Noah's Ark was not found on Mount Ararat and as some people say they are 99.9 percent sure, I'm 99.9 percent sure it was not, as are many other people in the archeological profession. Even Fox News is saying that it was a hoax and they are a Christian news station, for the most part, catering to the far right. Even Christian Archeologists are saying that the wood found is not old enough, that the location pictures are obscure and no one is being honest about where exactly it is, that a closed team of Chinese 'arkeologists' can only see it, and no independent scientists have been able to see it -at all-. If the Ark was really found, don't you think that archeologists would be let to see the find and not just this closed group so that we could all revel in the glory of it and it would finally give some clear evidence? This isn't the first time a hoax has been pulled. In 1993 another hoax was perpetuated by George Jammal and just slid away into hiding. He had taken a piece of wood from a railroad in California, I believe, hardened it up, stained it appropriately and said it was from the Ark and he found it in Turkey on Mount Ararat. A big documentary was done covering it and later when he admitted to it being a hoax after being confronted, he also said he had never even been to Turkey. There was another hoax reported in the 70s too. The story of Noah's Ark corresponds to the Babylonian tale about Utnapishtim and his boat, which he took and settled a kingdom after the flood, as well as Ziusudra's of Sumeria. Point being that the Babylonians had their tale first, long before the Jews did and this, as well as the Tower of Babel were mutated to fit the needs of the Jews writing the Bible. Last to mention, the Bible OT was put together and finished IN Babylon. If you want to go on believing though that it's more than a story, let's look at it deeper. Noah allegedly took 2 of each animal, or 7 pairs of animals, depending on how you translate the verses, because again, there's great contradiction. There were also 8 people who would have to manage the animals and survive, while everything else that didn't get on the boat supposedly died because God claimed they were all evil. Through great rains, the flood happened and the earth was drowned so that all other life ceased to exist. Some Creationists that are 'reputable' in their profession have given guestimates for the size of the Ark and anyone with a brain can figure out a 420 foot boat isn't going to do the trick. An oil rig wouldn't be big enough. Do you know how many animals have been locally residing in areas around the globe that have -never left that region-? How did Noah save the kangaroos? What about the llamas or Komodo Dragons? Where are the panda bears? How about Kodiak bears or Florida Alligators? I could name tons of species of animals that were nowhere near the Mesopotamian region or around the Nile 4000 years ago. How did they survive and why is there no evidence of this great flood in other regions? The only evidence of probable -huge- flooding even in the Mesopotamian region to an extreme amount would have been around 7 to 8k years ago, and that's before God made anything, if we go by what Creationists want us to believe. Also, the reason for the flooding would have been due to the glacier melting away and receding north; not caused by huge rains as it depicts very clearly in the Bible. So ending the story of a 'mass' flood of several places... maybe the Nile flooded up. That's reasonable. Rivers do that. However, what evidence is there that all animals originated in the area of Turkey to branch out to all other areas, because God would have wiped out everything else in the flood? Surely when they were freed they would be mingling and having offspring as they migrated to their other regions, somehow land animals even were capable of getting to -other continents-. Maybe God teleported them? Then why did he need Noah and his other compatriots to ride on a boat with all of these animals and take care of them while God did mass clean-up on aisle 6? Let's take a look at Noah's living conditions next. Noah was allegedly on this boat with all of these animals of different species. Some who eat very specific foods. I.e. the koala eats eucalyptus and the panda eats bamboo. These are regional foods which have not been found in the Turkey area. We will imagine they were there though for the sake of keeping this story alive. What did the crocodiles, lions, tigers, jackals, hyenas, cheetahs, and other