nigel99

https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/481000-comey-pens-op-ed-saying-us-democracy-wont-come-apart-if-trump-isnt An interesting article

It is funny how we have perceptions that shape our views of people. I am/was genuinely surprised to see you on the same side of the fence as Jakee. My perception of you is that you would have agreed with Brents view.

In part I agree with you. There was an article a while ago where they found that Apple users had the same part of their brain fired up as the ‘religion’ region. It’s why the Apple/Android debates get so heated. I am not sure if your argument is that religion is positive or simply just a part of the fact. Because I’m pretty sure most civilisations have committed genocide/ethnic cleansing along the way as well, and I don’t know many that would agree with that (although the average Trump supporter might!)

Community spirit helps people feel better, in fact I believe it is part of our make up to be part of a group. You see it in skydivers ‘belly fliers stick together, wingsuiters are weird etc..’ I also believe that it is vital to mental wellbeing to have a sense of belonging. So a group of athiests getting together in a ‘church’ is not a bad thing. By the same token many athiests actually go to religious churches for the same sense of community etc. As others have contributed towards this, I agree with the view that ‘hearing from god’ represents mental illness, and that believing in god is delusional. A favourite author of mine Scott Peck states that mental illness is the result of people being unable to face the pain of taking responsibility for their own actions. I have found most religious people use god as a scapegoat to avoid having to take responsibility. Before you get your nose bent out of shape Scott Peck was a Christian (past tense because he’s dead). He also has stated he has had patients healed by finding religion/god, and patients who have been healed by losing religion/god. If you are a person who likes to read it is the book ‘The Road Less Travelled’

Four legs good, two legs bad?

Let me spell it out for you. Making personal attacks or nasty comments and then digging yourself out by saying ‘I was only joking’ is what the bible verse I quoted refers to. I fully expect religious people to have a sense of humour. It was not a ‘fake’ news article, it was satire. It would be like calling The Onion fake news...

To throw some psycho babble at you, you’re projecting. Because you appear to be full of hatred and ‘poor me’ you assume that everyone shares your world view. I do not ‘hate’ religion. I have some people that I am very close to that I would never challenge their religious beliefs because it provides them with a level of comfort that they need to feel safe in this world. I am sure I’ve mentioned it before but my brother in law was highly religious and within a month of him stopping believing in god he committed suicide. He was unable to cope with dealing with his past life of abuse and neglect without a higher power to believe in. I would much rather Jason was still around, laughing joking and preaching on street corners, than in a box.

It’s interesting to observe how people give away their prejudices. So black is worse than a woman... Many men world wide have a real problem with women in a position of power, politics or business women have it harder than men. I have no doubt that this is true across the entire political spectrum.

I know it’s terrible, I was joking. Good thing that god has predestined me to go to hell :)

I thought the Swiss opened all major decisions up as ‘referendums’, largely placing the power in the hands of the people? Probably still got a a party system though

It was a tongue in cheek comment. The whole article is satire, like the onion. On a complete side track, I know almost nothing about Iceland, but I did like their response to the GFC.

Exactly!

https://www.patheos.com/blogs/laughingindisbelief/2020/01/iceland-declares-all-religions-are-mental-disorders/ Im moving to Iceland :)

I only got as far a coach rating but these are my thoughts. Expose yourself to a variety of drop zones from little Cessna dzs to the big ones. Tunnel is great for correcting and refining some free fall skills. Do as many canopy courses as you can. Jump with newbies on structured jumps, doing 4 way flat or similar with a good experienced jumper and helping them out by being a body for those A and B license jumpers and be an active listener and learner on the debriefs. Learn about your gear from a rigger as much as possible. If you can find a dz where you can pack and gear up tandems or assist with tandems. Spend time helping pilots with fueling and learning their side of the fence.

I honestly don’t know if anyone can predict if Trump will be re elected. I doubt he will be removed through the impeachment process, it looks like the Republicans have tied themselves too closely to Trump for that to happen. Although I guess if politically they see that Dems are likely to win and Trump they may cut Trump loose (if there is even time for that now)

They aren’t interested in him, so he feels left out?

It doesn’t fit the narrative that Hillary is evil. God forbid it was actually the Republicans to blame! Don’t let facts get in the way of good old bigotry!

I read the book Ultraman and he went from overweight to very fit and said the same. His energy levels went up quite a bit.

Ok, to a large part I agree with you and certainly see the distinction. I also like ‘delusion’ over mental illness.

So it is alright for me to believe in the God of Abraham because everyone else does, but because I believe in the tooth fairy I’ve got a problem?

My aunt has a theory or saying that religion is a mental illness. I know that if a grown adult believed in Santa or the Easter Bunny etc there would be serious concerns or doubts over their sanity. Why then is belief in a mystical or magical being any different?

Maybe it is that a large number of American men are afraid of a powerful woman? Maybe they just aren’t ready to accept a female president? I wonder how much of the religious view is tied in with this that only a man must hold a position of power?

I have come to realise that there is some kind of perception bias when it comes to Tuttle and Trump. A false equivalence, if a dem slapped a child and Trump molested one, it would be ‘see they both abuse children, they are no different’. On that note, I will not be surprised if Trump wins a second term. I think Trump appeals to a fairly large segment of the population and gives a voice to those with prejudice. They are too scared to own their views but are happy to allow Trump to be their voice.

I agree. Not a good time to be in the air. I know QANTAS diverted their flights around the Middle East at that time.

Something I intensely dislike about the USA is the way they try and circumvent international law by ‘inventing’ new classes of enemy. Bush did it with Iraq and Afghanistan and the same goes for designating an arm of Iran’s security forces as terrorists and ordering a hit on the leader. Was he a bad man? Certainly he was, Trump did something that was questionable in terms of strategy and legality and owns the consequences. No he did not shoot down the airliner, but he triggered the events leading to it happening.