tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2352648376305239677.post9021525127809584988..comments2023-10-20T08:32:14.040-04:00Comments on Heaving Dead Cats: One Man's Path From British Israelism to Agnostic DeismAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12653141544095753595noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2352648376305239677.post-91151437231567036692012-01-22T01:35:51.823-05:002012-01-22T01:35:51.823-05:00I very much believe in evolution. Used to think of...I very much believe in evolution. Used to think of it as impossible but that changed when I read a book. It was a fictional novel but very well written. It is The Lost World: Jurassic Park (VERY different from the movie). Evolution was explained very well in the novel. Later I read Darwin's Origin of Species & Dawkins's The Greatest Show on Earth. It was esp. after reading Dawkins's book that I became convinced of evolution.Alesandhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08192069554254712022noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2352648376305239677.post-27284806313062625292011-12-17T15:03:57.946-05:002011-12-17T15:03:57.946-05:00Excellent, Suzan. Thanks! You picked some fantasti...Excellent, Suzan. Thanks! You picked some fantastic authors regarding evolution.<br /><br />The Letter D didn't mention if he believes in evolution, though. He seemed concerned with the Big Bang and the beginning of the universe.<br /><br />Lawrence Krauss and Stephen Hawking would address this topic specifically.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12653141544095753595noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2352648376305239677.post-22940063541528985592011-12-17T00:26:04.576-05:002011-12-17T00:26:04.576-05:00Read Darwin's Autobiography by his granddaught...Read Darwin's Autobiography by his granddaughter Nora Barlow with all the left-out parts reinserted. You can find it at the library or online from Powells or Barnes and Noble online fairly cheaply.<br /><br /><i>I cannot persuade myself that a beneficent and omnipotent God would have designedly created parasitic wasps with the express intention of their feeding within the living bodies of Caterpillars.<br /><br />- Charles Darwin</i><br /><br />If you are truly interested in a good book that will pique your imagination and teach you about life's beginnings, it's a good start.<br /><br />If you like it, then read anything (or everything) by E.O. Wilson.<br /><br /><i>Blind faith, no matter how passionately expressed, will not suffice. Science for its part will test relentlessly every assumption about the human condition.<br /><br />- E. O. Wilson</i><br /><br />And if you want to read one of the most erudite writers about evolution, read Richard Dawkins. He rocks.<br /><br /><i>Faith is the great cop-out, the great excuse to evade the need to think and evaluate evidence. Faith is belief in spite of, even perhaps because of, the lack of evidence.<br /><br />- Richard Dawkins<br /><br />For the first half of geological time our ancestors were bacteria. Most creatures still are bacteria, and each one of our trillions of cells is a colony of bacteria.<br /><br />- Richard Dawkins</i><br /><br />I can see you enjoy learning. Bet you'll enjoy these authors.<br /><br />Good reading!Cirzehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07070125217972397204noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2352648376305239677.post-38349503653502478942011-12-08T17:04:34.167-05:002011-12-08T17:04:34.167-05:00Hmm, I'm not sure I understand how belief is a...Hmm, I'm not sure I understand how belief is always about others. That doesn't make any sense. Belief is internal, then manifested in word, thought and deed.<br />Although I do agree that anyone who is not in the in-group of a certain person is threatening, especially since belief has nothing to do with reason.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12653141544095753595noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2352648376305239677.post-88548176556062570642011-12-02T08:15:27.785-05:002011-12-02T08:15:27.785-05:00"Coming out"(a curiously apt descriptive..."Coming out"(a curiously apt descriptive term) is always about "others", never about self. I suspect this is also true for Gays. Unfortunately, belief is always about others, inasmuch as our religious upbringigng convinces us that we must toe the line or be subject to expulsion or exclusion from our family/tribe/religious group/nation. Since believers cannot achieve affirmation of their beliefs (at least on this side of death) except by associating with/convincing others that they have it right, any deviation from Scripture/canon/customs will be threatening to the rest of the group.Harveynoreply@blogger.com