Posts by Zachary Thomas2

Arthur Flores2 said:Thinking back to that Christmas card of yours about "fantasy holidays," and knowing how cynical you are, this "until Easter" thing might just mean you'll start posting again right on Easter Sunday...

Regardless of whether you respect truces, it’s a shame I can't return the favor, since celebrating atheist holidays doesn't really make sense (celebrating nothing). But I guess I could compromise and stick to a truce until Tomato Day...☕

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature...&v=QPQCH1b_LgE

(around 0:34 there's some brief singing and a fitting melody)...

You poor thing. By that logic, every single holiday that isn't religious is an atheist holiday.

Imagine if almost everyone believed in the Borg from Star Trek. And imagine if that vast majority had a specific label for those who don't believe in the Borg—let's call them "aborgists."

Regardless of who is an aborgist and who isn't, there would be holidays centered around the Borg, just as there would be holidays completely unrelated to them. For instance, many people would celebrate Halloween for the fun of it, regardless of their beliefs.

Now, imagine a Borg believer in such a society claiming that aborgist holidays are meaningless.

Just because you believe you will live on after death doesn't mean you actually will.

Picture a mother being approached by two witnesses regarding an event involving her son, only for them to give her conflicting accounts. One tells her her son is dead, while the other insists he is alive. Who will the mother believe? It is only natural that she will believe what she wants to believe, given that human reason is perpetually crippled by human frailty. Most people simply lack the strength to overcome those weaknesses.

Susan Green15 said:What could possibly be the noble reasoning behind an omniscient God choosing not to share the kind of knowledge that could save millions of lives or simply make our existence less of a struggle?
During the Middle Ages, countless millions perished from the plague and various other ailments, not to mention the periods of famine caused by things like potato blight wiping out crops.
Why didn't God explain the mechanics of the plague or how to treat it, instead just watching silently as millions died, leaving us to stumble upon the cures entirely on our own?

Why do people continue to praise Jesus for miraculous healings rather than criticizing him for using his knowledge and abilities for his own promotion and glory, instead of teaching humanity medicine so we could actually heal ourselves—both in greater numbers and long after his passing?

He couldn't, because He isn't omnipotent. Or He wouldn't, because He isn't good. Or, quite simply, He doesn't exist, and people are just too foolish to accept it; they invent justifications for Him because it's easier to deal with a deity than with the idea that everything is just made up.

Angela Martin20 said:I feel like a complete idiot right now, but whatever
from what I gather, Jesus was accused of all sorts of things, but I'm really stuck on the part where he redeemed our sins through his death... like, why? How exactly does his passing lead to our salvation?

It isn't as if he redeemed some monumental, universal sin, because he clearly knew how many people would never even hear about Christianity—and let's face it, hell can't exactly be empty. So, he didn't redeem original sin; you still need baptism for salvation because, frankly, the poor guy wasn't able or willing to finish the job entirely during the redemption.
But fine, go ahead and blame those ancient tribes for original sin since the guilt is collective. There won't be an individual trial for every single soul; instead, if our ancestors stumbled, we all carry the stain of that original sin.

The American education system is a proven machine for dulling the intellect; one cannot logically interpret that as an insult to American citizens educated within the country. I suspect many Americans hold a similar view regarding our schools.

That statement doesn't insult American citizens; rather, it insults the American educational system itself by expressing a negative opinion toward it.

Furthermore, while we might speculate that there is a hidden insult directed at American citizens, speculation alone is no basis for punishment.

Moreover, looking at previous records, it's clear that Muski had contact with American textbooks, which leads to the conclusion that she isn't insulting people, but the school system itself—specifically regarding certain textbooks as components of that systemic structure.