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| Religion is a joke!
Posted: 5/10/2006 11:28:25 AM | The entire world is a figment of my imagination. Anything you think is really what I imagine your thinking.
It could be a possibility.
After all we didn't realize there were bacteria and such untill the advent of the microscope and man used superstition and such to explain sickness.
Also the earths atmosphere absorbs various kinds of electro-magnetic radiation which makes it hard for us to detect things that exist in space and thus cuts us off from sensing the things that exist out in space.
The reason why the Hubble space telescope was designed.
So why would it be such a stretch of the imagination to think religions and our senses or science itself is necessary correct when what we perceived about many things for so long is constantly being reinvented?
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| Religion is a joke!
Posted: 5/10/2006 3:27:46 PM | JUST as scientists thought they'd cracked the secrets of DNA by producing a genetic blueprint of mankind, they began to realise something didn't quite add up.
The Human Genome Project was the pinnacle of a century of work and geneticists believed that once the code was written, they'd be able to find the cause - and cure - for every disease.
But now they realised there were only 30,000 genes, which would mean humans are less complex than plants.
But, as this fascinating programme explains, the conventional wisdom about how characteristics are passed down from one generation to the next may not in fact be the whole picture.
It was always thought that our genes are locked away, protected from the outside world, and that they can't be affected by what we do in our lifetime. Now, say scientists including Marcus Pembury, new research suggests genes have a memory.
If this is true, it's revolutionary stuff with far-reaching consequences. It means that we aren't just what we eat, we're also what our parents and grandparents ate.
Horizon
Thu 3 Nov, 9:00 pm - 9:50 pm 50mins
The Ghost In Your Genes
Horizon explores the ghost world in your genes - the hidden layer of inheritance that lies in every cell of our body. From IVF treatment, to post traumatic stress disorder, to the food our grandparents ate, the controversial science of epigenetics could change the way we think about inheritance forever.
At the heart of this new field is a simple but contentious idea - the idea that our genes have a 'memory'. That the lives of your grandparents - the air they breathed, the food they ate, even the things they saw - can directly affect you, decades later, despite never experiencing these things yourself. And that the things you do in your lifetime will in turn affect your grandchildren.
Epigenetics represents a major shift in thinking from the conventional view that DNA carries all our heritable information, and that nothing an individual does in their lifetime will be biologically passed to their children. It is a heresy to most scientists, calling into question the way we have viewed the DNA sequence - the very cornerstone on which modern biology sits.
But scientists have now found a whole new layer to our genes beyond the DNA. They have revealed how epigenetic 'switches' control the genes themselves, and that these switches can be turned on and off by environmental factors like nutrition and stress. It reports the startling first evidence that this can cause heritable effects in humans. [AD,S]
The Ghost in Your Genes
The scientists who believe your genes are shaped in part by your ancestors' life experiences
Biology stands on the brink of a shift in the understanding of inheritance. The discovery of epigenetics – hidden influences upon the genes – could affect every aspect of our lives.
At the heart of this new field is a simple but contentious idea – that genes have a 'memory'. That the lives of your grandparents – the air they breathed, the food they ate, even the things they saw – can directly affect you, decades later, despite your never experiencing these things yourself. And that what you do in your lifetime could in turn affect your grandchildren.
The conventional view is that DNA carries all our heritable information and that nothing an individual does in their lifetime will be biologically passed to their children. To many scientists, epigenetics amounts to a heresy, calling into question the accepted view of the DNA sequence – a cornerstone on which modern biology sits.
Epigenetics adds a whole new layer to genes beyond the DNA. It proposes a control system of 'switches' that turn genes on or off – and suggests that things people experience, like nutrition and stress, can control these switches and cause heritable effects in humans.
In a remote town in northern Sweden there is evidence for this radical idea. Lying in Överkalix's parish registries of births and deaths and its detailed harvest records is a secret that confounds traditional scientific thinking. Marcus Pembrey, a Professor of Clinical Genetics at the Institute of Child Health in London, in collaboration with Swedish researcher Lars Olov Bygren, has found evidence in these records of an environmental effect being passed down the generations. They have shown that a famine at critical times in the lives of the grandparents can affect the life expectancy of the grandchildren. This is the first evidence that an environmental effect can be inherited in humans.
