"When theists present you with explanations as complicated as salt levels in the ocean, pause and think.
1) It's very much a left brain thing they're giving you, and
2) They don't do right brain stuff.
What does that tell you, if not…"
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Tom Sarbeck
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Is your life after religion what you expected?
Started this discussion. Last reply by Lewal Apr 20. 1 Reply 0 Likes
If I had put my expectations into words I would have said "Life can't get any worse!" (Before college I was a Catholic.)Life couldn't get any worse than that of the only Catholic I knew well: my…Continue
The "under God" and the "under": which does what kind of harm?
Started May 3, 2012 0 Replies 1 Like
Do you want to play a switch in a relationship, or do you want to play the submissive in a dominant/submissive relationship?Look carefully at the words "under God".I dislike the "God" part; I believe…Continue
"When X changes my mind, I'm an atheist. What is X?" Is it a nonsense question?
Started this discussion. Last reply by Jewelz Apr 19, 2012. 7 Replies 0 Likes
Here, lightly paraphrased, are three assertions I found in a Kindle book from www.edge.org (What Have You Changed Your Mind About?).When thinking changes my mind,…Continue
Tags: atheism, science, religion, philosophy
Christianity, slave morality, and freeing ourselves.
Started this discussion. Last reply by archaeopteryx Sep 18, 2012. 10 Replies 0 Likes
Friedrich Nietzsche, in his On the Genealogy of Morals, said there are two types of morality: master morality, which weighs actions by their [perceived] good or bad consequences, and slave morality,…Continue
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Latest Activity
Tom Sarbeck replied to Redlilly Pond's discussion 'Friend doesn't believe in dinosaurs.'"Will they get taxpayer-provided health care?
"
Tom Sarbeck replied to Redlilly Pond's discussion 'Friend doesn't believe in dinosaurs.'"Redlilly, decades after graduating high school, a chum from those times found me and we started exchanging emails. He soon made clear that he had become a biblical literalist. I told him I'd long been an atheist and didn't want to continue…"
Tom Sarbeck commented on Teri G's blog post 'Salty Water = Proof for Creationism?'"Teri, you didn't say if the home school is paying you to teach. If so, and if you need an income, you might want to start looking elsewhere for employment. I wish you well.
I'm retired and in ten years only two people have told me they…"
Tom Sarbeck replied to Mercedes's discussion 'Why do atheists ask for so much proof to believe in God?'"Rick, like you, I can live happily without answers to some questions. I sometimes ask a questioner, "Will knowing an answer help me pay the rent?"
Yet, when people state their thoughts too rapidly, they tend to....
"Whether I want to…"
Tom Sarbeck replied to Mercedes's discussion 'Why do atheists ask for so much proof to believe in God?'"Belle, your phrase "really harsh with her" reminds me of people I know who recently gave up drinking or smoking. In conversations with people who never drank or smoked, they express more patience with people who still drink or smoke.
I…"
Tom Sarbeck replied to Mercedes's discussion 'Why do atheists ask for so much proof to believe in God?'"There are indeed two debating styles.
The best known style might be named Courtroom Debate. At about the time of the Civil War, lawyers developed it to train themselves to prevail in courtrooms.
A lesser-known style might be named Legislative…"
Tom Sarbeck replied to Mercedes's discussion 'Why do atheists ask for so much proof to believe in God?'"The Notre Dame suicide brings back an all-but-forgotten memory.
I entered college a Catholic and left it an agnostic. Before my change, a fellow student demanded that when the chapel wasn't in use that the doors be locked. Asked his reason, he…"
Tom Sarbeck replied to Adam's discussion 'Do Men have the right to a "financial abortion"'"All two-letter words are immoral.
"It" is a two-letter word.
QED.
"
Tom Sarbeck replied to Mercedes's discussion 'Why do atheists ask for so much proof to believe in God?'"Was Cain or Abel hermaphroditic? (The term "intersex" is now also used.)"
