http://www.arktimes.com/ArkansasBlog/archives/2013/02/21/fetuses-fetuses-and-more-fetuses Comments On: Fetuses, fetuses and more fetuses: Anti-abortion bills win Arkansas legislative approval by Max Brantley en-us Copyright 2013 Arkansas Times. All rights reserved. This RSS file is offered to individuals, Arkansas Times readers, and non-commercial organizations only. Any commercial websites wishing to use this RSS file, please contact Arkansas Times. robert@arktimes.com (Arkansas Times Webmaster) Wed, 22 May 2013 00:00:01 -0500 Wed, 22 May 2013 13:00:00 -0500 Foundation http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss http://www.arktimes.com/ArkansasBlog/archi…

I was afraid of losing you back in the archives but now I find you (where else?) but back in the archives. I surely do hope that you're not trying to avoid me.

BTW, I'm in the middle of watching "Crimes and Misdemeanors" and will respond to that as well.

BTW again. I think I've figured you out finally and will reveal my theory of Saline here soon. Do I hear your knees knocking? Is that your teeth gnashing? It's definitely not MY teeth gnashing. They're in the back bathroom by the sink.
Posted by Olphart]]> Sat, 23 Feb 2013 17:53:06 -0600 Arkansas Times Posted by abbie]]> Sat, 23 Feb 2013 10:48:06 -0600 Arkansas Times Posted by abbie]]> Sat, 23 Feb 2013 10:40:21 -0600 Arkansas Times
DBI you need have to face the fact that in the materialistic worldview that you hold there is no logical way to attain lasting meaning to one's life.

DBI you should take a long look at the words of Solomon in Ecclesiastes or the song "Dust In The Wind" by Kansas because they correctly life's meaning without a hope of an afterlife .


What does King Solomon, the movie director Woody Allen and the modern rock bands Coldplay and Kansas have in common? All four took on the issues surrounding death, the meaning of life and a possible afterlife, although they all came up with their own conclusions on these weighty matters.

Let me start off by pointing out what they all had in common. First, they were very successful and rose to the top of their fields. Second, they were very famous and of course, thirdly they were wealthy and experienced the privileges that fame and wealth brought. Finally, they were still seeking answers to life’s great questions even though it seemed they had experienced all the world had to offer.

Unlike many the past grammy winners of “Best Rock Album,” Viva La Vida or Death and All His Friends by Coldplay is filled with songs that deal with spiritual themes such as death, the meaning of life and searching for an afterlife.

Leadsinger Chris Martin notes, “…because we’ve had some people close to us we’ve lost, but some miracles — we’ve got kids. So, life has been very extreme recently, and so both death and life pop up quite often” (MTV News interview, June 9, 2008).

Russ Briermeier of Christianity Today observes that this album is “often provocative, spiritual, and seemingly on the verge of identifying a greater truth, asking and inspiring many questions without providing the answers.” It reminded me of King Solomon’s search for answers in the Book of Ecclesiastes in the Old Testament. Solomon also dealt the subject of death a lot. Ecclesiastes 7:2-4 asserts, “It is better to spend your time at funerals than at festivals. For you are going to die, and you should think about it while there is still time. Sorrow is better than laughter, it may sadden your face, but it sharpens your understanding.”

The subject of death is prominent in the songs “Poppyfields,” “Violet Hill,” “Death and All His Friends,” “42,” and the “Cemeteries of London.” Then the song “The Escapist” states, “And in the end, We lie awake and we dream, we’re makin our escape.” In the end we all die. Therefore, I assume this song is searching for an afterlife to escape to. The song “Glass of Water” sheds some more light on where we possibly escape to: “Oh he said you could see a future inside a glass of water, with riddles and the rhymes, He asked ‘Will I see heaven in mine?’

Coldplay is clearly searching for spiritual answers but it seems they have not found them quite yet. The song “42“: “Time is so short and I’m sure, There must be something more.” Then the song “Lost“: “Every river that I tried to cross, Every door I ever tried was locked, I’m just waiting til the shine wears off, You might be a big fish in a little pond, Doesn’t mean you’ve won, Because along may come a bigger one and you will be lost.”
Solomon went to the extreme in his searching in the Book of Ecclesiastes for this “something more” that Coldplay is talking about, but he did not find any satisfaction in pleasure (2:1), education (2:3), work (2:4), wealth (2:8) or fame (2:9). All of his accomplishments would not be remembered (1:11) and who is to say that they had not already been done before by others (1:10)? This reminds me of the big fish in the little pond that Coldplay was talking about. Even if you think you are on top, are you really? Also Solomon’s upcoming death depressed him because both people and animals alike “go to the same place — they came from dust and they return to dust” (3:20).

