Asheron

Dawkins is opposed to a Christian God but he's a bit late on that, Nietzsche and Schopenhaeur realized the futility of Christianity a long time ago.

But he's still hung up on there being an order, a system, he can't really accept the total randomness of life. For him nature is the creator in the form of , evolution, so what morals do we gain from this faith in evolution?

Is might right?

There is no "faith"[1][2] in evolution, there are only facts. And with that: there is simple no "faith" in any science. Evolution is not random, it's the exact opposite.

And how can you possible even suggest that life couldn't possible exist somewhere in the entire universe?

Furthermore, Dawkins isn't opposed to the "christian God", he sees the notation of any God equally absurd.

Not entirely sure what you mean by "is might right?"...

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Faith

[2] http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/faith

Religious people are anti-intellectual. Just look at how many religious people do not even grasp the basic concept of evolution and ask really dumb questions like "if humans evolved from apes... why are they still around?". Sure, not directly related to "teaching/lecturing buddhism to wife/gf" but even the thought of supporting such a thing is... weird... to say the least.

Many will say Buddhism is not a religion, it doesn't believe in a god with any supreme powers and Buddhists themselves are split as to whether reincarnation is true or not.But it's certainly not anti-intellectual.

To sum it up, I would say Buddhism says there are 2 truths in this world. The ultimate truth is nothing is permanent, our new car soon rusts, our bodies fall apart, so there are no permanent entities, rather there are ongoing processes. But to make sense of the world, we personalize it, identify objects, people, in order to function in everyday life, so we have our everyday truth of 'objects and entities'

.But our pain comes from assuming these entities are permanent and becoming attached to them, whether it's our lover or a computer, but of course they're not..

Awareness of the mind is all important in Buddhism, the mind fools us because of our emotional needs, we need this or that,

I think they were just explaining the sub-conscious way before the West cottoned on.

Of course this has nothing to do with everyday Buddhists or Christians, for example if you tell your girlfriend to be less selfish she could turn round and say, ' Have you turned the other cheek today? Have you given away all your possessions?'.And if you answer you are not a Christian but a post- nihilist believer in universal human values like democracy, she could turn round and say, 'But your government supports the Saudi Royal Family, a bunch of dictators, and you eat chicken , straight from a brutal factory farm.'

Our moral values are like a sieve that a double-decker bus from London could drive through, so one should be careful if you throw the first stone.

Of course Buddhism is a religion[1][2].

And yes, it's very anti-intellectual to think that you can be born as a new "something" or even maybe get to "Nirvana" through your actions on this planet. Or that a monk mumbling inside your brand new car and painting the ceiling of that car will actually in any kind of way protect you from harm. It is utter nonsense to believe such things.

Now, i'm not saying they can't believe that... up to them. But... there is a very good reason why most scientists in the world do not have a "personal God" or the likes of "it".

You know why it is so freaking awesome to be an atheist? Because "we the atheists" have absolutely nothing to die for and absolutely everything to live for which can't be said about religious people no matter what "team" they are on. And thank non-existing non-God that i do not get my morals from any kind of archaic religious book.

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Religion

[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buddhism

I don't think we can readily say Buddhism is a religion

https://www.quora.com/Is-Buddhism-a-religion-or-philosop.

and let's not forget the rites that people believe in are often far removed from the tenets of a religion.Getting to nirvana can indeed be considered an intellectual effort as it requires concentration and study of how the mind operates, certainly not blind faith like some religions..

Don't be sure modern day scientists don't have a belief in 'it', many, for instance Dawkins' in The God Delusion has substituted the old belief in a deity with a very old god, the cosmos, nature with its natural and physical laws, only of course today we have much more modern equipment. He attempts to justify atheistic, scientific morality as a naturally selected tactic for passing on genes, forgetting the role random environmental and ecological factors have played in the survival of species.Up to now there's still been no success at unifying the incompatible theories of general relativity and quantum physics.

