I know a cat lover

[bananas]

they try catnip, it do nothin.
They smoke it - nothing.
They bake it in brownies, cookies, and apple crisp - nothing.
They say - cats are psychosomatic, ain't nothin' real.
Placebo effect.
How do you argue with that?
You don't.

[Pharaoh]

1. huh?

[babylonsister]

2. Is that a theological question?

:evilgrin:

[bananas]

3. Yes, it is both theological and atheological.

Many here argue that prayer/whatever don't work for them.
They are dogs eating catnip.
Of course it doesn't work.
But toss them a frisbee and off they go...

[merwin]

6. Are you saying that Athiests are a different species than Religious folk?

[RaleighNCDUer]

8. OK, please list the pharmacological agents in prayer.

The catnip analogy is patently false, because there are pharmacological agents that react with particular receptors that cats have, which people do not have.

Prayer might be better compared with ESP or telekinisis - intangibles with no physical agents having effect in a physical world.

[intaglio]

4. Some cats are susceptible - others are not

Cats and catnip are a bit like humans and THC or nicotine, some think these substances are cool others - a few in the case of nicotine - find it has no effect.

Our old Oriental could not care less, our mog is so-so about it (but goes crazy over the smell of Milton), our new lad has some fun and years ago we has a cat that would not eat until we removed the substance and allowe him to come down.

[papau]

5. LOL - but dogs have the truth and are in your face to convert you - toss the catnip now! :-)

not quite a comment on religious concepts or lack thereof - but a cute comment on human behavior

:-)

[schmuls]

7. he he...a nice whacky message to start the morning. Do you

mean the cat owners smoke it and blow it into the cats ears, like some do with marijuana (it seems to work with weed). I have considered trying to smoke nip when no weed was available. Wonder if it works? Do you mean they bake brownies and try to get the cat to eat one? My cats don't seem to like brownies. All my kitties like nip, as they and I call it. One has a part Siamese ancestry. Thanks for the bizarre message! ;^}

[Az]

9. So now God is a cat.

That makes as much sense as anything else.

[intaglio]

10. Of course God is a Cat

Hey, I have 2 household gods and what they say, goes :)

[Evoman]

11. Um

"Domestic and many wild cats (including cougars, bobcats, lions, and lynx) respond to the nepetalactone in catnip. However, not all cats react to catnip. The behavior is inherited as an autosomal dominant gene; 10-30% of domestic cats in a population may be unresponsive to nepetalactone. Kittens will not show the behavior until they are at least 6-8 weeks old. In fact, catnip produces an avoidance response in young kittens. The catnip response usually develops by the time a kitten is 3 months old.

When cats smell catnip they exhibit a range of behaviors that may include sniffing, licking and chewing the plant, head shaking, chin and cheek rubbing, head rolling, and body rubbing. This psychosexual reaction lasts for 5-15 minutes and cannot be evoked again for an hour or more after exposure. Cats that react to nepetalactone differ in their individual responses.

The feline receptor for nepetalactone is in the vomeronasal organ, located above the feline palate. The location of the vomeronasal organ may explain why cats do not react from eating gelatin-enclosed capsules of catnip. Nepetalactone must be inhaled for it to reach the receptors in the vomeronasal organ. In cats, the effects of nepetalactone can be moderated by several drugs acting upon the central and peripheral nervous system, and by several environmental, physiological, and psychological factors. The specific mechanism governing these behaviors has not been described."

http://science.howstuffworks.com/question303.htm


So there is scientific reason for a cats reaction to catnip. Thats how we know it. And we know catnip exists because we can see it and touch it and smell it. We can also detect it with instruments Now, if your argument is that you have some sort of god section of your brain..well..okay (but there isn't that much evidence for it, as far as I know). But that don't make god real...cause we can't detect anything by any other means. Your god is in your mind.

Plus, if you argue that you have a god receptor that I don't (and god exists) then that means that god purposefully doesn't want me to believe in god. Which makes god a dick.