David f, anyone who is happy to take advantage of all of sciences benefits, yet rejects science outright, as a Runner continually does, in my opinion, obviously has a mental problem, I am not stating he is mad, I am stating his mental reasoning is flawed.

What I stated was not meant in a derogatory way, it is pretty obvious it is a fact. I am a realist and this is why I stated it the way I did.

I stand by what I said previously.

' David f, anyone who is happy to take advantage of all of sciences benefits'

what a joke you are Geoff from Perth. You are happy enough to use the air and water given to you by your Creator but are so full of yourself you can't bear to give Him any thanks. The true scientist arte simply uncovering the laws made by the Lawmaker. Even you are smart enough to understand that. You obviously are happy to take advantage of all the blessing bestowed upon you despite your obvious corrupt nature.

Dear Geoff of Perth,

You claim to be a realist. Do you think it realistic to expect a person you refer to as mentally disturbed to heed you when you suggest things for him to read?

You didn't mean it in a derogatory way? Think about that. Is it realistic to expect a person to take it in any other way?

david f, i disagree, runner & i along with many other conservatives, christians know that leftism is a mental illness. ALL leftists must be placed in secure facilities for the criminally insane, ASAP.

Personally imacentristmoderate I don't consider it appropiate to make light of anyone with mental illnesses. I have relatives with down syndrome and find them to be very refreshing as people. I appreciate your sentiments david f and also believe all humans deserve dignity despite belief systems. We all (in my opinion) come from the same source. This dignity should be extended to the most vulnerable being the elderly, disabled and unborn.

Hi Runner,

I must apologise to you for my cheap shot above. it's been nagging at me for days, so maybe even an atheist has a conscience !

We are all pragmatic enough to have notions of how the world works from day to day, and it's very likely that we share those practical notions with all sorts of other people. On the other hand, our beliefs, what we have faith in, are more likely in a post-enlightenment country like Australia to be private, individual and at least as deeply held.

So we can argue over ideas, attitudes, points of view and stances that we purport to share common interests in, but we might as well leave the private beliefs alone: we tend to hold those unstated or unspoken beliefs, faiths if you like, long-held, even to the point of taking them for granted, so there is not much to be gained by criticism.

How the world should be, or criticism of how it is - that's a different matter: we can all get our teeth into those issues and, if the cyberspace was somehow in 3-D, perhaps one day, into each other :)

Cheers,

Joe