Evidence? Doubt makes no sense here. This is not a question that is liable to the vagaries of justification.

That is, your doubt tells us nothing about goats, but much about you. — Banno

Oh, now I see the light. Of course all i need is faith, the rest will follow.

I am convinced, I have become a believer.

Hail the Great Goat.

Do you think he would mind if we called him GG from now on, The Great Goat is just so over whelming.

Indeed, most of the criticisms here have been to the effect it is not the case that goats eat everything. — Banno

As is the case of a god knowing everything, facts that cannot be proven are not facts. Show show your evidence.

This thread lacks direction. I suggest we close it. — Posty McPostface

Just thought of something else a thread should not have, negativism.

As a wise Martian, Uncle Martin, once said "The mind is like a parachute, it works best when it is open"

There haven't been any other goat threads that l know of.

Other than that, you seem a bit confused, — BaldMenFighting

So you don't know Banno.

That's your hard luck.

We know that goats eat everything. This is undeniable. — Banno

My friend has both goats and sheep, never has a sheep been eaten by a goat. First premise wrong.

If A eats B, B cannot eat A; a moment's reflection will show this must be true. — Banno

If B has been eaten already this is true, but if B eats A first then it is not.

SO it follows that either there is an indefinite gastronomic chain, such that goat 1 is eaten by goat 2, which in turn is eaten by goat 3, and hence that there is never a goat that is not eaten by some other goat; — Banno

Actually it does not follow, there could quite easily be a case where one goat is more interested in eating your underpants and has no interest in other goats. Or several goats eating other goats at the same time which would make it a multi-thread gastronomic chain instead of an indefinite gastronomic chain.

or there is one goat that eats every goat; the Great Goat. — Banno

Either goats would have to reproduce like rabbits before being eaten or the Great Goat would soon go hungry and become non-existent.

But since goats eat everything, there is something that eats the Great Goat. — Banno

Already dismissed as a fallacy.

The traditional answer is of course that the Great Goat eats itself. The self-inflicted suffering of the Great Goat gives meaning to our own suffering. — Banno

OH NO! That would start another thread on infinite eternity. Please don't do that.

Now I hope that this short commentary helps divest you of any gnawing doubts. One hopes it will put an end to the mental mastication hereabouts, but that may be too much to imbibe. — Banno

Now I hope that this reply to your short commentary helps divest you of any chewing (excuse the pun) doubts. One hopes it will put an end to the mental masturbation hereabouts, but that may be too much to imbibe.

But all is not lost, there is still hope for the Great Goat.
A benevolent Great Goat would not want his followers to suffer, so at the end of their non cannibalistic lives he invites then to the Great Pasture in the sky. And then eats them.

Has anyone one else thought about how well this thread is progressing?

And I was just thinking of a piece of blueberry pie! — Bitter Crank

Some call a moderator, this is definitely off topic.

And thank you for the detailed explanation of a duck's sex organs. Thank the lord you did not find a video about it.

Maybe you were having a touch of oppositional defiant disorder that day and just couldn't accept the authority of the guide. — Bitter Crank

That's doubtful, he was one of those honey voiced, sweet talking people. I can still hear him saying "Gather around but let the little ones come to the front so that they can see".

Better to develop this problem as a child than when you grow older -- people really don't like it when adults behave that way, I've found. Especially when it persists. I developed the problem sometime around 30. Bosses tend to be annoyed when employees dismiss their authority as nothing but some sort of sham. — Bitter Crank

I had the bad fortune to develop it at about 17. The family split up and we went back to live in England and I hated everything and everyone that thought they knew what was best for me. Didn't take too long for me to get into enough trouble that I did not want to live there anymore. So I did what everyone told me was the last thing I should do and came to live in Central America. Best decision of my life. But I still have problems with authorities, especially those that don't know what I know but try to tell me how to do things.

I had an experience when I was about 10, while visiting one of the many English stately homes our family loved touring.

The guide asked everyone to gather around him and let the kids come to the front, it was a rather restricted area. All of the other kids pushed to the front but I had this feeling that it was not a good thing to do so I stayed at the back.
The guide explained that the place they had found the remains of one of the mistresses of the 17th century owner of the place, that had gone missing when his wife had found out, was exactly where these kids were standing. Shrieks and screams rang out while I laughed about it.