carnivores eat? Dead meat in a locker is not going to suffice for them. Also, it would go bad for how long they were on that boat... let alone the immense amount of meat some of the animals must take in each day would mean that the meat locker room would have had to take up a floor of that boat. (and it still wouldn't be enough). What then did the herbivores eat? What about the animals that eat insects and other bugs? They aren't going to all just eat hay. Their diets vary on what they can and cannot eat. Lastly, what did Noah and these poor others with him do with all the excrement produced from these animals and how did they ever get any sleep since some animals are diurnal while others are nocturnal? Quite a few Christians ignore this tale because for one, it makes God look cruel and that his creations were failures so he destroyed them all. Most Christians don't want to see God in that way, and knowing that various people contributed to the Bible, it's somewhat easy to say it's a 'fable'. If, by some means the Ark is at all real, I'm pretty sure this find is a hoax and if not, we ALL need some evidence. Adam and Eve were NAIVE. How is that testing 'freewill'? If he knows that someone is going to come down and persuade two humans who he made to be naive and ignorant of -knowledge-, which is what the fruit gave them later, that's kind of ridiculous. If I say to not put your hand on a stove burner and turn it on and leave and you go and do it and get burned... does it fly that I was testing your free will? He didn't tell them what it did. He didn't give them any warning on it other than just don't eat it. Humans are curious by nature and Eve was duped by Lucifer so why wasn't Lucifer more punished? Why did Adam get some punishment and Eve was labeled a sinner so badly that all women are idiots to be subservient to men, hence forth? If God is indeed omniscient and saw it all before it was going to happen, yet he made Adam and Eve naive and innocent... he set them up for failure. His -test- should not have resulted in them being banned from Eden or being humiliated. What fruit is it you are talking about? YOU don't eat fruit. Adam and Eve did. Are you saying now that you learning things is bad and God wants you to be stupid to get up to Heaven? Ok, do you believe God loves you? If so, why would a God who loves you, create you and know the moment after you are conceived, where you are going and let it happen? God apparently knows whether you are going to Heaven or Hell a day after you are born. This means there IS no free will because everything is predetermined. Now, if God loves you and realizes that some of his creations are going to a narty place he helped create, WHY would he create that place of Hell and why would he let any of his creations go there? How can a God be all loving and all knowing of everything... and yet let something of sentience be created that has a 'free will' but he knows it's going to Hell... that just makes no sense at all. If God created us in his image, technically there should -be no Hell-. The concept of Hell largely is a Christian thing and many Jews do not believe in Hell. They had a Purgatory of sorts but that's not the same as a fiery pit of damnation, is it? If you can answer these things for me, I'd greatly appreciate it.
He was pretty young to have died. He did have some on going health issues for some time though, I guess. He lived a rather tough life and I did enjoy his show Different Strokes when I was a kid. He'll be missed.
As for this thing in Africa.. I watched a documentary today on Uganda that went more into detail. If this thing is accurate, it would appear that in March 2009, American Evangelicals went over and spoke in Uganda and helped really set this whole bill into creation and motion. A pastor in Uganda has taken things to higher levels and people all over there want this bill enacted that means such a threat to the homosexuals there and others who are not, but get accused of it. http://current.com/shows/vanguard/92438541_missionaries-of-hate-pt-1.htm This is pretty long but it does go into the scenario with Uganda much more deeply, for those who are interested and also shows what some countries are doing to try to head off this bill. The sad thing though is that even though the bill is 'postponed' due to pressures, the people of Uganda themselves are very intense due to all the firing up they've had and they may just take the law into their own hands then, and I doubt anyone will care to stop them.
