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Why there almost certainly is No God!!
- Thread starter Desibaba
- Start date
The funny thing about these "Non-Believers" is that they never really claimed the new religion of "Atheism"...!.. ( the next big money maker coming to a corner near you!!)
To ME, They were more like on an angry hunt looking for proof, or pissed off that God appears to be out to lunch. Therefore POSSIBLY, WANTING to believe... Then again the higher the IQ, the harder to PLEASE... God Bless
anyone suffering from the SCOURGE known A.K.A - INTELLIGENCE... Do you think HE planned it.?!? I wonder if I start slinging my own shit against the wall, is this an effective method of "Dumbing Down"...
The only lines I am drawing is that HISTORICALLY these REBELS somehow DIED....
And I guess he knows the answer NOW...
But this one had SPUNK... And apparently a man of similar preferences...
OFF TRACK - So 71 one years, a full life of alcohol and hydrocodone. I wonder if he were this age today, would he die in a car wreck due to TEXTING and DRIVING to contact his new drug dealer....?!?
Health problems and death[edit]
Carlin had a history of cardiac problems spanning several decades. These included three heart attacks (in 1978, 1982, and 1991), an arrhythmia requiring an ablation procedure in 2003, and a significant episode of heart failure in late 2005. He twice underwent angioplasty to reopen narrowed arteries.[72] In early 2005, he entered a drug rehabilitation facility for treatment of addictions to alcohol and Vicodin.[73] He died on June 22, 2008 at Saint John's Health Center in Santa Monica, California of heart failure. He was 71 years old.[74][75] His death occurred one week after his last performance at The Orleans Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas. In accordance with his wishes, he was cremated, his ashes were scattered, and no public memorial services were held.[76]
To ME, They were more like on an angry hunt looking for proof, or pissed off that God appears to be out to lunch. Therefore POSSIBLY, WANTING to believe... Then again the higher the IQ, the harder to PLEASE... God Bless
anyone suffering from the SCOURGE known A.K.A - INTELLIGENCE... Do you think HE planned it.?!? I wonder if I start slinging my own shit against the wall, is this an effective method of "Dumbing Down"...The only lines I am drawing is that HISTORICALLY these REBELS somehow DIED....
And I guess he knows the answer NOW...But this one had SPUNK... And apparently a man of similar preferences...
OFF TRACK - So 71 one years, a full life of alcohol and hydrocodone. I wonder if he were this age today, would he die in a car wreck due to TEXTING and DRIVING to contact his new drug dealer....?!?
Health problems and death[edit]
Carlin had a history of cardiac problems spanning several decades. These included three heart attacks (in 1978, 1982, and 1991), an arrhythmia requiring an ablation procedure in 2003, and a significant episode of heart failure in late 2005. He twice underwent angioplasty to reopen narrowed arteries.[72] In early 2005, he entered a drug rehabilitation facility for treatment of addictions to alcohol and Vicodin.[73] He died on June 22, 2008 at Saint John's Health Center in Santa Monica, California of heart failure. He was 71 years old.[74][75] His death occurred one week after his last performance at The Orleans Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas. In accordance with his wishes, he was cremated, his ashes were scattered, and no public memorial services were held.[76]
The Entire Bible Explained In One Facebook Post. This Guy Nails It.
http://www.tickld.com/x/jaw/the-entire-bible-explained-in-one-facebook-post
http://www.tickld.com/x/jaw/the-entire-bible-explained-in-one-facebook-post
Is Darwinian Evolution Compatible with Belief in God?
https://theosophical.wordpress.com/2006/05/27/is-darwinian-evolution-compatible-with-belief-in-god/
Is Darwinian evolution—the idea that unguided, natural processes are solely responsible for the existence of the universe—consistent with the religious belief that God created the universe?It is commonly believed that they are, but such a belief is rationally incredible.
If unguided, natural processes are wholly adequate to account for the entirety of the universe, God’s causal activity is excluded, and His existence unnecessary.
https://theosophical.wordpress.com/2006/05/27/is-darwinian-evolution-compatible-with-belief-in-god/
Is Darwinian evolution—the idea that unguided, natural processes are solely responsible for the existence of the universe—consistent with the religious belief that God created the universe?It is commonly believed that they are, but such a belief is rationally incredible.
If unguided, natural processes are wholly adequate to account for the entirety of the universe, God’s causal activity is excluded, and His existence unnecessary.
Still, You know people Manufacture, Ignite, Explode, and Enjoy Fire Crackers every day... I would imagine the CHAOS in the moment of Explosion is rather random. And in lieu of the fact that great work and process went into its construction...
