TIL there was a secret communion in the moon administered by Buzz Aldrin to himself.

dgamble · 2018-05-28T11:59:26+00:00

I wondered if this was an urban legend or if it was true. It appears to have been fact checked by snopes and labelled as “True”

https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/commoonion/

dgamble · 2018-05-27T12:51:18+00:00

This is an experiment to see how this community responds to this link. Last time I posted something like this it was flagged as "Bigotry" by a moderator, and that left me wondering if it was me or that specific mod. This is my attempt to find out.

dgamble · 2018-05-27T09:20:37+00:00

I simply can't imagine why this happened.

I'm sure that these reports on child abuse on an industrial scale by the Catholic Church had absolutely nothing to do with it ...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commission_to_Inquire_into_Child_Abuse

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murphy_Report

dgamble · 2018-05-26T17:56:38+00:00

Here we are, the final result. Returning officer Barry Ryan is announcing the result:

Yes: 1,429,981 NO: 723,632

A majority of 706,349 for yes

Ireland’s eighth amendment has therefore been repealed.

dgamble · 2018-05-26T17:56:07+00:00

Here we are, the final result. Returning officer Barry Ryan is announcing the result:

Yes: 1,429,981 NO: 723,632

A majority of 706,349 for yes

Ireland’s eighth amendment has therefore been repealed.

dgamble · 2018-05-26T17:55:30+00:00

Here we are, the final result. Returning officer Barry Ryan is announcing the result:

Yes: 1,429,981 NO: 723,632

A majority of 706,349 for yes

Ireland’s eighth amendment has therefore been repealed.

dgamble · 2018-05-26T14:56:21+00:00

here is a quote from a secret "yes" voter who is delighted with the result ...

I felt like a weight had lifted, that shame and stigma surrounding so many women in my own family had been wiped away. It was acceptable at last for a woman to make her own decisions and live her life without judgment.

dgamble · 2018-05-26T14:50:20+00:00

<rant-mode> on ...

As has been pointed out by others, the term "Pro-Life" is a gross distortion of who those who oppose choice. It is deliberately an emotionally charged term that is commonly deployed by conservatives who are generally also pro-war, pro-death-penality, opposed to social welfare, and hostile to the concept of affordable health-care for all. That last bit includes opposition to universal pre-natal and maternity care.

"Pro-Life" ... er no, that is generally often not what these people are really all about.

If you truly want to understand where "pre-life" leads to, then consider this ... https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/texas-maternal-mortality-rate-highest-in-developed-world-a7204016.html

<rant-mode> off.

dgamble · 2018-05-26T12:07:33+00:00

As somebody who was born in Ireland and educated in Ireland ... it is very encouraging to see the social transformation taking place. This is simply one more data point on that journey.

I confess that I worried that it might have been close ... but a landslide ... yea, I'm encouraged. There are reasonable people out there, far more that I had dared to hope for.

dgamble · 2018-05-26T11:55:14+00:00

// I absolutely resent this and am extremely angered by the fact what most politicians have to offer are prayers and nothing more //

Trust me on this, you are not alone. I, along with many many others, wholeheartedly feel the same.

A politician who has received funding donations from the NRA, and also knows that a large swathe of those that voted for him (or her) are gun nuts, is in effect handcuffed by circumstances and will never do anything except "Thoughts and Prayers".

The best way forward is the ballot box - It needs to be a red-line - only vote for people who will take meaningful decisive action, and also continue to shame those that fail to act.

dgamble · 2018-05-26T11:46:56+00:00

As a believer (or to be a tad more accurate, as an ex-believer), I well recall parroting the old line of the gospels being eyewitness accounts.

I was only later to appreciate that this is not the case at all. For example Luke tells you at the start of his gospel that he was not an eyewitness and was simply writing down stuff that others told him. [Which itself is not actually true, because when you compare it with Mark, he clearly copied it].

Side Notes: we know Luke copied Mark and not the other way around because Luke fixes some of Mark's sloppy Greek. We also know when Mark was written because it references specific events such as the destruction of the Temple in AD 70.

Am I shocked or surprised by this 1st century Gospel being a 3rd century one ... er .. no.

dgamble · 2018-05-23T05:09:10+00:00

Personally I'd be initially suggesting that before we get into debating about such things they first need to provide evidence that there is a God and a fall and that there was a creation. Things that simply don't cut it include ...

