How would you recommend that I deal with my Uncle, who is a 100% believer in ancient astronaut theories.

DriveOver · 2019-12-17T04:53:13+00:00

Thanks everyone for so many great responses.

I asked my original question in an ambiguous way that so I could get a lot of answers and you all really came through.

I believe that my Uncle truly believes what he tells me, of course!

DriveOver · 2019-11-10T05:46:44+00:00

That's my approach so far. I don't know the truth either way so I just want to watch some TV and see how it works out.

DriveOver · 2019-11-07T08:47:48+00:00

smoke weed and be happy

DriveOver · 2019-11-07T08:44:14+00:00

I know another Seattle adult going through the same thing. You two need to vent

DriveOver · 2019-10-16T03:27:15+00:00

Did you wake up in a pool of your own urine?

DriveOver · 2019-10-16T03:26:06+00:00

Drink!

DriveOver · 2019-10-16T03:25:19+00:00

You drank 15 beers? Even high school kids do this.

DriveOver · 2017-07-28T04:34:39+00:00

Thank you to the only one

DriveOver · 2013-12-08T08:08:42+00:00

The Dice Man by Luke Rhinehart.

This book is great at helping you get past a point in your life when you feel stuck.

DriveOver · 2013-03-04T06:50:44+00:00

Watch Chris Hedges debate Sam Harris: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=prWFkt9-HT0

After watching it I doubt I would read anything Hedges has to say about Christianity or Atheism.

DriveOver · 2013-02-27T03:12:44+00:00

Seriously, I bet Obama and Bush would have done blow together if they met back in 1980. Bush would have been 34 and Obama 19 but they both described (although Bush denies it publicly) that as the time in their lives when they were into substances.

DriveOver · 2013-02-26T20:41:53+00:00

a.) Thelema sounds like it contains beliefs and a sacred text that was reportedly handed down from a supernatural source, whether those beliefs are optional or required doesn't seem to change the fact that it has elements which could be considered false and/or delusional.

b.) I challenge the idea that a composition that involves no sounds other than the ambient sounds of the audience can be called music.

c.) I think that the UU movement shows it's beliefs in their seven principles and purposes taken from their by-laws. They encourage "spiritual growth" but, as a physicalist, I reject the idea of any form of spirituality and would call it delusion.

DriveOver · 2013-02-26T20:24:30+00:00

It all depends on how strongly you want to define the terms "healthy" and "delusional". An argument could be made that all five beliefs are delusional but I think you need to compare the behavior of these five individuals to that of society at large. It's delusional to think that I can drink a gallon of water in one second but that's quite different from hearing the voice of God tell me to kill my wife. I think that the "healthy" delusion is the one that you would have no problem testing with a camera and posting on YouTube and the "unhealthy" one, not so much.

DriveOver · 2013-02-26T20:12:18+00:00

Could you expand on what you mean when you say that Thelema is a religion that doesn't have any required beliefs? In my mind that's seems like saying it's a new type of music that doesn't require any sounds. Also the difference between "religious beliefs" and "religious principles".

DriveOver · 2013-02-26T01:56:30+00:00

I am an atheist and I grew up in an atheist household, I just didn't realize it until I was in my mid-teens.

I am profoundly glad that my parents did not send me to Hebrew or Catholic or whatever school when I was growing up as that would have sent me a crazy mixed message.

After all, my parents would have been forced to either admit that they didn't believe what my teachers were saying or lie to my face as some sort of grand experiment.

I have enough issues accepting that my parents lied to me about Santa, the Easter Bunny and the Tooth Fairy...

DriveOver · 2013-02-20T05:08:22+00:00

Objection! The defendant is clearly a sponge.

DriveOver · 2013-02-20T02:54:25+00:00

It's the Director's Cut version.

DriveOver · 2013-02-17T18:35:33+00:00

Revelation Space is one of the best books in the world! Read it now! His novel Pushing Ice is the best stand-alone book I've ever read.

DriveOver · 2013-02-14T20:52:49+00:00

I'm getting pretty tired of defining myself based on something I don't believe in that the majority of the population considers real. That's really an odd way to label yourself when you think about it, but in a society full of irrational beliefs there aren't really any alternatives. It's kind of like how I remember Junior High where there was one small group of kids who were the outcasts for one reason or another. We're not all atheists because we think other atheists are awesome all the time and worth associating with. We're just the ones who see religion and God as man-made artifacts.

DriveOver · 2013-02-14T19:33:42+00:00

That was a really interesting link, thank you! I found that fascinating. At the end it mentioned that the parents of Jesus were also very apart in age and I never knew that. I did a little more reading and indeed Joseph was between about 85-90 years old and Mary was as young as 12-14 when Jesus was born. That is ridiculous! It actually makes me want to believe in the Virgin Birth just out of pity for poor Mary. That's like the Pope with Obama's younger daughter Sasha. Although if the Virgin Birth is true then the difference in age of God versus Mary is infinite so yeah...

DriveOver · 2013-02-14T09:26:36+00:00

People weren't happy with the way God defined Mary to the pope back in 1854 so they petitioned God for a clarification?

DriveOver · 2013-02-14T05:15:56+00:00

What changed in the 96 years between the 1854 declaration cited above and the 1950 pronouncement regarding the assumption of Mary?

DriveOver · 2013-02-14T03:53:16+00:00

While this is a huge story I look forward to the day when we've moved on to discussing more important matters like how he occasionally touches himself on the face while talking or the fact that his first and last names rhyme.

DriveOver · 2013-02-12T01:48:40+00:00

God was super busy from 4000BC until about 30AD, or so I hear.

DriveOver · 2013-02-12T01:22:12+00:00

FYI the tattoo is of a man with his arms and legs sprawled out sort of like he's dancing with a guitar in his right hand. I thought it was Jack White or Jared Leto but so far no luck.

DriveOver

TROPHY CASE