And for WHAT...? Simple Amuzement.
They make atomic bombs too ya know... Just as Chaotic... Not so much fun...
I wonder if Darwin actually likes either... I wonder what God Thinks if he exists...
And for WHAT...? Simple Amuzement.
They make atomic bombs too ya know... Just as Chaotic... Not so much fun...
I wonder if Darwin actually likes either... I wonder what God Thinks if he exists...
Yes the pattern of the A-bomb IS predictable.
What HAPPENS to be withing the SCOPE of it's action is NOT.
That is UNLESS you KNEW the VECTOR of every single other MATTER in the UNIVERSE and DIMENSION.
If you have an algorithm which could track every single HAPPENING at any single POINT in TIME & SPACE, then you would know every possible outcome.
But we are not capable, thus the ACTION of OTHER PRINCIPLES is therefore beyond our control.
While a "Higher Power or Intelligence" may possess such CAPABILITY, we NEVER WILL.
Therefore UNFORESEEABLE & UNCONTROLLABLE FACETS are occurring which WE CAN NOT INFLUENCE OR CIRCUMVENT.
While there MAY BE POWERS more encompassing than HUMANITY, to US - THIS CAN ONLY BE CONSTRUED as the FREE WILL OF ANOTHER and because we have NO CONTROL over it.
It is merely a definition.
To Deny "Free Will" would be as simply easy as to be STEPHEN COVEY, one of the biggest SCAM ARTIST (and the real first Jerry Sienfeld) of our times.
To be powerful enough to observe, qualify, quanitify, and forecast ALL MATTER which prevails over THE SCOPE of another LIFE FORM'S EXISTENCE & CAPABILITIES, would be to be the ANT FARMER with the keys to the lid.
A.K.A. ........ - GOD.... Or "Our God"
I find that comparing "Evolution" to "Creationalism" is a big CIRCLE JERK when truly they APPEAR to be one in the same.
One last interesting POINT which this brings me to. If "God" were not only a DEFINITION of a WORD in the English Language, and a CONCEPT - IT IS A RELATIVE ONE.. The FUNNY THING ABOUT RELATIVITY, IS THAT IT ONLY APPLIES TO THE EYES OF THE PRINCIPLE AFFECTED BY OTHER MATTER. And therefore leaving the "HIGHER STATE OF MATTER" IMMUNE to the same definition... It would appear "RELATIVITY IS A ONE WAY STREET", and just a COPOUT for the weaker of two forms of MATTER...
Damn now. Who told me that... Fuckers did it again...!
What HAPPENS to be withing the SCOPE of it's action is NOT.
That is UNLESS you KNEW the VECTOR of every single other MATTER in the UNIVERSE and DIMENSION.
If you have an algorithm which could track every single HAPPENING at any single POINT in TIME & SPACE, then you would know every possible outcome.
But we are not capable, thus the ACTION of OTHER PRINCIPLES is therefore beyond our control.
While a "Higher Power or Intelligence" may possess such CAPABILITY, we NEVER WILL.
Therefore UNFORESEEABLE & UNCONTROLLABLE FACETS are occurring which WE CAN NOT INFLUENCE OR CIRCUMVENT.
While there MAY BE POWERS more encompassing than HUMANITY, to US - THIS CAN ONLY BE CONSTRUED as the FREE WILL OF ANOTHER and because we have NO CONTROL over it.
It is merely a definition.
To Deny "Free Will" would be as simply easy as to be STEPHEN COVEY, one of the biggest SCAM ARTIST (and the real first Jerry Sienfeld) of our times.
To be powerful enough to observe, qualify, quanitify, and forecast ALL MATTER which prevails over THE SCOPE of another LIFE FORM'S EXISTENCE & CAPABILITIES, would be to be the ANT FARMER with the keys to the lid.
A.K.A. ........ - GOD.... Or "Our God"
I find that comparing "Evolution" to "Creationalism" is a big CIRCLE JERK when truly they APPEAR to be one in the same.
One last interesting POINT which this brings me to. If "God" were not only a DEFINITION of a WORD in the English Language, and a CONCEPT - IT IS A RELATIVE ONE.. The FUNNY THING ABOUT RELATIVITY, IS THAT IT ONLY APPLIES TO THE EYES OF THE PRINCIPLE AFFECTED BY OTHER MATTER. And therefore leaving the "HIGHER STATE OF MATTER" IMMUNE to the same definition... It would appear "RELATIVITY IS A ONE WAY STREET", and just a COPOUT for the weaker of two forms of MATTER...
Damn now. Who told me that... Fuckers did it again...!
