Evolution

Missing link found!
That’s right, it’s been long enough! Ida is a missing link, though not quite THE missing link as the link will tell you. Ida apparently had some concerns about her weight, proving that she’s our ancestor. Her last meal was a salad. Wouldn’t that be a way to go?

Ridiculous troll video
A “troll” is internet slang for someone who gets online just to bother you or annoy you in some way. VenomFangX is renouned for his trolling. No intelligent person growing up today believes in creationism as it’s presented in this video. This is how I happened upon knowledge of Ida. During the video, this man presents complaints about the ethnicity of the doctor making the Ida presentation, defines as a layman how Ida isn’t really our ancestor, and proceeds to fearfully point out that science and scientists are our enemies.
What a bunch of ridiculous notions!
Evolution isn’t a “theory”, it is a “Theory”. What’s the difference you may ask…?
(Courteousy of dictionary.com, the lazy man’s online dictionary)
the⋅o⋅ry
  /ˈθiəri, ˈθɪəri/ Show Spelled Pronunciation [thee-uh-ree, theer-ee] Show IPA
–noun, plural -ries.
1. a coherent group of general propositions used as principles of explanation for a class of phenomena: Einstein’s theory of relativity.
2. a proposed explanation whose status is still conjectural, in contrast to well-established propositions that are regarded as reporting matters of actual fact.
3. Mathematics. a body of principles, theorems, or the like, belonging to one subject: number theory.
4. the branch of a science or art that deals with its principles or methods, as distinguished from its practice: music theory.
5. a particular conception or view of something to be done or of the method of doing it; a system of rules or principles.
6. contemplation or speculation.
7. guess or conjecture.

In this first definition, we see numbers 2, 6, and 7 that suggest the most common uses of the word ‘theory’. Science uses a different definition for Theory however.
Synonyms:
1. Theory, hypothesis are used in non-technical contexts to mean an untested idea or opinion. A theory in technical use is a more or less verified or established explanation accounting for known facts or phenomena: the theory of relativity. A hypothesis is a conjecture put forth as a possible explanation of phenomena or relations, which serves as a basis of argument or experimentation to reach the truth: This idea is only a hypothesis.

In this definition you see the scientific word for “theory” which is “hypothesis”. “Theory” is more commonly definition #1 out of the above “theory” definition. The key word to note is “verified”. Nothing is going to crop up that will suddenly disprove evolution, ever. How do I know this for certain?

Nylon eating bacteria
Wikipedia link describing a nylon eating bacteria that was discovered in 1975. If you didn’t know, nylon didn’t exist before 1935. The bacteria evolved specifically in a single factory. If you tried to claim that God simply brought life to that factory, why would he do so? It’s ridiculous to say that by sheer coincidence, God created life in an area where scientists say life would sprout. Actually, if you made that argument then what you are really doing is giving more credence to science. You’d be saying that science is able to predict the actions of God in some respect because it could put together the elements that would cause God to act.
So you see there is no argument against evolution any longer.

Though to be fair, there is no argument against God. The world is here and there is no disproving that the universe exists. If you could explain each thing that came into being, that would not disprove God who exists beyond our physical universe. If you knew each multiverse and alternate dimension, he would be beyond that. People believe in God though cannot either prove nor disprove him. The fight against science is a ridiculous one that only points out your own lack of faith. Believe in God, but review the evidence for science. You will find that both are correct.

Time

Every problem in this world is one that originates because of time. People fear the time they have left and so are prone to hasty actions. This affects everything from love to anger to suicide. Here are some quick examples.

1) You are in love. You can’t bear to wait to get to know the girl and you feel as if it wouldn’t change a thing. You plunge headlong into marriage without a regret until 10 years down the road where you might realise you were completely wrong.(Or possibly luckily, completely right.)

