Friday, April 30, 2010

Conservative evangelical Bruce Waltke ousted for accepting evolution

Fundamentalist like to say that science professionals are heavily pressured to support and believe evolution. It is so f*cking annoying how they accuse others of what they do.


"If the data is overwhelmingly in favor of evolution, to deny that reality will make us a cult -- some odd group that is not really interacting with the world," says Bruce Waltke.

Thursday, April 29, 2010

Incident with an old Christian coot

I went to get my motorcycle inspected today here in the rural Bible Belt region of the good ole' U S of A. I drove up to the garage. The nice thing about being in a rural area is there is little to no waiting. As I drove up there was this old guy watching me. He was admiring my iron steed. After I dismounted he came over and said I had a nice bike and I thank him. He started telling me his very brief experience with bikes and "the" accident that kept him from ever wanting to ride again. It is a odd thing how people love to walk up to us riders thinking we are dying to hear their story. Ah, but some of it is entertaining I have to admit.

Anyway this guy talked scatteringly and suddenly brought up how wonderful God is. I responded "Uh, OK". He continued and stated that that is how we all got here, don't you believe.
I said "Nature brought me here. My mother and my father".
"Oh really", he chortled, "all your parents did was bring two little things together. You can't even see them".
"Well, yes that right, there are lots of things we cannot see."
"I believe I lived before and will stay here a short while and then be with Jesus forever"
"What makes you think you lived before"
"Oh lots of things"
"Please tell me one"
After a second he said, "Well, I cannot think of any at the moment, but I believe in God, Jesus and Creation".
"Good for you, but I don't. You believe in Creation. What do you make of all the fossils?".
"I have lived 80 years and I don't see any fossils. You need to go to Church, my friend"
"Oh, I have been there and done that. I was a minister"
"What kind of minister?"
"Seventh-day Adventist"
"You should come to my church. See it, right over there, the Baptist Church. You need to come and get involved, sing in the choir"
"Really? I can't imagine anyone else being more involved than I was. I dedicated a good share of my life to it. It is not for me"
"You know Jesus is coming. The Bible says a day to God is like a thousand years and Jesus is coming back soon because it has been two thousand years. That is Bible prophecy"
"People see what they want to see in Bible prophecy. It is not very specific"
"Oh, no, friend you got it wrong. Bible prophecy is very specific"
"Don't think so. In the gospels, Jesus was talking to the disciples and others and said 'This generation will not pass away before they see the Kingdom of God'. But he did not return and they are all dead and gone"
"Oh, I sure that Bible text means something else"
"Well, all generations have looked at the prophecies of the Bible and said it applied to them. So the Bible prophecies are unspecific and anybody can apply them to any time."
"You know the most important book in the Bible is the book of John"
"Well, if you believe the Bible is the Word of God, which I don't..."
He almost lunge at me and got up close and said "YOU DON'T BELIEVE THE BIBLE IS THE WORD OF GOD AND YOU WERE A MINISTER". Felt like he was getting ready to slap me.
"Thats right. I have read it and don't believe it is"
"Well, I have read it 5 times and I KNOW it is the Word of God"
"Uh... well I have read it more than 500 times and I don't. Anyway you distracted me from my point. What was it? Oh, yeah. If you believe the Bible is the Word of God then no one book would be more important than the other".
"Oh, well you make a point there"
Luckily at that time the inspector called me to pull my bike up. The old Christian coot paced around frantically mulling over how could a person who was of the same skin color and in the same country believe so horrible a thing. I kept a eye on my bike because he pacing was around it. I thought he might take it out on it, but he didn't and then even though his truck was being worked on he walked away from the station. When I left I couldn't see him.

It is astounding how people can be so scared in their beliefs that they feel threatened when confronted with something different. Christians are ready to condemn Islamic fundamentalist but they don't see themselves in the same mirror. Their hostility is real and as Dylan sang, "If my thought dreams could be seen they probably put my head in a guillotine"

The fool says in his heart there is no God

Christians love to quote this text. The fool says in his heart, "There is no God" as if somehow it is a convincing argument. I could say the fool says in his heart, Santa Claus does not exist. Logically that carries as much weight. Typically most Christians quoting it don't know its' context. The text below shows that NO ONE UNDERSTANDS so they stand equally condemned by this text. This primitive people's God loves to condemn. You might recognize that behavior in his followers.

Psalms 53:1-3
The fool says in his heart, “There is no God.”
They are corrupt, and their ways are vile; there is no one who does good.
God looks down from heaven on the sons of men to see if there are any who understand, any who seek God. Everyone has turned away, they have together become corrupt; there is no one who does good, not even one.

This text is also repeated in Psalms 14. They also loved it back then so much they repeated it.

Another good come back for inane Christians who call you a fool using the above text is Matthew 5:22. Jesus said Anyone who says, ‘You fool!’ will be in danger of the fire of hell.

Dictionary definition of a fool: a person lacking in judgment or prudence.
A fool will believe things that are irrational and stick to it dogmatically. Sounds like Faith. Can the Lord's people give me an Amen?




Wednesday, April 28, 2010

What is Faith?

The effort to believe that which your common-sense tells you is not true.
- Elbert Hubbard

Blind faith is an ironic gift to return to the Creator of human intelligence
- Anonymous

Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not yet seen.
- Hebrews 11:1

Paul recognized how thin faith is. Just a belief and if wrong they are to be pitied above all.

1 Corinthians 15:12-19
But if it is preached that Christ has been raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? If there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith. More than that, we are then found to be false witnesses about God, for we have testified about God that he raised Christ from the dead. But he did not raise him if in fact the dead are not raised. For if the dead are not raised, then Christ has not been raised either. And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins. Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ are lost. If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are to be pitied more than all men.

Monday, April 26, 2010

How many gods are there?