[2012] Atheism to Defeat Religion By 2038
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/nigel-barber/atheism-to-defeat-religion-by-2038_b_1565108.html
Countries with the best standard of living are turning atheist. That shift offers a glimpse into the world's future.
Religious people are annoyed by claims that belief in God will go the way of horse transportation, and for much the same reason, specifically an improved standard of living.
The view that religious belief will give way to atheism is known as the secularization thesis. The specific version that I favor is known as the existential security hypothesis.
The basic idea is that as people become more affluent, they are less worried about lacking for basic necessities, or dying early from violence or disease.
In other words they are secure in their own existence. They do not feel the need to appeal to supernatural entities to calm their fears and insecurities.
The notion that improving living conditions are associated with a decline in religion is supported by a mountain of evidence.
Paul G. The Chronic Dependence of Popular Religiosity upon Dysfunctional Psychosociological Conditions. Evolutionary Psychology. 2009;7(3). http://evp.sagepub.com/content/7/3/147470490900700305.full
Better understanding the nature, origin and popularity of varying levels of popular religion versus secularism, and their impact upon socioeconomic conditions and vice versa, requires a cross national comparison of the competing factors in populations where opinions are freely chosen. Utilizing 25 indicators, the uniquely extensive Successful Societies Scale reveals that population diversity and immigration correlate weakly with 1st world socioeconomic conditions, and high levels of income disparity, popular religiosity as measured by differing levels of belief and activity, and rejection of evolutionary science correlate strongly negatively with improving conditions. The historically unprecedented socioeconomic security that results from low levels of progressive government policies appear to suppress popular religiosity and creationist opinion, conservative religious ideology apparently contributes to societal dysfunction, and religious prosociality and charity are less effective at improving societal conditions than are secular government programs. The antagonistic relationship between better socioeconomic conditions and intense popular faith may prevent the existence of nations that combine the two factors. The nonuniversality of strong religious devotion, and the ease with which large populations abandon serious theism when conditions are sufficiently benign, refute hypotheses that religious belief and practice are the normal, deeply set human mental state, whether they are superficial or natural in nature. Instead popular religion is usually a superficial and flexible psychological mechanism for coping with the high levels of stress and anxiety produced by sufficiently dysfunctional social and especially economic environments. Popular nontheism is a similarly casual response to superior conditions.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/nigel-barber/atheism-to-defeat-religion-by-2038_b_1565108.html
Countries with the best standard of living are turning atheist. That shift offers a glimpse into the world's future.
Religious people are annoyed by claims that belief in God will go the way of horse transportation, and for much the same reason, specifically an improved standard of living.
The view that religious belief will give way to atheism is known as the secularization thesis. The specific version that I favor is known as the existential security hypothesis.
The basic idea is that as people become more affluent, they are less worried about lacking for basic necessities, or dying early from violence or disease.
In other words they are secure in their own existence. They do not feel the need to appeal to supernatural entities to calm their fears and insecurities.
The notion that improving living conditions are associated with a decline in religion is supported by a mountain of evidence.
Paul G. The Chronic Dependence of Popular Religiosity upon Dysfunctional Psychosociological Conditions. Evolutionary Psychology. 2009;7(3). http://evp.sagepub.com/content/7/3/147470490900700305.full
Better understanding the nature, origin and popularity of varying levels of popular religion versus secularism, and their impact upon socioeconomic conditions and vice versa, requires a cross national comparison of the competing factors in populations where opinions are freely chosen. Utilizing 25 indicators, the uniquely extensive Successful Societies Scale reveals that population diversity and immigration correlate weakly with 1st world socioeconomic conditions, and high levels of income disparity, popular religiosity as measured by differing levels of belief and activity, and rejection of evolutionary science correlate strongly negatively with improving conditions. The historically unprecedented socioeconomic security that results from low levels of progressive government policies appear to suppress popular religiosity and creationist opinion, conservative religious ideology apparently contributes to societal dysfunction, and religious prosociality and charity are less effective at improving societal conditions than are secular government programs. The antagonistic relationship between better socioeconomic conditions and intense popular faith may prevent the existence of nations that combine the two factors. The nonuniversality of strong religious devotion, and the ease with which large populations abandon serious theism when conditions are sufficiently benign, refute hypotheses that religious belief and practice are the normal, deeply set human mental state, whether they are superficial or natural in nature. Instead popular religion is usually a superficial and flexible psychological mechanism for coping with the high levels of stress and anxiety produced by sufficiently dysfunctional social and especially economic environments. Popular nontheism is a similarly casual response to superior conditions.
