Contemporary man has begun to lose his naiveté as ... the deep causes of the situation in which he finds himself are becoming clearer. He realizes that to attack these deep causes is the indispensable prerequisite for radical change. And so he has gradually abandoned a simple reformist attitude regarding the existing social order, for, by its very shallowness this reformism perpetuates the existing system.

*

It has become ever clearer that underdevelopment is the end result of a process. Therefore, it must be studied from a historical perspective, that is, in relationship to the development and expansion of the great capitalist countries. The underdevelopment of the poor countries, as an overall social fact, appears in its true light: as the historical by-product of the development of other countries. The dynamics of the capitalist economy lead to the establishment of a center and a periphery, simultaneously generating progress and growing wealth for the few and social imbalances, political tensions, and poverty for the many. — Fr. Gustavo Gutiérrez, founder of liberation theology, d. 2024

Abortion and democracy may be what motivates people to get out and vote— but you don’t really know that, nor do I. — Mikie

Guess I’m not so crazy after all :rofl: — Mikie

Well, looking at the definition of fascism: It’s a far-right authoritarian, ultranationalist political ideology and movement characterized by a dictatorial leader, centralized autocracy, militarism, forcible suppression of opposition, belief in a natural social hierarchy. So certainly, in my experience, those are the kinds of things that he thinks would work better in terms of running America.

Certainly the former president is in the far-right area, he’s certainly an authoritarian, admires people who are dictators — he has said that. So he certainly falls into the general definition of fascist, for sure. — John Kelly, retired 4-Star General USMC and former Trump WH Chief of Staff

A model of everything — Carlo Roosen

Then you wouldn't be an atheist about a necessary entity and you wouldn't commit the contradiction.
— Hallucinogen

You are misusing the term "atheist". An atheist is someone who believes that no deities exist [outside of the heads of true believers]. — Michael

It appears to me that you [@Baden] miss the point. Physicalism is a metaphysical theory, not a scientific theory. All coherent metaphysical theories are unfalsifiable. It's certainly reasonable to remain agnostic to metaphysical theories ... — Relativist

Metaphysical naturalism (or physicalism) fills in the gap that scientism leaves. Of course, it's not necessarily true, but it does defeat the claim (of some theists) that we "need" supernaturalism to account for aspects of the world.

Roevember 21
— 180 Proof

What does this mean? — Mikie

Rationality and its language of logic therefore are contained within the continuity_continuum of existence. The continuity_continuum of existence being the sine qua non prerequisite for reason, it can make no start outside the material theater of action. Given this fact, there can be no rational explanation for existence-itself-in-general. — ucarr

If man is imago dei

and if the devil is imago hominis,

then god is imago diaboli;

ergo imagoes est. Amen.

... a ridiculous unsupported prediction. — Baden

I'm just sayin' I'll do that if you're right about the national polls; what'll you do if I'm right that you're completely wrong? — Baden

Sorry 180 Proof. I’ll put money on it. — Mikie

Harris will beat Trump, says election prediction legend Allan Lichtman² :victory: :cool: — 180 Proof

Also, when you say it won’t be Joe Biden as the nominee — care to bet on that too?
— Mikie
Like taking candy from a baby. :yum: — 180 Proof

[Y]our arguments apply (at best) only to your concepts [ ... ] The discussion seems to be about an uncaused first cause, and that's an unbreakable oxymoron. As such you can only have it if you first grant it. But then you [@Hallucinogen] have proved exactly nothing. All this worked out millennia ago. If you're just working it out for yourself, some credit to you. But the argument has long been a dead letter. — tim wood

Atheism is the rejection of theism. — DingoJones

However, if that is ↪180 Proof's definition of Deism ... — Gnomon

And is there a certain type of pro-Israel Jew that you do respect? — BitconnectCarlos

[T]he plain bald fact of the matter is that if you [@Gnomon] do not know what it means, then your education is lacking. And not only just because you don't know what it means, but also because you don't seem to recognize that it's meaningful, or that you can easily look it up. It also means you're unfamiliar with books that commonly have comments in them in Latin, Greek, German and so forth. So while it does not say, "You're an idiot," you yourself have instead said, "I'm an idiot," and apparently proud to be. — tim wood

The only real solution here is equal rights for Palestinians, and for Israel to become a normal, modern state where multiple ethnicities can coexist. — Tzeentch

Instead of learning from his interlocuters here, who aren't exactly dumb, he [@BitconnectCarlos] chooses to drink right wing Israeli cool aid. — Benkei