Yes, a blood sacrifice. God = Jesus. God sent this aspect of himself to earth to live, to do great deeds and then the end purpose was to -die-. Jesus's death was absolutely required to save people because God pretty much realized that no one could follow every rule he had given and that apparently people were so damned. Jesus was God. God was Jesus. He came to earth to say that if you believe in Jesus, his blood sacrifice makes it possible that even if you have sinned, you may come to Heaven. Of course, we have to wonder why Jesus then the night before prays and asks God does he really have to do this.. we can almost equate that in a way that Jesus was an aspect of God and that of course, God still had to do stuff so he wasn't going to be all there on earth. I think you get what I mean though. I did snerk at your Nobody comment. xD Kinda true. It still doesn't dismiss the fact that Jesus did tell people that they should love him above all else and that he was to get between families etc. Yes, some of Jesus's messages were not bad and for -his time- he was a pacifist. However, the slave thing gets to me and so does the thing about telling women they should not speak out in public on important matters, but only to their husbands at home. It showed that still, women and slaves are just that. All slaves. I agree that today is a different time, but that doesn't excuse everything for me, as God should see into the future, as he is omniscient. Surely, he should have known all of the blood that would be shed from the things in the Bible and Jesus himself did say that the rules of the Old Testament hold true. He just came to give people a break. In the end, everyone is apparently accountable, to include God/Jesus, or the sacrifice wouldn't have been needed in the first place. What I don't get is why any sacrifice was needed at all if God is all powerful. Why didn't he just say 'these rules are obviously too much so I'll tone down some and if you just believe in me, you can come up to Heaven'. Wouldn't that have been easier...and less messy? People for years condemned Jews for killing Jesus, let alone all the other things done, all because of this sacrifice. Unfortunately you are a more passive Christian. There are plenty of Christians who are growing more aggressive and insisting that this is not the case. Even with the Catholic Church toning down its views and the former Pope accepted Evolution etc, we have a rise of more violent Christians such as some Southern Baptists and the Evangelicals, which condemn nearly everything anymore. We seem to be digressing, rather than improving. I hope you'll keep that attitude. In the end, the Bible is very violent. Most people never even read the whole thing and they really should. It has its gems in there too but it is a very rough book. That is the problem with the Bible. It was written by various people and it is not consistent. There are areas that really do disagree with others. In the end, people must take what they want from the book and the rest, they have to just gloss over. I just wish there wasn't so much violence in there so that the religious extremists would stop using that as their cornerstone.
I don't think you understand the Theory of Evolution at all. Anyone who had a grasp on it would not say there is no proof. There is plenty of proof, but schools aren't allowed to teach you right because zealots won't allow it. There is not one book of proof on Evolution. There are countless, as well as fossils that connect to creatures and plants of today, etc. Really, read up on a subject before you say there's no proof in it. There are quite a few Christians who believe in the Theory of Evolution. It would not be a scientific theory if it had no proof. The point is that it has been attempted to be disproved and yet more evidence constantly comes up to make its case stronger. In the end, whether anyone believes in Evolution or not, it is going to keep happening. If we all die out, it will keep going on. Creationism is what has no real proof to it other than a book that describes Genesis. Technically Christians don't even have Saturdays off as they should, because that's the day God chilled out and relaxed. You need to take a leap of faith in Creationism. In some cases I think you need to take more of a leap of faith in Creationism than to just believing in God. As we learn more about our world, some of the things in the Bible become more 'story-like', such as the Tower of Babel, how the earth was created, Noah's Arc. They have possible messages to them but many Christians have trouble saying that these are 'real accounts' and not just meant to be fables to teach instead. Others insist it is all real and to discount any of it makes you wrong. In the end, the Bible was written by multiple people and it contradicts itself in areas. It also changes some things here and there. I think as a Christian, you just have to pick out what parts mean the most to you. Read the whole Bible, page to page, and then think on what the theme is that you want to take away from it, so that you are happy. Why do people fight over Evolution and Creationism? Well, the reason is because Creationists constantly want to take Evolution out of schools altogether. They expect science class to teach Creationism alongside Evolution and Creationism has NO foundations except for in the Bible. It is -not- a science thing. It has been suggested that instead of teaching Creationism in science, why it can't be taught in a world religions class for students, as well as other religions so that people of cultures can understand one another more? This was frowned upon by Creationists who are insistent that there is only one God and it is theirs, so basically they stomped all over every other belief, BUT want their belief put in public school. Creationism, since no religious 'creationist' view can be taught in regular school, belongs in church. However, still, Creationists insist that teaching of evolution is against their beliefs and they even threaten science teachers. Really, the only reason people stand against Creationists so vigorously is because Creationist activists are insane and won't give an inch on anything, but expect to take a mile, and then whine no one respects their beliefs, while they stomp on everyone elses.
