(b) if religion is there to shore us up against the idea that the universe is a cold, value-neutral place -- somewhere inside of this is a subissue, which is the usual belief among fundamentalists that the absence of religion means the absence of values, and a necessary descent into nihilism and greed and depravity. There's no faith that human beings could adopt positive values just on a rational basis, just at face value. (And this is something that plenty of strains of Christianity make a big deal of reinforcing, stressing that we are all stained and evil and fallen without God -- possibly even that you can't be a decent person without God, ten thousand Biblical exceptions aside.)
― nabisco (nabisco), Monday, 4 December 2006 18:36 (seventeen years ago) link
― whoop de doodle (kenan), Monday, 4 December 2006 18:40 (seventeen years ago) link
XP: Whoops, forgot that extra "a"! Curse no mod powers on sandbox.
― Laurel (Laurel), Monday, 4 December 2006 18:40 (seventeen years ago) link
Nietzsche comes into play here, too, along with the massive historical misreadings given to him.
― kingfish in absentia (kingfish), Monday, 4 December 2006 18:41 (seventeen years ago) link
― Euai Kapaui (tracerhand), Monday, 4 December 2006 18:43 (seventeen years ago) link
that's a good question. Islam strikes me as less interested in love than Christianity is, but God's omnipotence and direct involvement in the world is certainly central.
― horseshoe (horseshoe), Monday, 4 December 2006 18:43 (seventeen years ago) link
Another question: how can people who have no problem with such a massive, weird abstraction have so much trouble with the idea of geological time?
― whoop de doodle (kenan), Monday, 4 December 2006 18:46 (seventeen years ago) link
― Laurel (Laurel), Monday, 4 December 2006 18:48 (seventeen years ago) link
I.e. most of these folks don't talk too much about usury, or the forgiving of debts every so many years, or ignoring most of that whole "Sermon on the Mount" thing.
― kingfish in absentia (kingfish), Monday, 4 December 2006 18:49 (seventeen years ago) link
― My Mind is Opener than Yours (Modal Fugue), Monday, 4 December 2006 18:50 (seventeen years ago) link
― whoop de doodle (kenan), Monday, 4 December 2006 18:52 (seventeen years ago) link
I'll give you $20 if you can remember that guy's name.
― nabisco (nabisco), Monday, 4 December 2006 18:54 (seventeen years ago) link
― Laurel (Laurel), Monday, 4 December 2006 18:54 (seventeen years ago) link
His name is That Douchebag. Pay up.
― whoop de doodle (kenan), Monday, 4 December 2006 18:57 (seventeen years ago) link
xpost to Laurel.
― horseshoe (horseshoe), Monday, 4 December 2006 18:57 (seventeen years ago) link
― kingfish in absentia (kingfish), Monday, 4 December 2006 18:58 (seventeen years ago) link
― Laurel (Laurel), Monday, 4 December 2006 18:59 (seventeen years ago) link
I believe our beloved Prime Minister is down with it being taught in schools, if the price is right.
― My Mind is Opener than Yours (Modal Fugue), Monday, 4 December 2006 19:00 (seventeen years ago) link
Oh i figured, thus my disclaimer.
But something does need to be said that purported literalist readings usually have v.little to do w/ literally reading the other 90% of the book(s).
― kingfish in absentia (kingfish), Monday, 4 December 2006 19:01 (seventeen years ago) link
Dude's still on Comedy Central. Had a 1/2 hour thing after the Amazing Jonathan a few saturdays ago.
― kingfish in absentia (kingfish), Monday, 4 December 2006 19:03 (seventeen years ago) link
Wow. I didn't know anyone did that song and dance anymore. I thought the "pray and row for shore" model had taken over.
