Jonathan H. B. Lobl

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Posts posted by Jonathan H. B. Lobl

  1. Happy New Year 2024

    in Good Wishes, Gratitude, Blessings and Prayers

    Posted

    On 1/19/2024 at 7:17 PM, Seeker said:

    I've only ever used ulc.net before.

     

    Both https://www.ulchq.com/ and https://ulchq.com/ work fine for me in the UK, using Cloudflare DNS.

    Who is your DNS provider? They may have it wrong.

     

     

     

     

    I used your link.  Ulchq.com  That worked. It took me to the Modesto hq.

     

    Foolish me.  I had been using ulchq.net -  which the Monastery uses to drive business to their site.  Dirty, dirty.

     

    Just one problem.  The authentic hq site in Modesto still thinks it's 2006.

    I'm glad I found it again.  I grieve that it's  18 years out of date.

  3. Happy New Year 2024

    in Good Wishes, Gratitude, Blessings and Prayers

    Posted

    3 hours ago, the Hearthwitch said:

    Just tried it. Yep. 

    That's...weird.

     

    I don't want to jump to conclusions.  The Monastery seems to be in control of the HQ website.  This automatic transfer to the .org website is going to seriously confuse people. 

     

    How long has this been going on?

     

    Why did I have to find out?  I think someone in administration is asleep at the switch.

  10. The purpose of religion

    in Freethought, Secularism, No Religion

    Posted

    30 minutes ago, cuchulain said:

    Spot on.  Either God is a myth, and doesn't affect us.  Or he's real, and we don't affect him.  Anything beyond our control isn't worth worrying about.

     

    Been a minute.  Thought I'd say hi 😊

     

    It's good to see that you're still around.

     

    For the rest, I have embraced Agnostic Apatheism.   

     

    Despite the complete lack of evidence, Some  version of God could possibly exist.   I don't know and I don't worry about it.  It's not important and it's not worth arguing about. 

     

    Jonathan  

  19. The purpose of religion

    in Freethought, Secularism, No Religion

    Posted

    On 3/24/2023 at 6:52 PM, Pete said:

    I know that Marx described religion as the opiate of the people and the sigh of the oppressed. He dismissed religion as nothing more than the coping mechanism to deal with a cruel world.

    However James Connolly who got a catholic upbringing said he was not against religion. He just based his reasoning on the provable rather than the unknowable. I kinda like that.

     

    Huxley invented the word AGNOSTIC.   He said that God was unknown and unknowable.   The opposite of provable.  

     

    The meaning of Agnostic has degraded in common usage to being undecided.  I think it's still a good word.  That God cannot be proved or disproved. 

     

     

    • Like 1

  20. The purpose of religion

    in Freethought, Secularism, No Religion

    Posted

    I am not unsocial.  I attend a senior center five days a week, schedule permitting.  I teach a weekly qi gong class.  There are ways to find community that have nothing to do with religion.

     

    No.  Religion is not humanities only obstacle.  If religion vanished today, humanity would still be a mess.  It would be a different mess, but it would still be a mess.

     

    As for God.  I am an Apatheist.  I don't care whether or not God exist.  I am persuaded that even the question is futile.  

  21. The purpose of religion

    in Freethought, Secularism, No Religion

    Posted

    On 1/16/2023 at 7:09 AM, VonNoble said:

    Hmmm.  

     

    Having religious beliefs is not a disease nor is it indicative of sanity or lack thereof, perhaps.

    Disease is a reflection of a biologic evolution not a spiritual organization, perhaps.

     

    Does the absence of religion automatically/instantly change the need of large swaths of humans

    across the globe to be gather for some form of group spirituality?

     

    Considering, the world is not comprised by an entire introverted population, there are those

    who feel most comfortable in work/life settings with others.   They are recharged by 

    gathering socially for all aspects of their life.   What serves as their vehicle for recharging

    spiritually? 

     

    thx

     

    von 

     

    Of course religion is not, of itself,  a pathology.   You asked what will replace religion.   Nothing  will replace religion. We can come together, and nurtur each other, and do good with out religion.   First, we must see that religion is not the only path forward.   We can simply let it go.    🤔

     

    A simple experiment.   Point to yourself. 

    Did you point to your brain?

    No.  You pointed to your heart.  You did that without religion.  😀