In other independent groups around the world, the first hints that there is more to inheritance than just the genes are coming to light. The mechanism by which this extraordinary discovery can be explained is starting to be revealed.
Professor Wolf Reik, at the Babraham Institute in Cambridge, has spent years studying this hidden ghost world. He has found that merely manipulating mice embryos is enough to set off 'switches' that turn genes on or off.
For mothers like Stephanie Mullins, who had her first child by in vitro fertilisation, this has profound implications. It means it is possible that the IVF procedure caused her son Ciaran to be born with Beckwith-Wiedemann Syndrome – a rare disorder linked to abnormal gene expression. It has been shown that babies conceived by IVF have a three- to four-fold increased chance of developing this condition.
And Reik's work has gone further, showing that these switches themselves can be inherited. This means that a 'memory' of an event could be passed through generations. A simple environmental effect could switch genes on or off – and this change could be inherited.
Hi there
research has demonstrated that genes and the environment are not mutually exclusive but are inextricably intertwined, one affecting the other.
The idea that inheritance is not just about which genes you inherit but whether these are switched on or off is a whole new frontier in biology. It raises questions with huge implications, and means the search will be on to find what sort of environmental effects can affect these switches.
After the tragic events of September 11th 2001, Rachel Yehuda, a psychologist at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York, studied the effects of stress on a group of women who were inside or near the World Trade Center and were pregnant at the time. Produced in conjunction with Jonathan Seckl, an Edinburgh doctor, her results suggest that stress effects can pass down
generations. Meanwhile research at Washington State University points to toxic effects – like exposure to fungicides or pesticides – causing biological changes in rats that persist for at least four generations.
This work is at the forefront of a paradigm shift in scientific thinking. It will change the way the causes of disease are viewed, as well as the importance of lifestyles and family relationships. What people do no longer just affects themselves, but can determine the health of their children and grandchildren in decades to come. "We are," as Marcus Pembrey says, "all guardians of our genome."
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| Religion is a joke!
Posted: 5/11/2006 6:01:29 AM | Religion is certainly one of the world’s biggest problems and I personally think that people should put there passion into something more constructive. After all, what’s the point of worshiping something that obviously doesn’t exist? I suppose it’s usually harmless if one wishes to believe in something but religion itself and the foundation of its propaganda gets way out of hand. It’s common for people to argue that religion maintains a certain form of discipline that its followers embrace but I can’t think of many more things that cause so much conflict and tribulations on a global scale. The fact is, nobody has any idea what created the earth and the reason why we are here.
The various different faiths that exist are mere opinions regarding the foundation of life and humankind; and the odds of a particular faith being the truth behind the inscrutability of existence is one out of a possible billion at least. Yet, so many of us are still obstinate to claim that the selective faiths some of us practice are factual. The passion that people obtain for such myths is beyond belief and quite frankly I find it very disturbing. The fact is, religion attacks science and the truth about evolution but it doesn’t stop a disturbing number of the worlds population from claiming they know the truth, despite them being unable to provide any evidence to present their case. This really is a disturbing predicament and it’s certainly a foolish characteristic of the human empire as far as I’m concerned. | |
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| Religion is a joke!
Posted: 5/11/2006 6:03:13 AM | An interesting read but I am not sure I like where this research is leading to and how it will be perceived by conservative religious arenas.
Question - How can it be determined that "memory" has been transmitted. It is not a far-fetched idea but how would one go about proving such a thing? | |
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| Religion is a joke!
Posted: 5/11/2006 10:14:13 PM |
A blind man will obviously not see the beauty and a deaf dumb, blind man will not sense it at all. It's all subjective - beauty, God , creator etc. NOT objective.
Robertj64, I will allow Helen Keller, a deaf, dumb, and blind WOMAN answer your comment. You may not think it counts because she was not a man, but she was an amazing faith-filled woman.
