Posts by FlyingHighNow

405

Origin of Life

by cofty in

in recent years significant progress has been made in solving the question of how life originated on our planet.. how do you think theists will respond when it finally happens?

as a former christian i know my reaction would have been something like "well that just goes to show that it takes intelligent life to make life", but for two reasons that defense doesn't work.. firstly it would prove that life is not an ethereal force that originates with god.

there is no 'ghost in the machine', no elan vital.

FlyingHighNow

Life on Mars would not rule out the existence of an intelligent god, gods or goddesses - FHN

New life in the lab would make her redundant as a source of life. That would be a huge challenge for theism.- Cofty

It could mean that homo sapiens are very capable, intelligent beings. Which would just make intelligent god, gods or goddesses, if they are behind homo sapiens, even more impressive. I don't understand how it would make god, gods or goddesses redundant. Sparking new life in a laboratory just proves intelligent beings can spark new life. God, gods or goddesses are simply different kinds of intelligent beings.

405

Origin of Life

by cofty in

in recent years significant progress has been made in solving the question of how life originated on our planet.. how do you think theists will respond when it finally happens?

as a former christian i know my reaction would have been something like "well that just goes to show that it takes intelligent life to make life", but for two reasons that defense doesn't work.. firstly it would prove that life is not an ethereal force that originates with god.

there is no 'ghost in the machine', no elan vital.

FlyingHighNow

Not sad--no really.

Mars may have life on it. Bacterial life. Images from a satellite above Mars excited people when they showed dark moving patches. If there is liquid on Mars, and it contains bacterial life, how will the Theists explain it away?

It's possible you mean to say -some Christians-, rather than theists? People who believe in some kind of intelligent god or gods or goddesses are not all Christians or typical in their beliefs. Life on Mars would not rule out the existence of an intelligent god, gods or goddesses. Life on Mars would mean there is life on Mars.

34

Do you have / admire Charisma?

by The Rebel in

jw
friends

"charisma is a certain quality of an individual personality by virtue of which the person is set apart from ordinary people and treated as exceptional".

as a kid i was afraid of such charisma, as it was usually the quality i noticed elders, head masters, and parents had to exercise with unloving authority over me.. but now i think about it "charisma" doesn't need be only for people with authority.

" charisma" is something even we can have?

FlyingHighNow

Charisma is just a pretty wrapping. A pretty wrapping can house a chocolate bar or a turd.

I can't agree that charisma is a pretty wrapping. People with charisma have a strong electricity to them comes from deep with in. They are not always physically attractive.

34

Do you have / admire Charisma?

by The Rebel in

jw
friends

"charisma is a certain quality of an individual personality by virtue of which the person is set apart from ordinary people and treated as exceptional".

as a kid i was afraid of such charisma, as it was usually the quality i noticed elders, head masters, and parents had to exercise with unloving authority over me.. but now i think about it "charisma" doesn't need be only for people with authority.

" charisma" is something even we can have?

FlyingHighNow

Thank you, CoCo.

3

The Other Prince (Buster ) Has Passed Away

by BluesBrother in

the king of jamaican ska.. an icon of his time and a giant of his genre has left us , i believe i his late seventies.

.

there was a time when prince buster records would be played at any live gig , between sets .r.i p..

FlyingHighNow

Hi, Blues Brother .

34

Do you have / admire Charisma?

by The Rebel in

jw
friends

"charisma is a certain quality of an individual personality by virtue of which the person is set apart from ordinary people and treated as exceptional".

as a kid i was afraid of such charisma, as it was usually the quality i noticed elders, head masters, and parents had to exercise with unloving authority over me.. but now i think about it "charisma" doesn't need be only for people with authority.

" charisma" is something even we can have?

FlyingHighNow

Yes, I have been told that I have charisma. I don't tend to see it until I see video of myself. It can be a two edged sword though. You can draw people and/or you can intimidate people when you have strong charisma. I think there is a passionate, electric and sometimes a vivacious quality that can cause magnetism and a more intense presence to an individual. There are different types of charisma, too, I have observed. One kind is sex appeal, or what my friend Andy calls a natural sex vibe. With others is is an intense passion for life. Some charismatic people have a natural sparkle or glow to them. Confidence can radiate a kind of charisma.