Everyone has everything to live for, it's the height of arrogance to assume an atheist has any more appreciation of life than others, and as for your morals, well they may not come from a book but they're almost certainly as full of inconsistencies and contradictions as anyone elses's are.

I think Dawkins would be quite offended if you told him he believes in a very old God called "cosmos"... and yes, The God Delusion is a superb book. Science is the exact opposite of religion. And just to say it early, Einstein did NOT believe in a "personal God".

And just because we can't right no prove "something" doesn't make it divine... i know basicly nothing about general relativity and quantum physics but i can quess that neither of them have anything supernatural about or in them. Because i don't understand something does not make it supernatural.

Not everyone has everything to live for. Quite many, millions upon millions, are ready to die "in the name of relgiion" so they get to "heaven".

Why not just say "gook" about all asians?

Because 'gook' is a racial slur. 'Farang' isn't.

And you decide what is a "racial slur"? Or is this just some kind of weird SJW crusade for you?

There are words which are universally accepted as being racially offensive....

It's pretty obvious that in any context the use of 'gook' is offensive, whereas this debate discusses the use of the Word Farang, which is clearly not racially offensive, yet when the word Farang is used to replace someones name some are arguing (myself included) that it shows a clumsy and insensitive lack of respect towards the person they are referring to.

What you mean "pretty obvious"? For who is it "obvious"?

Understand me correctly here... i think anyone should be able to use any word they like about anyone without getting censured/attacked because "group X" doesn't like that word.

Seems that enuf people reasoned or not, defo find just the use of the word offensive to give credence to the arguement that maybe it aint quite so cool to use it after all. Or will ignoring that it causes offence just carry on.

rijit

You want the Thai people to change their language because a small number of over-sensitive foreigners don't like a neutral word?

Seems a bit much.

I'd argue they already do. As I do at work and in situations that require me to show respect. You are usually pretty sharp SB.

OB

I'd agree that they should treat people with respect. Just as English speakers probably shouldn't call people 'stupid foreigners'. But would I suggest removing the word 'foreigner' from the English language? No. Because that would be a ridiculous over-reaction.

Some Thai people are probably quite disrespectful about farangs. But that doesn't make 'farang' a bad word.

There is a word for foreigner in the thai language and it is not farang. Farang is the equalent of negro in the english word as both are meant to be used on/about a very specific "race". Now, i couldn't really give two satangs if someone used negro, nigger, farang, gook or anything else. If they talked like that to me i would just return the favor, thai people especially "like" when i return the favor with something like "khon dam".

Why use the W word? She has a name, doesn't she?

Why not just say "gook" about all asians?

Because 'gook' is a racial slur. 'Farang' isn't.

And you decide what is a "racial slur"? Or is this just some kind of weird SJW crusade for you?

Why use the W word? She has a name, doesn't she?

Why not just say "gook" about all asians?

Well that's BS.I know plenty of stepsons that that treat the stepfather like there own and never want to see their father again.

I agree 100%! Many people speak that they understand then the next word out of their month indicates they clearly have no idea about loving or being a father to someone else kid. I was at a adoption hearing a number of years ago for a family member in Bangkok. The people at this Thai agency are some of the best English speaking individuals I have met ever in Thailand. In the hearing I still remember what the department head said to me in our conversation.

Her comments were she and her department is always happy to see Thai children adopted and remain in Thailand. Just because one can produce children does not mean they have a exclusive right to love them, if that was the case she wouldn't have a job. There are so many Thai children that have been abandon. As for the adoption by my family member the kids love him as their own father and the father love all his kids the same blood or no blood.

It's not possible to love an adopted child as much as your own biological child.

you be small ...........a non breeder i hope

You just can't, it''s a biological thing. To think otherwise is just plain dumb. If you were in a position where both your adopted child and biological child needed a kidney from you (and both were a match) to survive you would in a heartbeat give it to the biological child. If you wouldn't then there are some faulty "wires" in you...

