from..a docco
[are.we still '..evolving']

that reveals..the ongoing con-game
evolution..into new genus

the hero

an arsenic..resistant earth worm..

the spin..is its..as different..from..other earth worms..
as we..are different..from a mouse....[thats the CON-game]
http://purescience.wikia.com/wiki/Arsenic_worm

thats..too clever..by half spin..
its parents..were EARTHWORMS..its an earth-worm
ie..any evolution..could only..be micro-evolution..of the rna producing metallothioneins..not macro-evolution-new genus.

http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/2757/what-poisons-can-i-safely-take-to-build-immunity-to-toxic-substances

Metallothioneins..are proteins..produced..in the body that,..among other things,..seem to bond..to ions of..dangerous elements like arsenic..and cadmium..and so help to minimize..organ damage..and other serious ill effects.

While there's..no way to become immune..to such poisons, chronic exposure to them may..I repeat,..may..stimulate the body into upping its metallothionein output,..thus allowing one..to take on greater quantities..of the toxic stuff..before starting to get really sick.

Something along these lines..might have been..going on..in the case of the..famed arsenic eaters..of Upper Styria,Austria.

In the mid-1800s..word got out..to the wider world that a considerable percentage..of Styrian peasants were ingesting potentially lethal..quantities of arsenic..(a by-product of the ore smelting going on thereabouts)..on a regular basis,..essentially as a health tonic —

they believed..it improved their breathing..and complexion and helped them maintain..a robust body weight...[i also recall arsnic was mixed with suger..for poor people]..plus muteny..of th.e bounty captain..was a known arsnic eater

Many scientists scoffed,..but academics familiar..with the region vouched for the phenomenon...Fritz Pregl,..a professor at the University of Graz,..assured an American colleague..in 1927 that arsenic eating..was for real and remained common..in Styria as of that time

so clearly..these humans too..
will be different..lol..[evolved]

as different..as man/mouse?..
its amusing..what evolutionists..wont stoop to..feed atheist

billions..of years 'evolution'
yet human..only 'evolved'..100,000 years ago

i tell you
science..insanity knows no bounds..its all..just a con game

oh..now she..is saying..<<human-evolution..has slowed down>>

yet still..one..in/every..200 cell-divisions..is mutated

<<..dead children...is..the raw material..of natural selection>>

<<disaster ..all sorts of..horrible things can come back>>

<<..medi-sin/engeneering have made us much safer

<<..brought us to the end of evolutionary line

<<..lethal contagous disease

<<bird flue..
<<..rewriting the rules..of natural selection..[clones]

science..has high-hopes..that..birdflue]..will kill us
[cause god stopped..mutating..mankind?]..[will gods..helpers allow that]

so much for..the docco..title..
thats..science standard proof?

not a lot..re..our still evolving..not even..in our behavior

Dear david f,

>>I know of no Jewish group that agrees with the view that faith alone saves one.<<

Put thus, certainly e.g. the Catholic Church would not agree either that faith alone saves.

Thanks for the brief insight into the variety of Jewish practices. Does it mean that a Jew might call himself “religious” without believing in God, His Chosen People, the coming of a Messiah?

You obviously read more about Original Sin than I. For me it has a mostly symbolic meaning.

Humanistic Judaism, in your link “defines Judaism as the cultural and historical experience of the Jewish people”. This apparently does not involve belief in God or Divine or Spiritual. Many nations and ethnic groups have their “cultural and historical experience”, though, admittedly not as rich. However, do those who adhere to this kind of Judaism, call themselves “religious”?

>>Non-theism seems to be a logical consequence of trying to merge such differing faiths.<<
I cannot see the “logic” here. Just because some see (or saw) gravitation as a force acting instantaneously at a distance, others as the curvature of spacetime and still others model it as something transported by gravitons, it does not follow that gravitation does not exists or the concept should be abandoned.

