Not cynical...just realistic. And in that vein...

Yeah - I Know - this was the intermixed LRPD / nonsequitur thread. Born again.
It Is Not supposed to have a Point. But, W.T.F.

--- Stop Here: if seeking prescribed quip ---
Nothing to see here.
EOF.

Some days one simply Must bite an Analyst on the surd, if a cat is not handy.

You are mapping regions. I see the colors blending at the interstices! It is a visual metaphor - as can usually prevail in the (?) overlapping 'definitions' game.
Alas it's the 5-color map problem, as usual. (And you claimed you were not 'visual'...)

Even the phrase 'belief system' is freighted with the immanent Expectation that: eventually "all these matters shall be contained within a nice, logical Process" - whose algorithm We Shall Solve!"

[By law I am required to add, at this exact point: cha cha cha]

Naah, I just can't. Never mind.

(Besides, these threads invariably prove to be YAN Would I Have Been a Nazi? Amusement Park trivial-diversion - don't they?) Or is that a self-fulfilling Prophecy? Hmmm.. I can go there; worthy maybe of anecdote within My New bestseller candidate, nearing completion via the lend-lease aid of Mr. Kincaid's mondo art-elves, via WalMart sub-contract:

Revelations II

The Heartrending Story

of the cast,
the players,
the producer -
and their mistresses.
And what they were wearing.
But they're all just Regular Joes n'Janes.
Like on M*A*S*H

:-\ufffd j<

Elucidating the Obvious is neither illuminating nor worthy of Brownie Points within a massively-jocular, expectation-free exercise in wordsmithing for amusement.

(And clearly .. no ^higher Porpoise is to be expected, given that This is one of an Aleph-null series of redundant, re-recapitulating (all to be forgotten within the attention span of a gnat) predecessors.)
Reread IWE History, man!

If a 'metaphysical Thoughtlet' ever landed on all five feet, here - the natives would first -

Shoot it (as with Klaatu - but he had at least, Gort for backup.)
Then question it.
Then greet it civilly.
Then say Hmmm, I Wonder if - - Nahhhh...

In That Order.

