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December 14th, 2012
06:17 PM ET
Massacre of children leaves many asking, 'Where’s God?'By Dan Gilgoff and Eric Marrapodi, CNN Belief Blog Co-Editors (CNN) – As he waited with parents who feared that their kids were among the 20 children killed at a Connecticut elementary school on Friday, Rabbi Shaul Praver said the main thing he could do for parents was to merely be present. “It’s a terrible thing, families waiting to find out if their children made it out alive,” said Praver, who leads a synagogue in Newtown, Connecticut, and was among nine clergy gathered with parents at a firehouse near Sandy Hook Elementary School, where the shooting occurred. “They’re going to need a lot of help,” Praver said of those who are close to the dead. From the first moments after Friday’s massacre, which also left six adults and the shooter dead, religious leaders were among the first people to whom worried and grieving families turned for help. Over the weekend, countless more Americans will look to clergy as they struggle to process a tragedy in which so many of the victims were children. “Every single person who is watching the news today is asking ‘Where is God when this happens?’” says Max Lucado, a prominent Christian pastor and author based in San Antonio. Follow the CNN Belief Blog on Twitter Lucado says that pastors everywhere will be scrapping their scheduled Sunday sermons to address the massacre. “You have to address it - you have to turn everything you had planned upside down on Friday because that’s where people’s hearts are,” Lucado says. “The challenge here is to avoid the extremes – those who say there are easy answers and those who say there are no answers.” Indeed, many religious leaders on Friday stressed that the important thing is for clergy to support those who are suffering, not to rush into theological questions. A University of Connecticut professor on Friday hung up the phone when asked to discuss religious responses to suffering, saying, “This is an immense tragedy, and you want an academic speculating on the problem of evil?” “There is no good answer at that time that anyone can hear and comprehend and take in,” said Ian T. Douglas, the bishop for the Episcopal diocese of Connecticut, referring to counseling family and friends of the dead. “They’re crying out from a place of deep pain.” Praver, the rabbi, will join a memorial service Friday night at Newtown’s St. Rose of Lima Roman Catholic Church. “We’re going to have a moment of prayer for the victims,” Praver said of the service. “We cannot let it crush our spirit and we march on.” Some national religious groups are also sending staff to Newtown, with 10 chaplains dispatched from the North Carolina-based Billy Graham Evangelistic Association on Friday. Public officials including President Obama, meanwhile, turned to the Bible in responding to the shooting. “In the words of Scripture, 'heal the brokenhearted and bind up their wounds,' ” Obama said from the White House, citing the book of Psalms. On Twitter, #PrayForNewton became a trending topic. CNN’s Belief Blog: The faith angles behind the biggest stories Some religious leaders argue that modern American life insulates much of the nation from the kind of senseless death and suffering that plagues much of the world every day. “Most of the world, for most of the world’s history, has known tragedy and trauma in abundance,” wrote Rob Brendle, a Colorado pastor, in a commentary for CNN’s Belief Blog after this summer’s deadly shooting in Aurora, Colorado, which left 12 dead. “You don’t get nearly the same consternation in Burundi or Burma, because suffering is normal to there,” wrote Brendle, who pastored congregants after a deadly shooting at his church five years ago. “For us, though, God has become anesthetist-in-chief. To believe in him is to be excused from bad things.” My Take: This is where God was in Aurora Lucado said there was an eerie irony for the Connecticut tragedy coming just before Christmas, noting the Bible says that Jesus Christ’s birth was followed by an order from King Herod to slay boys under 2 in the Roman city of Bethlehem. “The Christmas story is that Jesus was born into a dark and impoverished world,” Lucado says. “His survival was surrounded by violence. The real Christmas story was pretty rough.” Many religious leaders framed Friday’s shooting as evidence for evil in the world and for human free will in the face of a sovereign God. “The Bible tells us the human heart is ‘wicked’ and ‘who can know it?’” the Rev. Franklin Graham said in a statement about the massacre. “My heart aches for the victims, their families and the entire community.” Many religious leaders also said that such tragedies are a good time for lay people to express doubts about God – or anger. “This is a time to go deep and pray,” says Lucado. “If you have a problem with God, shake a fist or two at him. If he’s God, he’s going to answer. And if he’s in control, he’ll find a way to let you know. soundoff (9,195 Responses)« Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 100 101 102 103 104 105 106 107 108 109 110 111 112 113 114 115 116 Next » |
  About this blog
The CNN Belief Blog covers the faith angles of the day's biggest stories, from breaking news to politics to entertainment, fostering a global conversation about the role of religion and belief in readers' lives. It's edited by CNN's Daniel Burke with contributions from Eric Marrapodi and CNN's worldwide news gathering team.  |
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This is a time to shake off your illusions. There is no god, no one is up there protecting you. You are in control of your own safety. You are in control of your own destiny. People will come together to help each other get through this, not god. If god wasn't there to prevent this, then god won't be there to clean up the mess. They always make up excuses for god whenever something like this happens. Time to help the people who have been hurt and leave old dieties in the past.
