A Tripolation

Indeed it is. And as far as I know, I accept it as fact. Along with the catholic church. And *most* Christians.

...so why do you believe that modern Christianity stifles free inquiry?

Yes, I agree with your second sentence. I disagree with your last sentence. I, and many other theists, do not care if a good idea challenges this magical hierarchy that you speak of. A good idea is a good idea, regardless of its origin or ramification on those who believe they are fit to lead.

Um, how do you come to this conclusion? It seems more one that is aligned with your preconceived notions. I can understand that religion is more prevalent amongst lower-income people, but what in the world does that have to do with good ideas?

You neglect the fact that other governments, like China, actively seek to find holes and exploits in our systems. The methods of defense you are describing would be child's play for them. I mean, really, a firewall and encryption? Such basic modules are easily taken down. I agree with Brainteaserfan in his sentiments that there are some technologies the government needs to implement to keep national secrets safe.

A transcendental entity that would be "God" cannot be measured. What part of that confuses you?

Does it matter? The matrix mechanics of quantum is mathematically equivalent to wave theory. And, yes, you have recognized the fallacy that Schrodinger introduced into his thought experiment. The idea is now used to simplify the very complicated, and often erroneously explained, concept of quantum superposition. Owl was discrediting it. He is wrong.

Nope. The cat is both alive and dead. The possibilities are in superposition with one another. That is the entire point of that particular gedanken. Do not try to dismiss that which you do not understand.

Not only that, but light curves are not consistent with the model of a recollapsing/cyclical universe. Sorry. It's pretty much a failed hypothesis unless the idea is drastically revised to better match reality.

I believe you're under some misconceptions about how time is measured with respect to certain systems. This is a good and quick read. It's accurate with the physics I've studied thus far. http://www.newton.dep.anl.gov/askasci/phy00/phy00423.htm

This post might interest you, 36grit.

Helping others, yes. Forgiving trespass? No. What good comes from letting an enemy survive who will only try to kill you again? You really don't understand it. Emphasis mine. That's where you're wrong. My reaction would be, "Wow. He thinks my actions were on par with a certain leader of his. That's just great. He even thinks I'm as smart as one of the great evolutionary biologists!" This just seems to be an irreconcilable difference in our personalities.

Most people wouldn't agree that "love thine enemy" is a successful course. Or one they would take willingly. As with "turn thy cheek". Jesus' teaching run completely opposed to what has made us evolutionary successful beings. We are selfish, animistic beings only concerned with our own survival. You still don't understand my post.

Knowing you through the years, it's obvious to me that your words are intended to be positive, and that you are sincere and mean zero offense. However, I hope you can understand how caustic some of the things you say can come across as. The difference between me and you, iNow, is that I would be incredibly flattered. They respect Mohammed a great deal. To be compared to their savior would be such a great honor. This isn't even what I was intending with my post to IA, but we'll get to that in a bit. Yep. I agree. I think that Doctors without Borders, a secular organization, is one of the best groups on this planet. You just misinterpreted my words. Ignoring your attempts at ridicule subtle wording, let me tell you what I meant. You almost touch on it in your "I suspect you even agree with him that it's silly he was turned away from helping because he doesn't believe in [God]" bit. The point I was trying to make was that they didn't want IA because he wasn't "Christian" (meaning Christ-Like) enough to be able to help and volunteer, when, in fact, he used his time to help the needy instead of focusing on material goods and wealth. And THAT is infinitely more Christ-Like than staying in a $500,000 home and giving your children an iPad 2 for Christmas. He WAS MORE THAN "Christian" enough to help them, yet they turned him away. I was simply telling IA that he was a better Christian than a lot of the Christians that they would've accepted help from. Now. Had I said, "That's great, IA. That was really Christian of you", then I see how that would merit your post. Why would compassion and charitable works be solely limited to one variant of monotheistic religions? That's ridiculous. It's why I MADE SURE to use "Christ-Like" instead of Christian. I hope you can now see the true intent and tone of my post. Krishna's not really about love and peace like Jesus and Mohammed, so I think that's irrelevant.

That's great, IA. I really respect you for that. That's much more Christ-Like than sitting in your home watching your 12-year olds unwrapping an iPad 2 and several different video games.

The Bible spends most of the time talking about how all-powerful and infinite God is. He is completely unknowable to us in the terms you seek. I'm not trying to be mean, but his whole point was that a supernatural God is not the realm of science. It is magic. It is fantastical. It is faith. It doesn't matter what board you post it to.

If I make a crude wooden carving that resembles myself, does that carving have anywhere near the intricacy that I possess as a human? My DNA, my thoughts, etc? No.

Yes. I'm studying physics. I am aware of the facts presented in this link. Thank you for that eloquent articulation of my sentiments, imatfaal. Any any honest theist will tell you we have no proof and it is all faith. You cannot mix science and religion. They are two different truths with two different knowledge sets.

...which will only work when you account for relativistic effects. Time runs slower on the Earth's surface than it does in Earth's orbit. Then you apparently haven't heard how universal expansion-acceleration may require a cosmological constant in its models as well. (Hint: The universe is almost certainly expanding at an increasing rate)

1. I never said you believed in a god. But you are basing your "disproval" of god based on an entity that doesn't fit what we view as a "god". That's intellectually dishonest. 2.I've been on this forum a lot longer than you and have contributed to many threads. 3. I did say something. My original point was that your basic premise is flawed. So everything you say afterwards as a result of that premise is wrong.

Then your "god" is not a god.

A god, by their very definition, is undefinable and exists outside of all known laws and order. He/She/It transcends everything. That's why there's no point talking about a God in a scientific context--the term isn't definable or falsifiable in any way.

Again, why would any of this matter to a God?

I understand that. That's common knowledge amongst Christians. But by not demanding we move our holiday to a more historically accurate date, aren't we sort of celebrating tolerance? I'm just tossing out ideas here.

Touching on this interesting point, isn't the fact that we Christians celebrate the birth of our savior on a pagan holiday mean we are inclusive in some ways?