In 1978 I heard the song “Dust in the Wind” by Kansas when it rose to #6 on the charts. That song told me thatKerry Livgren the writer of that song and a member of Kansas had come to the same conclusion that Solomon had. I remember mentioning to my friends at church that we may soon see some members of Kansas become Christians because their search for the meaning of life had obviously come up empty even though they had risen from being an unknown band to the top of the music business and had all the wealth and fame that came with that. Furthermore, like Solomon and Coldplay, they realized death comes to everyone and “there must be something more.”

Livgren wrote:

“All we do, crumbles to the ground though we refuse to see, Dust in the Wind, All we are is dust in the wind, Don’t hang on, Nothing lasts forever but the Earth and Sky, It slips away, And all your money won’t another minute buy.”

Both Kerry Livgren and Dave Hope of Kansas became Christians eventually. Kerry Livgren first tried Eastern Religions and Dave Hope had to come out of a heavy drug addiction. was shocked and elated to see their personal testimony on The 700 Club in 1981 and that same  interview can be seen on youtube today. Livgren lives in Topeka, Kansas today where he teaches “Diggers,” a Sunday school class at Topeka Bible Church. Hope is the head of Worship, Evangelism and Outreach at Immanuel Anglican Church in Destin, Florida.

The movie maker Woody Allen has embraced the nihilistic message of the song “Dust in the Wind” by Kansas. David Segal in his article, “Things are Looking Up for the Director Woody Allen. No?” (Washington Post, July 26, 2006), wrote, “Allen is evangelically passionate about a few subjects. None more so than the chilling emptiness of life…The 70-year-old writer and director has been musing about life, sex, work, death and his generally futile search for hope…the world according to Woody is so bereft of meaning, so godless and absurd, that the only proper response is to curl up on a sofa and howl for your mommy.”

The song “Dust in the Wind” recommends, “Don’t hang on.” Allen himself says, “It’s just an awful thing and in that context you’ve got to find an answer to the question: ‘Why go on?’ “  It is ironic that Chris Martin the leader of Coldplay regards Woody Allen as his favorite director.

Lets sum up the final conclusions of these gentlemen:  Coldplay is still searching for that “something more.” Woody Allen has concluded the search is futile. Livgren and Hope of Kansas have become Christians and are involved in fulltime ministry. Solomon’s experiment was a search for meaning to life “under the sun.” Then in last few words in the Book of Ecclesiastes he looks above the sun and brings God back into the picture: “The conclusion, when all has been heard, is: Fear God and keep His commandments, because this applies to every person. For God will bring every act to judgment, everything which is hidden, whether it is good or evil.”
Posted by SalineRepublican]]> Sat, 23 Feb 2013 07:28:25 -0600 Arkansas Times
I don't believe in Judah or his girlfriend unless he's that South African runner with no legs who killed his women at the end of last week. I've got to get a leg up on this story before I can render an intelligent decisions on his guilt.

Let me put this as politely as I can....Saline, old fellow, you're unhinged, deranged, not in touch with reality, slipping a cog, rowing with 1 oar, and perhaps a danger to those who live around you. I have to assume you live alone and for guys like you that's expected, but not good for your community since there's no one around to notice when you've slipped entirely off the edge.

It's too late tonight but tomorrow I'm going to Google up some possible help for you in Saline County. In the mean time....uh...I want to answer your question concerning Judah having his troublesome girlfriend killed, just in hopes it will calm you down. Yellow, I think Judah's girlfriend is wearing yellow. There...I'm not afraid to say it....YELLOW
Posted by DeathbyInches]]> Sat, 23 Feb 2013 02:29:29 -0600 Arkansas Times
You both also have not thought through logically where a materialist universe leaves us in the area of morals.

Francis Crick was in agreement with your materialistic views and he concluded, "The Astonishing Hypothesis is that you—your joys and your sorrows, your memories and your ambitions, your sense of personal identity and free will, are in fact no more than the behavior of a vast assembly of nerve cells and their associated molecules"

What if all this is true? What if the cosmos and the chemicals and the particles really are all that there is, and all that we are?

