Secular Café Archive

Topic #2: Do Christians believe that a literal Adam is necessary to give Jesus’ sacrifice any real meaning? This turns out to be an interesting question, with more than one answer. First of all, what the Bible says: Genesis 3:14-15 14 And the LORD God said unto the serpent, Because thou hast done th...

There have been a couple of questions raised in this thread which the main participants have gone round and round on without resolving. They got me thinking, however, and I thought I would add another perspective, perhaps foolishly. I’ll divide my commentary into separate posts. Topic One: What crit...

[quote=""Politesse""]I guess no one here has ever met a progressive Christian before :confused: but I assure you that we do exist as a community, I'm not the only person in Christendom who knows how to read a text critically. I'm not in the habit of telling other people what they...

[quote=""praxis""]Nobody is denying there was a meeting between Trump's son and few others and some Russian people with intelligence background. The questions surrounding the meeting are whether or not the meeting was what everyone who was there says it was or what the people inv...

I don't want to derail the important thread about merging SC and TFT, but the subject of [post=681258]Gurdur[/post] came up and I'd like to comment. Full disclosure: I have known Gurdur online and IRL for 12-15 years, starting at IIDB. He recruited me as a member at the Heathen Hangout in 2005, and ...

No, don't pay. Sorry about that. If I have time I'll go through and quote more substantial sections.

Both my parents were able to live at home until their deaths, with care-givers full time at the end. That seems to me to be to optimum way to go. My wife has a rather expensive insurance policy which will pay for such an arrangement for her when the time comes. As for me, I may put myself into assis...

Here's a thoughtful response to the above referenced article from Masha Gessen in The New Yorker.

She argues that retribution, in this case at least, is less important than the revelations themselves. Whether Franken resigns or not doesn't matter.

[quote=""justme""] I'm not casting any of these groups in a dark light, but I am looking at how well known and well funded their efforts are as opposed to those standing up for the less exotic places. What I'm trying to relate is the fairness of public opinions and how we priorit...

[quote=""BWE""] I met a former student at a pot store. She was working behind the counter. That was one of those really weird episodes life gives. Were the pots half price? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iGhJMdmj3Y0 Bwahahahaha Heh. I'm sure they had sales on something. I only s...

[quote=""Greatest I am""] On the topic of Planned Parenthood here in the US a black female tweeted this at a nonblack nonfemale: "Y’all don’t even care about the kids that are already alive ..... complain about the foster care system then let’s talk about abortions." Is...

[quote=""Greatest I am""] On the topic of Planned Parenthood here in the US a black female tweeted this at a nonblack nonfemale: "Y’all don’t even care about the kids that are already alive ..... complain about the foster care system then let’s talk about abortions." Is...

[quote=""Worldtraveller""] I know the feeling. If it were the Germans, they wouldn't be flying Mirage 2K. Could it have been a Eurofighter Typhoon?...It's a delta, but with canard. I understand about the 'wide open spaces', but there are places like Mach Loop in Wales, too. Given...

I would add that when we grow to a recognition of our own mortality we project immortality to our god concept.

[quote=""Roo St. Gallus""] So, you've not spent any time at freethought forum ? I've been there since 2004 and they claim 'no moderators'. There are two administrators, and members have been ejected, but it is usually because of patently illegal behavior. [/quote] Thanks for remi...

An article linked to by PC Meyers over at Pharyngula argues that our understanding of what happened at Easter Island (palm trees wiped out, population diminished, etc.) were NOT the result of a self-destructive "eco-suicide," but rather the result of natural causes such as rats, and human ...

Roo, my wife and I usually visit our state fair each year, and this year I saw this model Catalina in the arts and crafts exhibits, and thought of you. It appeared to be made of wood, with plastic props, engines, and wheels. Whether it was from a balsa kit or scratch built, I can't say. In any case ...

I for one am sorry to see it go. I had one some time ago and I loved it insofar as the operating system and user interface were a dream compared to iOS and Android. The trouble was there were very few apps for it, and few new ones being developed. Eventually I was forced to buy an android just to ha...

I was nine. My dad took me and my brothers outside one night to try to get a glimpse of it (yes, you could still see stars in the night sky in Dallas sixty years ago). My dad thought he saw something moving, but I don't remember much except the dizzy feeling of looking straight up.

A rather lengthy profile of U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson has appeared in The New Yorker . Needless to say it makes for rather depressing reading. Even in the areas where he manages to get it right, he is consistently undercut by Trump. My summary: the CEO of one of the world's largest (and ...

Here is a negative review of the Crews biography. The author of the review, Lisa_Appignanesi, is connected to the Freud Museum in London.

I've heard reports that the gunman used fully automatic weapon(s). The response from the right is likely to be something along the lines of: "But those weapons are already illegal. That proves that gun control can't possibly work."

I'm in the mood for some Chicago blues: Luther Allison's "Someday Pretty Baby".


(View video on YouTube)

The career of Cassini, the spectacularly successful Saturn probe launched twenty years ago, has finally ended.

Now it's time to send another probe to take a closer look at Titan and other moons where there's a possibility of some form of life.

There is an interesting piece in The Guardian about neoliberalism, its history and definition. In short, “neoliberalism” is not simply a name for pro-market policies, or for the compromises with finance capitalism made by failing social democratic parties. It is a name for a premise that, quietly, h...