Posted on 09/21/2007 11:11:18 AM PDT by steve-b
Any group that believes a worldwide flood created the Grand Canyon 4,000 years ago, that Cain married his sister, and that the King James translation of the Bible is inerrant must be used to a certain level of skeptical questioning, even downright hostility, but it doesn't mean that they enjoy it. Creation Science Evangelism, whose founder Kent Hovind ("Dr. Dino") was recently sentenced to ten years in prison for tax evasion, has been sending out DMCA takedown notices to YouTube in an attempt to halt the criticism. Now, critics claim that CSE has perjured itself by filing the claims....
A few days back, user "cseministry" began sending out DMCA takedown notices, which require the sender to swear under penalty of perjury that he or she owns the copyright to the material in question and that said material is in fact infringing on that copyright. Filing false takedown claims can result in lawsuits and penalties.
The case raises two issues: 1) Does CSE own the copyrights to the clips in question and 2) is the use of those clips "fair use"? The first question is tough to answer. As another YouTube user illustrates well, CSE's videos were explicitly not copyrighted for many years and users were encouraged to share them. This certainly seems to count as putting the material in the public domain, but CSE did an about-face in 2005 and began claiming copyright on all its products, even those which it had previously said were not copyrighted....
(Excerpt) Read more at arstechnica.com ...
I didn’t know Hovind was in the slammer..
This guy, and his wife, are certifiable whacko’s. I visited his little “compound” once and left shaking my head in utter disbelief. In addition to being a tinfoil hat whacko he is little more than a common criminal. He belongs in prison.
Dr. Francis Collins made a very good point. There is a reason why so many young Christians leave the faith as they advanced their education. When we feed them uneducated myths, as soon as those myths begin to break down, they question all of their faith.
I would recommend to anyone to get the book The Language of God. Dr. Collins is the head of the human genome project and he makes a very strong and educated argument, backed up by science and the Bible, that there really is no conflict in either.
DingDingDing ... I think we have a winner.
I determined that I could no longer maintain my faith in God because someone finally convinced me that the Bible inerrant, because it claims to be inerrant. That it claims inerrancy, but obviously false in several Old Testament matters, means that I can't believe a word of it.
Now if faithful people held that the Bible was a guide, and that it must be read with an open mind, perhaps it could be held to be of some value. But literal? Nope.
that the Bible [is] inerrant
but [is] obviously false
I think that obviously false isn't the right way to put it. I think a better way to look is that people read history or science into Peshers or Allegories. Jesus used Peshers (Parables) all the time and we as Christians understand that these were symbolic stories, not historical events. Why many of us doubt that there are other places where this literary method is used in the bible is a mystery to me.
Which ones were they?
Another reason why young Christians leave the practice of their faith is that it has become too safe and not challenging for them. Why Men Hate Going To Church
Even though there are some difficulties with some passages in Scripture, they pale in comparison with the accuracy of predictive prophecy and the accounts of the life, ministry, death and resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth.
I left religion in the dust in the early 80's. I serve the Master instead.
Well, besides the general creation story in Genesis 1&2, you've got the Noah flood story. Jonah and the whale is also a non-starter (unless it's read as a parable, perhaps). I'm sure there's more.
Wouldn’t want to get into a point by point argument here, but if “Let there be light” was that Big Bang moment of creation of the universe, I am struggling to see how this can compel one to dismiss the Bible out of hand. That the Bible so uniquely describes the brokenness of man (rather than the noble, self-important being we see in every other description), seems to, on the contrary, commend it as the most penetrating analysis of the predicament we see in reality. Like Bosco, I’m sold on the Bible and its Author.
And, I knew a Bosco in Portland many years ago. Hmmm.
"Let there be light" is in Genesis 1:3, after the heavens and earth had been created. Kind of out of sequence if you think that "Let there be light" is the Big Bang from which all matter making up the earth came from.
A literal reading of Genesis also means that the earth is only a few thousand years old, which is obviously not true. The Bible itself claims that it is literally true (so I've been told), which as demonstrated above cannot be true. I can only conclude that, with the exception of some of the New Testament history in the Bible, that the rest of the Bible is just a "good book".
When Christians attempt to use the Bible to fight science, they always lose. Always. Only when they defer to science, such as when John Paul II defered to the science of evolution, does Christianity have any hope of maintaining the faith of educated people.
As for those such as Ben Stein who is making a movie promoting creationism, I just think he's after the bucks. And he'll make plenty. There are far more people out there ignorant of science than not. And being a "controversial" movie, it will generate lots of buzz and certainly a lot of the same crowd that made Mel Gibson's Passion so popular.
What does it leave you with?
Why are we here?
Afterlife?
Being... then nothingness?
Big questions, and as humans we need to have answers.
But sometimes there aren't any.
Humans do insist on finding answers nevertheless. Some find an answer in Buddhism, or Shinto, animism, Islam, and any of the hundreds of flavors of Christianity. But even with all those denominations of Christianity, they're still a minority on the planet. Maybe one of those other "answers" is better?
As for myself, since I've rejected Christianity I understand that other religions have the same problems. I wish I could delude myself into thinking that I will have an afterlife, but since there's absolutely no evidence of such a thing beyond wishful thinking, I can't fool myself into accepting it. Knowing you're going to really "die" sucks. But deluding yourself into believing a fantasy is worse.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.