Guys, I am having a prolonged debated with one of my teachers at school about evolution. She is a Christian and uses "faith" whereas I use facts to base my beliefs. I have argued that many things in the Bible are dead wrong and can't possibly be true, yet she says I am wrong because carbon dating could be innaccurate. Her and I have debates on religon all the time. I tell her all the time the only difference in her and I is that I don't believe fairy tells, I believe facts. I do believe there is a god. I don't discriminate against religons. I also believe there should be seperation of church and state, but not radical things such as what is going on nowdays.

You know where I stand, so help me out and post a message to my teacher!

I look foward to hearing you views on evolution vs. creationism and relgion!

Chris

When I was in 8th grade, one of my classmates asked our Science teacher what she believes about creationism/evolution, being that in addition to being a science teacher, she's also Catholic. She said she believes that God created living beings through evolution. And I agree with her.

Chris, here's were I sit with it Our Heavenly Father made everything out of the materials of the Universe..so he created EVERYTHING...Dinosaurs to present day animals including "humans"...but you see he had a DIRECT hand in creating "man"...that is why Adam & Eve are sooooo much different from say Australopithicus or a chimpanzee..you see NO other creature we KNOW can THINK & REASON as well as we can! I have FAITH to Chris! Faith is what tells me I AM doing RIGHT by supporting AL GORE! Faith can INDEED move mountains Chris..just like the Force..kinda I guess...you see there are extraterrestrials...and then there are extra-planar beings...Our God sits on another plane and draws us there when we are finished in THIS Universe..and then he judges us by our works! That is why I say BU$H will have his DAY before God...and when the Heavenly Father sees exactly how MUCH blood is on his hands then I have NO doubt he WILL be punished for it!...some look at it as "bad karma"...I call it falling from "grace with God"... :o

But I believe in a LIVING GOD! My LORD helps me EVERY DAY because HE IS ALIVE!...You see NeoCons loooooove Mel Gibson's "The Passion"...because THEY believe in a DEAD GOD!...It makes it easier to justify "killing" I guess...I respect ALL life because I will not stand before the throne of My Lord and say "well I did it because BU$H told me to"....that and a lump of Hot Coal will follow you down in a "bucket" until you meet Satan himself! He will be LAUGHING when he shackles you to the thing you hate most..HIM!...REMEMBER OUR LORD BELIEVES IN PEACE! And he wants you to as well! :Y:

Do I believe in evolution! Hmmm? Do I believe in Magic(aka. The Lovin Spoonful)? The answer to BOTH are YES!!! :tongue:

For me? It's a no-brainer! Those who don't believe in evolution are "placing" their heads in sand!
Believing in EVOLUTION does NOT MEAN that you don't believe in a GOD or A HIGHER POWER! :) God is my good buddy and BEST friend! I PRAY EVERYDAY for the strength to put-up with the BUSH ADMINISTRATION!!! :lol: And by gosh........it seems to be working! :clap:

Now let me see..................so where did the Pyramids come from? Duh? :?:

NOTE: Life is good and great! We are LIVING for such a short time and we should ENJOY every second of it :clap: Who CARES where we came from! It's MORE IMPORTANT to be productive, do the right thing and enjoy the time that we are here!!! :D And at 50 years of age (a half century) I INTEND on having another 50 or 100 or more years of FUN, KNOWLEDGE AND A GOOD TIME OF IT! :Y:

Trust me Chris!
There are more IMPORTANT things to think and wonder about :angry:
Check this out?
Good Job BUSH!!!(Georgey boy)........just pissed off some more people :dripple:


This BUD'S for you.....Chris

Have a WONDERFULL weekend.............Andrew Paul

I was taught evolution by a Catholic nun in grade school and a Jesuit priest in college. I once asked the priest why the Catholic church recognizes evolution when so many other Christians don't. He said because the church has more faith in scientists writing today than in old Jewish men writing in the 10th century BC. Also, the catholic church doesn't take the Old Testament verbatim. It is seen as parables mainly with a few facts sprinkled in here and there. What's in the old testament is only prologue and we are not bound by it. We do not follow the 10 commandments but Christ's commandments.

