OK, no joke about this. Rep. Paul Broun [R-GA] has introduced a resolution to encourage Obama to declare that 2010 is The Year Of The Bible. Now, excuse me if I’m wrong about this, but I thought 2010 was going to be the Year of the Tiger.
Is anyone else sick of living in the United States of Jesustan? And, um, why are these 14 Congresscritters wasting their time with silly stuff like this when we’ve occupied 2 foreign countries and our economy is in the tank? Is it because they think the only possible way out of the mess the Republicans created is to pray? I mean, that’s SLIGHTLY less obnoxious than being merely the “party of no” but it still doesn’t get us anywhere.
Cosponsors:
Rep. Lynn Westmoreland [R-GA]
Rep. John Carter [R-TX]
Rep. James Forbes [R-VA]
Rep. John Gingrey [R-GA]
Rep. Zach Wamp [R-TN]
Rep. Todd Akin [R-MO]
Rep. Thaddeus McCotter [R-MI]
Rep. Mike Pence [R-IN]
Rep. Louis Gohmert [R-TX]
Rep. Trent Franks [R-AZ]
Rep. Jim Jordan [R-OH]
Rep. Doug Lamborn [R-CO]
Rep. Kenny Marchant [R-TX]
The only decision now is which version to use? Let the debate begin!
Thanks to Mr. Justin
Bummer, they’re gonna make us all believe in a talking snake!
They should just remember that god is dog spelled backwards.
#97 Mr Fusion
>>The more we learn that medicine cures people much better than “god” does, the easier it is to accept that “god” doesn’t exist.
Just wondering – who do you think created the raw ingredients necessary to create the medicines that cure people?
99,
Certainly not “God”.
Shit, even Socrates didn’t believe in the Gods and he had so many to choose from!
99. Mold.
#91: “So exactly what did you not get for Christmas that made you rebel against God?”
Pretty simple–she doesn’t exist, so there’s nothing to rebel against.
#91 – Traaxx,
It’s funny that about every forth story is anti-christian on this site. Not anti-muslim, not anti-budist [sic], not anti-enviromentalism. [sic]
It’s funny that every republican bill is anti-nontheist, anti-environmentalist, anti-Buddhist, anti-Hindu, anti-LBGT, etc.
Why does a blog site upset you more than your elected representatives?
105,
Well… how about Ceres? Isn’t she still around somewhere?
#105, contempt, just about every single atom on this Earth was at one time in the heart of a star, and was released into the cosmos on the death of that star, a supernova. It’s the only way elements heavier than hydrogen or helium are made in the universe.
Just like CSNY said, “We are star stuff.” Ask Carl Sagan (RIP) or Neil DeGrasse Tyson.
#99 – contempt,
#97 Mr Fusion
>>The more we learn that medicine cures people much better than “god” does, the easier it is to accept that “god” doesn’t exist.
Just wondering – who do you think created the raw ingredients necessary to create the medicines that cure people?
Well, let’s see. All elements heavier than Hydrogen and Helium were created by fusion (not Mr. Fusion, sorry) in stars and were then released in supernovae.
Then, the more complex molecules that are the basis of most of modern medicine evolved.
Evolution is fundamental to all of modern medicine. Without it we would not have any such thing as modern medicine.
Forgetting about ethics of medical testing for the moment, answer the question of why researchers test on mice, rats, pigs, rhesus monkeys, and (despicably) chimps.
Don’t answer that the medicines are not ready for humans yet. Answer why it works.
Why would a medicine working on rats be any evidence that it might work on humans?
Answer: It’s because we’re related.
If god individually created all animals in the animal kingdom, a medicine that worked on one animal would be no more likely to work on another. Animal testing works because we are animals related to other animals.
OK. Now that that is out of the way, answer why we need a new flu shot every year. You may have noticed that last year’s is no longer effective. The reason for that is because influenza happens to be a very fast evolving virus. Swine flu? Yup. Another new strain of flu evolved this year.
You just witnessed evolution.
So, stick to your god of the gaps if you like. Most religious leaders oppose such logic because it leaves god an ever shrinking place in the universe. But, go ahead, cling to millennia old ideas. I’m sure it will help you tremendously in navigating your way through our increasingly technological world.