"If man has been kicked up out of that which is only impersonal by chance , then those things that make him man-hope of purpose and significance, love, motions of morality and rationality, beauty and verbal communication-are ultimately unfulfillable and thus meaningless."
—Francis Schaeffer in The God Who Is There
"Eventually materialist philosophy undermines the reliability of the mind itself-and hence even the basis for science. The true foundation of rationality is not found in particles and impersonal laws, but in the mind of the Creator who formed us in His image."
—Phillip E. Johnson,
Defeating Darwinism by Opening Minds
"Can man live without God? Of course he can, in a physical sense. Can he live without God in a reasonable way? The answer to that is No!"
Posted by SalineRepublican]]> Fri, 22 Feb 2013 23:37:04 -0600 Arkansas Times
I do have one slight quibble though. You said "God didn't make my kids good people". No, He made them bad and you had to overcome it. Remember, how Eve ate of the apple and God decided he would punish mankind from then on because they learned about sin. They learned about it because of the temptation from the talking snake. God was aware of the talking snake's slithering around the garden but did nothing about it. So, therefore...uh, get Saline to explain it to you.
Posted by Olphart]]> Fri, 22 Feb 2013 19:50:02 -0600 Arkansas Times
Jesus! Your brain wiring is so messed up, Saline. You don't worship god, you worship you....it's totally on display here ever since your first post.

My life has meaning because of the dead people I came from and the live people I live with and love. My life has lasting meaning because of the beautiful dumb state I love, the uptight city that's been my home since I was 6 years old. My imperfect friends who love the imperfect me. Even iTunes helps give my life lasting meaning. Struggling to support the downtrodden will keep me busy for the rest of my life.

And since I'm not greedy, I'm very happy with the idea that when I die I'll return to the nothingness from which I came and won't have another worry or concern for the rest of time. And I'll know that I have helped create 2 wonderful kids who will go on to create more wonderful kids who won't be stuck in the terrifying world of hocus-pocus, judging and hate.

What more could any rational human wish for? God didn't make my kids good people, the honesty they learned from mag and I coupled with childhoods absent of hateful teachings made them the way they are today and who they'll be 50 years from now.

I'm sorry it takes the fear of a fiery hell to keep you straight, but maybe someday you'll evolve and be able to tell right from wrong, good and bad without turning to endless jabber from the minds of someone else. When real live people become as real to you as unborn fetuses, Biblical characters and actors in a Woody Allen movie....you might finally be making some progress. Good luck to you.
Posted by DeathbyInches]]> Fri, 22 Feb 2013 17:34:18 -0600 Arkansas Times
I would love to hear from any atheist that would present a case for lasting meaning in life apart from God. It seems to me that the British humanist H. J. Blackham was right in his accessment of the predictament that atheists face:

On humanist assumptions [the assumption that there is no God and life has evolved by time and chance alone], life leads to nothing, and every pretense that it does notis a deceit. If there is a bridge over a gorge which spans only half the distance andends in mid-air, and if the bridge is crowded with human beings pressing on, oneafter another they fall into the abyss. The bridge leads to nowhere, and those who are pressing forward to cross it are going nowhere. . . It does not matter where they think they are going, what preparations for the journey they may have made, how much they may be enjoying it all . . . such a situation is a model of futility (H. J. Blackham et al., Objections to Humanism (Riverside, Connecticut: Greenwood Press, 1967).)

Woody Allen’s film does a great job of showing the need for the “enforcement factor.” One reviewer made it sound like the movie was unrealistic and Judah could have smoothtalked his way out of this. However, Woody Allen anticipated this objection and that is why he threw in the illegal financial dealings of Judah that his former girlfriend knew about. Now instead of just losing his marriage he may have to go to jail.
Could you tell me Doc or Olphart or any other brave how a moral absolutist would justify not having Judah's girlfriend killed? On what basis?
Posted by SalineRepublican]]> Fri, 22 Feb 2013 16:08:15 -0600 Arkansas Times
Hank Hannegraff notes:
Finally, common sense regarding justice dictates that there must be a hell. Without hell, the wrongs of Hitler’s Holocaust would never be righted. Justice would be impugned if, after slaughtering six million Jews, Hitler merely died in the arms of his mistress with no eternal consequences. The ancients knew better than to think such a thing. David knew that it might seem for a time as though the wicked prosper despite their evil deeds, but in the end justice will be served. We may wish to think that no one will go to hell, but common sense regarding justice precludes that possibility.

