religulous

Just my political rant!
Is Sarah Palin gearing up for the 2012 Presidential nomination? This may be the last hope of the religious right to regain its power lost through the ineptitude of the Republican right politics of the past eight years.
She is dressed for the possibility.
Obama draws 45,000 at a rally today, McCain draws a 1,000 supporters. The republicans are jumping ship faster than the rats from the Titanic and lately, McCain and Palin are like two strangers heading in different directions. Once Sarah figures out what the three branches of government are and she reads the job descriptions for President and VP she may be a very dangerous political animal in 2012.
While some believe she will be an annoying game show host after her Governor term is over others see her as very savvy. If we see her in the future political landscape, we will be experiencing the ultimate dummying down of America.
It may have already happened when you listen to the democratic VP nominee. Lets look no further than Joe Biden, the predictor. This guy can't keep his foot out of his mouth....and he would have jumped at the chance two years ago to be on the ticket with John McCain, even at the expense of his own political party. The democrats did themselves no favor with Obama's choice of VP. Lets hope he is not the proverbial heartbeat away from the presidency.
Sarah Palin might be the smartest of the right wing extremist candidates in 2012, and without a doubt, the best looking and best dressed.

 

As if on cue, NOVA filmed a documentary on the developer of the parallel universe theory. It is discussed through the eyes of his estranged son who follows back the life of his father and the reception of his theory.

Interestingly a major point of the documentary is that the theory has never been well received and was utterly rejected by Niels Bohr. It is still one of many possible theories. But I think it is important to note how the theory is not pulled out of nowhere but is derived from mathematics, not faith.

You can find it here:

NOVA | Parallel Worlds, Parallel Lives | PBS

 

I don't care who the best looking candidate is, or who spends more on clothes and makeup. A leader should be the smartest of those who would put what's best for the country ahead of everything else. And the voters should think with the organ between their ears instead of the one between their legs. If Palin is the best the 'right wing extremists' can come up with, they may as well give up now.

 

Some folks struggle with other's sarcasm: Let me re-phrase: Sarah Palin is the best dressed religious FAR Right wing extremest. After all, I am trying to stay within the boundaries of the thread,
And I think in the future the Republican party should re-think its position n 2012 from embracing the far right religious zealots, otherwise we will be seeing a lot of Sarah and Tina Fey will be a high profile member of the SNL cast for years to come.
Hi Ho Silver

 

Politics and religion on this thread has been a great intellectual discussion. Many of those who participated are trying to show how smart they are and how ridiculous it is to believe in a God or people who would vote for one that is a believer. I believe you are in the minority in this country and feel sorry for those who have only themselves and become their own gods.

 

Sorry, I missed it. Maybe it was too subtle for me to distinguish from the non-sarcastic rants.

 

You think atheists think they're god? Uh...no.

 

Ouch! The people I know who do not believe in religious symbols and question religious authenticity generally do not put their faith in other idolatry, like becoming their own god...that is quite a fantasy you have.
The point is, many religious skeptics would rather look for substance of what others say is fact, using science, verification, research to reveal the actual truth. If these tools lead us to the Christian, Muslim Hindu...or other faiths that will benefit everyone.
And yes, we are a minority...a 16 % of the US population that are religious skeptics are the minority in this country. I believe this is a low estimate. The other 84 % religious believers include thoughtful religious followers, and others, like the Christian far right, believers in Voodoo, followers of Satan
(another interesting religious figure). Thanks for sharing your thoughts...you are the majority! However, I'd rather place my faith in fact and science, not religious leaders telling us what benefits their religious agenda based on 'faith'. And yes, religious skeptics have the same core beliefs in human beings that is suppose to be represented by the religious zealots, only we don't have an agenda of power to assert these beliefs on a congregation like choosing the best college fraternity to belong to, its more inclusive and exercised without judgement.

 

Thank you for a relative peaceful answer to my thoughts. I don't understand where you get your "core" beliefs from unless it is something that you decided is true. Christians have the bible and our God to base our beliefs. Since you are your base of your core beliefs, you become your god where all standards come from.

How can we trust science when it changes depending on what men deduct. Men thought the world was flat at one time. How mountains and continents have formed has changed during my lifetime. They have never found the missing link that would show the change from ape to man. Evolutionist have never found a link from a specie to another in order to prove their theories. You would think with all the fossils that have been found something would have proved these changes. I'm not trying to put your beliefs down, but I wish you wouldn't put mine down.

 

For those who came in late: I am preacher, reformed. I have a degree in Biblical History, and am working on my masters in theology.

You don't need either to believe in Christ, or God. Muslims believe in God, so do Jews, Mormans as well. And Mormans have the King James Bible, and Jews have the Torah, which is part of the Bible.
SO it's not only the 'Christians' that have something to base beliefs on.

