Posts by gitasatsangha

The two terms are not necessarily disctinct. The problem begins at defining "life". Is a virus alive? It meets some requirements, but others it does not. Are nanobes alive? Hard to say. What about Prions? I don't think there is currently any accepted "origin" theory that life spontanously came together in some sort of Stanley Miller reaction. Instead the idea seems to be that complicated chemical reactions which became self replicating, and eventually developed into something like mitochondria, then finally true cells. Whether this happened here, or one another planet like Mars and then was sprad to earth by metor bombardment is an interesting thing to ponder. Without a time machine or finding of fossils on Mars predating all fossils on Earth, it will be hard to say, and even then it will probably never be certain.

If the question is the origin of the universe, this gets to the point where theology and cosmology start to rub shoulders. I take the Buddhist standpoint that there cannot be a single causation. My reason is that there has never been a single causation demonstrated for anything else, so I can't except one for the Universe. This is not to say that the Big Bang did not occur, far from it, but the event was probably far more complicated then we understand at this time. All the same I don't expect any major discoveries in the matter to come from religion. They never have.

57

THINGS YOU NEVER HEAR IN A Kingdom Hall...

by WildTurkey in

things you never hear in a kingdom hall...

hey!

it's my turn to sit in the front roll.. .

gitasatsangha

"I have doubts"

35

George Bush's Vietnam

by WhyNow2000 in

that's what sen edward kennedy of massachusetts called it.

do you agree?.

washington (reuters) - u.s. senators argued on wednesday over whether the conflict in iraq was becoming another vietnam and some republican supporters of president bush suggested he consider extending a june 30 deadline for the handover of power there.

gitasatsangha

The mentalities of both Vietnam (Indochine) and Iraq are not dissimilar. Both were overrun by various cultures over time. With Vietnam, it was China, and the French. With Iraq, it was the Mongols, the Ottoman Empire, the Brittish. These invasions have a major impact over a culture in time. The Iraqis are culturally sick of being invaded. They will resist occupation, and America will get its war like it or not.

I wouldn't call the Iraq insurgency a Vietnam, but more like the Phillipine insurgency.

28

A question for the Athiests....

by desib77 in

jw
friends

i have a question for those who do not believe in god.....how do you feel that life came to be?.

i'm certainly not criticizing anyone's beliefs.

i'm just trying to figure out what i believe and am curious about all viewpoints.. desi

gitasatsangha

life came to be.. through causes and conditions which were agreeable to the development of biological life.

(not an athiest, but not a theist either)

5

achtung!

by LuckyNun in

jw
friends

i hereby apologize for my potty mouth.

i just realized that some little language gnomes have been hard at work, cleaning up my various posts.

um, thanks guys.

gitasatsangha

The UN letter is a great idea. It wouldnt be just to "annoy" them, but rather to liberate their thinking.

38

Do jw's believe dinosaurs existed?

by farmer in

jw
friends

?

and what do they believe or not about evolution?

gitasatsangha

Gaiagirl,

Jdubs are no different from most creationists in that regard. They try to bend logic to support an unsupprotable premise. I have never understood why, because there does not have to be an inherent conflict between the bible and natural selection.

5

I'm Back/Stations of the Cross

by Yerusalyim in

i'm back,.

i received several notes asking where i've been this last week...for those that noticed and were concerned...thanks...nothing bad happened...i was in the field with my class evaluating them on their common leader combat skills ( i always enjoy my time out there).

i ended up getting bum rushed by the class at about 3:30 am and duct taped to a tree...then they posed for a picture with me...i'll post it when i get a copy because i enjoy self depricating humor...and...it's a sign of affection from the class.. stations of the cross,.

gitasatsangha

Glad to see you are back and well Yeru. Hope you didnt have to eat too many MRE's.