i have been thinking a great deal about where i stand at this moment in time in terms of a belief in a creator verses a belief in an evolutionary process.
i think the best way to describe it is an exploratory path.
i look at what is around me and i acknowledge it is remarkable.
Since I don't know how energy is really operating on the quantum level, I don't think I will ever know for sure.
Does consciousness arise from energy in the complex form of matter which somehow jumps through a nearly infinite number of hoops to arrive as me? Or does energy become conscious and self-aware first, creating the perception of a physical universe around us?
i have been thinking a great deal about where i stand at this moment in time in terms of a belief in a creator verses a belief in an evolutionary process.
i think the best way to describe it is an exploratory path.
i look at what is around me and i acknowledge it is remarkable.
I just think of two things: 1)That the universe is made entirely of energy. 2)That I have consciousness and am self-aware. I have thoughts, emotions, desires, etc.
How can that really happen? Is it possible that energy can have different levels of consciousness? I think there are levels below us... in the form of animals. (which couldn't possibly comprehend our level of consciousness). Could there be levels above us that we can't possibly comprehend?
port-au-prince (reuters) - a major earthquake hit the impoverished country of haiti on tuesday, collapsing buildings in the capital port-au-prince and burying residents under rubble, a reuters reporter in the city said.. he said he saw dozens of dead and injured people in the rubble, which blocked streets in the city.. the epicenter of the quake was located inland, only 10 miles from the capital port-au-prince and was very shallow at a depth of only 6.2 miles.. it prompted a tsunami watch for parts the caribbean, the pacific tsunami warning center said on tuesday.. "everything started shaking, people were screaming, houses started collapsing ... it's total chaos," reuters reporter joseph guyler delva said.
"i saw people under the rubble, and people killed," he added.. a local employee for the u.s. charity food for the poor reported seeing a five-storey building collapse in port-au-prince, a spokeswoman for the group, kathy skipper, told reuters.. another food for the poor employee said there were more houses destroyed than standing in delmas road, a major thoroughfare in the city.. panic-stricken residents filled the streets desperately trying to dig people from rubble or seeking missing relatives as dark fell shortly after the quake.. "people were screaming 'jesus, jesus' and running in all directions," delva said.. a major earthquake, of magnitude 7 or higher, is capable of causing widespread and heavy damage.
there was no immediate report of damage or casualties.. the tsunami center said the watch was in effect for haiti, the neighboring dominican republic, with which it shares the island of hispaniola, cuba and the bahamas.. "a destructive widespread tsunami threat does not exist based on historical earthquake and tsunami data," the center said.
"People were screaming 'Jesus, Jesus' and running in all directions,"
This is why I don't understand when people say that Jesus came into their lives and changed everything for them. Why would God give blessings to some of his children and let others die in the rubble of an earthquake? Wouldn't a God of justice answer everyone's prayers... or no one's? Not just some of the people some of the time?
hi guys.
its been a long time since ive been on here!
just trying to get on with my life.
Ynot, just knowing that makes me feel stronger already.
the bible got all the bases cover and the end is always near either it's war or peace both are signs the end is nigh.
steven pinker: a brief history of violence.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rambfrt1uzk&feature=related.
It doesn't say there would be peace and security... just that they will be saying 'peace and security' ...then the end will come.
hi guys.
its been a long time since ive been on here!
just trying to get on with my life.
I feel just like you do.
as we are 10 years into the 21st century technology has sped up to beyond our expectation:.
craig venter on dna and the sea.
http://www.ted.com/talks/craig_venter_on_dna_and_the_sea.html.
Wow! I watched that video on creating DNA. What a complicated process... like computer programming. It really adds weight to the argument that, it does require intelligence to create life after all.
for years i believed that god had created all the plants and their elements and nutrients specifically for us.
yesterday as i was walking at the getty museum was smelling the garlic plants in the garden and made me wonder.
if we are a product of evolution and the survival of the fittest, why do we depend on a wide variety of plants to survive?
For me, the question is not whether life evolves but rather is it really possible for life to arise from non-living matter at all.
one of the themes i think about every now and again is that of the nature of belief, the purpose of religion, and the presense of truth.. specifically, do the differences between spiritual beliefs really matter?
meaning that, if every religion is just an amalgamation of different combinations of mysticisms, does it really matter if we are protestants, catholics, quakers, mormons, muslims, pagans, jews, or even jehovah's witnesses?
further, does it really matter whether we believe in god or not?
I think it matters what you believe because what if you thought your God wanted human sacrifices? What if you thought your God wanted you to be a suicide bomber and kill the infidels? What if you thought your God wanted you to stone your daughter if she was raped? Etc. Etc.
Plus, for me at least, belief isn't a choice. I believe what I believe and can't "decide" to believe something different. (Unless I have new information that proves otherwise... then I'll believe that and won't be able to "choose" the old belief again.)
i had a brother.
his name was jon.. jon was a sweet, super sensitive guy.
also, a very tortured soul.
Jeff, I don't have the gift of verbalizing my thoughts like you do but I just want to say that your words today have thrown a blanket on my shivering heart.
