Posts by gaiagirl

66

DNA & SOFT TISSUE CONFIRMED IN 68 "MILLION" YEAR T-REX !

by Perry in

press release 07-038 .

ancient t. rex and mastodon protein fragments discovered, sequenced.

68-million-year-old t. rex proteins are oldest ever sequenced.

gaiagirl

In regard to the Glen Rose/Paluxy River tracks, I've been there and viewed them myself personally. There are no human tracks present, only several species of dinosaur, notably a sauropod, and a much lighter weight theropod which appears to have been tracking the sauropod. It is these theropod footprints which creationists sometimes claim to be human, however close inspection reveals that many of the prints in this trail clearly show the characteristic "three-toe" pattern. In some of the other theropod prints, erosion has softened the outline and those particular prints are sometimes touted as "human", albeit a very, very, large human with a foot approximately 18 inches long. Other alleged "human" prints in the area were revealed to have been faked as long ago as the 1930's. It seems that creationists will stop at nothing to "prove" the Genesis account is somehow true. The following link is an overview of what is known about the prints in the area. http://www.talkorigins.org/faqs/paluxy/mantrack.html

8

A proessor's interesing theory on Jesus's resurrection.

by badboy in

jw
friends

professor frank tipler believes that jesus's body decayed into neutrinos and antineutrinos,which then converted ito atoms to make up the resurrected jesus.

gaiagirl

I partly agree with Tipler, Jesus body decayed...as to the end product, I'd apply Occam's Razor to decide.

106

Witchcraft - Would you use it?

by Sirona in

jw
friends

would you ever use witchcraft?.

do you think witchcraft is dangerous?.

do you think witchcraft is just a set of delusions based on ancient superstition?.

gaiagirl

I see witchcraft as a manipulation of natural energies and forces, such as gravity, sunlight, wind, etc, to accomplish a desired result. To my way of thinking, this is a form of science or possibly, a technology. So, yes, I'd use witchcraft if I felt I needed to in order to achieve some desired end.

7

carbon dating

by bluebell in

just wondering and not wanting to take over perrys thread re: dinosaur dna.

i know the dubs poo poo the idea of carbon dating saying that it's all wrong and that the human and animal remains are not millions of years old because according to them mankind is 6,000 years oldish, is there anywhere where they contradict themselves on this, so that they accept carbon dating on some things and not on others?.

gaiagirl

I seem to recall JWs accepting some comparitively recent carbon dates such as artifacts from the ruins of Jericho or something similar. When dates are applied to anything older than their date for the Flood, they become increasingly skeptical, because in their minds, the presence of the water canopy would dramatically alter all radiation levels before that time (a premise not supported by any science, sort of like saying fossils of fish from the ocean depths should appear much older than fossils of animals living in the mountains) Also, note that carbon dating is only ONE method of radiometric dating, and only accurate for once-living things less than 100,000 years or so. This is because the half-life of carbon 14 is comparitively short, about 5730 years, so by the time a sample has experienced radioactive decay for 10 or so half-lives, the amount remaining is so small, it is difficult to detect. So, no dinosaur sample could be CARBON dated, because after 60,000,000 or so years, there would be so little carbon 14 remaining. However, there are OTHER radioactive elements such as uranium, thorium, polonium, radium, even an isotope of lead, which occur naturally in rocks, and which have much longer half-lives. These elements CAN be used to accurately date rocks older than 4 billion years, even after such a long time, the remaining amount of isotope is still sufficiently large to be detectable and accurately measured.

64

Are Interracial RelationshipsA Taboo Subject?

by The wanderer in

jw
friends

are interracial relationshipsa taboo subject?the exposure to individuals of other racial backgrounds was helpful in my past .

jehovahs witness life to see past racial prejudice.

i am grateful for the exposure.

gaiagirl

I have been in relationships with members of other races, which lasted for varying lengths of time, and in those specific instances, found it to be not worth the additional work required. While there were some good points, overall, the "return" measured in satisfaction, was not sufficiently great to be worth the higher expenditure of effort in order to make things work. Having actually tried such an arrangement, I can say without prejudice - Making a relationship work is sufficiently difficult as it is, I can't think why one would make a choice which is likely to make it even MORE difficult.

