In todays news...

[Skub]

Screw'd you should ask Weeksy if he'll change your user name to Devils Advocate, he did it for Cheesy.

Cheesey is now Devil's advocate?

I can't keep up.

[wheelnut]

Where would a "non religious" person absorb such morality? Where would they acquire any sort of belief system?

The same way they always have. As an evolutionary by-product.

[Screwdriver]

Where would a "non religious" person absorb such morality? Where would they acquire any sort of belief system?

The same way they always have. As an evolutionary by-product.

Actually it was a rhetorical question which I answer later in that post.

This generation is not growing up in a jungle relying on some mythical inbuilt value system. They grow up in this new, fully network connected environment with extreme manipulation of the mass media. On top of that there are cultural tensions from displaced/immigrant communities and a general trend in poor parenting leading to this generation relying entirely on the equally lunatic education system.

[Noggin]

https://www.businessinsider.com/texas-c ... ?r=US&IR=T

WTaF!

The next question should be 'So why does your almightly god hate Americans so much?'

They obviously just didn’t pray hard enough.

The Texas Rangers (ok, Walker of the Texas Rangers) had something to say about that - "You can't just sit down and pray to God and expect him to sort things for you, you have to pray AND DO SOMETHING ABOUT THE SITUATION"

FFS, have these Americans never seen Texas Rangers?????

But seriously. I do so fucking hate people that blame God or use God as the reason for things. Especially bad things. (And when I say hate, it isn't all encompassing because I just can't care enough about them). It's an excuse for not actually DOING something to sort out a problem. Or not accepting that sometimes bad things happen and we just have to pull together to help with the aftermath (earthquakes etc).

I rarely talk about religion because it is an emotive subject for many. I have a lot of respect for people that believe AND are good people with that (as well as The Priest, I have another friend that is a priest who I met when we worked in a pub!!!). I still don't talk religion with them because I feel it is disrespectful to tell them I do not believe in the same thing or even that there is a thing (Hopefully The Priest will understand why I'm posting this!!)

I despise those that are fuckwits all week and go to church on Sunday to get forgiven for their sins Product of a Catholic school as a non-Catholic, NI grandparent and seeing the local vicar being a fuckwit all week in the pub I worked in then standing in front of the congregation on Sunday saying "YOU must repent your sins" - Oh ok, so cos you have a pretty white collar on, you don't have to??

But the way the Americans* 'use' religion is just dispicable

I was brought up Church of England and we went to church every week, sang in the choir, even did bell-ringing. But from a very young age I could see people feeling pious because they went to church every week, but not being kind or even nice on the other 6 days of the week. I don't consider myself religious anymore. But I do believe that people can and should be kind to each other - surely that is all that is needed? Living where I do, I am surrounded by geography that makes me as a human feel small and insignificant, but so damn lucky to be here and able to enjoy this life (I'm also lucky to have found a group of internet strangers that are generally lovely and exceptionally kind!!). Maybe modern life has taken some of that feeling away? Or just humans have developed to be fuckwits overall??

I do spend a lot of time in confusion because of how people in the world behave!! One of the big reasons I avoid reading/listening to/watching the news!! It just makes me sad

*other nationalities can be added where necessary

[Mr. Dazzle]

Who's to say God isn't working in the minds and hearts of people advocating gun control? Or those advocating mental health support and social/welfare services.

To quote family guy:

What's the point in praying to God if you're just gonna wipe your butt with his answers?

[Screwdriver]

It is less about "God" than it is cultural iconography. In America currently the media are creating cultural icons so as to suggest "this is your spiritual guide". People like Dylan Mulvaney, a man who decided he was really a woman. He has been feted by the Whitehouse(!) and paraded by the mainstream media/social as an example of the ideal woman. He has also celebrated his "300 days as a woman" while simultaneously prancing around in a tiny skirt also pretending to be a six year old child". The chap clearly has a sexual fetish and very strange notions about what a woman is.

He was also used in an advertising campaign for Bud Light (which didn't go so well).

A wry observation I saw was made by some redneck social influencer who pointed out his mother had "been a woman for 24 thousand days and she hasn't been invited to the Whitehouse. "The virgin Mary was a woman and she gave birth to Jesus." My paraphrase.

How this relates to what some Senator was suggesting regards the godless nature of some of these violent perpetrators, I don't know. I assume he was making a similar observation and it is all too easy to paraphrase what someone says or take a snippet of their comment out of context. That happens to me in this forum ALL THE TIME. it is a cheap trick and really annoying incidentally.

So am I advocating for God, for prayer and for indoctrination into Christianity? No. I have no faith but I do have a set of morals which broadly align with Christian views. My favourite excerpt from one of my own "cultural icons" Jordan Peterson is when he was asked bluntly "do you believe in God" to which he replied "I don't know yet but meanwhile I prefer to act as if I do".

[Noggin]

So am I advocating for God, for prayer and for indoctrination into Christianity? No. I have no faith but I do have a set of morals which broadly align with Christian views. My favourite excerpt from one of my own "cultural icons" Jordan Peterson is when he was asked bluntly "do you believe in God" to which he replied "I don't know yet but meanwhile I prefer to act as if I do".