How many Hindu gods are there?
  • 330 million (33 crores) i.e. too many to list.
How many Egyptian Gods are there? Approximately 64 Egyptian. Short list:
  • Osiris
  • Amun, Re(Ra)
  • Nephthys
Actually by the time the xtains/coptics had come along in the mid 400's there was record of over 2000 deities worshipped in Ancient Egypt. Almost every village in Egypt had their own gods. Every time a new Pharaoh came into power the whole culture recognised his gods as the best so they were always changing.

How many Celtic (Druid) gods are there?
  • 24 gods and 49 goddesses - local country gods, examples Welsh, British, Breton, Continental European.
How many major Roman gods are there?
  • Jupiter
  • Neptune
  • Pluto
  • Juno
  • Minerva
  • Mars
  • Apollo
  • Diana
  • Venus
  • Ceres
  • Bacchus
  • Vulcan
  • Mercury
  • Vesta
How many major Greek gods are there?
  • Zeus
  • Hera
  • Poseidon
  • Demeter
  • Hestia
  • Aphrodite
  • Apollo
  • Ares
  • Artemis
  • Athena
  • Hephaestus
  • Hermes
How many Islamic gods are there? One
  • Allah
How many Jewish gods are there? One, maybe more
  • Jehovah. The book of Genesis reads "Let us make man in our image, in our likeness".
How many Christian gods are there? One to Three (trinity) to 10,000
  • Christian churches say there is one god, but each has its own view of that one god and of course He favors their church over others. Christianity pretends it is monotheist and but it is no difference than each village in ancient times having its' own god like Egypt where the Judeo-Christian tradition began.
  • Catholicism has almost 7000 saints which are god-like. They have all kinds of odd vocations - for whales & test takers and against caterpillars, hangovers & SDTs.
The count of gods is moving closer to the actual number - ZERO.


I contend that we are both atheist. I just believe in one fewer god than you do. When you understand why you dismiss all the possible gods, you will understand why I dismiss yours.
- Stephen Henry Roberts

Whoops forgot one more.
How many Buddhist gods are there? ZERO

A well known koan of Buddhism is "If you meet the Buddha on the road, kill him!" Too bad the above religions didn't follow suit with their gods.

Sunday, April 25, 2010

Happy Birthday Fish !

Derek William Dick, better known as Fish (born 25 April 1958, in Dalkeith, Midlothian), is a Scottish progressive rock singer, lyricist and occasional actor. He was the lead singer and song writer of the band Marillion. Great music.

Here is the song called "Script for a Jester's Tear". Lyrically it is quite good and that is true for many songs he has written. He has written songs about divorce and childhood abuse. Powerful stuff. The guy who introduced me to this band in the early 80's really liked them. On first hearing I didn't care for it much. But I respected his opinion and now I have been listing to Marillion when Fish was the lead singer and also really love Fish's solo albums.

Saturday, April 24, 2010

Answers in Genesis - Human evolution

Answers in Genesis is a Fundamentalist website that is fairly worthless except for a good laugh.

Their article on "Did Humans Really Evolve?" is one good for a laugh. The title itself sets the stage for an honest approach - REALLY? They mock those Christians who might believe in evolution right off the bat calling it their bitter pill. Then they state how evolutionist are trying to soften the blow that we didn't evolve from modern great apes but a common ancestor and write that that is only semantics. Soften the blow? How about just pointing out reality. Semantics? Boy no wonder they don't understand the Bible.

Of course they have to write repeatedly there is the great conspiracy in the science community that doesn't allow someone to say anything different than that evolution is entirely true. How soon religious nuts forget their own past. They burned books and people at the stake who disagreed with them. That does not happen in the scientific community. They have a humility no Christian would know of. Disagreement is encouraged because that is how we learn. More is learned by questioning than anything else. A Christian has his 2000+ year old Bible that he doesn't question. How stuck is that and quite arrogant?

Then they point out how few human fossils there are, but not to bother with the why of that. They lie, of course, and say they scientist have deliberately merged bones of apes and humans to come up with an ape man. They forget that the fossils were found by some Christians. They wouldn't lie, would they?

The one hoax they gleeful expound on which is the Piltdown Man with its fake discovery in 1912 by Charles Dawson. It was a skull of a modern man and the jaw of an orangutan. From the outset its' validity was strongly opposed and conclusively rejected in the 1950s. None of that is mentioned. Science exposed it, not a Christian. Big difference. Religion doesn't expose it's errors and sins (see pedophilia and the Church)

They mention our closer human relatives, like Erectus and Neanderthal. They then say Neanderthal is clearly human and expound on it, ignoring Erectus because obviously it challenges their beliefs.

Isn't it funny how they say things about science that they are the most guilty of? Conspiracies, suppression of the truth. They talk about a lack in the fossil record which we do have. Yet evidence for God is zero. Nothing you can actually see and examine.

They conclude with:
No, we are not descended from apes. Rather, God created man as the crown of His creation on Day Six. We are a special creation of God, made in His image, to bring Him glory. What a revolution this truth would make, if our evolutionized culture truly understood it!

Evolutionized culture - Hardly.
We did understand it for about 1500 years. Everyone did, no deniers. It was called the Dark Ages. Believe we have learned enough from that experience.

Note: the article mentions nothing about genetics, DNA, vestiges, ERV, Chromosome 2, embryology, etc.


Friday, April 23, 2010

Happy Birthday Prokofiev

Sergei Sergeyevich Prokofiev, composer, conductor and pianist, was born April 23, 1891 and died March 5, 1953

My favorite work of his is Alexander Nevsky. Here is an excerpt.

José Serebrier conducting the Sydney Symphony Orchestra



Basis of the work: Aggressive Swedish feudals wanted to benefit from Russia's weakness after the Mongol invasion and to capture Russia's access to the Baltic. The young Novgorodian prince Alexander Nevsky met the invaders on the shores of the Neva River and inflicted a heavy defeat on them.