I did a Ubon-BKK-Ubon trip a few months ago and i have nothing to complain about. I'm around 180 cm and had "plenty" of room to sit. For the prize i got the round trip (about 800 baht in total) i can say that it was the most cost effective air trip i have done in my life.

Step sons hate farang stand in dads that's probably why he did one so quick.

Well that's BS.I know plenty of stepsons that that treat the stepfather like there own and never want to see their father again.

I agree 100%! Many people speak that they understand then the next word out of their month indicates they clearly have no idea about loving or being a father to someone else kid. I was at a adoption hearing a number of years ago for a family member in Bangkok. The people at this Thai agency are some of the best English speaking individuals I have met ever in Thailand. In the hearing I still remember what the department head said to me in our conversation.

Her comments were she and her department is always happy to see Thai children adopted and remain in Thailand. Just because one can produce children does not mean they have a exclusive right to love them, if that was the case she wouldn't have a job. There are so many Thai children that have been abandon. As for the adoption by my family member the kids love him as their own father and the father love all his kids the same blood or no blood.

It's not possible to love an adopted child as much as your own biological child.

How much do the police already owe the public ?

How much for not breathalyzing Anna Reese..........

How much for not charging the Red Bull heir for speeding before the statute of limitation ran out......

How much for letting the 16 year old unlicensed driver license who killed 9 people off no bail........

How much for allowing Chalerm Yubamrung's son to escape to Malaysia after killing a cop at a nightclub.......

The list is seemingly endless

Need a demerit system too, police are fined for not doing their job properly

The entire budget would vanish in a few days if that would happen

It's not only in SE Asia you will find this. One of my neighbors here in Jomtien is a Russian family, they sleep and live together in one big studio room . The 12 and 10 year old together with the parents . They come from Siberia and used to live in similar conditions there. Go back 80-100 years in Europe and the working class lived and slept in the same way, basically one room and a kitchen.

SE Asia has traditions this way , who needs silly furniture anyway, just give them a matress on the floor and they sleep like a baby.

They have a studio condo in Jomtien... umm...

Being forced to live in a way (like all in same room) because of reasons like poverty are not things you choose. My ex-wifes family (from Isaan) didn't sleep in the same room as they had (have) a house with 4 rooms and each room is occupied by someone in the family.

Not if you want to enjoy peace and harmony - then NO, if you have issues deal with the issues and respect her beliefs.

The only issue I see is the hypocrisy of a greedy person professing to be a Buddhist.

the only issue i see is your need to fell superior.

if you want to spend time calling out every religious hypocrite you encounter, then you will be a very busy man with very few friends.

religion is a moral guideline, beyond ghandi, mother Theresa and very few others along the way, you are bound to be disappointed.

Religion definitely is not a moral guideline. Atleast not a good moral guideline. Yes yes yes, Buddhism "teaches" some good (that should be the job of the parents) things but it's such utopial things that no one can actually believe they could even "achieve" half of it.

I ponder what kind of morals we "christians" (and i mean also atheist because of judeo-christian heritage) should take from the Bible. Perhaps stone your children to death for not listening to you[1]? Now, is that really a moral thing to do?

That is the schizophrenic (not just one religion but THREE religions!?) massmurdering bipolar "God" of the abrahamitic religions. Can you even imagine a more vile entity?

[1] https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Deuteronomy+21%3A18-21&version=KJV

Religious people are anti-intellectual. Just look at how many religious people do not even grasp the basic concept of evolution and ask really dumb questions like "if humans evolved from apes... why are they still around?". Sure, not directly related to "teaching/lecturing buddhism to wife/gf" but even the thought of supporting such a thing is... weird... to say the least.

Many will say Buddhism is not a religion, it doesn't believe in a god with any supreme powers and Buddhists themselves are split as to whether reincarnation is true or not.But it's certainly not anti-intellectual.

To sum it up, I would say Buddhism says there are 2 truths in this world. The ultimate truth is nothing is permanent, our new car soon rusts, our bodies fall apart, so there are no permanent entities, rather there are ongoing processes. But to make sense of the world, we personalize it, identify objects, people, in order to function in everyday life, so we have our everyday truth of 'objects and entities'

.But our pain comes from assuming these entities are permanent and becoming attached to them, whether it's our lover or a computer, but of course they're not..

