http://www.freerepublic.com/tag/science-religion/ en-us Sat, 19 Jul 2008 07:38:15 GMT Focus Forum 15 http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/2047921/posts I was privileged this week to preview, before its release to the public, what may well prove to be a masterpiece of the documentary film-making art—a new look at the Biblical story of the Exodus from Egypt in the light of contemporary archeology and politics in the Middle East. Filmmaker Tim Mahoney´s "The Exodus Conspiracy",[1] due to be released within a few months, seeks to demonstrate the historical accuracy of the Biblical narrative of the exodus of the children of Israel from Egypt on the basis of recent archaeological discoveries and geographic explorations. A secondary thesis of the film is... American Chronicle http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/2047921/posts#comment Sat, 19 Jul 2008 07:38:15 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/2047184/posts The controversial film "Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed" will be re-released theatrically this summer across the United States to celebrate the film's legal victory over Yoko Ono, according to the documentary's producers Fox News http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/2047184/posts#comment Thu, 17 Jul 2008 23:39:57 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/2044051/posts New legal threat to teaching evolution in the US New Scientist ^ | 7/9/2008 | Amanda Gefter Posted on Friday, July 11, 2008 4:06:06 AM by Soliton Louisiana is another story. A hub of creationist activism since the early 1980s, it was Louisiana that enacted the Balanced Treatment Act, which required that creationism be taught alongside evolution in schools. In a landmark 1987 case known as Edwards vs Aguillard, the US Supreme Court ruled the law unconstitutional, effectively closing the door on teaching "creation science" in public schools. ID was invented soon afterwards as a way of proffering creationist concepts... New Scientist http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/2044051/posts#comment Fri, 11 Jul 2008 18:11:46 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/2043344/posts Hi folks - I myself often battled innerly with how I stand in things religious. I studied the Bible in its entirety very carefully, and did a lot of other reading (e.g. about the ancient Greek and Roman view on religion). I do have respect for people who take the agnostic stance - if you don't have gone through religious experiences, and your conscience tells you so, then it is absolutely respectable to say: 'I don't know' (the great philosopher Imanuel Kant, himself a devout religious man, wrote this almost literally). My own view on this topic: I have great... http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/2043344/posts#comment Thu, 10 Jul 2008 11:42:12 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/2042706/posts Systematic contraception — and sterilization — is part of modern life. Tens of millions of women the world over, inside and outside marriage, are on hormonal contraception (mostly, the pill) and as far as powerful organizations as the UNFPA and IPPF are concerned, many more millions must be added. In countries with intensive pill habits like the Netherlands, there are still increases in pill use among adolescent girls (27% between 1990 and 2000), so that half of them are now on the pill. With few exceptions, this does not seem to alarm anyone, because modern contraception is believed to... Edith Stein Foundation (via Catholic Culture) http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/2042706/posts#comment Wed, 9 Jul 2008 01:44:41 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/2042024/posts This item is available on the Apologetics Press Web site at: http://www.apologeticspress.org/articles/3740 - it was originally published in Reason & Revelation, 28[7]:49-55 AP Content :: Reason & Revelation The Bitter Fruits of Atheism [Part I]by Kyle Butt, M.A. [EDITOR’S NOTE: For several decades now, evolution has received preeminent exposure throughout American culture via public schools, natural history and science museums, television programming, national parks guide booklets, popular magazines, children’s toys and clothing, movies and cinema, and the list goes on. What have been the results of such widespread, unilateral propaganda? Has the teaching of evolution exerted a positive influence... Apologetics Press http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/2042024/posts#comment Mon, 7 Jul 2008 20:55:06 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/2040738/posts The Plain Man's Argument from Design Charles J. Shebbeare Of the various arguments devised in past times to prove the existence of God -- and incidentally to refute a Naturalism like Mr. Russell's -- the clearest and simplest is the familiar "Argument from Design." This argument points to certain facts of Nature which look like evidences of design or arrangement; and draws the conclusion that the world is so like a plan that it must really be one; that is, that it resembles a work of intelligence in too many respects for this resemblance to be accidental. At the... http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/2040738/posts#comment Fri, 4 Jul 2008 15:19:34 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/2038869/posts The crevo threads typically degenerate into name calling. Recently, the Religion Moderator declared that "science is not religion", and did not publish the criteria for such consideration. My suggestion to the evolutionist community has been to acknowledge that Scientism is a religion and start to utilize the protections offered under the religion tags that are different than other threads (due to the intensity of feelings over religious issues). So this thread is intended to be an ECUMENICAL thread under the tag of SCIENTISM. The intent is to keep discussion civil. I would like to see a straightforward discussion over the... Free Republic http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/2038869/posts#comment Mon, 30 Jun 2008 23:44:00 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/2038367/posts Declaring that stem-cell research does not