Well, I'm obviously out of my element here, being the only atheist on this board. I don't believe in God. I totally believe in evolution. I believe in the science that tells us how life evolved to its current state and that we and all other living creatures will continue to evolve in whatever way natural selection dictates. Humans as we appear today are not the end of the evolutionary scale, unless we manage to pollute the earth so badly or blow ourselves up so that life as we know it comes to an end, or unless there's some other natural disaster such as a giant meteor strike like the one that extinguished the dinosaurs.

What they used to call creationism, they now call intelligent design. This is supposed to give an air of science to the whole idea. It's baloney, though, IMO, and it shouldn't be taught in the classrooms of America. You cannot dispute the fossil record. We know that scientists haven't put the whole puzzle together yet, and things change as more evidence is discovered and examined, but I believe the whole idea of evolution is correct. I remember when I was studying to be a teacher in graduate school and the science teacher told us about fossilized seashells that were discovered on top of mountains somewhere (I forget where now) and asked us how we thought they had gotten there. One student suggested that the wind blew them up there. :rolleyes: Another one said that God must have put them there. I said most likely the area where the mountains now were had once been part of a seabed. The religious ones in the class couldn't accept that answer. Yet this is what the fossil record tells us. There's evidence of this sort of thing all over the world.

If people want to believe that a god created the spark of life and somehow designed evolution to happen the way it has, fine. But my rational mind can't figure out why he or she would've bothered to go through all the trouble of doing that. Why not just create us as we are in our current form then? Why create dinosaurs and then extinguish them through some huge catastrophe like a giant meteor striking the earth? Why cause all that death and suffering to those creatures and all the other ones that became extinct in that collision? And why have man begin his journey to where he is now as an ape? What's the point of that? It doesn't make sense to me. That's why I believe that science, not religion, holds the answer to the questions of how we got to be where we are now. Natural selection and evolution. Period.

Heck darn Earthmother :rolleyes: Never took ya for one of dem darn "atheist's" :)

That's very interesting. It must get lonely? Just wondered.

NOTE: "Their ain't no gravity..........the earth sucks"? This comes to mind!
I RESPECT your belief and accept it............isn't that special? :D


Peace and love to ya...............Andrew Paul

It doesn't get lonely at all, FreeBird. The love of friends and family, as well as faith in myself and in Nature, sustain me just fine.

People often think that atheists must be unethical because they don't believe in God and therefore can do anything because they don't fear punishment. I actually find that my atheist friends and I are in some ways more ethical because we believe that, if we do something wrong, WE have to pay the price with our guilty consciences, not with fear of God's wrath or fear of being caught by the law.

A good atheist friend of mine used to work on an assembly line in a plant where they made telephones (this was about 30 years ago). When the guy next to him found out he was an atheist, he asked the supervisor if he could moved to another part of the assembly line. Why? Because he said since my friend was an atheist, how did he know he wouldn't rob or kill him? We run into that mentality everywhere. Fear of God or belief in the Ten Commandments isn't what makes people ethical. That's superficial. A person has to know deep down inside what's right and what's wrong. Is it wrong to kill someone only because God says so or because you might get caught by the law and go to prison? No. It's wrong because you don't have the right to take another person's life. Or property. Or wife. Etc. It's wrong because you wouldn't want the same thing done to you (as in do unto others as you would do unto yourself).

The problem with most criminals is that they're psychopaths or sociopaths. If a burglar breaks into your house and steals all your stuff and rapes your wife, you could turn that around and ask the burglar if he'd like the same thing done to him and his family. A normal person would say no, of course not, and would therefore see that it's wrong to do this to someone else. But a psycho- or sociopath can't see that. They have no sense of ethics whatsoever, and being religious or not won't teach them to be able to see things from the point of view of the victim in a crime.

