A.P. Lawrence

 RootdirJavabits : 
-August 1, 2004 Thank you all

for your support in helping me understand what this

weird stuff about binary means. God bless you. 
-August

1, 2004 While I understand that nothing but good will

is intended, I wish people who have religious beliefs

wouldn't assume that the rest of the world shares them.

I'm not rabidly anti-religious, but I'm not a believer

in any sense - no "higher powers" etc. So while I do

appreciate the intent of "God Bless you", I do object

to the implication of shared belief systems. Not everyone

is Christian, Jewish or Moslem: there are polytheists,

atheists, Buddhists and more. All belief systems deserve

respect, but I don't feel "respect" includes the right

of dowsing others with your inclinations. No offense,

thank you again for the sentiment, but try to be more

aware of the limitations of your world-view. 
 TonyLawrence


-October 13, 2004 Tony, You either were created

(by a creator) or evolved. One thing you might think

about are the odds of evolution. Imagine covering the

entire earth with 1" square tiles and placing an x on

the back of one of them. Given one try to randomly pick

the one with the x are the odds that evolution is true.

Which then leaves the other possibility. Enjoying your

site btw! Thanks! -James (former Athiest) October 13

2004 Look here http://starsandcoffee.christian-astronomers.org/Library/odds_of_evolution.htm


-October 13, 2004 Believe whatever you want

to believe. As long as you don't try to involve me in

it, it's fine by me. BTW, even the Catholic Church understands

the reality of evolution.. I know that religion is comforting

for some people, and I know that it can help some people

be better than they might be otherwise. But it isn't

necessary, and it isn't real. If it comforts you, great.

If it makes you into someone who hates people who don't

have the same belief, not so great. I always hope that

those two balance each other off, though sometimes I'm

not so sure. Doesn't matter though: nothing I can say

is going to change anything for those who believe. But

neither is any mumbo-jumbo nonsense about intelligent

design going to change me. I see no gods, I see no reason

to invent any. 
TonyLawrence I don't recall who was

the sage that said, "Religion and astrology are both

havens for fools." The wise person who opined as such

should have added "and those who fear the unknown."

I don't fear the unknown, I consider astrology to be

a lot of Taurus, and I see organized religion as a problem,

not a solution. For a clearer explanation of that last,

just consider what is going on in the Middle East. 
BigDumbDinosaur


-October 14, 2004 I hate getting into this stuff

because people start thinking that their beliefs are

being disrespected. In a way, that's true: while I absolutely

defend the right for people to have religious beliefs,

I can't respect the actual belief. As to the Middle

East, yes, that's religion at its worst. But we have

some pretty bad stuff here in the Christian religion

too: people every bit as crazed who may not be decapitating

hostages but who would like to take over the U.S.A.

and turn it into a religious state. On the other hand,

we have Christians, Moslems, Jews etc. who do wonderful

and selfless acts that really benefit all of us. As

I said before, I hope that these things at least balance

out. The problem I have with religion is that it is

a dead end: once you say "god did it" there's no point

in asking any more questions: choose your prophet and

do what they say the god wants. Science, though it can

be hindered by people who cling too long to what they

want to be true, at least has questioning at its base:

there are no absolute truths, and any theory is subject

to re-examination as we go forward. James (above) has

problems comprehending evolution. There are problems

with evolutionary theory, things that don't yet make

perfect sense, but the important word there is "yet".

Science keeps looking, keeps trying to understand. Positing

a creator may satisfy James, but it doesn't satisfy

me, and even if we ultimately found a copyright notice

stamped in our very genes, that still says nothing about

religion having any reality. It's a tough subject, because

people get upset. They sometimes think people like me

are calling them stupid for having belief, and that

isn't necessarily so: there are "stupid" reasons to

have religious beliefs, but there are stupid reasons

for some scientific beliefs also. Again, I say that

if your religious belief comforts you and brings no

harm to others, I'm all for it. I just don't share it.


TonyLawrence "I hate getting into this stuff because

people start thinking that their beliefs are being disrespected."

That's because those who blindly follow religious dogma

often don't have open enough minds to at least consider

that others don't think the same way. I've always found

it interesting that one of the greatest thinkers of

the modern era 
 who was a Jew 
 had a very pragmatic

approach to the supernatural: he didn't disavow that

a supernatural force had a hand in shaping the universe,

but also did not ascribe the celestial wonders we see

each night to a supreme being. In other words, Albert

Einstein did not allow religious beliefs of any kind

to get in the way of his research. I tend to think as

Einstein did: there *may* be some truly unexplainable

force at work that has shaped our world and its inhabitants.

However, I also expect to see a modicum of evidence

to support such a notion. I have yet to see *any* evidence

of a supreme being and in fact, challenge any religious

type to produce such evidence. "It's a tough subject,

because people get upset. They sometimes think people

like me are calling them stupid..." My experience is

that those who blindly believe what religion tells them

to believe, will feel threatened in a most personal

way when someone who does not blindly believe states

his/her opinion, fact or not. "One thing you might think

about are the odds of evolution." I don't expect a "true

believer" to ever concede that a very large body of

scientific evidence has moved evolution out of the realm

of theory. "On the other hand, we have Christians, Moslems,

Jews etc. who do wonderful and selfless acts that really

benefit all of us." My presumption is such folk would

behave the way they do even if no religion was involved.

Personal character doesn't come from going to church,

temple or mosque. It develops from values handed down

from parents and other influential adults. How else

to explain mafia types, who attend church every Sunday

and kill and steal Monday through Saturday? 
BigDumbDinosaur


-October 15, 2004 Yes, it does annoy me greatly

when people assume that you need religion to be selfless,

charitable, "good" - that IS a stupid view. 
TonyLawrence