Posts by Caedes

26

There are no atheists in a foxhole

by The wanderer in

jw
friends

"there are no atheists in a foxhole"old soliders' adage this discussion was brought about by curiosity as to why in-.

dividuals have become atheists seeing that at one time they.

professed a belief in god.. the intent is not to argue, debate, or incite to riot.

Caedes

Well I was raised a witness so I never really bought into the whole thing anyway. Obviously the suggestion made in the first post is facetious but I think it's interesting that underlying the suggestion is an assumption that atheism is a lesser conviction than theism. There is an an assumption of the superiority of theistic convictions, in much the same vein as 'oh atheists have no morals', and that the atheist will revert to a stronger more basic theistic conviction if their life was at risk.

I would have thought that the posts on this forum alone should convince anyone that atheistic convictions are as strong as any theistic convictions. It's funny though because thinking about this made me wonder about my own thought that I can't understand how anyone who believes in a caring and loving god can watch the results of natural disasters such as earthquakes, tsunamis, drought, plague or starvation and not think 'that god, he's a w*nker' Perhaps I'm making an assumption of the superiority of my own convictions there too.

But of course there is a difference in the choices we make to arrive at those two points and perhaps that is where the difference in the two viewpoints lie.

9

David Blaine...not

by Caedes in

i think i just wet myself!....

http://www.videosift.com/story.php?id=16467&phpsessid=3d67a15370d347926759157157dfacda.

.

Caedes

I think I just wet myself!...

http://www.videosift.com/story.php?id=16467&PHPSESSID=3d67a15370d347926759157157dfacda

537

evolution or creation? lets talk...

by Sam87 in

jw
friends

ok, lets have a discussion about where we all came from, evolution or creation?

(or whatever you beleive in of course) every one put down there main reasons, along with reasonable facts and backup as to why.. .

hopefully this doesnt start to many arguments, lol.. .

Caedes

I did some research a long time ago on Tacitus, as I remember there were some very considerable problems with using Tacitus account as proof of Jesus existence. Early Roman records do not record his name, there is a suggestion from tacitus' peers that there was someone else in Rome at the time claiming to be the messiah. There is evidence of falsification of other early records (notably josephus) to include reference to Jesus but no actual records from the time Jesus was around. Not really very surprising considering how unimportant he was to the Romans at the time.

I think it is interesting that someone who disliked christians as much as Tacitus chose not to engage in his usual dilligent research regarding the name of the founder of that faith. As one of the most important and most read of all the Roman historians I would have thought he would be the obvious choice to provide a bit of secular evidence of Jesus existence, regardless of his personal animosity towards christians and not an unlikely choice as one poster suggested.

All in all, some very sketchy evidence from the century after Jesus death and nothing at all that could be construed as proof

537

evolution or creation? lets talk...

by Sam87 in

jw
friends

ok, lets have a discussion about where we all came from, evolution or creation?

(or whatever you beleive in of course) every one put down there main reasons, along with reasonable facts and backup as to why.. .

hopefully this doesnt start to many arguments, lol.. .

Caedes

I am still waiting for an evolutionist to answer the three questions I asked on this thread.

Auld soul

sorry old chap, I must have missed that post could you repeat them (sorry I really don't want to read through this thread again!)

I particularly enjoyed 'don't fear the list' I think I'm ready to become one with the list, but what happens afterward, is there some kind of spiritual reward? A list 'afterlife' if you like? I mean I don't want to jump straight onto the list without considering all the ramifications for my immortal avatar soul?!

Top hat

feel free to bow out if you have nothing useful to add.

537

evolution or creation? lets talk...

by Sam87 in

jw
friends

ok, lets have a discussion about where we all came from, evolution or creation?

(or whatever you beleive in of course) every one put down there main reasons, along with reasonable facts and backup as to why.. .

hopefully this doesnt start to many arguments, lol.. .

Caedes

Whyizit,

Creades--- fish are getting smaller so they won't get caught in nets. (?)

It's Caedes thank you. Yes, Average fish size has dropped as an evolutionary response to human fishing.

Dido-- your response to Creades about the pollution in the water was very observant. Sometimes the answers are not nearly as complicated as the self-proclaimed genius' would have us think. My thought on that subject was that perhaps the fishermen were over-fishing the area. The only fish left were the ones too small to sell at market. Too simple for the big brains to consider, but it made sense to me.

