Intelligent Design in Tennessee Schools

[c.d.]

Hello Robert,

Did you hear about the Eskimo's fiance? One cold night she broke it off.

c.d.

[c.d.]

Hello Stephen,

Christian Fundamentalism is alive and quite well in America and by no means is it limited to hillbillies as you put it. In fact, it is one of the fastest growing religious movements in the U.S.

c.d.

[c.d.]

Actually it is the fastest growing religious movement in the U.S.

c.d.

[protohistorian]

This reminds me of a few months ago when Richard Dawkins rolled into my town professing that Evolution was Scientific law and not theory. Ignoring the fact that thats not true, what Dawkins fails to realize is that even his argument falls into the same old chicken-egg debate that I'm sure everyones tired of hearing about. That is that all life evolved from a lower species which began (by accident it seems) as single cell bacteria. Which leaves one not so simple question that even Dawkins can't answer. So exactly where did the bacteria come from?
Jordan

It is fairly well explained in science books, if you want a one word construct, stick to god. It is complex, but with just the four proven forces of evolution, all variability in life can be accounted for. Evolution is not a law because we do not know if other forces ( cosmic radiation for example) have a defined part. The four forces now taught have all been vetted and are laws, making the composite, a law by the old definition of such. Dave

[Errata]

You've got one smart Rabbi there, Errata.

Does the Jewish religion have a Heaven and Hell?

If not, why should one be 'good' ?

No, we have risen with the messiah and entering the kingdom of heaven or staying dead. No eternal torment. No endless delight. Just vegetarianism as far as I can gather.

Why should we be good? Otherwise you're going to make your mother cry, that's why.

Actually you're supposed to be good to survive. We know that G-d doesn't save people. He does not provide. He doesn't work in mysterious ways, he doesn't work period. If you pass a starving child on the street, you are the only chance that child has. G-d isn't going to give him a sandwich and a home. If you don't help that child, he dies. And it is your fault. And G-d will treasure that poor dead kid's soul, but he won't lift a finger to save him. That's why he made us. The only way to do G-d's will on this earth is to pretend he doesn't exist. Because in every way that truly counts, he doesn't. To believe otherwise is to condemn others to death out of laziness and torpid expressions false faith.

[Carol]

I know that the hard core Creationists like to point out that supposedly Hitler and the Nazis used the theory of evolution as their basis for eliminating the Jews as though this was the fault of evolution and not the Nazis themselves.

c.d.

Hi c.d.
If certain hard core Creationists believe this then they know nothing of Jesus.
Carol

[Carol]

Blimey, a European Christian fundamentalist.

I thought only American hillbillies bought into such illogicallity.

Hi Steve,
You're not very well read, are you!
Carol

[The Good Michael]

Religion is the opposite of science. When great minds tried to prove that all things came from God, they were unable to, though they still believed it, and through discursive and confusing argument, they proved God to themselves, and that was the whole point anyway, proving God to oneself. God should always remain a personal concept and the believers need to avoid exhibiting their ignorance in science by including God in the equation. God is about faith and science is about reason and evidence, and never the twain shall meet.

Mike

[Ally]

Here's my question no one could ever quite rationally explain. Christians believe that the only way to salvation is through acceptance that Christ was their savior. If you don't accept christ as your savior, you burn in everlasting hell.

So why precisely did Christ choose to come to Earth at a time when the fastest means of spreading information was by foot, ensuring that millions upon millions of people in the farthest reaches of the world were going to die without ever even knowing about him, and ensuring that all those people would burn in hell for all eternity.

Why didn't he come now? I mean two minutes and his message can be beamed to every corner of the globe, but between then and now, he's condemned millions of people to eternal torment, because he chose to arrive at a really inconvenient time. You'd think god would be a tad more logical than that. Not to mention less dickish. "Ha Ha ! You were born in 500 AD in the jungles of South America? Burn suckers BURN!"

[caz]

Why would I imagine God to be logical, Ally, since he only exists in illogical, fallible human minds?

Religion is the opposite of science. When great minds tried to prove that all things came from God, they were unable to, though they still believed it, and through discursive and confusing argument, they proved God to themselves, and that was the whole point anyway, proving God to oneself. God should always remain a personal concept and the believers need to avoid exhibiting their ignorance in science by including God in the equation. God is about faith and science is about reason and evidence, and never the twain shall meet.

Hmmm. In theory that sounds logical.

But in practice, most of us have to have varying degrees of faith in the clever old scientists who do the reasoning and assess the evidence for us.

Having said that, we don't need faith to know, from the evidence all around us, that if Mother Nature pulls the strings she is inherently flawed, while people still believe in AD 2011 (even our dating system is faith-based) that God is the one pulling the strings and he is bloody perfect.

How does that work?

Love,

Caz
X

[c.d.]

Here is another one to ponder (courtesy of Christopher Hitchens). There are several instances in the New Testament where Mary is quite puzzled by the actions of Jesus. As Hitchens asked, did she forget that she had been visited by an angel and told that she would be the Mother of God?

c.d.

[c.d.]

Another one from Hitchens -- As the only human being in history to be raised from the dead, why does Lazarus get only one paragraph in the Bible and is never mentioned again in History. You would think he would have written a book and done the talk show circuit.

c.d.

[c.d.]

Speaking of Hitchens, he has esophageal cancer which has spread. To his credit, he has remained true to his atheistic beliefs and has politely thanked people who say they are praying for him. On the other side of the coin, there are those "religious" folks who say he got exactly what he deserves.

c.d.

[The Good Michael]

You'd think god would be a tad more logical than that. Not to mention less dickish. "Ha Ha ! You were born in 500 AD in the jungles of South America? Burn suckers BURN!"

The Westboro Baptist Church would have an easy, all-encompassing answer to this that cannot be refuted. Since it happened, it was God's will and should be rejoiced in. We can't question God, we can only try and become one of the elect. If we get hit by a bus or a stray bullet, others should rejoice because we were at fault and God willed it to happen.

The great thing about these nimrods is that their hatred of everyone who doesn't belong to their 50+ congregation, turns more people away from the naziism of religion and into the warm arms of atheists and agnostics.

Mike

[Robert]

Ally, I am not a Christian myself, but I think I remember reading that an "answer" to your question can be found in the Apostles' Creed (I think). When it gets to "was crucified, dead and buried" it goes straight on "he descended into hell." I think the idea of the rather surprising descent into hell, was that Jesus would preach to all those who had been born before his ministry, and offer them the chance of salvation. Of course, it can't have been nice for them while they were waiting for him to arrive, but there you go.