And your evidence is.....? The whole Universe is evidence of God. The problem is people aren't willing to learn how to see the overwhelming evidence. When you understand the bigger picture, these acts of random violence, while hideous, have profound lessons for all mankind. When Jesus was asked why a man was born blind, and questioned whether it was punishment for sin, Jesus reply was that the man was born that way for Gods purposes. He then healed the man. What have you learned from this event that will make you a better person?
You have a right to your OPINION.
God is Conspiracy. A big LIE. Not real.
I think that after 2000 years of God not being seen, heard, or photographed, and no confirmed reports of him having helped anybody in any way ever, or having heard or responded to any prayers for help, that some people might consider that he doesn't in fact exist.
Being an agnostic with no religious background, I clearly am not qualified to comment on matters of faith; and do not mean to insult anybody's religion.
I just find it hard to understand how intelligent people in the 21st century could still choose blind faith over reason. I was shocked to hear that the vast majority of Americans still believe in Creationism, hundreds of years after the Age of Enlightenment.
Or 45 Billion years of none of Darwin's missions of missing links – not been seen, hear or anything else.
@Mace – I thought Rubio said 6000 years? He's a good guy...why would he be wrong?
I think you should talk to a couple of Mormon missionaries (Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day saints, who can tell you where and to whom God has appeared to in the past 500 years. They can give you the facts, and the evidence for you to examine for yourself. When you realize that God looks at life from an eternal perspective, the loss of life in this existence, regardless of how death occurs, takes on a different perspective.
Thanks for the reply John, but I'm pretty sure that if I were looking for a religion to join, I wouldn't choose LDS, as they wear magic underwear, believe that Native Americans were descended from Israelites – and will in fact stop being red-skinned and turn a proper white once converted to LDS, and that God buried golden plates inscribed with a final draft of the Book of Mormon on a hill in Manchester, NY, but nobody ever saw them except Joseph Smith, after which they went missing.
I suppose believing in things clearly proven to not be true by science and recent known history is the ultimate leap of faith.
But if we happen to discover planet Kolob one day, and God is living there with his wife and kids, I'm entirely prepared to revise my opinion.
That's pretty good, "a thousand years is but a moment to God." But what is this? Are you demanding a personal appearance? Well anyway I suppose that would be nice. I hope you rate it and wish you the best.
@Mace:
The Universe is not 45 billion years old, it is approximately 13.75 billion years of age.
While our Earth is much younger still at approximately 4.54 billion years of age.
Good God people!! You want God taken out of the classroom, you turn holidays into Hallmark holidays – taking out the religion. You don't go to church, or temple or the mosque – and you ask where's God?!?!
You falsely assume that "God" exists in the first place.
Where is which god?
@ Montrealer – you want proof that there is no god? Look at the Habs' record for the past 20 years or so.
Well, I was kicked out of school. I am totally controlled by human law. They won't let me in. So I sent in a murderer to get even.
And I have a torture camp too, because I am just and loving.
It makes sense to me.
Petty little bully, aren't you?
Interesting how I act like Pablo Escobar.
God is love. God had nothing to do with this. This had to do with a sick jerk, who was a coward and murderer of small little kids.
