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Search found 262 matches

by Dan
December 27th, 2016, 9:16 am
Forum: Positive Humanism
Topic: Freethinker's Classics now available for Kindle
Replies: 1
Views: 5221

Freethinker's Classics now available for Kindle

Bit of a plug: In the late 1990s/early 2000s, G.W. Foote & Co (publisher of The Freethinker) released 5 titles in a series of classic secularist and humanist texts. These are now all available electronically from Amazon for Kindle: G.W. Foote, Secularism: the true philosophy of life http://amzn.to/2...
by Dan
August 2nd, 2011, 6:17 pm
Forum: Religion
Topic: Souls
Replies: 10
Views: 1909

Re: Souls

It's worth noting that not all Christians are believers in "souls". See for example: http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/programmes/belief/scripts/alister_mcgrath.html Q So what you're saying is that at some point the ape that became the man, somewhere on that line he was imbued with a soul? AMG I think t...
by Dan
October 12th, 2010, 9:14 pm
Forum: Humanism, secularism, freethought...
Topic: humanist charity status
Replies: 9
Views: 2828

Re: humanist charity status

Just look at the charity commissioner's website:

http://www.charity-commission.gov.uk

There's loads of information there on how to qualify as charitable. There are more than four headings, by the way.

Dan
by Dan
October 12th, 2010, 9:07 pm
Forum: Humanism, secularism, freethought...
Topic: Why Think Humanism is a humanist fail.
Replies: 46
Views: 11641

Re: Why Think Humanism is a humanist fail.

A collectively or anarchistically run board may or may not be a good idea and may or may not be successful. This is not such a board. We all decide for ourselves whether we want to participate, given that it is run the way it is run. And fundamentally the owners can run it whoever they like If we do...
by Dan
August 23rd, 2010, 3:15 pm
Forum: Religion
Topic: atheism versus agnosticism
Replies: 180
Views: 22128

Re: atheism versus agnosticism

I do think it is nonsense in fact, but I suppose we both think so because we are materialists who also find it hard to seriously entertain the possibility of, say, ghosts or reincarnation - these topics are "fringe" religion (New Age etc) rather than "core" religion like gods or angels. I think in ...
by Dan
August 12th, 2010, 3:20 pm
Forum: Religion
Topic: atheism versus agnosticism
Replies: 180
Views: 22128

Re: atheism versus agnosticism

I'm not so sure you've got to the nub of this NOMA business. That is quite possible. To comment further, I'd need to study the subject in more detail, and tbh, it seems to me to be about as useful as theology. Maybe I'm just tired, maybe it seserves more attention, but it will have to wait. What ab...
by Dan
August 12th, 2010, 3:18 pm
Forum: Religion
Topic: atheism versus agnosticism
Replies: 180
Views: 22128

Re: atheism versus agnosticism

Agree in principle. But then God has the unfortunate characteristic of being everywhere and nowhere, so is impossible to disprove in practice, not just difficult. You don't think that there are fundamental conceptual - logical - problems with the notion of "being everywhere and nowhere" that ought ...
by Dan
August 10th, 2010, 2:16 pm
Forum: Religion
Topic: atheism versus agnosticism
Replies: 180
Views: 22128

Re: atheism versus agnosticism

animist This Supremo-style God is, IMO, a self-contradiction and so inconceivable. But that does not mean that there could not be other "Gods": My emphasis. Yes it does! If there are gods of any description, who created them? (we did is the obvious answer) Most of the 3,000+ gods (invented by primi...
by Dan
August 10th, 2010, 2:08 pm
Forum: Religion
Topic: atheism versus agnosticism
Replies: 180
Views: 22128

Re: atheism versus agnosticism

Your first point: that is what I was saying in my original post - atheism does not, or should not, claim to disprove God's existence. No, atheists can claim to disprove the existence of any creative deity if they like . But you can be an atheist if you think belief in the existence of god is unjust...
by Dan
August 10th, 2010, 2:02 pm
Forum: Religion
Topic: atheism versus agnosticism
Replies: 180
Views: 22128

