Without the hope of salvation, which religion provides, life is demonstrably not worth living — Thorongil

It is enough to make me question the validity of evolution — Lone Wolf

Clearly the brilliance of scientists such a Isaac Newton, Gallileo Gallilei and others was not hindered by belief in a creator. It is said Newton wrote more on theology than in science. Why would it be wrong to ingrain a religious belief into logic? — Lone Wolf

Provided we are all headed to decay and nothingness anyway, it makes no sense to not allow it. — Lone Wolf

Or could humanity survive by existing within the dark without having to know the behind the scenes extras? — JupiterJess

I neither claimed it's yours nor that you're religious. — Noblosh

as many brilliant scientists and thinkers are considered religious. — Lone Wolf

And just some advice from me: I don't think you're in any position to judge or give me advice about forum rules, etc. You barely have 30 posts, you're a new member, take your time and understand how things go around here first. — Agustino

No I don't think the right argues at all for gender supremacism. That's a meme of the left — Agustino

and despite your protestations to the contrary, you are a radical leftist. — Agustino

One does not feel that depression is a state of mind; but, rather something real and concrete about how one ought feel about the world. — Question

Here's a well reasoned article that expresses the idea that it's not actually anger that is the problem, it's aggression. — anonymous66

There's only one evil, ignorance.

Anyway, how do you even treat a mood? — Question

To call it a disorder would only exacerbate the disorder, if not already by a wide margin. — Question

Refutation of what? — Noblosh

My "irrational" and "dogmatic" thinking. Plus, you assumed that I was religious. — Thorongil

Because of their irrational and dogmatic thinking. — Noblosh

Ooh, brilliant refutation. I'm, like, totally devastated. — Thorongil

Why are those deemed "religious" considered weak and inferior to those proclaimed irreligious and/or atheistic? — Lone Wolf

Without the hope of salvation, which religion provides, life is demonstrably not worth living. — Thorongil

Islam, is at the very least partially, a catalyzer for these inhumane acts. — rickyk95

All the people who have committed a certain hideous kind of terrorist act in the last 16 years have a professed belief in Islam. — mcdoodle

How would you respond? — anonymous66

Depression is a diagnosis -- meaning that it is a term for an illness — Moliere

People's actions don't cause the suffering in their lives? Wot? — Heister Eggcart

Seeing as life itself is a tragedy — Heister Eggcart

No, we don't use logic to determine what's real at all. Logic doesn't tell us ANYTHING about what's real and what's not real. Logic helps us relate different facts of existence. It doesn't tell you if there's a pink elephant in your back garden right now, or if unicorns exist somewhere in the Universe. All knowledge comes from the senses, and is merely processed with logic. Is death real? Yes, at least in an ordinary sense, I've witnessed it, and I know it's real. — Agustino

Your goal is whatever you choose. If you choose to be a righteous man, then your goal becomes your duty. — Agustino

I don't understand why you've made the assumption I condemn desire. — Agustino

What's the point of enjoying yourself BC, you'll end up in the same grave, and it will be as if the enjoyment never existed. — Agustino

What? How? — Heister Eggcart

The stigma needs to be directed towards not getting professional help for it. — Terrapin Station

Words. Let's see you do that. — Agustino

Logical, but is it also real?! — Agustino

Yes, if you add assumptions that I made no mention of, sure. — Agustino

Pff, give me a break with these childhood posts. I have over 4000 posts here (and who knows how many thousands at the previous forum) - I'm well aware of what's a fallacy and what's not. — Agustino

Right, and colonising space, exploiting stars, etc. isn't mythological — Agustino

There's no point hating a worm, but there is a point in loving a worm (or any other creature). — Agustino

No, I don't condemn desire. I condemn desire for that which is evil. — Agustino

that desire to hurt another in retaliation — anonymous66

Have you experienced major depression? — Noble Dust

Nothing is necessary. But let's see - would you rather be remembered as an upstanding man who devoted himself to the betterment of mankind, who struggled and toiled each and every day for something greater than himself - or would you rather be remembered as the sloth who never rose up to the challenge, and whose sole achievement in life was casting a shadow over the earth? — Agustino

In the long run, one man will rise amongst the stars and live amongst the gods, and the other one will disappear through the gates of Hades. Who will you be? — Agustino

Death is coming anyway - how will you meet it? — Agustino

Maybe you can hear the footsteps - even now, approaching. It's coming - and you can't escape. Will it find you snuggled up in a corner, begging for mercy - or will it find you fighting to your last breath, determined through sheer will not to give death the victory of crushing your spirit? — Agustino

The truth is - they've never worked. Not real work. It's always been fake work — Agustino

There's never too much work. Work sets man free. — Agustino

A curse - give me a break, us mortals are not worth cursing. Who the hell would waste their time to curse us? — Agustino

So you'd rather throw away your life? No gratitude at all, for having been gifted with it. — Agustino

What's the goal? Doing your duty. — Agustino

In reality it's entirely up to the individual to seek help and develop those skills, it's on them to learn to deal with life (...) but it is ultimately up to the individual in crisis because nobody can do it for them — Sivad