What it comes down to is that people shouldn't do or not do something because God or the Bible says it's right or wrong. They should do it because they have a deep personal understanding of right and wrong, based on being able to take another person's point of view. Take something as simple as cutting into a line of traffic in your car. There isn't a Commandment that addresses this issue, so many religious people will cut in line because they can get away with it. They don't see it as a matter of right and wrong. Hey, if I can get away with it, I'm going to do it. My husband and I fume about this all the time. We don't cut in line in our car, whether we can get away with it or not, because we know we wouldn't want someone else to do it to us. That's where religion falls short. If a person only knows right from wrong based on what the Bible teaches, he won't necessarily generalize that to all things in life. It is wrong to cut in front of someone in line, and a truly ethical person knows that. Ethics are grounded deep inside a person, not in an external thing like God or the Bible. I'm not saying religious people aren't ethical. Obviously many are. But religion doesn't automatically make you that way.

Evolution seems a logical, scientific theory. How it all came into motion in the first place is the mystery. Why was our planet so lucky to be so beautiful and have such life? We have searched space and can find no others like ours.
What form God takes is unique to each individual or culture. There are many things on this earth and beyond that cannot be explained in logical terms.

I think Darwin was the first to propose it. Hell, I bet he would face more crap nowadays for putting forth such an idea as he did back then.

Which is why no one in this world can claim to know or worship the one God or the one truth. No one. Those in the Bible Belt would do well to understand this. If you were born in the Middle East, you worship Allah. If you were born in India, you worship Buddha. If you were born a Jew, you worship Yahweh. This is but one argument for why it's wrong to put the Ten Commandments in courthouses and to have prayer in schools. In this country, we are people of many different faiths who worship many different gods. Why is it right to force one person's religion down another person's throat?

To say nothing of the separation of Church and State, but that's another issue altogether . . .

Ok, Earthmother. :good: I thought I'd repeat your response because I enjoyed reading it. :)

I believe that a "persons belief" is very personal and based on his/hers upbringing or life experience. Mine began at a very early age when I was 4 or 5 I think???

I was "blessed" with an illness at that age and the ONLY THING that would calm me down and take away the SHAKES was my mother laying down with me and together asking GOD for help to take away the pain and confusion I faced.

It always worked :) Now, it brings a tear to my eye.......God bless my mother.

Since then? I have always remained loyal to the thought that in my deepest and darkest hours I know that I have someone greater than me to rely on if I need help.


To each his/her own.....................Andrew Paul

EM, that is the exact point Bill Maher makes. He also says why should we believe fairy tells such as Jonah and the Whale, Noah, ect. and not believe the Tooth Fairy, Jack and the Beanstalk and others. It is the truth and it is silly when you sit back and look at it.

I love this website: http://www.churchofreality.org/

As many of you know, Al and Tipper are very spiritual. However, I believe they are now like us in that they have been ran out of organized religon due to the right wing take over. In an interview back in Sept. they said they were now ecumenical.

I think you can be highly spiritual without believing in God. I consider myself to be that way. I acknowledge that there are things that we don't necessarily understand or control, but I don't believe there's a "higher being" doing the controlling. For example, if a person gets in a car accident, I say that the person was in the wrong place at the wrong time. A religious person would say God somehow set that up to be that way, for reasons we don't understand, but they'll say God works in mysterious ways, a belief I can't personally accept. I'm glad, FreeBird, that your mother and you conquered whatever your illness was through prayer. I believe strongly in the power of hope and determination, and I would rather say that you were healed through that than through some divine intervention. For one thing, how do you then explain all the people for whom that approach doesn't work?

My 96-year-old neighbor, who's deeply religious, came over here one day after I was diagnosed with breast cancer last October. He, of course, was praying for me and had me put on the church prayer chain, etc., all of which I appreciated, just as an expression of people's desire to help me and get me through this. But he said to me, Karen, we're gonna pray for you, and God's gonna get you through this. What I wanted to say to him, but didn't, out of respect for his beliefs, was: Why did God give me breast cancer in the first place then? Just to give me a good scare? Because I'm not a believer? Yes, I know, this is where people who believe say that God works in myserious ways. Well, if anyone can offer an answer as to why he'd put me through such hell as this and possibly shorten my life when I've done absolutely nothing wrong and lived a life of helping others and being kind and honest, etc., I'd like to know what the answer is. Why does God allow all the soldiers to be killed in Iraq? Why did God allow my husband's brother to commit suicide when he was 18 (and they were a good, God-fearing, Bible-reading family)? Why did God send tsunamis crashing ashore (or allow them to come crashing ashore with no warning) a couple of months ago to kill hundreds of thousands of innocent people? And why doesn't God punish those who do truly horrible things, those who steal and maim and kill and rape (and steal elections and start wars for no reason)? Why? That's when believers say God works in mysterious ways we'll never understand. That's a convenient explanation, but there's no way I can accept it. A God who is good and loving and just wouldn't allow the kinds of things to go on that do in this world. 9/11? How could God allow all those innocent people to be killed in such a horrific way, in the name of Allah, no less?

