RadioBanter - View Single Post - Laying Waste to Frank Of Silliland's Silliness

September 6th 05, 07:28 PM

wrote:

Mike Coslo wrote:

wrote:

Mike Coslo wrote:

I think Jesus was one cool dude, and has a lot to
tell us about how to live.

Yup - and how *not* to live.

That being said, I think that many people who are proclaiming
themselves as "Christians" these days are not. The so-called
conservative Christians who loudly proclaim their ascendancy
these days
don't really seem to have much to do with Jesus at all.

Nothing new about that. Constantine, Cyril, the Crusades, and
of course the Spanish Inquisition.

"If Jesus came back, and saw what's going on in His name,
He'd never stop throwing up." --Frederick, in Woody Allen's "Hannah and
Her Sisters"

The closest thing that they are is a modern day version
of the Pharisees. Their trends are much more old
testament - therefore not sharing in the new
covenant proclaimed by Jesus. They push public prayer,
also proscribed
against by Jesus, they push religious domination of
government - same deal.

They've had plenty of company in the past 2000 years...

While demanding that the first books of *their* bible

Except it's not really "theirs" - particularly the first
five books...

(KJV) be taken as
absolutely literal, despite two different versions of creation, they
totally ignore the Sermon on the Mount, in which Jesus delivers direct
orders in as plain language as you will find in the bible.
What's up with that?

It's a mystery, Mike. You just have to take it on faith.

I find it interesting that the dietary and other laws of the "old"
testament are ignored when inconvenient - just like
the inconvenient teachings of Jesus.

Fun fact: Which states do you think have the highest and lowest
divorce rates - "conservative" red states or "liberal" blue states?

"what God has joined together, let no man put asunder"...

Some of these good folks have figured out that they can receive
forgiveness for any of their sins, so they feel a lot better now about
sinning!

What is up with that is the modern
fundamentalist Christians are
falling for one of the oldest tricks
in the book - the false prophets.

That being said, there is no doubt in my mind that
the world was *not*
created in seven days starting on Sunday, the 23rd of October
in 4004 BC
as determined by Ussher - and put in print in one of my bibles at home.

Actually, Genesis says it took six days - because the Creator
rested on the seventh day.

Rush job, too. Left a lot of holes....

void, without form

There is no doubt in my mind that the present
day universe *was*
created billions of years ago, probably in an
event we call "the Big
Bang.

There should always be doubt, Mike. The Big Bang
cosmology is simply the best explanation we
have now that fits all the scientific data. New
data might require a new cosmology.

That's one big difference between real and fake
science. Real science is always open to new
data and new explanations.

Whereas the "science" practiced by these
fake practitioners is in looking for evidence that
supports their proposition-and only their proposition.

Which isn't science at all.

When it gets fun is when they try to explain the
biblical flood as a verbatim event. The have yet to answer
two simple questions.

Where did the water come from?
Where did the water go?

I haven't found one yet that can answer the question, How much water
would it take to cover the earth from sea level to 1 foot over the top
of Mount Everest? And What effects would this extra mass have
on the
Earth?

Well, if you melted the polar ice caps, the oceans would rise some, but
not nearly enough. Precipitate out all the atmospheric water and the
oceans would rise some more.

But to flood the entire earth requires much more water than that.

The flood story may have its origin in reality.

I don't doubt that a bit.

There is some evidence that the Black Sea was once a fresh water lake -
and a lot smaller than it is today. This would require that the strait
near Constantinople/Istanbul was an isthmus back then.

The evidence says that when the oceans rose at the end of the last
ice age, water from the Mediterranean rose to the point where it
overflowed the isthmus and flowed into what is now the Black Sea -
raising its level and flooding any low=ying lakeside communities.
Which have been well below sea level ever since.

(sound familiar)

Such a catastrophe would have been remembered a long time.

Yup. I am certain that some event in the past left a big impression on
our ancestors.

From their point of view, the entire earth was covered with water. I'd
bet that some survivalist by the name of Noah put his family on a boat,
and may have brought along some livestock. They rode the flood out, and
built a new homestead when it was over.

The oral traditions of the time probably enhanced the story with each
retelling. Then it gets written down, accepted as a good story over the
ages.

Now along comes fundamentalism, telling us we have to accept the entire
thing literal and verbatim.

I highly doubt that it was created by
a supreme being.

Why? Couldn't the Supreme Being have set it all
in motion, and the Bang was just the method?

Why is not my concern, Jim. A supreme being may have created everything
yesterday, including all of our memories to the contrary.

Like I quoted about the supernatural explaining nothing...

Keerect.

But I doubt it. Seems a incredibly roundabout way of doing things. 4.5
billion years to have people start thinking of "him" around 4000 years
ago. Not to mention all the times they got it wrong before this one came
along....

For what
happened before then, it becomes quite complex, and I enjoy
speculation on that.

You can explain anything by using the 'supernatural'. Which means the
'supernatural' explains nothing.

- Mike KB3EIA -