40

The world IS getting worse!!

by themonster123 in

jw
friends

i'm telling you- i honestly think people are getting more immoral!!

i saw something on the news last night where some bicycler got hit in the middle of the road in the middle of a huge intersection and people were slowing down to go around him.

that was at some urban centre in tel aviv, israel.

gaiagirl

I second what Greendawn said, the world is FAR better overall now than at any time in the past. The reason the story about the bicyclist made the news is that it IS so unusual for such a thing to happen. And we do have a very efficient media in place for collecting and distributing news of such things when they DO occur. Finally, the media only publishes the stories they believe will generate revenue, and stories about healthy puppies licking the faces of smiling children don't sell newspapers or ad time on network television. What happened to the bicyclist WAS bad, no doubt about it, but if he had lived in Bible times, the driver of the car (wagon? chariot?) would probably have stopped, gotten out and robbed him, then killed him. And much, much, worse if he had been so unfortunate as to be a woman.

14

Describe how you will not die

by darth frosty in

jw
friends

i was just looking at terry's thread and as i read the responses the only thing that came to my mind was the ways i know i will not die.

i know i will not die in a car accident or by drowning.

i have already faced death (or you could say cheated) in those situations.

gaiagirl

I will not die from being chewed upon by a dinosaur, or stepping on the spines of a trilobite. I will not die from negative gravity propelling me into the vacuum of space. I will not die from the Sun suddenly going nova, although others may at some point in the distant future. I will not die from encountering a bit of antimatter. I will not die from zombies eating my flesh, vampires drinking my blood, or incubus stealing my soul

13

No more fiendish punishment could be devised

by slimboyfat in

jw
friends

no more fiendish punishment could be devised, if such a thing were physically possible, than that one should be turned loose in society and remain absolutely unnoticed by all the members thereof.

if no one turned around when we entered, answered when we spoke, or minded what we did, but if every person we met cut us dead and acted as if we were nonexistent things, a kind of rage and impotent despair would before long well up in us, from which the cruelest bodily torture would be a relief.

- william james, the principles of psychology.

gaiagirl

In the book "Clan Of The Cave Bear", a orphaned Cro-Magnon woman named Ayla is raised by a tribe of Neanderthals. When someone seriously breaks one of their rules, they punish them by pronouncing them "dead" and completely ignoring them. Many who are punished in this way begin to see themselves as dead, and die for real. I found it very perceptive of the author to show how, mmmm, "unevolved" the practice of "shunning" really is.

14

If "My Book Of Bible Stories" was a movie, what would it be rated?

by gaiagirl in

discussing movies at work this week, someone mentioned "sin city", a very violent film about honest cops, corrupt cops, and criminals.

in this film, justice is administered harshly, and sometimes cruelly.

however, the film also shows really evil people receiving "just desserts".

gaiagirl

Discussing movies at work this week, someone mentioned "Sin City", a very violent film about honest cops, corrupt cops, and criminals. In this film, justice is administered harshly, and sometimes cruelly. However, the film also shows really evil people receiving "just desserts". Our resident JW stated that "his family doesn't watch any film with an 'R' rating, whereupon I explained that I had seen the film under discussion, and it wasn't any worse than Old Testament violence. I then asked him if he had "My Book Of Bible Stories" for his children. He confirmed that he did, and I asked "So how is it wrong for people to be shot or cut in a film, yet you give your children a book with women being pushed out of windows to be eaten by dogs"? So, what rating would you expect "My Book Of Bible Stories" to receive?

8

Any Oldtimers from Bethel in the 1960s??

by Gretchen956 in

anyone old enough to have been in bethel during the 60s and early 70s?

in my family i have an uncle that was there then, we were always told he was higher up, but that could have been that he was a supervisor or almost anything, who knows.

at any rate, when i was younger he went "apostate," and left bethel and the witnesses in some splashy manner.

gaiagirl

Gymbob, did you know either Tim Sparck or Bruce Dozier, both from Corpus Christi, Texas, who were there during your time? After they returned home, they were in congregations I attended. When I was young, they were viewed by many in the congregation as just a step lower than angels because they had "served at Bethel".