Thursday, April 22, 2010

The Bible says man was made from dirt

We now know that there are many things in the Bible that would fail a science test. In fact I am still on the look out for anything truly scientific. I blogged about its incorrect cosmology. Also, it states a bat is a bird and not a mammal. And it gets the value of Pi wrong. Now let's add to that man is made from dirt like a mud pipe. In the Gospel of Thomas, a book written near time of Christ, that did not make it into the New Testament has Jesus as a child on a river's edge. Someone sees him making twelve birds out of the mud accusing Him of violating the Sabbath. Jesus claps His hands and off they fly. Ancient primitive polytheist and monotheist religions believed we were made from dirt, but now we know that is not true. Bible science - again fail. The Bible, the perfect Word of the of an all-knowing, all seeing, all-powerful God - again fail. One would expect a better description from a perfect book.

Genesis 2:4-7
This is the account of the heavens and the earth when they were created.
When the LORD God made the earth and the heavens—and no shrub of the field had yet appeared on the earth and no plant of the field had yet sprung up, for the LORD God had not sent rain on the earth and there was no man to work the ground, but streams came up from the earth and watered the whole surface of the ground— the LORD God formed the man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being.

Oddly God created everything in the universe except Man with just His Word. But we have to think that man is super-special because we have such a large ego that God put a special ingredient in to create man, dirt. Then to create woman he had to perform surgery yanking out a rib from Adam and made woman.

Sounds like poetry and not science. Some Christians recognize that. It is a myth and is a lot like the myths that existed for other polytheist religions. It would seem that Jews would have tried to take a different path that those myths to separate themselves. But they apparently could think of anything better.

Wednesday, April 21, 2010

Star-nosed mole - Condylura Cristata





Evolution can produce some real oddities. Here is one.

Wiki's description

The star-nosed mole (Condylura cristata) is a little North American mole found in wet low areas of eastern Canada and the north-eastern United States, with records extending along the Atlantic coast as far as extreme southeastern Georgia. It is the only member of the tribe Condylurini and the genus Condylura.

Star-nosed moles are easily identified by the eleven pairs of pink fleshy appendages ringing their snout which are used as a touch organ with more than 25,000 minute sensory receptors, known as Eimer’s organs, with which this hamster-sized mole feels its way around.

The star-nosed mole lives in wet lowland areas and eats small invertebrates, aquatic insects, worms and mollusks. It is a good swimmer and can forage along the bottoms of streams and ponds. Like other moles, this animal digs shallow surface tunnels for foraging; often, these tunnels exit underwater. It is active day and night and remains active in winter, when it has been observed tunnelling through the snow and swimming in ice-covered streams. Little is known about the social behavior of the species, but it is suspected that it is colonial.

The star-nosed mole is covered in thick blackish brown water-repellent fur and has large scaled feet and a long thick tail, which appears to function as a fat storage reserve for the spring breeding season. Adults are 15 to 20 cm in length, weigh about 55 g, and have 44 teeth. The mole's most distinctive feature is a circle of 22 mobile, pink, fleshy tentacles at the end of the snout, from which they derive their name. These are used to identify food by touch, such as worms, insects and crustaceans.

The star-nosed mole mates in late winter or early spring, and the female has one litter of typically 4 or 5 young in late spring or early summer. However, females are known to have a second litter if their first is unsuccessful. At birth, each offspring is about 5 cm long, hairless, and weighs about 1.5 g. Their eyes, ears, and star are all sealed, only opening and becoming useful approximately 14 days after birth. They become independent after about 30 days, and are fully mature after 10 months. Predators include the Red-tailed Hawk, Great Horned Owl, various skunks and mustelids, large fish as well as domestic cats.

The incredibly sensitive nasal tentacles are covered with minute touch receptors known as Eimer's organs. The nose is approximately one centimeter in diameter with approximately 25,000 Eimer's organs distributed on 22 appendages. Eimer's organs were first described in the European mole in 1871 by German zoologist Theodor Eimer. Other mole species also possess Eimer's organs, though they are not as specialized or numerous as in the star-nosed mole. Because the star-nosed mole is functionally blind, it had long been suspected that the snout was used to detect electrical activity in prey animals, though there is little, if any, empirical support for this contention. It appears the nasal star and dentition of this species are primarily adapted to exploit extremely small prey items. A report in the journal Nature gives this animal the title of fastest-eating mammal, taking as short as 120 milliseconds (average: 227 milliseconds) to identify and consume individual food items. Its brain decides in the ultra short time of 8 ms if a prey is comestible or not. This speed is at the limit of the speed of neurons. They also possess the ability to smell underwater. It is done by exhaling air bubbles onto objects or scent trails and then inhaling the bubbles to carry scents back through the nose.

Tuesday, April 20, 2010

Extramarital sex causes more earthquakes

Are fundamental religious people nuts or what? Pat Robertson I am sure agrees with his primitive desert religion monotheist cousin.

From Telegraph.co.uk

Attractive women who snub traditional Islamic clothing to instead wear fashionable clothes and apply heavy make-up, caused youths in the country to “go astray” and have affairs, Ayatollah Kazem Sedighi said.

The hard-line cleric said as a result the country, bounded by several fault lines, experienced more “calamities” such as earthquakes, the reformist Aftab-e Yazd newspaper reported him saying.

Iran is prone to frequent quakes, many of which have been devastating for the country.
"Many women who dress inappropriately ... cause youths to go astray, taint their chastity and incite extramarital sex in society, which increases earthquakes," he told worshippers at a Tehran prayer service late last week.

"Calamities are the result of people's deeds.

“We have no way but conform to Islam to ward off dangers."

The Islamic dress code is mandatory in Iran, which has been under clerical rule for more than three decades.

Every post-pubescent woman regardless of her religion or nationality must cover her hair and bodily contours in public.

Offenders face punishment and fine.

