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filthy
SFN Die Hard
USA
14408 Posts |
 Posted - 06/18/2009 : 04:16:49
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Just swap the word "scientist" with "creationist," where applicable
This is the latest banner at AiG and it is actually pretty good advice for a skeptic. I'm sure it wasn't intended that way, but there we have it.
In order to understand and take good note of the news, Christians must learn to think critically, deconstructing the news we read and watch and submitting it to biblical analysis. We must understand the presuppositions embedded in headlines, reports, and journalists and determine what we're really looking at.
The outline of principles below will help you remember what questions to ask when encountering a news report that originates from an anti-biblical worldview. This valuable skill will become second nature as you train yourself by repeatedly analyzing the news according to these principles. There's no need to worry that a news report someday will “disprove” the Bible!
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Fear not my YEC friends, the Bible has already been shown to be less than a scientific document and really, nobody much cares other than yourselves.
Open the link; it's good.
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"What luck for rulers that men do not think." -- Adolf Hitler (1889 - 1945)
"If only we could impeach on the basis of criminal stupidity, 90% of the Rethuglicans and half of the Democrats would be thrown out of office." ~~ P.Z. Myres
"The default position of human nature is to punch the other guy in the face and take his stuff." ~~ Dude
Brother Boot Knife of Warm Humanitarianism,
and Crypto-Communist! 
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Dave W.
Info Junkie
USA
26020 Posts |
 Posted - 06/18/2009 : 04:22:40 [Permalink]
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Originally posted by filthy
Just swap the word "scientist" with "creationist," where applicable |
And in their Statement of Faith, it's not applicable.  |
- Dave W. (Private Msg, EMail)
Evidently, I rock!
Why not question something for a change?
Visit Dave's Psoriasis Info, too. |
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moakley
SFN Regular
USA
1888 Posts |
Posted - 06/18/2009 : 04:54:06 [Permalink]
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What are Christians supposed to think amid the onslaught of science reports that seem to contradict the Bible?
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Uh? That a 1700 year old collection of little books is an unreliable source when it comes to determining the merits of scientific theories.
“By definition, no apparent, perceived, or claimed evidence in any field . . . can be valid if it contradicts the Scriptural record . . . evidence is always subject to interpretation by fallible people who do not possess all information”
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Oh. So the opening question was rhetorical. We just needed to read the entire piece so we could be told what to believe. Nice. |
Life is good
Philosophy is questions that may never be answered. Religion is answers that may never be questioned. -Anonymous |
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Hawks
SFN Regular
Canada
1383 Posts |
Posted - 06/18/2009 : 05:48:59 [Permalink]
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| ...Christians must learn to think critically... |
| Remember that, “By definition, no apparent, perceived, or claimed evidence in any field . . . can be valid if it contradicts the Scriptural record ... |
So ... AiG's version of critical thinking means that one should simply be critical against anything that contradicts the bible. |
METHINKS IT IS LIKE A WEASEL
It's a small, off-duty czechoslovakian traffic warden! |
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filthy
SFN Die Hard
USA
14408 Posts |
Posted - 06/18/2009 : 07:55:37 [Permalink]
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Originally posted by Hawks
| ...Christians must learn to think critically... |
| Remember that, “By definition, no apparent, perceived, or claimed evidence in any field . . . can be valid if it contradicts the Scriptural record ... |
So ... AiG's version of critical thinking means that one should simply be critical against anything that contradicts the bible.
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Bingo! Give that man a doobie cigar! But really, it is the same thing we preach, but from the opposite bank of the creek and without the stupid loyalty oath.
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"What luck for rulers that men do not think." -- Adolf Hitler (1889 - 1945)
"If only we could impeach on the basis of criminal stupidity, 90% of the Rethuglicans and half of the Democrats would be thrown out of office." ~~ P.Z. Myres
"The default position of human nature is to punch the other guy in the face and take his stuff." ~~ Dude
Brother Boot Knife of Warm Humanitarianism,
and Crypto-Communist!
