It makes me crazy to listen to celebrities and other's who bestow themselves with 'intelligence' and arrogantly characterize religious believers as 'ignorant' people who use their religion as a crutch, or perform atrocities in 'the name of God.'

Why do they feel so threatened by what they would call 'superstitions'? It is that underlying anger and condescension that bothers me....

Whether God exists or doesn't has never been the salient point. Having a 'belief system' is the difference to humanists who think the universe revolves around them. The whole point of a belief system is to access a form of guidance to help flawed human beings to navigate the challenges of life in a way that improves the lot of mankind, and thereby themselves. And by believers accepting their shortcomings and recognizing the value and wisdom of a 'higher' power, one can deal with things that might otherwise overwhelm them.

The hardest part for athiests to recognize is that they demonstrate that flaw of human character, the misconception that man can fix everything, if only he would just think straight and lean on the evidence of science to answer their questions about our place in the Universe.

Most atheists won't admit that their virulent dismissal of religion is, in effect, their own religion.

As science continues it's slow but steady accumulation of forensics on the miracle of our planet, it has become increasingly clear that something has occurred that is so scientifically beyond unlikely, there just may have to be some other explanation for our solitary existence.

Read more about this by following the link below. It may just shake your tree....

http://www.wsj.com/articles/eric-metaxas-science-increasingly-makes-the-case-for-god-1419544568

A follow up to my October 18th post 'Stray Dogs From Space' (below) where I theorized that any inteligent aliens would not want to mess with us because we would be so far behind them technologically, contacting us would be like visiting the Flintstones. There wouldn't be much in it for them...

Here is an edited section of a great piece by much more advanced minds than me, but it says pretty much the same thing...

The Dominant Life Form in the Cosmos Is Probably Superintelligent Robots
Written by MADDIE STONE

'If and when we finally encounter aliens, they probably won’t look like little green men, or spiny insectoids. It’s likely they won’t be biological creatures at all, but rather, advanced robots that outstrip our intelligence in every conceivable way. While scores of philosophers, scientists and futurists have prophesied the rise of artificial intelligence and the impending singularity, most have restricted their predictions to Earth. Fewer thinkers—outside the realm of science fiction, that is—have considered the notion that artificial intelligence is already out there, and has been for eons.

“Most people have an iconic idea of aliens as these biological creatures, but that doesn’t make any sense from a timescale argument...if we pick up an alien signal, it’ll be artificial life.”

The reason for all this has to do, primarily, with timescales. For starters, when it comes to alien intelligence, there’s  the “short window observation”—the notion that, by the time any society learns to transmit radio signals, they’re probably a hop-skip away from upgrading their own biology. 

“As soon as a civilization invents radio, they’re within fifty years of computers, then, probably, only another fifty to a hundred years from inventing AI... at that point, soft, squishy brains become an outdated model.”

Most of the radio-hot civilizations out there are probably thousands to millions of years older than us. That’s according to the astronomers who ruminate on such matters.

 “Consider the fact that any signal we pick up has to come from a civilization at least as advanced as we are. Now, let’s say, conservatively, the average civilization will use radio for 10,000 years. From a purely probabilistic point of view, the chance of encountering a society far older than ourselves is quite high.”

It’s certainly humbling to consider that we may be galactic infants of beetle-like intelligence compared with our cosmic brethren. But despite their superior processing power, there’s a fundamental aspect of cognition our interstellar neighbors may lack: Consciousness.

It sounds bizarre,but the jury’s still out on whether any artificial intelligence is capable of self-awareness. Simply put, we know so little about the neurological basis for consciousness; it’s almost impossible to predict what ingredients might go into replicating it artificially.'

So should we be worried about aliens caring so little about us 'Stray Dogs' that they may prefer to put us out of our misery? Here is what Seth Shostak, director of NASA’s Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence, said about that...


"YOU DON’T SPEND A WHOLE LOT OF TIME HANGING OUT READING BOOKS WITH YOUR GOLDFISH. ON THE OTHER HAND, YOU DON’T REALLY WANT TO KILL THE GOLDFISH, EITHER.”


That is very reassuring...nice to know we Goldfish have a place in the Cosmos...

People who get married make a pledge; to honor their partner for life. To be by their side in sickness and in health, to never violate their trust and to be the best person they can be so that their strength comes from both of them being better as a unit, especially for their kids, than either one could be as an individual.

From that pledge comes Marriage. The institution we, as a civilization, have entrusted to raise our children and to promote the human race. Great idea.

As a small child, I remember standing and reciting the Pledge of Allegiance every day in school. I was as proud to say it then as I am now. In fact, it puts a chill in my bones even today when a large public event recites the Pledge. It means a lot to me.

My point is, we made a solemn promise. Just like a married couple, we promised to be allegiant to our Flag (as a symbol of our Country), and in recent years we seem to have let our commitment slip. Not by giving up our citizenship, but by neglecting to protect the things it stands for, and letting people desecrate it under the guise of political free speech.

I am ashamed of myself and my fellow Americans. We have let our 'marriage' to our Flag and our country become estranged.

Do we have irreconcilable differences? I hope not.....

As I watch the young people of Ferguson Missouri ride their bicycles across a burning American flag, I think
it may be time to renew our vows.