But this has not stopped urban women from appearing in the streets wearing tight coats and flimsy headscarves and layers of skilfully applied make-up.

Experts have warned that a strong quake in Tehran, the Iranian capital, could kill hundreds of thousands of people.

Tehran province has nearly 14 million inhabitants, eight million of whom live in the city, which sits on several fault lines.

Earlier this month, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the country’s president, warned at least five million Tehran residents that they should flee Iran's capital because it is threatened by earthquakes.

Mr Ahmadinejad said that more than two thirds of Iran's 74-million-strong population lived in urban areas.

"We cannot predict when an earthquake will happen. But if anything happens to Tehran province's 13.8 million residents, how can we manage that?" he asked.

The worst in recent times hit the southern city of Bam in December 2003, killing more than 31,000 people – about a quarter of the population – and destroying its ancient mud-built citadel.

Earlier this year the hardline cleric led rallies from Iranian government supporters who denounced opposition students who burned photos of the country's supreme leader during protests in December.

"The issue has reached a point where the picture of Imam Khomeini is insulted," he said.
"They questioned things that are sacred."

He mocked opposition activists who "thought the revolution had been defeated".

What I know about Islam - Pat Condell

A new one from Pat Condell. Always great.

Monday, April 19, 2010

Pelvis and Hip Bone - human evolution

Click on picture for better view

Homo Erectus and Homo Neanderthal


Beside the large brain another evidence of human evolution is the hip bone and pelvis. Knuckle walkers have a flat pelvis while distance walkers have a more horizontal pelvis for supporting the upper body. Bent over apes mainly climbed trees. They need less support for walking and more for grasping and climbing.

The earth went through a major drought millions of years ago and it is believe this favored walking upright because the rain forest in Africa were disappearing. Going long distances required the ability to walk upright because knuckle walking was quite expensive energy-wise. Natural selection was favoring distance walkers. They could find food. The great apes remained local, but humans left Africa and travelled to Europe and Asia.


Human - Gorilla - Chimpanzee - Orangutan - Gibbon
Note the pelvis and hip bones. One other feature is how the legs bend inward for humans.

The famous fossil Lucy shows the bottom half as human and the top half as ape.

Sunday, April 18, 2010

Who survived the longest?

Click on picture for better view



Homo Sapiens haven't been around along time. Homo Erectus, a human cousin, lived a very long time, over a million years so they are so far the most successful human species.

Chart from the human origin exhibit at the Museum of Natural History.

Saturday, April 17, 2010

Family Tree - Genetic Similarity

Here are some very informative charts at the human origin exhibit at the Museum of Natural History in D.C.

This shows the human family tree. There is confusion on evolution. Some think it doesn't make sense for apes to be around as if evolution was a straight line. It instead branches out into amazing variations. After a period of time genetic pools separate and this is why species cannot mate and have true offspring, those that are capable of breeding. A few can breed but their offspring are sterile. An example of that is a male donkey and a female horse producing a sterile mule.

Click on pictures to get a closer view.



This charts shows how genetically similar different animals are. You can how close the Great Ape Family is genetically, chimpanzees being the closest.


Friday, April 16, 2010

Is Mass Out?

There was this woman rushing to Catholic Mass and as she was running up the steps she breathless ask this woman coming down the steps "Is Mass out?". The woman replied "No, but your hat is on crooked".

Comparing early human fossils



Homo Erectus - lived 1.8 to 1.3 million years ago


Homo heidelbergensis - lived 600,000 and 400,000 years ago


Homo Neanderthal - lived about 350,000 years ago. Disappeared about 30,000 years ago

The human origin exhibit at the Museum of Natural History is a great place to see the human fossil record. You can see the progress of human evolution comparing the fossils side by side. Some cast are available for touching. They even have two real fossils, one of Neanderthal and one of Cro-Magnon (35,000 years ago) man. They were on borrow from Musée de l'Homme, Paris Museum. They had signs up for no pictures so I didn't but it was wonderful to actually be able to look at them.


I really don't know how creationist cannot look at these and not realize the Bible is entirely off when it comes to science.

Thursday, April 15, 2010

Sahelanthropus tchadensis



A cast of one the earliest members of the human family. I took a picture of it when I visited the human evolution exhibit at the Museum of Natural History. It is debated if it belongs in Hominid family (includes humans) or lesser apes. This is amazing because it shows evolution and not a designer. Life evolves and is not suddenly created. There are too many transitional features between apes and humans to ignore. A Designer would create things new, not slowly evolve one creature into another unless it was intentionally being deceptive.

This cousin of ours is around 7 million years old. It might be our human and chimpanzee common ancestor, but it is definitely on the family tree.

The S. tchadensis fossils were discovered in the Djurab desert of Chad by a team of four led by Michel Brunet; three Chadians, Adoum Mahamat, Djimdoumalbaye Ahounta and Gongdibé Fanoné, and Frenchman, Alain Beauvilain. All known material of Sahelanthropus were found between July 2001 to March 2002 at three sites.

Hitchens seeks Popes arrest this September

Wednesday, April 14, 2010

Museum of Natural History - morph into early man exhibit

I went to the Museum of Natural History in March 2010 to see the new exhibit on Human Evolution. It is definitely worth the trip. I will be going again.

The kids were really excited by this exhibit that takes a picture of you and then you can have it morph into early man with a couple of choices - Homo heidelbergensis or Homo Neanderthal. After the picture is morphed you can even email it to yourself.




Me as Homo heidelbergensis



Tuesday, April 13, 2010

There is death in heaven


Heaven is where Christians want to go. Look up. Everything is the same. The heavens die as well. How silly it is to think that Adam and Eve eating a piece of fruit here on earth could cause stars to explode and die billions of light years away.

