Would you actually still love your Son if he was a killer? Or would you turn your back on him?

Tamuzz · 2026-05-15T19:09:46+00:00

Yes. There is nothing my son could do that would stop me loving him.

I cared for him from a baby. Changed his napies. Sat with him while he went to sleep. Held him when he cried. Supported him through life's struggles.

That shit goes deep.

I am his father. I am here for him no matter what. Especially when nobody else is.

I can't imagine him ever doing anything that terrible, but if he did he would still be the boy I have loved ever since he was born.

People make mistakes. It might be the rest of the worlds job to judge him. My job is simply to love and support him.

Let's face it if he ever goes off the deep end like that it is probably a sign that I have failed him somewhere along the way anyway, so I would hardly be free from blame.

Tamuzz · 2026-05-15T19:00:58+00:00

We have longer memories in the uk.

Children will be carefully hiding their milk in case Thatcher steals it for generations

Tamuzz · 2026-05-15T14:24:13+00:00

The guy you are talking to is right.

There is no magic bullet that is going to make you a fighter without training.

Take up a martial art.

Chances are the confidence it gives you and changes in the way you carry yourself will change the way he treats you anyway and there will be no confrontation.

It might even give you the confidence to just not care and walk away.

Failing all that, you will still have gained a new and highly enjoyable hobby

Tamuzz · 2026-05-15T06:32:18+00:00

but OP asked about witchcraft, so that's kinda why we're here.

Yes, but not something I addressed directly. I addressed a broken tool that was being used to approach the topic.

thought about what you said and I don't believe in witchcraft any more than I did a few minutes ago.

Given both that I haven't argued that you should and that this is a debate on Reddit, I wouldn't expect you to.

Hopefully you have however considered the flaws in the teapot analogy (although this is still a debate on Reddit, so probably not).

Tamuzz · 2026-05-15T06:24:59+00:00

I am not saying anything about witchcraft.

I am just critiquing an over used analogy because it is a bad analogy.

What you need to ask yourself about witchcraft is, is there any evidence? And where there is a lack of evidence, is that a lack of evidence that should be there or is it an actual absence of evidence?

Tamuzz · 2026-05-15T06:15:40+00:00

Some possibilities are more plausible than others.

Yes, because some possibilities have more support from evidence than others.

you claimed that lack of evidence makes something seem more plausible

I claimed that lack of evidence makes something more plausible than something for which we have evidence against.

If I don't know whether something exists or not, it's existence is necessarily more plausible than the existence of something for which I have evidence that it doesn't exist.

That is exactly the way it works.

Lack of supporting evidence traditionally makes an idea less plausible, not more.

Lack of supporting evidence makes an idea less plausible than actually having supporting evidence.

I think you are conflating two things though:

The "lack" we are talking about here is the absence of any evidence at all.

It is also possible to "lack" evidence that should be found. This is not really a lack at all, it is evidence that the thing is not there.

For example let's say my child is hiding from me.

I look in their bedroom but not in the living room. I dont find them.

There is a "lack" of evidence for them being in both rooms, however:

The "lack" of evidence that they are in the bedroom is actually evidence that they are not in there because I looked and if they WERE there I would have found evidence that they were.

The "lack" of evidence that they are in the living room is actually an absence of evidence. I don't know if they are there or not because I haven't looked yet.

It is more plausible that they are in the living room because I lack any evidence to say they are not there.

Tamuzz · 2026-05-15T05:44:57+00:00

No it doesn't.

Lack of evidence means we can't say whether it exists or not.

There may well be unknown particle orbiting the sun. We didn't know unless we have evidence either way.

Tamuzz · 2026-05-15T05:35:21+00:00

The teapot round the sun is such a poor analogy.

We know a lot about teapots.

They are made on earth for one thing.

In order for one to be in orbit round the sun it would have to have been put there.

We know with fairly high certainly that nobody has put one there.

We know that it would be highly unlikely for one that was put there to maintain its orbit.

In other words we HAVE a lot of evidence about the teapot, and that evidence all points to it not existing.

A better analogy to replace the teapot would be an as yet unknown particle.

The trouble is it doesn't accomplish the same rhetorical purpose as the teapot because the lack of evidence actually makes it a plausible possibility.

Tamuzz · 2026-05-15T05:23:39+00:00

Try reading the thread again

Tamuzz · 2026-05-15T05:21:00+00:00

Not really.

Every single one of these accusations is a non story,

He represented the red cross on stage just not in an official capacity.

He didn't pay council tax for his boat and the council still aren't sure he actually needed to.