No idea what why I did not want to move but I can still remember saying to myself "Don't go"

Alright now, cut it out, there are many children present. — Jake

And most of them could probably teach you and me a thing or two. :yikes:

For example, a person could build an incredibly intelligent robot with AI that would pass any Turing Test, yet the person would not know what it is truly like to feel or think as that robot. The creator might know every mechanical piece in the robot and how it works, but that would not give the creator a personal level in terms of experiencing the same things that the robot experiences.

To summarize, God being a creator does not signify that He knows His creations on a personal level, that knowledge (or lack of) would fall under the question of His omniscience. — Abecedarian

Your explanation is reasonable with a robot and the creator, but the god of the bible is supposed to know the thoughts of everyone. That is the basis of his omniscience.

So to declare that god cannot know about lust is either just plain silly or an admittance of his lack of omniscience.

:up:

Darn, that's some pretty cheap beer. Now I'm thirsty. — Posty McPostface

Want me to pass you an ice cold CEZKA?

Still, though, on a hot semi-tropical day a big bottle of ice-cold Orion Beer is a beautiful thing. — tim wood

On a hot tropical day, which I see almost everyday, there is nothing more beautiful than finishing one ice cold can of what ever beer is available and knowing that there are still 5 just as cold in the fridge.

One of our local super markets has been bringing in Portuguese beers this last year or so. They are better than the local stuff and cost about 30% less. It costs about 50cents US a can.

Every so often there's proof of culture above and beyond my own. The Japanese, for example, do not waste time with 12 ounce beer bottles, but just sell liter bottles. — tim wood

I will stick to 330ml cans, they are cheaper, you can sell the cans later, and I can still count them up to about ten.

A good thread should have the following ingredients:
Posters that have the following;
A good measure of knowledge on the topic.
The willingness to learn what is not known about the topic.
The ability to express clearly their ideas without biases.

The topic should be;
Something that would be interesting to the people you wish to post in the thread.
Presented at the right time
Off limits to assholes.

Does anyone agree that ideally all disputes should end in a Rogerian manner? — Posty McPostface

I hope that word is not the one that was in use a lot in England.

roger: have sexual intercourse

Cracking good stories. Lots of science fiction novels feature sentient machines. Apparently the authors and enthusiastic readers of these novels are not members here. — Bitter Crank

I am here to represent them. :up:

The question I have asked and never got a decent answer to is how can people believe that god has no knowledge of some part of the universe, if he created the it he must know everything on a personal level.

The Paradox of Omniscience sets up the argument that because God is omniscient, He must know how to learn what he doesn’t know and therefore know by acquaintance lust, envy, and other such things He can’t know. — Play-doh

Where did the idea that god cannot know about these things come from?

Just saying that he cannot know about lust rules out omniscience. Knowing by association is not knowing. You can listen all day to people lecturing about lust, even watch people experiencing it but that does not mean that you know it.

It's a SHOUTBOX, if it had ANY philosophical content in it it was probably placed there by mistake. :lol:

But parents establish the values of their children, for better and for worse--quite often the latter. — Bitter Crank

Where I work we have about 1,300 students, PreS - 11, many of them see their parents when they get up and if they are lucky for a few minutes before they go to bed. I had parent ask me recently what I am doing about his kids behavior because all got from me was complaints about the kid not working in class and making a lot of noise to distract others. The boss was not happy when the parent told her my reply,

"I am paid to try and educate your son, if you cannot teach him to shut up and listen to the teacher then there is nothing more I can do for him except send you messages about how he misbehaves."

I went through a very small town school (1952-64) where havoc rarely, if ever, existed. — Bitter Crank

I went to 13 different schools in England, Canada and the USA, and I cannot remember any of them ever having to have teachers supervising recess, there was usually one around somewhere but not policing the kids like they have to do today. Most of the time the kids were the ones to make sure everyone behaved properly so that the teachers would stay away.

Most children are reasonably well socialized with reasonably decent values. Alas, not all. — Bitter Crank

You only need one in a hundred to cause havoc. Unfortunately in most schools there are several hundred students and a lot of those that have parents believe it is the schools job to teach values to their kids.

Do atheists have beliefs about the self and the universe which they follow with great devotion?

A: Yes all atheists must have such beliefs and follow those beliefs with great devotion. — Marcus de Brun

I have to call BS on this, where did you ever get such an idea?

Every thinking human has ideas about self and the universe but to call them beliefs is ridiculous.

But that red cow means I have to go get my bug-out bag ready. — Akanthinos

Mine is under my bed.

Hope I get to so you all in real after the Rapture. :halo: — Akanthinos

You wont get to see me, I am going to fucking hell. And the emphasis, I hope, will be on the fucking. :cool: :naughty: :fire:

And here it is folks, the news we have all held our breathes waiting for.