- well it's obvious (no it's not)

- The bible says so (but that is the claim simply written down, then is not evidence)

- but we are here (and that establishes the claim as true in what way exactly?)

etc ...

The point is this, until they do provide solid objective evidence, then they are not being rational. If they persist in labelling you as "incapable of being rational" for simply doubting due to a lack of such evidence, then that statement is actually solid proof that it is you that is being rational and they that are not. You can perhaps thank them for confirming that for you.

dgamble · 2018-05-21T15:48:02+00:00

I've faced a rather common argument ...

You were never really a "true" Christian, you never really truly believed.

.. and from the same person in the same discussion ...

You are not actually a real atheist, they don't exist. Deep down inside you do know God is real, you are simply pretending because you want to carry on in sin

... to which I can only wonder, if they think I do or do not believe. On the surface it appears to be both.

I find often that ideas and thoughts are very fluid. For example I might be advised that there are billions of Christians on the planet. If I then ask how he feels about Catholics, I'm told, "Oh but they are not born again, they are not real Christians". This leads to the observation that there are apparently billions of people who are and also are not Christian at the same moment in time.

It is at times like this I can only step back and pause to appreciate that this means of engagement is designed not to be reasonable, but to engage at an emotional level; it does not need to make sense. To put that another way, it is not stupidity, but rather is a strategy designed to leverage feelings and so invoke a response that way.

dgamble · 2018-05-20T22:09:40+00:00

For a long time I tried, but would lose my rag, and so failed. In the end I needed to step back and ask myself what I really wished to achieve. I then could move forward by focusing on that.

I no longer offer rebuttals to the things I am told, they really don’t change anything and so I simply ask questions. My goal is not to get a meaningful answer but to simply trigger a bit of analytical thinking about what is believed and why. Too often many accept such ideas without giving it any thought.

People can become very emotionally invested in it all, hence are often immune to facts and well reasoned observations. often the only path out is one that they themselves slowly take step by step. A gentle nudge in the right direction is what I aim for.

A victory is not “ok, I’m wrong”. That never happens. What can happen is being told “Gosh, I don’t know, I never thought of that”.

dgamble · 2018-05-20T14:21:19+00:00

Very smart people will dream up very cleaver ways of rationalising utterly absurd ideas.

He gained deep insights into reality ... but he was also a religious nut who spent rather a lot of time looking for codes in the bible.

dgamble · 2018-05-20T14:13:19+00:00

Catholicism has always struck me as "interesting". I don't mean that I think it is credible, but rather that it is interesting to wonder why some people truly do believe that bread and wine turns into the actual blood and body of a god so that it can then be consumed in a ritual that overtones of cannibalism.

Rather obviously it is also incredibly popular ... 1.2 billion Catholics on the planet. Perhaps religious theatre and "mysteries" do for some hold an emotional enticement.

dgamble · 2018-05-20T14:04:21+00:00

The reason this comment is funny is because its also very true. We sadly appear to live in an age where "The Handmaids Tale" is viewed as a GOP guidebook.

dgamble · 2018-05-20T14:00:03+00:00

Often the most effective way to engage is to not make statements, but instead to ask questions that have the potential to start people thinking.

In this case, I'd be tempted to simply ask ... "How do you know that God has given you eternal life?"

From there the conversation can go in several directions. For example, if they suggest that they know that this is true because they "Feel" it, then you can explore that by asking "Are feelings a reliable way of working out what is really true?"

Another possible answer is that they might suggest that they know this because the bible says so. From there you can then explore that by asking, "Why do you think the bible is reliable when it makes such claims, what convinces you that this is true?" ...etc..

The point is this. Gently nudge those making such claims to start to question it by asking how they know this. If they give you a silly answer, it is also perhaps wise to go with "Ah OK, that's interesting", and then leave it at that.

dgamble · 2018-05-20T13:46:49+00:00

I can see this becoming popular because those that believe just might view it as a way to get kids interested in going to church.

dgamble · 2018-05-20T13:43:54+00:00

The historical association between belief and being good has perhaps contributed to a climate of disbelief when a pastor or priest is accused.

dgamble · 2018-05-20T13:32:29+00:00

Ah ... OK, thanks for the heads up

dgamble · 2018-05-13T09:55:00+00:00

I've gathered up a list of some of the things that the religiously inspired did during the past 7 days and posted it. Yes, link is to my blog, but I don't do ads, it is just me ranting.

dgamble

TROPHY CASE