He's here. Too many people think that God only allows good things. Read the scriptures to see that this world is sinful, and has endured myriads of tragedies since the fall. The question "why do bad things happen to good people?" should not be a question at all because there are no good people in this world. In fact, bad things happen to all people.
If you do not believe in God, then your response should not be of sorrow; your response should actually be "this was a random act by a random man since we are all cosmic accidents."
And if you believe in God, you have an all-powerful being that refused to act (gross negligence), and allows the parents and families to suffer horribly (cruelty), and he runs a torture concentration camp that some of those children are going to (extreme cruelty and injustice).
Your god is a heinous monster, and it's a damn good thing he doesn't exist.
"God" allowed 20 children to be executed close range to teach them a lesson?
Are you mentally ill or just crazy?
Not 'Cosmic Accidents', but rather cause and effect. Whether you believe in the big bang or creationism, people are responsible for their own actions. Some people make awful decisions for a myriad of reasons. You cannot blame science or "God" for the good or bad in the world, people make choices and often times there are severe consequences.
lesliedevereaux,
"If you do not believe in God, then your response should not be of sorrow; your response should actually be "this was a random act by a random man since we are all cosmic accidents."
No... feeling sorrow has nothing to do with a belief in any god.
Yes, there are 'random' accidents, but others are preventable or are able to be guarded against. Our quest is to figure out these things. No-one is out there. No-one is coming. We are on our own. Let's make it the best, safest world that we can.
Well said my friend.
If you are someone wondering where God is...pick up His book the bible. Not one place in that book does He promise everlasting life in this world. One the contrary, this world's god is Satan.
no, this world's god is satin, not satan. have you slept on satin sheets? heavenly.
Where in the Bible does it say that this world is satan's?
Psalm 37:29
What about the Koran? What about picking up the Mayan book of beliefs? What about Hinduism or Greek Mythology? Sounds to me like you're a bit exclusionary.
So, you want us all to worship an pray to Satan? He can't be any worse than the "God" who allows the world to be under his control.
This worlds god is stupidity! Anyone who thinks singing songs with a statue of a dead guy on cross will affect anything.
Is either very dumb or has issues where they need "magic" as a crutch to deal with past trauma.
Listen, if mankind is the product of a cosmic accident, then there is no goal or purpose in life - we're a mere unforseen accident. Then complaining about right or wrong is an illusion and nonsense! Who cares if a bacteria in your intestines wipes out a million other bacteria in your gut? (does CNN write articles about such an "injustice"?) So why complain about a higher evolved prodigy of the bacteria, when man (according to the theory of evolution) wipes out a million other humans. That's how "survival of the fittest and most brutal" works in a godless universe. Then why complain, who cares?!
However if we are not the product of a cosmic accident, but have been created in the image of God for a purpose, then right and wrong, good and evil are not a mere illusion caused by the chemicals in our brain. That's one reason why humans naturally cry "Why?" after such a horrible event. It is natural for humans to ask why, because they sense that life does indeed have a purpose and meaning and not the result of a mere senseless accident.
.
GOD KILLS! GOD KILLS INNOCENT CHILDREN !!!
The Christian god of the Bible KILLS CHILDREN ... unborn and born ... fetuses and children.
.
The Christian God is EVIL and GUILTY OF MASS MURDER himself.
The Christian God NOT pro-life. He advocates child murder, infanticide, child abuse and abortion:
http://www.evilbible.com/god's%20not%20pro-life.htm
.
The Christian God does NOT care about human life, adult or child.
How many has God killed? How many people did God kill in the Bible?
More than 25,000,000 people! ........................ adults and CHILDREN !!!
http://dwindlinginunbelief.blogspot.com/2006/08/how-many-has-god-killed.html.
If you are a christian, ... you WORSHIP an EVIL MASS MURDERER!
_ SHAME SHAME SHAME !!!!!
.
It is better to acknowledge the TRUTH, ... that God is Imaginary ... http://www.GodIsImaginary.com
The other alternative is believe the LIES ... that he exists, ... AND that he is EVIL and WICKED !!!
If humans look inward for the TRUTH rather than to the heavens, we would ALL be better off.
And where exactly did you get your consciousness of right and wrong?
I'm willing to bet you're pro-choice....