Here’s the Evolution-Questioning ‘Sticker’ Alabama Puts on Its Biology Textbooks
http://www.newsweek.com/alabama-biology-textbooks-evolution-sticker-373662
This week, Alabama made headlines for revising its state science education standards. For the first time, teachers in the state will be required to teach evolution and the fact that humans contribute to climate change. But buried in that news was acknowledgement of a “sticker” that the state requires be placed on its biology textbooks, telling students that evolution is a “controversial theory,” not a fact.
That sticker is actually a one-page insert placed in the front or back cover of every biology textbook a child reads in public schools in the state, according to Steve Ricks of the Alabama State Department of Education.
A MESSAGE FROM THE ALABAMA STATE BOARD OF EDUCATION
http://www.scribd.com/doc/281653727/Alabama-Textbooks-Include-This-Evolution-Insert-Sticker
This textbook discusses evolution, a controversial theory some scientists present as a scientific explanation for the origin of living things, such as plants, animals and humans.
No one was present when life first appeared on earth. Therefore, any statement about life's origins should be considered as theory, not fact.
The word 'evolution' may refer to many types of change. Evolution describes changes that occur within a species. (White moths, for example, may 'evolve' into gray moths.) This process is microevolution, which can be observed and described as fact. Evolution may also refer to the change of one living thing to another, such as reptiles into birds. This process, called macroevolution, has never been observed and should be considered a theory. Evolution also refers to the unproven belief that random, undirected forces produced a world of living things.
There are many unanswered questions about the origin of life which are not mentioned in your textbook including:
-Why did major groups of animals suddenly appear in the fossil record (known as the 'Cambrian Explosion')?
-Why have no new major groups of living things appeared in the fossil record for a long time?
-Why do major groups of planets and animals have no transitional forms in the fossil record?
-How did you and all living things come to possess such a complete and complex set of 'Instructions' for building a living body?
Study hard and keep an open mind. Someday, you may contribute to the theories of how living things appeared on earth.
http://www.newsweek.com/alabama-biology-textbooks-evolution-sticker-373662
This week, Alabama made headlines for revising its state science education standards. For the first time, teachers in the state will be required to teach evolution and the fact that humans contribute to climate change. But buried in that news was acknowledgement of a “sticker” that the state requires be placed on its biology textbooks, telling students that evolution is a “controversial theory,” not a fact.
That sticker is actually a one-page insert placed in the front or back cover of every biology textbook a child reads in public schools in the state, according to Steve Ricks of the Alabama State Department of Education.
A MESSAGE FROM THE ALABAMA STATE BOARD OF EDUCATION
http://www.scribd.com/doc/281653727/Alabama-Textbooks-Include-This-Evolution-Insert-Sticker
This textbook discusses evolution, a controversial theory some scientists present as a scientific explanation for the origin of living things, such as plants, animals and humans.
No one was present when life first appeared on earth. Therefore, any statement about life's origins should be considered as theory, not fact.
The word 'evolution' may refer to many types of change. Evolution describes changes that occur within a species. (White moths, for example, may 'evolve' into gray moths.) This process is microevolution, which can be observed and described as fact. Evolution may also refer to the change of one living thing to another, such as reptiles into birds. This process, called macroevolution, has never been observed and should be considered a theory. Evolution also refers to the unproven belief that random, undirected forces produced a world of living things.
There are many unanswered questions about the origin of life which are not mentioned in your textbook including:
-Why did major groups of animals suddenly appear in the fossil record (known as the 'Cambrian Explosion')?
-Why have no new major groups of living things appeared in the fossil record for a long time?
-Why do major groups of planets and animals have no transitional forms in the fossil record?
-How did you and all living things come to possess such a complete and complex set of 'Instructions' for building a living body?
Study hard and keep an open mind. Someday, you may contribute to the theories of how living things appeared on earth.
Synthesis of Phylogeny and Taxonomy into a Comprehensive Tree Of Life
Scientists have used gene sequences and morphological data to construct tens of thousands of evolutionary trees that describe the evolutionary history of animals, plants, and microbes.
This study is the first to apply an efficient and automated process for assembling published trees into a complete tree of life.
This tree and the underlying data are available to browse and download from the Internet, facilitating subsequent analyses that require evolutionary trees. The tree can be easily updated with newly published data. https://tree.opentreeoflife.org
Our analysis of coverage not only reveals gaps in sampling and naming biodiversity but also further demonstrates that most published phylogenies are not available in digital formats that can be summarized into a tree of life.
