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  1. lucaspa

    Prove it or remove it challenge II

    FutureandAHope said in the first iteration of this thread: "We see fossils of dinosaurs, horses, birds, so from the very beginning of creation until now we have a record of animals that have lived. So really what should we expect to see in the fossil record, we should expect to see changes...
  2. lucaspa

    Veteran's Day

    "The battalion had come back from Blanc-Mont ridge. No, the battalion was still up there. But anyway, oh hell, let me get this straight. A hundred and thirty-four of us had come back from Blanc-Mont ridge. We had gone up a full-strength battalion, a thousand strong." Sgt. Elton E. Mackin, 1st...
  3. lucaspa

    How to get design

    When people say "design", there is often an unspoken phrase after it: "by an intelligent being" Thus when we say "The C-130 Hercules is one of the best designed airplanes ever", the unspoken thought is that the airplane was designed by a team of humans at Lockheed. Which it was. However...
  4. lucaspa

    Methodist minister marries gay son

    Methodist minister won't surrender credentials in gay-marriage dispute - latimes.com Once again we Methodists have to deal with the confrontation between a prohibition of the denomination (Book of Discipline) and individual conscience and relationship with God. It is customary for...
  5. lucaspa

    Veteran's Day

    Today is the celebration of Veteran's Day, which is actually Nov 11. I thought I'd take a short break from discussing origins to remember: "The battalion had come back from Blanc-Mont ridge. No, the battalion was still up there. But anyway, oh hell, let me get this straight. A hundred and...
  6. lucaspa

    Veteran's Day

    This is somewhat of a tradition for me, to post this on Veteran's Day. "The battalion had come back from Blanc-Mont ridge. No, the battalion was still up there. But anyway, oh hell, let me get this straight. A hundred and thirty-four of us had come back from Blanc-Mont ridge. We had gone up...
  7. lucaspa

    Discussion of evolution as a scientific theory

    In the thread "God and 'natura'" Anthony Puccinelli began to question the validity of evolution. I set that thread up specifically to talk about Christian theology, and the theology of God and "natural". not to discuss the scientific validity or truth value of particular theories. We can...
  8. lucaspa

    God and "natural"

    Key to understanding a theistic view of science is understanding the relationship of God and "natural". Typically, creationists object because science is "naturalistic" or that the theories of science are talked about as "natural". Atheists typically use science to beat theists by saying that...
  9. lucaspa

    Compare the UMC and Humanist Manifesto

    From the Humanist Manifesto: "Humans are social by nature and find meaning in relationships. Humanists long for and strive toward a world of mutual care and concern, free of cruelty and its consequences, where differences are resolved cooperatively without resorting to violence. The joining of...
  10. lucaspa

    UMC church and state

    The United States deliberately does not have a "national god". Most of the major Founding Fathers -- Benjamin Franklin, John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, George Washington, James Madison -- were deists, not Christians. They had some very disparaging things to say about Christianity and its...
  11. lucaspa

    Evolution Weekend

    Evolution Weekend is Feb 10-12. It takes place in churches. For those of you who still think that evolution and religious belief are incompatible: The Clergy Letter Project
  12. lucaspa

    Evolution Weekend

    Feb 10-12 is Evolution Weekend among religious congregations. For those of you who still think evolution is atheism, I suggest going to The Clergy Letter Project and reading about it.
  13. lucaspa

    A new transitional hominin species

    Fossils Raise Questions about Human Ancestry: Scientific American Australopithecus sediba. There are 220 bones from 5 individuals. It is mixture of traits of A. afarensis and H. erectus. This is how you know it is transitional: "The speciess' small brain and limb proportions matched those...
  14. lucaspa

    A new transitional hominin species

    Fossils Raise Questions about Human Ancestry: Scientific American Australopithecus sediba. There are 220 bones from 5 individuals. It is mixture of traits of A. afarensis and H. erectus. This is how you know it is transitional: "The speciess' small brain and limb proportions matched those...
  15. lucaspa

    New transitional hominin species

    Fossils Raise Questions about Human Ancestry: Scientific American Australopithecus sediba. There are 220 bones from 5 individuals. It is mixture of traits of A. afarensis and H. erectus. This is how you know it is transitional: "The speciess' small brain and limb proportions matched those...
  16. lucaspa

    A Challenge for Evolutionists Revisited

    I'd like to return to Sums1gruj's challenge, if I may. That's not what evolution states. One of the theories of abiogenesis is RNA World. It states that RNAs arose by chemistry. That is neither "unknown" or "chance". The chemical reactions are well known. RNAs also act as enzymes. The simplest...
  17. lucaspa

    Support for one of Darwin's hypotheses

    Large theories (and evolution is a large theory) are composed of several major theories and many more minor hypotheses. Imre Lakatos called these relatively minor hypotheses "auxiliarly hypotheses". Evolution continues to be tested. Altho there are very few tests that have not already been...
  18. lucaspa

    Christian humanism

    Christian Humanism "The view that individuals and their culture have value in the Christian life. Justin Martyr appears to have been the first to offer a formulation of Christianity that included an acceptance of classical achievements as he stated in the Apology (1.46) that Christ the Word...
  19. lucaspa

    Discussion of sexual orientation

    A leader of the UMC at the recent Leadership Summit regrets her silence on this issue. I think all of us will find her statements interesting: What I didn’t say at the Leadership Summit - UMC.org
  20. lucaspa

    Liberal Christians

    I'm still working on what a "liberal Christian" is. According to www.beliefnet.com, Methodists are liberal Christians: What Liberal Protestants Believe- Beliefnet.com Then there are these: Liberal Christianity Liberal Christianity - Conservapedia I think the www.cerm.info site is the most...