Monday, April 12, 2010

Church condemns Galileo - 1633

Whereas you, Galileo, son of the late Vaincenzo Galilei, Florentine, aged seventy years, were in the year 1615 denounced to this Holy Office for holding as true the false doctrine taught by some that the Sun is the center of the world and immovable and that the Earth moves, and also with a diurnal motion; for having disciples to whom you taught the same doctrine; for holding correspondence with certain mathematicians of Germany concerning the same; for having printed certain letters, entitled "On the Sunspots," wherein you developed the same doctrine as true; and for replying to the objections from the Holy Scriptures, which from time to time were urged against it, by glossing the said Scriptures according to your own meaning: and whereas there was thereupon produced the copy of a document in the form of a letter, purporting to be written by you to one formerly your disciple, and in this divers propositions are set forth, following the position of Copernicus, which are contrary to the true sense and authority of Holy Scripture:
This Holy Tribunal being therefore of intention to proceed against the disorder and mischief thence resulting, which went on increasing to the prejudice of the Holy Faith, by command of His Holiness and of the Most Eminent Lords Cardinals of this supreme and universal Inquisition, the two propositions of the stability of the Sun and the motion of the Earth were by the theological Qualifiers qualified as follows:

The proposition that the Sun is the center of the world and does not move from its place is absurd and false philosophically and formally heretical, because it is expressly contrary to Holy Scripture.

The proposition that the Earth is not the center of the world and immovable but that it moves, and also with a diurnal motion, is equally absurd and false philosophically and theologically considered at least erroneous in faith.

But whereas it was desired at that time to deal leniently with you, it was decreed at the Holy Congregation held before His Holiness on the twenty-fifth of February, 1616, that his Eminence the Lord Cardinal Bellarmine should order you to abandon altogether the said false doctrine and, in the event of your refusal, that an injunction should be imposed upon you by the Commissary of the Holy Office to give up the said doctrine and not to teach it to others, not to defend it, nor even to discuss it; and your failing your acquiescence in this injunction, that you should be imprisoned. In execution of this decree, on the following day at the palace of and in the presence of the Cardinal Bellarmine, after being gently admonished by the said Lord Cardinal, the command was enjoined upon you by the Father Commissary of the Holy Office of that time, before a notary and witnesses, that you were altogether to abandon the said false opinion and not in the future to hold or defend or teach it in any way whatsoever, neither verbally nor in writing; and upon your promising to obey, you were dismissed.


And in order that a doctrine so pernicious might be wholly rooted out and not insinuate itself further to the grave prejudice of Catholic truth, a decree was issued by the Holy Congregation of the Index prohibiting the books which treat of this doctrine and declaring the doctrine itself to be false and wholly contrary to the sacred and divine Scripture.

And whereas a book appeared here recently, printed last year at Florence, the title of which shows that you were the author, this title being: “Dialogue of Galileo Galilei on the Great World System:”; and whereas the Holy Congregation was afterward informed that through the publication of said book the false opinion of the motion of the Earth and the stability of the Sun was daily gaining round, the said book was taken into careful consideration, and in it there was discovered a patent violation of the aforesaid injunction that had been imposed upon you, for in this book you have defended the said opinion previously condemned and to your face declared to be so, although in the said book you strive by various devices to produce the impression that you leave it undecided, and in express terms as probably: which, however, is a most grievous error, as an opinion can in no wise be probable which has been declared and defined to be contrary to divine Scripture.

Therefore by our order you were cited before this Holy office, where, being examined upon our oath, you acknowledged the book to be written and published by you. You confessed that you began to write the said book about ten or twelve years ago, after the command had been imposed upon you as above; that you requested license ot print it without, however, intimating to those who granted you this license that you had been commanded not to hold, defend, or teach the doctrine in question in any way whatever.

You likewise confessed that the writing of the said book is in many places drawn up in such a form that the reader might fancy that the arguments brought forward on the false side are calculated by their cogency to compel conviction rather than to be easy of refutation, excusing yourself for having fallen into an error, as you alleged, so foreign to your intention, by the fact that you had written in dialogue and by the natural complacency that every man feels in regard to his own subtleties and in showing himself more clever than the generality of men in devising, even on behalf of false propositions, ingenious and plausible arguments.

And a suitable term having been assigned to you to prepare your defense, you produced a certificate in the handwriting of his Eminence the Lord Cardinal Bellarmine, procured by you, as you asserted, in order to defend yourself against the calumnies of your enemies, who charged that you had abjured and had been punished by the Holy Office, in which certificate it is declared that you had not abjured and had not been punished but only that the declaration made by His Holiness and published by the Holy Congregation of the Index has been announced to you, wherein it is declared that the doctrine of the motion of the Earth and the stability of the Sun is contrary to the Holy Scriptures and therefore cannot be defended or held. And, as in this certificate there is no mention of the two articles of the injunction, namely, the order not “to teach” and “in any way,” you represented that we ought to believe that in the course of fourteen or sixteen years you had lost all memory of them and that this was why you said nothing of the injunction when you requested permission to print your book. And all this you urged not by way of excuse for your error but that it might be set down to a vainglorious ambitions rather than to malice. But his certificate produced by you in your defense has only aggravated your delinquency, since, although it is there stated that said opinion is contrary to Holy Scripture, you have nevertheless dared to discuss and defend it and to argue its probability; nor does the license artfully and cunningly extorted by you avail you anything, since you did not notify the command imposed upon you.

