[kittygilchrist]

Originally Posted by Taltarzac725

Not sure what this actually means, Kitty. I am the first one to say "I do not know" about a great deal. I wish more people would do that. There would be a lot fewer wars if people were not so stuck on some book or person as speaking for God. This applies to all of these religious books, prophets, etc.

God is unknowable

[CENTER]

Originally Posted by graciegirl

Of course Evolution is a fact. When I was 12 I wrote a letter to the editor of The Columbus Dispatch on this very subject. My family was mortified.

I put it in my mind like this....Each Biblical day was a long time. Some monkeys are smarter than some people. Unlocking the human genome proves that species have evolved and are still evolving...

but I still am pretty sure that God is behind it.

People believe sincerely. You can't make a Yankee fan of a person with season tickets at Fenway Park.

I love you gracie. When discussing evolution, We should consider that the earth is under a curse, that there was no predation until the fall of man. I am pretty sure that Satan was behind that.

As for how many days it took to do what, we have a temporal view, while God is eternal. Job 38:4 "where wast thou when I laid the foundations of the earth? Declare if thou hast understanding."

Satan is called the father of lies in the Bible. He opposes and exalts himself against the knowledge of God. "The fool has said in his heart: there is no God."

[Taltarzac725]

Originally Posted by CFrance

There must be something good about Kalil Gibran, because when I asked for a book of his for my birthday, my uber conservative father took one look at it and refused to buy it. ( Of course, he also threatened to burn my Bob Dylan albums, which then took up residence in my brother's house...)

That's amusing. My Earl Wooster High School (Reno, Nevada) teacher Barbara Mitchell was interested in all kinds of topics like the abuse of power by various religious authorities and their persecution of "witches". She mentioned this book which I promptly bought. Malleus Maleficarum Index It is basically the book used as a guide to torture witches.

I had to sell most of my more expensive books that I had in Sonoma County, CA to finance all the letters I was sending in my 224 613 survivors of violent crimes access to practical information project. This "Hammer of Witches" (Maleus Maleficarum) book was one of these. http://www.malleusmaleficarum.org/

Good link on witchcraft--
http://law2.umkc.edu/faculty/project...chhistory.html

My parents did not care which books and bought with my own money. I did not think they had an idea of the kinds of books Mrs. Mitchell was getting me interested in back in high school though.

[Taltarzac725]

Terror of History: Mystics, Heretics, and Witches in the Western Tradition

If you are interested in religious mystics, witchcraft, heretics and other related aspects of religious history look into this CD. It is from the Teaching Company. I borrowed it from the Lady Lake County Library and listened to it on CDs.

[Taltarzac725]

Religion census Muslims grow: Religion census shows Muslims numbers grow in U.S., Orlando - Orlando Sentinel

I could not find any statistics for the religious affiliations of people in the Villages, but I was surprised to see that Roman Catholics are the biggest group population wise in the Orlando area followed by Muslims.

Seems like many people in Marion County are reluctant to give information about their religion-- http://www.homefacts.com/religions/F...-Villages.html

I do not remember any mosques in the Villages area.

[Barefoot]

Originally Posted by Taltarzac725

Evolution Resources from the National Academies

Not really when you look at how the term is used. Look at the above linked article by the National Academies. They kind of make an assertion to authority rather than proving the Theory of Evolution. We could get completely new information to put into this mix when and if we discover life on other planets.

Stephen Hawking has an interesting discussion of life on other planets, etc. Life in the Universe - Stephen Hawking

I realize this is off topic, but the link discussing life on other planets is interesting, especially SH's third and fourth possibilities.

A third possibility is that there is a reasonable probability for life to form, and to evolve to intelligent beings, in the external transmission phase. But at that point, the system becomes unstable, and the intelligent life destroys itself. This would be a very pessimistic conclusion. I very much hope it isn't true.

I prefer a fourth possibility: there are other forms of intelligent life out there, but that we have been overlooked. There used to be a project called SETI, the search for extra-terrestrial intelligence. It involved scanning the radio frequencies, to see if we could pick up signals from alien civilisations. I thought this project was worth supporting, though it was cancelled due to a lack of funds. But we should have been wary of answering back, until we have develop a bit further. Meeting a more advanced civilisation, at our present stage, might be a bit like the original inhabitants of America meeting Columbus. I don't think they were better off for it.