What Biology teaches us about the nature of God....

by HappyGuy 4 Replies latest jw friends

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  HappyGuy

  The biologist J. S. B. Haldane liked to say that if biology had taught him anything about the nature of the Creator, it was that he had “an inordinate fondness for beetles".

  Nearly 70% of all species of animals are insects, most of those are beetles.

  
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  mrsjones5

  God has a soft spot for creepy crawlies
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  Ojie Stephen
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  Nathan Natas

  I just saw the movie "Temple Grandin" on HBO. It's the biographical story of a woman named Temple Grandin who was autistic but went on to earn her BA in psychology, MA in animal science and PhD in animal science. She invented the "hug machine," a device to help calm hypertensive persons. Perhaps her greatest contribution was in promoting the use of more humane practices in the meat industry. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Temple_Grandin for a more complete description of her contributions to humanity.

  One quote from her really struck me. She said, "Nature is cruel, but we don't have to be."

  There you have it: the world that "god created" is indeed a cruel one. REALITY trumps any hopeful homily about god "being love."

  It is by humanistic and humane values we rise to a higher level, not by striving to emulate "the creator."
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  frankiespeakin

  She loves you yeah yeah yeah,

  She loves you yeah yeah yeah

  With a love like that you know it can't be bad

  On a more serious note born 1982 died 1964 was a marxist:

  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J._B._S._Haldane

  Haldane took interest in his father’s work very early in his childhood. It was the result of this lifelong study of the natural world and his devotion to empirical evidence that he felt atheism was the only rational deduction available in light of all evidence saying, "My practice as a scientist is atheistic. That is to say, when I set up an experiment I assume no god, angel or devil is going to interfere with its course... I should therefore be intellectually dishonest if I were not also atheistic in the affairs of the world."

  • He is famous for the (possibly) response he gave when some theologians asked him what could be inferred about the mind of the Creator from the works of His Creation: "An inordinate fondness for beetles." This is in reference to there being over 350,000 known species of beetles in the world, and that this represents 40% of all known insect species (at the time of the quote, it was over half of all known insect species).
  • Often quoted for saying, "My own suspicion is that the universe is not only queerer than we suppose, but queerer than we can suppose." [8]
  • "It seems to me immensely unlikely that mind is a mere by-product of matter. For if my mental processes are determined wholly by the motions of atoms in my brain I have no reason to suppose that my beliefs are true. They may be sound chemically, but that does not make them sound logically. And hence I have no reason for supposing my brain to be composed of atoms." [9]
  • "Theories have four stages of acceptance. i) this is worthless nonsense; ii) this is an interesting, but perverse, point of view, iii) this is true, but quite unimportant; iv) I always said so."