I don't knock people for believing and practicing their religions. That's their right, and if it gives them comfort and hope and direction, that's fine. All I ask is for them to respect my right to not believe without questioning my ethics or my spirituality. I know you people on this board aren't doing that, it's just something I get kind of defensive about after a lifetime of justifyiing my beliefs to people who think I must be unethical or not spiritual because I'm not religious.

Peace. Out.

Wow-za Earthmother.........dammit! :D I was just getting ready to go to WALMART for some supplies!!! :rolleyes:

Geez..........so many questions!!!

I am GOING TO RESPOND with my answer when I return from shopping!


Lot's of LOVE to you and yours............Andrew Paul

I'm trying to get off the board, too, Andrew. I'm hungry!

Gonna go eat my lunch. Later, dude! ;)

LOL! Andrew! This is a very interesting and hot topic. I am glad we can discuss things in a manner such as this.

Also, EM I am with you on why do bad things happen to go folks. The past 5 years have been hell for me and my family:

Oct. 99: My best friend, my uncle, was gunned down and killed
Dec. 99: My grandmother, my uncle's mom, has a stroke and heartattack that disables her for the rest of her life (she now lives with us)
2000-01: My mother is diagnosed with Multiple Scerlosis
2002-03: My sister is also diagnosed wtih MS
2004: My grandfather nearly dies after spending 4 months in the hospital
2005: My great uncle has a brain clot go to the brain and has a stroke, he is currently recovering

(I also have had 2 dogs to pass since 99)

As you can see, when it rain it pours. Put I use it all as a reason to keep going. When you have inspiration and good people behind you, it helps!

I wanted to stay out of this because religion has shown me absolutey NOTHING GOOD. These bible-thumping hypocrites that rig and steal elections, start unjust wars, trample on our rights, oppress people, boil my blood. These are NOT good people they are pure evil and yet they always get their way and the 'blessings' of 'GOD' while good people suffer an get dumped on by these hypocrites.

If this so-called 'GOD' loves anyone, it is the PURE EVIL, yes I'm referring to Bush and his evil cronies. Look how they prosper and get away with ruining lives and killing, stealing, greed, racism, the list of their evil deeds is endless, so yes I would like to know, WHAT GOD??? :angry:

The STOLEN 2000 election has forever turned me against religion and 'GOD' if there is one. What 'GOD' let happen to AL GORE is unforgivable and I will never accept it. :angry:

My husband was raised a Jehovah's Witness and his answer about why horrible things happen to good people and why evil was allowed on Earth always was that when Adam and Eve were thrown out of The Garden of Eden, mankind was basically on their own to survive as best they could.

Oh Chris..

I know your parents are very proud of you.

Hope your family has only good health from now on. You must be a wonderful source of joy for them.

Chris, first let me say how sorry I am for all the heartache your family has experienced in these last years. It is hard to keep going in the face of all that, but that's what separates the victims from the survivors. I am certain you are a survivor.

I think most of us could write a long list of terrible things that have happened to us over the years. I know I certainly could. Truly tragic things. But we go on, and I'm a big fan of the saying, "That which doesn't kill us makes us stronger."

Whether a person turns to God for help in times of crisis or relies on his/her own inner strength is a matter of deep personal choice. I would never tell someone how to deal with tragedy. Whatever works. My truck with religion comes in when a religious person insists that a non-religious person can't be moral or spiritual. As soon as someone insists that they possess the one "answer" or "truth" in this world, I run for the hills. We are all different. We all follow our own compass, and hopefully the direction it leads us in is guided by principles of what's right and good and decent in this world. If those principles are revealed to a person by his religion, so be it. But if those principles are revealed as a matter of a personal quest for truth and right that doesn't include God, that's fine, too.

