Thursday, February 23, 2006

Plowed snow, shoveled snow, dug the truck out of snow when it got stuck, plowed snow, plowed snow, shoveled snow, plowed snow.

There, now you are all caught up.

Anybody want a house? Cheap? I'll even throw in a plow truck.

Anyway, here is a perfect example of the difference between religion and science (and why science works and religion... well, not so much). See, there was a theory. It exactly matched what was observed on earth. Then we got better instruments and were able to watch the same process in the far more extreme environment of space. The theory said what was happening was impossible. That leads to one of two responses: either ignore the data or modify the theory. This being science, the theory was modified, tested, modified some more, tested some more, etc. until the theory could account for all the data.

Religion? Well, lets see, shall we?

Religion: There is strong evidence of a world-wide flood.
Science: No, there is evidence of repeated localized flooding that can be perfectly explained by processes we see active today. There is zero evidence (and a great deal of counter-evidence) for a global-wide flood.
Religion: Um, er, uh, goddidit, then hid the evidence to test our faith.

Religion: The Bible accurately describes the locations of ancient, Palestinian cities.
Science: Yes, several ancient cities are where the Bible locates them. However, the oldest levels of many of them are a century or more too young for Joshua to have conquered them. Several others existed as a collection of a half-dozen mud houses, not the walled cities conquered in glorious combat between armies of hundreds of thousands as described in Joshua.
Religion: Um, er, uh, all archaeologists are in league with Satan and only exist to test our faith.

Religion: The universe is six thousand years old.
Science: Whole libraries could be filled with the evidence against this, but here is one data point: Joshua is described as conquering a city called Jericho. Unlike the other cities Joshua was supposed to have conquered, Jericho actually existed as a walled city at the time. The problem for you is that Jericho is too old; a thousand years older than the six-thousand-year-old earth it is sitting on.
Religion: Um, er, uh all dating methods are flawed. We know this because they don't agree with the three-thousand-year-old scribblings of nomadic shepherds. It's all just a test of our faith.

I could continue, but it's just too easy.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Do you still believe in God?

Admin said...

Yea, but as He doesn't seem too concerned with my day-to-day life (and the lives of others), I'm not overly-concerned with him as I muddle through my day-to-day life. He has his space, I have mine. Maybe we'll cross paths again. In the meantime, I'm devouring information as fast as I can from all the sources that are considered "off limits" by certain Christians. It's a lot of fun, actually. And more fulfilling.

How about you?

Anonymous said...

I don't know. I wan't to, but I don't know. Currently, I am just agnostic. I think I am at that point were I hope their is, but I am afraid their isn't.

Admin said...

Don't be afraid of that place. It is an important place to be. Don't make permanent decisions, just explore. In the end, if God is real, it works out. If not, then nothing is lost.

And remember; despair is a sin (assuming there is such a thing :-)