--------
Here is a portion of an article I wrote back in 2009 about Chris Martin who like you Olphart had a problem with the idea of hell but he can't get away from it logically if he wanted to.


Chris Martin of the rock group Coldplay wrote the song Viva La Vida, and the song just won both the grammy for the “Song of the Year” and “Best Pop Performance by a duo or Group with Vocals.”
 
In this song, Martin is discussing an evil king that has been disposed. “I used to rule the world…Feel the fear in my enemy’s eyes…there was never an honest word and that was when I ruled the world, It was the wicked and wild wind, Blew down the doors to let me in, Shattered windows and the sound of drums, People couldn’t believe what I’d become…For some reason I can’t explain, I know Saint Peter won’t call my name,  Never an honest word, But that was when I ruled the world.”
 
Q Magazine asked Chris Martin about the lyric in this song “I know Saint Peter won’t call my name.” Martin replied, “It’s about…You’re not on the list. I was a naughty boy. Its always fascinated me that idea of finishing your life and then being analyzed on it…That is the most frightening thing you could possibly say to somebody. Eternal damnation. I know about this stuff because I studied it. I was into it all. I know it. It’s mildly terrifying to me. And this is serious.”
 
I have been following the career of Chris Martin for the last decade. He grew up in a Christian home that believed in Heaven and Hell, but made it clear several years ago that he actually resents those who hold to those same religious dogmatic views he did as a youth. Yet it seems his view on the possibility of an afterlife has changed again.
Posted by SalineRepublican]]> Fri, 22 Feb 2013 15:47:18 -0600 Arkansas Times
Thank you for avoiding Ad hominem attacks so we can discuss the issues. You are right about that prophecies must be clear and be written before the events they are talking about.

Remember that the dead sea scrolls have part of every Old Testament book except Esther and a complete scroll of Isaiah. All these books are dated pre100BC. With that in mind take a look at these prophecies:



In the fifth century B.C. a prophet named Zechariah declared that the Messiah would be betrayed for the price of a slave—thirty pieces of silver, according to Jewish law-and also that this money would be used to buy a burial ground for Jerusalem’s poor foreigners (Zechariah 11:12-13). Bible writers and secular historians both record thirty pieces of silver as the sum paid to Judas Iscariot for betraying Jesus, and they indicate that the money went to purchase a “potter’s field,” used—just as predicted—for the burial of poor aliens (Matthew 27:3-10).

(Probability of chance fulfillment = 1 in 1011.)

SECOND:

Some 400 years before crucifixion was invented, both Israel’s King David and the prophet Zechariah described the Messiah’s death in words that perfectly depict that mode of execution. Further, they said that the body would be pierced and that none of the bones would be broken, contrary to customary procedure in cases of crucifixion (Psalm 22 and 34:20; Zechariah 12:10). Again, historians and New Testament writers confirm the fulfillment: Jesus of Nazareth died on a Roman cross, and his extraordinarily quick death eliminated the need for the usual breaking of bones. A spear was thrust into his side to verify that he was, indeed, dead.

---
http://thedailyhatch.org/2011/06/23/book-o…

Israel was predicted to return to the holy land and that occurred in 1948 and they are the first to revive a dead language (Hebrew).
Posted by SalineRepublican]]> Fri, 22 Feb 2013 14:38:43 -0600 Arkansas Times
I subscribed to "Free Inquiry' for several years and had letters published in it.
Posted by SalineRepublican]]> Fri, 22 Feb 2013 13:30:40 -0600 Arkansas Times
I agree that none of this has much to do with how smart you are. Francis Collins, the head of the group who mapped the human genome is, obviously, very smart, and is a practicing Christian. I don't believe that I.Q. tells you much about how smart you are either. At best, it tells you what potential you may have to become smart.

Yes, I WOULD ACCEPT a certifiable written decision from God. I WOULDN'T accept it relayed from you or any other 3rd party, religious or not. How do you know ME better than I know ME? That makes no sense. It would be arrogant of me if I claimed to know you better than you know you. Independence from what? A celestial puppeteer? Independence from control by your religion which tells me what I should do, based on your interpretation of some ancient and contradictory text?

About your so-called prophesies: Nobody knows when the prophesies were written, much less what they actually predicted. It's very possible that the prophesied event was written before the prophesy. And yes, I know that the latest nation of Israel was formed in 1948 but the temple hasn't been entirely razed to the ground--the west wall still stands. That's a self-fulfilling prophesy anyway, enabled by "Christian" nations.

