If you find a pro-life person who believes abortion is not allowed even in the case of rape, pose this question.
Suppose a married woman gets pregnant by a man who is not her husband, can she have an abortion?
No? Well, it is all right by God. In fact that is exactly what he did. King David saw Bathsheba, she was hot, he was horny. Her husband Uriah was off to war for David and Jehovah. Well, she got pregnant. David called Uriah back and wanted him to stup his wife, hoping that would be a good coverup. But Uriah was devoted to his king and refused to do that. Killing good, sex bad. Make War Not Love. David called in his commander and told him to put Uriah out on the front line. When the enemy attacked drop back and let them kill Uriah. And so it was done. God spoke to Nathan, His prophet, about this and told him to tell David of his sin and what David's punishment will be. Does David get the punishment? No, God kills an innocent baby. It was full term. Note God's biggest problem is what others think.
2 Samuel 12:13-14
Then David said to Nathan, “I have sinned against the LORD.” Nathan replied, “The LORD has taken away your sin. You are not going to die. But because by doing this you have made the enemies of the LORD show utter contempt,the son born to you will die.”
A bit later in the book of Samuel, God aborts seven of King Saul's kids which David, his successor, would have never done (wink, wink). Hmmm... What to do? What to do? God speaks to David telling him the past 3 years of famine were because of what Saul had done to the people of Gibeonites. So they need some kind of restitution. What could they possibly want? They reply they couldn't possibly take gold from Saul's kids because that wouldn't be right. But rahter they want his children dead as if that was a lesser punishment. You know, God could have struck down all these children but instead He (or rather David) used a contorted way to get rid of H(h)is rivals and H(david)e wouldn't do the direct killing. Just an example of an after-birth abortion for unwanted children. Yes, they were adults, but it was done with hate as in thou shalt not murder. Mothers who abort don't do it with hate, but great sadness.
To say that God is against abortion doesn't line up with the "facts" of the BuyBull.
The Meat Puppets are an American rock band formed in January 1980, in Phoenix, Arizona. The group's original lineup was Curt Kirkwood (guitar/vocals), his brother Cris Kirkwood (bass guitar), and Derrick Bostrom (drums).
Where do bad folks go when they die
They don't go to heaven where the angels fly
Go to a lake of fire and fry
Don't see them again 'till the Fourth of July
I knew a lady who came from Duluth
Bitten by a dog with a rabid tooth
She went to her grave just a little too soon
flew away howling on the yellow moon
Where do bad folks go when they die
They don't go to heaven where the angels fly
Go to a lake of fire and fry
Don't see them again 'till the Fourth of July
People cry and people moan
Look for a dry place to call their home
Try to find some place to rest their bones
While the angels and the devils try to make 'em their own
Where do bad folks go when they die
They don't go to heaven where the angels fly
Go to a lake of fire and fry
Don't see them again 'till the Fourth of July
Nirvana's version is quite good. Kurt Cobain was a fan of the Meat Puppets
Did you know the righteous cast lots to find out God's will? Is this not unlike consulting a Ouija board? Instead of a Ouija board they used something called an Urim and a Thummin. These are referred to as casting lots or consulting the Lord. This really shows how superstitious based judeo-christian faith is. The priest from the days of Moses carried these divination tools on their sacred breastplate as they went before the Lord in the holy temple. And apparently everyone had a copy.
Leviticus, chapter 18. Moses is getting information from God on what to do for the Day Of Atonement, Yom Kippur. First Aaron is to kill a bull for himself and his family. The he gets two goats (no blemishes please) and cast lots to decide which one is sacrificed and which one is the scapegoat who carries their sins out of the camp to the desert. Killing one ain't enough. So, is God in charge of every roll of the dice?
Proverbs 16:33
The lot is cast into the lap, but its every decision is from the LORD.
Oh, so He does. Well then why does He alway favor the house?
Joshua, chapter 18. God's chosen people have finally entered the promised land and they need to divide up the land amongst the tribes. Joshua gets a tad irritated because they haven't taken care of it. So he sends out 3 men from each tribe to survey the land. Now this is the promised land and one would expect God to have had specifics where he wanted them to be. He does have His favorites after all. But not a word. Joshua decides "I will cast lots for you in the presence of the LORD our God." A roll of the dice when you cannot wait for God to wake up and talk to you.