So ErinB? Do you believe that? Just wondered?

Have a nice day :) ...................Andrew Paul

I'm not a Jehovah's Witness by any stretch of the imagination. However, some of their beliefs are out of the mainstream Christian Bible Belt dogma. They don't believe in hell fire for one thing. (or heaven in the usual way)

I believe we are on our own in some ways. I don't think God controls the good and bad things that happen to us. We are victims (or victors) of circumstances and fate but to an extent, we can make our own lives better by trying our best or in doing the right thing. Although tragedies befall us, usually for no rhyme or reason.

We can believe in ourselves and in the love of our family and mankind to make our lot better.

Good answer ErinB :D And, like in the movie "Back to School"...........I'm gonna keep my eye on you! :lol: :lol: :lol:

Honestly though? Isn't it crazy how AMERICA is becoming so ONE-SIDED when it comes to RELIGION?

Your either "With em or against em"!!!

Have a great Saturday Evening :) .............Andrew Paul

Allright, Earthmother :) Many questions and SO FEW ANSWERS it seems :o

As far as MY childhood illness? That was back in the STONE AGE (1958-1959) :dripple: I am told I had a form of "Childhood Hodgkins-Disease" which affected my lymph glands like crazy :o I remember being in a lot of pain and had to be in BED a whole lot because of that! I remember taking BIGGGG PILLS out the waa-zoo and being sick! Other than that I don't remember much except for the times when I would start shaking and loose it! That's when my MOM would take me into the bedroom and lay with me and pray(and cry) until it was over! :( I didn't find out but a few years ago (1990) when my FATHER passed on, that there was a grave site made ready for me because NO ONE EXPECTED me to be around!

I am NOW 50 YEARS OLD and lovin it and better than ever!!! :clap: Imagine that!!!!


So, did GOD help me? I would like to think so! Is GOD watching? I hope so!!!!


Peace and Love on this Saturday Nite......Andrew Paul

Your early-childhood illness sounds like it must've been really scary for you. I'm sure your mother did everything she possibly could to keep you on this earth, and obviously it worked.

I had my own very early brush with death. When I was just two weeks old, I contracted double pneumonia. I couldn't breathe at all, and I was considered as good as gone. As a last resort, the doctor gave me streptomycin, a new (at the time) antibiotic. They didn't know what the side effects of it might be in a two-week old baby, but it was either that or I'd die. Well, obviously I didn't die, although they now know that streptomycin shouldn't be given to pregnant women or very young babies because it causes nerve damage in the ears. And yup, I have been "aurally-challenged" ever since. But at least I'm here!

God bless ya.......Earthmother! Hope ya don't mind :)

I'm still reading thru some of the past posts.........so don't be suprised if I don't ask more questions or give more advice! :)


Happy Saturday.....................Andrew Paul

OMG'S sweetheart! Dear Earthmother, no one questions anything! And, If they do .......I'll "wack em"!!! :D Not really!

How are you doing now? Just wondered.

One thing about GOD you have to know?

He/she ain't the UPS/FED-EX/STAPLES or any other MAIL-SERVICE!

GOD IS NEVER TOO BUSY............HE'S ALWAYS THERE 24/7 :clap: And, IT DOESN'T COST A DIME!!! :D

I know it doesn't seem that way sometimes but trust me.......he/she is there :)

I have found out that it does take about 22hours for it to work! But, it does! Sometimes it's quicker! TRUST ME! This ain't no BULLSHIT!

Problem is................You gotta believe to make it work! :(

This is very important with anything spiritual............be it Christianity, Islam, Wicca, Buddism, Jewish............ETC!

I can help ya believe..........if ya want!

