From The Mind's Past (Michael Gazzaniga - Neuroscientist)
"There is a special device in the left brain, which I call the interpreter, that carries out one more activity upon completion of zillions of automatic brain processes. the interpreter, the last device in the information chain in our...
Recent news
'A 20-year-old woman from Iraq has died in an Arizona hospital, nearly two weeks after her father, police say, ran her over with a car because she had become "too Westernized."'
Honor killing among Muslims is common, including killing a woman who has been raped as she is blamed for...
Looked at the universe lately? What with Pulsars and Quasars, supernovas, galaxies colliding, black holes and dark matter pushing the universe apart - all the glory and wonder of the elegantly chaotic mass - it is the height of arrogance to think that we puny creatures on this tiny orb are in...
I mean, seriously! People are more than capable of thinking up some of the worst stuff to do to other people and to themselves. It seems to me that even a demon who took pride in his work and really studied his craft would have to just stare in awe at all the evil things that we think up on our own.
Humans have a great capacity for self delusion. Whether we are talking about unrequited love, refusing to accept that a loved one has passed away, or even phantom pain in a limb that has been amputated, it seems that the harsher the reality of a situation, that is the more glaring the reality...
So, here's my problem (for today at least) - The Torah, New Testament, and Koran all have stories about how God spoke to someone either face to face or through an angel. To my mind, this is actually preferable to things like hearing God in nature or taking an offhand comment that someone made...
So, let me get this straight. God is (by all accounts) referred to in many religions as being "all in all." That is to say that God is omnipresent and that everything within our physical universe is simply a part of God.
God is also omniscient (all knowing).
Assuming that these are true, is it...
I don't recall who it was or on what thread but one of you did me the courtesy to make a distinction between Jewish and Christian belief about Adam, Eve and the serpent.
Having spurred me on, I have done a little reading and have even been chatting with a Rabbi about Genesis and I have...
What kind of sick deity would create people in such a way that they are allergic to the planet wherein there were born? I mean, really! Case in point, I am allergic to grass, pollen, mold, trees and nature in general as well as having wonderful food allergies to such harmful things as melons...
In this 2006 article in the NY Nightlife it is stated that, "The survey, released last year, showed that 38.2 percent of men between 20 and 39 and 32.6 percent of women ages 18 to 44 engage in heterosexual anal sex. Compare that with the CDCs 1992 National Health and Social Life survey, which...
So, I've been reading this book about time travel and as part of the foundation the string theorist who wrote the book goes into some detail about parallel universes. Here's the example that he uses:
Suppose that you are choosing what to eat for lunch and the two options are 1) a tuna sandwich...
OK. So, if two or more women agree to live with one man and they each give consent to this kind of relationship, why does there need to be a law against polygamy? Why do people become morally outraged by the idea? It is entirely possible for one man to love multiple women and vice versa. So why...
From Toy Story:
Woody (Reason): YOU ARE A T-O-Y! You're not the real Buzz Lightyear! You're an action figure! YOU are a CHILD'S PLAY THING!"
Buzz (Faith): "You are a sad, strand little man and you have my pity."
I just thought this was a perfect example of the two sides of the coin. Any other...
Jeremy is an atheist.
Terrence is a theist who believes that some deity created everything and set the universe in motion but is not intimately involved in the affairs of humans.
From a practical perspective, is there any meaningful difference between the two? If these were the only two types...
I have been reading "Darwin on Trial," a book in which the author makes a case against naturalistic Darwinian evolution in favor of "Creationism" by which he means that evolution was the means by which an intelligent designer created the universe. He does not advocate a "Young Earth" doctrine...
Jesus was a man who "went about doing good" and when he encountered someone in need of forgiveness, he pretty much just forgave them. Even when they didn't ask for it. Even in the story of him being crucified he forgave the guys who were butchering him.
When Peter asked him how often he should...
There are many examples of physical facts that were understood by the ancients in religious terms. For example, the ancient Egyptians believed that the god Ra shoved the sun across the sky and that during the twelve hours of night (they were the first to mark twelve hours btw) Ra was working his...
If the story of Adam and Eve was removed from the Bible, let's just say that it was never even heard of, would the core ideas of the Judeo-Christian faith be the same as they are?
Would you answer the same if the stories of Noah, Samson, Jonah and/or Solomon were removed?
Some biblical accounts affect the faith more than others. If, for example, one was to remove the accounts of Samson or Deborah, that would not have much impact on the faith itself. Remove Daniel or Isaiah and that would have a bigger impact.
My question is this. What would happen to the faith...