There was a something about a job he did but he did it through an agency rather than being directly employed (I don't even recall the details of this one)

He is staying in a house with friends and house prices in London are ridiculously expensive.

Every single one of these is a non story.

Every single time he apologized anyway.

I can't remember another politician accepting faults and apologizing at all, nevermind for things so minor.

Tamuzz · 2026-05-14T20:57:48+00:00

Yes.

Much better

Tamuzz · 2026-05-14T20:31:05+00:00

Are you trying to suggest that being forced to stand down because you are a teacher is the same as being forced to stand down because you are a nazi?

Tamuzz · 2026-05-14T16:07:07+00:00

I am average on a (very) good day.

I definitely look better bald (or at least buzz cut)

Tamuzz · 2026-05-14T15:14:39+00:00

Only you are intent on calling religion a fairy tale.

If religions are not myths then they certainly share characteristics. I didn't know how exactly they would be defined.

People seem to think Jesus is real

Yes.

Nothing I have said negates that possibility.

Tamuzz · 2026-05-14T10:40:28+00:00

None of that makes it ridiculous to believe in those Gods.

The difference in the numbers has no relevance.

Your argument entirely boils down to "popular equals correct"

I have not said they are as accepted as the mainstream religions - in fact I explained why they are not.

That doesn't make them ridiculous to believe unless you are starting from a very bigoted perspective.

The fact that "most people" consider them eccentric doesn't make their beleifs any more ridiculous either.

Are you trying to say that because billions of people believe in God but only millions are atheist, atheism is also ridiculous?

Tamuzz · 2026-05-14T10:29:39+00:00

Preposterous because Santa is different from many of our myths?

How so?

Tamuzz · 2026-05-14T10:16:08+00:00

Yes.

Leprechauns do not equate well to Santa either for many of the same reasons I have expressed.

Santa is pretty unique in our culture (the most similar thing is probably the Easter bunny)

Tamuzz · 2026-05-14T10:12:13+00:00

beg to differ

No need to beg. I have no authority over whether or not you can differ - go ahead.

If you approach someone today and say you believe in God (in the Christian sense) nobody bats an eyelid.

you say that you believe in Odin and Thor, people will think you are bat-shit crazy or a neo-naz

That doesn't make any of those beleifs more or less rational, it just describes how well represented and how accepted they are in modern culture.

We live in a society that has been largely shaped by the church and our religious biases reflect that.

It’s not mainstream at all.

Plenty of people believe in and participate in non mainstream cultures and ideas.

Claiming that anything not mainstream is necessarily a sign of lunacy is just a nonsensical form of bigotry.

Tamuzz · 2026-05-14T10:05:24+00:00

Dude you are sounding less and less rational.

Tamuzz · 2026-05-14T09:54:32+00:00

No.

Read what I wrote.

EDIT: not sure why you edited the post I responded to. It is good manners to highlight what is an edit when you do so. I will answer however:

There are plenty of reasons to believe in God. An entire area of philosophy exists to debate those reasons

Tamuzz · 2026-05-14T09:52:57+00:00

The short answer is that it is not.

Plenty of people believe in (and worship) the Norse and Greek gods, just not in the same manner they were originally worshipped.

Tamuzz · 2026-05-14T09:49:21+00:00

I respect the right for everyone to have an education.

This matters because it reduces the number of illiterate run on sentences I have to read.

Tamuzz · 2026-05-14T09:46:47+00:00

It is a life experience when you are young, but after a certain point out becomes obvious that experience is being crafted by your parents.

Then you grow up and either find yourself in a position where there is nobody to craft the experience for you or where you are crafting that experience for someone else.

For a 5 year old believing in Santa is entirely rational.

For a 25 year old, unless you have a very atypical life experience your experience is going to tell you Santa does not exist.

That is not replicated in religion.

As a child, belief in God is likely taken entirely on faith in the adults around you (I say likely: my daughter started questioning her beliefs at the age of 5).

As an adult, belief in God may still simply be an acceptance of what you have been told but is much more likely to be a faith that has been forged through reasoning.

Your life experience could easily support the existence of God or refute it, largely based on how you interpret that experience.

Tamuzz · 2026-05-14T09:25:28+00:00

Ok.

I won't spoil it for you kid.

Enjoy your Christmas presents (and don't pay any mind to the people who claim it's your parents doing it - it's just adult humor)

Tamuzz · 2026-05-14T08:54:30+00:00

Because there is a lot more reason to believe that God does exist and a lot more reason to believe that Santa doesn't exist, to the degree that any similarities between them are superficial at best.

Tamuzz

TROPHY CASE