And whereas it appeared to us that you had not stated the full truth with regard to your intention, we thought it necessary to subject you to a rigorous examination at which (without prejudice, however, to the matters confessed by you and set forth as above with regard to your said intention) you answered like a good Catholic. Therefore, having seen and maturely considered the merits of this your cause, together with your confessions and excuses above-mentioned, and all that ought justly to be seen and considered, we have arrived at the underwritten final sentence against you:

Invoking, therefore, the most holy name of our Lord Jesus Christ and of His most glorious Mother, ever Virgin Mary, but this our final sentence, which sitting in judgment, with the counsel and advice of the Reverend Masters of sacred theology and Doctors of both Laws, our assessors, we deliver in these writings, in the cause and causes at present before us between the Magnificent Carlo Sinceri, Doctor of both Laws, Proctor Fiscal of this Holy Office, of the one part, and your Galileo Galilei, the defendant, here present, examined, tried, and confessed as shown above, of the other part—

We say, pronounce, sentence, and declare that you, the said Galileo, by reason of the matters adduced in trial, and by you confessed as above, have rendered yourself in the judgment of this Holy Office vehemently suspected of heresy, namely, of having believed and held the doctrine—which is false and contrary to the sacred and divine Scriptures—that the Sun is the center of the world and does not move from east to west and that the Earth moves and is not the center of the world; and that an opinion may be held and defended as probably after it has been declared and defined to be contrary to the Holy Scripture; and that consequently you have incurred all the censures and penalties imposed and promulgated in the sacred canons and other constitutions, general and particular, against such delinquents. From which we are content that you be absolved, provided that, first, with a sincere heart and unfeigned faith, you abjure, curse, and detest before use the aforesaid errors and heresies and every other error and heresy contrary to the Catholic and Apostolic Roman Church in the form to be prescribed by us for you.

And in order that this your grave and pernicious error and transgression may not remain altogether unpunished and that you may be more cautious in the future and an example to others that they may abstain from similar delinquencies, we ordain that the book of the “Dialogues of Galileo Galilei” be prohibited by public edict.

We condemn you to the formal prison of this Holy office during our pleasure, and by way of salutary penance we enjoin that for three years to come you repeat once a week at the seven penitential Psalms. Reserving to ourselves liberty to moderate, commute or take off, in whole or in part, the aforesaid penalties and penance.

And so we say, pronounce, sentence, declare, ordain, and reserve in this an din any other better way and form which we can and may rightfully employ.

[Signed:]
F. Cardinal of Ascoli
B. Cardinal Gessi
G. Cardinal Bentivoglio
F. Cardinal Verospi
Fr. D. Cardinal of Cremona
M. Cardinal Ginetti
Fr. Ant. s Cardinal of. S. Onofrio

[Three judges did not sign the sentence: Francesco Barberini (a friend of Galileo), Caspar Borgia, and Laudivio Zacchia.]

Source: Giorgio de Santillana, The Crime of Galileo (University of Chicago Press 1955), pp. 306-310.


Pope Urban VIII (1623-1644) - Despite an early friendship and encouragement for his teachings, Urban was responsible for summoning Galileo to Rome in 1633 to recant his work.

The Church was correct according to Holy Scriptures. I wrote about it awhile back in Bibles incorrect Cosmology

Galileo discovery of the moons of Jupiter and Venus' phases showing it went around the Sun in 1610 led him to think of the earth as the center of the universe as false.

Galileo - 15 February 1564 – 8 January 1642

Sunday, April 11, 2010

Is God benevolent or malevolent?

How much more suffering would there be if God wasn't so omni-benevolent?

Saturday, April 10, 2010

Logic - God is Irrelevant

D stands for Definition
P stands for Premise
C stands for Conclusion

D1: Perfection describes a state wherein the subject is free from flaws, defects or shortcomings
D2: Benevolence describes a state wherein the subject is concern with good and charitable acts
D3: God is defined as having both qualities described in D1 and D2

P1: Given D1, a perfect being requires nothing
P2: Acknowledgement from lesser beings is something
P3: Humans are beings lesser than God
P4: Forgiveness is a good and charitable act

C1: God does not require acknowledgement from Humans (from D1, D3, P1, P2 & P3)
C2: God would forgive the failure of humans to acknowledge Him (from D2, D3 & P4)
C3: Given C1 and C2, belief in God is irrelevant


Friday, April 9, 2010

Who are the enemies of prayer?

Answer:
Militant athiests and anyone who prays to a different God.

This is from a Christian version of Wiki, Wiki Answers The Enemies of Prayer

How ridiculous and so playing the victim. These people are not experiencing any persecution except what is in their head (see the book of Daniel if you believe otherwise).

A Muslim, Hindu or Buddhist in prayer is the Christian's enemy of his prayer? No wonder they say dopey things like the War On Christmas, which was originally a pagan holiday. Must be rough to see enemies everywhere visible and invisible.

Just because I am paranoid, doesn't mean it isn't true. Anyway the voices in my head say it is true.

Thursday, April 8, 2010

How old is the universe?


How old is the universe? Certainly not less than 10,000 years old. Try 13 billion years.

Over 100 billion galaxies in the Universe. These are things a primitive desert religions could never understand.

Wednesday, April 7, 2010

The Prosperity Gospel goes to Ghana

This is an excellent but sad video to watch. The Prosperity Gospel is God wants to make you rich all you have to do is believe in him and PAY YOUR TITHES AND OFFERINGS TO THE CHURCH. It started in the United States, greedy, underhanded Pentecostal ministers squeezed every cent out of their flock. Most of these credulous people are dirt poor to begin with. Only the preacher gets rich and he gloats about it right in front of the church members. Shameful, but they know no shame.

Tuesday, April 6, 2010

Free Will - continued


Yesterday I posted about Free Will and had some miscellaneous thoughts that I really couldn't fit into the article. So I will put them out here.

Free will apparently means we can choose to do good or evil. But if that free will is used to abuse, rape or murder another human being where is the victim's free will? Why does one person's free will evil have to harm another? What kind of perfect divine plan is that?

Christopher Hitichens questions "How can it be free will when God has to give it to you?" You have to have a free will, you have no choice. It is quite circular.

There was a study done not too long ago where scientist said they found the belief gene. Not sure it is entirely true. But what if? Some people believe easily and they cannot understand those who don't believe and visa versa. Perhaps John Calvin is right then. We are simply His toys for His greater glory. Amen and Amen.