1 Samuel, chapter 14 The first king of Israel, Saul, went to war against the Philistines. He told his troops to not eat anything while they were killing. (What the hell was his problem?). However, his son Jonathan didn't hear this and after being a major reason for the winning of the battle found some honey and ate it. A fellow warrior told him at that point of his father's command. This ultimately got back to Saul and he demanded to know who had "sinned". The men didn't want to rat out Jonathan because they liked him. So Saul prayed to the god of the dice (lots) and cast them. It ultimately led to Jonathan. Saul said "May God deal with me, be it ever so severely, if you do not die, Jonathan". Oaths in the OT invariably start with that first phrase. Who knows if God would even care? Fortunately the men spoke up for Jonathan and cooled down Saul from his now worthless oath. Why do we need truth serums and torture, when casting lots is far more effective?
Acts, chapter 1 Judas after betraying Christ either went back to the temple throwing the money back to the priests and hung himself (Matt 27:5-8) or used the money, buying a field and fell to his death there (Acts 1:18-19). But the Bible does not contradict itself, mind you. Anyway either way it left a position opened in the apostleship. There were two applicants, Barsabbas (aka Justus) and Matthias. They prayed to God for help. Seems like another important decision that God could have provided his holy opinion on, but oh well. However, by now we know God controls the flip of every coin, the roll of every dice. It is not like evolution, it is random. The lot fell to Matthias thus leaving Barsabbas as the Pete Best of the apostles.
I go now and again to the Christian Post to see what the crazies are doing. One recent article was about how hard the Bible is. The author, John Piper, even quotes Peter saying even for Peter it was hard but evil people (like me) twist it to their eternal damnation. But have no fear John Piper will give us the straight poop in upcoming articles.
I posted this comment (currently 13 readers disagree with it):
It is hard because the bible is flawed and has contradictions. Biblical authors had differing viewpoints just as today. You cannot get a Mormon to agree with a Seventh-day Adventist. Knowing that this is a primitive book and differing viewpoints on what life is all about, really clears up any issues. Take what you like and leave the rest.
A reader waltman had to try and save me. I bet if I replied to this and didn't thank him for showing me the light he would tell me I am going to hell. Too bored to do that. But his reply amused me.
Dear exminister, everyone has doubts and our hearts are prone to wander. We are so weak and the evil one is strong but God is far stronger and He can restore your faith. King David, one my heros, struggled with doubts. In Psalm 35:3b he said Say to my soul, "I am your salvation!" David had doubts and he cried out for reassurance. All Christians will go through times when we don’t feel his presence but we are not to be content in them. We are to cry out for God to comfort our souls and He will.
Matthew 7: 7 “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. 8 For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.” That doesn’t mean turn the TV off for 5 seconds and pray. Seek God like you would chase after something that could be the answer to the very innermost longings of your heart.
If you don’t trust in the whole Bible then at least trust in the gospel for that is the key to hope, joy and love. “The gospel is not a complicated message. At its core the gospel is a love story. God loves humanity. Humanity breaks God’s heart. God sacrifices His Son to heal the rift. And, to those humans who respond in faith, they live happily ever after.”
The Bible and other historical texts confirm that Jesus’ enemies and followers believed He died on the cross and many witnesses believed to their very deaths that He rose again. Belief in the gospel is not blind faith but it is rock solid. Don’t bet your eternity that Jesus tricked the Roman soldiers that He was dead or that His early followers hid the body so they could live a life of poverty and persecution.
And if you believe in the gospel and really live it out it changes everything. We know that God loves us unconditionally because He died for us while we were still sinners and His enemies. If you’ve turned your back on Holy God you can know He still loves you and has given everything to get you back. He wants you back.
Rejoice in this good news. Say it out loud: “God loves me. I am the object of His affection. When I sin it grieves His spirit. When I cry He cries with me. When I rejoice it brings Jesus joy.” God gave everything that we might possess all. The whole gospel leads to one place – "that we might forever enjoy the glory of God," said Piper. Enjoy Christ who died for you.
Meditate on the gospel, enjoy the gospel, bathe in the gospel. When you do you will want to know Him more. It’s true that the Bible can be confusing but when you read it as a letter from the one who loves you more than any other so much more is clear. Listen to pastors like John Piper and let them feed you. Pray without ceasing and cry out that God would say to your soul “I am your salvation!”