Hinchliff CE, Smith SA, Allman JF, Burleigh JG, Chaudhary R, et al. Synthesis of phylogeny and taxonomy into a comprehensive tree of life. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. http://www.pnas.org/content/early/2015/09/16/1423041112
Reconstructing the phylogenetic relationships that unite all lineages (the tree of life) is a grand challenge. The paucity of homologous character data across disparately related lineages currently renders direct phylogenetic inference untenable.
To reconstruct a comprehensive tree of life, we therefore synthesized published phylogenies, together with taxonomic classifications for taxa never incorporated into a phylogeny. We present a draft tree containing 2.3 million tips—the Open Tree of Life.
Realization of this tree required the assembly of two additional community resources:
(i) a comprehensive global reference taxonomy and
(ii) a database of published phylogenetic trees mapped to this taxonomy.
Our open source framework facilitates community comment and contribution, enabling the tree to be continuously updated when new phylogenetic and taxonomic data become digitally available. Although data coverage and phylogenetic conflict across the Open Tree of Life illuminate gaps in both the underlying data available for phylogenetic reconstruction and the publication of trees as digital objects, the tree provides a compelling starting point for community contribution.
This comprehensive tree will fuel fundamental research on the nature of biological diversity, ultimately providing up-to-date phylogenies for downstream applications in comparative biology, ecology, conservation biology, climate change, agriculture, and genomics.
Scientists have used gene sequences and morphological data to construct tens of thousands of evolutionary trees that describe the evolutionary history of animals, plants, and microbes.
This study is the first to apply an efficient and automated process for assembling published trees into a complete tree of life.
This tree and the underlying data are available to browse and download from the Internet, facilitating subsequent analyses that require evolutionary trees. The tree can be easily updated with newly published data. https://tree.opentreeoflife.org
Our analysis of coverage not only reveals gaps in sampling and naming biodiversity but also further demonstrates that most published phylogenies are not available in digital formats that can be summarized into a tree of life.
Hinchliff CE, Smith SA, Allman JF, Burleigh JG, Chaudhary R, et al. Synthesis of phylogeny and taxonomy into a comprehensive tree of life. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. http://www.pnas.org/content/early/2015/09/16/1423041112
Reconstructing the phylogenetic relationships that unite all lineages (the tree of life) is a grand challenge. The paucity of homologous character data across disparately related lineages currently renders direct phylogenetic inference untenable.
To reconstruct a comprehensive tree of life, we therefore synthesized published phylogenies, together with taxonomic classifications for taxa never incorporated into a phylogeny. We present a draft tree containing 2.3 million tips—the Open Tree of Life.
Realization of this tree required the assembly of two additional community resources:
(i) a comprehensive global reference taxonomy and
(ii) a database of published phylogenetic trees mapped to this taxonomy.
Our open source framework facilitates community comment and contribution, enabling the tree to be continuously updated when new phylogenetic and taxonomic data become digitally available. Although data coverage and phylogenetic conflict across the Open Tree of Life illuminate gaps in both the underlying data available for phylogenetic reconstruction and the publication of trees as digital objects, the tree provides a compelling starting point for community contribution.
This comprehensive tree will fuel fundamental research on the nature of biological diversity, ultimately providing up-to-date phylogenies for downstream applications in comparative biology, ecology, conservation biology, climate change, agriculture, and genomics.
How greens and sceptics read the Biblical creation story
http://www.economist.com/blogs/erasmus/2015/09/genesis-and-environment
JAMES INHOFE, the chairman of the American Senate's environment committee, pays close attention to the Book of Genesis. For example, he insists that the entire West Bank belongs rightfully to Israel, rather than to Muslim or Christian Palestinians; and he roots that belief in God's promise to Abraham, given in Hebron, that "...all the land which you see, to you I will give it and to your seed forever..." (It was because America wavered in that belief that "a spiritual door was opened" for the 9/11 attacks, he thinks.) His intense hostility to the idea of man-made global warming, which prompted him to brandish a snowball on the Senate floor, also has a Biblical base. As proof that man simply cannot alter the interplay of the seasons, he cites God's pledge to Noah in Genesis 8:22.
“While the earth remaineth, seedtime and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease. “
But there are, of course, plenty of distinguished people who read Genesis in the opposite way. Last week, on the occasion of the pope's address to the United Nations, I was invited along with a couple of other journalists to take part in a phone-in with Cardinal Peter Turkson, who heads the Vatican's Justice and Peace Council, and so had considerable input into the pope's environmental encyclical, published in June. One participant asked the cardinal what he thought of Senator Inhofe's interpretation of Genesis, and the Ghanaian prelate counter-quoted another verse (2:15), describing the tasks that Adam was given. In the King James version, it says:
“And the Lord God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it.”