Creationism is ridiculous to me. There is so much I have seen and even held in my own hands, dug out of the earth at this time... that is well over 6k years old. There are human civilizations that predate 6k years old. I just have no words really for those who are Creationists other than please actually go live life and put down the Bible. Look at things. Reality should triumph over some words that were written by men who did not even know about the dinosaurs, and mankind did NOT walk around with dinosaurs like the Flintstones. The Creationist Museum in Kentucky is a crock of crap and the catering done for Creationism to help keep people stupid is just really sad. Intelligent Design is the new 'Creationism' that has come to realize that there is no way that the earth is 6k years old and that obviously mankind has been around longer. It states that God created everything and has had a hand in designing all that can be seen, somewhat coupling with ideas of evolution. Some people who believe in God follow that still things were born as they were and did not evolve. A rabbit was always a rabbit. A dog was always a dog.. though we clearly know they evolved from wolves. And a human was always a human, of course. Intelligent Designers love to say things to support it such as 'look at the eye. It is so complex' or 'see the top of a banana and how it was meant for you to hold and peel?' (which ironically that is the bottom of the banana). Just about any Intelligent Designer though should actually try studying what is around us and look at it seriously. Look at humans ourselves as we are supposed to be made 'in God's image'. The human eye is flawed. The human body is flawed. If I was an ultimate engineer of life with control over every aspect of it, I think I'd do a better job with it. I wouldn't have parts in the body that seem to be rather useless and then react to things and need pulled out due to infection or the person dies. The eye wouldn't be near sighted or far sighted, the eye lids would be formed better to protect the eye easier, a shield would be on the eye to protect it from sunlight better and to avoid scraping of the retina and we'd have better night vision. People would not get cataract issues or glaucoma. The eye itself would be seated better in the skull and the wiring in back of the eye would connect to a closer proponent of the brain. Heck, the best eyes are certainly not human eyes. It's a fact that there are animals that can see better than we can and have better functioning peepers. Also the argument of nothing has half an eye... study nature. Intelligent Design is not a Theory in Science. It is a hypothesis at best and has NO evidence to support it, no matter how much they try to decorate it up. Before I go on... there is a difference between a 'theory' and a 'Scientific Theory'. A theory in common practice usage is more of a 'hunch' in science terminology. A Scientific Theory was once a hunch that was tested and found to have merit to become a Hypothesis. That Hypothesis was scrutinized, torn at for years, ripped into and every attempt to disprove it was done before it could be considered to be called a Scientific Theory. Creationists love to tell people that 'It's only a theory'. No, it's not. Neither is the Theory of Gravity or the Theory that the earth revolves around the sun. A scientific theory, as said, is something that has been tested and was attacked to disprove. If it cannot be proven to be false, it is therefore seen as true. In the end, whether someone is Christian or not, the only thing that makes sense to me is Evolution. Many people say God sparked it off and let go of the wheel with some generalizations in mind that he tweaked here and there. That's how believers in the Abrahamic God deal with it. People who are Buddhist don't really have an issue with it at all. Even the higher ups in the Catholic Church recognize the Theory of Evolution. There is, despite what some Christians (mainly Evangelicals, Born Agains and some Southern Baptist groups) blather on about, a TON of evidence that supports it and there are quite a few Christians that study it as eagerly and as well as any Atheist would because Evolution, when you actually care to get into it, is so darn interesting. There is so much information out there we have found through DNA, through fossils, through artifacts, through caves, through petrified forests, etc. You can find signs of evolution in all sorts of things out there, from the plants to the animals to us. We are not made perfect, nor is any other creature out there because we are evolving. We adapt and change. We even change mentally and have memes that adjust to conditions of environments that stay stable or that alter. I suppose sadly I should tackle the Adam and Eve story, though I can't stand to but people love to toss it out as 'evidence'. If this story is true, let's modernize it some. There's a parent that loves his two children but puts some cookies in a jar on the table and tells them, do not eat them. You can mess around in the kitchen and living room but leave the cookies alone. That parent then takes off leaving a babysitter to watch over the 4 year old kids (because that's about the mentality of Adam and Eve in their 'innocence). The sitter heads into the kitchen and the girl follows and looks as the babysitter