Posted on September 19, 2009 by Michael
There was a man walking along a cliff. He walked too near the edge and a rock gave way. As he began to tumble toward his death in the chasm below, he grabbed hold of a branch. This man had never been a believer in God, but finding himself in such precarious circumstances he began to yell out. “God! Dear God! Are you out there? Can you not help me?”
And then God responded. “Yes, my child, I am here.”
“Will you help me, my Lord?”
“Yes. Be free and let go of that branch.”
And the man paused. He looked down at what would be certain death. His eyes began to scan the edges of the cliff.
“Is there anybody else out there?”
Filed under: Misc | Tagged: Thought of the day | 1 Comment »
Posted on September 19, 2009 by Michael
Two men in Worcester are married and having sex tonight. A straight, conservative Christian couple in Boston feels no effect. Not them, not their friends, not their children, not their freedom, not their liberty, not their finances. Not now, not ever.
Filed under: Misc | Tagged: Thought of the day | 7 Comments »
Posted on September 17, 2009 by Michael
I am concerned for the freedoms of homosexuals because I am concerned for the freedoms of blacks, whites, Asians, atheists, Christians, men, women and children. Deny one group rights they inherently deserve and you’ve undermined the rights of all those groups. I cannot stand for it.
Filed under: Misc | Leave a comment »
Posted on September 15, 2009 by Michael
Posted on September 15, 2009 by Michael
Abusive ad hominen attacks are not valid means of argumentation, no matter how often conservatives and Christians wish to implement them.
Filed under: Misc | Tagged: Ad hominen, Thought of the day | 22 Comments »
Posted on September 13, 2009 by Michael
What happens when the same number of people pray for something as pray against it? How does God decide whose prayer to answer? Does the total number of people praying for or against something matter? How about the righteousness of the supplicants? Are positive prayers answered more frequently than negative ones? Does God take the positive ones and Satan the negative? Does the intensity of the praying have any effect on the outcome? Does the length of time one devotes to praying have any effect on the frequency with which one’s prayers are answered? Do the words and phrases used in the prayer — either positive or negative — have any bearing on the success rate? Does the nature of the thing or things prayed for have any bearing on the prayer’s success rate — either positive or negative prayers? Why or why not??
~Robert A. Baker
Unfortunately for the bankrupt ‘field’ of theology, there is no way to internally resolve these issues. Of course, science could go ahead and make various measurements – afterall, the claim being made by most people who believe in prayer is that prayer has an affect on the real world. That places it firmly in the purview of scientific study. And indeed, science has studied prayer, so it can actually provide more answers to these questions than religions can. And the answer? Prayer produces no effect on the real world. Some studies show statistically insignificant positive results, other show the opposite, and many show that prayer is no more effective than pure chance.
Filed under: Misc | Tagged: Prayer efficacy, Robert Baker | Leave a comment »
Posted on September 10, 2009 by Michael
Christian: Do you find not existing to be discomforting?
Atheist: If you’re asking ‘is death disconcerting’, to say the least, of course it is. Most humans feel that way, even the ones deluded and diluted with religion.
Christian: Ah-ha! Therefore God!
Atheist: Uh…
Filed under: Misc | Tagged: Thought of the day | Leave a comment »
Posted on September 7, 2009 by Michael
Here are some recent photos from a hike up Mount Katahdin, the highest peak in Maine at 5,267 feet. FunFact: It was not formed in the past 6,000 years. It is a cirque, meaning it was formed through a long process at the head of a glacier.
From the summit of Mount Katahdin, looking across The Knife Edge
Looking toward the inner side of the cirque that is Katahdin. Summit photo.
The Knife Edge
After The Knife Edge
Descending the Helon (hee-lon) Taylor Trail
Filed under: Misc | Tagged: Baxter State Park, Maine, Mount Katahdin | 2 Comments »
Posted on September 4, 2009 by Michael
Science is all about reproducibility. If you can’t reproduce your data, it’s all a load of horseshit.
~My genetics professor
Filed under: Misc | Leave a comment »
Posted on September 1, 2009 by Michael
“I don’t know” does not logically conclude with “therefore God”.
Filed under: Misc | Tagged: Thought of the day | Leave a comment »
For the Sake of Science 