"The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched - they must be felt with the heart."
-Helen Keller | |
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| Religion is a joke!
Posted: 5/11/2006 10:56:25 PM | Robert, I am not an apologist. I wish I had the knowledge to refute your "facts". There are those who do, however. I would refer you to the works of Josh McDowell and C. S. Lewis. Both men were as convinced as your are that Jesus Christ either did not exist or was a fraud. Their thorough, open-minded research brought them to another conclusion. My convictions are based on my own relationship with the living Lord Jesus Christ. I know he lived then because He still lives now. Perhaps a few more years of college will provide me with the skills and knowledge needed to debate you. But what is the point? God gave you free will. It isn't up to me to try to take it away from you or anyone else.
My view of religion is that it is man's attempt to reach God. That is a joke. We can never be good enough to meet the requirements of a perfect God. My relationship with Jesus Christ is based on His sacrifice in my place. God reached down out of eternity and took the penalty for my sin and set me free. It doesn't matter who believes it or not. The truth remains the truth irregardless. This is God's universe. He makes the rules. We can play by them or not. That's our choice. I prefer to do things His way. If I'm wrong, what have I lost? If you're wrong, what's in store for you? | |
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| Religion is a joke!
Posted: 5/12/2006 2:21:13 AM | Unlike Islam, Christianity is hardly responsible for barbarism in the 21st century but it is authoritarian to the minds of many individuals who choose to embrace its pathetic narrative. This is very unhealthy and so many of us waste precious time on worshiping a god that doesn’t even exists, when we could be using the time and effort to learn things that would help us to make a better contribution to evolution. The symbolic Christian faithful, who go around banging down peoples doors in an attempt to discuss Christianity, are probably the most unempirical individuals I have ever encountered. Unlike many of us, I often take the time to discuss religion with them as I reap great pleasure from their obvious annoyance that is caused by my annotations.
Christians actually believe that any human being will go to heaven after death if they accept Jesus Christ. According to their mythological faith, even a human of the lowest form will go to paradise if they embrace Christianity, regardless of any evil deed they may have done whilst alive. As far as Christians are concerned, one could habitually murder innocent children until the day they die, but they would still be welcomed into heaven if they embrace Christianity. Many Christians have told me that I will perish in hell because of my impertinence towards their faith, but the fact that I have always been a peaceful nobleman surely discredits the intrinsic merits of Christianity and its delusional paradise for the dead.
Even if god and the holy paradise did exist, I’m not so sure I would want to go there if it’s filled with disgusting paedophiles and serial killers, not to mention all the other unsavoury souls that would obviously inhabit this imaginary sphere. I suppose that many of my readers will think I am crazy for attacking religion in such a way, but I am not concerned about the tribulations my comments will invoke. I am very proud of my courage to attack religion, it’s been attacking people for long enough and the world will never be a better place until more of us realize how it ruinously brainwashes folks. | |
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| Religion is a joke!
Posted: 5/13/2006 1:21:06 AM | | Evolution is a theory. It is not a fact and has never been proven true. It is interesting that Christianity has stood the test of time. Millions of people have lived their lives attesting to the truths of the Bible. And yet the current generation vehemently opposes even the possibility that God exists. There are those of us who remember society declaring, "God is Dead!" Many of us know differently today. I challenge each of you to ask God to reveal Himself to you. But only do it with an open mind. Then keep your eyes open! May God bless you with the Truth! | |
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| Religion is a joke!
Posted: 5/13/2006 8:20:06 AM | HvlyTrtl
Your statement about Christianity standing the test of time is a bit premature. There is an interesting corelation to literacy and opposition to Christianity. The literacy rate in North America and other first world countries has only sharply risen in the last one hundred years. The first 1800 years were left unchallenged because the illiterate rate was so high. How can you challenge written documents if you do not know how to read.
