Answer the previous poster's question.

[°Leprechaun]

Ask a question for the next poster.

The next poster can try to answer it and then ask his or her own question.

I will start, but if the next poster doesn't have an opinion, he/she can ignore it and ask his or her own question. The op question isn't that important, because I just want to get this started, but maybe someone has a question that is more relevant to what topics are interesting to the average Atlasian.
If posts don't follow the suggestion of "answer a question, ask a question", 100%, that's ok, because any comments ("skipping" the Q&A stream) could be useful.

Question: What is your opinion of the Koran?

[John Dule]

Retarded book that venerates a pedophile.

Next poster: What are your thoughts on Nietzsche's philosophy?

[𝕭𝖆𝖕𝖙𝖎𝖘𝖙𝖆 𝕸𝖎𝖓𝖔𝖑𝖆]

Nietzsche's philosophy is absolutely horrible but also weirdly fascinating. He had a very unique prose, too.

Next poster, have you ever had a theological debate, especially a confrontational one, with a pastor or equivalent religious minister?

[Okay, maybe Mike Johnson is a competent parliamentarian.]

Yes, several times.

Next poster, is Pure Land Buddhism more #populist or more #elitist than other forms of Mahayana?

[True Federalist (진정한 연방 주의자)]

I'm not a Buddhist, but Pure Land strikes me as quite elitist in that you have to be able to follow a rather esoteric lifestyle in order to reach the Pure Land.

Question, Is the nature of communion the belief that most impedes a reunification of the the branches of Western Christianity?

[Okay, maybe Mike Johnson is a competent parliamentarian.]

I'm not a Buddhist, but Pure Land strikes me as quite elitist in that you have to be able to follow a rather esoteric lifestyle in order to reach the Pure Land.

Er, not in the forms of it I'm familiar with, some of which are close to outright antinomian. I asked because I watched The Tale of the Princess Kaguya the other night and found it bizarre and jarring that the end of that movie has Amida press-ganged into service on the #elitist side of an intra-Buddhist theological question, since I've always perceived Pure Land as one of the most lay-led and least practically and intellectually demanding forms of Buddhism out there. Interesting that you get the exact opposite impression from it.

Question, Is the nature of communion the belief that most impedes a reunification of the the branches of Western Christianity?

No, the papacy is. I suppose Eucharistic theology is a fairly close second, though.

Question: Has the influence of Neoplatonism on the major monotheistic religions been for the better or for the worse?

[𝕭𝖆𝖕𝖙𝖎𝖘𝖙𝖆 𝕸𝖎𝖓𝖔𝖑𝖆]

Actually I am not sure that the influence of other structured philosophies on religion is a good thing, in general.

Next poster, do you believe Karl Marx should be studied in high school philosophy curricula?

[The world will shine with light in our nightmare]

Yes, he's pretty indispensable to a number of humanities fields.

Was Ludwig Wittgenstein autistic?

[Okay, maybe Mike Johnson is a competent parliamentarian.]

Probably.

Who was a more influential figure in the long run, Kumarajiva or Nagarjuna?

[Never Made it to Graceland]

Nagarjuna's work is probably more widely known.

Is it possible to develop a coherent theological philosophy from the Talmud?

[SingingAnalyst]

I would think so.

In a very large sense (over hundreds or thousands of years), is the moral standing of humanity becoming better or worse, or staying about the same?

[Antonio the Sixth]

It seems inarguable to me that the average human being is noticeably more virtuous today than 2000 years ago, 2000 years ago than 10000 years ago, and so on. Progress is slow and with a lot of backsliding, but it does prevail in the very long run. Rousseau was full of sh*t.

How do you define philosophy?

[Samof94]

It seems inarguable to me that the average human being is noticeably more virtuous today than 2000 years ago, 2000 years ago than 10000 years ago, and so on. Progress is slow and with a lot of backsliding, but it does prevail in the very long run. Rousseau was full of sh*t.

How do you define philosophy?

I’d define it as an idea you should your live your life by. It could range from Confucianism to Islam, or even following what Elle Woods says in Legally Blonde.

What is your opinion on dianetics?

[afleitch]

It seems inarguable to me that the average human being is noticeably more virtuous today than 2000 years ago, 2000 years ago than 10000 years ago, and so on. Progress is slow and with a lot of backsliding, but it does prevail in the very long run. Rousseau was full of sh*t.
How do you define philosophy?

I’d define it as an idea you should your live your life by. It could range from Confucianism to Islam, or even following what Elle Woods says in Legally Blonde.

What is your opinion on dianetics?

Anyone who sells that sh-t to people should be in jail. It's a cult.

