The Dumbing down of America

Something to think about:
Subject: The Bear and the Atheist

An atheist was taking a walk through the woods.

"What majestic trees! What powerful rivers! What beautiful animals!" he said to himself.

As he continued walking alongside the river he heard a rustling in the bushes. Turning to look, he saw a 7 foot grizzly charging towards him. He ran as fast as he could up the path.

Looking over his shoulder he saw that the bear was closing in on him. His heart was pumping frantically and he tried to run even faster. He tripped and fell on the ground. He rolled over to pick himself up but saw the bear raising his paw to take a swipe at him. At that instant the atheist cried out: "Oh my God!..."

Time stopped.

The bear froze.

The forest was silent.

It was then that bright light shone upon the man and a voice came out of the sky saying: "You deny my existence for all of these years, teach others I don't exist and even credit creation to a cosmic accident. Do you expect me to help you out of this predicament? Am I to count you as a believer?"

The atheist looked directly into the light, "It would be hypocritical of me to suddenly ask you to treat me as a Christian now, but perhaps, could you make the BEAR a Christian?"

Very well," said the voice.

The light went out. And the sounds of the forest resumed. And then the bear lowered his paw, bowed his head and spoke, "Lord, bless this food which I am about to receive and for which I am truly thankful."....

 

It's a coin that I had graded by ANACS, that came back a proof 65 cameo, and then had pcgs grade it a proof 66 deep cameo : ) I paid 250 for it. Also, I'm putting together a set of all proofs until 64, so they are my current interest. Only need 36, and 55, which should be an easy one to get.

 

Right. Whatever. I'm done with you now. When you find out what the truth really is, come find me. Oh, and, by the way, yes you did start a sermon here, and no, I don't think you actually read everything I was saying because again, as I said, otherwise you'd stop making the same arguments and telling me to look everything up. I do my research, now you do yours, and try to be a little more openminded, it will do you some good one of these days.

~AJ

 

Poor Aj

So Aj, what do you think will happen to you when you die? Speedy's way, you will go to heaven and live happily ever after. Evolution's way, you die and rot and that is the end. At least with his way there is a happy ending. He tries to give you a little hope in this unfriendly world and you just insult him. So what if he gives you a sermon? Jesus didn't always go to a synagogue to preach.

craigG.

Answer: 1.
Question: How many psychics does it take to change a lightbulb?

 

I forgot something...

What does NAU mean?

craigG.

Answer: 1.
Question: How many psychics does it take to change a lightbulb?

 

I like to accept most ideas, craig, but not when I'm just being preached at by a non-open-minded individual who wishes to impose upon everyone here a belief that some wacked out divine being snapped his fingers and controls everything. That's illogical and not based on any kind of evidence or proof. And despite what Mr. Speedy says, he has been preaching at us, me in particular.

I don't want "hope in this unfriendly world." I want truth, and I'm not going to get it by going to church or by prayer. I'm going to get it via quantifiable scientific evidence, unless God decides to show himself to me one night and prove to me that he is real.

That, craig, is why I don't want people preaching at me. I'd rather have a debate than a sermon.

And NAU stands for Northern Arizona University, where I attend college.

~AJ

 

Part of the reason we created God was so that we had a place to go after we died. Evolution on the otherhand, has no opinion on the after-life. I'm not saying that there is no type of after-life, as a matter of fact, I'm positive there is. I just seriously doubt it's what those that claim to know, say it is. The after-life...we could start a whole new thread on that topic.

 

If you replaced the word magically with the word chemically, you'd be about right.

 

How can you call speedy non-open minded, when you are not open minded to the idea of creationism?

 

I am open to the ideas in creationism, just not this strict preaching that Speedy is delivering. I don't believe in the least that God created everything 6,000 years ago and evolution is completely unrealistic. That's the impression I get that Speedy believes in, and that is why I call him non-openminded.

 

Makes sense. (Your explanation)

 

"Altered States." Bonedigger.

Why watch the movie when I could just take some acid, put in some ear plugs and lay down in my bathtub with the lights off.

First hand experience Bonedigger that is what I am all about.

Um, can I subsitute a Jack Daniels with coke for the acid?

 

Guess we pretty much know who Dan's bear is having for dessert!!

 

I would like to know if there are any working paleontologists who are also fundamental creationists?

You know, a period of 6,000 years, which is the earliest Biblical reference, doesn't even get you into the last Ice Age. Geologically, 6,000 years is about 5 minutes. Paleontologically, maybe an hour.

Some scholars believe that the Epic of Gilgamesh makes reference to a catastrophic event that might correspond to the retreat of the last continental glaciers. The Bible has stories that were taken from the Epic of Gilgamesh. These stories have long been part of Middle Eastern folklore. In fact, the "Great Flood Story" is allegedly repeated all over the World.

 

Search for god and you will find god.
For me the search is not in a building but within myself.
As for proof.
Life and Love.

 

Um. Any real scientist who believes in God has to believe in this statement in some form, to not is to ignore all the LAWS of science. I know GOD created man in a day and the whole world in a week, but as with all thing reason must over ride written text. Although God could create all in a day the evidence suggests a slow progressive evolution. There is plenty of proof that suggests evolution occurs but I have seen no scientific proof that God exists, therefore I choose to believe that things happened as Bone says. I have thought this way for years.

 

I'd say that definition #1 is the one that mainly applies to this discussion. The problem is, each person has a different standard for what constitutes "sufficient" or "evidence."

The theory of evolution has been hashed out for well over a century (centuries, really--some of the basic ideas are very old.) When it is taught, it should be taught as a theory--the same way as the Theory of Gravity or the Theory of Relativity. Who dismisses those as "just theories"? The idea that species change over time is supported by a tremendous amount of evidence.

There are holes in our knowledge and parts that are misunderstood--but any scientist that doesn't admit that all knowledge is provisional is a poor scientist. That's why science is so great. It looks for the mistakes and tries to correct them by constantly testing for consistency, and changing the beliefs in light of new data.

That's why ideas about exactly how evolution works have changed significantly over the years, and are still changing. But there is no good body of scientific evidence that says that organisms don't evolve.

 

I find that kind of thing fascinating. I've wondered whether some of the Great Flood stuff might be tied to a rise in sea levels after the last ice age. Although, really, most or all of those big, early cultures tended to flourish in fertile river valleys, prone to flooding, so it would be natural for this to factor heavily into the mythology.

It's such a wonderful thing to think about. So many cultures now seem so different, so opposed to one another, have such varying levels of technology and religion. But once, long ago, we were all so much at the mercy of our poorly understood environment (well, I guess we are now, too, but it's easy to pretent we aren't). I'd guess that for most humans who ever lived, a single decent-sized flood could wipe out the homes and possessions of everyone they knew and alter the landscape of their entire world. It kind of gives me a feeling of kinship.

 

I see numbers 2 and 3 as pertaining well to this discussion also. The acts of testing or trying anything are the bases for establishing any sort of truth, proof, evidence, and ultimately, fact.

 

Ummm...if you've never used a "witching stick" or "devining rods" before, don't knock it A "Y" shaped green branch of wood, or 2 "L" shaped pieces of wire (one held in each hand) will find water, pipes and powerlines as accurately, if not more, than modern equipment costing big $$$.

I'm with you on the general decline in what was once "common knowledge", but please try not to use examples of your ignorance to point out others

P.S. There is a TON of science to back up the fenomenom.