My heart doesn't wander, it just doesn't buy BS. I don't need to cry out to an all-seeing, all-knowing God. Been there done that, got the t-shirt. Jesus said knock and it will be open to you. He didn't say frantically pound.
Hey check it out I don't have to believe the whole Bible. Maybe it is not perfect - Oh No. LOL.
It is not complicated. Oh course not. Look at how many non-skeptical, unintelligent people believe it. It is not complicated but apparently it is hard. Maybe because they don't accept it is a flawed book. You just cannot get all the parts to agree with each other. It is so much easier accepting the truth than fighting it or twisting it to make it fit.
At least trust the gospel? God created me to die and suffer, but wait, he will kill himself to appease himself so I can be with him. If you saw a human doing that you would call him insane. God loves humanity. HA...HA...HA. If waltman treated his child that way he would get locked up.
I cannot talk to any witnesses who say Jesus rose from the dead. It is blind faith and would not hold up in an honest court of law. He says he know this but he doesn't.
I am not betting my eternity on some made up story. If I do that I will have to start believing every story I read. Pascal's Wager is for idiots, even Paul the Apostle agrees - 1 Corinthians 15:12-19
Meditate, bathe the gospel. Let John Piper feed me. In other words force yourself to believe the bullshit. Pass.
This is a church sign on one of my recent Sunday rides.
A Church Without Closets
It strikes me very odd because they are they ones who build the closets. Atheist only until modern times weren't even allowed to voice what they believe. They would be persecuted to death and where the Righteous have they power, such as Ghana today, they will do it. The Bible tells them to stone all kinds of people who are different.
Things you can be put to death for (stoning unless noted otherwise)
if you are a medium (Lev 20:27)
if you blaspheme Jehovah's name (Lev 24:16)
if you worship a different god (Deu 13:6-10)
if you rebel against your parents (Deu 21:18-21)
if you are a drunk (Deu 21:18-21)
if you are a woman who is not a virgin when she marries (Deu 22:20,21)
if you are gay (Lev 20:13)
if you work on the Sabbath (Num 15:32-26)
if you are a witch (Lev 20:27)
if your father is a priest and you become a prostitute (burned to death) (Lev 21:9)
if you are a woman and you didn't scream loud enough when you raped (Deu 22:23-24)
By Jesus' time if you even think something wrong you will burn in hell for ever. Well, you were born in sin so it doesn't matter what you do, say or think you are going to hell. But the punisher is also the deliverer.
So there are tons of reason for people to hide. And don't think that facade of a smile on the church goers is there naturally. They have to paste it on to avoid being hassled or worse. Praise Jesus. If I don't believe in Him I am going to Hell so I better pretend I love the Big Guy who put me in this mess only to save me and I have to ignore the former and give him credit for the latter.
I like to think about what sign I could post right next to the one presented. Here is mine:
Last chapter of 1st Kings is yet another decision by God's chosen on whether to go to war. The God of Abraham is one bloody bastard. The King of Aram has some of God's territory, the biblical lebensraum, called Ramoth Gilead. This irks the king of Israel, Ahab, and so he talks to the king of Judah, Jehoshaphat, about going to war against Aram. Jehoshaphat replies we need to seek the counsel of the Lord before we start our killing. So the king of Israel gets 400 prophets and ask them if they should go to war. In total unity they say yes, the Lord says yes. Jehoshaphat needs more. He wants another prophet of the Lord. The king of Israel say there is one but he always predicts bad shit. His name is Micaiah. But he finally takes a chance. Jehoshaphat asks Micaiah, "Shall we go to war?". Micaiah replies "Attack and be victorious for the Lord will give it into the king's hand."
Jehoshaphat cannot believe his ears and presses him more. You always tell me bad news why the change? How many times must I make you swear this is the truth?
Micaiah then tells him the truth that God will send lying spirits to entice him to war saying it will be good but it will not and will send him to his death and dogs will lick up his blood. Gotta give the Lord Almighty credit for grossing it up (AND HE LOVES YOU).
