Non Sequitur by Wiley Miller for July 15, 2013

This is pretty appropriate for us here in North Carolina. Lots of flooding in the last couple of months.

I’m pretty sure Unicorns have something to say about this…..Oh, wait…..they can’t….Love the holes in the roof for the giraffes……..

Evan Almighty is on TV right now.

Where’s the rainbow connection?

thebird55: that’s how I remember the lyrics from memory for one of the verses… http://www.oldielyrics.com/lyrics/the_irish_rovers/the_unicorn.html

Including “The Great American Smoke-Off.” Also “A Boy Named Sue,” I think.

that ship has sailed

creationists- 1 darwinians- 0

This discussion can devolve into a very nasty argument it we all assume that religion and science are bout correct or even at odds with each other. The sum total of mankind’s knowledge of the Universe wouldn’t fill a Lilliputian thimble. Evolution of Man is wrong and there ain’t no god… so go fish.

how does that fantasy tum sail without a sail or oars?

Dude, you so need a good nap.

With no land, there isn’t much need for directional control.

OK …My interpretation is:okay I’ll allow you to walk the earth so….you can go for a long boat ride after I flood the earth

The Flood myth, which predates the Bible, and probably originated in oral tradition, prior even to the Sumerian and Babylonian tales, most likely had a basis of truth in a cataclysm which,for the small communities of the time seemed like a global inundation. It probably did wipe out the world, as they perceived it ( which was very small, indeed. ).The problem is the literalist who believe fictions, legends and allegories to be absolutes. For them, there is now compromise – only irrational certainty.

The compromise is between intelligent science and silly religion.

you got to be kidding right? It was raining all the time.

I think the only compromise would be “Intelligent evolution” or “Creative Evolution”, but it wouldn’t explain why there are body parts that serve no purpose. And more…..

Next time, Noah, leave the mosquitoes behind.

“to cleanse yourself from all of that filth from the Left.!!”.Wow, talk about your unwarranted and vile comment. Yes, that filth from the left like equal rights for all and an end to greed and corruption; no wars just for commercial concerns, no religious enslavement, no children left unfed and uneducated, and a host of other issues that only someone of your ilk would see as “filth.”

I’m happy that others remember “The Unicorn.”

Looks that way. And there’s a lot of anthropological evidence that there was a great flood like the one described in the Bible. Not a flood that killed all life save what was in an ark but something catastrophic that was a real life inspiration for the story. From a number of cultures across the world that had no contact with the ancient Hebrews.

A Lutheran pastor I was very close with (he’s gone now) put it best: The Bible tells us WHO, not HOW.

There were a lot of local floods in many parts of the “old world”. It suited the writers of the bible to interpret them in their own way. It matters not, as people were already living in many parts of the world.

This sort of reminds me of the movie “Ice Age” and how they missed “The Boat” too

I suspect a mischievous person who lives under a bridge and is afraid of billy goats is at work. What do you think Mr. Wiley? ¢:

Amen bother!

To me it is SO UNBELIEVABLE that people refuse to acknowledge an intelligent designer was need to make all of this complex life in its millions of forms.

But because intellectuals don’t want to be responsible to, or have to be answerable to a God (who I DO believe in), they grasp at any other explanation, no matter HOW illogical it really is.It takes more faith to believe in random chance (Darwinian evolution) than to believe that all the intricate and complex design in life must have been DESIGNED.

They of course put religion in a negative light with phrases like: “religious dogma”, “religious enslavement”, “…slimy religion is the worst proposal ever.”, “silly religion”, “Mystical Creationism”

And worship science above God with phrases like: “now in the era of scientific understanding and rationality…”, “intelligent science”, “Scientific Evolution”

Belief in a creator (God) IS NOT a mystical belief. Belief in a god is logical when one takes time to examine the COMPLEX life all around us. THINK ABOUT THAT. . . Objectively.

Sunny Street comic had a great take on this last week. God lighting a large firework labeled Big Bang, with the caption “Let’s see what happens!” Good book on comparing Judeo-Christian mythology vs other religions/paganism, etc: The Sins of Scripture, by a retired Episcopal Archbishop, last name Spong.

And Michigan.

I’ve always been taught that there need not be all the disagreement over religion vs science — especially creation vs evolution. It’s a bunch of nonsence cooked up by politicians to divide Americans and win elections. My mother taught me 60 years ago that the two can be combined for a perfectly reasonable explanation if folks want to get along — if they want to fight about it — no explanation will ever be acceptable.

Tandumbuzz, I’ve never heard that before….Thanks….

If I misinterpreted your comment re:“Filth from the Left!!” I feel badly.I took it to be an assault on Liberal politics.I do apologize if that is not what you meant..On the other hand, if that is what you meant, reread my reply, and then double it.

Who ever claimed that the Big Bang was an uncaused event? It certainly had a cause. There are various ideas of that cause with variations among those ideas. We have different degrees of evidence supporting those suspected causes. As long as there are natural causes left to examine there is no need to introduce any magical superbeings into the process. That’s just lazy thinking.

I know, I know…… for that matter, where did God originate?

Either belief requires a leap of faith. I won’t disrepect your faith, please don’t disrespect mine.

Whoa…………Word……..(uni)Verse…… my little mind is blown by that connection, which I had never made before. The universe was spoken into existence? And a lovely poem it is, too.

There is no leap of faith in accepting a universe(s) that did not require creation by magical superbeings. For that matter, I’m willing to accept the existence of magical superbeings when I see some shred of EVIDENCE for them. So far, there is no evidence and the existence of the universe doesn’t require the existence of magical superbeings. I’m satisfied with the idea that we don’t yet know all of the answers but we’re working on them. There’s no need to insert a “god of the gaps.”

I see no problem with the compromise. God let Earth’s first few billion years happen pretty naturally, and it wasn’t until mankind was established that he really began to intervene. With big events like the flood, though, I’m pretty sure some of the details got muddled (see the various “flood myths” comments above).

Having grown up as a devout Christian, but also with parents who taught me to become educated and question everything, I have had plenty of opportunities to cast aside my religion. While I sympathize deeply with anyone in a similar situation who took a different path, a multitude of very personal spiritual experiences has determined that God gets to stay in my life. That commitment doesn’t mean I have to reject science. I’m content to stay with a faith where our worship is wholly determined by how we improve ourselves as well as loving and serving others, while letting the sum of worldly knowledge accumulate to tell us HOW everything came about. My scriptures can reside comfortably on the same shelf as the latest issues of Astronomy and SciAm; they have yet to burst into flames.