Where is God?.... He certainly wasn't in that school. Our Government saw to that when they let one athiest remove prayer from our schools. God will not reside where he is not wanted. This leaves a void that is quickly filled by the adversary.
So God slaughtered kindergarteners to get even. Too bad they weren't church goers, like the killer.
This is some TV evangelist – creating new identies over and over spouting the same garbage over and over....
Job is on the line you know... harder to keep the con going
So one atheist, all by themselves, took a prayer out of a school? No court, no board, no lawyers? Amazing.
If that's what your god is like, you're a fool for worshiping him.
So if a child has to pray silently instead of out loud, your god can't/won't listen to that child?
Have to say, christians worship the most horrid, horrid god I've ever heard of.
My God would never abandon His people no matter how wicked they are.
(unless you have a different set of beliefs, country of origin, skin color, culture)
That is crazy talk. Perhaps you should pause and reflect on your words before you type.
Where is God? Maybe in Iceland. Really, ... Iceland ?
Iceland averages only just two (2) murders per year for the whole country.
2
And the women there are hot, hot, hot!
And has the same population as Tacoma, and is as close to a closed community as you can get in this world..
.
The Christian God is EVIL and GUILTY OF MASS MURDER himself.
The Christian God is NOT pro-life.
The Christian God advocates child murder, infanticide, child abuse and abortion:
The Christian God is EVIL and resides in the EVIL BIBLE: http://www.evilbible.com/god's%20not%20pro-life.htm
.
The Christian God does NOT care about human life, ... adult or child.
How many has God killed? How many people did God kill in the Bible?
More than 25,000,000 people! ........................ adults and CHILDREN !!!
http://dwindlinginunbelief.blogspot.com/2006/08/how-many-has-god-killed.html.
If you are a christian, ... you WORSHIP an EVIL MASS MURDERER!
_ SHAME SHAME SHAME !!!!!
.
It is better to acknowledge the TRUTH, ... that God is Imaginary ... http://www.GodIsImaginary.com
The other alternative is believe the LIES ... that your God exists, ... and that he is EVIL and WICKED !!!
If humans look inward for the TRUTH rather than to the heavens, we would ALL be better off.
you are contradicting yourself. 1st you say GOD is evil. next you say GOD doesnt exist. which is it? try telling GOD he doesnt exist when you are standing right before HIM in judgment!! GOD exists no matter how many people say HE doesnt exist. i can sit in front of a computer and wish it would disappear but guess what every time i open my eyes its still going to be there no matter what i think. same with GOD.
Scotta – atheists never know what they're talking about. They're just angry little Scrooges spewing hate and bigotry. Like the Bible says, they're fools and should be ignored and brushed away like the sand on the bottom of one's sandals.
Mace and Scotta
Posting on the Board
Babblin' about
Some guy named Lord.
Got no proof
For what they say
When it's dark outside
They call it day.
Live in the past
They have no hopes
Mace and Scotta
Just two religi-dopes.
Gosh you are stupid, scotta. He is pointing out the illogic of your god, who would be evil if it actually existed, and you would be a fool to worship evil. There of course is no god of any sort.
Yeah mace Jesus told us to turn our backs on atheists cause they are so bad! They are so dumb and stupid too! I hate atheists so much! Jesus is proud of you for fighting for him!!! Atheists will burn forever and I will laugh and say I told you so stupid athesists!!! lol!! Jesus is lord!
The Realist – Your ignorance is your excuse for not recognizing God. You are so afraid you might discover God that you wil not open your eyes for fear you will discover the truth. Better to remain ignorant and call others weak and mindless rather than seek truth. Your lack of understanding leaves you i a world that is NOT REAL, but only foolish imaginations. People are good by their nature because they are the children of God. Once in a while, some poor soul becomes confused by people such as yourself who deny the power of God within them and destroy the souls of mankind. When that happens, they decide life isn't valued and kill. Maybe people like you who destroy faith are to blame for this incident. Have you considered that?
Elena,
You keep shoving the question about "Is the moon out there even if no one is observing" question and then suddenly start quoting double slit experiment! And when I ask you about Uncertainty Principle, you say what has that got to do with it? You obviously have not a clue!