1 Kings 22:19-23
Micaiah continued, “Therefore hear the word of the LORD: I saw the LORD sitting on his throne with all the host of heaven standing around him on his right and on his left. (ed: Ain't that special?) And the LORD said, ‘Who will entice Ahab into attacking Ramoth Gilead and going to his death there?’ “One suggested this, and another that. Finally, a spirit came forward, stood before the LORD and said, ‘I will entice him.’ “‘By what means?’ the LORD asked. “‘I will go out and be a lying spirit in the mouths of all his prophets,’ he said. “‘You will succeed in enticing him,’ said the LORD. ‘Go and do it.’ “So now the LORD has put a lying spirit in the mouths of all these prophets of yours. The LORD has decreed disaster for you.”
Again God is do as I say, not as I do. Interesting he needs someone to lie for him. There are internal beliefs in churches that it is OK to lie to cover up the churches sins. I did a post about that a few weeks ago regarding a Jehovah Witness "apostasy" Telling The Truth Is Apostasy For Jehovah Witnesses. They used the story of Rehab in the book of Joshua, but this story of Ahab works just as well.
So if God can lie for the sole purpose of causing lots of bloodshed what can we trust in the Bible? How can you trust such a God? Maybe it is entirely a cosmic joke. Or more likely a bunch of witty men who said how much bullshit can we put out and people still believe it. Apparently quite a lot.
There is a God who is a personal being and all knowing.
Humans are personal beings but are limited in our knowledge
Personal beings have free will
In order to have free will, you must have more than one option, each of which is avoidable. This means that before you make a choice, there must be a state of uncertainty before the decision is final.
A being who knows everything can have no "state of uncertainty". There are no options to weigh. It knows in advance what it will do for all eternity. Since it has no choice it has no free will.
Since a being that lacks free will is not a personal being, a personal being who knows everything cannot exist.
So, we can now logically conclude that omniscience, and free will, are completely incompatible.
To refine the argument :
God is defined as a personal being who knows everything.
Personal beings have free will.
In order to have free will, you must have more than one option, each of which is avoidable. This means that before you make a choice, there must be a state of uncertainty during a period of potential: you cannot know the future. Even if you think you can predict your decision, if you claim to have free will, you must admit the potential (if not the desire) to change your mind before the decision is final.
A being who knows everything can have no "state of uncertainty". It knows its choices in advance.
A being that knows its choices in advance has no potential to avoid its choices, and therefore lacks free will.
Since a being that lacks free will is not a personal being, a personal being who knows everything cannot exist.
Looking on the outside of animals you think what a lovely design, but looking inside you are impressed how messy it is and nothing a good, much less a perfect designer would produce. History is written all over animals showing their evolution. The recurrent laryngeal nerve is an excellent example and a creationist nightmare. Why would God make a nerve that aids in swallowing and talking go from the brain, down to the heart, bypassing the larynx, and come back all the way up again to attach to the larynx? It is the same for all mammals including humans. This is why someone can lose their voice with a blow to the chest. The giraffe nerve is extraordinary. This nerve can be 14 feet long and yet a designer could simply have made it just a few inches. Evolution explains this easily. We evolve from a common ancestor which was more fish-like and in a fish it is a simple straight line. There are many imperfections in all modern animals, but they show the glorious signs of history, evolutionary history. This is a wonderful show and it is attended by some brilliant people. The discussion of the laryngeal nerve begins at 7:00 in the 2nd video and continues on the 3rd. Creationist have no explanation for such a poor design.
Hopefully this kid didn't buy the BS from preacher man. He points to a building and says who created that? The kid smiles - humans. The preacher man says well look at nature who created that? Somehow we are to assume Jesus. But for me I would take him back to the building and ask what was the name of the guy who built that? Oh, it wasn't a guy, it was a bunch of guys. Oh, preacher man, you are a polytheist. Was it Zeus and Hephaestus who created the trees and birds?
Some great comments on Youtube:
Nothing but an arrogant, sanctimonious asshole pretending he has something intelligent to say while he dares to spew one stupid fallacy after another that have been thoroughly refuted so many times in the past. Characteristically, the ignorant don't know when they are ignorant.
As usual, these Christians are never interested in a debate. They are merely interested in preaching. It's always so. Always. And the bullshit about the Bible prophesying anything is absurd. This guy should read the Bible more carefully.
Just read Ezekiel chapter 37, it doesn't mention any names of any modern countries at all. It mentions 'Gomer', but that could be any central European country, once again a very vague prophecy.
