Recent Posts

Thank you Taylor.

what do you make of this latest masquerade by Rev Terry Jones?  there are so many levels to this, i have had a hard time wraping my brain around such an act. how does he justify the resulting deaths? does he not care that he has endangered western troops and civilians around the world? where is the value in insulting Islam? what Christian morality does he base such actions on? i could go on and on... i dont get it.  is it as simple as "you cant understand crazy?"

i love it when someone points out how many years after the fact the gospels were written. 30-100 or more years later. the significance of this is often
not fully understood today. a few points...  1) folks didnt live as long then. 3-5 or more generations had passed. 2) people didnt have cars, telephones,
computers or even paper to write letters. we have no way of knowing how good communication was 2000 years ago, but use your head, it was all
word-of-mouth. 3) language.  many dialecs in a tribal fashion. sure people talked to each other, but how well and to what degree of understanding?
the fact that any of the gospels resemble each other would be amazing if the story was new and innovative. but it wasnt. the ressurection, noah's ark, etc, etc, etc...  were the re-telling of tales from 100s to even 1000s of years before. that is the common strand through the bible. anybody here ever told
about the tooth fairy?

concerning this new post by taylor, the subject of how life arose from nothing can be expanded to include the incredible accomplishments of Craig Venter
and his human genome project. his venture created the first synthetic species. labs produced a living bacterial organism from scratch, without the infusion
of any biological material from another organism. from the DNA strings to the cell structures were all created in a lab and then brought to life. its hard to
quantify these types of achievements. major corporations are believers and continue to pour 100s of millions of dollars into his work. it will be interesting
to see how the evangelical community reacts over time. embryonic stem cells and cloning have nothing on what this technology will produce. a senate sub-
committee has already raked him over the coals with questions about morality and if he believes in God (which he does not). man can now "play God",
so where does that leave God?
i think a more interesting dilema for society and science is what alvin toffler wrote about in his book Future Shock. the lengthening disconnect between
technology rich cultures and those societies still based on thousand year old dogma. mr toffler predicted a global clash. in many ways science can be
construde as a religion unto itself. its underlining principles and beliefs looking much like islam or judism at the society level. our lives will be drastically changed
by these new scientific discoveries, but what about the people in Congo, Peru, San Salvador or Iran? how long and how far can our societies grow apart before
there is a correction?

i grew up in a presbyterian family. church every sunday. bible studies and all the discussion groups. through all that, i never felt God in my life and always
doubted what i could not see or sense. i felt as if people were worshiping the wind. nevertheless, i learned alot in the church environment. there were
many good morals presented to me, not that i embraced any of them. up to this point i considered myself an agnostic. that all changed in high school when
i chose to attend a prestigious episcopalian school. church service 6 days a week. more bible studies and manditory theology classes. this is where i was
exposed to hermeneutics. at the same time, i took 4 yrs of Latin and read many of the great classics in english and latin/greek. man, was that an eye opener.
my doubts solidified into contempt for the many manipulations that the christian church has wrought for centuries. i believe this realization has led to a general
skepticism i have for all things that humans create in their brains that are beyond our normal perception. UFOs, ESP, ghosts, magic? bugger off with that stuff!
it really is a shame. how fantastic it would be if there was a supreme "god". but as it stands with me, he will have to sit down right in front of me and then try
and convince me the err of my ways. i wont be holding my breath waiting for that day.
"urkme" raises a question that i have been asked numerous times by christians once they realize my beliefs (or lack thereof). i tell them that i have a brain and
dont need to be told how to treat other people or be told what is right vs wrong. many of my moral descisions are made by having seen the wrong choices. perhaps
i learned some good leasons in church as a child. there are a lot of great messages being sung from the pulpit, if it wasnt for that faith thing.

less than pristine moral choices by a priest? say it aint so!
at least he does not suggest that you take along your 8yo
boy toy.
there is some logic to what he is saying. i have given a burger
and fries to the local panhandlers figuring i can pay them now
or later in social services.

i was hoping for a tortilla.  i kind of like it. shows how ludicrous the creationists versions are. probably quite offensive
to the feeble-minded who buy into stigmata and virgin mary impressions. science has shown that the human brain is
wired from birth to zero-in on the human face. they theorize this is to facilitate the quick bond between parents and
child. other animals are believed to have the same inate ability. i know whenever i take a dump and stare at the my
linolium flooring, i see all kinds of faces. 

I considered it a conspiracy theory too, until I heard Bush made a statement about "Gog and Magog" being at work in the Middle East. To know what Gog and Magog are takes a very devout bible-reader, intimately familiar with the book of Revelation. Then it came out that Department of Defense was issuing intelligence reports for the Iraq war with bible quotes used as captions. I don't find it hard to believe that George W. Bush and his crew, who surrounded themselves with paranoid Evangelicals, would look to the Middle East as the scene of the apocalypse.

i recently read a piece that tied these 3 together. it was quite scary to even contemplate the possibility. the thought was that george w invaded iraq to bring about instablity in the region. this would lead to a regional muslim uprising that would draw in the israelis as well. a prelude to armagedon is for the jews to rebuild the mount in jerusalem. the only way this will happen is for there to be a jewish/muslim conflict. iraq was to kick start this process. an unfathomable insane idea, but so is the thought of armagedon. so many fundamentalists see "signs" that the final reconing is approaching, they just need those jews to take over jerusalem. there have been a number of recent documentaries that show how evangelicals have flipped their stance on jews from foe to friend.
i lean toward "skeptic" when it comes to conspiracy theories but george w is certifiable. as more of the facts surface concerning the decision making process that drew us into the war, the more an underlining theme like this makes sense.

you make a good point with regards to the physical needs of the beast. what i think you might be missing is the intimacy aspect of such an act and thats where it all goes wrong. moms will tell you of the bonding that occurs through feeding. that type of relationship should be saved for your own species, no?