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R.Wreck
SFN Regular
USA
1191 Posts |
Posted - 06/18/2009 : 20:16:47 [Permalink]
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Originally posted by filthy
Just swap the word "scientist" with "creationist," where applicable
This is the latest banner at AiG and it is actually pretty good advice for a skeptic. I'm sure it wasn't intended that way, but there we have it.
In order to understand and take good note of the news, Christians must learn to think critically, deconstructing the news we read and watch and submitting it to biblical analysis. We must understand the presuppositions embedded in headlines, reports, and journalists and determine what we're really looking at.
The outline of principles below will help you remember what questions to ask when encountering a news report that originates from an anti-biblical worldview. This valuable skill will become second nature as you train yourself by repeatedly analyzing the news according to these principles. There's no need to worry that a news report someday will “disprove” the Bible!
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But be careful not to let that little thing called "reality" fool you.
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The foundation of morality is to . . . give up pretending to believe that for which there is no evidence, and repeating unintelligible propositions about things beyond the possibliities of knowledge.
T. H. Huxley
The Cattle Prod of Enlightened Compassion
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knightmare
New Member
USA
42 Posts |
Posted - 06/19/2009 : 09:28:12 [Permalink]
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Using the bible as a means to interpret modern science has never made sense to me, even when I was going to church. When I was in high school, my dad was in bible college studying to become a minister. He had all sorts of explanations for questions like where dinosaurs fit into the bible (the devil put those bones there to tempt christians away from god). About four years ago, the preacher at the church I was attending gave me some cassettes to listen to about creationism (unknown to me at the time) which explained how evolution was wrong, couldn't possibly be true, dinosaurs on Noah's ark, etc. I've never been back (except to return his tapes. He wasn't there so I didn't get to thank him for helping set me straight).
Science changes when new evidence is found and new theories are tested. Trying to rearrange the facts so they fit a series of writings from thousands of years ago that you believe to be inspired by a god of some sort is nonsense.
I hope this makes a little sense. This is my first post and sometimes I have trouble translating my thoughts onto a page.
And since this is my first post, I want to end by saying....Hello. |
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R.Wreck
SFN Regular
USA
1191 Posts |
Posted - 06/19/2009 : 10:17:33 [Permalink]
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Originally posted by knightmare
Using the bible as a means to interpret modern science has never made sense to me, even when I was going to church. When I was in high school, my dad was in bible college studying to become a minister. He had all sorts of explanations for questions like where dinosaurs fit into the bible (the devil put those bones there to tempt christians away from god). About four years ago, the preacher at the church I was attending gave me some cassettes to listen to about creationism (unknown to me at the time) which explained how evolution was wrong, couldn't possibly be true, dinosaurs on Noah's ark, etc. I've never been back (except to return his tapes. He wasn't there so I didn't get to thank him for helping set me straight).
Science changes when new evidence is found and new theories are tested. Trying to rearrange the facts so they fit a series of writings from thousands of years ago that you believe to be inspired by a god of some sort is nonsense.
I hope this makes a little sense. This is my first post and sometimes I have trouble translating my thoughts onto a page.
And since this is my first post, I want to end by saying....Hello.
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Welcome to SFN, knightmare, and congrats on escaping the world of the truly deluded. |
The foundation of morality is to . . . give up pretending to believe that for which there is no evidence, and repeating unintelligible propositions about things beyond the possibliities of knowledge.
T. H. Huxley
The Cattle Prod of Enlightened Compassion
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Simon
SFN Regular
USA
1992 Posts |
Posted - 06/19/2009 : 10:34:34 [Permalink]
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Welcome to the site Knight!
Obviously supernatural explanation are untestable and unfalsifiable. It is the reason why they are so useless in term of Science... |
Look again at that dot. That's here. That's home. That's us. On it everyone you love, everyone you know, everyone you ever heard of, every human being who ever was, lived out their lives. The aggregate of our joy and suffering, thousands of confident religions, ideologies, and economic doctrines, every hunter and forager, every hero and coward, every creator and destroyer of civilization, every king and peasant, every young couple in love, every mother and father, hopeful child, inventor and explorer, every teacher of morals, every corrupt politician, every "superstar," every "supreme leader," every saint and sinner in the history of our species lived there – on a mote of dust suspended in a sunbeam.
