^hey Renato ~ I grew up as a missionary's daughter in Campinas, S.P. Brasil! (am agnostic now, for the record) Hope to go back to south america some day. As an MK, from the ages of 8-16 my family ran an orphanage, a Baptist seminary, and my Dad flew a Cessna back and forth into Matto Grosso and Minas Gerais "preaching to the indians". (I went w/ him a few times) I went to EAC, then when we returned to the U.S. I hopped around from Michigan, Texas, Alabama in high school.
I had two beautiful kids during my brief stint (4 years) as the wife of an abusive dude who happened to be in the U.S. Marine Corps. (So I know what military family life is like, big time.)
Upon getting out of that mess, I served as the live-in caretaker to a disabled retired psychotherapist. That lasted about 4 years, and was quite an interesting experience which I will not elaborate on here...suffice it to say that I ended up moving to Silver City, NM with said person and meeting the man of my dreams less than a year upon arriving. I have started and stopped my college education more times than I can count along the way, and still haven't finished! (Was headed for medical school!)
With that, I am currently homeschooling my son, helping my hubby with his business (link on my profile page) making reproductions of pre-colombian psychoacoustical whistling vessels, sewing/designing clothes (which is my passion), gardening, and hanging out on the sift!
You are all awesome, and I enjoy your comments!

One thing that I think is funny about intelligent design and creation "science" is that it didn't exist 3 decades ago. It is all a desperate reaction to the elegant simplicity of evolutionary biology.

^ "The odds that evolution is true is astronomically low and getting lower all the time."

That couldn't be further from the truth. In fact, as time goes on the evidence for evolution just keeps stacking.

http://genomebiology.com/2001/3/1/research/0006
http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/articlerender.fcgi?artid=140308
http://evolution.berkeley.edu/

Every time there is new evidence, every time evolutionary biology is able to make a correct PERDICTION, creationist teem a new illogical god-based reaction in a pathetic attempt debunk the mounting evidence.

And FLIBOI, I don’t know why you listed D. James Kennedy as a doctor, while he techically has his docotrate, it was in religious studies from New York University, he got his masters in Chicago in Theology, and a became a Master of Divinity from Columbia Thological Seminary. That all sounds a little biased to me.

bhyphenlow. you should go look up the word "worship" as it does not apply to how you are using it.
Every Christian I've ever met take their preachers word for fact and do no reasearch into their outrageous clams.
Heck, the preachers don't even have the confidence to tell their congregation the truth about who wrote the bible (they don't know)...most learn this in seminary. this book list should help you understand beter.
http://www.archetype-productions.com/nfo/religion/my-books-list-4chris.doc
studying various scriptures/teachings to develop your own world view IS lazy if you do not research who wrote them, how the messages were translated into other langauges and then edited and how they've changed the meaning through subsequent editions, langauges and versions.
it's a moving target to base ones worldview on.

We could guilt-trip them into coming back to take care of their child??? Auction their collective after a month of inattention? Spam them with e-mails?? I like the 3rd suggestion.
I was once told when I first joined the sift, and noticed the usual, rabid counterpoint to anything remotely conservative, that going up against this type was like "knocking over chess pieces with a water pik" I chuckled at and appreciated the simile, and found this to be an adequate observation when applied to the dynamic between the faithful and faithless, (with regard to spirituality)....I like to look at it this way-
Those most rabid in their derision of religion, (and so-flagged, "conspiracy theories"), are invariably the folks with the most lop-sided, un-actualized and sophomoric world views. They tend to be insect-type personalities, who are satisfied being bound to the available sensory apparati, and have no room in their process for the unexplainable or metagnostic, unless that unknown factor is part of some scientific method or on-going codification or experimentation. This has everthing to do with imprint, experience, and exposure, and most of them will probably say, "Thank Bob, I was not imprinted with, or exposed to that, etc, etc, blahppity, blah blah, so many variations on a theme.