pats the jar, opens it up, sniffs the cookies and motions the girl over to do the same. Ah, they smell delectable. The sitter motions that the girl should try one but she says 'oh I was told I shouldn't'. The sitter says it's okay and she won't get in trouble. Seeing as the sitter is an elder, the girl figures, why not. She then also takes one cookie to her brother, Adam, and gives him it, -sharing-. The parent then comes home and sees that obviously two cookies are missing and stares at the kids who just rub their feet on the floor and have hands behind their backs, heads hanging low as he looks at them. The sitter takes off and the parent says that the person won't be babysitting again. Ah well, the sitter can go do other things, fo' sho. However, Adam and Eve's punishment is just beginning. The parent kicks them out of the house and yard and makes them have to fend for themselves. He also smacks them around and tells the girl child that she should always be subservient to the boy child because she's stupid and soulless and will corrupt men. Now come on. How does this story that is -worse- in the Bible add to modern times and making sense? Why would God, who is supposedly omniscient, tell them to not eat from a specific tree, yet he left it there in the first place to tempt them? Was he being a practical joker? Then of course the 'devil snake' tempts them and Eve is the worst because she shares? So both are made mortal, kicked out of the Garden and Eve gets monthlies and has to have excruciating pain delivering babies and she and all females are to be subservient to men. Of course, I have to wonder if Adam and Eve were the first humans, why did they run into others and how did Cain meet all of these people in -cities-? Some things in the Bible are just not meant to be taken literally. If people do, people die or judge others wrongfully in this day and age. One last thing.. someone said it says in the Bible 'Thou shalt not kill'. Actually the literal translation is 'Thou shalt not murder', which means something different. You are, according to the Bible, allowed to kill if God clears it. Murder is taking a life against the will of God. Therefore, these hate groups of Evangelicals etc that are threatening homosexuals with death... they did also read the Bible since God does kill homosexuals and it is rather clear that the Bible says that a man shall not lay with another man. People had killed homosexuals for a very long time or imprisoned them and now, thanks to Evangelicals from America, Uganda now has a bill up to carry out the acts. I'm so proud of our idiots and that some idiotic pastor there decided to take up the cause against homosexuals. :( (No, absolutely I'm not. I wish we could take the homosexuals from Uganda and trade them for our Evangelical arsehats.) Also, there was no -world wide flood-. Carbon dating is used for things that are around 5 to possibly 6 thousand years of age. After that, carbon breaks down which is -natural-. We have other dating methods to use that are very accurate and go well passed that point. There is proof the Nile flooded up, and it has done so a few times. Of course, there are also 3 versions of the 'Noah' story as well, which Noah wasn't the first... In the end, it's best to not believe in a world-wide flood as it never happened and there is absolutely NO foundations for it at all.
What he said. The present is the thing you are doing at this moment and so I'm unsure how you say there's no such thing as present time. You 'remember' what you did seconds after, but I know right now I am thinking and typing here at this very moment that I did this. When you read it, you are reading it in the present. I think the present is the one thing we can be sure of because memories can be faulty and the future can be guessed at through probability but is unclear.
Actually many inconsistencies can be found in the New Testament and there are immoral things as well. Jesus stated, according to his disciples, that he stood behind all of the 10 Commandments and rules of Yahweh. The difference was he knew men couldn't follow all those rules but they should really try but in the end, did it matter anyway because God knew people were failures and so he sent Jesus to die for them anyway which is God..doing a blood sacrifice.. yeah. Jesus condoned slavery and even said slaves should not fight for freedom but instead accept servitude and do their best to win their spot in heaven. Jesus condoned that women should shaddap and not have opinions out in public but only voice them to her husband at home. Mistreatment and violence was still condoned in the New Testament, just hidden under a softer tone of voice by enamored disciples who couldn't even get their stories straight on what happened as they romanticized the adventures of Yeshua. It may have been a bit gentler, but it still meant that slaves were just dandy and women had no rights outside of what the husband or father permitted and certainly not to do crap in public. Jesus also wanted to divide sons and daughters from parents etc. Families to fight and for him to be placed first in their hearts above all and that if you truly believed in him, you would abandon your family for God. There's some pretty messed up things in the NT too even if there aren't massive floods that drown out a buttload of people.