I did not know of Akbar but speaking of Jesuits there is the case of Matteo Ricci a 16th century missionary to China, who was prevented by Rome from accommodating Chinese (instead of only European) traditions in Christianity he brought to them. According to some - I have no take on this opinion - had Rome not interfered, China would have become Christian, even Catholic, in 17th century.

AJ Philips,

>>I have never said that one needs to correct theists the become an atheist<<

OK, I misunderstood your purpose, so I am withdrawing that allegation. I won’t mind you correcting me for whatever reasons if you think you need to. Only please don’t expect me to continue our never-ending-story by correcting your corrections, you correcting back, etc as before, since I really don’t think it leads us anywhere.

Believing in a messiah or a chosen people has absolutely nothing to do with being a religious Jew. As I mentioned there are no creeds and just the one statement of faith. One is supposed to obey the laws, and the laws have nothing to do with belief but only practice. Practice for an orthodox Jew means observing the dietary laws, the rituals, the prayers, being charitable and being a good person in general. What one chooses to believe in regards to the messiah, the chosen people and other things is a matter for each individual to decide. No one is required to believe in a messiah or a chosen people. How can one make a person believe in anything? You can make a person say they believe, but you can’t make a person believe.

The myth of the messiah originated after the separation into the two nations of Israel and Judah. The messiah was originally a military figure who would reunite the two nations. Later the myth developed into a person who would usher in the messianic age where ‘nations would beat their swords into ploughshares’ and ‘study war no more’. Since the world is not at peace the messiah has not yet come.

My beloved grandmother would say, “When the messiah comes.” By that she meant, “Never.”

In my religious education I was taught that the idea of a Chosen People meant that we were chosen to be a ‘light to the nations’, to set an example that others might emulate. The Chosen People is not a racial idea. A convert becomes one of the Chosen People. This attitude, the earliest expression of which is found in the biblical book of Ruth was formulated by Maimonides” “Whosoever adopts Judaism and confesses the Unity of the Divine Name as is prescribed in the Torah is counted among the disciples of Abraham, our father. These men are Abraham’s household.”

Inuit or other names that tribal people give themselves mean ‘the people’ as other humans are not the people. To me the Chosen People is an expression of tribalism.

continued

Continued

< However, do those who adhere to this kind of Judaism [humanistic], call themselves “religious”?>

I don’t know what they call themselves. To me they are religious.

>>Non-theism seems to be a logical consequence of trying to merge such differing faiths.<<
<I cannot see the “logic” here.>

Akbar tried to merge faiths with differing concepts of deity. Islam – monotheism, Zoroastrianism – good and evil deities competing – Hinduism – polytheism. The adoption of one definition of deity would violate the definitions of deity of the other faiths. It would seem the easiest way to get around that problem would be not to prescribe a deity at all as an article of faith. Like Unitarianism the members of such a faith would be free to adopt any concept of deity that they would choose to adopt. A Unitarian may or may not believe in a God. That is up to the individual. I think Akbar’s religion would be similar. In effect it would be non-theist.

I think it’s healthier to recognise that we are just another animal motivated by the drives to survive and have sex than to make up stories about god(s) and other supernatural manifestations although we can enjoy stories about Odin, God, Zeus, Jesus, Allah and all the other entities that some of us worship. We can put ourselves in the place of the animals both of our species and of other species. We can recognise that we feel pain and they feel pain. All life is not equal to most of us. We would not hurt a dog, but we take medication which puts an end to the lives of bacteria. We swat mosquitoes but water those plants which we favour for various reasons. None of the flowering plants that we see were around when the first dinosaurs appeared. I like the cycads and ferns which were around at that time. We are planning a garden, and I am thinking that we can have a spectrum of plants with foliage from red at one end to violet at the other end of one boundary.

full post here

http://www.celestinevision.com/celestine/forum/viewtopic.php?p=15121#15121

as usual..david..puts forward..some interesting things..
that resonate simpatico..upon resonators..in mind

[i will..try to clarify..