THIS is my Fab Fave part of the post:

As does the Bible. See, it helps when you know about what you are arguing about. The Bible has changed throughout mankind. As of just thirty years ago, when the New International Version (NIV) came out, it was LOADED with inaccuracies. SO much so, they had to revise it with in two years of it's publication. How about when the 1611 King James came out? It had in it the Apocrypha. That was removed from it by 1726. I know. I have a real bible from 1726, and the Apocrypha is not in it. Heck, when you get right to it, the Bible has undergone more changes then the scientific theory on the Big Bang has.

Men in the Bible had slaves at one time. Men in the Bible had multiple wives. Sex with other men. Sex with daughters of other men as payment. Men in the Bible sacrificed animals for sins. Men in the Bible told women to be quiet.

Yeah. So, I think the argument you made there? Not a good one.

And there has never been proof that we came from 'Adam and Eve'. Heck, if you buy the whole Bible, then we came from Noah and his family after the 'Great Flood' but once again, no proof that Noah and the flood happened.
Sorry, but there really is no logic to your Biblical argument being correct either.

But you are trying to put them down. You just did, in a tongue in check kind of way. I know how 'Christians' think; they think because a flawed book called the Bible said it is so, it is.

When it's not.

The funny thing here? I don't really think, outside of reliable time travel, we will ever fully know where we came from. Fossils, old parchments, things like that, are always going to be debatable by both sides.

The thing I don't do, and I wish other 'Christians' would follow my example on, is I wish they would just admit they don't know any more then the 'scientists' know. Because they don't. Neither do the scientists.

Each side is bound by the fact, that it happened before any records were kept, so we can't know for sure.

Really, we can't. We can guess, and base that guess on what we believe is real or not.

 

Please read all of your post. It affirms my statements and I do not put people down because of their beliefs. I do question them when the far right christians affect the political landscape we all pay taxes for. It is amazing to me for any religious person to question skeptics of religion when such questionable behavior from powerful religious sects occur every day in our country, and I do have a problem with religion's influence on U.S politics, whether it is the catholic church's continued abuse of children or the far right telling us about family values, and demeaning everyone that doesn't fit the mold. I do respect your faith and I do have a foundation of 'core' beliefs that assume people will make the right decisions when presented with facts...and facts do evolve.. facts will evolve with research....its not regurgitated fairy tales handed down over centuries.

 

I'll just post pictures but you should go and read about this:

Tiktaalik



Transition between fish and amphibian..

Archeopteryx



Transition between reptile and bird

For some we have enough fossils to show lineage:



As in the evolution of humans from a non-human primate:



I think you'll find you are making decisions and judgements based on faulty or incomplete information.

 

I think that I have been remiss in not mentioning that I really like the new you. And thanks for your great post. It is what I would have written if I had the same knowledge and experience that you have!


This is my favorite part:

Astonishing that some figure that the bible holds all the answers because science changes?? Science is supposed to change! That's what science is! Learning. Trying new pieces of the puzzle to see if they fit. Placing the piece if it fits, or moving on to another piece if it doesn't. Science is methodical. And it is reviewed. And retested. The job of the scientist is to not just fit the puzzle pieces, but to try and tear them apart as well. Nobody is asked to "believe" in science without question. Science is the very act of questioning. To simply believe in one randomly moving target is a tough one for me to swallow. And any kind of questioning of the faith is seen as "putting it down." Science thrives on the questions, and faith dies on the questions. If I don't know the answer to something, I try to figure it out. I don't welcome somebody else telling me how it is and what I should think.

Don't even get me started on the tax benefit of being a religion. A science institution must pay taxes. A religious institution does not. This seems to be the case even when that religious institution preaches about politics. Can anybody tell me why this is so? Or why it *should* be so?

Ok. That felt kinda good. Rant over.

 

The point is the truth of science changes, how can truth change? Opinions can change, but what is true cannot.

 

That's right. In science, opinions based on evidence approaches the truth as more research is done.

The bible changes nilly willy over time and offers no evidence for its purported truth.

Would you care to address your misunderstanding about transitional forms I illustrated?

 

The evidence of transitional forms that you have shown are not proof of anything.
Just a theory and again changes over time with different people's opinion. The bible has not changed (dead sea scrolls) and there has never been any evidence to show the opposite. There have been non-religious support as in Josephus, a historian of the first century. I don't believe we can argue this topic anymore. I believe and you don't and we should honor each others beliefs.

 

I recommend you to watch this, NOVA | Intelligent Design on Trial | Watch the Program | PBS

 

It proves everything. I respect you as an individual. However, I reserve the right to know your beliefs are delusional and the product of wishful thinking and misinformation.

Also, I recommend a look into bible textual criticism which shows how the bible has been changing through millenia.

 

There will always be two sides to this argument those who believe in evolution vs. intelligent-design. We will all discover the answer at the end of our time.

 

Or not.

What the heck is the mystical "truth?" You know the truth because you read it? You reaquire proof of science, yet you simply believe the truth of the bible. Why don't you hold your beliefs to the same scrutiny as mine? Proof of Adam and Eve? Proof of Noah? And you think that the bible has NOT changed????! Yeow.