[Z]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('elocs', 'G')od or no god, if people would simply be tolerant of others' choices that do not hurt anybody, treat others as they would want to be treated, and be good stewards of the earth, then this world would certainly be much better off than it is now. You don't need a lot of theology for that.

[americandream]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('EndDays', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Atlantean_Relic', '
')With what has happened to Christian martyrs in history, it makes no sense to be removed before the suffering begins.

ED

[Atlantean_Relic]

Actually you don't need a drug to get an altered state of consciousness. As for me I don't believe in dumb luck.

[EndDays]

Eloc,

I agree with you about the Rapture and like I said, I fully expect to be here to suffer the consequences to come.

Also, the Bible is far more than just a book, thus God's warnings about sin and redemption should be heeded.

http://www.carm.org/evidence/bible_inspiration.htm

In the end, you're right, it does come down to Faith, but God has told us the problem and solution in His Word, which we should be taking very seriously:

1. Each of us has disobeyed God's Laws. We need to be forgiven for our sins and the rebellion that produced them (Romans 3:23).

2. Jesus died to pay the penalty for our sins. He offers us forgiveness based on His sacrifice. No one can earn forgiveness through works since man's outwardly "good" works have no merit in God's sight (Ephesians 2:8-9, Romans 3:10-12).

3. Those who follow Jesus and accept His sacrifice on their behalf are "born again" into the family of God. Our sins are forgiven and we enter into a new relationship with God and receive eternal life (John 1:12).

4. The ultimate test of our salvation is a pattern of obedience to Jesus and His teachings (1 John 2:3-5). Christ left His followers with two Great Commandments - Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind and thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.

After those two teachings, it just goes to show that Jesus and God are very misunderstood.

So we have a choice, we can either go on thinking our world and everything in it is simply a matter of random coincidence, or listen to what God has told us and come to His Son.

I'm a sinner, I don't deserve it anymore than anyone else, but I just can't watch people be so scared to the point of desperation when Jesus Christ is waiting for all of us to bring us home. He'll be there, don't forget that.

"Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, then I will come in to him, and will dine with him, and he with me." (Revelation 3:20)

Peak Oil is going to be a problem, which we may never recover from, but the real problem lies within each of us - sin. The only cure for that is Jesus Christ.

I'll leave you with that.

God Bless,
ED

[Carlhole]

[Carlhole]

[Carlhole]

[Carlhole]

(nothing to do with god but I like this cartoon the best)

[Carlhole]

[Carlhole]

(and this one, too)

[Carlhole]

A Rapture for the Rest of Us

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Glenn Harlan Reynolds', 'I')'ve written before about the so-called "Singularity." In a famous essay, Vernor Vinge described the concept this way:

When greater-than-human intelligence drives progress, that progress will be much more rapid. In fact, there seems no reason why progress itself would not involve the creation of still more intelligent entities -- on a still-shorter time scale. The best analogy that I see is with the evolutionary past: Animals can adapt to problems and make inventions, but often no faster than natural selection can do its work -- the world acts as its own simulator in the case of natural selection. We humans have the ability to internalize the world and conduct "what if's" in our heads; we can solve many problems thousands of times faster than natural selection. Now, by creating the means to execute those simulations at much higher speeds, we are entering a regime as radically different from our human past as we humans are from the lower animals.

From the human point of view this change will be a throwing away of all the previous rules, perhaps in the blink of an eye, an exponential runaway beyond any hope of control. Developments that before were thought might only happen in "a million years" (if ever) will likely happen in the next century. (In [5], Greg Bear paints a picture of the major changes happening in a matter of hours.)

I think it's fair to call this event a singularity ("the Singularity" for the purposes of this paper). It is a point where our old models must be discarded and a new reality rules. As we move closer to this point, it will loom vaster and vaster over human affairs till the notion becomes a commonplace.

Since the publication of Ray Kurzweil's book The Singularity is Near: When Humans Transcend Biology, and to a lesser degree my own book, which has a chapter on the Singularity, the subject has gotten more attention, and lately there has been a bit of singularity backlash. In particular, I've noticed the reappearance of Ken MacLeod's dismissal of the Singularity as "the Rapture for nerds."

This has even produced a bit of backlash-backlash, including this observation:

I'll also note that while Ken MacLeod is sometimes quoted for his 'The Rapture for Nerds!' line in The Cassini Division, the nerds in the book turned out to be *right*.

Well, nerds often do, despite being dismissed.

But I want to focus on a different aspect of MacLeod's comment, because I actually think it cuts both ways. Yes, it's possible to draw parallels between the Christian idea of The Rapture -- and, even more generally, between religious ideas of transcendence generally -- and the notion that, once human technology passes a certain threshold, roughly that described by Vinge and other Singularity enthusiasts, human beings will potentially enjoy the kind of powers and pleasures traditionally assigned to gods or beings in heaven: Limitless lifespans, if not immortality, superhuman powers, virtually limitless wealth, fleshly pleasures on demand, etc.

