Of course, Derrida is correct. It all depends on one's definition of "cult" and what adjectives one attaches to it. I tip my hat to Derrida. (But I still like my answer!)
Forum: Recovery Board

Another case of synchronized ignorance!
Forum: Recovery Board

At Freethoughtblogs.com, Daniel Fincke has an excellent series of blogs on how to deal with theists, religionists and assorted supernatural believers. So far there are seven parts of ten. Here's the link: http://freethoughtblogs.com/camelswithhammers/2011/10/05/dont-call-religious-believers-stupid-tip-1-of-10-for-reaching-out-to-religious-believers/ So, if you get as irritated at theists as
Forum: Recovery Board

The church pulls Jesus out of the closet at Christmas and Easter, dusts him off and has special sacrament meetings in his memory. Then they put him back in the closet until the next holiday. Between Christmas and Easter and Christmas again, Jesus is almost a nonentity.
Forum: Recovery Board

The church pulls Jesus out of the closet at Christmas and Easter, dust him off and have special sacrament meetings in his memory. Then they put him back in the closet until the next holiday. Between Christmas and Easter and Christmas again, Jesus is almost a nonentity.
Forum: Recovery Board

n/t
Forum: Recovery Board

As Seneca nicely points out, one man's religion is another man's cult. And as I see it, today's mainstream religion was yesterday's cult; today's cult is tomorrow's mainstream. When Christianity was being invented 2,000 or so years ago IT WAS the cult. In fact, it was many cults all looking for an identity. The Romans, Greeks and various pagan religions of the day all thought the various varie
Forum: Recovery Board

This is a really important question. Here are four books that I have found quite useful: "How We Decide" by Jonah Lehrer "The Believing Brain" by Michael Shermer "Mistakes Were Made (but not by me)" by Carol Tavris and Elliot Aronson And the truly excellent book I am currently reading, "Nonsense" by Robert J. Gula. This book is considered a classic
Forum: Recovery Board

To ascribe the faucet to ghosts is irrational. You might just as well ascribe it to goblins, gremlins, squirrels, falling space junk, unicorns, sasquatch, yeti, chupacabra, wind gusts, angels, the Virgin Mary, I don't know, pick your poison. Why ghosts? Why anything supernatural? You don't know and neither do we. We cannot explain it and we're content with that. That's science, brother.
Forum: Recovery Board

Helamonter's point is well taken. Last night on the news some reporter was on Wall Street reporting on the Occupy protests. He found a Wall Street trader or executive of some sort to interview and asked his feelings about the protests. With a wave of his hand he cluelessly exclaimed, "Why don't these people go get a job?" I felt like screaming at the television "BECAUSE THERE AR
Forum: Recovery Board

How about Moneyball or the movie about the dolphin (I forget the name). Go see something that will make you laugh out loud. Or something that will lift your spirits. From what I hear about Contagion it will only deepen your funk.
Forum: Recovery Board

Nate and Kolobian have explained the situation quite well but may I add my two cents. You have not explored ALL the logical explanations because that would occupy all your waking hours for the rest of your life. You may well have explored or examined a great number of possibilities and come up short. I'll grant you that as I think you are an honest person who would not try to deceive us. B
Forum: Recovery Board

+1
Forum: Recovery Board

I've never seen a ghost or anything that might be interpreted as a ghost. I've never heard, felt or sensed anything that might be construed as "other-worldly". Reading these stories got me to thinking. If a person claims to have seen one ghost, I might find that an amusing anecdote. If a person claims to have seen two I would find that suspicious. If a person claims to have seen more
Forum: Recovery Board

You were choked up (and rightly so) at the introduction of Goodall because she is a person who has actually done some good in this world. She is well deserving of our respect and admiration for having contributed mightily to humanity's body of knowledge. She is a celebrity in the purest sense of the word. Mormon General Authorities are just ordinary guys with made up titles in a bogus church w
Forum: Recovery Board

If one really reads the BoM *gag* one discovers that all it is is a bunch of re-hashed Christian doctrine from JS's day. Oh, sure, it's all wrapped in a bogus history and fiction but, really, when you get right down to it, there isn't anything offensively un-Christian about it. People only believe it is the work of Satan because that's what they've been told - not because they've read the book it
Forum: Recovery Board

All this proves is there are a LOT of weird planets out there. Sadly, no Kolob has been found and is not likely to be. The real universe is far more fascinating than Joseph Smith's confabulated fantasy universe.
Forum: Recovery Board

We did not exist prior to birth. There was no "pre-existence", no "past life", no anything. And there is nothing after death. Our mind, our consciousness, our "soul" if you must began to exist with conception but did not fully come into fruition until shortly after our birth. That's my story and I'm sticking to it.
Forum: Recovery Board

if we follow the evidence (as scientifically minded folks should) then, so far, the Big Bang is the most empirically sound theory to date. The thing with science is that one must go wherever the evidence leads. Sometimes that is uncomfortable or inconvenient or even shocking. But unless and until something better comes along to explain the origin of the universe, the Big Bang will have to do.
Forum: Recovery Board

The thing I found most interesting is the educational level of the ex-mos in your survey. A whopping 96.4% have more than a high school education. Very significant IMO.
Forum: Recovery Board

n/t
Forum: Recovery Board

What if, after discussing the positives of a life lived well, the grieving person presses you with, "But what of the hereafter"? I might respond with this, "Well, what do you think? How do you feel? What do you believe?" Then just accept whatever answer the grieving person gives you. You don't necessarily have to agree with them, just accept their answer as their valid opin
Forum: Recovery Board

There is a large and growing body of neurological research demonstrating that sexual orientation begins before birth but does not become fully fixed and evident until puberty. In other words, homosexuals are born that way but usually do not realize it until they reach the age of puberty. (It's the same for heterosexuals.) My point is that whether one is hetero- or homosexual it is determined befo
Forum: Recovery Board

because it goes to the heart of what true religion - REAL religion - is all about, that is, making life better for people. Yes, I know we like to beat up on Mormonism but I do know personally of a man I attended high school with who has changed his life completely for the good thanks to his conversion. When I knew him years ago he was the kid you didn't want to make eye contact with, who would li
Forum: Recovery Board

You people are GENIUSES for picking up on the new Mormon meme. Love it!
Forum: Recovery Board

If that's "godlike" I'm glad I don't believe in god.
Forum: Recovery Board

n/t
Forum: Recovery Board

Contrast the GAs with someone like Joel Osteen who looks like he had a smile plastic surgically attached to his face. He's so happy all the time it's positively clownish. Rather a clown, though, than a bunch of grumpy old curmudgeons. HEY! Does "GAs" stand for "Grumpy Assholes"? Just asking.
Forum: Recovery Board

The various apologists as mentioned by oddcouplet provide the GAs with plausible deniability. If the apologists are wrong then the church leadership can say, "Well, they don't speak officially for the church". But if they're right (can't recall that that's ever happened but it might) then the church leadership say, "See, we told you so!" If you've kept up with the many disc
Forum: Recovery Board

Boy, does that comment ring true to me. I've often thought, how could I have been so stupid all those years of wasting time, money, service and so on? But now I understand that I was simply brainwashed (as well as self-brainwashed) and thought I was doing right at the time. Still, that doesn't make up for all those wasted years that I could have been doing something - anything - more constructive
Forum: Recovery Board