Neil Percival Young, (born November 12, 1945 in Toronto, Canada) is a Canadian singer-songwriter who has a great solo career and before was part of Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young. With them wrote and sang the great song "Ohio".
I got to go to a Farm Aid concert back in the 80's and he had just come out with Rockin' in the Free World. The simplicity and power of it blew my mind.
Because Atheism is a rejection of an idea and doesn't propose a new one it is hard to build an movement around it. You can't use it control populations or galvanize political action.
There isn't a better pianist alive than Valentina Lisitsa. She is today's Liszt. She truly understands Chopin, such passion. I can only watch in awe. I plan to see her Baltimore performance in February. It would be such an honor.
And here is Rachmaninoff's Prelude in G Minor, Op. 23. INCREDIBLE
Rachmaninoff Etude Op. 39 No. 6 "Little Red Riding Hood" - How does she do it?
The Bible's second book called Exodus is the story of Moses and how he led his people out of Egypt. Moses was found by Pharoah's daughter in a river and she took him as her own while conveniently finding Moses's real mother who nursed him. Moses grew up in the house of Pharoah, but he knew he was a Hebrew and felt this need to save them. He saw an Egyptian beating a Hebrew and Moses killed the Egyptian. Later he saw two Hebrews fighting and told them to stop. One of them said "Who made you ruler over us? Are you going to kill me like you did the Egyptian?". This freaked him out so he ran away to live in Midian.
Times passes. He gets married to Zipporah. Then one day he was tending his father-in-law's (Jethro) flock. He sees a bush burning and then God calls out to him from the bush. God lets Moses in on His plan that He will use him to lead his people out of Egypt. Moses is reluctant. So God gives Moses some magical tricks. First trick is He tells Moses to throw down his staff and in doing so it turns into a snake which scares Moses, but God tells him to pick it up by the tail and it turns back to a staff. Second trick is God tells him to put his hand inside his cloak and then pull it out. His hand now is gross, it looks like leprosy. He tells Moses to put it back in and pull it out. All better. Third trick is to take some water from the Nile and pour it on dry ground. It will turn to blood. Moses may be impressed but he still is worried because he has some speech impediment. So God agrees to use Aaron as Moses' mouthpiece.
God spent a lot of time preparing Moses for His divine plan and God surely must know the future. Seems God would be real good at having all his ducks in a row.
Moses tells his father-in-law he needs to go back to Egypt. Jethro (Bodeen?) wishes him well. God again speaks to Moses and said "Everyone is dead who would harm you, go back to Egypt and when you get there do all the great tricks. And even though I have given you all these neat tricks to impress Pharaoh he will not believe you because I, God Jehovah, have harden his heart". Oy! What a game. God even up front tells Moses to threaten Pharoah in that God will kill Pharoah's own firstborn son because he will not let God's first born child, Israel, go. So, Moses with family and friends in tow sets out for Egypt. Appears the divine plan is now in play.
Immediately without explanation this is the next text:
Exodus 4:24-26
At a lodging place on the way, the LORD met [Moses] and was about to kill him. But Zipporah took a flint knife, cut off her son’s foreskin and touched [Moses’] feet with it. “Surely you are a bridegroom of blood to me,” she said. So the LORD let him alone. (At that time she said “bridegroom of blood,” referring to circumcision.)
WHAT??? That is the entire story. The next text is Moses meeting his brother Aaron along the way and them kissing each other.
So, God didn't see that coming until Moses left? God blabs on and on and gives Moses all these tricks and His great divine plan to free His people. Was this an after-thought? Was God rehearsing in his mind all the stuff He meant to tell Moses and then went "Shit, I forgot about the circumcision thing" and rushed down to kill Moses? Wouldn't a friendly reminder at the burning bush have been sufficient? Bizarre. Apparently this God isn't all-knowing and a tad forgetful and instead of being pissed at Himself he takes it out on His dopey creation. Typical !
Anyway I think it would make a great band name. Ladies and Gentleman, give a great round of applause for the "Bridegroom Of Blood". Crowd roars "Yeahhh!!!!"
An anointed Jehovah Witness of 50 years was called before the church elders who charged him with apostasy in July 2005. He secretly recorded the meeting even at one point while he was out of the room.