Other translations speak of Adam being told to "till and keep" the ground or "farm" and "preserve" it. The cardinal also likes to mention another famous line (4:9) in Genesis, in which the same Hebrew verb occurs. Having slain his brother Abel, Cain truculently asks the Lord: "Am I my brother's keeper?" Part of Cain's punishment for that murderous foolishness, compounding the penalty already imposed on Adam, was that the earth became even harder for him to till. By quoting those two verses, the cardinal implies that people today must do a far better job than Cain did of "keeping" one another, and outdo Adam at "keeping" the earth; and that these two mandates are somehow related.
The cardinal is by no means alone in making that connection. Rabbi David Rosen of the American Jewish Committee, an indefatigable participant in inter-religious deliberations, has used the same pair of verses when discussing his faith's attitude to the the environment.
But a cynic would doubtless retort that you can select isolated verses from a complex and oft-translated text, and harness them in support of any argument. The following parallel is only slightly exaggerated. Back in the days when Britain had a tiny coin worth six old pennies known in slang as a tanner, there was a truly feeble clerical joke: banking must be biblically blessed because the apostle Peter "lodged with Simon a tanner.." (The Biblical reference, of course, is to staying at the house of a leather-worker.) At its crudest, verse-swapping by sparring partners in an earthly argument hardly rises above that level.
A harder task, as exegetes down the centuries have realised, is to take an entire text and somehow winkle out its various layers of meaning. As Margaret Barker shows in her book "Temple Theology: An introduction", Jewish and early Christian sages saw the creation story on one hand, and the design and rites of the Jerusalem temple on the other, as twin expressions of a single vision. This vision was not a chronological narrative but a set of relationships between man, the natural world and God. Day One in the Genesis story, and the holiest space in the temple, were both expressions of pure, undifferentiated divinity; day two in Genesis (when a "firmament" was made to divide up the universe) and the curtain which closed off the temple's ultra-holy space were both ways of expressing the veil or barrier which in most circumstances separates man from pure divinity; and so on. Both the Genesis text and the sacred building served to situate man, his Creator and the constituents of life (soil, light, vegetation, animals) in an intricate set of connections whose disturbance could have dire effects.
In this understanding of things, Adam (standing for mankind as a whole, rather than the male sex) was given the task of keeping these relationships in good repair, just as the high priest did, through various rituals, in the temple. Adam's (or humanity's) partner in this endeavour was adama, the soil; and thanks to Adam's mistakes, the relationship went from being easy and amicable to harsh.
At least, that's one way of parsing Adam's name. On the wilder fringes of right-wing Christian fundamentalism, you can find a really horrible theory that links Adam with a similar-sounding word meaning pink or rosy; and hence concludes that only the white (or pink-skinned) race truly represents mankind as the high point of God's creation.
Scriptural interpretation generally tells you at least as much about the interpreter as it does about the scripture. That has been true since the very, very beginning.
http://www.economist.com/blogs/erasmus/2015/09/genesis-and-environment
JAMES INHOFE, the chairman of the American Senate's environment committee, pays close attention to the Book of Genesis. For example, he insists that the entire West Bank belongs rightfully to Israel, rather than to Muslim or Christian Palestinians; and he roots that belief in God's promise to Abraham, given in Hebron, that "...all the land which you see, to you I will give it and to your seed forever..." (It was because America wavered in that belief that "a spiritual door was opened" for the 9/11 attacks, he thinks.) His intense hostility to the idea of man-made global warming, which prompted him to brandish a snowball on the Senate floor, also has a Biblical base. As proof that man simply cannot alter the interplay of the seasons, he cites God's pledge to Noah in Genesis 8:22.
“While the earth remaineth, seedtime and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease. “
But there are, of course, plenty of distinguished people who read Genesis in the opposite way. Last week, on the occasion of the pope's address to the United Nations, I was invited along with a couple of other journalists to take part in a phone-in with Cardinal Peter Turkson, who heads the Vatican's Justice and Peace Council, and so had considerable input into the pope's environmental encyclical, published in June. One participant asked the cardinal what he thought of Senator Inhofe's interpretation of Genesis, and the Ghanaian prelate counter-quoted another verse (2:15), describing the tasks that Adam was given. In the King James version, it says:
“And the Lord God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it.”
