Here's where it comes down to whether you can believe in something.
I know God is real and THE God because I know him personally. I talk to Him every day. He works in my life in ways that no one else could, preparing me for things that have happened in ways that no one else could. I have seen Him heal people in ways that have flabbergasted doctors, just because those people prayed in faith to be healed.
To answer the questions why humans, what does God look like, etc:
Genesis 1:27-28
27) So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.
28) And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.
But the Bible tells us that the form God has is not a physical form, but a spiritual one:
John 4:24
24) God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.
In answer to your question about teaching love, I don't believe people in general would hold to the idea of loving their neighbor if we hadn't been taught it by God in the first place. Many people STILL don't. This is why our nations are being consumed by the greed of their leaders and businessmen.
It sounds like you're saying God doesn't exist because some dead guy (Occam) says say it's unlikely. And anyway, how is the theory "God made it" not composed of fewer entities and simpler relationships? I count 2 entities: God and existence. I count 1 simple relationship: God vs existence. Count the entities and relationships involved in the big bang and evolution. I hope you have a lot of time and know a lot of big numbers.
Besides that, no one was around 14 billion years ago to prove whether these "explanations" are correct. We don't even have first hand accounts of any of the things mentioned in these explanations.
We have first hand accounts of everything that's written in the Bible as witnessed by the men who penned down God's words.
It still seems to me that you are discounting God, the Bible, Jesus, etc. because they can't be proven using the tools/methods you're used to and comfortable with. Is it not possible that there is another layer to reality that we have a very weak connection with and cannot measure in a test tube?
I know God exists, because I talk to Him all the time. And He answers. You can say I'm crazy, but no one who knows me would agree. And yes, plenty of non-believers know me, and they know me well enough to decide whether or not I'm insane.
This does not disprove the existence of "real God" as opposed to "God as uninstantiated but societally powerful concept", but it certainly renders the latter much more likely than the former, as an explanation for all the "God" artifacts and concern in human society.
Why is this "explanation" more likely than God actually existing? Is there something about this man's ideas that make them more possible than the existence of God, especially since we have a record of some of the things he has said and done involving man, aka, the Bible?
Sure, lots of people automatically discount the Bible because it's so old and doesn't confirm what they think, but what makes it less substantiated than other ancient texts that don't mention divine existence/intervention? In school, many history lessons are derived directly from these other ancient texts, and they are generally taken as truth.
"Where did this even more complex thing that created the semi-complex things come from?"
He has always been. And before you say that's a cop-out, tell me where the matter came from that got all compressed and exploded in the big bang. A previous big bang? Where'd that matter come from?
What makes "God did it" an invalid answer, assuming that there might be (and is) a God?
Why is anything spiritual automatically invalid?
And when I say we're not allowed to question it, I refer to all the people who have been ostracized, denied tenure, etc. for doing just that. As reference, see Ben Stein's "Expelled: No Thinking Allowed".
'This is the most specific assault I've seen against evolution and modern science,'
This sounds like the prevalent attitude in "modern" science. When I was in school, we learned that scientists are supposed to question everything. Now that I'm a little older and have actually listened to what the scientists are saying, I know what they really mean: question everything unless I say it's true.
That's great. Christmas isn't about Santa. It's about our Saviour, Jesus Christ. I don't believe in Santa either, but I love Christmas.
There's a reason why it's called Christmas, not Santamas.
Check out this link. According Azureus, charter already throttles bandwidth. If what this page says is true, you can have your 60 Mbps connection, but don't use it too much!
Interference is controllable because it is your home so that is also a non-issue.
Right, if the interference is coming from your home. People in apartments, developments, etc. may not have this luxury. Are you going to tell your neighbor to replace his/her 2.4Ghz cordless phone because it causes your wifi to drop?
I wish more people would realize this. Microsoft makes it sound like XP availability is going away completely, but the other day I read an article (probably here on./) that they are just now ending sales of Windows 3.x licenses.
There is no reason whatsoever NOT to continue using XP after it's support has ended. It has finally stabled out, so further updates are likely to be security only and, as you said, that's not a real issue.
The problem with Microsoft is their habit of releasing bananaware: they ship green software that matures at the customers, at the expense of the customer of course who essentially pays to become a beta-tester for Microsoft.
I've been telling people this for a long time. It really is true. Also notice that in the Microsoft KB, the vast majority of the troubleshooting articles including some wording that attempts to place blame on the user. For instance, we all remember the Windows 98 shutdown bug. If you read the KB article about it, it supposedly only happened if you had "too many" network drives mapped. The fact that this bug occurred even if you weren't ON a network was irrelevant.
To some extent, distros like Ubuntu and Red Hat address this. They have binary kernels that are supported package-style, and thus they also offer packaged binary modules that go with these kernels. This doesn't mean we have across the board binary kernel support, but those that need it have it. Also, using the package method, whoever handles the package repos handles building the modules. This way we don't have the Microsoft problem of hassling the device manufacturers every time we change something about the kernel.