Rick Ferin likens himself to the prophet Ezekiel crying against the church. He was in the anointed class and in fact that is their role to expose evil. His crime was he spoke the truth about sins of the church. He and his wife were charged with apostasy and kicked out of the church. You can listen to the Judicial Committee and Appeal Hearings. It is quite lengthy, perhaps 4-5 hours, but it is interesting to hear the inner workings of the committee. They clearly state that he is telling the truth, but that is his apostasy. The dirty laundry is never to be brought to light. He is accused of causing discord. It is both sad and funny to listen to them hash this out and they keep looking for Bible text to justify their condemnation. He is condemned they are just trying to figure out how to justify it. They also say they need to keep their disfellowship positive. That he is given to right of appeal and if he repents they will welcome him back. Repent? This means to lie about what you see. Shut up and protect. They think they have a case against him because he was seen with the "heretical" upper room ministries. But they even admit it is a straw man and make vain attempts to place the charge against him. It is interesting how they talk in low-tones when Rick is out of the room.
The truth he spoke about the church.
Sin 1: The Watch Tower had over 4000 references stating that the U.N. is of the devil. Yet, the church secretly supported it for a decade being a non-governmental organization, an NGO and under cover of night withdrew. The elders don't disagree with him.
Sin 2: Mr. Ferin says there is widespread pedophilia in the church. Jehovah Witness' protect their own, just like the Catholics. The elders don't deny this either. Mr. Ferin states there are about 23,000 cases. This is a pedophile paradise.
Sin 3: He accuses the Watch Tower of promoting hate crimes against evil doers. The elders don't clearly say this isn't true.
The church told the Ferin's children and grandchildren not to speak to their apostate father and mother. Even though one daughter only lives 2 miles away she avoids them. When she saw her mother in the grocery store she walked away in the other direction.
Odd things I heard on this audio. There are three classes of Jehovah Witnesses. The anointed, the great cloud and the conscientious class. The anointed are under the new covenant and only the New Testament applies. The great cloud is most members and only the Old Testament applies. The conscientious class is about 2.5 million people who are terrified to speak against the church because the church will separate them and they can lose family and friends.
What is theocratic warfare? This Witness policy is somewhat secret in the church stating that it is ok to lie if doing so would promote Jehovah's kingdom. The story of Rahab in the Bible is used to justify this policy.
The elders identified themselves as messengers of God and annointed by the slave.
The text they used to condemn Rick & his wife
Romans 16:17-18 I urge you, brothers, to watch out for those who cause divisions and put obstacles in your way that are contrary to the teaching you have learned. Keep away from them. For such people are not serving our Lord Christ, but their own appetites. By smooth talk and flattery they deceive the minds of naive people.
Titus 3:9-11 But avoid foolish controversies and genealogies and arguments and quarrels about the law, because these are unprofitable and useless. Warn a divisive person once, and then warn him a second time. After that, have nothing to do with him. You may be sure that such a man is warped and sinful; he is self-condemned.
2 Timothy 2:16, 18 Avoid godless chatter, because those who indulge in it will become more and more ungodly. Their teaching will spread like gangrene. Among them are Hymenaeus and Philetus, who have wandered away from the truth. (NB: the elders stop here and don't finish the text by choice, because they are not taking it literally) They say that the resurrection has already taken place, and they destroy the faith of some.
Mr. Ferin and the elders have a food fight with Bible text. It is so amusing, shows how foolish it is and also how they can twist it to mean what they want.
I give a lot of credit to Mr. Ferin for standing up within the church. Churches are far more divided than it appears on the outside. Why wouldn't there be over 10,000 Christian denominations. This division is good news and bad news. The good news is it shows the human spirit is not entirely crushed but the bad news it mostly is. Let's talk about how God has to exists so humans can have morals. LOL.
Franz Liszt (October 22, 1811 – July 31, 1886) was a Hungarian composer, virtuoso pianist and teacher. Liszt became renowned throughout Europe during the 19th century for his great skill as a performer. He was said by his contemporaries to have been the most technically advanced pianist of his age and perhaps the greatest pianist of all time. He was also an important and influential composer, a notable piano teacher, a conductor who contributed significantly to the modern development of the art, and a benefactor to other composers and performers, notably Richard Wagner, Hector Berlioz, Camille Saint-Saëns, Edvard Grieg and Alexander Borodin.