This, the bit in bold, is basically what I was trying to write. I don't do kind stuff cos there's someone 'up there' that I need to impress. I try to live in a way to cause minimum (ideally no) hurt to others whilst being as kind as I can be. Not cos I might end up with wings and a halo, just cos, why wouldn't you?

[Screwdriver]

This, the bit in bold, is basically what I was trying to write. I don't do kind stuff cos there's someone 'up there' that I need to impress. I try to live in a way to cause minimum (ideally no) hurt to others whilst being as kind as I can be. Not cos I might end up with wings and a halo, just cos, why wouldn't you?

Yes, I saw that. I think you probably went too far with "the way Americans use God" being despicable. Some clearly are (gospel moneymaking scams for example) but I don't think you can tar all of America with the same brush when it comes to some people using religion as a scapegoat.

The problem (which I know I keep banging on about) is that we really don't get to see an average snapshot of a culture or even the "mean" or "median" version. All we get to see remotely is the media narrative. While a video of someone saying something is inherently a "true" report of an event or occurrence, all you are really seeing is a subselection of a much longer incident made by a "reporter" for the purposes of presenting whatever narrative that reporter wants you to believe.

A much deeper issue is that the human mind is weak. So if the mainstream media keep knocking out the same rubbish, even if you know it not to be true, it will still have an effect. This is how advertising works and why "soap operas" are popular. It's not really because you either agree or accept what you're being told. It's not because you are interested in the daily lives of a random group of Australians (even if one of them is Kyle Minogue) it is because you see it so often...

[Yorick]

Only in America

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-65489605

FFS. The world is full of wankers.

Glad I live away from that shit. Walk the dog. Nap. Bit of work.
Eat. Swim. Chat. Sleep.

[ZRX61]

Only in America

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-65489605

FFS. The world is full of wankers.

Glad I live away from that shit. Walk the dog. Nap. Bit of work.
Eat. Swim. Chat. Sleep.

Could be worse.. ya could be in Mexico, but the media ignores the killing that goes on there because it doesn't fit the narrative

[Pirahna]

Could be worse.. ya could be in Mexico, but the media ignores the killing that goes on there because it doesn't fit the narrative

I've a Mexican friend on Facebook. He posts a lot of stuff about missing people, mainly young girls, that vanish and are never heard from again.

[ZRX61]

I've a Mexican friend on Facebook. He posts a lot of stuff about missing people, mainly young girls, that vanish and are never heard from again.

My sister went there for a holiday this year. The day she left there were two bodies found on the hotel grounds & more recently another 8 showed up in the same place.

[Pirahna]

I've a Mexican friend on Facebook. He posts a lot of stuff about missing people, mainly young girls, that vanish and are never heard from again.

My sister went there for a holiday this year. The day she left there were two bodies found on the hotel grounds & more recently another 8 showed up in the same place.

I finished my cycle ride in 2017 at a border crossing called Antelope Wells and stood there staring into Mexico. It's about 100k from there to Agua Prieta on the Mexican side, stop overnight then cross into Douglas the next day and ride up to Tombstone and on toTuscon. It's easy on a bicycle, everyone thinks you're penniless and generally leaves you alone. I hadn't really prepped for a Mexican detour and turned around and rode back the way I'd come. Maybe next time.

[ZRX61]

I finished my cycle ride in 2017 at a border crossing called Antelope Wells and stood there staring into Mexico. It's about 100k from there to Agua Prieta on the Mexican side, stop overnight then cross into Douglas the next day and ride up to Tombstone and on toTuscon. It's easy on a bicycle, everyone thinks you're penniless and generally leaves you alone. I hadn't really prepped for a Mexican detour and turned around and rode back the way I'd come. Maybe next time.

My parents liked it so much they visited Mexico three times in one day, altho tbf, two of the visits were unintentional.

[ZRX61]

Trump verdicts are in. He's not guilty of rape, but guilty of sexual abuse/battery & defamation. $2M Compensation.
Edit: $5M

[Mussels]

Trump verdicts are in. He's not guilty of rape, but guilty of sexual abuse/battery & defamation. $2M Compensation.
Edit: $5M

Was there any evidence/independent witnesses or was it just her word against his?

[irie]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/world-u ... a-65502076

Donald Trump sexually abused and defamed writer E Jean Carroll, a New York jury finds in civil case.

But the former president was cleared of rape over the alleged assault in a department store in the 1990s.

The jury awarded the writer almost $5m in damages for the battery and defamation charges

No doubt will go to appeal ...

[Horse]

Trump verdicts are in. He's not guilty of rape, but guilty of sexual abuse/battery & defamation. $2M Compensation.
Edit: $5M

Was there any evidence/independent witnesses or was it just her word against his?

"Defamation is a false statement"

Presumably someone heard/read that statement.

[Ant]

It was a civil case, not a criminal case.

I should imagine that if someone was abused etc, they'd want criminal action, rather than file a civil case only.

I'm sure it has nothing at all to do with that a civil case uses balance of probability rather than actual evidence and always ends up in financial pay outs.....

[ZRX61]

No doubt will go to appeal ...

Already filed.