Posts by cofty

i intend for this to be one of a series of bite-sized ops on the evidence for evolution.. introduction to dna genes are sequences of dna made up of words (codons) each of which are three letters (bases) long.

there are only four letters in the genetic alphabet (acg&t) each word or codon is the recipe for one amino acid.

there are 20 different amino acids in living organisms.

cofty

Hooby - Did you understand my answer about the difference between ontological and methodological naturalism?

This is the key to your misunderstanding.

Hundreds of years ago EVERYBODY was a creationist. Despite their tendency to take refuge in supernatural answers whenever they got stuck progress was made.

Newton made some brilliant advances in understanding physics but because he couldn't work out why all the planets move on the same plane he declared it was the miraculous work of god. Now we know how planets are formed his supernatural answer is believed by nobody because it is no longer necessary.

What you are advocating is a god-of-the-gaps. He is not needed in any way to explain the complexity and diversity of living things.

169

Universal sovereignty on trial

by Factfulness in

i just had a thought of clarity regarding the jw explanation for this doctrine.

they explain that satan challenged god regarding his right to rule.

god failed to prove his right to rule.

cofty

What if God doesn’t meet our understanding of goodness? - SBF

Then he is unworthy of our worship or even of our respect.

According to christianity Jesus came to make god known to humanity. He taught that god is love and he defined love in terms of doing good to others including your enemies.

Therefore god fails to meet his own revealed standards.

11

Fox Has a 3 Part Series on Hasidic Jews

by minimus in

jw
friends

yesterday they started a three part series on hasidic jews living mostly in brooklyn and new jersey and how they take advantage of the system and at the same time rule with an iron hand for bidding the use of modern technology, smart phones, tv etc .

if you think the witnesses are bad, take a look at them.

they ostracize you and kick your children out of their schools and treat you as nonexistent !

cofty

Israel is also experiencing a significant increase in Jewish religious extremism.

Some at the far end are anti-Zionist. Go figure!

291

Evolution is a Fact #1 - Protein Functional Redundancy

by cofty in

i intend for this to be one of a series of bite-sized ops on the evidence for evolution.. introduction to dna genes are sequences of dna made up of words (codons) each of which are three letters (bases) long.

there are only four letters in the genetic alphabet (acg&t) each word or codon is the recipe for one amino acid.

there are 20 different amino acids in living organisms.

cofty

Perry it occurred to me today what a spectacular own-goal you scored yesterday.

The research that you drew attention to destroys the fundie xtian concept of animal 'kinds'. The central point of the paper was the profoundly significant differences between species at the level of mitochondrial DNA.

That removes the usual lame apologetic waffle about Noah taking 'kinds' of animals on the Ark as representative of multiple species. Instead it would be necessary for Noah to take two (or five) of every one of the 8.7 million species on the Ark. It also provided powerful evidence that our 8.7 million extant species emerged from earlier ancestors 200,000 years ago.

Your only get-out of your risible flood myth has just been demolished by a study that you drew our attention to because your wrongly thought it undermined evolution.

I think that is called being 'hoisted by your own petard'.

291

Evolution is a Fact #1 - Protein Functional Redundancy

by cofty in

i intend for this to be one of a series of bite-sized ops on the evidence for evolution.. introduction to dna genes are sequences of dna made up of words (codons) each of which are three letters (bases) long.

there are only four letters in the genetic alphabet (acg&t) each word or codon is the recipe for one amino acid.

there are 20 different amino acids in living organisms.

cofty

for me to say that life came from nothing or the primordial soup, does not cut it. - blownaway

Firstly well done for drawing a distinction between the origin of life and evolution. So many creationists conflate the two - the Watchtower are notorious for doing this.

The origin of life is a field of study called abiogenesis. There have been many exciting developments in recent years. Nobody has thought in terms of 'primordial soup' for many decades. The most promising research is being done by scientists working in the field of bioenergetics. The key question is not building the components of life but how life could be sustained - life is not a thing, a force or an immaterial energy, it a process. In the words of a Russian scientist it is an electron looking for a place to rest. The evidence that life arose in Alkaline vents under the ocean is very compelling. If you are interested in knowing more I recommend 'The Vital Question' by Nick Lane.

You are correct in saying that evolution is a fact. Every extant species descended from a common ancestor over millions of years by a process of unguided evolution. The complexity and 'design' of living things is a result of natural selection. This much is a fact beyond sensible dispute.

If you want to grasp how amazingly complex organisms can arise from simpler forms see 'The Blind Watchmaker' by Dawkins. If you have any questions please feel free to ask.

There are forty threads in this series that survey some of the evidence.

Edited to add - you might enjoy this presentation...

...

131

Why Do People Oppose Jehovah's Witnesses?

by BlackSpirit in

jesus christ, the son of the most high god, jehovah has this to say: "if the world hates you, you know that it has hated me before it hated you.

if you were part of the world, the world would be fond of what is its own.

now because you are no part of the world, but i have chosen you out of the world, for this reason the world hates you.

cofty

Black Spirit you are parroting cult doublethink.