Tom Sarbeck replied to Belle Rose's discussion 'EMPOWERING WOMEN!!!!!!!!'"In the term "firmly believe", does the word "firmly" make evidence unnecessary?"
Tom Sarbeck replied to Mercedes's discussion 'Why do atheists ask for so much proof to believe in God?'"Family values, keeping it in the family, move two letters in "incest" and get "nicest", and surely a few more."
Tom Sarbeck replied to Melvinotis's discussion 'How to acknowledge good fortune?'"One problem with the English language: so many synonyms. Here, does acknowledging good fortune differ from acknowledging good luck?
Another problem. Here, I suppose we're considering a good-bad spectrum, not a good-evil spectrum.
And so, I…"
Tom Sarbeck replied to Adam's discussion 'Do Men have the right to a "financial abortion"'"Rocky, do you know what you're saying?
You want dreams, your dreams, to influence other people more than their realities.
"
Tom Sarbeck replied to Mercedes's discussion 'Why do atheists ask for so much proof to believe in God?'"Considering only ideas, not practices, let's review a bit of history:
In ancient Greece only free men voted. In America until about 1840, only white men who owned real estate property voted.
Keith, can you add any ideas that will justify your…"
Tom Sarbeck replied to Belle Rose's discussion 'EMPOWERING WOMEN!!!!!!!!'"Teri, I will amend slightly your opinion:
About thirty years ago, after I'd heard a few times of women not wanting to be seen as sex objects, I realized that I had been socialized to see myself as a different kind of object.
I'm glad…"
Profile Information
- Your Religious Status
- Atheist
- About Me:
- Korean War veteran, was an electrician aboard a US Navy destroyer. BA in math and economics from the University of Florida. Married for 6 years to a freethinker, and for reasons too complicated to tell here we chose to remain childless. Retired from computer manufacturing. Running for election to Arizona Legislature was another education; I learned a lot but happily the incumbent won. Now living in SF Bay Area's Napa County and loving it.
- Age
- 77-82
- Relationship Status
- Single
- Why are you here?
- For 16 years I've been one of a very few out atheists at a home for retired veterans. Most here are xians, some of them extremely conservative. Most here are Dems and they give me no flak. They all accept my refusing to pledge allegiance to a piece of cloth; I told them I will discuss the issue when they pledge allegiance to the Constitution. I enjoy the mental exercise I get in conversations on atheist websites.
- The religion you left
- Catholic
- Why you left your religion.
- When my parents told me I was going to college because I was too lazy to get a job, I threw them and their god out of my life. Several years later I made a peace of sorts with my parents. In April of 2012, in a Toastmasters Club here, I told of my leaving Catholicism for agnosticism and 50 years later leaving agnosticism for atheism. There are many out xians here. Very few try to recruit me; I tell them that but for 12 years in Catholic schools I might still believe one or more gods exist. To the very few who try to recruit me, I say religion is the biggest fraud ever perpetrated on humankind. They stop trying.
- Think Atheist Travel Network Couch Availability - Are you able to host anyone now?
- No
- How did you hear about Think Atheist?
- When TA was a contestant in the About Contest.
Comment Wall (2 comments)
- At 11:05am on December 16, 2012,
Denise M. Purtell said… Dude, all I was saying is that religion, or the lack there of, rather - has nothing to do with some nutcase and killing children. Holy rollers have been seemingly blaming the fact of "no religion in school" is the cause. It is an observation I've made. So all I was doing was trying to make a point that it is nothing to do with that and it has everything to do with the individual idiot just being a crazy bastard.
That is all I was saying.
- At 8:42am on February 27, 2012,
Robert Karp said… Welcome to the Think Atheist community Tom! Join us in the chat on the bottom right of the screen and feel free to ask questions and get involved as much or as little as you want! If you would like to, add me as a friend and I'm also on twitter as RSAnative if you care to follow. Welcome again and make yourself at home!
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