I find myself more drawn to the "passionate for everything" kind of charisma.

That avatar there to your left is me. When people figure out that it is me, they tell me they thought I chose some famous person's picture for the avatar. In reality its just a photograph my son took of me, that I put Billy Jack's hat on, that accidentally got cut in half when I tried to upload it to another site. I liked the cut in half look, so I kept it. I don't know what causes my charisma or if it is present all of the time, such as days when I feel tired or weary. It can work for me in sales, and with most people, but it can also work against me. I'm not saying that I am exceptional. It's pretty typical for the ENFP - Myer Briggs/Jung personality type to be a bit on the magnetic/charismatic side. A lot of ENFP's are famous actors or writers or involved in the entertainment field in some way. From Human Metrics:

Famous ENFP's

34

Found Another Medieval Coin This Evening

by cofty in

i got in an hour metal detecting this evening and found this almost immediately.. it is a silver penny of henry ii minted in london by "davi" between 1180 and 1189. this adds a king i didn't have in my collection.

i now have the series of henry ii - john - henry iii - edward i - edward ii - edward iii.. i now need richard the lionheart to fill in the gap.

he was the brother of john and reigned after the death of henry ii.

FlyingHighNow

Fascinating hobby and find, Cofty. thank you for sharing with us.

When you find a coin which you can pin to a period in history, is there any way to determine when the coin was dropped there? Or other artifacts? I remember that at the Etowah Indian Mounds museum in Bartow County Georgia USA, there was a Spanish sword from some Spanish expedition, that had been found on a Floyd County property/farm. It is called De Soto's Sword. It is believed that the sword was dropped there during Hernando De Soto's 1540 expedition or a later Spanish expedition in 1560.

Here is a news paper article about the dispute over ownership. There was an official archaeological dig going on, but the finders were not part of the dig. De Soto's Sword Ownership

35

Is the Jesus of religion conservative, and the Jesus of the New Testament liberal?

by Fernando in

is the jesus of religion conservative, and the jesus of the new testament liberal?.

your thoughts?.

FlyingHighNow

It's not so much about getting confidence in Jesus or in what is written about him. Here in America we have a party, the Grand Old Party of Republicans that has managed to convince some more simple thinking Christians that Jesus was a Republican , so they would vote GOP. Most of them, GOP leaders, don't give a flip about religion. They only pretend to be ultra Christians to get votes so they can push their agenda. And they pretend to care about the unborn and abortion. Religion, for them, is a tool to fool and get voters. To vote GOP is to please God. To vote Democrat is to vote for the Devil's party doncha know? Those baby killers. I'm not a Republican.

35

Is the Jesus of religion conservative, and the Jesus of the New Testament liberal?

by Fernando in

is the jesus of religion conservative, and the jesus of the new testament liberal?.

your thoughts?.

FlyingHighNow

Looking at the context of Matthew 6:48

The CEB translation gives an interesting alternative to the word perfect, which is used in many English translations/versions. I posted the context of Matthew 5:48 a couple of comments back.

CEB Therefore, just as your heavenly Father is complete in showing love to everyone, so also you must be complete.

35

Is the Jesus of religion conservative, and the Jesus of the New Testament liberal?

by Fernando in

is the jesus of religion conservative, and the jesus of the new testament liberal?.

your thoughts?.

FlyingHighNow

I'm not a Christian. I'm not a person who believes The Bible was written by God. I'll get that out of the way. But reading what the Bible does say about Jesus, it's clear he was not harsh over human failings,but was very firm with hypocritical religious leaders and oppressors.

This is from Matthew Chapter 9

The Calling of Matthew

9 As Jesus went on from there, he saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax collector’s booth. “Follow me,” he told him, and Matthew got up and followed him.

10 While Jesus was having dinner at Matthew’s house, many tax collectors and sinners came and ate with him and his disciples. 11 When the Pharisees saw this, they asked his disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?”

12 On hearing this, Jesus said, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. 13 But go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice.’[a] For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”