This question first arose when Heisenberg came up with the Uncertainty Principle:
Around 1925 there were two competing mathematical theories that both attempted to explain electron orbits. Matrix mechanics developed by Heisenberg interprets the electron as a particle with quantum behaviour. It is based on sophisticated matrix computations, which introduce discontinuities and quantum jumps. In contrast, wave mechanics developed by Erwin Schrödinger interprets the electron as an energy wave. Because wave mechanics entails more familiar concepts and equations, it quickly gained popularity among scientists.
Schrödinger and Heisenberg were no too fond of each other's competing works. Schrödinger says about matrix mechanics: "I knew of [Heisenberg's] theory, of course, but I felt discouraged, not to say repelled, by the methods of transcendental algebra, which appeared difficult to me, and by the lack of visualisability." Heisenberg's comment on wave mechanics was: "The more I think about the physical portion of Schrödinger's theory, the more repulsive I find it. [...] What Schrödinger writes about the visualisability of his theory 'is probably not quite right,' in other words it's crap."
The observer becomes part of the observed system.
The notion of the observer becoming a part of the observed system is fundamentally new in physics. In quantum physics, the observer is no longer external and neutral, but through the act of measurement he becomes himself a part of observed reality. This marks the end of the neutrality of the experimenter. It also has huge implications on the epistemology of science: certain facts are no longer objectifiable in quantum theory. If in an exact science, such as physics, the outcome of an experiment depends on the view of the observer, then what does this imply for other fields of human knowledge? It would seem that in any faculty of science, there are different interpretations of the same phenomena. More often than occasionally, these interpretations are in conflict with each other. Does this mean that ultimate truth is unknowable?
The results of quantum theory, and particularly of Heisenberg's work, left scientists puzzled. Many felt that quantum theory had somehow "missed the point". At least Albert Einstein did so. He was an outspoken critic of quantum mechanics and is often quoted on his comment regarding the Uncertainty Principle: "The Old One (God) doesn't play dice." He also said: "I like to believe that the moon is still there even if we don't look at it." In particular, Einstein was convinced that electrons do have definite orbits, even if we cannot observe them.
Is the moon still there when nobody is looking at it?
The two philosophies seem incompatible at first. Heisenberg is in good company with famous contenders of idealistic positions, such Plato, Schopenhauer, and Husserl, but so is Albert Einstein. If we take Heisenberg's view for granted, strict causality is broken, or better: the past and future events of particles are indeterminate. One cannot calculate the precise future motion of a particle, but only a range of possibilities. Physics loses its grip. The dream of physicists, to be able to predict any future event in the universe based on its present state, meets its certain death.
If we regard reality as that which can be observed by all, we have to find that there is no objective movement of an electron around the nucleus. This viewpoint would imply that reality is created by the observer; in other words: if we take Heisenberg literally, the moon is not there when nobody is looking at it. However, we must consider the possibility that there is a subatomic reality independent of observation and that the electron may have an actual trajectory which cannot be measured. The moon may be there after all. This conflict is the philosophical essence of the Uncertainty Principle.
Just as light is thought to have a dual nature, sometimes showing the characteristic of a wave, and sometimes that of a particle (photon), quantum theory attributes a similar dual wave-particle nature to subatomic particles. Electrons that orbit around the nucleus interact with each other by showing interference patterns, not unlike those of wave interference. If the velocity of the electron is thought of as its wavelength, the crests of neighbouring electron waves amplify or cancel each other, thereby creating a pattern that corresponds to Bohr's allowed orbits.
ahhh! you copy and paste, that is called pleasureism! is not product of your own thinking
elena, I'm unfamiliar with the term pleasureism.
Ah,and you don't even though the information is provided to thee!!!
Now, what do you have to say about the moon and observer – in your original words?
Ah,and you don't even read though the information is provided to thee!!!
Now, what do you have to say about the moon and observer – in your original words?
By the way, was the moon and observer question a product of your own thinking??? Oh, then you must be Heisenberg?
Elena it is called plagiarism and plagiarism is not an issue, since he was telling you the information and facts. You are obviously ignoring it because it doesn't fit your extreme ideological views.