― whoop de doodle (kenan), Monday, 4 December 2006 19:03 (seventeen years ago) link
― Euai Kapaui (tracerhand), Monday, 4 December 2006 19:03 (seventeen years ago) link
― Euai Kapaui (tracerhand), Monday, 4 December 2006 19:06 (seventeen years ago) link
― and what (ooo), Monday, 4 December 2006 19:07 (seventeen years ago) link
^^ HOTT
― and what (ooo), Monday, 4 December 2006 19:11 (seventeen years ago) link
― nabisco (nabisco), Monday, 4 December 2006 19:12 (seventeen years ago) link
― whoop de doodle (kenan), Monday, 4 December 2006 19:14 (seventeen years ago) link
― My Life in the Ghosts of Bush (Modal Fugue), Monday, 4 December 2006 19:15 (seventeen years ago) link
― whoop de doodle (kenan), Monday, 4 December 2006 19:15 (seventeen years ago) link
all this white girls are gunna show up on Burning Angel w/in 3 years, place yer bets
― kingfish in absentia (kingfish), Monday, 4 December 2006 19:16 (seventeen years ago) link
― and what (ooo), Monday, 4 December 2006 19:16 (seventeen years ago) link
This is pretty funny. I thought even fundies knew about inbreeding (they hate mormons right?).... but I thought most agreed with scientists about genetics.....
― jw (ex machina), Monday, 4 December 2006 19:17 (seventeen years ago) link
― and what (ooo), Monday, 4 December 2006 19:18 (seventeen years ago) link
― kingfish in absentia (kingfish), Monday, 4 December 2006 19:19 (seventeen years ago) link
― and what (ooo), Monday, 4 December 2006 19:22 (seventeen years ago) link
― whoop de doodle (kenan), Monday, 4 December 2006 19:22 (seventeen years ago) link
― and what (ooo), Monday, 4 December 2006 19:23 (seventeen years ago) link
― whoop de doodle (kenan), Monday, 4 December 2006 19:23 (seventeen years ago) link
― Kenneth Branagh (gcannon), Monday, 4 December 2006 19:23 (seventeen years ago) link
― Euai Kapaui (tracerhand), Monday, 4 December 2006 19:23 (seventeen years ago) link
― and what (ooo), Monday, 4 December 2006 19:25 (seventeen years ago) link
― and what (ooo), Monday, 4 December 2006 19:26 (seventeen years ago) link
― and what (ooo), Monday, 4 December 2006 19:27 (seventeen years ago) link
― My Life in the Ghosts of Bush (Modal Fugue), Monday, 4 December 2006 19:29 (seventeen years ago) link
― latebloomer (clonefeed), Monday, 4 December 2006 19:29 (seventeen years ago) link
― Euai Kapaui (tracerhand), Monday, 4 December 2006 19:29 (seventeen years ago) link
― and what (ooo), Monday, 4 December 2006 19:31 (seventeen years ago) link
― Kenneth Branagh (gcannon), Monday, 4 December 2006 19:31 (seventeen years ago) link
The largest dragon (i.e. dinosaur) eggs that we've found to date are about the size of a football. One could fit, for example, a dozen brachiosaurus eggs in the trunk of a car, with room to spare! This also means that recently hatched dragons were not very large. Noah's mission was to preserve each kind of animal. You don't need to find the biggest of each kind. And you don't need each sub-divided species either. Did you know that most modern dog breeds are less than 100 years old? 2 healthy young mutts could preserve the genome of the entire "dog kind" of animals. The Bible uses the word "kind" for the different types of life forms. Horses and zebras can (and have) physically mated producing viable offspring; so have tigers and lions, indicating that they (according to creation theory) probably respectively diverged from the same original stock. Dogs and wolves (though considered quite different by humans today) probably originated from their same "kind" too. There are a few large animals (when fully grown) of course: giraffes, elephants, and T-rexes among them. But the average animal size is about sheep size, i.e. the 3-story Ark was plenty large enough to handle the variety of animal kinds plus lots of food for them. Speciation could descend again from original healthy "mutt" stock to start with. Thinking scientifically about this, it shows incredible variable design, huh?
jesus, how did i miss this thread?
― latebloomer (clonefeed), Monday, 4 December 2006 19:32 (seventeen years ago) link