Re: atheism versus agnosticism

And if they think that morals are somehow outside science, then they don't understand either science or morals. I'm not so sure you've got to the nub of this NOMA business. Gould can only make NOMA stand up by restricting religion to ethics. He never quite admits to this, but it's quite clear if yo...
by Dan
August 10th, 2010, 1:52 pm
Forum: Education
Topic: Atheist school's values & ethics
Replies: 308
Views: 294346

Re: Atheist school's values & ethics

I'm a secularist. That means I'm against state-funded atheist schools just as much as I am against state-funded religious schools. Hmmm....I can't see how an education can exclude the question of whether there is a god. And as there isn't, then education must say so or it is not being honest. Why s...
by Dan
August 10th, 2010, 1:42 pm
Forum: Sciences and pseudo-science
Topic: How does intelligence work?
Replies: 40
Views: 4673

Re: How does intelligence work?

Yes sir, the "advanced" thing was actually not well thought...anyway what I intended to say is that they have been existing for so many millions of years and that too successfully...the fact that they exist even today without having to evolve with a brain means there is something advanced about the...
by Dan
August 6th, 2010, 2:33 pm
Forum: Sciences and pseudo-science
Topic: How does intelligence work?
Replies: 40
Views: 4673

Re: How does intelligence work?

Just saw an episode of the new series called "Life" on Discovery channel. One particular sentence by the narrator caught my attention, especially. Attenborough was talking about jellyfish when he said, "they neither have a brain nor a mouth(?)". If the mind is the brain then we seem to have some mi...
by Dan
August 6th, 2010, 1:54 pm
Forum: Religion
Topic: atheism versus agnosticism
Replies: 180
Views: 22128

Re: atheism versus agnosticism

What is "absolute knowledge", and how exactly does it differ from knowledge?

Dan
by Dan
August 6th, 2010, 12:13 pm
Forum: Education
Topic: Atheist school's values & ethics
Replies: 308
Views: 294346

Re: Atheist school's values & ethics

What Dawkins actually said, during his mumsnet appearance ( http://bit.ly/bx30jc , is this: Thank you for suggesting that I should start an atheist free school. I like the idea very much, although I would prefer to call it a free-thinking free school. I would never want to indoctrinate children in a...
by Dan
August 6th, 2010, 11:39 am
Forum: Religion
Topic: atheism versus agnosticism
Replies: 180
Views: 22128

Re: atheism versus agnosticism

Of the replies so far, most do not seem that bothered about the distinction between the two As. Richard Dawkins did seem to be concerned, in effect attacking scientist agnostics who were willing to give religion its own sphere (the "NOMA" or "non-overlapping magisteria") and I understand his irrita...
by Dan
August 4th, 2010, 2:15 pm
Forum: Religion
Topic: atheism versus agnosticism
Replies: 180
Views: 22128

Re: atheism versus agnosticism

Realistic because noone can disprove the existence of God any more than they can disprove the existence of fairies at the bottom of their garden (certainly not of my garden anyway, which probably does contain fairies). This is often stated, but seldom defended. Dawkins says the same kind of thing, ...
by Dan
March 16th, 2010, 12:36 pm
Forum: Sciences and pseudo-science
Topic: Homeopathy
Replies: 1207
Views: 300188

Re: Homeopathy

Have the pro-homeopathy lot got a write-in campaign going to ask MPs to sign up to this EDM?

Dan
by Dan
October 22nd, 2009, 6:39 pm
Forum: Miscellaneous Discussions...
Topic: What is the truth behind 9/11?
Replies: 140
Views: 14545

Re: What is the truth behind 9/11?

Sorry, waxed philosophical again. What I was trying to say is everyone's "truth" is different because we have different pieces of knowledge and none of us ever have complete knowledge. What work are the snigger quotes doing here? If none of us ever have "complete knowledge" (what, of everything, or...
by Dan
October 6th, 2009, 6:25 pm
Forum: Sciences and pseudo-science
Topic: Is this true?
Replies: 45
Views: 4990

Re: Is this true?

Nirvanam wrote:it really has nothing so profound in it for you to bother about it.
Well, that's a relief at any rate.

Dan