Awareness of the mind is all important in Buddhism, the mind fools us because of our emotional needs, we need this or that,

I think they were just explaining the sub-conscious way before the West cottoned on.

Of course this has nothing to do with everyday Buddhists or Christians, for example if you tell your girlfriend to be less selfish she could turn round and say, ' Have you turned the other cheek today? Have you given away all your possessions?'.And if you answer you are not a Christian but a post- nihilist believer in universal human values like democracy, she could turn round and say, 'But your government supports the Saudi Royal Family, a bunch of dictators, and you eat chicken , straight from a brutal factory farm.'

Our moral values are like a sieve that a double-decker bus from London could drive through, so one should be careful if you throw the first stone.

Of course Buddhism is a religion[1][2].

And yes, it's very anti-intellectual to think that you can be born as a new "something" or even maybe get to "Nirvana" through your actions on this planet. Or that a monk mumbling inside your brand new car and painting the ceiling of that car will actually in any kind of way protect you from harm. It is utter nonsense to believe such things.

Now, i'm not saying they can't believe that... up to them. But... there is a very good reason why most scientists in the world do not have a "personal God" or the likes of "it".

You know why it is so freaking awesome to be an atheist? Because "we the atheists" have absolutely nothing to die for and absolutely everything to live for which can't be said about religious people no matter what "team" they are on. And thank non-existing non-God that i do not get my morals from any kind of archaic religious book.

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Religion

[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buddhism

NO! "farang" does not = foreigner, it means Caucasian.

The Japanese are not farang, the Lao are not farang, and the oriental "asians" like Connie Chung that are 100% American are not farang either.

Farang = Caucasian and yes it's racist but racism is accepted here in Thailand by the Thais, just don't do it to them.

Merely using a word to refer to someone's race does not constitute racism.

Umm.... "n*gger" comes to mind.

That's not merely using a descriptive word. It's a well-established offensive term - hardly the same as just calling someone 'black' or 'white'.

It's staggering that anyone needs this stuff explaining to them.

It's staggering that you first say "merely using a word to refer to someone's race does not constitute racism" and when i do actually write a word for you that does exactly that you can't man up and admit you were wrong and start distorting what you wrote to something that suites your weird "holier than thou" attitude you have on this forum.

It may be what people do here but I'm not from here I'm a foreigner.

Why should westerners be expected to bow down to local traditions such as this if they choose not to.

In my house it's my rules is that OK with the remaining TV members who have adapted to living like the natives.

I was raised to be independent and once old enough to fend for myself,ok that's not what happens here,I/we don't have to conform to it just because we live here.

Those who bow down to most of these stupid demands are pussy whipped and scared of the old lady.

Don't do as I do do as I say.

Who said you should bow down to local traditions? But equating them with 'stupid demands' shows you neither respect the culture nor its people.

You can choose to live as an 'independent' westerner and dismissive of Thai traditions, but your quality of life and interactions with Thais will likely suffer as a result.

Well... "stupid demands" deserve no respect. What each of us view as "stupid demands" is different.

Religious people are anti-intellectual. Just look at how many religious people do not even grasp the basic concept of evolution and ask really dumb questions like "if humans evolved from apes... why are they still around?". Sure, not directly related to "teaching/lecturing buddhism to wife/gf" but even the thought of supporting such a thing is... weird... to say the least.

why not, if you are not Thai then you are a "farang" = foreigner, but as mentioned above it depends on tone and context. I could call you a name but uness you heard the tone and know the context you wouldnt know if it was in fun, an endearment or an insult.

NO! "farang" does not = foreigner, it means Caucasian.

The Japanese are not farang, the Lao are not farang, and the oriental "asians" like Connie Chung that are 100% American are not farang either.