Other translations speak of Adam being told to "till and keep" the ground or "farm" and "preserve" it. The cardinal also likes to mention another famous line (4:9) in Genesis, in which the same Hebrew verb occurs. Having slain his brother Abel, Cain truculently asks the Lord: "Am I my brother's keeper?" Part of Cain's punishment for that murderous foolishness, compounding the penalty already imposed on Adam, was that the earth became even harder for him to till. By quoting those two verses, the cardinal implies that people today must do a far better job than Cain did of "keeping" one another, and outdo Adam at "keeping" the earth; and that these two mandates are somehow related.
The cardinal is by no means alone in making that connection. Rabbi David Rosen of the American Jewish Committee, an indefatigable participant in inter-religious deliberations, has used the same pair of verses when discussing his faith's attitude to the the environment.
But a cynic would doubtless retort that you can select isolated verses from a complex and oft-translated text, and harness them in support of any argument. The following parallel is only slightly exaggerated. Back in the days when Britain had a tiny coin worth six old pennies known in slang as a tanner, there was a truly feeble clerical joke: banking must be biblically blessed because the apostle Peter "lodged with Simon a tanner.." (The Biblical reference, of course, is to staying at the house of a leather-worker.) At its crudest, verse-swapping by sparring partners in an earthly argument hardly rises above that level.
A harder task, as exegetes down the centuries have realised, is to take an entire text and somehow winkle out its various layers of meaning. As Margaret Barker shows in her book "Temple Theology: An introduction", Jewish and early Christian sages saw the creation story on one hand, and the design and rites of the Jerusalem temple on the other, as twin expressions of a single vision. This vision was not a chronological narrative but a set of relationships between man, the natural world and God. Day One in the Genesis story, and the holiest space in the temple, were both expressions of pure, undifferentiated divinity; day two in Genesis (when a "firmament" was made to divide up the universe) and the curtain which closed off the temple's ultra-holy space were both ways of expressing the veil or barrier which in most circumstances separates man from pure divinity; and so on. Both the Genesis text and the sacred building served to situate man, his Creator and the constituents of life (soil, light, vegetation, animals) in an intricate set of connections whose disturbance could have dire effects.
In this understanding of things, Adam (standing for mankind as a whole, rather than the male sex) was given the task of keeping these relationships in good repair, just as the high priest did, through various rituals, in the temple. Adam's (or humanity's) partner in this endeavour was adama, the soil; and thanks to Adam's mistakes, the relationship went from being easy and amicable to harsh.
At least, that's one way of parsing Adam's name. On the wilder fringes of right-wing Christian fundamentalism, you can find a really horrible theory that links Adam with a similar-sounding word meaning pink or rosy; and hence concludes that only the white (or pink-skinned) race truly represents mankind as the high point of God's creation.
Scriptural interpretation generally tells you at least as much about the interpreter as it does about the scripture. That has been true since the very, very beginning.
What Is the Big Bang Theory?
http://www.space.com/25126-big-bang-theory.html
The Big Bang Theory is the leading explanation about how the universe began. At its simplest, it talks about the universe as we know it starting with a small singularity, then inflating over the next 13.8 billion years to the cosmos that we know today.
Because current instruments don't allow astronomers to peer back at the universe's birth, much of what we understand about the Big Bang Theory comes from mathematical theory and models. Astronomers can, however, see the "echo" of the expansion through a phenomenon known as the cosmic microwave background.
http://www.space.com/25126-big-bang-theory.html
The Big Bang Theory is the leading explanation about how the universe began. At its simplest, it talks about the universe as we know it starting with a small singularity, then inflating over the next 13.8 billion years to the cosmos that we know today.
Because current instruments don't allow astronomers to peer back at the universe's birth, much of what we understand about the Big Bang Theory comes from mathematical theory and models. Astronomers can, however, see the "echo" of the expansion through a phenomenon known as the cosmic microwave background.
HISTORIC DISCOVERY: Physicists 'PROVE' God DIDN'T create the Universe
A TEAM of scientists have made what may turn out to be the most important discovery in HISTORY – how the universe came into being from nothing.
http://www.express.co.uk/news/scien...d-by-Canadian-physicists-and-er-it-wasn-t-God
A TEAM of scientists have made what may turn out to be the most important discovery in HISTORY – how the universe came into being from nothing.
http://www.express.co.uk/news/scien...d-by-Canadian-physicists-and-er-it-wasn-t-God
Well GOD DAMN..!!!! God wouldn't be all that IF he didn't make it from scratch now would he..!!! Shiiiet! I think if that sum-bitch in North Carolina could make them biquits right there in that gas station so good, then God should be able to whip up a damn Universe...!! Perhaps not SOUTHERN STYLE..! But they don't call it Research TRiangle Park for nuthin...! The drive was the only real bitch...!
