Non-Christians Need Not Apply Ken Ham’s creationist theme park is already in trouble. By Mark Joseph Stern A rendering of what construction of the Ark Encounter theme park will look like. Courtesy of Answers in Genesis For a man who constantly touts his plans to build a creationist empire in the United States, Ken Ham is surprisingly bad at his job. The professional charlatan’s greatest success, his mind-boggling Creation Museum, faces aserious decline in attendance. His next boondoggle, a Noah’s Ark–themed creationist amusement park, was so woefully underfunded that Ham began selling junk bondsto keep it from going under. Initial construction on the dramatically scaled-back “ark park” is barely underway. And now Ham has already run into legal trouble. His utterly predictable offense? Using taxpayer money to discriminate on the basis of religion.
This is one of the more mentally stimulating articles I've seen posted on ET in a long time. Thank you for posting it. I readily accept the premise of the article because, I suppose, my own opinion is largely reflected. I'm not convinced that "religion will always exist", unless we draw a uselessly broad definition. Specific religious ideologies ought to be eradicable via truth, but we've seen how easily culture trumps truth. When false beliefs are harmless, e.g., belief in water witching, or even provide some social good, e.g., religious beliefs, as a practical matter, it may make sense not to concern oneself with them. On the other hand, how much value should be placed on truth? Knowledge objectively acquired is, by definition, not influenced by ideology. Objectivity sans ideology leads to truth. It seems to me that truth should be our ultimate objective, but perhaps that is only because, as a Homo sapien, I am a prisoner of my own culture and ideology.
When the false belief that we all got here by random chance is snuffed out of textbooks and leftist mouthpieces. The scientists on the search for truth may be able to move forward out of the leftist imposed ignorance we have suffered through lately. When we can get the true science in our textbooks that the constants of our universe or so incredibly find tuned for life... that random chance could not have done it unless there were almost infinite universes... we would start moving past our anti Creator leftist imposed ignorance. We could get our textbooks to reflect the fact that given the limited amount of time our universe has existed... it is almost impossible that life evolved from non life by chance. Even if our schools just admitted we have no science showing even a complete plausible pathway from non life to life our children could shake off their leftist imposed ignorance. Once we have scientists and schools focused on the truth instead of funding... we could also get them to admit that there is no science showing man made co2 causes warming. If we could get all scientists refocused on objective truth we could starting moving forward out of the ignorance imposed by leftist funding. Our children could be free to learn again.
the probability of encounters is concentration dependent, the kinetic energy is temperature dependent, the electronic energy is emr dependent, the Laws of Physics and Thermodynamics must be obeyed, and the rules of chemistry must be obeyed. This is extremely restrictive, so even with the necessary chemical elements all present the probability of a single random encounter forming a life form precursor is small, but the possible outcomes of each encounter is any thing but random. With 10 to the x (x>40) encounters, however, the probability of forming many, many precursors is virtually 1. With each subsequent step the probability of moving a step closer decreases only slightly, so that all that is needed is more time. Given enough time and favorable conditions the spontaneous formation of living organisms is a virtual certainty. This is very, very far from the picture you have in your mind. What is impossible is for living organisms not to form! There must also be many other planets with life on them.