Monday, April 5, 2010

Free Will - Christianity & Atheism

Free Will is a key topic in Christianity and like most things it mucks it up more than it explains it. I would suggest the whole belief structure is on a poor foundation and so it becomes difficult to build upon it. God is good. Man is evil. God is always right. Man is always wrong. But if God created everything whence came evil? OK. Give me a sec.... Thinking... Ah, I have it. Man has a free will. That is it. God cannot be blamed for anything bad. In all things God must be justified. As in my post on the seven deadly plagues a few days ago, God is punishing every evil doer with unheard of suffering, but right in the middle you have a voice coming from the altar proclaiming God Is Just. It has to be repeated because it might slip your mind with all this evil shit that God is reining down on man.

It is hard to think we have free will when we are supposedly born in sin, the antithesis of being right with God. Blind, ignorant, living in darkness, broken. We cannot see God, we cannot talk directly to Him. All we have is the Bible and it is quite the little mess. Lots of contradictory statements. Paul said we see through a glass darkly and faith is all we have to go on. No proof. No hard evidence. Just hope and a gut feeling. We are born atheist. We have to be taught that there is a Jehovah, a Moses and a Jesus. Billions over the course of history have never heard their names. But alas He is the only way to salvation.

At least if you believe the story, Adam had a perfect body and mind and he could see and talk to God. God spoke directly to him and said don't eat the fruit of that tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Seems a bit fair even thought it strikes me a Designer problem that Adam failed. But our chances are quite slim to get on the right side. We have all these other gods to choose from and if you happen to be in the West currently your odds are much better to pick the right One. How fair is all that? How does it show we have free will?

Perhaps John Calvin understood the Bible better. His doctrine of predestination carries a lot of weight biblically. It is explained by the acronym TULIP.

T for Total Depravity. Man is entirely corrupt. He only would do evil. Man doesn't do evil all the time only because God will occasionally pop in and wave his wand and someone will do good. Only God can bring someone to Him, no human would do it otherwise.
Romans 8:7 The sinful mind is hostile to God. It does not submit to God’s law, nor can it do so.
John 6:44 No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him, and I will raise him up at the last day.
U is for Unconditional election. Since we are totally depraved and no one would choose God naturally, it is God who picks who to save.
John 15:16 You did not choose me, but I chose you
Ephesians 1:4-5 For God chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love He predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will
L is for Limited atonement. Christ's atoning sacrifice, dying for sins, was for the elect. He did not die for those who reject him because they will ultimately be condemned and have to pay for their sins.
Matthew 1:21 She (Mary) will give birth to a son, and you (Joseph) are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.
Matthew 20:28 the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.
I is for Irresistible grace. Those that God choose will in fact accept Christ. None will refuse.
John 6:37 All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never drive away.
Romans 8:30 And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified.
P is for Perseverance of the saints. This means eternal security. You cannot loose your salvation. If at some point you "fell away", then you were never truly saved.

Many have accepted this but then there are others who reject it because it sounds like we are just His toys and have no free will. Fairly mucked up.

Then there is the atheist point of view on free will. Hmmm.... You know they don't talk about it because there is no need to justify God. No perfect God. No evil world. It simplifies the whole matter. Occam's razor has shaved away all the confusion.

I choose what I choose not because of invisible Man in the sky. I just choose it. I don't war against this evil nature because it is not evil, simply human.


Sunday, April 4, 2010

Praise Jesus and pass me the car

Bay Area Fellowship is giving away cars for Jesus for Easter to explain what Easter is all about. 2 million dollar in gifts.





To flesh-colored Christs that glow in the dark
It's easy to see without looking too far
That not much
Is really sacred.
- Bob Dylan It's Alright Ma, I Am Only Bleeding

Saturday, April 3, 2010

Christian nut justifies his act of murder

WICHITA, Kan.—A man who murdered one of the few U.S. doctors who performed late-term abortions used his sentencing hearing as a forum to espouse his views, arguing he had chosen to obey "God's law" to save babies.

Scott Roeder was sentenced Thursday to life in prison with no possibility of parole for 50 years. It's the longest sentence possible under Kansas law for first-degree murder.

The 52-year-old Kansas City, Mo., man killed George Tiller as he was serving as an usher last May in the foyer of the doctor's church in Wichita.

Roeder also was sentenced to an additional year in prison on each of two counts of aggravated assault for threatening two church ushers. With time off for good behavior, Roeder won't be eligible for parole for 51 years and eight months.

By Roxana Hegeman
Associated Press Writer / April 2, 2010

Christian Terrorist! God's law says Thou shalt not Murder. Apparently Roeder missed that one. He knows what God wants and that is to murder this doctor. What? God cannot do this? He doesn't want to get His hands dirty? What goes on in some minds is unbelievable. Abortion is never condemned in the Bible even though it was a known practice even farther back than Moses. See my blog Abortion. This act isn't any better than an Islamic terrorist strapping a bomb to themselves and setting it off amongst the non-believers. Religion poisons everything

Friday, April 2, 2010

Pope cover up - will justice be served?

So you think Pope Benedict XVI, Joseph Ratzinger, crime of hiding pedophiles is something new? We got spoiled to some degree from the prior Pope, John Paul II, who in comparison was a decent great ape. The Popes have been evil bastards for a very long time. Power totally corrupts them. They take vows of poverty but check out their crib. How many rich people live in a place like this?


I went to see this a few years back. It is amazing to walk towards it because at first it does not seem so big, but then you go Good Lawdy, Lawdy, I should be the Pope. Humility really pays off. Jesus said he had no where to lay his head, not so for his representative on earth.

Remember the Popes are the Vicar of Christ, Jesus' holy representative. St Peter was the first Pope and this is the Bible text to prove it, a quote from Jesus.

Matthew 16:18-19
And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.