Wow, I didn't know that and I live in NY. I don't think many New Yorkers know or we'd be protesting it. This is so not right on too many levels. I think this totally sends the wrong message and that if anything, we should be building a new twin towers there instead as a sufi to the Middle East haters. I don't like this. It just sits not so well for me and seems like we're saying that some Muslim radicals bombed us so let's put another radical group that disagrees with that group there... when that group has connections possibly to a violent group in Virginia... yeah.. maybe I am feeling too many emotions about it considering I knew people there, but I don't think so. :/
She's going through a lot so it's hard to tell. Hopefully she'll be back around soon.
I'll be here all week or something. xD
Sorry to hear that. I remember you telling me some things that were wrong. Hang in there. You're a strong person and I'm rooting for you.
You made it far, kinda...but alas, I must intrude. xD
Glad to hear :) Hope things are going much better for you now.
Yeah, I miss her too. Hope she's doing alright.
Well, they may rob me to try to make me change their name to something bad? You got me there.
Yeah, I've been around more since I'm nearly done with my BA in archeology. I'll be back and forth in the summer and then going for my masters....
I think the Bible is the best selling book of all time, as they like to say, because it's printed and churches buy it and give them out to people galore whether they want them or not. I remember that it was actually the Bible itself that made me become not a Christian, since I read the thing from page to page when I was around 12. It horrified me more than the Edgar Allan Poe books I was reading also at the time. I had nightmares of Judgment Day where I would be standing on a mountain and just watching massive destruction happen to all around me, while I seemed impervious to it and was going to head on somewhere better... and it was just not what I could accept. The cruelty and barbaric crimes in the Bible just made me angry and some things just made no real sense at all. I know plenty of decent Christian people, but when they try to say that the zealot, fundamentalist morons aren't Christian, I have to disagree with them. I can point in the Bible to what they use as source material and have to admit that at least they are following a good portion of the religion which has a deity that was selfish, cared so much as to what people did there are rules on waking up from a wet dream and being impure, punished us for minor crimes for thousands of years that he could have canceled from happening with his all powerful knowledge, and inducing people into wars, permitting rapes, murders of children, the degradation of women, telling people what to eat... yeah, I could go on. As much as the nicer Christians try to say they are true Christians, I'm afraid they can't use that phrase with effects they hope for. They too can pull out rules, albeit more 'docile' phrases from mainly the New Testament, while skipping over the droves of heinous quotes from both the Old and New Testament. Many don't even read the Bible to know what is actually in there and go off of old Sunday school lessons or children's stories. I won't go into how some people use the Bible as total truth and pick it apart for the fallacy it is to me, including historically, but I will say I really don't have to either. I can understand the desire to believe in something greater than us out there that controls things, but if there was such a being, I could only hope it would be a better being than the one in the Bible and that humans just flubbed story time up to fit their needs. The Bible in itself is full of discrepancies and it can easily be proven by taking two Bibles and setting them down side by side. Then read the accounts of each disciple on such things as even Jesus's crucifixion. The book is wrought with mistakes throughout it. As it stands, I consider the Bible to have about as much truth to it as I do tales of Zeus, Odin, Horus, Mithras, Mab, Gilgamesh, Nabu, Marduk, etc. There are some good and bad parts to it and things to take away from it. There are historic places and people mentioned, just as there are with the other named deities, but the events that transpired are mostly untrue. Despite the fact it made me not really like Christianity (no, that doesn't mean I dislike people who are followers of it), I do think people should be able to read it and I would encourage them to so that they can think on things and come up with their own conclusions. I also would encourage them to read other books too on different religions to see similarities and differences. It's not a 'horrible' book as the Bible does tell us of a time when people did in fact think slavery was a fine thing, women were seen as soulless and had to be subservient to men, killing in the name of a god was peachy. It gives us a glimpse into how the minds of man worked back then and in that way, it is a historic document.
It will be moved sometime in the near future but it's not really important at the moment to do. Hopefully, we'll get some info on a KH 3 game but for now Coded may as well stay there until something else comes along. Going to close this since it will happen eventually and there's no need for more comments on it.
If I was robbed, I'd send minions out to get my money if I'm feeling lazy. If not, I'd rain down meteors from the stars and then kick some arse.