I propose a collective that encompasses the best of both worlds, the mundane and the supernatural. A pit, where the the zealots of both camps can preach, pontificate, and perhaps, proseletyze in.....call it, hell, God Vs.Satan, Black Vs. White, Light Vs. Dark...........

As long as the world spins there will be those bound to duality, meditating upon the differences of a single thing
kicking a horse without legs, trying to get the thing to move.......

You Christains can be preachy, lemme say, but those damn God-boppers must have some secret seminary somewhere as well....lioke I have suggested in the past, "Oh ye that have all the answers"....G E T A R O O M !!!!!

downvote, glounium, for using the story of Christ, as a reason to masturbate-(when originally posted, the embed was scenes from the "Last Temptation of Christ, forgive me if I knee-jerked without watching the post intended???)and codenazi, thought we we talking about gays in the military, not theys' taught by seminaries-What a great platform to launch a jab at the devout from....calling all instances of distaste for another's choice of sexuality, homophobia, is innane, and with regard to the military, majority moves as one, must to maintain discipline, so naturally, some folks don't fit-

You atheists know who you are...and since yer not a religious belief recognized by the throwback, de-evolutionary theist crowds-at-large, and your seething distaste for the faithful usually takes no-time to digress into name-calling, and childish derision trussed-up in ineloquent, unnecessary, and bothersome preaching-why not try a new approach?? Build a seminary, attract the devout, and start an official "club' if you will, for the word religion, were it up to Atheist dictionary publishers, would no-doubt exist as some newspeak description for all that is wrong with the world. You can all meet on an unholy day of the week like, Thursday, and take donations, have pot-luck dinners, and stroke each other, stroke something.....but jesus H. Christ on a Crippled Crutch, "Get off Mahhh Marine Corp Videosift!!"

(Think that'll stir the kiddies up, Dag?? If you need anymore help, please, feel free to poke.)

And yes, thoughtful discussion concerning religion's pros and cons......hmmmmm there is a shining example of this form of communication here all over the sift....gwann comes first to mind, and most agnostics, who are very pleasant folks for the most part, not fleeing from self-actualization or meaning, but embracing it.

Here's a shining example, of what appears to be, a knee-jerk reaction over an expertly titled,(karaidl)and charged piece of satire.....and they come from the woodworks, to see who has beaten the floorboards.
http://www.videosift.com/video/The-Atheist-Delusion#leavecomment

note, how the arguments are made by atheists, in a manner not unlike the most un-schooled and fervent type of banter that Christians are accused of...
"Remember the crusades!'
'Remember the Alamo!"
...and they shall be stoned with pumice.....etc etc etc.......

"Dr." Falwell. What a load of bullshit.

From Wiki:

Although he sometimes used the title "Doctor," Falwell held no earned doctorate. He held three honorary degrees: an honorary Doctor of Divinity from Tennessee Temple Theological Seminary, an honorary Doctor of Letters from California Graduate School of Theology (an unaccredited institution), and an honorary Doctor of Laws from Central University in Seoul, South Korea (an unaccredited institution).

"Doctor of Divinity". That's like having majored in the bogyman except that he didn't have to actually go to school for it.

I think we should take up a collection, like in church. Once there is enough money in it to send theo47 to good a southern Baptist seminary, we should announce our plans to donate the monies instead to the WWF, but at the last minute, spend it on beer and pot.


got one, how about the delay when posting a comment, with "please wait" indefinately, then frustration, cut and paste and try again, only to find both posts there...How to Eliminate A Duplicate Comment Post?....(probly' me not paying attention )

Comment hidden because you are ignoring dag. (show it anyway)

Good stuff. Hell hath no wrath like an ex-seminary student.

'The internet is for porn!" (sing along!) "The Internet IS FOR PORN!!!"
No wonder Theo hates christians...however, they did make one cChristian porno...."Debbie does the Dallas Theological Seminary", but they only got Holy Hand Jobs!