@ I am God,
I am a she, not he. Just correcting.
Not all women are as dumb headed as this troll Elena!
No offence, carry on....
"pleasurism"
That is just too freaking hilarious!
Oh you are just too Schmart for us, Elena!
Ok i am going to explain you.
Scientist always thought of mater as being made of tiny little balls called particles. One day some scientist, decided to run an experiment, they called it the double slit experiment. In this experiment scientist shut photons to a dark area or box where there were two slits facing the photon shutter, inside the box there was some sort of scream recording where did the photon end up. So scientist shut a number of photon and then they open the box to analyzed where the photons where hitting. And guess what, the scientist were shock for what they found, there was a interference pattern on the screen. hey the scientist said to themselves, how is this possible, photons are tiny little balls of matter, how could that have formed a interference pattern? something only waves can do?
So scientist shut photons which are supposed to be tiny bit of matter and they found on the screen a interference pattern, only waves could produce that result . So they thought then photon that is matter must be a ave, could that be possible? then they decided to install a measuring device, something similar to a camera to see though which slit the photons where going through, and what scientist could not believe their eyes when they decided to see the result, the photons formed only two bands of light on the screen, so something only ball of mater can do. So when the scientist did not observe the photons behaved like waves but when they observed the photons behaved like tiny ball of ball of matter or particles.
based on the result then Einstein said his famous phrase, that he prefer to think the moon is there even if he doesn't look at it!
If you dont understand then rent the movie "what the bleep do you know" it may help you!
I apologize ME. I'll remember that from now on.
and i forgot to tell you, the uncertainty principle, is about speed and location, one can only know one or the other. If you shut an arrow for example you an only know either the speed the arrow is traveling through space or its location because the moment you stopped the arrow to know its position you will loose the information on its speed? does that sounds logical?
Elena,
I already know what the double slit experiment was, don't need to see a movie. And still, it has nothing to do with your moon and observer argument. The experiment was on electrons (and their dual nature, which is already being debated, as shown above).
Now, if you were anyone even remotely associated with quatum physics, you would understand that whenever you use God to explain what is not yet known, you are just using God of the Gaps argument. Maybe, you could also bring up dark energy and still it doesnot explain God. Oh, do you know when electrons make a jump from one orbit to next, they actually just appear in the next orbit, no one sees them jumping (like travelling) – one moment they are in one orbit, the next in another. But that just reflects that we yet do not understand everything, and probably never will.
@ Elena,
That speed and location you speak of is actually MOMENTUM and POSITION, and no, they are not the same thing.
The principle was given in relation to electron orbits.
MEI, DIDNT YOU HEAR IN THE VIDEO, THE OBSERVER COLLAPSES THE WAVE FUNCTION. WE DO WE SEE! HAVE EVER WONDER THAT! LIGHT TRAVELS THOUGH SPACE AS A WAVE, WHEN ITS HIT THE RETINA OF THE EYE IT COLLAPSES INTO ELECTROMAGNETIC IMPULSES THAT TRAVEL THROUGH THE OPTIC NERVE TO THE PARTICLES IN THE BRAIN WITCH IN TURN IT TRANSLATE THE INFORMATION CARRIED IN THE IMPULSES INTO IMAGES AND SOUNDS AND BLA BLA.
THAT MEAN THAT LIGHT FROM THE SUN BOUNCE OFF THE SURFACE OF THE MOON, THAT IS THE PARTICLES THAT FORM THE MOON OR WHAT WE SEE AS THE MOON AND TRAVEL THOUGH SPACE TILL THEY REACH SOMETHING THAT CAN TRANSLATE THAT INFORMATION CARRIED IN THE WAVE AS AN IMAGE . IF THERE WERE NO LIVING BEING CAPABLE OF ABSORBING LIGHT WAVES THOUGH A OPTIC NERVE AND TRANSFORM IT IN TO IMAGES, THE LIGHT BOUNCED OFF FROM THE MOON WILL KEEP ON TRAVELING THROUGH SPACE AS WAVE ONLY AND WILL NEVER COLLAPSE INTO THE IMAGE OF A GIANT BALL!!!
I MEAN IS THERE IN THIS FORUM SOMEBODY AS INTELLIGENT AS I AM?