I warned you, I told you that they end of the world was coming. And here is the proof.

https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/weird-news/bible-prophecy-realised-first-red-13213028

Proof that the end of the world is not bullshit,

it is cow shit. :lol:

I expect Jove will have to hurl lightning bolts from Mt. Olympus to so much as get their attention. Then turn them from anxious Anglicans to mild mice which will be set upon by Catholic cats which will be set upon by Lutheran lions and finally be annihilated by Zoroastrianism zealots. — Bitter Crank

You forgot the Amazonian shamans and their poison darts.

I saw a few minutes of a soccer game the missus was watching, American soccer league, and there was a big banner in the background advertising some church. How low they have fallen.

We'll see. — Thomas Stevenson

That will be interesting.

That may be, but the question is: are they finding answers in the church? — Bitter Crank

What, they are not getting answers? How could that be with so many churches nowadays offering prepaid prayers for your problems, confessional, and acceptance of donations directly from your cellphone.

Or is that the problem. Maybe they are trying too hard to get into peoples lives that the people are starting to look at them as just another service being provide, but without the fun and and no visible return from it.

Mostly not, at least at the present time. A lot of what people are getting is the unsatisfying hog swill of popular commercial culture. If the churches want to become the font again, they will have to again undergo a serious reformation of their spirit. — Bitter Crank

Ain't that the truth. Doubt it will happen with a bunch of conservative bishops getting ready to pull a coup.

Nah. We have South America, we're good and comfy while you guys go extinct. — Akanthinos

Well where I live in Central America things are going downhill for them too.

What ever is the world coming to?

https://uk.news.yahoo.com/fears-church-england-apos-future-230100282.html

The catholics must be having an even harder time of it because I would suppose that the same thing is affecting their ranks and all of the abuse and corruption problems they are having.

Oh no, the end of the world is nigh! :scream:

Interesting how some of the replies try to address the (possible) non-literal meanings the phrases might carry. :up: — Pattern-chaser

Is there any suggestion that there might be either literal or non-literal meanings? The OP asks people for suggestions about the possible meaning. Anything is therefore a possible correct answer.

Disappointing, but not surprising, how many take them literally, then wonder why they make so little sense.... :wink: :smile: — Pattern-chaser

Again, is there any reason not to take them literally? Are you an artist? For all we know they might be nothing more than ideas for a painting, or even names for a book.

These statements were made by artists. :smile: — Pattern-chaser

First of all they are not statements but questions. Secondly there is no proof that they were written by an artist. If they had been found near a police station, would you have taken them to be crime scene notes?

People care about God. — Lif3r

Not me.

I read Homo Deus a while ago, it was interesting. I cannot remember much about the detail but I have it marked down to read again. I have just found Sapiens so I will probable read that first.

I believe we should consider another definition of "God" other than the definition that seems to be prevalent of "Magic sky person". — Lif3r

Then it would not be a god.

If you gaze into an abbess, she'll probably be quite annoyed. — Bitter Crank

But it would be nicer to do. :joke:

What is the most important perspective of "good" for the longevity of the human species?

Is it the individuals perspective, the societies perspective, the international perspective, the global perspective, or an unnamed perspective? — Lif3r

Are you using "good" here as in morally good, or good in the sense of beneficial? It makes a difference.

What happens when you stare into the abyss? — Bitter Crank

You get scared? :gasp:

I said "what is good cannot be a matter of definition" — Janus

What is good, is defined as good. It is nothing but a matter of choice upon what action, person or object to bestow that definition. The choice is the people's.

The book is like a dictionary, you can read the history of the words a few at a time. Quite interesting where some words come from and how the have changed over time.

Does this mean ownership goes all the way back to the first person who realized what the Earth was? — Lif3r

That is why there are so many Irish in the USA,"cus god's green earth belongs to mankind to do wid as he sees fittin". And because the Irish and not the Israelis are god's chosen people they took over the greener grass on the other side of the pond.

*real & *licence — Sapientia

Just like always, when you cannot say anything useful you pick on peoples grammar and spelling.
And you fall for them every time. It is so much fun making mistakes just for you to find that I am actually thinking of making an official grammar nazi thread just for you to play with yourself in.. And you are not doing your job right because I left several other easter eggs for you in other posts.

Good luck trying to get through my force field. And yes, I do have super powers. — Sapientia

:lol: I think that this is mis-posted, it should have been in the joke thread. :rofl:

I made how many mistakes did I make here.