Posts by rocketman

27

"If the Earth were just a little bit further from or closer to the Sun, we would all freeze or burn"

by Island Man in

i'm sure we've all heard this argument by theists employing the fine-tuning argument.

are you aware, however, of exactly how much this "little bit" really is?

theists would have us think that the slightest change in the distance would have drastic implications for survivability.

rocketman

This thread and some of the comments herein thus far touch upon something that I've been thinking about, namely, that if our planet was designed for life in some precisely 'fine tuned' way, why has Earth been struck by asteroids/comets in the past, and why is there still that risk? This seems to me to be a product of a random set of circumstances, not a precisely fine-tuned system.

In its early history, sure, there would be a functionality in comet/asteroid strikes, such as depositing water and minerals here. But now that life has formed here, and the risk of such impacts still exists, it seems to me to indicate randomness rather than purposeful design - why would a Designer not eliminate all risks to his design? Why, in a finely-tuned system, can one fateful strike by a large celestial object wreak havoc and threaten all life on Earth?

36

DOOM and LUXURY : the Watchtower Elite prepares for the GREAT TRIBULATION

by TerryWalstrom in

boondoggles and preppers watchtower style!

a religion of doom and luxury!.

in 1866, the times of london wrote:.

rocketman

Great (Tribulation) presentation Terry!

44

Evolution is a Fact #36 - Mass Extinctions

by cofty in

250 million years ago a plume of molten basalt gushed up from the earth's core.

it erupted in an area now known as the siberian traps - back then it was part of the supercontinent pangaea.

a curtain of lava a mile high and hundreds of miles long lit up the sky.

rocketman

I'm not advocating for Creationism, but in response to a few earlier comments to this thread about the implausibility of a God presiding over mass extinctions, the Bible does present a God who did author a mass extinction of sorts known as The Flood.

My point is, we can't dismiss the existence of a Creator based on the seemingly unreasonable notion of a God who would preside over or even initiate a massive dying among his creation, since that's pretty much exactly what the Bible says he did in Noah's day.

That is not, of course, what the OP is about, but it has been inferred in some responses. In regard to that, I agree that evidence of mass extinctions does tend to run counter to Creationism, especially in regard to the dating of such events. But the notion of extinction as being totally foreign to the existence of a Creator is a line that, in my view anyway, cannot be drawn directly, or even inferred.

41

Toasting is Pagan - How many contradictions can fit in 2 pages, I found 5?

by jwfacts in

the watchtower 2007 feb 15 pp.30-31 explains why jehovah's witnesses are not to toast.

what is astounding is that for each point they then go on an explain why the point is irrelevant, yet still conclude toasting is wrong.

what did people think when reading this?

rocketman

No one, not a single person, outside of Jehovah's Witnesses has ever, in my experience, made any association between paganism and things like Toasting, Wedding Rings, Pinata's, etc. Not birthdays, either, for that matter.

These connections are simply no longer in play - society as a whole no longer makes such associations.

Since that is the case, all of them should be OK for the Witnesses. Either that, or all of them should be banned. None of this picking and choosing. It either has pagan roots, or it doesn't. And since practically everything does, and it's impractical to forbid it all, then they should allow it all.

9

What's the difference between 'works' and 'fruits'?

by TTWSYF in

my uber jw elder brother used to use jesus's quote "you know a tree by it's fruit" and then would speak about how jws are the only ones going door to door and restoring god's true name.. my niece was the first to point out that those were works and not fruits.

my brother retreated for a few days to contemplate the difference between works and fruits and when he returned to address the comment, he stated that works are fruits.

what's the take from the jw apologist?.

rocketman

One Eyed Joe, good comment.

95

Evolution is a Fact #31 - Ten Questions for Creationists

by cofty in

i thought this would be a good time to pose some questions based on the series so far.. if creationism is true these should be easy.

answers that don't involve copy-paste would be really interesting to read.. ... .