In other posts you claim to admire Carl Sagan and detest Adolph Hitler. I concur with those opinions. But answer me this: Since both of these men are both deceased, according to any reasonable interpretation of your beliefs, the souls of both men are currently being tortured for their sins in the flames of Hell and that torture will continue forever. Hitler is being tortured for the deaths of millions of humans and Sagan is being tortured because he didn't believe in your God. Of course, either or both may have had a deathbed conversion but, barring that, how can you possibly reconcile that with a just and loving God?

Somewhere you decry ad hominem attacks on your person. I believe that I have avoided those here. I have asked you some questions though and am anxiously awaiting your answers.
Posted by Olphart]]> Fri, 22 Feb 2013 13:23:21 -0600 Arkansas Times
"I accept the fact that like all living things I shall soon cease to exist. For a time, some of the genes I have carried will be replicated in my children, and something of me will survive in the books I have written and in the help I have given other people. Death does not trouble me. I have no fear of supernatural punishments, of course nor could I enjoy an eternal life in which there would be nothing left for me to do, the task of living having been accomplished."

-- http://www.scientificmindfulness.com/2010/…
Posted by Doc]]> Fri, 22 Feb 2013 12:38:14 -0600 Arkansas Times Posted by Doc]]> Fri, 22 Feb 2013 12:11:49 -0600 Arkansas Times
No he didn't do that but his book "Contact" did show us a lot about his struggle to answer the big questions of life. Sagan's writings indicated that he was an agnostic and he said he would consider new evidence and is why I started writing letters to him back in 1992 and was fortunate to receive a personal letter back from him.

Carl Sagan could not rid himself of the “mannishness of man.” Those who have read Francis Schaeffer’s many books know exactly what I am talking about. We are made in God’s image and we are living in God’s world. Therefore, we can not totally suppress the objective truths of our unique humanity. In my letter of Jan 10, 1996 to Dr. Sagan, I really camped out on this point a long time because I had read Sagan’s  book Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors  and in it  Sagan attempts to  totally debunk the idea that we are any way special. However, what does Dr. Sagan have Dr. Arroway say at the end of the movie Contact when she is testifying before Congress about the alien that  communicated with her? See if you can pick out the one illogical word in her statement: “I was given a vision how tiny, insignificant, rare and precious we all are. We belong to something that is greater than ourselves and none of us are alone.” 

Dr Sagan deep down knows that we are special so he could not avoid putting the word “precious” in there. Schaeffer said unbelievers are put in a place of tension when they have to live in the world that God has made because deep down they know they are special because God has put that knowledge in their hearts.We are not the result of survival of the fittest and headed back to the dirt forevermore. This is what Schaeffer calls “taking the roof off” of the unbeliever’s worldview and showing the inconsistency that exists. 

Doc do you think we are special or is the human race just another animal like Sagan argued?
Posted by SalineRepublican]]> Fri, 22 Feb 2013 12:08:41 -0600 Arkansas Times

Even at the scale of the individual, IQ may not directly cause more disbelief in God. Dr David Hardman of London Metropolitan University says: "It is very difficult to conduct true experiments that would explicate a causal relationship between IQ and religious belief." He adds that other studies do nevertheless correlate IQ with being willing or able to question beliefs.[11]
Posted by SalineRepublican]]> Fri, 22 Feb 2013 11:50:39 -0600 Arkansas Times Posted by kimocat]]> Fri, 22 Feb 2013 09:42:49 -0600 Arkansas Times
Really you can figure that out how? Let me challenge any moral nonabsolutist to answer this question below concerning a morality issue.

Remember back in April of 2012 when we saw some newly released pictures from Hitler's bunker?

Hitler’s last few moments of life were filled with anxiety as they should have been. He went on to face his maker and pay dearly for his many sins. When I look at the never before released pictures of Hitler’s bunker, it makes me wonder how anyone can claim that this life doesn’t count for all eternity and people like Hitler are home free like Woody Allen’s movie “Crimes and Misdemeanors” suggests.



Mudturtle answer this one question. HOW COULD JUDAH HAVE REMOVED HIS TROUBLESOME MISTRESS FROM HIS LIFE WITHOUT KILLING HER? Woody Allen knew what he was doing in this film and he was showing that without God and an afterlife then there is no reason not to murder!!!!