and on some of those planets, life could have easily started a million years before we got rolling on earth. that's my problem with alien debunkers. They claim no one can travel that far so that means they think that even in a million years we won't be able to do it
By Marlene Winell and Valerie Tarico How Conservative Christianity Can Warp the Mind Some religious beliefs can create habitual thought patterns that actually alter brain function, making it difficult for people to heal or grow. “I am 30 years old and I am struggling to find sanity. Between the Christian schools, homeschooling, the Christian group home (indoctrinating work camp) and different churches in different cities, I am a psychological, emotional and spiritual mess.” --A former Evangelical If a former believer says that Christianity made her depressed, obsessive, or post-traumatic, she is likely to be dismissed as an exaggerator. She might describe panic attacks about the rapture; moods that swung from ecstasy about God’s overwhelming love to suicidal self-loathing about repeated sins; or an obsession with sexual purity. A symptom like one of these clearly has a religious component, yet many people instinctively blame the victim. They will say that the wounded former believer was prone to anxiety or depression or obsession in the first place—that his Christianity somehow got corrupted by his predisposition to psychological problems. Or they will say that he wasn’t a real Christian. If only he had prayed in faith believing or loved God with all his heart, soul and mind, if only he had really been saved—then he would have experienced the peace that passes all understanding. But the reality is far more complex. It is true that symptoms like depression or panic attacks most often strike those of us who are vulnerable, perhaps because of genetics or perhaps because situational stressors have worn us down. But certain aspects of Christian beliefs and Christian living also can create those stressors, even setting up multigenerational patterns of abuse, trauma, and self-abuse. Also, over time some religious beliefs can create habitual thought patterns that actually alter brain function, making it difficult for people to heal or grow. The purveyors of religion insist that their product is so powerful it can transform a life, but somehow, magically, it has no risks. In reality, when a medicine is powerful, it usually has the potential to be toxic, especially in the wrong combination or at the wrong dose. And religion is powerful medicine! In this discussion, we focus on the variants of Christianity that are based on a literal interpretation of the Bible. These include Evangelical and fundamentalist churches, the Church of Latter Day Saints, and other conservative sects. These groups share the characteristics of requiring conformity for membership, a view that humans need salvation, and a focus on the spiritual world as superior to the natural world. These views are in contrast to liberal, progressive Christian churches with a humanistic viewpoint, a focus on the present, and social justice. more . . .
By Michael W. Chapman Reverend Franklin Graham, son of world renowned evangelist Billy Graham, said the Muslim prayer service on Friday at the Washington National Cathedral, an Episcopal church established under a charter granted by Congress more than 100 years ago, is “sad to see” because the church should only open its door for worship of “the One True God of the Bible.” In a Facebook post on Thursday, Nov. 13, Rev. Franklin Graham, who heads the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, said, “Tomorrow, the National Cathedral in Washington, D.C. -- one of the most prominent Episcopal churches in America -- will host a Muslim prayer service to Allah.” “It’s sad to see a church open its doors to the worship of anything other than the One True God of the Bible who sent His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, to earth to save us from our sins,” said Graham. “Jesus was clear when He said, ‘I am the way the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me’ (John 14:6).” ................................ Good ol' tolerant Christians . . .
If anyone has a wife or daughter that's about to get raped, I hope there's a bystander around other than Judy Garland because he's a very tolerant person.
Valerie Tarico 6 Ways Religion Does More Bad Than Good What if harming society is part of religion’s survival strategy? . . . In 2010, sociologist Phil Zuckerman published Society Without God: What the Least Religious Nations Can Tell Us About Contentment.Zuckerman lined up evidence that the least religious societies also tend to be the most peaceful, prosperous and equitable, with public policies that help people to flourish while decreasing both desperation and economic gluttony. We can debate whether prosperity and peace lead people to be less religious or vice versa. Indeed evidence supports the view that religion thrives on existential anxiety. But even if this is the case, there’s good reason to suspect that the connection between religion and malfunctioning societies goes both ways. Here are six ways religions make peaceful prosperity harder to achieve. 