#105 – contempt,
I’m sure we can rule out the supernovae theory tossed up by Floyd
Yup. I’m sure you can rule out science because you don’t know what it is. That the heavy elements were created in stars is fact. Ignore it if you choose. But, you don’t get to restructure the universe to fit your taste.
I find it TOTALLY stupid when there is an election, and all the candidates JUMP into the religious side to get the religious VOTE.
If a FEW MORE persons would VOTE as to their BASIC religious beliefs..and the teaching they were GIVEN as children..this MIGHT be a better place.
But, I havnt seen it.
as soon as our officials get into OFFICE, they change, for the worse.
its is PLOWED/pounded/SHOVED into us as kids,
BE NICE TO EACH OTHER.
LOVE ONE ANOTHER.
DO UNTO OTHERS AS YOU WOULD HAVE THEM DO UNTO YOURSELF.
when was the last time the GOV. protected us from UNFAIR advantage, from BUSINESS?
Do you know what USURY is in the bible?? thats taking INTEREST on a loan. Making money FOR/FROM nothing.
#108 Bubba Ray
>>just about every single atom on this Earth was at one time in the heart of a star.
You believe all life forms on earth is a result of an exploding star. So how did these atoms get together after exploding and decide what life to form? What animates these lifeforms? Why Earth and not Mars? Everything is just random chance? Geez – where did the star come from in the first place or the atoms for that matter?
Sorry, but your theory makes no sense at all.
#112 – Worthy of my Contempt,
You believe all life forms on earth is a result of an exploding star. So how did these atoms get together after exploding and decide what life to form? What animates these lifeforms? Why Earth and not Mars? Everything is just random chance? Geez – where did the star come from in the first place or the atoms for that matter?
In order:
Gravity. They didn’t decide. What animates god? They found possible evidence of bacterial life on Mars. Yes. Gas. The big bang.
Sorry, but your theory makes no sense at all.
Good old argument from incredulity. It never worked before, but let’s just keep trotting it out every time we fail to understand science anyway.
http://tinyurl.com/2g8467
Does it feel that much better than admitting you are an ignoramus?
Here’s a basic wikipedia article on Supernova Nucleosynthesis that may help you learn a bit … if you’re capable.
http://tinyurl.com/o2m3tw
Misanthrope: No sense arguing with Floyd. His head is so inside out, he couldn’t see the light if it supernovaed inside his nose.
Curious though. In #109, you said, “researchers test on mice, rats, pigs, rhesus monkeys, and (despicably) chimps.” Why is it despicable to test on chimps but not monkeys? Genetically, they aren’t that much further away. Pigs? They are so human like that ancient Greeks thought they were magically transmuted from men. Some cannibal societies think peg and man taste so similar they call humans “long pig.” I’m not against animal testing, I sacrificed a pig to hone my dissection skills before moving on to cadavers and more than one rabbit underwent terminal anesthesia so I could learn to cut and sew.
#113 Misanthropic Scott
Gravity is your answer to the question how did these atoms get together after exploding and decide what life to form?
Since when is there gravity in space? Judging from all those spacewalks the lack of gravity was a problem to overcome.
No other answers only insults? Wouldn’t it be easier just to say you don’t know.
@ 115
You trollin’?
There’s gravity throughout space. That’s what holds the planets in orbits around the sun, holds galaxies together, and what holds the astronaut + his spaceship in orbit around the earth. The astronaut and the spaceship appear ‘weightless’ with respect to one another, as they are both basically on the same orbit around earth.
115,
Have you ever stirred a mixture of Rocks, gravel, sand, and soforth…
IF done properly, they separate.
Each section gathers materials that are of certain weights.
Add alittle clumping actions as ALL that material BUMPS around and clumps together..
MORE makes bigger clumps, until a RANGE of area PULLS together..like a ROLLING BALL of sticky tape..After the mass is great enough, 2 things start to happen.
GRAVITY and friction.
FRICTION from the TONS of materials ALL pulling together.
the HEAt is interesting as its ALSO the way we separate MATERIALS on the surface..until the CORE is a SOLID piece, and most other materials have been PUSH to the other areas to cool.
The cooling outer parts ARNT that cool yet. and the BALL is still gathering materials..form collisions, and asteroids and meteor.. the BALL is starting to shape and change AND BALANCE. the MORE layers on top, the COOLER it gets..on the TOP. the inside is still a bubbling cauldron, blowing materials OUT to the surface.
ON AND ON AND ON..
#117 freddybobs68k
You walked in a bit late. According to Bubba Ray, Misanthropic Scott and Floyd, none of that existed when this magical star exploded which they say lead to the beginning of all life.
Maybe you can see my confusion at the random chance theory?
>that a guy’s in charge who doesn’t blather on like a retarded second-grader
You mean a guy who talks about speaking Austrian, says ‘cinco de cuatro’, and this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cxxxGUeZtno
#119, ‘tempt,
… none of that existed when this magical star exploded which they say lead to the beginning of all life.
Someone hasn’t been paying attention. No one said a magical star exploded. A SUPER NOVA (#108, Bubba Ray)exploded creating all the visible, and invisible, matter we can see. The exploding gases coalesced into clumps which became stars and planets. As with all matter, this produces “gravity” which tend to clump things together.
Because the planets orbit the sun, there are two conflicting forces. One, gravity, pulls the planets closer to the sun. The second, centrifugal force, wants to send the planets off into space. The slower the orbit, the greater the distance. Hence, Mercury has a much faster orbit in order to remain in equilibrium than Neptune which is much further away.
On earth, after it was created, life started. We don’t know exactly how, only that it did. Evolution progressed to the point that plants and animals evolved. Although some drugs are obtained from animals, most are derived from plants.
All this can be demonstrated by science. If you have some evidence that science is wrong, then I am more than sure the scientists involved would love to hear from you. Anecdotal or bible based evidence doesn’t count.
Please read some of the links provided by Misanthropic Scott.
#114 – Nimby,
In #109, you said, “researchers test on mice, rats, pigs, rhesus monkeys, and (despicably) chimps.” Why is it despicable to test on chimps but not monkeys?
It’s probably despicable to test on either. Chimps are merely so smart that it’s incredibly obvious how much they are suffering. So, I can find no argument that would possibly make me think it is ever OK to test on them.
Perhaps the same is true of monkeys. It’s often a harder argument to make though.
In all cases of animal testing, we must weigh the benefit of the test with the suffering caused. And, we must do everything in our power to minimize the suffering, especially since it also has the side effect of making the test better with emotionally and physically healthy animals.
Since chimp testing is normally done when the drug is damn near ready for production, I would argue that human volunteers can be found at that time.
There’s also the very special aspect that some of the chimps have been home raised. Jane Goodall told a story at a lecture at the American Museum of Natural History, here in NYC.
She was walking through a laboratory. She saw a chimp sitting in a small cage speaking in American Sign Language … signing over and over again … two words … “Help me!”
Truly heart-wrenching.
Overall though, I agree wholeheartedly, all animal testing must be very thoroughly examined for human treatment and for benefits that outweigh the suffering of the animals involved. And, yes, even rats and mice suffer … visibly.
BTW, I also do think that humane slaughter of animals for meat, emphasis on humane, rather than beginning to hack off limbs with a chainsaw while the animal is still kicking, is not necessarily cruel. Most medical testing is worse.
#115 – worthy of my contempt,
Gravity is your answer to the question how did these atoms get together after exploding and decide what life to form?
No. “Gravity” was my answer to how they got together. “They didn’t decide” was my answer to your incredibly stupid second part that assumed a decision had to be made.
Since when is there gravity in space? Judging from all those spacewalks the lack of gravity was a problem to overcome.
I can’t answer this without being insulting. You really just are that stupid. I’m sorry you’re so stupid. But, you are.
Yes. There is gravity in space you moran. That’s why the Hubble Space Telescope orbits the earth rather than careening off into space. Ditto for the moon. Ditto for the Earth around the Sun. Ditto for all of the other planets and their moons and rings. Gravity in space is also why we occasionally get hit by meteors, comets, and human made space debris.
How do you think that stuff falls towards us? Intelligent Falling?
Oh, and I answered every single one of your questions. Which answers did you miss?
#119 – worthy of my contempt,
You walked in a bit late. According to Bubba Ray, Misanthropic Scott and Floyd, none of that existed when this magical star exploded which they say lead to the beginning of all life.
Gravity existed. Who said it didn’t? Not me. Certainly not a professional astronomer like BubbaRay.
#121 – Mr. Fusion,
Nearly entirely correct, of course. I have a couple of minor corrections just because I am that anal-retentive.
1) The supernova of a much larger star barfed out that which later became our solar system, not the entire observable universe. We are indeed star barf (or star stuff or star dust, if you prefer).
2) I think you mean centripetal force. Centrifugal force does not technically exist. The appearance of it is actually just a result of objects continuing in a straight line in the absence of any other force. So, without gravity to supply the centripetal force, the Earth and other planets would simply fly off in whatever direction they were heading at the time.
BubbaRay, did I get that right?
from what i gather here, being a true conservative means that you can take the religious teachings written in a single book as absolute fact, without context, without interpretation, without judgment.
is that correct?
#125, Scott,
I’ll accept the corrections as is. With a tip of the hat.
But do you really think ‘temp will accept that we are just a star’s fart?
😉
The science behind all of this sounds very cool, even intriguing. But the one thing I have noticed from everyone is that it is all conjecture. Many condemn religion for the same practice but there doesn’t seem to be much difference here.
For the sake of argument lets say your way of random chance is correct. The question still remains who created all these objects and forces that set off this evolution of life in the first place?
Perhaps you are right, but you just refuse to admit that there is intelligence behind the structure. Something to think about.
#127 – Mr. Fusion,
I’m having a hard time imagining him acknowledging that he ever read our replies.
Star fart!! I love it. A big gas cloud indeed! The gas giant planets are where the methane and other gases coalesced. The solid rockier planets are where the skid marks coalesced. What a great image!!
Better late than never.
#2 dogday – “Mock the Republican bill as you should but don’t mock the holy name of God.”
On the contrary, we should absolutely mock the holy name of God. Your God can’t get his glorious message of love and peace across to his minions, so instead they beat each other up and torture and massacre each other. Maybe that’s what God wants. I’m not sure whether or not you may actually believe that to be so, or if it is true whether or not you find that reasonable, but if so all the more reason to mock his unholy holy name. He’s either an incompetent boob who lacks the social skills to communicate with his creation, or he’s a vicious beast who wants people to slaughter each other because it amuses him.
Or, a third option: he doesn’t exist! Those are your only available logical options. Pick the one that confuses you the least.
#6 freethinker – “The only thing sillier than a republican is a republican with a bible in it’s hand.”
Freethinker, stop being redundant. Every Republican has a Bible in their hand. The few that aren’t holding the *Christian* Bible are holding Ayn Rand’s “Atlas Shrugged”, Goldwater’s “Conscience of a Conservative”, or Ann Coulter’s “I’m a Flaming Idiot and If I Keep Shouting the Same Lies Over and Over Again Someone is Bound to Believe Me”, each book stupider than the next. Conservatism IS, after all, a faith-based political orientation, not based on logical analysis or reasoning, just on believing the same wrong things they’ve believed for a hundred years are “still” right.
#128 – contempt,
You’re getting better now. I’ll tone it down a bit.
This is not conjecture. There is hard scientific evidence for the vast majority of it. Second generation stars are where there are heavy elements. There are none around first generation stars.
The problem with assuming intelligence is behind it is that you end up in endless recursion. If you are incapable of believing in the randomness of the universe, how do you explain the creation of an intelligent being who can go around creating such universes at the rate of one a week?
Further, the big bang is completely consistent with another of the most tried and proven scientific theories we have, quantum mechanics.
Quantum mechanics completely and utterly denies cause and effect at the quantum level. Particles pop in and out of existence at random all the time. Those who do not allow for them in their calculations get incorrect results that do not match observations.
The universe at the time of the big bang was in a quantum state. That it could have simply popped into existence is well within the realm of possibility of quantum mechanics.
God, on the other hand, being an allegedly intelligent and complex creature (for thought requires complexity) would not be in a quantum state, so must be explained.
Was there a god creator? How about a god creator creator? And a god creator creator creator? The problem of this is normally stated with the expression “turtles all the way down.”
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turtles_all_the_way_down