Well, my friend, a lot more people know how to read these days, and Christianity is more challenged today than it ever was. There has been a steady decline in church attendance and it is interesting to note when religion attendance does get spiked. Fear usually drives it. For example, after 9/11 people for awhile went back to Church and did some soul searching before falling back to the same old ways of their lives (temporary it would seem).
I would say the next 50 years will be very interesting. Barring some unforseen global catastrophe, organized religion will continue to spiral downwards. | |
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annaa
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Joined: 5/13/2006
Msg: 110 | |
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| Religion is a joke!
Posted: 5/13/2006 11:11:40 AM | I tuley think The OP is neededing to be noticed and this his way of saying Hey!!!!!! Im here  | |
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| Religion is a joke!
Posted: 5/13/2006 2:59:41 PM | “Where did we come from?” has interested theologians for millennia and scientists for centuries. In the new permanent exhibition, Human Origins, the McClung Museum presents a comprehensive overview of the scientific understanding of the last 6 million years of the evolution of hominids—humans and our ancestors.
Guiding the Museum in the creation of this exhibition is Dr. Andrew Kramer, Head of the University of Tennessee’s Department of Anthropology. Dr. Kramer is a physical anthropologist who specializes in paleoanthropology, the study of human evolution. He has conducted field work and research in Indonesia, focusing on our fossil hominid ancestor, Homo erectus, who lived there more than one million years ago. | |
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| Religion is a joke!
Posted: 5/14/2006 1:59:04 PM | | All religions were made so that humanity would have something to have faith in, when ones lost faith in oneself. When one is in distress, he/her will turn to his/her God for guidness, unfortunately, we also made up Religions so we could have an explanation for our existance, instead of cold hard scientific fact. | |
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| Religion is a joke!
Posted: 5/14/2006 2:23:15 PM | THE JOURNEY OF LIFE.
THROUGH EVOULUTION.
And why were here?
It’s all down to 3 and half BILLON years of EVOLUTION in the SEA OF LIFE?
THAT’S WHY were here to DAY?
That’s where all life started in the sea? The sea was the FIRST LEBOURTEY of LIFE? | |
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| Religion is a joke!
Posted: 5/14/2006 9:14:03 PM | Religions were created to explain what we don't understand. And then used to control people by their leaders, religious leaders, that know the will of God and use it to control others. That in many ways is for the good to create an orderly society, and people will be able to endure difficulties because they believe they will enter paradide or heaven where everything will be pure bliss. I have found that the most religious people are some of the least trustworthy, go figure. Well, God forgives all, then it's okay to cheat, steal, lie etc. I may forgive but I don't forget what others do to me.
People who say evolution is a theory, thinking it has not been proved, don't know what the word "theory" means in science. They don't know much about the scientific method or science in general. They don't want to know because ignorance is bliss. It's totally useless to try to convince those, just like trying to stop an alcoholic from drinking after the first drink. | |
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| Religion is a joke!
Posted: 5/15/2006 2:38:06 AM | The evolution of human beings is a subject that fascinates many people, we all want to know who how ancestors were. Human beings are mammals, then primates, and then anthropoids, among the primates our closest relatives are the Chimpanzees and Bonobos in the genus Pongo, humanity is in the genus Homo, thus our species is known scientifically as Homo sapiens. Scientists have two different routes of examining the question of our ancestry, the first is by studying the relationships between us and our nearest living relatives, the second is the fossil record.
DNA analysis, has been telling us that there is only a 2 to 3 percent genetic difference between us and the chimpanzees for many years now and you will find the figure of 98.5 percent | |
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| Religion is a joke!
Posted: 5/18/2006 8:17:57 AM |
Religion is a joke!
To some,,,yes it is. No one will ever convince me that god ever existed or still does. BUT,,,i wont ever disrespect someone becuz of their religious beliefs. If believing in a higher power makes someone feel good and or lead a better life becuz of their belief,,,more power to 'em! Just as i would expect them to respect me for not believing in it.
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| Religion is a joke!