1. Religion promotes tribalism.Infidel, heathen, heretic. Religion divides insiders from outsiders. Rather than assuming good intentions, adherents often are taught to treat outsiders with suspicion. “Be ye not unequally yoked with unbelievers,” says the Christian Bible. “They wish that you disbelieve as they disbelieve, and then you would be equal; therefore take not to yourselves friends of them,” says the Koran (Sura 4:91). At best, teachings like these discourage or even forbid the kinds of friendship and intermarriage that help clans and tribes become part of a larger whole. At worst, outsiders are seen as enemies of God and goodness, potential agents of Satan, lacking in morality and not to be trusted. Believers might huddle together, anticipating martyrdom. When simmering tensions erupt, societies fracture along sectarian fault lines. 2. Religion anchors believers to the Iron Age. Concubines, magical incantations, chosen people, stonings . . .The Iron Age was a time of rampant superstition, ignorance, inequality, racism, misogyny, and violence. Slavery had God’s sanction. Women and children were literally possessions of men. Warlords practiced scorched earth warfare. Desperate people sacrificed animals, agricultural products, and enemy soldiers as burnt offerings intended to appease dangerous gods. Sacred texts including the Bible, Torah and Koran all preserve and protect fragments of Iron Age culture, putting a god’s name and endorsement on some of the very worst human impulses. Any believer looking to excuse his own temper, sense of superiority, warmongering, bigotry, or planetary destruction can find validation in writings that claim to be authored by God. Today, humanity’s moral consciousness is evolving, grounded in an ever deeper and broader understanding of the Golden Rule. But many conservative believers can’t move forward. They are anchored to the Iron Age. This pits them against change in a never-ending battle that consumes public energy and slows creative problem solving. 3. Religion makes a virtue out of faith.Trust and obey for there’s no other way to be happy in Jesus.So sing children in Sunday schools across America. The Lord works in mysterious ways,pastors tell believers who have been shaken by horrors like brain cancer or a tsunami.Faith is a virtue. As science eats away at territory once held by religion, traditional religious beliefs require greater and greater mental defenses against threatening information. To stay strong, religion trains believers to practice self-deception, shut out contradictory evidence, and trust authorities rather than their own capacity to think. This approach seeps into other parts of life. Government, in particular, becomes a fight between competing ideologies rather than a quest to figure out practical, evidence-based solutions that promote wellbeing. 4.Religion diverts generous impulses and good intentions.Feeling sad about Haiti? Give to our mega-church. Crass financial appeals during times of crisis thankfully are not the norm, but religion does routinely redirect generosity in order to perpetuate religion itself. Generous people are encouraged to give till it hurts to promote the church itself rather than the general welfare. Each year, thousands of missionaries throw themselves into the hard work of saving souls rather than saving lives or saving our planetary life support system. Their work, tax free, gobbles up financial and human capital. Besides exploiting positive moral energy like kindness or generosity, religion often redirects moral disgust and indignation, attaching these emotions to arbitrary religious rules rather than questions of real harm. Orthodox Jews spend money on wigs for women and double dishwashers. Evangelical parents, forced to choose between righteousness and love, kick queer teens out onto the street. Catholic bishops impose righteous rules on operating rooms. 5. Religion teaches helplessness. Que sera, sera—what will be will be. Let go and let God.We’ve all heard these phrases, but sometimes we don’t recognize the deep relationship between religiosity and resignation. In the most conservative sects of Judaism, Christianity and Islam, women are seen as more virtuous if they let God manage their family planning. Droughts, poverty and cancer get attributed to the will of God rather than bad decisions or bad systems; believers wait for God to solve problems they could solve themselves. This attitude harms society at large as well as individuals. When today’s largest religions came into existence, ordinary people had little power to change social structures either through technological innovation or advocacy. Living well and doing good were largely personal matters. When this mentality persists, religion inspires personal piety without social responsibility. Structural problems can be ignored as long as the believer is kind to friends and family and generous to the tribal community of believers. 6. Religions seek power.Think corporate personhood. Religions are man-made institutions, just like for-profit corporations are. And like any corporation, to survive and grow a religion must find a way to build power and wealth and compete for market share. Hinduism, Buddhism, Christianity—any large enduring religious institution is as expert at this as Coca-cola or Chevron. And just like for-profit behemoths, they are willing to wield their power and wealth in the service of self-perpetuation, even it harms society at large. In fact, unbeknown to religious practitioners, harming society may actually be part of religion’s survival strategy. In the words of sociologist Phil Zuckerman and researcher Gregory Paul, “Not a single advanced democracy that enjoys benign, progressive socio-economic conditions retains a high level of popular religiosity.” When people feel prosperous and secure the hold of religion weakens.