Or maybe you can do it on your own! :good:

The BALLS in your court........it's up to you! :)


Have a great Saturday Nite...............Andrew Paul

Thanks for the offer, Andrew, but I've been an atheist for almost 53 years, and I'm not looking to change. I'm very happy as an atheist. I've worked all my life to lead a good life full of kindness and love for humankind, and animalkind as well. I find enrichment in my own beliefs, and spirituality in the beauty of nature. I enjoy knowing that I control my destiny. And I answer only to myself. Now don't get me wrong--I'm really hard on myself, at least as hard as any god would ever be. I cut myself less slack than most of my God-fearing friends.

As an anecdote here, if you can stand another one of my long posts . . . I have a good friend who's a believer. She's a fatalist, though. In other words, she believes that she has no control over her own destiny. God controls it, and she is just a bit player on a large stage controlled by a higher being. We've had many debates about this over the years because it runs so contrary to what I believe, but that's another story. Anyway, this friend of mine had an affair while she was married. I understood the whole thing, knew what the problems were in her marriage, etc. But I also knew that she'd end up paying a heavy price for what she was doing. To make a long story short . . . one day she said, "I know I'm going to go to hell for this." My answer was that we make our own hell here on earth when we do things that are wrong. She didn't know what I meant. Well, her husband moved out and married another woman after a truly nasty, and I mean nasty, divorce. The affair ended with the other guy, who went back to his wife. My friend's two children were horribly affected by the whole thing, to the point where they both need counseling and the older one won't live with her mother (my friend) now because she's so angry with her. And my friend has spent the last two years paying through the nose in attorney's bills, struggling to stay afloat with the small settlement she received, being unable to sleep, losing about 40 lbs. (that she couldn't afford to lose), being utterly miserable. And I do mean miserable. And one day she said to me, "I understand now what you meant about making your own hell here on earth."

My point? I believe that we reap the goodness of our good deeds and pay the price for our bad deeds right here on this earth, in this life. We have the power to make our lives what they are, for better or worse. Yeah, sometimes shit happens, like me with my cancer, or accidents that you have no control over. And we console ourselves as best we can, take the love and support of our friends and family, and we go on. No one is going to show me God, Andrew, although I appreciate your well-meaning in offering to do that. I am my own person. I have made myself who I am. I am strong and kind and good and I have the love of a good man and two wonderful children, and my dog and my cat and my fish. I have lived my life knowing I've done an enormous amount of good and very little harm, and any harm I have done has been inadvertent and I've tried to make up for it. I need nothing more in my life. And I could never believe in something like God. It simply isn't who I am. No offense by that. But just as I could never sell you off God, you could never sell me on God. That's just a fact of life because of who I am and who you are. And we need to respect each other enough to not try to change each other.

As for how I'm doing? Well, I'm bald, and I'm talking totally bald from head to toe. :lol: I had my last chemo almost three weeks ago. I'm still really weak from that, but at least the nausea has subsided. In two weeks I start six weeks of daily radiation, which will also make me very fatigued. Then I get five years of hormone therapy to stop the estrogen in my system. So how am I doing? I'm just trying to get through this and then change my lifestyle so I can lessen the chances of the cancer coming back. Lose some weight, eat more fruits and veggies, get back to exercising, etc. And positive thinking. I do believe I will beat this thing. But it's been a helluva thing to go through. Thanks for asking, Sweetie. :D

Yes Chris this IS a very interesting topic! :D

Sounds like you went thru some rather trying times in the last few years!

Sorry to hear about your DOGS (1999) :( :( :( That's all I needed to hear to know you have had it on the dowwwwn :huh:

Geez oh weez.......so many relatives in a bad way! I am sure you are close with all of them and that makes it so much worse!!! I have had a hard time dealing with these kinds of situations so I KNOW how you must be feeling :(

It's not your fault (any of it) but, I'm sure you know that! Keep your head up and do what you do best!

Peace and love to you on this Saturday Eve.......Andrew Paul

Thank you sweetie for sharing :) I am speechless........to say the least! I WILL chat with my man in heaven though (if ya don't mind) about ya. :)

Ya gotta understand.............I ain't sellin anything and I'm the least likely person that you would think could help someone when it comes to GOD (or his magic)!

But, I can. :) And, I will! :) Do not try to persuade me otherwise..........................no way! :D

BTW.........I enjoy your long posts :good: Thank you! I would love more of the same!