Here Valentina Lisita plays Liszt's "La Campanella". She plays with great sensitivity and feel. Magnifico.
The Christian Church became the victors when the Roman Emperor Constantine became a convert (313 A.D.). Victors are the ones who write history. After his conversion he saw the church in complete disarray and divided each thinking they had the truth (like the Christian churches today). He got together a bunch of bishops who were like minded and they poured through the hundreds of sacred text and decided which ones were to be in the Bible. After they compiled their short list he condemned the others and made an edict that those "heretical" books be burned. Once such book is the Apocryphon of John, the secret revelation of John the apostle. The same author who supposedly wrote Revelation, the last book in our modern Bible. Irenaeus condemned this book in 185 AD, so this book was a very early manuscript. Fortunately some people buried these "heretical" books and they were discovered by modern archeologists.
John, the apostle, was being challenged by the Pharisees and it disturbed him. A morphing angel comes to him and pulls back the curtain on creation and reveals who Jehovah God is. John writes:
And when he (Jehovah) saw the creation which surrounds him, and the multitude of the angels around him which had come forth from him, he said to them, 'I am a jealous God, and there is no other God beside me.' But by announcing this he indicated to the angels who attended him that there exists another God. For if there were no other one, of whom would he be jealous?
Very interesting point. Then John proceeds to tell us about those other gods. Here is a summary.
Monad, the invisible One - above everything, more than a god, everything exist in him, unsearchable, unnameable, no one existed prior to him to give him a name.
Monad gave thought and she came forth, the first power, Barbelo, the womb of everything, virginal spirit. She requested forethought, indestructibility, truth and he consented.
Barbelo gave thought and Autogenes, the Christ, came forth. He was given authority and truth over everything.
Sophia of the Epinoia emanated from the Christ. Sophia conceived a thought without the consent or consideration of the above spirits. Her thought could not remain idle because of her invincible power and it came forth imperfect without her consort. She called him Yaltabaoth. He became arrogant and only knew his mother and not Monad, Barbelo, Autogenese (the Christ) or any other perfect god. He left his mother's side and created angels and told them 'I am God, and there is no other God besides me'. This grieved Sophia. Yaltabaoth even stole power from her.
Yaltabaoth, aka Jehovah, Elohim, the God of Abraham, Isaac, Ishmael, Jacob, Israel, Muhammad, the god we have been told about created Adam.
This would make a lot of sense. This god was a half-baked idea of Sophia. He is arrogant and imperfect. Sounds just like the God of the Bible. It explains somewhat why the Christ had to come down to fix some things. Because of Constantine we have lost a lot of sacred text which really could tell us a lot more about this time period and we would have a better picture of how these myths of Christ were developed. But am grateful that we live in a time where some parts of that have been revealed.
The infinite regression argument. So to yank a fundies chain who say there has to be a God because a plane has a designer I can say but who created God? They say no one. He has always existed. I can now reply that is not true. According to the apostle John, God's mother is Sophia.
There is this book I see fundies promoting with glee, "I Don't Have Enough Faith to Be an Atheist by Norman L. Geisler". I am told I cannot argue with them until I have read it. What kind of cop out is that? I am going to waste my hard earned dollars and time reading this book and then I will not find them again on the internet. That is bullshit. If the arguments were so convincing why can't they spell it out? Could it be the book simply reaffirmed what they thought and therefore was no challenge? They agreed with what they agreed with.
I did spend a little time looking at the comments on Amazon both pro and con. It is just the same tired old arguments for the existence of God. Been there, done that, got the t-shirt for it. How can a recent book suddenly present a new argument that philosophers spent centuries coming up with and debating? No, you aren't going to find anything new. After all religion is locked in time thousands of years ago and fundies don't allow for new ideas. They are dead thoughts. Nothing new. C.S. Lewis was recommended as heads and shoulders above this book and his arguments are pretty inconclusive. In the end it takes faith to believe something you cannot see or test. This new book is all just marketing and my dad can beat up your dad line of arguing. I will save my money and time.