Yours, with heartfelt understanding of your predicament, real or feigned -

moi

Post #226,247 by jb4 9/23/05 9:46:22 PM Reply	Not cynical...just realistic. And in that vein... ...just remember: [link\|http://z.iwethey.org/forums/render/content/show?contentid=218072\|I am the Designer!] jb4 shrub●bish (Am., from shrub* + rubbish, after the derisive name for America's 43 president; 2003) n. 1. a form of nonsensical political doubletalk wherein the speaker attempts to defend the indefensible by lying, obfuscation, or otherwise misstating the facts; GIBBERISH. 2. any of a collection of utterances from America's putative 43rd president. cf.* BULLSHIT
Post #226,255 by Ashton 9/23/05 10:19:29 PM Reply	'See that and raise you - I contend that we are both atheists. I just believe in one fewer god than you do. When you understand why you dismiss all the other possible gods, you will understand why I dismiss yours. * Intelligent Designer, Vishnu, Siva, Brahman et alia You Sillies. ..these aren't even decent Questions!
Post #226,274 by warmachine 9/24/05 5:26:51 AM Reply	Alas, your argument is useless Theists do not disbelieve the other gods for the same reasons as atheists. Whereas atheists reject on the balance of evidence, theists believe in a god as a matter of faith and without question, making the existence of other gods automatically impossible, rather than incredibly unlikely. Matthew Greet Choose Life. Choose a job. Choose a career. Choose a family. Choose a fucking big television, choose washing machines, cars, compact disc players and electrical tin openers. Choose good health, low cholesterol, and dental insurance. Choose fixed interest mortgage repayments. Choose a starter home. Choose your friends. Choose leisurewear and matching luggage. Choose DIY and wondering who the fuck you are on a Sunday morning. Choose sitting on that couch watching mind-numbing, spirit-crushing game shows, stuffing fucking junk food into your mouth. Choose rotting away at the end of it all, pishing your last in a miserable home, nothing more than an embarrassment to the selfish, fucked up brats you spawned to replace yourself. Choose your future. Choose life... But why would I want to do a thing like that? I chose not to choose life. I chose somethin' else. And the reasons? There are no reasons. Who needs reasons when you've got heroin? - Mark Renton, Trainspotting.
Post #226,277 by Ashton 9/24/05 7:34:19 AM Reply	Au contraire - your examples are peas in a pod. 'A-theism' is a religion precisely 'as much' as the others. (We've had this discussion (n + epsilon) times, of course - in IW's various venues.) Need I point out that such a phrase, reject on the balance of evidence - belongs in any genuine (and also competent) metaphysical discussion ~ as well as a fish belongs on that proverbial bicycle (?) The mountain remains unmoved at seeming defeat by the mist. -- Rabindranath Tagore
Post #226,284 by ben_tilly 9/24/05 10:04:41 AM Reply	And you're still wrong. Atheism is not a religion. Neither is theism. There are many religions that can be described as theistic. There are some that can be described as atheistic. But neither theism or atheism is a belief system. Rather both are high-level categories of belief systems. Cheers, Ben I have come to believe that idealism without discipline is a quick road to disaster, while discipline without idealism is pointless. -- Aaron Ward (my brother)
Post #226,297 by boxley 9/24/05 11:43:14 AM Reply	according to the American Juidicial system it is :-) "the reason people don't buy conspiracy theories is that they think conspiracy means everyone is on the same program. Thats not how it works. Everybody has a different program. They just all want the same guy dead. Socrates was a gadfly, but I bet he took time out to screw somebodies wife" Gus Vitelli Any opinions expressed by me are mine alone, posted from my home computer, on my own time as a free american and do not reflect the opinions of any person or company that I have had professional relations with in the past 49 years. meep questions, help? [link\|mailto:pappas@catholic.org\|email pappas at catholic.org]
Post #226,314 by Ashton 9/24/05 4:39:20 PM Reply	That was the LRPD-esque version, right? Yeah - I Know - this was the intermixed LRPD / nonsequitur thread. Born again. It Is Not supposed to have a Point. But, W.T.F. --- Stop Here: if seeking prescribed quip --- Nothing to see here. EOF. Some days one simply Must bite an Analyst on the surd, if a cat is not handy. You are mapping regions. I see the colors blending at the interstices! It is a visual metaphor - as can usually prevail in the (?) overlapping 'definitions' game. Alas it's the 5-color map problem, as usual. (And you claimed you were not 'visual'...) Even the phrase 'belief system' is freighted with the immanent Expectation that: eventually "all these matters shall be contained within a nice, logical Process" - whose algorithm We Shall Solve!" [By law I am required to add, at this exact point: cha cha cha] Naah, I just can't. Never mind. (Besides, these threads invariably prove to be YAN Would I Have Been a Nazi? Amusement Park trivial-diversion - don't they?) Or is that a self-fulfilling Prophecy? Hmmm.. I can go there; worthy maybe of anecdote within My New bestseller candidate, nearing completion via the lend-lease aid of Mr. Kincaid's mondo art-elves, via WalMart sub-contract: Revelations II The Heartrending Story of the cast, the players, the producer - and their mistresses. And what they were wearing. But they're all just Regular Joes n'Janes. Like on MAS*H :-\ufffd j<
Post #226,291 by warmachine 9/24/05 11:19:28 AM Reply	Not relevent Although correctness of evidence-based reasoning is a belief, that is not pertinent to your original statement. Though the atheist and theist are, indeed, using metaphysical beliefs, they're different and incompatible. The atheist's reasoning about the existence of god is still alien to the theist. To say that a theist is really just an atheist but the atheist believes in one less god is as absurd as saying that a cat is really just a rose except that a rose can't walk. Matthew Greet Choose Life. Choose a job. Choose a career. Choose a family. Choose a fucking big television, choose washing machines, cars, compact disc players and electrical tin openers. Choose good health, low cholesterol, and dental insurance. Choose fixed interest mortgage repayments. Choose a starter home. Choose your friends. Choose leisurewear and matching luggage. Choose DIY and wondering who the fuck you are on a Sunday morning. Choose sitting on that couch watching mind-numbing, spirit-crushing game shows, stuffing fucking junk food into your mouth. Choose rotting away at the end of it all, pishing your last in a miserable home, nothing more than an embarrassment to the selfish, fucked up brats you spawned to replace yourself. Choose your future. Choose life... But why would I want to do a thing like that? I chose not to choose life. I chose somethin' else. And the reasons? There are no reasons. Who needs reasons when you've got heroin? - Mark Renton, Trainspotting.
Post #226,315 by Ashton 9/24/05 4:49:18 PM Reply	My Son Elucidating the Obvious is neither illuminating nor worthy of Brownie Points within a massively-jocular, expectation-free exercise in wordsmithing for amusement. (And clearly .. no ^higher Porpoise is to be expected, given that This is one of an Aleph-null series of redundant, re-recapitulating (all to be forgotten within the attention span of a gnat) predecessors.) Reread IWE History, man! If a 'metaphysical Thoughtlet' ever landed on all five feet, here - the natives would first - Shoot it (as with Klaatu - but he had at least, Gort for backup.) Then question it. Then greet it civilly. Then say Hmmm, I Wonder if - - Nahhhh... In That Order. Yours, with heartfelt understanding of your predicament, real or feigned - moi

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