But it seems to me that a really significant number of people are doing poorly in this society -- and not because of major mental illnesses, which don't seem to be increasing in frequency. — Bitter Crank

but unfortunately there were not enough cases around to support much work with TB. — Bitter Crank

I mentioned the idea of enjoying life that is the problem before. It is the problem. Once one has given up that idea, it's easy to push oneself to the limit, endure pain, and do what's necessary - there's nothing holding you back anymore - no lost opportunities, no nothing. Just freedom to act. To climb out of the hole. — Agustino

Seeing as life itself is a tragedy — Heister Eggcart

How do you deal with your 'monster'? Have any of you defeated it? — Question

Oh, dear. I can't imagine how you can fight with nothingness. Become one with it? — Question

But the serpent was beautiful, not terrifying. — Noble Dust

Just this: every religion is theocratic by nature. — Noblosh

Does it mean that philosophy (and in extend all science) beyond practicality** is meaningless, if god exists? — heraclitus

I could give an answer of my own to this problem, but the core of philosophy involves finding one's own answer and, as it were, picking sides between philosophers and sophists. — Mariner

Would Protagoras be a philosopher if he did not charge good fees for his lessons? — Mariner

I wasn't arguing against ideals. My criticism was that your thinking was too idealistic (at the expense of practicality). I understand the distinction you've made, and why you've made it, but it only applies to some, and not all, possible cases. The two can, and in some cases do, overlap. They need not be mutually exclusive. So your last sentence amounts to a false distinction.

To say that your thinking is too idealistic is to suggest that there isn't enough overlap between ideal and target. — Sapientia

In a perfect society...? — Sapientia

hierarchy serves a fundamental purpose, and if you're going to reject it — Sapientia

rather than vague rhetoric with little substance and which suffers from internal contradiction — Sapientia

That is a non sequitur and a red herring. It does not answer my question, which asked why you think that imposing equal social status would justify discrimination. — Sapientia

You're giving me the impression that you do not understand the meaning of the term "discrimination". — Sapientia

it necessarily involves discrimination, since, in order to distinguish an individual from others, one must discriminate between one and other — Sapientia

There can be no such thing as an all-encompassing faction, because that's a contradiction in terms. — Sapientia

The problem here is that, somewhat ironically, you've failed to discriminate between different kinds of discrimination. The term has negative connotations, but not all ways in which the word is used are negative. — Sapientia

You're trying to reconcile too much, and without sufficient care, and, as a result, you're just ending up in contradiction. If there's inequality, and social status, and individuality, then there is hierarchy, and class, and a basis for discrimination - which will inevitability occur - and all of the problems that accompany these things. — Sapientia

The bottom line is, you can't have your cake and eat it. It might be a nice idea, but it just ain't possible. You're biting off more than you can chew, methinks. — Sapientia

It's about a greater focus on need, rather than ability. — Sapientia

There is a small minority who horde a vastly disproportionate amount of wealth. — Sapientia

No ability is so great as to merit that much relative wealth — Sapientia

and there are plenty of others who do more to deserve a fairer share of that wealth, or who are in greater need of it, so it ought to be redistributed — Sapientia

and not so that everyone gets an equal proportion, but so that people get the right proportion, based upon a fairer assessment of needs, skills, importance, and so on. — Sapientia

Gender identification is important to vast numbers of people. You could think of virtually any defining feature as a limitation in some way, but that's what makes us who we are. You yourself have endorsed individuality, and this is part of that. Selectively calling only this or that particular aspect of individuality pointless strikes me as one-sided, seems to miss the point, and looks like special pleading (unless you concede that all aspects of individuality are essentially pointless). — Sapientia

As for political loyalty — Sapientia

It obviously serves a purpose, has a use, and is valued, by innumerable people, all across the globe, and this will most likely be so for years and years, for generations to come. — Sapientia

And why desire to abolish it if that'd be futile? There isn't really an option to keep it or dispose of it - that's just more hypothetical tomfoolery. Rather, it will either stay or leave based on various factors such as appeal, usefulness, and how ingrained it is. — Sapientia

it strikes me as too idealistic and impractical, or perhaps even contradictory — Sapientia

How would society function without any form of hierarchy, then? — Sapientia

Has there ever been any precedent for this which has passed the test of time and proven a success in comparison to alternatives? — Sapientia

Why do you think that imposing equal social status would justify discrimination? — Sapientia

I don't see how it supposedly would. Quite the opposite. It is inherently anti-discrimination. If equal social status was imposed, then discrimination on that basis would either cease to occur or would be suppressed. — Sapientia

What possible alternative could you have in mind which would not be susceptible to the same problem? Any non-egalitarian society must involve discrimination - not to mention a hierarchy, which would be inconsistent with your rejection - and so any justification for such a society must by implication justify discrimination. — Sapientia

Do you think that sticking your head in the sand and pretending that discrimination or social status does not exist will magically make the problem go away? — Sapientia

My stance, and those on the left who are of like mind, includes wanting to see greater equality, or proportionality, both economically and socially - and that includes gender equality, by the way - rather than dealing in absolutes. — Sapientia

The ludicrous proposal that gender be abolished, for example, is therefore not compatible with my kind of politics — Sapientia

Individuality for everyone, but you're not allowed a gender? — Sapientia

You can say that I think to much or something — rohan