What hope do people have who believe in things that can't be observed or tested?
Because I see everything in the world as explainable by the laws of nature I am free to live without archaic ideas like 'That flood happened because you're a sinner.' and that gives me hope because I can learn what really causes a flood and support leaders who build levees and support proper water management.
"I believe that there is no God. I'm beyond atheism. Atheism is not believing in God. Not believing in God is easy -- you can't prove a negative, so there's no work to do. You can't prove that there isn't an elephant inside the trunk of my car. You sure? How about now? Maybe he was just hiding before. Check again. Did I mention that my personal heartfelt definition of the word "elephant" includes mystery, order, goodness, love and a spare tire?
So, anyone with a love for truth outside of herself has to start with no belief in God and then look for evidence of God. She needs to search for some objective evidence of a supernatural power. All the people I write e-mails to often are still stuck at this searching stage. The atheism part is easy.
But, this "This I Believe" thing seems to demand something more personal, some leap of faith that helps one see life's big picture, some rules to live by. So, I'm saying, "This I believe: I believe there is no God."
Having taken that step, it informs every moment of my life. I'm not greedy. I have love, blue skies, rainbows and Hallmark cards, and that has to be enough. It has to be enough, but it's everything in the world and everything in the world is plenty for me. It seems just rude to beg the invisible for more. Just the love of my family that raised me and the family I'm raising now is enough that I don't need heaven. I won the huge genetic lottery and I get joy every day.
Believing there's no God means I can't really be forgiven except by kindness and faulty memories. That's good; it makes me want to be more thoughtful. I have to try to treat people right the first time around.
Believing there's no God stops me from being solipsistic. I can read ideas from all different people from all different cultures. Without God, we can agree on reality, and I can keep learning where I'm wrong. We can all keep adjusting, so we can really communicate. I don't travel in circles where people say, "I have faith, I believe this in my heart and nothing you can say or do can shake my faith." That's just a long-winded religious way to say, "shut up," or another two words that the FCC likes less. But all obscenity is less insulting than, "How I was brought up and my imaginary friend means more to me than anything you can ever say or do." So, believing there is no God lets me be proven wrong and that's always fun. It means I'm learning something.
Believing there is no God means the suffering I've seen in my family, and indeed all the suffering in the world, isn't caused by an omniscient, omnipresent, omnipotent force that isn't bothered to help or is just testing us, but rather something we all may be able to help others with in the future. No God means the possibility of less suffering in the future.
Believing there is no God gives me more room for belief in family, people, love, truth, beauty, sex, Jell-O and all the other things I can prove and that make this life the best life I will ever have."
Lethal injection is considered humane because no pain is felt.
Civilized societies have long moved towards executions that are as respectful of life as possible, as opposed to some societies which still publicly rape and stone to death.
It's the same idea about those who abuse animals end up abusing humans, and lethal injection, which is very nonviolent, is one of the better ways to separate the death penalty from murder.
No, DNA is taken from a cell produced by your body, and therefore so long as it's on your body or on your property it is private. The whole damn argument is that they can't have your body and it's cell at their disposal as per the constitution.
If they pick it up off the street than fine, trash is trash, but you know that's not what they're talking about because that is not a systematic approach.
Though I surely sympathize with poor white people, and am saddened by the state of all those struggling to get by, statistics show they suffer less than their counterparts in terms of law prosecution. Racism still exists (I need only listen to my father-in-law rant...), though I hope one day everyone sees race like Peter does.
Characteristics of State Prison inmates
* Women were 6.6% of the State prison inmates in 2001, up from 6% in 1995.
* Sixty-four percent of prison inmates belonged to racial or ethnic minorities in 2001.
* An estimated 57% of inmates were under age 35 in 2001.
* About 4% of State prison inmates were not U.S. citizens at yearend 2001.
* About 6% of State prison inmates were held in private facilities at yearend 2001.
* Altogether, an estimated 57% of inmates had a high school diploma or its equivalent.
* Among the State prison inmates in 2000:
-- nearly half were sentenced for a violent crime (49%)
-- a fifth were sentenced for a property crime (20%)
-- about a fifth were sentenced for a drug crime (21%)
Put into contrast by:
The U.S. population's distribution by race and ethnicity in 2006 was as follows:[30][31]
* Total population: 299 million
* White alone: 74% or 221.3 million
Slashdot Mirror
It's about 40 rods to the hogshead.
The magnetic fields generated by our spinning molten core prevent solar winds from reaching earth. Venus has one too.
Mars does not have this and thus has a much weaker atmosphere.
Or better put:
What hope do people have who believe in things that can't be observed or tested?
Because I see everything in the world as explainable by the laws of nature I am free to live without archaic ideas like 'That flood happened because you're a sinner.' and that gives me hope because I can learn what really causes a flood and support leaders who build levees and support proper water management.
I like how Penn Jillette put it:
"I believe that there is no God. I'm beyond atheism. Atheism is not believing in God. Not believing in God is easy -- you can't prove a negative, so there's no work to do. You can't prove that there isn't an elephant inside the trunk of my car. You sure? How about now? Maybe he was just hiding before. Check again. Did I mention that my personal heartfelt definition of the word "elephant" includes mystery, order, goodness, love and a spare tire?