Farang = Caucasian and yes it's racist but racism is accepted here in Thailand by the Thais, just don't do it to them.

Merely using a word to refer to someone's race does not constitute racism.

Umm.... "n*gger" comes to mind.

why not, if you are not Thai then you are a "farang" = foreigner, but as mentioned above it depends on tone and context. I could call you a name but uness you heard the tone and know the context you wouldnt know if it was in fun, an endearment or an insult.

Are you actually saying that it's ok to be called "farang" and not "chaaw taang chaad" (ชาวต่างชาติ)? Do you lecture someone for using the word negro? If not, why not? The context is exactly the same as both are targetted against person with a specific kind of "color" on their skin.

Jonnyjazz, you'd obviously planned on making thailand your home but didn't bother to read up on culture & traditon. So typical of many who settle in developing countries, it's all about the sex. If you'd read up on tradition & culture you'd see this is the norm in Asian countries.

So because "something" is a tradition and culture does that mean "we" have to accept it? Would you mutilate your daughter if you lived in Egypt? Do you treat your son like a God and your daughter like a servant? Or where do you draw the line about what is accepted or not? If you don't "draw a line", why do you let your own traditions and culture be trampled on just because you happen to live in an asian country?

SUR - f***ing - REAL

How do their minds work?

You are giving them far too much credit with thinking their minds actually do work.

What a clown nation this is most of the time.

If you are dirt-poor (my wife's family background, not dissing yours) it pays to concentrate on learning stuff that puts food in your mouth*! Intellectual study is for the effete developed world.

*and having as much fun as you can eke out of life.

That is such a bad myth... if someone has hours and hours of time each day to watch brain dead thai soap operas then surely they would have an hour each day to read a book.

You might wish it were otherwise. Me too. I was just reporting how it is, not how I want it to be.

Soaps = sanuk to some (sad). No myths to see here!

My point was that there are very few thais that struggle so much that they use 16 hours of a day to find money so they can put food on the table.

If you are dirt-poor (my wife's family background, not dissing yours) it pays to concentrate on learning stuff that puts food in your mouth*! Intellectual study is for the effete developed world.

*and having as much fun as you can eke out of life.

Having almost nothing and smiling a lot, enjoying life was part of my decision to move to Asia.

My first trip to India after graduation opened my eyes and I found it fascinating that all the poor people I'd met obviously had more fun in life than rich, or middle class people in Europe.

.My mom and dad in law are great people and they're not asking for money. There's an ASEAN research that Isaan farmers are the poorest farmers from all the other nine ASEAN countries.

I truly hope that there'll be a government in the near future, who honors their people in the northeast and build factories and more to give them a job.

I used to live in my wife's village 15 years ago and life's really hard. These people deserve to receive help, but it seems that they're only used when the reds and yellows bribed them to vote for them.'

It's very easy to understand why so many of them are trying to find a better life and become bar girls. They do not have many choices and even to get a child into a "better school" is almost impossible for most of them.

" Better schools" are asking for an "entrance fee" of 20 to 50 K. Then the problem with transport, etc....

It's really time for the right government. Enough of this Junta bullshit.

Governments help the Issan people when they want to. Only parties with the Issan people on their side can form a government. The problem is that the government won't educate the masses.

That means that they remain ignorant to what is going on. As touched upon in a previous post, most Issan people seem happy with this.

Try to explain what will happen with AEC and they are simply not interested. Not much thinking beyond today.

It's not the governments "job" to educate the masses, it's the masses "job" to educate themselfs.

If you are dirt-poor (my wife's family background, not dissing yours) it pays to concentrate on learning stuff that puts food in your mouth*! Intellectual study is for the effete developed world.

*and having as much fun as you can eke out of life.

That is such a bad myth... if someone has hours and hours of time each day to watch brain dead thai soap operas then surely they would have an hour each day to read a book.

I can't imagine how ****ywhipped a foreigner has to be if he would accept a child (12 years?!) sleeping in the same room as him and his wife if there were actually other rooms available for the child to sleep in.