Why did the snail paint a big red “S” on his car?
So people can say, “Look at that S-Car-Go!”

Why did the cowboy get a dachshund?
So, he could say, “Get a long little doggie”.

Sweetestgirl11
Fairy Rings; very cool indeed. Thanks for that.

Abracadabra,
Yea, sometimes it feels like humans are no better than fungus. We tend to consume and ruin everything around us. I once saw a piece of art where the artist showed mother earth from space but she had pimples and blemishes all over her. The pimples and blemishes were from us building cities and factories.

And as far as the Neanderthals go, I think we have already accomplished it. I’m pretty sure my ex-wife’s father is a Neanderthal That proves it right?

Abracadabra,
Forgot to follow up on one more point with you; you wrote the following: “The funny thing is here that from a purely biological point of view, even a fungus multiplies on a piece of fruit until the entire orb is totally covered with fungus and the fruit dies along with the fungus.”
I just wanted to point out that the “fungus” does continue. I think it creates spores that find the next piece of fruit to dine on. It’s sole purpose is to reproduce. Anyway some food for thought

CowboyGH, why is your interpretation of god better than Abracadabra’s? Why does he have to accept your god to feel righteous? Sorry but it does feel like your judging him. You wrote, “So if you do not accept Jesus as lord and saviour(sp?) you then would not be doing as you are to do, thus you would end up not being righteous.” Sounds like judgment to me? Maybe I misunderstood your intentions.

Gwendolyn2009,
You go girl!!! Well put and thoughtful. I’m surprised you took the time to respond to each of his points.

Abracadabra,
For you to decide to not have biological children is an exercise in “free will”. I totally get your feelings about not having (or having) a child and unimportance (or importance) it brings to you. But, I believe we are still driven to reproduce. It doesn’t have to be bearing a child or about genetics, rather it’s about nurturing. I bet if you meet that perfect someone (IE: Catherine Zeta Jones) and they had children, you would do everything you could to protect, teach and love them.

Now, on the God/Hitler thing; “YIKES” dude . I’m not sure I can comment on that. Instead, I was focused on “fairness” and why a god is appealing for the purpose of justice. Without the notion of a God, a Hitler, serial murderer or child molester, in a way, they get away with it. They create much havoc, much more havoc than their one life. The notion of hell allows folks to believe there will be justice.

And music must bring you much joy. Without some positive purpose in life we falter. It sounds like you’ve got purpose in music; what more can a human ask for. It makes me feel good for you to express your happiness with music; your desire to hear it played and so on. Thanks for that.

Opening thread point 7, “you will always be a small minority”; why are you so worried about them and spent so much text bashing them if they will always be “small”? It’s like the little boy that likes the girl so he pulls her hair to get her attention.

The human race will be here a long time unless we kill ourselves with bombs, chemicals or whatever. When we talk about it all coming to an end (IE: “our sun will not last forever”) we need to realize that were talking about billions of years. That’s a really long time.

If we want to talk about meaning of life with evolution in mind then were all bound by the same biological imperative, which is to reproduce. This requires cooperation, planning, and some positive thinking. Regardless of religion or atheism, it seems that every creature on this planet is biologically bound by this rule.

I think one huge impediment for considering atheism is about fairness. To think Hitler killed millions and he only dies once isn’t fair. Another impediment to atheism is about death. To know you will die and then there is “nothing” would be hard to accept. So, believing in a heaven and hell creates fairness and takes away some of the fear of dying.

The question I have is this. I’ve seen/meet Christians, Muslims, Jews, Mormon’s and “yes” even atheists that seem very happy and content; as I like to say, “centered”. Why is it that people, from all these different belief systems, can find a center? Maybe it’s about a shared process, rather than any one belief system? Maybe “meaning in life”, “purpose” and “happiness” are earthly and not divine?

This is a tuff one. To me belief is what makes us unique. Belief is a good thing; we all need to believe in something. Wasn’t it John Mellencamp that sung, “You got to believe in something before you fall for anything”?
I once believed in Santa Claus. I bet you did too. At that time I believed that my feelings for Santa Claus were true and accurate. I think the bigger question is; why do beliefs change?

Abracadabra,
Yea, free will is problematic for my limited mind. Since we don’t have that definitive answer I’m ok with it remaining in the arena of god (like so many other things). I’m sure there are those that would attempt to explain it but it’s not clear to me yet. And “we are god” is an interesting concept, it might fall prey to the Hitchens quote though. Neuroscience may give some of these answers in the near future. I try to remain open to the possibilities; either way.

For me, Hawking was trying to explain the things that folks attribute to god; maybe that is what you mean by “god of gaps”. For example, there is a cause and affect with volcanos. We find no evidence that a given volcano erupts due to causes outside of known science. Title waves, meteors, earthquakes, storms, lightning and so on were once under the privy of god but are now clearly understood with science. This is what I meant when I said, “Good or bad, because of science, god’s domain is shrinking”. And maybe, this is what “god” wants of us? Again, want to remain open to the possibilities.

On a lighter note, when I’m watching one of the paranormal shows with my daughter and she wants to believe the rubber ball on a floor slowly rolls three inches because of ghosts when I know there are just too many terrestrial causes to explain it just drives me crazy. Now if that ball suddenly lifted thee feet and shot across the room at an alarming speed I would be left wondering because that would violate the laws of physics as we know them.

And Tat t’vam asi, very interesting. I learned something new tonight. Thanks for that.

I’m of mixed race. Not having a single culture to answer to is liberating. And creating much confusion for those that want to label me has been entertaining.

I’m paraphrasing here but: I think it was Christopher Hitchens that said, “That which is created without evidence can be disregarded without evidence”. But, I like Steven Hawking’s take on god. He said something like, “If there is a god then god is an observer because god doesn’t seem to be able to violate the laws of physics”.
But, I feel there is still is a place for god. There is more unknown than known to humanity. And as long as this remains true, which will be for a long time, people are free to attribute the unknown to god. The problem modern religion has is that in the face of real evidence religion remains dogmatic. I say, lets embrace the good that science has brought us and let god own what we don’t know until we discover it. Good or bad, because of science, god’s domain is shrinking.