2) Someone has stepped on your new shoes. It left a smudge and you feel as if they won’t look as good as they did again. You’re angry that you spent so much money just to have it ruined by someone’s incompetence and so you begin to yell at them. Because of time constraints, you might determine the shoe not worth the time to clean. Granted time, you might seek solutions to fixing the problem. Given enough time, you would have been able to replay events and see that it was a harmless accident.

3) You are tired of this world. Nothing good comes of anything you do and you are good at nothing. The pain of merely existing is too much for you to bear and so you take your life. Had you the patience, those feelings would eventually cease. One thing that is certain in life is change.

I suffer from time constraints myself because I can’t type out enough words in my lifetime to make this an easy lesson to accept. Time is what heals every wound. Here is the kicker, time doesn’t truly exist. Time, as we know it, is as we’ve made it. Humanity created time in order to make our lives more efficient. We have a measurement of time that is built in to our bodies but it isn’t time as I’m describing it. Time is not what brings a dog to the door every day as you get home from work, but memory. At a certain light, with certain noises, he knows that you’ve arrived. He does not rush to meet you, even though he may run to meet you.

Time is that measurement of days, months, etc. It greatly influences your actions if you become obsessed with it and aren’t we all? High school children believe they must begin college within a few years of high school and to a good degree that is true because people lose interest after a while. In reality, time does not ultimately effect that decision so much as the person’s view on time. Would you give 10 years of your life, at 20, to have a career? Sure, that is not a bad price because you have 50 more years after that most likely. What if you had to give those 10 years at 30? You would then be halfway to your death bed just as you begin your career. Is that a scary thought? To someone chained by time it is!

To summarize, people are compelled by their views and feelings on time to make a great deal of decisions. It is therefore important to establish precisely what importance should be placed on time. Is it so important that you are here for a limited time? Why is that important to you?

As a bit of advice, I suggest patience in all things. If you have patience, you will find that things happen more quickly than you would expect and that life will be much more enjoyable.

Scientology

One of my favorite subjects.  Scientology remains a highly controversial recognized religion in the United States of America.  It was created in 1952 by L Ron Hubbard first under the name of Dianetics.  That name was later changed in order to gain religion status in 1953.  Scientology teaches that we are spiritual beings who have departed from our true nature, and that’s something I can agree with!  They have a large number of outreach programs all designed to help people and hopefully convert them to Scientology.  Unfortunately, there is a large amount of bad press and bad events surrounding Scientology.  Everyone should be aware of the Lisa McPherson, a girl whose death under the hands of Scientology lead to a large outcry against the church.  As I understand the story, without going to look it up again to verify my facts:  She was denied hospital care when it was obviously necessary.  Her corpse had been chewed up by roaches, showing that she wasn’t as attended to as Scientology claimed.  She was supposedly being held under their protection after suffering what seemed like a mental breakdown.

Scientology is against psychiatry and that puts them at odds with me.  I believe anyone who’s ill should recieve medical treatment, no matter their problem.  How can it be a question of morality, to calm a person down, or to reset their limbs?  If someone would die as a result of their beliefs, they should perhaps rethink them.  There aren’t many churches who believe that someone should resist hospital or pharmecutical care, but those that are are responsible for thousands of deaths each year.  Of course, Scientology is simply against treatment for mental health.  I disagree that there’s a difference between treating the mentally ill and treating someone who’s merely sprained their ankle.  Broken bones simply heal more quickly than a broken brain(which most often does not heal).  I apologize if the term “broken” offends anyone.

Scientology has a criminal history as well.  L Ron Hubbard’s wife and a list of top ranked Scientologists were involved in a criminal case some years ago.  Scientologists had infiltrated the government in order to gain control of political offices and benefit Scientology.  A large amount of private information had been stolen.  When they were caught, they were all unanimously found guilty of obstructing justice, burglary of government offices, and theft of documents and government property.  They also have a history of targetting people who speak about them in any sort of negative fashion so I’m a bit nervous as I write this.  Would they bother a little known blog?  Most likely.  We’ll see.  See ‘Operation Snow White’ on Wikipedia for further details.

