Americans and the Origins of Man

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Angry Canine
Posts: 143
Joined: Sun Jul 12, 2015 9:08 pm
Location: Digging for fire in No. KY/Cincy

Re: Americans and the Origins of Man

#51 Post by Angry Canine » Mon Nov 02, 2015 1:58 am

A friend of mine, knows Ken Ham personally somewhat. His daughter takes piano lessons from I believe it was Ham's daughter, He lives right down the road from "The Museum of Ignorance" as I have come to refer to it, Ham, and a large portion of the museum people live in newer subdivisions near it. My friend says they don't come across as full time nutjobs in unrelated everyday life. My friend said he doesn't attempt to push any of that crap on him (though I don't think I'd be comfortable leaving my child there, even for something like piano lessons). He says that the guy's bookshelf is a sight to see...definitely more than a bit crazy.

I apply my favorite Yogi Berra quote to evolution, though that's not the original subject it was applied to. "You can see a lot, just by looking."

Having death right up in my face for quite a while now has not changed my POV on the subject of God, Religion, and an afterlife. I have a fear of dying, but not being dead. I could care less what becomes of my dead body, though if I had my druthers, I'd be left on the forest floor, to let nature deal with it same as any other animal. I believe another plane of existence, or reincarnation, are remote possibilities, but no fear of any religious visions of afterlife...not even Buddhist or Hindu versions of reincarnation

I won't initiate discussion on the subject, unless it is pushnstaned upon me, or already being discussed. For instance a Chaplain stops by in the hospital where I am spending far too much time (15 days in Oct., and back again today), I was asked if I am OK with them "praying for me" and my answer was that's fine, but don't try to get me to do so, or we'll have a problem.

We are not "descended from apes," we are a type of ape, the way I see it. I think intelligence, and independent, critical thinking have much more to do with your beliefs, than education. If you're not a thinker, you will stick with whatever you were told first as a child, regardless of all the reason, and evidence the world can provide. I was an atheist, before I started school, or knew the word. My mom was a catholic schoolgirl with an Italian mother, and my Italian great grandparents were living nearby as well, but it was religion was never pushed upon me, or ridiculed either during my early years.

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Hype
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Joined: Tue Aug 02, 2011 7:44 pm

Re: Americans and the Origins of Man

#52 Post by Hype » Mon Nov 02, 2015 11:31 am

Ha... wow... yeah Ken Ham is one of the more out there creationists.

Sometimes I get a nice reminder how different both groups of self-selected people on the internet (like JA fans) and academics are from any collection of average people. Recently had a friend say "the Big Bang is 'just a theory'", to which I offered the standard reply "So is gravity." which I thought would be enough, but the response I got was more pseudo-educated pseudo-science: "No, gravity is a law. There's no law of the big bang." Which made me cringe, because oh... fuck... Hubble's Law? Plus like... the rest of the laws of physics? It's difficult to imagine what sort of mental process led my friend to think what he said, but I suspect part of it is just straight ignorance, combined with horrible science reporting and intentional misinformation. Anyway it was disappointing on a personal level, but more generally I think it was a helpful reminder not to take for granted that basic public education will succeed in removing these kinds of really fundamentally mistaken beliefs people have, and when you're surrounded by very intelligent, very highly educated people 90% of the time, it's easy to forget that most of the things you take for granted about what the people you're talking to know are not true of a lot of people.

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guysmiley
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Location: PDX/Fukuoka Japan

Re: Americans and the Origins of Man

#53 Post by guysmiley » Mon Nov 02, 2015 1:13 pm

Amen brothers.....ewww. Why would I say that? Anyways, I agree with you guys. :wave: :rockon:

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Bandit72
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Location: Birmingham, England

Re: Americans and the Origins of Man

#54 Post by Bandit72 » Tue Nov 03, 2015 1:47 am

I'd rather listen to Ken Hom

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Hype
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Re: Americans and the Origins of Man

#55 Post by Hype » Tue Nov 03, 2015 8:44 am

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