Light hits the retina, and then there is a photochemical reaction in cells called rods and cones, and then generation of downstream cell signaling, which triggers the impulses to travel through my optic nerve to the optic area of my brain, which in turn sends signals to multiple other areas of brain, including hypothalamus to entrain a sleep wake cycle and the endocrine system to assist (I can write this while asleep, been a gold medalist in med-school)...
But how I wish I were as intelligent as you!
And seriously, take a science class for crying out loud. These dumb videos won't do you good. Light doesnot just become electromagnetic impulses. These photoconversion reactions happen all around – ever heard of photosynthesis by plants, ever heard of vitamin D synthesis in our skin – all of these are photochemcial reactions!
Only for the new members of this blog:
->>>>>
Putting the kibosh/”google” on all religion in less than ten seconds: Priceless !!!
• As far as one knows or can tell, there was no Abraham i.e. the foundations of Judaism, Christianity and Islam are non-existent.
• As far as one knows or can tell, there was no Moses i.e the pillars of Judaism, Christianity and Islam have no strength of purpose.
• There was no Gabriel i.e. Islam fails as a religion. Christianity partially fails.
• There was no Easter i.e. Christianity completely fails as a religion.
• There was no Moroni i.e. Mormonism is nothing more than a business cult.
• Sacred/revered cows, monkey gods, castes, reincarnations and therefore Hinduism fails as a religion.
• Fat Buddhas here, skinny Buddhas there, reincarnated/reborn Buddhas everywhere makes for a no on Buddhism.
Added details available upon written request.
A quick search will put the kibosh on any other groups calling themselves a religion.
e.g. Taoism
"The origins of Taoism are unclear. Traditionally, Lao-tzu who lived in the sixth century is regarded as its founder. Its early philosophic foundations and its later beliefs and rituals are two completely different ways of life. Today (1982) Taoism claims 31,286,000 followers.
Legend says that Lao-tzu was immaculately conceived by a shooting star; carried in his mother's womb for eighty-two years; and born a full grown wise old man. "
For those that have been on the blog before...well, it's still boring and old. Come up with some new stuff!
As requested:
origin: http://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F20E1EFE35540C7A8CDDAA0894DA404482 NY Times review and important enough to reiterate.
New Torah For Modern Minds
“Abraham, the Jewish patriarch, probably never existed. Nor did Moses. (prob•a•bly
Adverb: Almost certainly; as far as one knows or can tell).
The entire Exodus story as recounted in the Bible probably never occurred. The same is true of the tumbling of the walls of Jericho. And David, far from being the fearless king who built Jerusalem into a mighty capital, was more likely a provincial leader whose reputation was later magnified to provide a rallying point for a fledgling nation.
Such startling propositions – the product of findings by archaeologists digging in Israel and its environs over the last 25 years – have gained wide acceptance among non-Orthodox rabbis. But there has been no attempt to disseminate these ideas or to discuss them with the laity – until now.
The United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism, which represents the 1.5 million Conservative Jews in the United States, has just issued a new Torah and commentary, the first for Conservatives in more than 60 years. Called "Etz Hayim" ("Tree of Life" in Hebrew), it offers an interpretation that incorporates the latest findings from archaeology, philology, anthropology and the study of ancient cultures. To the editors who worked on the book, it represents one of the boldest efforts ever to introduce into the religious mainstream a view of the Bible as a human rather than divine doc-ument.
The notion that the Bible is not literally true "is more or less settled and understood among most Conservative rabbis," observed David Wolpe, a rabbi at Sinai Temple in Los Angeles and a contributor to "Etz Hayim." But some congregants, he said, "may not like the stark airing of it." Last Passover, in a sermon to 2,200 congregants at his synagogue, Rabbi Wolpe frankly said that "virtually every modern archaeologist" agrees "that the way the Bible describes the Exodus is not the way that it happened, if it happened at all." The rabbi offered what he called a "LITANY OF DISILLUSION”' about the narrative, including contradictions, improbabilities, chronological lapses and the absence of corroborating evidence. In fact, he said, archaeologists digging in the Sinai have "found no trace of the tribes of Israel – not one shard of pottery."
