactly it is you're looking for, and where you even are on this stuff. 1.) First, let's make sure we share an understanding of the term "religiosity". I mean by it a propensity to: A.) Subscribe to, and organize one's mental, spiritual, or physical life arou
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Henry: I entirely agree that valid criticisms of an idea need not emerge from a specific, well-developed, alternative proposal, and that you have not ever provided one of those is not really my complaint. Leaving consciousness aside for the moment, it is also true I have not gone into much detail about how hardwired biological mechanisms can combine to produce religiosity. One reason for t
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Human: John Gray is spot-on when it comes to religion. On that, we agree. As far as Henry Bemis goes, while you might be correct that free will is not exactly "dogma", my point was that it seems to have essentially become dogma for Henry - and so much so, that he's unable to have a rational, evidence-driven conversation about a biological basis for religiosity. His fear is that if we
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