Personally, I don't have a problem compiling a new driver from source on my personal computer; however, if I was running a business of 10+ computers, I would want to do it the binary/package way.
I'm not alone! Finally, someone who won't try to tell me I wasted my vote. A clear conscience was worth it. I told my boss I wanted to have a bumper sticker made that says "Don't blame me, I voted for Ron Paul";)
That's true, and I'm sure there are people working on enforcing those licenses as well. I figure the reason you don't hear about it is that most of those other licenses are a lot more lenient about how you can use the code. I haven't read all of those, though, so I may be wrong.
If my drivers are working, why would I want to update them? If the new driver has a bug fix I need or a new feature I need, then fine.
I've been working in a computer shop for a while now, and believe me when I say that most of the click-happy people out there that download every new version of every driver in their system end up with broken systems.
The devastating hurricanes we've experienced in his administration? Yep, Bush caused them.
My toilet is broken: that's his fault, too. I haven't mowed my lawn in 3 years. You know why? Bush. I can't even see my truck sitting in my yard, which is currently rusting away. Bush caused that. Our president is so selfish and ignorant, that it even caused my internet connection to be horribly slow around 2:30 every day.
Not to mention that the standard youtube post is required to be in the form:
this is a long sentence that has no punction no capitalization and bad spllng and no i did not use babelfish to translate this from chinese i am a native english speaker
What disturbs me most is hearing on the news (yes, this is old news, but it still bothers me) that school kids are turning in written assignments that contain "words" like plz, cuz, and other IM nonsense.
I'm not saying there's anything wrong with using IM. I use it myself to keep up with the vendors I order parts from, but you can tell I actually speak English when I'm talking to you.
My wife is a second year teacher, and she was warned that most school systems check for things like My Space and Facebook profiles when they are considering an applicant. She was told that the safest thing was not to have an account on social networking sites.
The school systems' justification seems to be that:
A) They have to maintain a professional image, and many people's social networking profiles are not professional at all.
B) Many students would be very impressionable when exposed to their instructors' personal lives on the same sites they use to keep up with their friends.
Slashdot Mirror
I think I may have hit the wrong reply button, so I'm leaving a little message here so you get the notification that I've replied.
Here's where it comes down to whether you can believe in something.
I know God is real and THE God because I know him personally. I talk to Him every day. He works in my life in ways that no one else could, preparing me for things that have happened in ways that no one else could. I have seen Him heal people in ways that have flabbergasted doctors, just because those people prayed in faith to be healed.
To answer the questions why humans, what does God look like, etc:
Genesis 1:27-28
27) So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.
28) And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.
But the Bible tells us that the form God has is not a physical form, but a spiritual one:
John 4:24
24) God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.
In answer to your question about teaching love, I don't believe people in general would hold to the idea of loving their neighbor if we hadn't been taught it by God in the first place. Many people STILL don't. This is why our nations are being consumed by the greed of their leaders and businessmen.
It sounds like you're saying God doesn't exist because some dead guy (Occam) says say it's unlikely. And anyway, how is the theory "God made it" not composed of fewer entities and simpler relationships? I count 2 entities: God and existence. I count 1 simple relationship: God vs existence. Count the entities and relationships involved in the big bang and evolution. I hope you have a lot of time and know a lot of big numbers.
Besides that, no one was around 14 billion years ago to prove whether these "explanations" are correct. We don't even have first hand accounts of any of the things mentioned in these explanations.
We have first hand accounts of everything that's written in the Bible as witnessed by the men who penned down God's words.
It still seems to me that you are discounting God, the Bible, Jesus, etc. because they can't be proven using the tools/methods you're used to and comfortable with. Is it not possible that there is another layer to reality that we have a very weak connection with and cannot measure in a test tube?
I know God exists, because I talk to Him all the time. And He answers. You can say I'm crazy, but no one who knows me would agree. And yes, plenty of non-believers know me, and they know me well enough to decide whether or not I'm insane.
This does not disprove the existence of "real God" as opposed to "God as uninstantiated but societally powerful concept", but it certainly renders the latter much more likely than the former, as an explanation for all the "God" artifacts and concern in human society.
Why is this "explanation" more likely than God actually existing? Is there something about this man's ideas that make them more possible than the existence of God, especially since we have a record of some of the things he has said and done involving man, aka, the Bible?
Sure, lots of people automatically discount the Bible because it's so old and doesn't confirm what they think, but what makes it less substantiated than other ancient texts that don't mention divine existence/intervention? In school, many history lessons are derived directly from these other ancient texts, and they are generally taken as truth.
"Where did this even more complex thing that created the semi-complex things come from?"
He has always been. And before you say that's a cop-out, tell me where the matter came from that got all compressed and exploded in the big bang. A previous big bang? Where'd that matter come from?
I like the way you phrased that. We can't disprove evolution scientifically, so people take it to be fact.
You can't disprove God scientifically either.