1. since some proteins can be assembled in more ways than there are atoms in the universe why do the sequences of amino acids and bases vary between species in exactly the way evolution predicts?

rocketman

Evolution has occurred. It is an established fact, I think the only thing a "believer" can do is to somehow reconcile God to evolution by saying that God perhaps guided or used evolution. Or, that he simply allowed nature to take its course, as it were, and, well, here we are.

I call it the Lazy Creator Theory, although a more reverent name would be the Efficient Creator. Here's an example:

Let's just say that the creation account in Genesis is true. God directly created just two of the billions of humans that have ever lived (actually, just one and a half, since he used material from Adam to construct Eve). From Adam and Eve onward until now, humans call God their Creator, but in reality, God did not create us, you and me, humans born since Adam and Eve. He created the mechanism, reproduction and genetics, that resulted in our birth.

Genesis also says, of course, that God created animal life. Again, to have "swarmed" on the Earth, considerable time would have to have been allowed for animal life to multiply and fill the Earth. The Lazy Creator wouldn't have to create all that many forms of creatures. Create a few, and let nature take its course.

To me, that's the only way to reconcile it - that God, at times, did create, but that most of life on Earth has come about by natural means. And even that is a tenuous "theory" for which I can provide no real proof.

35

Evolution is a Fact #11 - Tiktaalik

by cofty in

one of the biggest gulfs that life has had to cross was the transition from sea to dry land.. fish have conical shaped heads, reptiles have flat heads.

fish have no necks; their heads are attached to their shoulders by a series of bony plates.

land-dwelling animals all have necks; their heads can move independently of their shoulders.

rocketman

http://www.popsci.com/science/article/2013-03/birds-are-evolving-not-get-hit-cars

Another modern example (possibly) of natural selection at work.

35

Evolution is a Fact #11 - Tiktaalik

by cofty in

one of the biggest gulfs that life has had to cross was the transition from sea to dry land.. fish have conical shaped heads, reptiles have flat heads.

fish have no necks; their heads are attached to their shoulders by a series of bony plates.

land-dwelling animals all have necks; their heads can move independently of their shoulders.

rocketman

This thread confirms my theory: Everything is funnier when uttered in a typical Southern US drawl. Try it sometime - just start talking like a Southerner. You'll make yourself laugh, guaranteed.

I'm pretty much caught up on Cofty's fascinating series. Most of his entries have been interesting and illuminating.

Or, perhaps I should write that as "illuminatin'."

11

Evolution is a Fact #25 - Deep Time

by cofty in

in the 18th century the calculations of archbishop james ussher regarding the age of the earth were still accepted without question.

according to ussher god made the earth at 6pm on the evening of saturday 22nd october 4004 b.c.. this naive certainty was to become a victim of the scottish enlightenment and the brilliant mind of james hutton.

having qualified as a medical doctor in 1749 hutton returned to the family farm in berwickshire not far from where i am typing this now.

rocketman

Interesting, as all the posts in this series are, Cofty. Of course, aside of Young Earth Creationists, this doesn't apply much to JWs, who accept that the Earth is billions of years old. But a worthy read nonetheless.

26

Evolution is a Fact #26 - Colour Vision

by cofty in

each little flower that opens,each little bird that sings,he made their glowing colours,he made their tiny wings.. all of us have been moved by the riot of colours in a spring meadow, the majesty of a sunset or the beauty of a bird in breeding plumage.

what greater evidence could there be of a loving creator than our colourful world and the human eye that is equipped to appreciate it?.

this is the sort of simplistic argument that convinces a lot of creationists about their beliefs.. it's time to "unweave the rainbow".. light is detected by a proteins called opsins.

rocketman

"what greater evidence could there be of a loving creator than our colourful world and the human eye that is equipped to appreciate it?."

There are two ideas expressed in this quote: 1)We live in a colorful world and 2)We have eyes equipped to appreciate it.

Actually, it's the brain that "appreciates it". But that point aside, I'd be interested in what mechanism is behind "appreciation". Is there a natural explanation for our "appreciation" of color?

That question led me to this article, which seems to indicate that the jury is still out:

Does Evolution Explain Human Nature?