For comparison here are some real bastards who were Pope.

Pope (year of reign)

Stephen VII (896-897)
Brutally murdered his predecessor. He was later imprisoned and strangled to death.

John XII (937-964)
Gave land to a mistress, murdered several people and was killed by a jealous husband when he found the Pope in bed with his wife. He made a toast to the devil with wine. When he gambled he asked Jupiter and Venus to bless him.

Benedict IX (1032-1044, 1045, 1047-1048)
He sold the Papacy because he wanted to get married, selling it to his godfather, Gregory VI. With regret he returned to Rome and re-claimed the throne. Many continued to recognize Gregory VI as the true pope. Benedict was accused of adultery and murders.

Urban II (1088-1099)
Many Catholic priest were getting married. Urban would have none of this so he imprisoned them for life and sold their wives and children into slavery.

Gregory IX (1227-1241)
He burned many heretics.

Boniface VIII (1294-1303)
Lampooned in Dante's Divine Comedy. He decreed the only way to salvation was to acknowledge him as the vicar of Christ. He had a major feud with France's King Philip IV which ultimately lead to Boniface ex-communicating Philip and Philip having Boniface almost to beaten to death.

Urban VI (1378-1389)
Tortured Cardinals who conspired against him and complained he did not hear enough screaming. He wrote an edict that evangelism was to be done by force and arms if needed.

Alexander VI (1431-1503)
He collected money for indulgences and to make men cardinals. While off to war he put his daughter Lucrezia in charge of the Holy See. He later arranged a marriage for his daughter to a very wealthy Duke and it is written in some papal documents he had a son with his own daughter.

Sixtus IV (1471-1484)
Heavy into nepotism, making two of his nephews cardinals and title and money to other relatives. He sold licenses for brothels, taxed priests who kept mistresses and sold indulgences for the dead to their grieving loved ones.

Innocent VIII (1484-1492)
He opening acknowledged his mistress and illegitimate children. Gave money, titles and land to whoever he chose. He tortured and burned witches.

Alexander VI (1492-1503)
Used bribery to move up the heirarchy. Lots of nepotism including the teenage brother of his mistress who later became Paul III. Suspected of orgies and murder of his rivals. Married off his daughter three times to build alliances and murdered the man she wanted to marry.

Leo X (1513-1521)
His spending bankrupted the papacy in two years. He pawned St Peter's furnishing and licensed more brothels. His lifestyle encouraged Martin Luther to post his 95 Thesis.

Clement VII (1523-1534)
His politics with France, Spain and Germany caused Rome to get sacked.

Paul III (1534-1549)
See Alexander VI above. He made his two teenage grandson's cardinals. He was free with the ladies. He ex-communicated King Henry VIII of England.

Julius III (1550-1555)
Into nepotism, gluttony, gambling. He made one of his male lovers a cardinal.

Pious XII (1939-1958)
Anti-Semitic, racist and was nicknamed Hitler's Pope.


A horrible lot. Many crimes unpunished. Will this Pope pay for his horrid crime? History shows no, but one can hope.

Does being a believer make you a better person? Would it motivate you to even turn in a pedophile?

Thursday, April 1, 2010

Catholic Bill Donohue redefines pedophila

On a recent Larry King Live, professional overzealous defender of the Catholic Church Bill Donohue explained to Sinead O'Connor that it's not pedophilia if the victim is 12 or 13.


Bill says how wonderful the Pope has taken important steps to prevent practicing homosexuals to get into the priesthood to begin with.

One a homosexual is not a pedophile and two if you are supposed to be celibate why would anyone having sex be allowed into the priesthood. Religion is a screwed up mess.

He should have said that the Pope has taken important steps to report pedophile clergy to the police and those who harbor them like any normal person would.

And he goes on about how the other religions and schools should look at the Catholic Church as a model of excellence and there is a lot Catholic Church could teach them. God Damn, Man.

The seven plagues of the Apocalypse

I was watching a show on the History Channel called "The Apocalypse". It used Revelation 16 as its' premise. They had religious nuts on the show and "scientist". The "scientist" were trying to explain how the plagues could come about with their understanding of the earth's processes and they were quite lame. They even asked tellingly "How can we tell this event is from God or was it just another non-divine event?". What's the matter God? Cat got your tongue. Give me a break. The religious nuts were there to say you better watch out, it is going to happen, this is a warning from God. Lots of ominous music and fast camera work to heighten the fears.

The seven plagues are
  1. Land - ugly and painful sores on those who worship the beast 16:2
  2. Sea - turns to blood and everything within the sea dies 16:3
  3. Rivers & Springs - turns to blood, pay back for shedding the blood of the saints. Someone shouts from the alter True and Just is God. LOL 16:4
  4. Sun - people scorched with intense heat and fire. They curse God and refuse to repent 16:8
  5. Darkness - Total darkness. Men gnawed on their tongues, curse God and refuse to repent 16:10
  6. River - dries up. Evil men perform miracles deceiving the evil doers. God is going to come like a thief. WTF 16:12
  7. Air -lightning, worst earthquake ever, islands and mountains disappear, huge hailstones 16:17
It is so the Moses let-my-people-go story rehashed, which is so overdone in the Bible.

What is the point of all these plagues? To scare the shit out of you, for you to feel helpless.

What does it really mean? Christians are scared shitless and need to pass that on. They don't believe they are right but use threats to prove it. Like closeted homosexual politicians fighting against gay marriage. A loving, honest person doesn't need to threaten especially if you think death is nothing and you will live in heaven forever.

And what is the BS that God is just? Let's see this guy is all powerful. There isn't anything he cannot do. So, instead of just coming down and sitting with us and straightening us out directly he has to secretly punish us. Was this one from God or not? All this evil is happening and we are suppose to recognize it is coming from him? Really? I thought he didn't do evil. The Bible is such a mixed up book. But what would you expect from a primitive desert religion?