h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Another slight tangent.

You can see why religious structures which are essentially about structuring society and holding it together..well unless there are religious wars, would describe certain things as inherently wrong..a bit like we secularists use Law to deem certain things criminal.

Humans are inherently born to cheat and be nasty to one another. It would be a way of minimising that nastiness. Anyway that's the conclusion I've come to of late about people.

Did anyone else make it through?

Yes!

Let's call an armistace! I give it a week - tops.

Hi everyone,

Clearly, truth is not lies

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This morning I had the Jehovah's Witless's at the door. Bunch of Creationist nutters. Fun though. Fortunately I know a thing or two about sciency things so was able to give them what for!


They believed in an 'intelligent energy' that we can't see or detect which is required to explain the complexity of nature.

It was all life was created after 'kinds', (no definition)
I quibbled that energy itself can't be intelligent intelligence has only ever been observed in brains as a sort of of super-order that it was a meaningless phrase to say intelligent energy - they didn't like that. We also got - Noah's ark was real (oh no it isn't!) the bible prophesied: Christ's return, Genetics (!) and The Theory of Gravity (!!), - I had to point out the assertion quoted: "the earth hangs upon nothing" as demonstration of the bible's amazing cosmology isn't actually true.

"Yes it is!" the senior witless quavered it's suspended in space.

"No not really." I insisted. it's not stationary for one thing - it moves! it doesn't hang there and it follows a trajectory in a field....

"ah but but it was right for a time before Einstein when it was written.

"then it was never right."

They shifted grounds like no body's business: once it was clear I could go toe to toe on the big bang, evolution cosmology, genetics, we got 'the world's going to hell in a handcart - are you sure you don't want to repent?' a tying of millennial prophecy to environmental catastrophe and finally morality.

Also they believed in miracles! The one they cited was a peculiar one - the feeding of the 5000 with two loaves of bread - which Jesus 'magiced' (my word) into many parts - proof (they said) that god has control over matter and was responsible for bringing matter into existence at the start of the big bang.

After all if he can do it for loaves of bread, surely he could do it for a universe?

After doing a tour of evolution and big bang cosmology and noting that these are questions of emperical fact that neither established gods existence or non existence.

Well we had an energetic discussion about the 'purpose' of life and the fate of humanity. I think they were rather surprised when I said I anticipated probable extinction - not in my lifetime - but then qualified it by examining humans along with the fossil record of everything that's ever been alive and not only died but stopped being born, and migrated on the finite life of our star and

It turns out the only kind of life that has value is human life because we can reason.

Oh at one point the elder one who did most of the talking just out and said it.

"I believe it was created becuase god did it."

At least he was honest! It was fun pulling that one apart just as it was pointing out that I didn't really accept a manuscript like the bible could be divinely inspired if I didn't believe in a divinity!

I think I may have taken taking the pi$h taking to a new level when we got the divine inspiration and I made my hands into two little a little antenna on top of my head and made little doot-doot-doot-do-do-doot-doot noises like a tele-writer.

The younger of the pair was clearly brainwashed into this creepy cult, as he just stood there and smiled the whole time as me and his elder partner took each other to task, his only interjection was to produce a bible at one point and flick through The Book of Job attempting to 'find the prophecy that prooves that the bible mentions the water cycle' and is therefore true and correct and holy and and and...


I wonder if they'll be back...

Happy Birthday to The Universe!

According to The Usher Chronology the world and everything else was summoned forth into existance ex nihlo on the 23rd of October 4004 BC, so the entire universe is 6015 years old today!

No trace of cellulite - putting the 'firm' back into 'the firmament'

Damn, I forgot to send a card.

Still I suppose it depends on whether you count from the first day of creation or the sixth. I may have a few days left to get a card posted.

Incidentally does no-one find it odd that an infinite and omnipotent god found it necessary to rest after a simple, finite, task like creating a universe?

F.

Yes.

Nice to see everyone (even those currently in disguise).

Gif

to brighten everyone's day:


http://www.smbc-comics.com/index.php?db=comics&id=2409

While it's quiet here: hope you're all reading my blog:
http://giford.blogspot.com/



Gif

I seem to be lost. Is this the place to talk about Sandles?

No to discuss god concepts and atheism and religion in general.

I agree. It should be no to discussting those topics too.

Nice blog Gif!

Ta Dogster.

My commentary on ankle-straps vs flip-flops coming any time soon.

Maybe.

Gif

>>..does no-one find it odd that an infinite and omnipotent god
found it necessary to rest after a simple, finite, task...<<

No. In fact, after six days of changes it is quite telling
that a single day of rest was considered equivocal. If a
change is as good as a rest, why did it take six days of
changes to warrant a single day of rest?

And, no. I have just re-activated (transferred) my account
and once I have seen that it is working (by virtue of this post)
I am going to be needing a bit of a lie down.

Though I should really go thank guru kea for her support in
making my re-incarnation as ~jwf~ possible.



~jwf~

hi jwf,

Actually, Almighty God does not sleep or need rest .. He maintains the universe constantly

There again .. the idea of "sitting back" and looking at the work of creation is one I understand, and mankind most certainly DOES need a day of rest .. I don't believe in people working 24/7!

That's funny because I don't believe in God working 24/7. Or any other hours come to that.

F