Recent Comments

1. 10 days ago on Cul de Sac

   Beautiful! Richard was so good.

2. 17 days ago on Cul de Sac

   So good. I miss Richard.

3. 17 days ago on Pearls Before Swine

   Sigh…

4. 18 days ago on Pearls Before Swine

   Gneiss

5. 18 days ago on Pearls Before Swine

   Dear Readers, I do not “believe” in magic. I try to be humble enough to be open to look at evidence and to listen to arguments for a case. And I am willing to change my mind on an issue if I have been wrong. I was an atheist/agnostic until my early 20’s. Jesus claimed to be God. I looked at the evidence and concluded that he is who he claimed to be – God.

6. 19 days ago on Pearls Before Swine

   Dear Reader, I hope that you can see how highly Croc thinks of himself. His claim is that I do not know biology. I refuted that claim. He cannot admit that he was wrong.

7. 19 days ago on Pearls Before Swine

   You’re right as usual.

   B.A. McDaniel College, biology

   M.S. The University of Tennessee, Knoxville, botany

   Ph.D. The University of Tennessee, Knoxville, ecology

   Note that I did not say that our bodies would die. I said that we would not die. Our souls are eternal.

8. 19 days ago on Pearls Before Swine

   (Part 2)I’m betting that you believe that objective moral rights and wrongs exist. I’m betting that you think that rape or torturing innocent children are wrong. That shows that you believe in objective truth.

   But to have objective truth, there must be a God. He is the objective law giver. And his laws are based on his nature. They are not arbitrary. And anyone who accuses him of evil does not know him. He is pure love. His commands are for our best.

   (Why did God give the Israelites those odd laws? Remember the context. They had just come out of slavery in a nation that did not follow the true God. And, he is bringing them into an area where the people have been in rebellion against God for 400 years. (Gen 15:16 In the fourth generation your descendants will come back here, for the sin of the Amorites has not yet reached its full measure.”) It had then reached it’s “full measure” and God was going to judge those nations for their sins. (This is not geocide. It it is judgement.) God made a covenant with Israel. It was not for all people for all times. It was only for those people at that time. Many of those “funny” laws were object lessons to show them that they were not to mix with the peoples of that land. But in fact, they did mix. And, he did judge first the northern kingdom, and then the southern kingdom – just as he had judged the nations before him. Israel and Judah went into captivity for their sins.

   And God will judge all people and nations. His is just being patient now as he has been in the past. 1 Peter 3:9 “The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.”

9. 19 days ago on Pearls Before Swine

   “Is “war” considered “murder”?”

   It depends on whether or not one is a Christian or an atheist. Christians have disagreed on whether or not there are “just” wars. This is too big of a topic to be discussed here. On atheism it does not matter whether one person takes another’s life or not. Ever read Camus? Ever read The Stranger? On atheism, the universe will end. There is no ultimate judgement. It does not matter what anyone does.

   “As for “our maker” having the prerogative to take a life, does that imply a mother and father (the “makers” of a child) can kill the child? Somehow, I don’t think so.”

   Of course not. This would be murder. They did not make life ex nihilo. The term “make” is used equivocally here. But thank you for the justification to show that abortion is wrong.

   “My “lying is bad” example wasn’t referencing any commandment, just things we’ve all been told.”

   And the reason that “we’ve been told” is that we used to be a Christian nation. This did come from the Commandments (mistranslated.)

   “And why do you think God is “objective”?”

   God is not objective or an object.

   Objective and subjective refer to the basis of morality. Objective morality means that the thing itself is wrong. It’s like the claim that helps diabetes patients. It’s either true or false. It doesn’t matter what anyone thinks about it. So by saying “rape is wrong,” we’re not talking about anyone’s opinion of it, we’re saying that the thing itself is wrong.

   Subject morality is relative to the subject. It’s like the claim that I like vanilla ice cream. It’s true for the subject – me. It is not objectively wrong in itself. It’s a synonym for relativism.

10. 19 days ago on Pearls Before Swine

    “Heat death” presumes infinite expansion. If there’s a Big Crunch, we’ll die, but it won’t be due to heat death."

    Correct. But it doesn’t really matter, does it. Both make my point.