Posted: 5/18/2006 9:17:11 AM | | religion is a joke. its a means of control. well in my opinion. beliving in something that supposedly has been around for like 6000 yrs. i dont get half of it. you see miracles liek noah living 400 yrs give me a break. god giving free will and when he sees the world turning out like it does he floods it. yet the world has gone somewhat the same way. pornogrophy murder rape racisim. pls yet he will leave the world alone with all these in it. just the same as it was 6000 yrs ago. and yet you would think that dinosaurs dating back 32 million years ago would have the religion of christianty. pls i seem to be getting it all wrong. but if the bible states the world has been around 6000 yrs ago then why can they carbon date the world existing 32 million yrs ago. there is the biggest inconsistency. | |
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| Religion is a joke!
Posted: 5/19/2006 4:03:45 AM | The sea was the FIRST LEBOURTEY of LIFE?
travels back 3.8 billion years to when life began. round the oceans, explores life's first laboratory and discovers how the incredible variety of sea creatures arose, from the first microbes to hagfish and dolphins.
they emerged from the seas and evolved adaptations to make them ever better able to cope with life on land, from the searing heat of the deserts to the icy polar wastes
Animals crawled on to the land 500 million years ago, but it was another 100 million years before life finally became airborne. Just four kinds of animals achieved the miracle of flight. Insects led the way, but their story is Five million years ago we separated from our chimpanzee cousins. looks back to explain how landscape changes drew us down from the trees and out on to the newly formed African savannah
still shrouded in mystery. | |
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| Religion is a joke!
Posted: 5/30/2006 12:18:33 PM | Still can't figure this posting thing out. Is there a way to post to these threads without posting a reply to a single person's comments? Anyways this is for all of you out there. I have been away from this thread for some time and see that it has gone quite over the top. A lot of half baked , not fully thought through ideas exist here as if they were fact. Number one is this , as I have stated before , religion has nothing to do with God or the Divine or the Supreme Creator or Allah or whatever you want to call It. Religion is about power. Power on this Earth for a select few over the masses. This is the history of the Catholic Church as it is for the extreme Islamic fundamentalist. Religion is about being organized , and organizations require heirarchey of power. Look at how the Catholic Church came about and you can see it was corrupted from the beginning. Who has the right to say what went into the Bible as the word of Jesus Christ?
Katman's History Lesson #1
The Jews were the original chosen people. God gave his/her word to them. But after a time the Jews become somewhat xenophobic and began to keep the word for themselves , and exclude all others. the word they had was one of Love and forgiveness. This was wrong and so to correct this , God brought about the Nazarene known as Jesus (Essau to all the Muslims out there) , and Jesus never gave up being a Jew. He never said start a new religion in my name . No. He said to spread the word of God. And that word of God was about Love and compasson and forgiveness. Some hundred years or so after the death of Jesus the Catholic Church is created . The bible of this church was decided upon by a majority of the Christian sects leaders who voted on what should and should not be included in the bible.Or what could and could not be said about Jesus and his teachings. Six hundred years after the death of Christ , and the Catholic church is well entrenched in its selfserving undertaking of teaching the fear factor of their religion (which of course istotally contradictory to the teachings of Jesus) , a new prophet comes about, and his name is Mohammad. Now Mohammad , is not inspired to write the Koran , but is used as Prophet to deliver the word of God , via the angel Gabriel. The angel gabriel visited the Prophet and spoke to him , and the Prophet merely repeated what he had been told. The Prophets teachings take up where Jesus left off. And for those of you who don't know. The most important prayer in Islam is the Fatihah and its first line roughly translate as , " For the glory of God , the most compassonate and the most mercifull". So, from Jews through to Islam we have the same God. All three belief structures trace their origins back to the Prophet Abraham , who sired two sons. One become the father of the jewish nation and the other became the father od the Arab nations.
One final point I would like to say is that , Jesus is talked about more in the Koran, as is his mother Mary , than he is in the Bible. Anyone care to explain that for me.
Just my two cents worth | |
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| Religion is a joke!
Posted: 5/31/2006 5:43:29 PM | Religion is a joke? So is the human race,human nature, belief/"non-belief" in a religion | |
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