doubtingthomas’s topics MEGATHREAD

[doubtingthomas]

Fair? I think anyone behaving a certain way gets treated about the same as others behaving the same way.

Impartial? See the comment above regarding valuation being a result of appraisal over time.

The problem is that people are only seeing what they want to see. I behave based on how I am treated. If people are going to make idiotic speculations about me or suggest that I did something wrong without providing good reasons, don't expect me to treat them nicely.

I admit that some of the threads I create have provocative titles, but my intention is to start a conversation about things I feel are important. For example, I argued that young women are generally safer dating older men than men their own age, but the responses were mostly personal attacks.

[doubtingthomas]

why the man’s behavior

Is it okay to sexualize HS students? What do you think?

[doubtingthomas]

We all know that the growth rate of the LDS Church is no longer accelerating, and it's shrinking in a number of regions. However, it's unclear if this trend will continue in the following decades.

Unfortunately, conservatives are having more kids than liberals, and we know a "traditional" family is very important for the LDS church. Women get praised for setting aside their careers to have kids—the more kids, the better.

I think it's kind of dangerous that secular people don't seem to be having lots of kids. In Europe, a lot of secular people going to get replaced by Muslims. In the US, religious people (not just Mormons) are having a lot more kids than secular people. It's true that the number of secular people is growing, but probably not as fast as it should.

Immigration is contributing to the growth in the US, but most immigrants are religious people, which is not a good thing for those who don't believe in religion. Immigrants are more likely to have children and support religious causes on social issues. We all know there's a so-called God gene, which is spreading. Unfortunately, most people aren't willing to change their minds, so many religious people will likely remain religious.

If secular people had more children, the percentage of religious people (including Mormons) would have been reduced to an insignificant percentage that wouldn't affect the lives of most people. We might have been living in a very different world today. Utah would likely have been a different state—one not controlled by the LDS Church.

[High Spy]

Yeah spy fell for the overpopulation bs in the 80’s. I thought of myself as an atheist then, and thought 2 replacement kids, with a daughter preceding a son would be ideal. Things went exactly to plan, but it was the wrong plan on many fronts.

[Gadianton]

Jesus Christ, why are you making such a big deal about the wording instead of focusing on the point?

I was focusing on the point. People reason in circles when they express deeply held beliefs, such as beliefs about God or the Bible; beliefs they have difficulty justifying or even comprehending objectively.

I doubt you could keep up

There's a possibility you're on the spectrum and outright brilliant on certain technical subjects but then become a child for everything else. If that's the case, how do you tap into that brilliance to improve the reasoning in your posts on this board? No clue, perhaps a therapist could help you.

A large age gap relationship among adults shouldn't be controversial at all.

You mean a barely eighteen and a fifty plus, in a situation where the fifty plus is in a position of authority over the barely eighteen as a teacher? Of course that's going to be controversial. Feel free to wish that it weren't.

BS. Didn't you read the first thread I created when I came back? Young women are actually safer dating older men.

You mean the one where you misrepresented yet another study significantly? Yes, I read that thread. And by the way, violence isn't the only issue.

Taboo and rightfully concerned aren't the same. Perhaps in your black-and-white world they are, but not in the real world.

[drumdude]

You have to be pretty negative to believe you can’t coexist with religious people as an atheist.

Take abortion, for example. I do believe it’s an area where religious opinions are being forced on non-religious citizens. But the solution is not to get rid of religion, it’s to make the religious more moderate. We’ve seen this already with religious acceptance of gay and lesbian people. Incredible progress in just the last 15 years.

Basically, if you think we need to outbreed the religious, you’re probably going down a dark path.

[Dr. Shades]

If secular people had more children, the percentage of religious people (including Mormons) would have been reduced to an insignificant percentage that wouldn't affect the lives of most people.

So, you think that secular people having, say, 1% more children would magically wash away the religious people to "an insignificant percentage?" Why, because the religious people would see this and magically stop reproducing?

[doubtingthomas]

You have to be pretty negative to believe you can’t coexist with religious people as an atheist.

Take abortion, for example. I do believe it’s an area where religious opinions are being forced on non-religious citizens. But the solution is not to get rid of religion, it’s to make the religious more moderate.

But unfortunately, it's the far-right religious people who are having more kids, not the religious moderates. It's not impossible to make the far-right more moderate, but good luck with that. I guess only science can save us.

As for religious immigrants, many come from patriarchal households.

Secularism is rising right now, but that concern that is that it may begin to decline in the future, especially if secular people are simply not having kids

So, you think that secular people having, say, 1% more children would magically wash away the religious people to "an insignificant percentage?" Why, because the religious people would see this and magically stop reproducing?

If secular people had 1% more children than religious people, over time that would turn the religious people into a minority.

By the way, an insignificant percentage can still be pretty large.

[doubtingthomas]

Basically, if you think we need to outbreed the religious, you’re probably going down a dark path.

Not necessarily outbreeding the religious, but secular people need to have more kids so they won't get replaced by religious people in the future.

According to an article I read, a few decades ago there was no difference between the fertility rate of liberals and conservatives.

However, that's not the case anymore, and we may see the consequences of that in the future.

[High Spy]

Eight souls were aboard Noah’s Ark.

Apparently 8 really is enough.

This time departing for the New Earth.