Woody Allen’s 1989 movie, CRIMES AND MISDEMEANORS , is concerning the need of God while making decisions in the area of personal morality. In this film, Allen attacks his own atheistic view of morality. Martin Landau plays a Jewish eye doctor named Judah Rosenthal raised by a religious father who always told him, “The eyes of God are always upon you.” However, Judah later concludes that God doesn’t exist. He has his mistress (played in the film by Anjelica Huston) murdered because she continually threatened to blow the whistle on his past questionable, probably illegal, business activities. She also attempted to break up Judah ‘s respectable marriage by going public with their two-year affair. Judah struggles with his conscience throughout the remainder of the movie. He continues to be haunted by his father’s words: “The eyes of God are always upon you.” This is a very scary phrase to a young boy, Judah observes. He often wondered how penetrating God’s eyes are.

Later in the film, Judah reflects on the conversation his religious father had with Judah ‘s unbelieving Aunt May at the dinner table many years ago:

“Come on Sol, open your eyes. Six million Jews burned to death by the Nazis, and they got away with it because might makes right,” says aunt May

Sol replies, “May, how did they get away with it?”

Judah asks, “If a man kills, then what?”

Sol responds to his son, “Then in one way or another he will be punished.”

Aunt May comments, “I say if he can do it and get away with it and he chooses not to be bothered by the ethics, then he is home free.”

Judah ‘s final conclusion was that might did make right. He observed that one day, because of this conclusion, he woke up and the cloud of guilt was gone. He was, as his aunt said, “home free.”

Woody Allen has exposed a weakness in his own humanistic view that God is not necessary as a basis for good ethics. There must be an enforcement factor in order to convince Judah not to resort to murder. Otherwise, it is fully to Judah ‘s advantage to remove this troublesome woman from his life. Tell me what should have Judah done Mudturtle? What is right?
Posted by SalineRepublican]]> Fri, 22 Feb 2013 08:47:32 -0600 Arkansas Times
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Religiosity_a…
Posted by Doc]]> Fri, 22 Feb 2013 08:29:53 -0600 Arkansas Times Posted by Doc]]> Fri, 22 Feb 2013 08:26:31 -0600 Arkansas Times I used to believe in Santa Claus.
Posted by Verla Sweere]]> Fri, 22 Feb 2013 08:12:24 -0600 Arkansas Times
I have read lots of Carl Sagan’s books and written several reviews and papers on his views. I will just leave you with this thought.

Sagan observed,”Plainly, there’s something within me that’s ready to believe in life after death…If some good evidence for life after death was announced, I’d be eager to examine it; but it would have to be real scientific data, not mere antedote”(pp 203-204, The DemonHaunted World, 1995). 

Sagan said he had taken a look at Old Testament prophecy and it did not impress him because it was too vague. He had taken a look at Christ’s life in the gospels, but said it was unrealistic for God to send a man to communicate for God. Instead, Sagan suggested that God could have written a mathematical formula in the Bible or put a cross in the sky.However, what happens at the conclusion of the movie Contact?  This is Sagan’s last message to the world in the form of the movie that appeared shortly after his death. Dr Arroway (Jodie Foster) who is a young atheistic scientist who meets with an alien and this alien takes the form of Dr. Arroway’s father. The alien tells her that they thought this would make it easier for her. In fact, he meets her on a beach that resembles a beach that she grew up near so she would also be comfortable with the surroundings. Carl Sagan when writing this script chose to put the alien in human form so Dr. Arroway could relate to the alien. Christ chose to take our form and come into our world too and still many make up excuses for not believing.

Olphart you have a head knowledge of the Bible and you say you would accept written decisions from God but you would not. Just like Sagan you set out stipulations for God but He has given you sufficient evidence through Old Testiment prophecies such as the one on the destruction of Tyre and also Psalms 22 and Isaiah 53.You do not accept them because of intellectual problems but you want your independence. Very smart people are believers and some dummies too. It has nothing to do with how smart a person is.
Posted by SalineRepublican]]> Fri, 22 Feb 2013 08:04:49 -0600 Arkansas Times Posted by Verla Sweere]]> Fri, 22 Feb 2013 03:32:00 -0600 Arkansas Times
Absolutes? Not so much. "Thou shalt not kill" sounds pretty absolute, but even a 6 year old knows about capital punishment, wars, and the food process. "Honor your father and mother" doesn't apply so much when you've been raped by your dad.

Absolutes? Go for them Saline.
As for me, I prefer to go with what's "right"
Posted by mudturtle]]> Thu, 21 Feb 2013 23:31:55 -0600 Arkansas Times