SHeeeeit.. Tile Someone shows me a stamp, "MADE IN TAIWAN"... SHeeeit... Actually, it was probably MADE IN JAPAN... Now there was some quality work. Except for those damn Sockets.. No Iron Ore.. See there.. Even God can come up with some damn Iron Ore... did I say CORE...
SHeeeeit.. Tile Someone shows me a stamp, "MADE IN TAIWAN"... SHeeeit... Actually, it was probably MADE IN JAPAN... Now there was some quality work. Except for those damn Sockets.. No Iron Ore.. See there.. Even God can come up with some damn Iron Ore... did I say CORE...
Potentially Biogenic Carbon Preserved In A 4.1 Billion-Year-Old Zircon
Evidence for carbon cycling or biologic activity can be derived from carbon isotopes, because a high 12C/13C ratio is characteristic of biogenic carbon due to the large isotopic fractionation associated with enzymatic carbon fixation.
The earliest materials measured for carbon isotopes at 3.8 Ga are isotopically light, and thus potentially biogenic.
Because Earth’s known rock record extends only to ∼4 Ga, earlier periods of history are accessible only through mineral grains deposited in later sediments.
We report 12C/13C of graphite preserved in 4.1-Ga zircon.
Its complete encasement in crack-free, undisturbed zircon demonstrates that it is not contamination from more recent geologic processes.
Its 12C-rich isotopic signature may be evidence for the origin of life on Earth by 4.1 Ga.
Bell EA, Boehnke P, Harrison TM, Mao WL. Potentially biogenic carbon preserved in a 4.1 billion-year-old zircon. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. http://www.pnas.org/content/early/2015/10/14/1517557112.abstract
Evidence of life on Earth is manifestly preserved in the rock record. However, the microfossil record only extends to ∼3.5 billion years (Ga), the chemofossil record arguably to ∼3.8 Ga, and the rock record to 4.0 Ga. Detrital zircons from Jack Hills, Western Australia range in age up to nearly 4.4 Ga.
From a population of over 10,000 Jack Hills zircons, we identified one >3.8-Ga zircon that contains primary graphite inclusions. Here, we report carbon isotopic measurements on these inclusions in a concordant, 4.10 ± 0.01-Ga zircon.
We interpret these inclusions as primary due to their enclosure in a crack-free host as shown by transmission X-ray microscopy and their crystal habit. Their δ13CPDB of −24 ± 5‰ is consistent with a biogenic origin and may be evidence that a terrestrial biosphere had emerged by 4.1 Ga, or ∼300 My earlier than has been previously proposed.
Evidence for carbon cycling or biologic activity can be derived from carbon isotopes, because a high 12C/13C ratio is characteristic of biogenic carbon due to the large isotopic fractionation associated with enzymatic carbon fixation.
The earliest materials measured for carbon isotopes at 3.8 Ga are isotopically light, and thus potentially biogenic.
Because Earth’s known rock record extends only to ∼4 Ga, earlier periods of history are accessible only through mineral grains deposited in later sediments.
We report 12C/13C of graphite preserved in 4.1-Ga zircon.
Its complete encasement in crack-free, undisturbed zircon demonstrates that it is not contamination from more recent geologic processes.
Its 12C-rich isotopic signature may be evidence for the origin of life on Earth by 4.1 Ga.
Bell EA, Boehnke P, Harrison TM, Mao WL. Potentially biogenic carbon preserved in a 4.1 billion-year-old zircon. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. http://www.pnas.org/content/early/2015/10/14/1517557112.abstract
Evidence of life on Earth is manifestly preserved in the rock record. However, the microfossil record only extends to ∼3.5 billion years (Ga), the chemofossil record arguably to ∼3.8 Ga, and the rock record to 4.0 Ga. Detrital zircons from Jack Hills, Western Australia range in age up to nearly 4.4 Ga.
From a population of over 10,000 Jack Hills zircons, we identified one >3.8-Ga zircon that contains primary graphite inclusions. Here, we report carbon isotopic measurements on these inclusions in a concordant, 4.10 ± 0.01-Ga zircon.
We interpret these inclusions as primary due to their enclosure in a crack-free host as shown by transmission X-ray microscopy and their crystal habit. Their δ13CPDB of −24 ± 5‰ is consistent with a biogenic origin and may be evidence that a terrestrial biosphere had emerged by 4.1 Ga, or ∼300 My earlier than has been previously proposed.
engman
New Member
Interesting...just had this discussion with a friend. Free will is only a possiblity in the science of superstition.