But on the matter do I need faith to not believe in God? Well, do they need faith not to believe in the Easter Bunny or Santa Claus? Do they need faith to not believe in Zeus, Venus, Ra, Horus and countless other gods? It is another stupid twist in Christian thinking that they must push on us their belief system and accuse us of what they do. They have no hard evidence and have to have this leap of faith. We look at the evidence and say it is at best inconclusive. That is not faith even though they spin their propaganda that it is. A big yawn fest and it convinces the convinced.
This chart is from Ken Miller's brilliant book "Only A Theory". I recommend this book highly. I am still bewildered that he is Christian and not sure how he compartmentalizes his belief in a primitive desert god and science. Maybe someday I will read or see a video of his explanation for that.
Anyway, the chart above really shows a significant fact of evolution - naming species is an arbitrary designation. Everything living thing is a missing link, a transitional being. The chart shows Christian "scientists" do not agree with each other on whether a fossil is human or ape. Evolution is gradual change over time. A child will look like its parent and will be the same species, but as you pick out fossils over longer periods of time you will see significant differences and be confused. Paleo-anthropologist who are not god-soaked have the same trouble deciding which species these fossils are as well. What more evidence do we need? It is quite true there is considerably more evidence and it only grows. The supernatural gets pushed back to fewer and fewer things we don't know. Each discovery pushes it back even farther and there is no one instance of it going the other way.
ER 1470 - Homo rudolfensis or Homo habilis - 1.9 million years old
ER 1813 - homo habilis 1.9 million years old
ER 3733 - Homo ergaster - 1.75 million years old
WT 15000 - Homo erectus or Homo ergaster (Turkana boy) - 1.6 million years old
There is a Q&A session but it hard to hear the questions and they are mostly comments not questions. Should you still be interested in hearing them click here P.Z. Myers Q&A
P.Z. Myers is a biologist and professor at University of Minnesota. He is a brilliant speaker and a vocal atheist. He presented his rational for that at the Atheist Conference in Copenhagen this past June. He has a great website with many followers. It is called Pharyngula
Polly Jean Harvey (born 9 October 1969) is an English musician and singer-songwriter. I love listening to the wind and feeling it. This song captures that for me.
Job 39:9-10
Will the unicorn be willing to serve thee, or abide by thy crib? Canst thou bind the unicorn with his band in the furrow? or will he harrow the valleys after thee?
Psalms 92:10
But my horn shalt thou exalt like the horn of an unicorn: I shall be anointed with fresh oil.
Deuteronomy 33:17
His glory is like the firstling of his bullock, and his horns are like the horns of unicorns: with them he shall push the people together to the ends of the earth: and they are the ten thousands of Ephraim, and they are the thousands of Manasseh.
Psalms 29:6
He maketh them also to skip like a calf; Lebanon and Sirion like a young unicorn.
A common ancestor of Lucy has been found and has been nicknamed Kadanuumuu ("big man"). Kadanuumuu is 400,000 years older than Lucy. Lucy was our common ancestor which showed walking upright was the first evolutionary step for modern humans. Having longer legs and shorter arms meant we were separating ourselves from knuckle-walkers like other great apes. This reinforces that. The big brain came later. It is believed the earth's rise in temperature and drought drove these common ancestors from the shrinking rainforest trees and walking long distances to find food. Those who had longer legs could travel further and sustain themselves to pass on their genes. This ability has lead to mankind blanketing the earth.
Darwin found that the similarities of embryos were powerful evidence for evolution. Centuries before people thought that the human embryo would look like a tiny baby. But it was discovered with the microscope they didn't look like that at all. Instead they found lots of similarities and progression with other living organisms. Every embryo had traits that looked like fish to start out with. Then for those that weren't fish they went through stages like amphibians. Then for those who weren't amphibians they shared traits like reptiles. And finally those that were not reptiles developed into mammals. It NEVER worked the other way. No fish had mammal traits. No amphibian had reptile traits. No reptile had mammal only traits. It is fascinating that the human embryo has a tail and slits that are related to gills on a fish embryo.
We now know that genes are what controls the whole process and all living things have the base elements. The process to create a fly is the same as the human. It reminds me of a computer with ones and zeros. It produces incredible variety. Genes are far more powerful and are the engine to nearly infinite variety and that is all we see around us. I will like to live 150 more years and see where science takes us unless religion kills us first.
Click on this Nova interactive website to guess which embryo is which and also see pictures of their development.
