Yet another reason anti-blasphemy laws are a dumb idea. This is a Mormon practice that has been a part of their religion from the beginning which also happens to be blasphemous to other religions. For example, how would Muslims feel if one of the baptized were Mohammad? I'm sure a lot of Jews aren't very happy with…

this needs to be here

I was upset with the Americanization of Constantine for the same reason. It has little to do with race. The nationalities of the characters in Constantine as well as the characters in Akira are important elements in their stories. Among the examples you described, the Daredevil and GI Joe examples don't do any harm…

I can agree that Einstein does seem like a Deist at times. I find it hard to believe it was something that occupied his mind that often at all, really. Many of his quotes on God were prompted by questions relating to theology, so it's hard to say if he's just being diplomatic or is genuinely unconcerned (which I…

None of his theories are safe from testing. I don't see any distance from strict empiricism there. As for his public statements, he was a man who was fond of metaphor. To him, "God" was a metaphor. Unlike a literal deity who is a being with agency, Einstein's "God" was a poetic god not a literal one. And I agree…

If religion was seen as purely metaphorical, it wouldn't be regarded as religion by people, but as myth. The problem is the notion of a deeply-held belief, a belief that is clung to irrationally in the face of contradictory evidence. This applies not only to religious beliefs, but political, philosophical, ethical,…

I'll just leave this here:

You should hate the belief, not the believer. Just like they say, "hate the sin, not the sinner". Makes sense to me.

But it is precisely because of the doctrinal details that one is perceived as more offensive than the other. Making the distinction that certain sets of ideas are theological or not does nothing to change the efficacy or inefficacy of such ideas. An idea has the same merit whether it is found in the Bible, a…

Thanks, Liu Xianping. You made my day.

Woah. Polyamory is illegal?

It is an interesting thing to think about. I've often wondered if some of the absolutely rare individuals we call "geniuses" were mostly de novo mutants of some kind or other.

I think you are misunderstanding me. Please just google de novo mutation. All I was half-jokingly alluding to was the possibility that Einstein had a first generation or de novo mutation. I don't think that is the case really. Obviously, I have no idea. I was merely speculating that he may be one of a kind in…

Lol. I hope you are just kidding. It's a legit classification of mutation. All it means is that it just happened for the first time in this individual.

look up the legal definition.

Of course. Just don't be harassing about it.

Personally, I advocate nudism as a part of the cause of liberalism. It always amazes me the taboo and superstition that still surrounds the human body to this day. Freedom of the individual applies to how one wishes to dress or not dress doesn't it? People should have control over their own bodies as long as they…

Seeing someone naked does not constitute that person harassing you. Now if the person starts to harass you, then that person is harassing you. And of course, someones motive for wearing or not wearing an item of clothing should be no business but their own. If a guy wants to be naked because he thinks it's awesome…

If the parents are choosing from a set of possible embryos derived from their own genetic material (like in Gattaca), it will be similar enough to natural birth. These will probably be the tentative first steps. Many of the new genes will offer things like disease immunity, cancer prevention, more efficient…

Perhaps he meant to say that Einstein is a de novo mutant, a first generation mutant.