<<..a spectrum of plants..with foliage from red..at one end
to violet..at the other end..of one boundary.>>

i..have long felt frustration..of the depiction..of 'rainbow/color'..for exsample..i saw a triple rainbow..once..and noted specifically..the changes of color..

i saw violet..at the one end..purple at the other..next to..the purple..is saw a muddy brown..thats yet a colour..but..not in rainbow depictions

the violet..of course may..indicate the shorter ultra-violet/wavelengths..as much as the purple..[the longer,wave 'lengths']..,adjoining the brown..blue hues green hues yellow/white.yellow..orange red violet..in..its graduated..wave lengths

..[im seeing them..plants by height..according to wavelength]..[lol]

but thats just me..being me..[i love the active colors..as they project upon the wall..[via cut glass..scattering..that reveals a brilliant spectrum..unrepeatable..in matter's coloration..[though flowers come close

the brown..also is suggestive of the darker regions..[living in the brown..to grey hued..realms..being in that part of the spectrum..there are found only rocks..and maybe at best grass,...or slimes/moulds..but..not colour

[needless to say..my links reveal..much about flowers..and gardens[of particular note was..all flower's/flowered..all the time..also noted was the composition..of our astral-soil...and waters divergent qualities..*these..must correspond in some way..within our own material/reality scientifically speaking..

<<..than..to make up stories..about god(s)
and other..supernatural manifestations..>>

sduper nature is the lie
just like mouse/man..[that shiela's thesis docco]

<<..although we can enjoy*..>>

mate..kids enjoy stories
adults test them..if your enjoying..yournot doing your job..as a thinking man

<<..We can put ourselves..in the place..of the animals>>

david..we have..by removing the veil..of ignorance..[of the beast]
away from..that able to be seen..via the reasoning of mind

<<All life is not equal..>>

ya darn tootin correct

think..we ALONE..ina few thousands of years..have EVOLVED language..in word..seeing in math..hearing via science..seeing via marks..more like divination[all we man have..that sets us as alien..to the beasts of nature..dependant upon nurture..from nature[but not us]

david..was are..as far removed from..the beast..
as a beast is removed from..a microbe..or amoeba

the huge spiritual evolution..was the color spectrum..of flowers..sea life corals..rainbows..[surely in these polar opposites is a sign..to get some thinking like men..again

edited

Dear OUG,

I wrote, “All life is not equal to most of us.” I did not write, “All life is not equal.”

By leaving out part of the sentence you changed the meaning. Most humans do not regard all life as equal. However, in the broad scheme of things there is no criterion by which we can consider a human life as more worthwhile than the life of a bacterium. It is a human judgment that all life is not equal. It is not objectively valid.

Life forms have different capabilities. Some bacteria can live on motor oil. Some can live several kilometres deep in the earth. Some can live in very hot water. We humans have none of those capabilities. In those areas bacteria do what we can’t. By those criteria bacteria outperform us. It’s better not to arrange life in a hierarchy. We destroy other forms for our benefit. That does not mean we are a higher form. Life on earth has undergone five great extinctions. The sixth is now happening mainly due to human influence.

The fact is that we are beasts. Before Linnaeus (1707-1778) books called bestiaries appeared. They included all animals known at that time but did not include humans. Linnaeus in developing the classification of life forms invented the word, mammal, and classified humans in that group. When others objected he asked, “How many of you did not get milk from your mother’s breast?” Since Linnaeus most people recognise that humans are beasts.

Linnaeus also recognised that flowers are sex organs. For that he was thought dirty-minded. Many scientists had thought that flowers were organs for nutrition.

Linnaeus was a brilliant man but did not realise his full potential because of religion. Christianity was influenced by Aristotle who maintained that species were fixed. The Lutheran Church of which Linnaeus was a member had adopted Aristotle’s view, and Linnaeus accepted it. Linnaeus was quite aware of varieties within a species and their development. Had it not been for his religion he probably would have developed evolutionary theory a hundred years before Darwin.