present a conflict between science and religion, the U.S. bishops overwhelmingly approved a statement June 13 calling the use of human embryos in such research "gravely immoral" and unnecessary. In the last vote of the public session of their June 12-14 spring general assembly in Orlando, the bishops voted 191-1 in favor of the document titled "On Embryonic Stem-Cell Research: A Statement of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops." "It now seems undeniable that once we cross the fundamental moral line that prevents us from treating any fellow human being as a mere object... cns http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/2038367/posts#comment Mon, 30 Jun 2008 01:30:12 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/2038016/posts The US bishops have issued a very clear statement on embryonic stem cell research. It does not dwell upon the scientific nuances of the issue, but rather assists the reader to focus on the moral issues involved. The statement is not marked by condemnation, but rather by explanation. It is not a rejection of research or of those who stand to benefit from research, but rather a call to pursue the well being of those very individuals by preserving the moral standards that protect their dignity and that of the rest of us. The statement reminds us that there is... catholic exchange http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/2038016/posts#comment Sun, 29 Jun 2008 03:46:12 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/2038015/posts How America came to accept using human embryos for research In the ten years since Dr. James Thomson at the University of Madison first procured human embryonic stem cells (hESCs), support for the prospect of using human embryos and fetuses for research purposes has gradually seeped into the American mindset to the point at which it is now broadly tolerated, if not openly endorsed, especially in the political arena, in academia, and certainly within the scientific community. [1] As we continue to advance as a nation into the age of developmental biology there is reason to fear that Americans are... Men of Ten http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/2038015/posts#comment Sun, 29 Jun 2008 03:41:48 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/2037941/posts The value of anything must always be set by something outside of that object. A coin is no more valuable than a pebble except by common agreement that it can be exchanged for something else. Humans are unique in their ability to assign abstract values to inherently non-functional and other wise useless objects. A diamond ring, a thousand dollar bill, or a gold bar have no more value to an animal than a smooth pebble, shiny rock, or fuzzy leaf. Animals cannot even assign value to their own lives. Apart from survival instincts and some mutually beneficial biological relationships, animals... http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/2037941/posts#comment Sat, 28 Jun 2008 23:39:21 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/2036682/posts The Voices of Babel John Gerard S.J. IF one thing should be clearer than another to students of modern scientific literature, it is that the philosophers of our generation are in process of building an edifice more enduring than bronze, and more lofty, not only than the ancient pyramids of kings, but than anything that men or demigods ever yet contrived to rear upon the earth. The unceasing discoveries of science, not only give us knowledge of the facts of Nature, but, cemented and compacted by exact thought, grow into a stately pile which has already pierced the clouds... http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/2036682/posts#comment Thu, 26 Jun 2008 13:15:25 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/2035293/posts What is Life/Non-life in Nature? by Jean F. Drew Everywhere we see the “behavior” of life/non-life (death) in nature; but that doesn’t tell us what life/non-life IS. Darwin’s theory of evolution doesn’t help with this question. It presupposes the existence of life axiomatically, and then proceeds to speak of the origin and evolution of species. Its fundamental assumption is that biological evolution is a wholly naturalistic, material process governed by the laws of physics and chemistry, with random variation and natural selection as the principal drivers of the system. Central to the Darwinist view is that life forms — species... self http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/2035293/posts#comment Mon, 23 Jun 2008 22:05:46 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/2034635/posts Man as the Representative of the SupernaturalThe Duke of Argyll THE denial and exclusion of what is called "The Supernatural" in our explanations of nature, is the same doctrine in another form as the denial and exclusion of anthropopsychism. The connection may not be evident at first sight, but it arises from the fact that the human mind is really the type, and the only type, of that which men call the supernatural. It would be well if this word were altogether banished from our vocabulary. It is in the highest degree ambiguous and deceptive. It assumes that the... http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/2034635/posts#comment Sun, 22 Jun 2008 08:43:06 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/2034347/posts Given a choice, would you purchase safe, ethically acceptable alternatives to Aborted Fetal Vaccines? Vote in Children of God for Life's poll... Would you prefer Aborted Fetal Vaccines? Other Sources? Is cost a factor? There is a new biotech firm willing to provide what you want. Help determine the market potential for morally acceptable vaccines and medical products! Vote Now In the New Poll! Brand new on the website June 20th www.cogforlife.org http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/2034347/posts#comment Sat, 21 Jun 2008 14:36:02 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/2034119/posts [...] Adnan Oktar -- the 52-year-old Turk behind the pseudonym Harun Yahya -- caught the attention of scientists and teachers in Europe and North America by mass-mailing them his 768-page "Atlas of Creation". His lavishly illustrated book