So, anyone with a love for truth outside of herself has to start with no belief in God and then look for evidence of God. She needs to search for some objective evidence of a supernatural power. All the people I write e-mails to often are still stuck at this searching stage. The atheism part is easy.
But, this "This I Believe" thing seems to demand something more personal, some leap of faith that helps one see life's big picture, some rules to live by. So, I'm saying, "This I believe: I believe there is no God."
Having taken that step, it informs every moment of my life. I'm not greedy. I have love, blue skies, rainbows and Hallmark cards, and that has to be enough. It has to be enough, but it's everything in the world and everything in the world is plenty for me. It seems just rude to beg the invisible for more. Just the love of my family that raised me and the family I'm raising now is enough that I don't need heaven. I won the huge genetic lottery and I get joy every day.
Believing there's no God means I can't really be forgiven except by kindness and faulty memories. That's good; it makes me want to be more thoughtful. I have to try to treat people right the first time around.
Believing there's no God stops me from being solipsistic. I can read ideas from all different people from all different cultures. Without God, we can agree on reality, and I can keep learning where I'm wrong. We can all keep adjusting, so we can really communicate. I don't travel in circles where people say, "I have faith, I believe this in my heart and nothing you can say or do can shake my faith." That's just a long-winded religious way to say, "shut up," or another two words that the FCC likes less. But all obscenity is less insulting than, "How I was brought up and my imaginary friend means more to me than anything you can ever say or do." So, believing there is no God lets me be proven wrong and that's always fun. It means I'm learning something.
Believing there is no God means the suffering I've seen in my family, and indeed all the suffering in the world, isn't caused by an omniscient, omnipresent, omnipotent force that isn't bothered to help or is just testing us, but rather something we all may be able to help others with in the future. No God means the possibility of less suffering in the future.
Believing there is no God gives me more room for belief in family, people, love, truth, beauty, sex, Jell-O and all the other things I can prove and that make this life the best life I will ever have."
I'm sure they'd be cool with that except their holy book has it's own creation story.
Or perhaps cities, ie. living in close quarters, gives rise to both liberalism and murder separately.
I saw an amusing poll on ESPN about Michael Phelps, who recently admitted to using pot.
Across the country about 75%-90% said they thought no less of the best swimmer in the world for using a recreational drug.
Except in Utah where almost 50% said they thought less of him. They are very detached from the mainstream.
I know it's not manly and tough but...
Lethal injection is considered humane because no pain is felt.
Civilized societies have long moved towards executions that are as respectful of life as possible, as opposed to some societies which still publicly rape and stone to death.
It's the same idea about those who abuse animals end up abusing humans, and lethal injection, which is very nonviolent, is one of the better ways to separate the death penalty from murder.
No, DNA is taken from a cell produced by your body, and therefore so long as it's on your body or on your property it is private. The whole damn argument is that they can't have your body and it's cell at their disposal as per the constitution.
If they pick it up off the street than fine, trash is trash, but you know that's not what they're talking about because that is not a systematic approach.
Completely different things man.
Though I surely sympathize with poor white people, and am saddened by the state of all those struggling to get by, statistics show they suffer less than their counterparts in terms of law prosecution. Racism still exists (I need only listen to my father-in-law rant...), though I hope one day everyone sees race like Peter does.
Characteristics of State Prison inmates
* Women were 6.6% of the State prison inmates in 2001, up from 6% in 1995.
* Sixty-four percent of prison inmates belonged to racial or ethnic minorities in 2001.
* An estimated 57% of inmates were under age 35 in 2001.
* About 4% of State prison inmates were not U.S. citizens at yearend 2001.
* About 6% of State prison inmates were held in private facilities at yearend 2001.
* Altogether, an estimated 57% of inmates had a high school diploma or its equivalent.
* Among the State prison inmates in 2000:
-- nearly half were sentenced for a violent crime (49%)
-- a fifth were sentenced for a property crime (20%)
-- about a fifth were sentenced for a drug crime (21%)
Put into contrast by:
The U.S. population's distribution by race and ethnicity in 2006 was as follows:[30][31]
* Total population: 299 million
* White alone: 74% or 221.3 million
Wow, you caught the reference! Indeed, the quote should be read as if one is a dwarf in a sitar costume.
Drug dealers and minorities do, WASP billionaires don't.
And Java covers 126,700 sq km!
Quick! Run for president!
No, it would be:
Clerk impales himself on easily avoidable Klingon Bat'Leth
Oh no, not again...
Do not ask questions about Project Mayhem!
Slashdot?
So that's what my computers would have been named if only I'd invented the finglongerer...
Gorak is a much better name for an iPod!!
Base-18 Jerk!
He's just acknowledging the Gelgamek christians.
Is that African or European?
like a man refusing to ask for directions.
'Honey, we're fine, I know where we are, the main road has to intersect this one eventually, I'm not an idiot.'
Meanwhile dueling banjos are heard...
but they aren't Muslims, so it's just not the same fun.
I think most users could care less about online leader boards compared to just being able to play the damn game.