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- Feb 28, 2001
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1. For Job to say/think that the Earth is "hung on nothing" is merely a misinterpretation of reality caused by lack of knowledge (in this case, about gravity.) For a slightly more modern but equally wrong class of comments, read up on the "alchemists" who originally believed in phlogiston as the physical embodiment of heat. Making a bad guess is going to give you a bad result no matter when you make that guess. To read any more than that into the situation is rubbish.
Speaking of which, the entire concept of saying that Job said something told to him by God is (to my understanding) just a way of saying that the idea in your head must have been put there by God rather than having originated within your imagination. I see the prophets as having imagined something and then presumed that God must have put it there because they didn't think they could come up with original thoughts or something. And of course, modern preachers don't want you coming up with original ideas either because then you get this notion that you can think for yourself without waiting for divine inspiration. {gasp!}
2. As to people believing they are different races than they really are? Modern genetics tell us that race is a total myth anyway, unless you limit your comments to the HUMAN race vs. some other race. As to "who would have figured it would go this far" the answer is that as soon as you make some advantage for being different, people will jump on that bandwagon as a way to "get something for nothing." It is a matter of greed or an attempt to extract some sympathy from folks whose sense of self-worth is damaged. I won't attribute that one directly to God issues, but the story of the Tower of Babel is relevant here as a reason why preachers even consider race as an issue. It was the overly religious types who used to decry the evils of "miscegenation" that led to the enforced separation of races. And that is, of course, yet another example of people speaking through ignorance of scientific reality because "race" was still a real thing to them.
3. Again, the "different gender" issue is not new. It has been around since the pre-Christian era. However, the studies I have previously referenced regarding brain scans of people to define male/female brain configuration make it clear that there is at least some science behind that problem. Further, the problem relates to conditions of birth, not conscious choices between heterosexual and homosexual behavior. The only conscious choice we have on that front is abstinence or activity. You and some others tend to be dismissive of that research claiming that it was flawed, but every paper I have found on the subject seems either to be good science or a disclaimer from a site with a religious axe to grind. I.e. their denial is motivated by non-scientific issues.
Speaking of which, the entire concept of saying that Job said something told to him by God is (to my understanding) just a way of saying that the idea in your head must have been put there by God rather than having originated within your imagination. I see the prophets as having imagined something and then presumed that God must have put it there because they didn't think they could come up with original thoughts or something. And of course, modern preachers don't want you coming up with original ideas either because then you get this notion that you can think for yourself without waiting for divine inspiration. {gasp!}
2. As to people believing they are different races than they really are? Modern genetics tell us that race is a total myth anyway, unless you limit your comments to the HUMAN race vs. some other race. As to "who would have figured it would go this far" the answer is that as soon as you make some advantage for being different, people will jump on that bandwagon as a way to "get something for nothing." It is a matter of greed or an attempt to extract some sympathy from folks whose sense of self-worth is damaged. I won't attribute that one directly to God issues, but the story of the Tower of Babel is relevant here as a reason why preachers even consider race as an issue. It was the overly religious types who used to decry the evils of "miscegenation" that led to the enforced separation of races. And that is, of course, yet another example of people speaking through ignorance of scientific reality because "race" was still a real thing to them.
3. Again, the "different gender" issue is not new. It has been around since the pre-Christian era. However, the studies I have previously referenced regarding brain scans of people to define male/female brain configuration make it clear that there is at least some science behind that problem. Further, the problem relates to conditions of birth, not conscious choices between heterosexual and homosexual behavior. The only conscious choice we have on that front is abstinence or activity. You and some others tend to be dismissive of that research claiming that it was flawed, but every paper I have found on the subject seems either to be good science or a disclaimer from a site with a religious axe to grind. I.e. their denial is motivated by non-scientific issues.