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Comment by booklover on December 9, 2012 at 7:45am

Hey I wrote a long post on here last night on my iPhone and it's not here! lol.

I guess Murphy's Law is real Patricia? lol, you've got to laugh, or you'll cry!  When it's ALL done, you can relax and enjoy, and then you can laugh about all the mishaps.  Right now, they're extremely frustrating, I'm sure!

Chris, I do have my own put-together cookbook.  I just need to find more (and frugal!) recipes that we ALL like!

Carl, aren't you glad we have all found each other here and there is such great fellowship?!

Where's Steph?  Miss you girlfriend!

Everyone have a relaxing Sunday not going to church! ;)  ~ Melinda

Comment by Napoleon Bonaparte on December 9, 2012 at 3:33am

S. E. Cupp

Comment by Napoleon Bonaparte on December 9, 2012 at 2:55am

Meanwhile in Norway

Comment by sk8eycat on December 9, 2012 at 12:07am

Flying A - No, I'm not in that photo.  ALL the official publicity shots were taken a year before I joined Holiday, BUT the #2 unit that I went into in 1957 was a repeat of what the #1 show did the year before.  So.  I was in two numbers in the Nutcracker production... Sugarplum Angels and Waltz of the Flowers (aka "Pansy Patch.")

The "little girl" (she was actually 13 or 14) who skated the part of Clara became a good, silly friend and roommate a couple of years later.  The kind of friend that you laugh with till your sides ache.

Joan: One type of believer who gets on my nerves is the thoughtless blabbermouth who calls it a "miracle" when there's some kind of disaster and one person out 100 (or more) survives.  Was it a miracle that the others died?  Their families probably don't think so.

Gore Vidal came up with an easy-to-remember remark: "Christianity is a silly religion."  When you really think about it, he was right.  Magic tricks like turning water into wine (and then turning wine into blood), and walking on water... 

I've seen what's-his-name (Criss?)...the Las Vegas illusionist "walk on water" (with a plexi sheet just under the surface of a hotel swiming pool. BFD)

Personally, I believe the Jesus of the New Testament was copied from Mithraism, and never existed at all...so no walking on water, no crucifiction....nada. 

Saul/Paul had a brainstorm, and invented the whole thing and held scientific progress back at least 1500 years. And I'm not reluctant to say so when someone gets in my face about the Hebrew god who became his own son by impregnating a teenage virgin.  It's all crazy IMO

Comment by Joan Denoo on December 8, 2012 at 5:05pm

Spud, I am interested in your experience with family. You wrote, "I don't find any enjoyment in visiting them or having them visit me because we don't have much in common anymore and it's like walking on eggshells."

I kind of enjoy eggshells; having that feeling keeps me on my toes and my major problem, I can't remember chapter and verse to respond back, such as Hitchens, Harris, or Dawkins do. I have to rely on tone and temper of the subject to make my point, and I usually use stories to clarify my meaning.

I never initiate a conversation about religion. I make it a real effort to respond with an atheist response to whatever comes up. For example, "where do I get my morals?" that is an easy one because I truly believe we, most of us, unless with some kind of brain abnormality, we have a moral compass that grows out of being in a community of people. If the group has a different morality than I, I can usually find an example to suit my challenge. A good example of this is the pro-choice/anti-choice issue. It is easy for me to support my position because of evidence from medicine, science, personal and social welfare, and stuff like that. 

One thing I work on is not accepting their frame; an example, I don't accept pro-life as a frame. People who support women's right to choose also stand in favor of life. It is whose life is at issue and a woman counts in this matter. 

I usually leave these encounters feeling good about myself and good about my positions and the evidence I use to support them. If something comes up that I cannot offer evidence for an atheist position, I know I have some homework to do. It never fails, if someone thinks he/she has stumped me, that will be the first thing to come up the next time we are together. 

If I have any fault, it is feeling more enlightened than those whom I believe are delusional and living in denial. I guess it is a feeling of superiority, however, it is like talking to someone who believes the Earth is flat, and I have encountered them. I feel educated and reasonable, even as I feel fully capable of changing my position on anything if given valid and reliable evidence to support a change.

The test, for me, is Popper's old imperative, is it falsifiable?
Can I prove there is no god? No.

Can a believer prove there is a god? No

So, we are back to comparing evidence against belief and faith.  

Their usual response to this is, "You are a person of little faith." 

My response, "Give me the evidence in support of your belief and I will change my mind in the time it takes to blink."

Obviously, scripture, remembered stories, myths, fables, 2nd hand accounts do not qualify as evidence. Especially the "Thank god my son/ daughter/whoever, survived the crash/operation/disease?" 

Nary a mention of emergency care, doctors, medicines, technologies, good care, accurate diagnosis, etc. and good support staff. 

 

Comment by Patricia on December 8, 2012 at 4:57pm

Why am I not surprised........they ordered the WRONG fireplace screen!!!!!!

Comment by The Flying Atheist on December 8, 2012 at 4:49pm

Back home today from working and catching up on five pages of back-posts.  Unfortunately I managed to catch a cold while gone.  Ugh!!  I hope it doesn't last very long.

Sk8eycat, are you in the photo of the Nutcracker skaters?

I've never been on facebook or myspace.  It all seems too much like an invasion of my privacy.  Funny, though.  I feel comfortable on this site sharing my views and a certain degree of personal info.  Go figure.  Everyone on Atheist/Nexus seems (for the most part) to be more mature, rational and sincere, especially all of you here in Hang With Friends. 

Comment by Patricia on December 8, 2012 at 2:11pm

SIGN IN A STORE WINDOW. 'WE WOULD RATHER DO BUSINESS WITH 1000 AL QAEDA TERRORISTS THAN WITH ONE SINGLE BRIT!!!!!' This sign was prominently displayed in the window of a business in CAMPBELTOWN, SCOTLAND. You are probably outraged at the thought of such an inflammatory statement. However, we are a society which holds Freedom of Speech as perhaps our greatest liberty. After all, it is ONLY A SIGN.. You may say 'What kind of business would dare to post such a sign?' Answer: A FUNERAL PARLOUR. (WHO SAID SCOTTISH UNDERTAKERS HAVE NO SENSE OF HUMOUR?) YOU GOTTA LOVE IT!!!

Comment by Chris Breman on December 8, 2012 at 2:07pm

I made my own cookbook - mostly clippings - of meals that match my diet and are cheap, easy and healthy. It works very well.

Comment by Idaho Spud on December 8, 2012 at 9:54am

Gravity cat made me laugh.

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