Were You There

This question often made by creationists to disprove evolution. I have come across the comment on two posts, Fighting For The Truth and TarzanInChrist.

The obvious problem with this statement is that it is a slothful induction. This argument is equally effective against creationists and the argument makes all human acts of logical deduction meaningless. A crime committed is still a crime, even if there were no witnesses there to observe its occurence.

Events in the past leave traces that last into the present, and we can and do look at that evidence today. A more useful and more general question is, "How do you know?" If the person making a claim can not answer that question, you may consider the claim baseless. If you can not understand the answer, you probably have some studying to do. If you get a good answer, you know to take the claim seriously.

More is on Talk Origins and EvoWiki.

Daily Creationism Gone

On a post from my other blog, I noted the return of The Daily Creationism. After only one post on the subject, Big Bang Myth is shutting it down, apparently to work on an online Christian radio program.

Several months ago, someone questioned whether a sloth could have got to Noah's ark when it travels so slowly and Big Bang Myth said that God brought the sloth to the ark. So I asked how the sloth got off the ark and travelled all the way to South America. The next day, the blog was completely deleted.

On his new post, he refers to the belief that Noah took only one dog on his ark to represent the "kind." I asked how the variety of dogs come about in such a short time. After several weeks, now, he has decided to that he cannot talk now. I guess I scared him off with my logic.

Condemn Clinton, Ignore Sex Abuse

Rev. Gerard Bergie, the auxiliary bishop of the Roman Catholic diocese of Hamilton, says Clinton is an inappropriate guest speaker for the Catholic Family Counselling Centre in Kitchener and is urging Catholics to boycott an upcoming fundraiser and is urging Catholics to boycott it. He says that Clinton's support for abortion, his marital infidelity and promotion of condom use to prevent the spread of AIDS go against Catholic Church doctrine and claims that he has received complaints from Catholics across the country.

Cathy Brothers, a spokeswoman for the centre, said it is a non-denominational agency and that the fundraiser is "not about our Catholicism."

Of course, the problem is, that Catholicism includes Protestants such as Lutherans and Anglicans. That is why they should be called "Roman" Catholics.

Then, there is Bishop Bergie condemning Clinton, yet ignoring the sex abuse scandal that is plaguing the Roman Catholic church including a recent guilty plea from a Chatham, Ontario, priest last month. There is a request from victims to have that priest defrocked. The Bishop Bergie has made no comment on this issue ignoring his own church problems.

Christian Coalition Founder Flees

From The Star Tribune:

Robert B. Beale, founder of the Minnesota Christian Coalition, who has campaigned against tax laws owes at least $1.6 million. The IRS says he did not show up in federal court the millionaire CEO of a Maple Grove computer products company has been working overtime to keep himself from the clutches of federal authorities.

Robert B. Beale has written to President Bush and U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales requesting that charges against him be dismissed. If convicted, he faces up to 30 years in prison.

Beale allegedly drew $5.7 million in income from Comtrol between 2000 and 2004, and paid no state or federal taxes, court records say. In a trial brief filed last week, Assistant U.S. Attorney Timothy Rank wrote that Beale "engaged in a concerted effort with others at Comtrol to conceal and disguise the source, location and amount of Beale's income."

In federal documents he filed himself, Beale has accused the government of engaging in fraud and seeking to deprive him of his liberty. He fired his attorney, Dan Scott, saying that for Scott to represent Beale, the person, is "an absurdity." He has kept Scott on to represent him as a "corporate entity."

Robert's son, Bradford Beale, said his father is no longer involved in politics with the Christian Coalition. He said he would have preferred that his father would have made his court date Monday. "The whole Beale family as well as the company would like this concluded as soon as possible," he said.

So a person who wants to fight for not paying for taxes? Is that what a righteous person would do?

Intro

As a child, I believed in the literal interpretation of the Bible. That was until, in my Grade 7 geography class, we were shown a video on how the earth was formed. This changed my thinking of the world around me. Since my childhood, I would read encyclopaedias and other reference books. This is where I get the wealth of my information along with newspapers, radio, television and the Internet. I do not believe everything that is told by the media and I do not believe in everything that is written in the Bible. The Bible is written by man who is considered to be fallible by the religious right.

I have written many letters to the editor on religious opposition to homosexuality, abortion, evolution and providing sex information to teenagers. Now, after ten years, I have decided to write about the truth behind the religious right.