Posts by Twitch

world-renowned astrophysicist robert jastrow, founding director of nasas goddard institute for space studies, explains the fear of faith many of todays scientists experience.. there is a kind of religion in science, it is the religion of a person who believes there is order and harmony in the universe, and every effect must have its cause; [but] there is no first cause.

Twitch

Actually, the "Hand of God" (H.O.G.) photo is not actually his observed greatness but rather, an image of H.R. Giger's teapot steaming over a bed of coals. It's just upside down.

92

NASA Identifies The Hand of God

by Perry in

it even has what looks like blood flowing from a palm wound.

article.

world-renowned astrophysicist robert jastrow, founding director of nasas goddard institute for space studies, explains the fear of faith many of todays scientists experience.. there is a kind of religion in science, it is the religion of a person who believes there is order and harmony in the universe, and every effect must have its cause; [but] there is no first cause.

Twitch

2596

The Pastor of my Old Church Tried to Re-Convert Me Yesterday

by cofty in

yesterday evening my wife and i were invited to friends house for new year's eve.

we met them when i was a christian and we have kept in touch.

they had a few other friends there as well, including the new church pastor and his wife.

Twitch

indeed

39

Any Amateur Astronomers Out There?

by cofty in

i have recently revived my interest in the night sky.

there are a lot of great sights you can identify with just a pair of binoculars.

i am currently relearning how to navigate my way round all the constellations and find some of the best objects.. i live out in the country so we get almost total darkness right outside my front door.

Twitch

I've always been fascinated with astronomy but have never owned a telescope. When I was a kid, I sometimes bought Astronomy magazine, studied star charts, the constellations and dreamed about owning a Schmidt Cassegrain type on a T style equatorial mount with a clock drive. Money from my paper route went to video games instead. Ahh foolish youth.

The motion of everything fascinates me. From the mere cycle of the seasons and the ecliptic, Kepler's laws of planetary motion, Newton's universal law of gravitation and classical mechanics, a finely tuned balance of matter in motion plays out in a precise and predictable fashion. And though seemingly static, everything is ever so slowly shifting. Amidst this clockwork is chaos, the integral part of any system where an ever so slight randomness mixes it up a little bit from time to time. Anywho, I seem to be waxing on...

My favorite night sky objects would be M31 the Adromeda Galaxy, the Orion Nebula and the Pleides cluster.

19

Taking Back The Kingdom Halls.

by RunAsFastAsYouCan in

jw
friends

thesis: the kingdom halls as a real estate entity could be couped; coup d'etat.

a group of 3 elders as trustees could sell the kingdom hall out from under mother watchtower corporation.

spread the money to the community or non profits, or just give it as a distribution to the congregation who paid for the kingdom hall.

Twitch

The hall I went to growing up was sold due to restructuring of district boundaries or something. The Red Cross moved in and I smile every time I pass it by. At least they do something to actually help people out

199

Millions die in Natural disasters - God is doing nothing. Do I adopt Anthropomorphism to him?

by KateWild in

i do not think god is a'morphic.

god is not human, so hence he does not possess human characteristics, to know god better and to understand him better i study science.

there has been a new discovery of strange signals picked up from black holes and distant supernovae suggest there's more to space-time than einstein believed.

Twitch

Ruby456

I would say that paradox is also inherent to the approach you define - that of breaking things down by reason and this approach also involves quite a lot of imagination.

To a degree, however imagining something doesn't make it reasonable. In fact, I'd say the two are rather opposed by nature. And as I mentioned, much of our current doctrinal beliefs are due to imagination, not reason. Politics and social pressures only compound the problem of breaking these down IMO.

Everyone is entitled to their opinion of course and we all see things differently. Which is why there have been/are so many gods in history; people believe in whatever they wish to imagine, whatever they feel. Doesn't make it true though, with respect to the god question. Most of the old gods are passe, which begs the question of the validity of current gods.

Anthropomorphism of god is more of a philosophical and ontological question and less a political and social one IMO. But again, it really depends on if or how you define god. Some prefer a god with human qualities, naturally.

199

Millions die in Natural disasters - God is doing nothing. Do I adopt Anthropomorphism to him?

by KateWild in

i do not think god is a'morphic.

god is not human, so hence he does not possess human characteristics, to know god better and to understand him better i study science.

there has been a new discovery of strange signals picked up from black holes and distant supernovae suggest there's more to space-time than einstein believed.

Twitch

twitch, I keep going back to the thread title too but now I am asking, in view of Adamah's posts denigrating it, is anthropomorphism such a bad thing? And here are my reasons

Anthropomorphism helps us to see more acutely the depth and profoundness of the world we live in.

Not sure I agree with that. Projecting human traits on non human things seems a natural function on a base level and may be good for pets but really has no relevance to anything non human IMO. Likely related to the concept of mind we all learn in childhood, the distiguishing of one's individuality as compared to and identified with others.

I'd say it gives depth and profoundness in understanding each other but human traits only apply to humans IMO

It is strongly linked to democracy.

Anthropomorphism is common in many cultures and beliefs but just because the majority believe something doesn't make it right. Consider that at one time, some guy drove a flaming chariot across the sky every day. Everyone agreeing it was true didn't make it so.

Anthropomorphism also expresses empathetic links to the world in which we live via emotional intelligence (although paradoxically human wisdom can be limiting if taken too seriously).

On a social macro level, maybe. Not sure I understand the meaning here

last but not least it stimulates the imagination and enables us to move away from doctrinal beliefs (which paradoxically are man-made - lol)

Well, certainly it is imaginative and adds some spice to life. However, I don't see how it breaks down doctrines and would say that it's because of anthropomorphism that we have many doctrines and religions. It's fair to say the trend is declining though; the further back in history you go, the more "human" our gods seemed to be.

I'd say if one wants to break from doctrinal beliefs, one must realize the composite of assertions one has, challenge them and break them down with reason. Personally, I'd rather have evidence and reason as a core for my beliefs with respect to the god question, not imagination. The latter is best used in other pursuits IMO

Of course, one can choose to believe as they wish; our inherent diversity naturally gives rise to all sorts of beliefs, all of which are man-made. Ultimately, one must define what god is, if anything at all.

199

Millions die in Natural disasters - God is doing nothing. Do I adopt Anthropomorphism to him?

by KateWild in

i do not think god is a'morphic.

god is not human, so hence he does not possess human characteristics, to know god better and to understand him better i study science.

there has been a new discovery of strange signals picked up from black holes and distant supernovae suggest there's more to space-time than einstein believed.

Twitch

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OHVjs4aobqs