I haven't insulted you please do me the same courtesy, it is incredibly insulting to assume that what I am referring to has not been studied in depth by 'self proclaimed genii' (or 'big-brains' if you prefer, I'm not sure why you think it an insult to call someone intelligent) or scientists as the rest of the world knows them. What you are saying is exactly the point the scientists are making, the fish that carried genes to make them 'big fish' have all been eaten by us. We were selecting the larger fish to be eaten, so the ones that remain (and carry on to reproduce) tend to carry genes to be 'small fish' resulting in an average reduction in fish size. That is evolution in action, the survival of the fittest, in this case, fittest is the fish that can swim through the holes in the net. Now if you would like I can provide you with links that explain all the experimentation that went on to show that the mechanism used is genetic evolution and that other factors such as pollution weren't responsible.

I'm with you, Dido. This is getting boring, because rather than explain things in a kind and rational manner, if you don't instantly go along with their view, they result to name-calling and cursing at you. Behaving beligerently does not "explain or prove" anything. And it certainly doesn't serve to win anyone over to your cause.
I've certainly had an education on the character and decency of some of those posting on this subject. The childish name calling and vicious attitudes.....Sticks and stones..... afterall. I haven't attempted to belittle and exclude anyone because their views were different than mine. Perhaps I'm not as intellectual as some. I agree with that. Getting wrapped up in all the intellectual knowledge is what the Pharisees did. They were merciless and loveless. They would not tolerate any view that conflicted with their superior thought process. They couldn't grasp the gospel, because it was too "simple". The evolutionists on this discussion make superb Pharisees.

(Italics added)

If you cannot see how hypocritical those last two paragraphs are then there is little further to say but if you want to learn then you have to listen first.

537

evolution or creation? lets talk...

by Sam87 in

jw
friends

ok, lets have a discussion about where we all came from, evolution or creation?

(or whatever you beleive in of course) every one put down there main reasons, along with reasonable facts and backup as to why.. .

hopefully this doesnt start to many arguments, lol.. .

Caedes

Dido

There are some very good examples of recent evolution in action, the famous moths that changed colouration in response to polution levels in the atmosphere,

fish are getting smaller as an evolutionary response to fishing, since fisherman always throw smaller fish back in or smaller fish can swim through holes in nets, fish populations (the ones that humans fish anyway) are getting smaller.

I know you said that bacteria dont do it for you but how about the bacteria that have evolved the ability to consume nylon waste (nylon is a completely artificial product not in existence before the begining of the last century)

The american mussels that have evolved a defence mechanism against a foreign crab only recently bought to american shores.

These are just some of the examples that I can recall, you are welcome to do further research yourself on any of the examples I have given. If you wish to have the links let me know.

Probably the best example though is dog and cat breeding, by artifically selecting characteristics people have been able to introduce huge variety into dogs, just think of evolution as a natural way of selecting the characteristics that help the animal survive and mate in whatever environment it's in.

12

THE SINS DISPLAYED ON TELEVISION ....TV TEACHING CHILDREN TO KILL !

by baysidefatima in

the greatest attack upon family life.

evil creations from hellall manner of abominations are entering into the homes of your nation and the countries throughout the world.

it will be an absolute necessity now for all parents to act as a director, a leader in the homes.

Caedes

It just goes to show, there's no cure for stupidity.

53

how many atheist and agnostics on this site

by dannygwalsh in

jw
friends

hi everyone just a question to satisfy my curiosity , and if you are a non believer are you happier for being so

Caedes

I'm an atheist and I'm much happier being atheist than believing in something that in all probability doesn't exist.

Hey to Tetrapod.Sapien, how are old chap? I would heartily recommend 'Demian' by Hesse as well.

29

What if we are really alone in the universe?

by zagor in

jw
friends

how would that make you feel if we were the only pleasant accident in inhospitable universe, if such 'miracle' newer happened elsewhere in our universe?

if there are no other alien civilizations that could rescue us or ?show us the way?

as some popular writers like to think.

Caedes

It's a mathematical certainty that we are not alone because not matter how small the chances of life evolving in any given solar system there are so many solar systems out there. Taking the assumption that the chances of life evolving are not zero (since we are here the chance is not zero) then no matter how low the probability of life evolving around any one star is you then have pretty good odds it will appear somewhere else in the universe.

I would recommend the book probability by Amir Acksel (sp) which explains how cumulative probabilities work and how counter-intuitive it all is.The section regarding how many people you would have to have in a group in order for two people out of that group to share a birthday is very interesting.

Still with the distances involved I don't think little green men are likely to be knocking on your door any time soon.

24

To all you Britts

by sunshineToo in

jw
friends

i keep hearing foods in london are terrible.

how bad can it be?

well, i saw a british cooking show, and they were making egg pudding with anchovie.

Caedes

Oh my god you've found out! Yes It's true every single one of the 7.5 million people in London eat terrible food and all of the thousands of restaurants all serve really terrible food. It's funny though because as soon as you leave London all the food is really great! In fact everybody else in the country dine like kings every night of the week and it's not really considered dinner unless you are tucking into fresh roasted swan with artichoke hearts and truffles.