I approve of this post.
It's 2012, if you still believe in mythology like the Bible, you need to have your head examined. This isn't the middle ages where we needed religion to explain everything. Literally amazes me that people actually still believe in this stuff. At least religion is on the decline.
To paraphrase Shakespear "The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our God,
But in ourselves, that we are underlings."
What?!?!
where's God? now you ask that question? God's been here the whole time, America is the one who has turned their back on Him, took Him out of Schools, out of Country. Don't blame or ask where is God. God give you free will to choose and live, but when you allow Him to dissolve from your and the Country's life, then His counter part takes more control. Some call the counter part the "Devil" and some call it pure "Evil" I call it spiritual evil demons, as our inner souls are vulnerable spirits.. I believe in angles and I believe in demons, and there is a constant spiritual "war" going on we can't visually see, BUT the results of lost "battles" between the twol are visible in results of horrific scenes like this shooting. The power of good prevails when more people embrace God's guidance, trust and Faith (not religon) big difference. He give you free will to choose, and the outcomes in life are based on our choices. This choice goes into our own personal lives behind close doors, not necessarily as a whole population. So, I believe evil, devil, demons prevailed again in a lost soul. Again, it has nothing to do with religion or denomination, but good and evil and how we start accepting it back in our lives and teaching it. My utmost prayers are with every single family in this horrific situation. Prayers to God for his compassion and grace to help heel in yet another lost battle of spiritual goodness in humanity..
What about countries where, percentage-wise, less people believe in God as opposed to the USA? These countries don't have mass-shooting problems.
Which god are you talking about? Ganesh? Ra? Odin?
There must have been a God election up there, maybe Odin is back in power.
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The Christian God is EVIL and GUILTY OF MASS MURDER himself.
The Christian God NOT pro-life. He advocates child murder, infanticide, child abuse and abortion:
http://www.evilbible.com/god's%20not%20pro-life.htm
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The Christian God does NOT care about human life, adult or child.
How many has God killed? How many people did God kill in the Bible?
More than 25,000,000 people! ........................ adults and CHILDREN !!!
http://dwindlinginunbelief.blogspot.com/2006/08/how-many-has-god-killed.html.
If you are a christian, ... you WORSHIP an EVIL MASS MURDERER!
_ SHAME SHAME SHAME !!!!!
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It is better to acknowledge the TRUTH, ... that God is Imaginary ... http://www.GodIsImaginary.com
The other alternative is believe the LIES ... that he exists, ... AND that he is EVIL and WICKED !!!
If humans look inward for the TRUTH rather than to the heavens, we would ALL be better off.
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It's a shame how so off course and absolutely uneducated and unguided your soul is by your statement. This same statement is the type of pure lie, hollow and cold untruth that leaves a vulnerable lost soul with no understanding of what true Faith means to abrupt into a evil action.. I'm not talking about Religion, big difference, but faith. If another lost and unstable soul looking for truth as you say, and looking for a divine happiness that could heavily alter his life and happiness and alter carrying out such a cold, violent act like this shooting, then your words just ignited him to carry it out. The SHAME falls on people like you that made this statement where other lost souls would see life itself as a cold grave and not a warm life and that their is no inner value of life and the spirit it contains... Statements like yours with absolutely no inner experience with the Holy Spirit and the 'personal' relationship that is shared is what upsets Christians and gives other lost souls not outlook or compassion for life and diverts them to seek a inner, personal and spiritual relationship that gives hope, truth, compassion and greatness in a individuals life. Yet you speak only from out source books, media, internet and unlogical, nonfactual truth, which does not and can not give or explain what true interaction with Christ and the Holy Spirit is in a individuals soul is like. So when someone sees no hope, no compassion for life including his own, your statement just fueled the fire that causes evil to win.. shame on you. When you life comes to an end, which it will, look inwards toward the earth. I'll be watching you in Heaven where life just begins, for eternity.
“Every single person who is watching the news today is asking ‘Where is God when this happens?’
Actually, a lot of people stopped asking this question a long time ago because the answer was so obvious.
Merry Christmas from the NRA and Walmart Gun & Ammo. Depts. everywhere.