What aspect of belief do you hold is something you don't actually believe but subscribe to because it's expected of the wider belief system.

[PSOL]

The abolition of money. I get that it’s based on the value of debt and it in its current form allows for theft, but calling a new unit of currency “Labour vouchers” isn’t abolishing money as it is proposed. Still a better plan than what currency means now. Money is needed to run an administrative area, and doing things through large scale bartering on the local stage, as bartering “in the middle” as opposed to exchanges of resources among polities or people in a circuit loop seems confusing to me now.

What’s your stance on moral positivism?

[DC Al Fine]

Nope, nope, nope. Man is made in the image of God and therefore has certain rights and duties.

What is your prediction for Evangelicalism in America (both white and non-white) for the next fifty years? Could be mergers/schisms, politics, conversions/losses, changes in emphasis etc, whatever strikes your fancy.

[True Federalist (진정한 연방 주의자)]

I'm not a Buddhist, but Pure Land strikes me as quite elitist in that you have to be able to follow a rather esoteric lifestyle in order to reach the Pure Land.

Er, not in the forms of it I'm familiar with, some of which are close to outright antinomian. I asked because I watched The Tale of the Princess Kaguya the other night and found it bizarre and jarring that the end of that movie has Amida press-ganged into service on the #elitist side of an intra-Buddhist theological question, since I've always perceived Pure Land as one of the most lay-led and least practically and intellectually demanding forms of Buddhism out there. Interesting that you get the exact opposite impression from it.

Pure Land may be simple to join, but actually participating in it appears to require a great deal of otherwise free time, which requires being an elite of some sort. I'll grant it doesn't appear to be aristocratic, but aristocracy isn't the only form of elitism.

Skip.

[Samof94]

Nope, nope, nope. Man is made in the image of God and therefore has certain rights and duties.

What is your prediction for Evangelicalism in America (both white and non-white) for the next fifty years? Could be mergers/schisms, politics, conversions/losses, changes in emphasis etc, whatever strikes your fancy.

I expect it to be a lot less powerful and have it end up more like the Dutch where it is present but much more fringe than before. The average American wouldn’t be all that religious in general in the 2070’s. Conservativism would be a much more secular idea that is more economically based(with some nationalism) but not really concerned about “culture war” stuff anymore.

[SingingAnalyst]

Restart

Agree or disagree: Christianity must be "watered down" to make it livable.

[PSOL]

I think the failure of the New England mainline churches proves this is not true.

What are your opinions on people themselves interpreting a holy text versus a clerical body having the “correct” interpretation.

[𝕭𝖆𝖕𝖙𝖎𝖘𝖙𝖆 𝕸𝖎𝖓𝖔𝖑𝖆]

I usually trust the judgment of people who have studied theology more than I trust mine, on that subject. But I also try to reflect on things by myself. I guess this is actually the basic framework of most religious people, although how it gets put in practice can be wildly different from one another.

Next poster, what's your opinion of Tertullian and of his influence on Christian theology?

[wimp]

I usually trust the judgment of people who have studied theology more than I trust mine, on that subject. But I also try to reflect on things by myself. I guess this is actually the basic framework of most religious people, although how it gets put in practice can be wildly different from one another.

Next poster, what's your opinion of Tertullian and of his influence on Christian theology?

Had some nutty views that some unlearned people falsely attribute to the Bible.

Can a person truly love others without believing in a soul?

[Okay, maybe Mike Johnson is a competent parliamentarian.]

Yes. The idea of the soul is a somewhat specialized concept that only seems like the norm because we live in a Christian or post-Christian society.

Is it ipso facto antisemitic for progressive Christians to handwave any moral teaching that we typically associate with the (((Old Testament))), or is it a rhetorical technique that's benign in itself but can be used in antisemitic ways?

[The world will shine with light in our nightmare]

The latter. And it's not an argument entirely without merit, because laws not concerning morality were to be fulfilled in the Second Covenant.

Is it possible to believe that non-human animals have a right to humane treatment without elevating animals to the same status as humans? Can non-humans have any rights?

[afleitch]

The latter. And it's not an argument entirely without merit, because laws not concerning morality were to be fulfilled in the Second Covenant.

Is it possible to believe that non-human animals have a right to humane treatment without elevating animals to the same status as humans? Can non-humans have any rights?

Yes of course. And given some people treat their dogs better than other humans, elevating animals to the same status as humans based on human preference alone has downsides. But animals have rights. But we also eat them. So there has to be balance.

Has anyone tried any other faiths? Not like breakfast cereal Christianity hopping (which Americans seem to be adept at) but anything outside of that?