Creation or Evolution? MCC Instructor offering Creation Science class

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Originally posted by Steppenwolf Allende:
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Again, that's the point. It doesn't say anything about this at all. That assumption is made by many religious people and the major churches.[/b]

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I believe "religious people" and the "major churches" are not well placed to interpret the Bible. They read it as some revealed historically true document, which kind of has the tendency to turn a person's brain to manure. I studied these words in parochial school for many years, in the original language. Having discarded superstition, I read this with an eye to appreciating the poetry and any residual (non-superstitious) wisdom that may be reflected therein.

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Originally posted by mayakovsky:
[b]unionist, does faith turn one's brain to manure?[/b]

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I didn't say "faith"; I said reading "the Bible as some revealed historically true document" - didn't I? You see how important it is to read carefully? I'm actually grateful to my many years of study of Tanach and Talmud, if only for having that importance pounded into me.

To continue: I thought I was being quite generous. Manure is useful. It is productive, it encourages growth. Believing the Bible is true and God's word does the opposite. And, as I have shown earlier, it can even inhibit reading the Bible itself carefully and appreciating its wonders.

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[b]People I know of faith in my circle be they Christian, Jewish or Muslim don't always know why faith keeps coming back.[/b]

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Could it have something to do with the dead weight of thousands of years of history on our backs; the tremendous strains and frustrations of modern society, often seemingly without solutions or a way forward; the cultural and community feelings that adherence to one of the mass "faiths" affords; the confusion and overlap between religion and ethnicity/nationality; and the still-overpowering pressure in our societies to at least proclaim oneself as a [fill in the blank] rather than as an atheist?

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[b]Belonging to a religion doesn't make life necessarily any easier. It isn't cool. You have to answer for a lot and wrestle with texts that confront your social and political understanding. And the reality of the world. It is not as far as I can ascertain 'superstition' on anyone's part.[/b]

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I agree in one sense. As long as (like the vast majority of self-proclaimed adherents to various religions) you only pretend to believe in a supernatural deity; you only mouthe the prayers without really believing in their efficacy; you sing the hymns and perform the rituals and eat the meals and celebrate the family occasions, with religion as only an excuse to participate in these pleasurable activities; then yes, it's not "superstition".

But when people start to actually talk about "God" and the "Bible" and "Quran" as if they represent something real, that's when we should head for the hills.

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Well, wha-d-ya-know B.L. Zeebub LLDrip. What a gimpy response.

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Yoo hoo! Remember that little'ole post up there where I asked for less hostility? Yep, that goes for everyone, including you, Steppenwolfe! Thanks.

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[b]Originally posted by unionist:[/b]
I don't really see your point here. Adam is human - he alone among animals has language - thus he gives "names to all cattle, and to the fowl of the air, and to every beast of the field". Of course we name things that came before us. Did I miss something?

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The moderns and early moderns where fascinated with the idea of Adam's "naming." Naming something is an exercise of power: if I name something, I exert power over it, control it and define it. Just ask the eskimos. So the idea that Adam--the prototypical Xian--decided that though he had just been born a few hours ago at the most, suddenly had mastery over the planet that, according to the first Edenic myth, had been around for a few days, is kind of absurd. This naming idea gels well with the Xian sense of superiority (on which, obviously, they do not have a monopoly) that "named" say, Turtle Island "America" and prisoners of war "illegal combatants."