Actually, Carl stated, “an atheist is someone who is certain that God does not exist, someone who has compelling evidence against the existence of God. I know of no such compelling evidence.“.

I don’t mean this to be a defense of him; rather a correction of an assumption held by many about Carl that Carl corrected. Regardless of his religious beliefs or lack thereof, there is value in this observation, especially for those who worship science and who hate God.

@Daveclark5

I can only say what the man described himself as. The word "agnostic" exists to describe people who are not willing to either believe or deny in a higher power, so I think it's fairly telling that Sagan chose not to use that word to describe himself.

And as for the statement itself having value, I don't deny that, but it irritates me when things are presented out of context to make a point that was never the goal of the original statement.

@Alysandir I agree that presenting things out of context is a tactic used by unscrupulous people to deceive others. I also believe that everything that is ever presented is lacking full context. It is impossible to present the full context and still keep the attention of the hearer.

Perhaps it would have been more helpful for many hearers/viewers to have a qualifier that stated, “this long dead scientist made this statement without knowing of or referring to the current hysteria of the willfully ignorant masses caused by the lies and misinformation being put forth by the “News” media and politicians or even the censorship of an opposing view by more qualified experts.” Although, given the lack of attention span of the average consumer of the lies in question, it’s unclear the consumer would make the effort to read that many words. IMO

Cognitive dissonance…

@2peros to see how you've been taken is sexual innuendo for psychological rape. The rawness, hurt, put down is too much for many.
I think of all the children who ARE routinely and horribly abused.
Many of them literally become split personalities.
So, I think I must acknowledge psychic pain.
I don't know how psychic pain operates in groups, do you?
Could that be part of BLM as a long overdo reaction?
Talking about the originators, not those that then used the platform.

Or a Trump worshipper.

@JacksonNought There's the whataboutism!

@sqeptiq TDS is strong in this one…

@2peros I'd give him credit if he made his anti-Trump or other lefty stuff lively, but he never does.

@sqeptiq yeah, pretty typical for the looney left…

@2peros, @sqeptiq

Could say the same exact thing about you two and your FDS.

@JacksonNought More whataboutism.

@JacksonNought More whataboutism! Here, What about that awful Sqeptiq?