These do sound like the sorts of things that religions have promised their followers throughout human history. That leads some who invoke MacLeod's comment to contend that because Singularity enthusiasts hope for the same kinds of things that religious believers have hoped for, Singularity enthusiasts are merely adherents to a new sort of religion, the religion of science.

But as Isaac Asimov has noted, the religion of science is distinguished by one chief characteristic: "that it works." I express no opinion on whether science will actually deliver on these hopes. But I note that people once looked to supernatural sources for such now-mundane things as cures for baldness or impotence, only to find those desires satisfied, instead, by modern pharmacology. Yet that hardly makes those who place their faith in pharmacology members of a religion -- or, if it does, it makes them members of a religion that is distinguishable from those dependent on the supernatural.

In fact, rather than serving as a dismissal of the Singularity, it seems to me that the Singularity-as-religion argument cuts the other way. How do we know that people want the kinds of things that advanced technology is supposed to offer? Because they've been trying to get them through non-technological means for all of recorded history. And as history demonstrates, they've been willing to try awfully hard, and in a wide variety of ingenious ways: Jihadists are strapping on suicide bombs today, in the hope of attaining the kind of environment that virtual reality will deliver in 20 years.

So is the Singularity just a new religion? Or is religion just the pre-marketing department for the Singularity?

[Carlhole]

And Man Gained Pounds
======================

God populated the earth with broccoli and cauliflower
and spinach and green and yellow vegetables of all kinds,
so Man and Woman would live long and healthy lives.

And Satan created fast food. And fast food
brought forth the 99-cent double-cheeseburger.
And Satan said to Man, "You want fries with that?"
And Man said, "Super size them."

And Man gained pounds.

And God created the healthful yogurt that woman might keep
her figure that man found so fair.

And Satan froze the yogurt, and he brought forth
chocolate,nuts and brightly colored sprinkle candy
to put on the yogurt.
And woman gained pounds.

And God said, "Try my crispy fresh salad."

And Satan brought forth creamy dressings, bacon bits,
and shredded cheese.
And there was ice cream for dessert.

And woman gained pounds.

And God said, "I have sent you heart healthy vegetables
and olive oil with which to cook them."

And Satan brought forth chicken-fried steak
in the restaurant so big it needed its own platter.
And Man gained pounds,
and his bad cholesterol went through the roof.

And God said, "You're running up the score, Devil."
And God brought forth the potato, a vegetable naturally
low in fat and brimming with nutrition.

And Satan peeled off the healthful skin
and sliced the starchy center into chips
and deep-fat fried them.
And he created sour cream dip also.
And Man clutched his remote control
and ate the potato chips swaddled in cholesterol.
And Satan saw and said,
"It is good." And Man went into cardiac arrest.

And God sighed and created quadruple bypass
surgery.....

And Satan created HMOs...

[aldente]

Right on Carlhole - my hemmorhoids act up as bad as yours once exposed to this kind of 'law quoting' mindset. Those old shoes simply don't fit any longer.

[mermaid]

Carlhole,

Do i get it wrong that you have a problem finding God?
Well, i did find God, and it is the most spectecular moment in my life that i became christian. and for this forum; Why be afraid? well, i have human-feelings too, but, we live in a promise of having eternal live with no disease and pain, no gaining weight, etc.

try this, and read the Romans letter in the bible, you will find all the answers, and if not, send me a message. I'll do what i can to help you to find God. no bull sh*t!

[killJOY]

double double pop my bubble

[killJOY]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'R')omans letter in the bible

[mermaid]

your words are for own account. it is clear that you have had a little education, but you missed the point. hopefully you will find it someday.

[JustinFrankl]

One of the most spectacular moments in my life was when I realized that my personal knowledge and experience of the {DIVINE} didn't depend on canned, shallow, and childish affirmations associated with salvationist religion, nor dependent on an intermediaries, such as priests, nor dependent on belief in magic and fairy tales.

I do believe in a divine presence, a "god" of sorts, it's just that my god happens to find all the hierarchical, institutionalized religions incredibly f*ckin funny. Which is of course why I chose him as my god.

[Carlhole]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('mermaid', 'C')arlhole,

Do i get it wrong that you have a problem finding God?
Well, i did find God, and it is the most spectecular moment in my life that i became christian. and for this forum; Why be afraid? well, i have human-feelings too, but, we live in a promise of having eternal live with no disease and pain, no gaining weight, etc.

try this, and read the Romans letter in the bible, you will find all the answers, and if not, send me a message. I'll do what i can to help you to find God. no bull sh*t!

[Ibon]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('EndDays', 'S')o we have a choice, we can either go on thinking our world and everything in it is simply a matter of random coincidence, or listen to what God has told us and come to His Son.