Carl Sagan - 1996 |
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filthy
SFN Die Hard
USA
14408 Posts |
Posted - 06/19/2009 : 11:42:27 [Permalink]
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Originally posted by knightmare
Using the bible as a means to interpret modern science has never made sense to me, even when I was going to church. When I was in high school, my dad was in bible college studying to become a minister. He had all sorts of explanations for questions like where dinosaurs fit into the bible (the devil put those bones there to tempt christians away from god). About four years ago, the preacher at the church I was attending gave me some cassettes to listen to about creationism (unknown to me at the time) which explained how evolution was wrong, couldn't possibly be true, dinosaurs on Noah's ark, etc. I've never been back (except to return his tapes. He wasn't there so I didn't get to thank him for helping set me straight).
Science changes when new evidence is found and new theories are tested. Trying to rearrange the facts so they fit a series of writings from thousands of years ago that you believe to be inspired by a god of some sort is nonsense.
I hope this makes a little sense. This is my first post and sometimes I have trouble translating my thoughts onto a page.
And since this is my first post, I want to end by saying....Hello.
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Bolding mine. Welcome to SFN Kightmare.
This is the most important step taken on the journey through critical thinking and one that will guide you life long. It works not only for what I like to think of as "sea stories," religious and otherwise, but politics and advertising, et al. And not to mention such flummery as the Q-Ray bracelet, 200 mpg carburetors, and John Edward/Sylvia Browne as well.
Again. welcome. Looking forward to your input.
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"What luck for rulers that men do not think." -- Adolf Hitler (1889 - 1945)
"If only we could impeach on the basis of criminal stupidity, 90% of the Rethuglicans and half of the Democrats would be thrown out of office." ~~ P.Z. Myres
"The default position of human nature is to punch the other guy in the face and take his stuff." ~~ Dude
Brother Boot Knife of Warm Humanitarianism,
and Crypto-Communist!
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Dude
SFN Die Hard
USA
6891 Posts |
Posted - 06/19/2009 : 19:46:34 [Permalink]
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Welcome to the SFN knightmare, you have it correct. Glad you didn't buy into the YEC nonsense!
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Ignorance is preferable to error; and he is less remote from the truth who believes nothing, than he who believes what is wrong.
-- Thomas Jefferson
"god :: the last refuge of a man with no answers and no argument." - G. Carlin
Hope, n.
The handmaiden of desperation; the opiate of despair; the illegible signpost on the road to perdition. ~~ da filth |
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Dr. Mabuse
Septic Fiend
Sweden
9687 Posts |
Posted - 06/20/2009 : 14:19:22 [Permalink]
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Originally posted by knightmare
And since this is my first post, I want to end by saying....Hello.
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Hello!
Welcome to Skeptic Friends Network!
(edited formatting) |
Dr. Mabuse - "When the going gets tough, the tough get Duct-tape..."
Dr. Mabuse whisper.mp3
"Equivocation is not just a job, for a creationist it's a way of life..." Dr. Mabuse
Support American Troops in Iraq:
Send them unarmed civilians for target practice..
Collateralmurder. |
| Edited by - Dr. Mabuse on 06/21/2009 02:32:24 |
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knightmare
New Member
USA
42 Posts |
Posted - 06/20/2009 : 16:24:20 [Permalink]
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Originally posted by Dude
Welcome to the SFN knightmare, you have it correct. Glad you didn't buy into the YEC nonsense!
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When I was a kid, I read a lot about dinosaurs. I learned how they all died about 65 million years ago. So when I heard people saying that the Earth was only 6,000 years old and dinosaurs were on Noah's ark, I asked "How do figure that?". "The bible says so." was the average response.
My dad, as I mentioned, was a minister (he died in 2000). The church, in my experience, wants people to be followers without questioning, but dad also taught me and my sister and brother to think for ourselves. He was a little upset because my sister and I were not going to church, but was proud of us in the lives we had made. After all, we made our lives by thinking for ourselves.
Thanks to everyone for the warm welcomes. I hope to be around for a while.
Laters |
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A breath of serendipity
