Posts by cofty

94

Karl Marx Genius Of The Modern World

by Brokeback Watchtower in

he was all for getting rid of religions and their delusions for the betterment of mankind.. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4mydmc1wio8.

cofty

Communism like all utopian ideologies is founded on a wrong-headed assumption about humans. We are not blank slates that can be reprogrammed to "get with the programme".

We have an innate nature with complex intuitions about fairness and autonomy.

This is why every attempt at applying Marxism in the real world requires the imposition of a police state and a system of public shaming and informants. The weakening or even dissolution of family relationships is essential so that the new comradeship can demand universal loyalty. Any degree of punishment and state murder is justified if only the last vestiges of reactionary opposition or dissent can be eradicated then utopia will prevail.

It is a failed philosophy. It is not that we just haven't tried the right sort of Marxism yet. That much ought to be clear.

94

Karl Marx Genius Of The Modern World

by Brokeback Watchtower in

he was all for getting rid of religions and their delusions for the betterment of mankind.. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4mydmc1wio8.

cofty

He called this idea the "dictatorship of the proletariats"

ie the nightmare of Mao's China? or is that more akin to Pol Pot's Khmer Rouge?

94

Karl Marx Genius Of The Modern World

by Brokeback Watchtower in

he was all for getting rid of religions and their delusions for the betterment of mankind.. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4mydmc1wio8.

cofty

I'm just trying to point out that your stated cause and effect would take only one example to disprove

But no such example exists despite numerous failed attempts and tens of millions of murders by socialist states of their own citizens.

Communism ALWAYS leads to dystopia.

94

Karl Marx Genius Of The Modern World

by Brokeback Watchtower in

he was all for getting rid of religions and their delusions for the betterment of mankind.. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4mydmc1wio8.

cofty

cognison - In principle you are correct. Marx is just a dunderhead of an economist.

But why does Marxism in practice always result in totalitarianism? How many tens of millions of corpses do we need before we admit that one always leads to the other?

85

Are you a Christian Who Accepts Evolution?

by cofty in

if you identify as a christian but you have accepted that the diversity of life - including humans - resulted from a process of biological evolution could you add your name please?.

just to be clear i am referring to the fact that our physical lineage could literally be traced back all the way to non-human species.. if you like maybe you could comment on why you see not conflict between evolution and your christian faith.. there is a tendency to conflate evolution with atheism.

it would be good to show that this is not the case..

cofty

I think some of the confusion originates from the fact that scientists like Dawkins and PZ Myers write about both evolution and atheism.

It confuses some people who end up conflating the two topics. Atheism requires evolution - if the diversity of life cannot be accounted for by naturalistic explanations there must be a designer - but theism does not require creationism. Theistic Evolution is an intellectually respectable position.

The vast majority of the thousands of scientists working in fields related to evolution never comment on faith. Dawkins gets into it because of the dishonesty of creationists who lie to children.

85

Are you a Christian Who Accepts Evolution?

by cofty in

if you identify as a christian but you have accepted that the diversity of life - including humans - resulted from a process of biological evolution could you add your name please?.

just to be clear i am referring to the fact that our physical lineage could literally be traced back all the way to non-human species.. if you like maybe you could comment on why you see not conflict between evolution and your christian faith.. there is a tendency to conflate evolution with atheism.

it would be good to show that this is not the case..

cofty

Cobweb if you have a look on YouTube for Francis Collins you will find some info on how he reconciles his faith with evolution. He wrote a book called "Finding Darwin's God".

85

Are you a Christian Who Accepts Evolution?

by cofty in

if you identify as a christian but you have accepted that the diversity of life - including humans - resulted from a process of biological evolution could you add your name please?.

just to be clear i am referring to the fact that our physical lineage could literally be traced back all the way to non-human species.. if you like maybe you could comment on why you see not conflict between evolution and your christian faith.. there is a tendency to conflate evolution with atheism.

it would be good to show that this is not the case..

cofty

The problem lies is discerning what those facts are and scientists disagree vociferously about this.

Can you think of a few specific examples?

85

Are you a Christian Who Accepts Evolution?

by cofty in

if you identify as a christian but you have accepted that the diversity of life - including humans - resulted from a process of biological evolution could you add your name please?.

just to be clear i am referring to the fact that our physical lineage could literally be traced back all the way to non-human species.. if you like maybe you could comment on why you see not conflict between evolution and your christian faith.. there is a tendency to conflate evolution with atheism.

it would be good to show that this is not the case..

cofty

Ruby - Evolution is a fact. It has nothing at all to do with atheism. This thread is testimony that it is compatible with religious faith.

Personally I think evolution raises some difficult challenges for christians but the majority of believers manage to accommodate it.

I think there are quite a few hurdles that are associated with evolution and its being taken over radical atheists.

The fact of evolution cannot be taken over by anybody. That is it the beauty of science. It is true whether you accept it or not. It does not require your consent.

191

Evolution is a Fact - Index of Parts 1 - 40

by cofty in

#1 protein functional redundancy comparing the sequences of amino acids in ubiquitous proteins confirms the relationship between all living things..

#2 dna functional redundancy comparison of the dna that codes for the amino acids of ubiquitous proteins predicts the tree of life with an astonishing degree of accuracy..

#3 ervs endogenous retroviruses that infected our ancestors are found in the same place of the genome of our closest primate cousins..

cofty

Perry - On the subject of "EVIDENCE" I can provide abundant evidence for every statement in every one of my 40 threads - that's 40 so far, plenty more to come!

I explained to Ruby that I don't need to quote academic papers in a post - on a non-science forum - that is designed to be a bite-sized introduction to the topic. But you already know that.

There are literally thousands of peer-reviewed papers supporting this entire series of threads. Go to Google Scholar and they are only a click away.

191

Evolution is a Fact - Index of Parts 1 - 40

by cofty in

#1 protein functional redundancy comparing the sequences of amino acids in ubiquitous proteins confirms the relationship between all living things..

#2 dna functional redundancy comparison of the dna that codes for the amino acids of ubiquitous proteins predicts the tree of life with an astonishing degree of accuracy..

#3 ervs endogenous retroviruses that infected our ancestors are found in the same place of the genome of our closest primate cousins..

cofty

Have you read the article Recovering linked for you? Did it answer your questions?

To get more of an appreciation for how this works you need to read an introduction to evolutionary developmental biology - often shortened to "evo devo".

One of the most accessible books on that is "Endless Forms Most Beautiful" by Sean B. Carroll although I warn you it's not an easy read. The detail of how genes control the development of anatomical features is brilliant.

Edited to add - your sophomoric attitude makes conversation very difficult Perry.