What is a "Freethinker?"

Pilebsa · 2012-05-19T19:06:13.413808+00:00

let me know if you know the software being used - i'll try to fight that

Pilebsa · 2012-05-19T19:05:15.845145+00:00

Welcome. Don't let others who have their own agenda tell you what to think of the community. Think for yourself.

Pilebsa · 2012-05-19T19:04:07.431758+00:00

All the other mods are real people; some of them I know if real life; some I know only over the Internet, and trust me, I do NOT agree with them on everything, especially Aerik.

And I will not apologize for exhibiting prejudice towards SRS. If any group deserves it and adds very little of value to the online community, it's closed-minded cyber vigilante gangs like them, who aren't simply content to censor their own forums, but everybody else's.

Pilebsa · 2012-05-19T19:01:33.450727+00:00

I'm not the sole moderator. I am the founder.

As to the wiki... we have a problem now with autobot spammers destroying content and I've had to restrict signups, but anybody who wants access to edit the wiki is welcome. Until I figure out a way to stop the bots from inserting gibberish in the wiki, it has to be that way.

Pilebsa · 2012-05-19T19:00:24.079776+00:00

doh, I didn't realize it was on the sidebar... sorry.. but judging from the responses from many here, they still don't understand the definition of "freethought" and "freethinker"

Actually as a matter of policy I've been regularly reposting that link just to let newbies know what the subject matter is about.

Pilebsa · 2012-05-19T18:56:38.711262+00:00

It seems rather closed-minded to categorically exclude entire groups when throughout mankind's history many of our most free thinkers had a religious heritage.

free thinker != freethinker

The former is two disparate words placed together that mean something highly subjective and abstract. The latter is a very specific term which indicates those who base their beliefs and actions upon rational, material evidence.

Pilebsa · 2012-05-19T18:54:53.146361+00:00

it excludes anyone with any religious beliefs.

Not all religious beliefs are un-scientific or irrational.

For example, you could choose to practice a religion for certain social or cultural reasons and not necessarily subscribe to any supernatural or un-scientific constructs. It wouldn't be entirely consistent, but it wouldn't conflict with the concept of Freethought.

For example, let's say a Christian gets sick. A freethought approach to dealing with sickness is to see a qualified medical professional to deal with it. A non-freethought approach might be to pray.

Pilebsa · 2012-05-19T18:50:27.178630+00:00

"free thinker" != "freethinker"

Suffice to say, everybody is a "free thinker" until someone figures out how precisely control others' brains, or we have a discussion about what "free" means in that context, or "thinker". But the term Freethinker is very specific.

-Sting- · 2012-05-19T18:48:45.463378+00:00

I thought the comic exemplifies the kind of attitude behind the Freethought movement and is certainly appropriate here. Thanks for posting it!

graphictruth · 2012-05-19T17:02:19.683620+00:00

Try looking at things from a neutral position and you'll see that alternet is every bit as sensationalist as FOX is.

As others have said, Alternet is more fact-based than Fox.

Fox routinely promotes downright false claims and constantly employs fallacious arguments. It's clearly a false-equivalence to suggest they're both equally disingenuous when it comes to the substance of their arguments.

As far as sensationalism, that's a highly-subjective issue. What you think is inflammatory verses informative is undoubtedly predicated on bias. For example, if a news report came out that said, "George W. Bush doesn't know more than a 5th grader." depending upon the context, that could be construed as dramatic, or technically true and informative. It depends upon the substance of the argument, which you dismiss because obviously it doesn't help your claims.

And to further pile on the hypocrisy, you accuse me of engaging in ad hominem while you do it yourself:

I'm just trying to show that the 'left' isn't really filled with freethinkers, but more like a pack of sanctimonious hipsters who hop on board of whatever trend is popular at the time.