What makes "God did it" an invalid answer, assuming that there might be (and is) a God?
Why is anything spiritual automatically invalid?
And when I say we're not allowed to question it, I refer to all the people who have been ostracized, denied tenure, etc. for doing just that. As reference, see Ben Stein's "Expelled: No Thinking Allowed".
'This is the most specific assault I've seen against evolution and modern science,'
This sounds like the prevalent attitude in "modern" science. When I was in school, we learned that scientists are supposed to question everything. Now that I'm a little older and have actually listened to what the scientists are saying, I know what they really mean: question everything unless I say it's true.
How dare anyone question evolution.
One of the worst for me is getting users to differentiate between Outlook and Outlook Express. It's all just Outlook to them.
That's great. Christmas isn't about Santa. It's about our Saviour, Jesus Christ. I don't believe in Santa either, but I love Christmas. There's a reason why it's called Christmas, not Santamas.
Check out this link. According Azureus, charter already throttles bandwidth. If what this page says is true, you can have your 60 Mbps connection, but don't use it too much!
http://azureuswiki.com/index.php/Bad_ISPs#United_States_of_America
Interference is controllable because it is your home so that is also a non-issue.
Right, if the interference is coming from your home. People in apartments, developments, etc. may not have this luxury. Are you going to tell your neighbor to replace his/her 2.4Ghz cordless phone because it causes your wifi to drop?
Emacs all the way. My method of execution would be C-x k {person's name}.
Where I live (North Carolina), most of the people running Chinese restaurants are Hmong.
Thank you!
./) that they are just now ending sales of Windows 3.x licenses.
I wish more people would realize this. Microsoft makes it sound like XP availability is going away completely, but the other day I read an article (probably here on
There is no reason whatsoever NOT to continue using XP after it's support has ended. It has finally stabled out, so further updates are likely to be security only and, as you said, that's not a real issue.
The problem with Microsoft is their habit of releasing bananaware: they ship green software that matures at the customers, at the expense of the customer of course who essentially pays to become a beta-tester for Microsoft.
I've been telling people this for a long time. It really is true. Also notice that in the Microsoft KB, the vast majority of the troubleshooting articles including some wording that attempts to place blame on the user. For instance, we all remember the Windows 98 shutdown bug. If you read the KB article about it, it supposedly only happened if you had "too many" network drives mapped. The fact that this bug occurred even if you weren't ON a network was irrelevant.
To some extent, distros like Ubuntu and Red Hat address this. They have binary kernels that are supported package-style, and thus they also offer packaged binary modules that go with these kernels. This doesn't mean we have across the board binary kernel support, but those that need it have it. Also, using the package method, whoever handles the package repos handles building the modules. This way we don't have the Microsoft problem of hassling the device manufacturers every time we change something about the kernel.
Personally, I don't have a problem compiling a new driver from source on my personal computer; however, if I was running a business of 10+ computers, I would want to do it the binary/package way.
I'm not alone! Finally, someone who won't try to tell me I wasted my vote. A clear conscience was worth it. I told my boss I wanted to have a bumper sticker made that says "Don't blame me, I voted for Ron Paul" ;)
That's true, and I'm sure there are people working on enforcing those licenses as well. I figure the reason you don't hear about it is that most of those other licenses are a lot more lenient about how you can use the code. I haven't read all of those, though, so I may be wrong.
If my drivers are working, why would I want to update them? If the new driver has a bug fix I need or a new feature I need, then fine.
I've been working in a computer shop for a while now, and believe me when I say that most of the click-happy people out there that download every new version of every driver in their system end up with broken systems.
Everything is the president's fault. Everything.
The devastating hurricanes we've experienced in his administration? Yep, Bush caused them.
My toilet is broken: that's his fault, too. I haven't mowed my lawn in 3 years. You know why? Bush. I can't even see my truck sitting in my yard, which is currently rusting away. Bush caused that. Our president is so selfish and ignorant, that it even caused my internet connection to be horribly slow around 2:30 every day.
Not to mention that the standard youtube post is required to be in the form:
this is a long sentence that has no punction no capitalization and bad spllng and no i did not use babelfish to translate this from chinese i am a native english speaker
What disturbs me most is hearing on the news (yes, this is old news, but it still bothers me) that school kids are turning in written assignments that contain "words" like plz, cuz, and other IM nonsense.
I'm not saying there's anything wrong with using IM. I use it myself to keep up with the vendors I order parts from, but you can tell I actually speak English when I'm talking to you.
This may help if you'd like a large list of options. Some of these are voice only, so watch out.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_VoIP_software
My wife is a second year teacher, and she was warned that most school systems check for things like My Space and Facebook profiles when they are considering an applicant. She was told that the safest thing was not to have an account on social networking sites.
The school systems' justification seems to be that:
A) They have to maintain a professional image, and many people's social networking profiles are not professional at all.
B) Many students would be very impressionable when exposed to their instructors' personal lives on the same sites they use to keep up with their friends.