Peace, Love and Happiness to you and yours.........Andrew Paul

I think that there is no possible way for their to be the Earth we live in without God.

Like I said several times if there is a 'GOD' he only helps the evil rich like that vile thief Bush. There is way too much BAD in this world for me to continue to believe.

If 'GOD' loved this rotten world, a honorable and decent caring man like AL GORE would never have gotten screwed by evil for that despicable vile, world destroying racist filth, George W. Bush. :mad:

If there is a 'GOD' he is on sadistic pr*ck. :angry:

Well, I don't really believe that God has a direct effect on things like Katherine Harris killing Democracy as we know it, or the business dealings of the Bush family. I believe that God doesn't really directly get involved in things like that, but that God is kind of in the positivity that comes in the reaction to bad things like that. Like in the way people have united in wanting better for their children and wanting better for this earth. And as much as Bush and co. want to say their following what the Chrisitian religion is about, in my opinion, it's just not true.

James, you and I have something in common...we were raised in a Catholic church and school....I don't know about you but I think it warped my personality...you know "knuckle busting guilt trips" and all... :chef:

But our differences are basically geographically based...You live in the Megalopolis...and I lived 50 miles from Pittsburgh in the Ohio Valley all of my life..THAT is why I have a case against that Banjo Pickin Corn Spun Pee Shuckin ACT BU$H puts on all of the time to make him seem "genuine"...No Dubya I LIVED around Hoopies all my life and I can guarantee you Mr. Is Our Chillins Learnin maybe a "dim bulb" if that's the case...but he AIN'T no "redneck"...I lived right next to the WVA mountains all of my life in an Appalachian District Ohio County...and FOUGHT to be educated all of my life as well...THAT is why BU$H turns my stomach 99% of the time...he IS disingenuine when it comes to knowing what TPT(Trailer Park Trash) are all about...but these HICKS are stupid and naive enough to listen to anyone who waves the flag! and claims "Bring 'em On"!

I feel like Hank Hill on a Guilt Trip...Dad I'm sorry about yer shins and all..

We do not follow the 10 commandments but Christ's commandments..

That's what HE came for all right...but remember Jesus was also a Jew and followed all 10 Commandments as well...but the Lord came to simplify our lives and save our souls as well... :good:

Hey James! I finally taught my stupid fingers how to RIP quotes! I THINK I am going to change my strategies a bit...I am a "crafty old chameleon"...LOL! :clap:

Why do I have a case against Dubya? Here's my timeline Chris...

1999-2000 I had a GOOD TV job at $13 Bucks an hour..not Great but good...
September 2000 My mother at 79 had a triple bypass...my job did NOT offer FMLA
January 2001...The Pretzel took office..In February I lost my GOOD job!
Feb 2001 to June 2001 went to Florida to be paid crap wages and go in Debt...
Sept. 2001..On Labor day I am back in Ohio thinking nothing to fear I can get work
Then came 9/11 and SHATTERED THAT Idea...My mother had renal failure also in that month and was taken to John Hopkins by my brother...
October 2001 to May 2002 I float with NO job because The BU$H Regime could NOT connect the dots bin-Laden put out to connect...BU$H gives me $300 bucks
BIG DEAL!
In May 2002 my mother finally dies in a Violent BU$H world ran rife with terrorism and war...
Drifted on small inhertance and odd job money until May 2003 when I go back to Florida again to make bad wages until May 2004...
In July 2004 get a broadcast job at $8.50 an hour at 30 hours a week!
In September 2004 I finally get a $10 Buck an hour job and would be pleased save the FACT that GAS gets so HIGH in Price I can't SAVE any money!
Presently looking for a way to increase income while my cousin takes care of a new born and her husband who has bypass surgery without Med coverage...

AND WHO DO I BLAME FOR MY CIRCUMSTANCE? GEORGE BU$H! THAT'S WHO! :angry:

So things are tough all over for everybody... but I have FAITH that our lives will improve...AS SOON AS WE PUT AL GORE IN THE OVAL OFFICE!

'nuf said....Scr*w yoo guys I'm going home... :cartman:

Yo Paraclete!!! :) Where do you live? St. Clairsville? Stuebenville? Just wondered!

