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New Type of Dinosaur Unearthed
MileHighScience writes to mention that a new type of sauropod has been discovered by scientists from Utah's Brigham Young University. Dubbed Abydosaurus mcintoshi, the new addition to the long necked dinosaur family was discovered at Dinosaur National Monument. "The circumstances of its discovery were both unusual and dramatic. The researchers stumbled on four skulls in a quarry at the preserve. Two were still intact. Sauropod skulls are rarely found in the fossil record because the soft tissue from which they are constructed is unlikely to be preserved after death. 'Their heads are built lighter than mammal skulls because they sit way out at the end of very long necks,' Brooks Britt, a BYU paleontologist said in a news release. 'Instead of thick bones fused together, sauropod skulls are made of thin bones bound together by soft tissue.' Of more than 120 known species of sauropods, there have been only eight instances in which scientists have been able to recover intact skulls."
I wonder if the low density of these skulls will affect the on-going debate about the whether or not the sauropods held their necks and heads erect or horizontally? It will be interesting to see. See here for info on the debate.
A neutral communications medium is essential. It is the basis of science, by which humankind should decide what is true.
Most mormons aren't creationists in the usual sense of the word. There isn't actually any official doctrine on the subject (most quotes that you find probably aren't official doctrine), and as far as mormon beliefs go, it doesn't matter. They believe what they feel comfortable with. Most will tell you that God works in natural ways, meaning that maybe he guides things a little, but he lets nature do stuff for him. In mormon doctrine, there is plenty of room for both science and religion. We're all about education and learning about how the world works. I don't believe in "magic," but science that we don't yet understand. Surely it's possible that God uses quantum mechanics, > 3 dimensional physics, and other things that we are only beginning to grasp.
a term you clearly picked to deprave those you obviously don't understand
No disagreement there. Being terrified of women and certain styles of grooming and atheists and homosexuals is certainly something I don't understand. And I say terrified, since they aren't allowed to be any of those things near the "clean" students at BYU. All, of course, except for the beards. I guess beards aren't so scary.
Never do they force others to be their religion, or to be a member of any other.
You didn't read. It's important:
LDS students may be endorsed only by the bishop of the ward (1) in which they live and (2) that holds their current Church membership record.
Non-LDS students are to be endorsed by (1) the local ecclesiastical leader if the student is an active member of the congregation, (2) the bishop of the LDS ward in which they currently reside, or (3) the nondenominational BYU chaplain.
So, how does an atheist stay within the honor code?
I know that, as an AC, you're unlikely to read this, but oh well. First, your question about what are half-truths: the part of a previous post where copponex stated the school was founded on principles of "racism, moral superiority, and hatred of atheists". Okay, so he produced a quote that might be interpreted as supporting the school being founded as a response to an atheist education. But the other two?
Citing the dress and grooming standards as being there because church members "fear" the female body? That's disingenuous, at best. And his point about "forced religion" is just false. Yes, you must get an endorsement from an ecclesiastical leader, basically stating that you are willing to abide by the school's regulations, but that's hardly forced religion. And I think that the fact that it's a church school is very relevant and excuses seemingly odd behavior like the dress and grooming standards. The church owns the school, and all who go there either agree to abide by the rules the church sets up, or goes elsewhere for their education.
And yes, the poster quoted parts of the honor code, but took them a little out of context and spun them in a way that did make BYU look bad. I valued my time there, and feel a need to right a perceived wrong.
>And they certainly don't advocate killing others to enforce
>what they believe.
Really? They did comparatively recently:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mountain_Meadows_massacre
I for one would never support any religion capable of such an atrocity, much less one which would conspire at all levels to cover it up instead of seeking forgiveness and making reparations. The world would be a much better place if primitive religions were treated as the bunkum they are. Why tax fuels, carbon, tobacco, or alcohol, when the real danger is the superstition and intolerance emanating from the pulpit? We should be taxing churches instead of making them tax-exempt.
>Feel free to compare them to Islam if you like (and there's
>some interesting comparisons there)... but drawing on the
>Taliban? Come on!
Hmm, Mormons and the Taliban... They both hate gays, check. They each treat women as subordinate to men, check. They each have a history of violent intolerance of outsiders, check. They both have a bizarre fixation on facial hair, check. They both use religious schools to indoctrinate the young, check. They both dictate special clothing (burqas, sacred underwear), check.
Yep, Mormons (and other intolerant fundamentalist sects) are the American Taliban.
"It's a damn poor mind that can only think of one way to spell a word."--Andrew Jackson
Mormon doctirne says that there are many gods.
Item #143, "INNUMERABLE GALAXIES IN THE UNIVERSE"
"... Thus the great universe of stars has multiplied beyond the comprehension of men. Evidently each of these great systems is governed by divine law; with divine presiding Gods, for it would be unreasonable to assume that each was not so governed..." -- The Prophet Joseph Fielding Smith, Answers To Gospel Questions, vol-2, p.86
http://www.scribd.com/doc/14210472/Smith-Joseph-Fielding-Answers-to-Gospel-Questions-Vol-2
Joseph Fielding Smith was one of the Morom church leaders. His official title was 'President'. He was an official Prophet, Seer, and Revelator -- as are all of the top Mormon leaders.
All of those Gods start off as regular old humans.
This teaching was started by the founder of Mormonism, Joseph Smith in a sermon called the King Follet Discourse,
http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/King_Follett_Discourse