preaches a Muslim version of creationism [...] Well-illustrated and free of theological jargon, they preach that Islam is the one true faith and Darwinism, by undermining religious belief, has led to the discord, atheism, terrorism and extreme political ideologies plaguing the world. [...] JESUS RETURNS AS A MUSLIM [...] Oktar says the "Atlas of Creation" campaign and Harun Yahya publishing empire are part... Reuters http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/2034119/posts#comment Fri, 20 Jun 2008 23:27:27 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/2033271/posts The Book of Mormon and the King James Version (1999) Curt van den Heuvel Introduction The King James Version of the Bible is, in all likelihood, the most successful of all the English translations. Volumes have been written on its distinctive and rhythmic style, and it is still regarded as a triumph of modern English literature. So great was the influence of the King James Version that it coloured and directed the development of the English language for decades. English speakers still uses such phrases as `a fly in the ointment', `go the extra mile', and `stick to the straight... infidels.org http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/2033271/posts#comment Thu, 19 Jun 2008 12:30:36 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/2032973/posts As many readers know, I recently wrote a column titled “Logical Proof of the Existence of a Divine Creator, Why Atheism is Not Logically Sound,” which explored the logical and philosophical case for the Divine. As I painstakingly pointed out in the column, all of the arguments hold true whether one believes in evolution or not. Nonetheless, many chose to attack the column from a scientific standpoint, not by bringing specific examples, but because of the lack thereof. While they entirely missed the meaning of the column, I would still like to address their issues. Canada Free Press http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/2032973/posts#comment Wed, 18 Jun 2008 20:51:50 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/2032066/posts President Bush may follow in the footsteps of his brother Jeb and convert to Catholicism, several European papers are reporting. In the wake of the president’s visit to see Pope Benedict XVI at the Vatican, Italian newspapers, citing Vatican sources, said Bush was open to the idea of converting to Catholicism. The Italian newspaper Il Foglio referred to such talk about Bush’s possible conversion and stated that “anything is possible, especially for someone reborn like Bush.” Noting that Tony Blair converted to Catholicism after leaving office as Britain’s prime minister last year, the paper also stated that “if anything happens,... Newsmax.com http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/2032066/posts#comment Tue, 17 Jun 2008 01:17:08 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/2031127/posts In 2Ne5:5 Nephi and his family and friends separate from the Lamanites 12 years after landing in the Americas. They quickly develop a complex metallurgical culture that other civilizations in history required centuries to create. Here are the cast of characters: *Nephi and family - wife and possibly a possibly some children *Zoram and his family - wife and possibly some children *Sam and his family - again a family *Jacob - a young man or boy *Joseph - an even younger man or boy *Others of Nephi's sisters - perhaps as many as 3-4 women. *"and all those who... exmormon http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/2031127/posts#comment Sat, 14 Jun 2008 18:41:26 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/2031039/posts This is an animated video revealing a magnificent moment of a hummingbird amidst a flowerily scene and has been redone to appear more realistic and peaceful. YouTube Video http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/2031039/posts#comment Sat, 14 Jun 2008 13:24:41 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/2030603/posts And can studying NASA’s website provide evidence for such a scenario? A minister who promotes the Old Testament roots of Christianity suggests a rare string of lunar and solar eclipses said to fall on God’s annual holy days seven years from now could herald what’s come to be known as the “Second Coming” of Jesus. “God wants us to look at the biblical calendar,” says Mark Biltz, pastor of El Shaddai Ministries in Bonney Lake, Wash. “The reason we need to be watching is [because] He will signal His appearance. But we have to know what to be watching as... http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/2030603/posts#comment Fri, 13 Jun 2008 15:18:28 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/2029448/posts The Open Secret: A New Vision for Natural Theology by Alister E. McGrath (Too new - there are no customer reviews as yet) Editorial Reviews Review "Alister McGrath's The Open Secret provides nothing less than the foundations of a vigorous renewal of natural theology for our time. Theologians and others who have considered natural theology an exhausted topic will have second thoughts after reading this richly nuanced, scholarly, creative, and enjoyable book." John F. Haught, Georgetown University "This is vintage McGrath: confident, capacious in scope, brisk in exposition, decisive in argument. Noone is better placed to make a case for... Amazon http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/2029448/posts#comment Wed, 11 Jun 2008 15:16:00 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/2029192/posts One of the beautiful aspects of self evident truths is that they can be proven on both the simplest and the most complex of levels. By contrast, to make an argument for what is in fact an illogical fallacy, one must use plenty of skill, sophistry and remain beholden to a dogmatic protection of what is really an illogical position. Yet even after a detailed case is made for the illogical side of the argument, it can instantly be deflated like a balloon with the simplest poke of clear logic. It can also be attacked piece by piece with even... CanadaFreePress http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/2029192/posts#comment Wed, 11 Jun 2008 01:31:56 GMT