You don't know the definition of Freethinker. Please educate yourself.

davidreiss666 · 2012-05-19T16:56:32.745251+00:00

You weren't around at the time to know that every person under the banner of religion was good or evil. Most of recorded history will inevitably have recounts of evil people, that were recognized for their evil. I'm sure history has missed out on the boring stories of the good people. I know for a fact that the history of Anglo-Christianity is not a blameless one, so I do agree with you there.

s/Christian/Nazi/g

Same difference.

GreyEagle8414 · 2012-05-19T16:54:48.589395+00:00

I don't recall Iraq attacking or invading the US or its territories.

I actually can't imagine signing up if you don't think so unless you are a psychopath.

Do some research into the studies. You may be surprised. In fact there's a current thread up here on Reddit about a soldier who got a care package, and then people looked up his post history and it started a long conversation on what type of people are often in the military.

GreyEagle8414 · 1 day

What happens when "Duty" and service ends up not serving your country but instead various special private/corporate interests?

I suspect today's military are different from the OP's time.

Pilebsa · 1 day

They're just metaphors. They were never meant to be taken literally.

Remember, this is a guy who was neck-deep into quantum mechanics on a level 99.99999% of the world will never be able to grasp, that then became somewhat of a pop icon. Suffice to say part of that is the result of his ability to spit out ambiguous metaphors that made people think they have a clue as to how things work, even though they don't.

Pilebsa · 1 day

One reason why I submitted the link the way I did was as a litmus test to see who was paying attention.

There's nothing necessarily stupid about what Einstein says. And it in no way validates superstitious, irrational ideology.

graphictruth · 1 day

They're the liberal version of FOX.

Classic False Equivalence Fallacy.

spladug · 1 day

This is kind of a bummer. I enjoyed hosting a subreddit under my own domain at: http://reddit.Freethoughtpedia.com/

davidreiss666 · 1 day

Maybe he had some important appointment that weekend that he missed?

davidreiss666 · 1 day

I also contend that the worst form of suffering is psychological. Fear and loathing. Jesus had none of that. He knew he was eternal, so there never was anything at stake.

In fact, the ultimate irony of religion is that if people honestly believed the afterlife was better, they would welcome death, yet most fight tooth and nail to avoid leaving this existence. Why? Because deep down they know there might not be anything beyond, and the reason they cling to religion is to relieve the stress and fear they face in the material world.

davidreiss666 · 1 day

The whole point is that he was a human at the time so he felt all of the pain and suffered just as much as anyone else on a cross would.

Because how do you figure that? If he was self-aware of his status as a god (which is clearly documented in scripture) there is absolutely no way he could have ever suffered as much as a mere mortal.

I don't know about you, but knowing that I'm immortal and omnipotent kinda changes my attitude about stuff.

This whole farce about Jesus suffering is BS. Ask a real doctor what happens to your body when it's subjected to pain. The body secretes all kinds of chemicals and substances that act as psychotropics and painkillers. At some point, this guy didn't feel a thing and was high on adrenalin, dopamine and other stuff. So what's left? Fear? What does a god have to fear? Pain is meaningless to a god.

davidreiss666 · 1 day

I no longer regullarly attend church. And suprise suprise, Jesus did not do that either.

Surprise, surprise, there's actually no evidence Jesus was a real person

Whether you attend church or not, you are still associating yourself with a group and an ideology that has unarguably, for centuries, been intolerant of others.

Yes, Hitler created Volkswagon and Fanta Orange drink and made the trains run on time. The Klan probably helped provide support for many families and things in their community, but on a whole, these organizations have a disproportionate amount of unnecessary baggage.

davidreiss666 · 1 day

I think it's unrealistic to expect any world view to appeal to everyone without issue.

davidreiss666 · 2 days

They claim that someone like Tacitus has no reason to lie about Jesus(understandable to lie about other stuff).

They assume the mention of Jesus in Tacitus is legit. Many do not.

The same thing applies to the references by Josephue. People say, "Why would Josephus want to call Jesus "the Christ?" if he was a Jew?" Well, perhaps he didn't call him anything because that text was added by christians later as they were rewriting his work?

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