P.S. I should NOTE that if you TRULY DISLIKE George W. Bush and the REPUBLICAN PARTY? :angry: Your at the RIGHT PLACE!!! :D


Have a GREAT Sunday..............Andrew Paul

www.cnn.com

Fossil find could be first bipedal human ancestor
Team leader: Bones show it walked upright 4 million years ago
Saturday, March 5, 2005 Posted: 7:33 PM EST (0033 GMT)

ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia (AP) -- A team of U.S. and Ethiopian scientists has discovered the fossilized remains of what they believe is humankind's first walking ancestor, a hominid that lived in the wooded grasslands of the Horn of Africa nearly 4 million years ago.

The bones were discovered in February at a new site called Mille, in the northeastern Afar region of Ethiopia, said Bruce Latimer, director of the Cleveland Museum of Natural History in Ohio. They are estimated to be 3.8-4 million years old.

The fossils include a complete tibia, parts of a thigh bone, ribs, vertebrae, a collarbone, pelvis and a complete shoulder blade, or scapula. There also is an ankle bone, which, with the tibia, proves the creature walked upright, said Latimer, co-leader of the team that discovered the fossils.

The bones are the latest in a growing collection of early human fragments that help explain the evolutionary history of man.

"Right now we can say this is the world's oldest bipedal [hominid] and what makes this significant is because what makes us human is walking upright," Latimer said. "This new discovery will give us a picture of how walking upright occurred."

Bipedal refers to an animal that walks upright on two feet. Hominids are humans and their extinct ancestors.

The findings have not been reviewed by outside scientists or published in a scientific journal.

Leslie Aiello, an anthropologist and head of the Graduate School at University College in London said, however, that the finds could be significant.

"It sounds like a significant find ... particularly if they have a partial skeleton because it allows you to speculate on biomechanics," Aiello, who was not part of the discovery team, told The Associated Press by telephone from Britain.

Paleontologists previously discovered in Ethiopia the remains of a hominid called Ardipithecus ramidus, a transitional creature with significant apelike characteristics that lived as far back as 4.5 million years. There is some dispute over whether it walked upright on two legs, Latimer and Aiello said.

Scientists know little about A. ramidus. A few skeletal fragments suggest it was even smaller than Australopithecus afarensis, the 3.2 million-year-old species widely known by the nearly complete "Lucy" fossil, which measures about 4 feet tall.

Scientists are yet to classify the new find, which they believe falls between A. ramidus and A. afarensis. The fossils would help "join the dots" between the two hominids, said Yohannes Haile-Selassie, an Ethiopian scientist and curator at the Cleveland Museum of Natural History as well as a co-leader of the discovery team.

"This discovery will tell us much about how our 4-million-year-old ancestors walked, how tall they were and what they looked like," he said. "It opens the door on a poorly known time period and [the fossils] are important in that they will help us understand the early phases of human evolution before Lucy."

The specimen is the only the fourth partial skeleton ever to be discovered that is older than 3 million years. It was found after two months of excavation at Mille, 37 miles from the famous Lucy discovery.

"It is a once-in-a-lifetime find," Latimer said.

That's because of Adam and Eve. Earth was meant to be a perfect place until Adam and Eve ate the golden apple against God's wishes.

The reason there are bad people in the world is because God allows them to make that choice. It's a test to see if they can get into Heaven.

Hate to break it to ya..but Adam and Eve is another one of those fairy tails.

Yes, I know all about 'GOD' testing, but I was also taught, 'prayer changes things' and that 'GOD' helps people. ---------BULLCRAP. I am so sick of---------

BAD THINGS HAPPENING TO GOOD PEOPLE :angry:
AND
GOOD THINGS HAPPENING TO BAD PEOPLE :angry:

I have seen this aggravating sh*t my whole life. I can no longer believe in loving caring 'GOD' that doesn't exist. Like I've said what this 'GOD' LET happen to AL GORE is disgrace and unforgivable. :angry:

'GOD' sure has done NOTHING to help the suffering and the hurting in this world. Sorry that I don't have warm feelngs for that kind of a 'GOD.' :( :angry: :( :angry: