Kangaroos and the Fossil Record

by Gedanken 35 Replies latest watchtower beliefs

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  unclebruce

  Good post Gedanken,

  How can creationists prove that Noah sailed past the Kimberlies of Northern West Australia, picking up the swamp wallabies, bandicoots marsupial mices and thousands of other uniquelty australian fauna? How can they prove that Jehovahs big box anchored at Ayers Rock in time for the wombats, numbats, dingbats, ghostbats and other fury forrest ferrals to scamper aboard? How can they prove that a long conga line of hopping scampering gum nut and eucalyptus eaters serpentined their way from the slopes of Turkey to Northern Australia after Noahs crate crashed a top of Mt.Ararat? How can they prove that thousands of 'exotic' reptiles, mountain fishes not to mention killer koalas made their way back to their unique little ecosystems and micro-habitats in this broad brown land of ours?

  Best i can get out of our fervent fundamentalist friends is "You prove they didn't turkey!"

  evolving unclebrute

  ps: I'm glad Russell never knew that King Tuts Headgear contained gold and precious gems mined in North West Australia .. he would have had Noah and his mob cruising up the Ord. lol.

  psst: great to see you posting ol' chap - hope all is well with you.
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  unclebruce

  Dear Carlos,

  the moles were carried back to australias great sandy desert in the grit filled pouch of an eastern grey potteroo (according to the latest christian science research)

  unclebruce who'd believe anything once.
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  Preston

  The problem with trying to analyze the religious angle is that you cannot, or very rarely anyway, approach it using logic and reason. It's like trying to use physics to explain how a man could make the sun stand still in the sky or how the red sea could be parted or how a man could ascend to heaven without an aircraft. You can't because the spiritual transcends the natural and the scientific. With the creation argument that you raised, God could have transferred the entire marsupial population from Asia to Australia using whatever means possible he had at his dispoal. He could have made a gigantic raft and made all of the marsupials get on it and have them transfer to Australia without there being a hint that kangaroos existed in the region where "Noah's Ark" supposedly landed. Who said it would require the natural processes that we are familar with? If God is all knowing and all powerful then he could do anything. And that's why it's impossible having any sort of debate with a devout Creationist. You just can't win...
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  jack2

  I just want to add that I did not intend to accuse pom of any kind of dishonesty. I simply viewed the original quote he included with some suspicion because it appeared to be taken out of context. If that is, by definition, a dishonest thing, then so be it, but I am in no postion to question the integrity of anyone who posts here.

  Ged, I will check my e-mail ASAP, though I am behind on some things. This thread is certainly very interesting.

  Personally, I go where the facts take me - or at least I try to. The problem is, when so-called facts are presented by people who already have a pre-conceived belief or agenda, then, to me, such a presentation must of necessity be questioned. That doesn't necessarily make their view wrong, nor does it mean that all the points they present should be discarded, but I like hearing about things from sources that are as objective as possible. I realize, of course, that total objectivity is not always easy to find as I read various material.

  A few years back, a work mate and I discussed evolution-creation, and I gave him the "Creation" book, stating that it was an "unbiased" presentation of the argument. He read the book, gave it back, and said, "it's a decent book, but it's certainly not unbiased". Such a comment shocked my Witness-trained sensibilities, but then I realized he was absolutely correct.

  I learned a lesson from that experience, and that's why I have commented on this thread as I have.
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  aluminutty

  Come on! Are their really people who believe that Noah actually gathered up representatives of every species on the globe for the ark? Really? I mean, duh!!! I mean the smell of the animal poo alone on board would be heavy enough to sink the silly boat. <grrin>

  Face facts, cuz as an adult that's important occasionally. There was no ark bobbing the tumolt, just as there was no Santa living at the north pole, and no easter bunny hopping about our homes spilling out eggs and otherwise looking goofy back in april. Can't we all just except that the bible has a lot of stories collected from many different peoples spanning a long long time. Some of these stories are true, some are bunk, and most of them are a heady mixture of both truth and fiction. Witnesses and other fundys spend so much time validating the myth that they loose track of the message. That's why literal thinking is so painfully stupid and missapropriate when applied to a work that is over two thousand years old, and translated umpteen times.

  I just want to know if the Yeti was represented, or the mamoth, or maybe the Unicorn. I know the Irish Rovers say that the Unicorns were too busy playing around and were swept away. I look to the Irish Rovers as my source of spiritual inlightenment. They are just as good as the pope, or WTBTS, in putting forth unvarifiable claims, but at least they make pretty music.
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  Jesus Christ

  Sad to say but yes, there are actually very large numbers of people like this. What's even more frightening is that not are there only special colleges that offer full curiculums based on their warped view of the bible but many of these people are doing all that they can to push it off in the public school systems in hopes of recruiting more, little, idiots. Scary isn't it?
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  Xander

  With the creation argument that you raised, God could have transferred the entire marsupial population from Asia to Australia using whatever means possible he had at his dispoal

  Sadly, this is exactly correct.

  'God' could have instantly created man and all animals, then using his supernatural powers, made the Earth appear to be billions of years old when it was in fact merely thousands. Then, he uses his supernatural skills to scatter all kinds of fossils he created on the spot throughout the earth's crust to fascinate archeologists for years to come. He, of course, makes animals continue to adapt to their environment in an apparent evolution to further confuse scientists as to how life really got here. Then, he removed any trace of his existence from the planet, and made accounts of his presence and laws contradictory. Then, he created fictitious conflicing gods to have much of the world's population follow, to test the loyalty of his followers. He, of course, speaks in riddles to his followers and, although he can see the future well enough to warn specific kings about local famines, neglects to warn anyone about the black plague, Napolean, or Hitler.

  Etc. Etc. ad nauseum.
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  Gedanken

  jrizo,

  Actually I find those kind of comments very hard to understand from someone like you. Evolution is not a matter of belief. Anyone who thinks that has not studied the matter objectively - I mean that completely sincerely. Admittedly it is quite a shock to realize that evolution has a solid foundation. Pomegranate quoted Mark Ridley - I'll bet neither you nor he has read his book "Evolution." If you did read it with an open mind you would _at least_ see that evolution is not "religion" but is an honest attempt to explain observations that are otherwise inexplicable.

  Another question I have, since you keep likening evolutionists to the WTS is, would it be dogmatic to insist that the earth is round, or would that be "arguing over JW-like nonsense."

  Also, how do you feel about fundametalist Christians intentionally misquoting scientists, or quoting them out of context? Is that honest or is that deceptive lying; and which is more like the WTS?

  Comparing someone to a JW is a pretty heavy charge on this board - I'd suggest that you look at yourself first, as Jesus recommended, before accusing others.

  Gedanken
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  pomegranate

  bttt

  Edited by - pomegranate on 29 October 2002 18:43:47
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  Gedanken

  pom - thanks.