Scientology has been picketed for quite some time now, over 10 years last I heard.  People stand across the street from or directly outside of church buildings and try to spread the word about what they believe is a cult. A large number of assaults have occured at these peaceful protests, with the aggressors often being Scientologists themselves.  Local off-duty police are often paid top dollar for security at these events.  I stand by my government however, so as long as they’re recognised as a religion, I won’t disagree.  However their beliefs are a bit hard to follow.

Having read Dianetics, I can’t make heads nor tails of anything.  When I read the Bible as a child, even the KJV was easier to understand after a while.  L Ron Hubbard’s style of writing seems insane and is nearly impossible to follow.  Maybe it’s because I write similarly, jumping from one topic to the next with no clear goal in sight, that I have such a hard time reading his books.  I noticed that in several chapters, there would only be about one paragraph of new information and the rest was repeats of former chapters.  Inturbulated the heck out of me.(That’s a word only Scientologists will get.)  I found that often while reading Dianetics, I had to take breaks in order to rest my brain.  It’s not that there was too much information, but because I could hear the man droning on and on as if he were in the room with me!  What an awful person he must have been to know.

What I did learn though, was that the beliefs of Scientology are not so bad in themselves.  They undertake a series of “audits” which are meetings where an “e-meter” is used to help people.  In these audits, the e-meter functions as a lie detector(which at the most basic level it is a GSR machine) and questions are asked to determine the emotional state of the one having the audit.  If emotions are detected, more questions are asked and a process begins by which the emotions are slowly broken down to make way for peace.  This has been criticized at times at being a form of self-hypnosis but it seems to really help people. From what I’ve seen over the years, the happiest members of Scientology are the ones who stay away from Flag and self-audit.  Once you get up into the upper levels, it’s just too much stress.

Scientologists believe that we’re all meant to be better people than we currently are.  They are against drug use, violence, and any crime at all for that matter.  They are closed off to outsiders because they believe that people of other religions often cause members to stumble.  Their open policy is that they are accepting of other religions but I haven’t seen that to be the case personally.

If Scientology were free and the actual church were disassembled, I’m sure it would not face any criticism that any other religion does.  Their actual beliefs aren’t bad at all.  It’s the organisation that causes all of the protests and problems.  I would recommend one look into the free alternatives to the Church of Scientology as there are some out there.  Or better yet…the Bible(NIV of course).

Here are some links so that you can learn more about Scientology yourself.
Scientology’s Wikipedia entry
Scientology’s official site
Xenu TV, a major opponent of Scientology’s Org
I highly recommend the third link, as the interviews are very interesting to see whether you know someone in Scientology, are in it yourself, or are thinking about entering Scientology. I think it’s a good idea to listen to the detractors, or to find the faults in something, before putting yourself into it. Just a bit of advice.

Honesty

Is honesty truly the best policy?

To what degree of honesty, if any, should we adhere to?

Suppose all that we tell each other are little white lies.  We are then left with self doubt and self esteem issues.  If you have a fat friend whose friends won’t say is fat, the lie is more than a little white one.  While it may make you feel uncomfortable, the truth might press the fat friend to a healthier lifestyle.  One you mostly likely need to take up as well.  If a woman wants to know how she looks in a dress, it’s important that she find out because as far as I know that’s the most important thing to the woman at the time.  Some more vindictive person might come by and undo your little white lie anyway.  The fat friend will constantly wonder if they’re attractive, which of course to some they are, and it will lead to some harsh realities when more honest people come around.  The woman in the dress will feel great and think they look wonderful and if they find out otherwise it will crush them all the more.

Total honesty then?  Maybe.  How would that play out?  You tell your fat friend that he/she’s fat and they may/may not listen.  You tell them that they will have a very hard time finding love, or a job, or a good heart transplant they’ll inevitably need.  They stop being your friend pretty quickly, I assure you.  The girl in the dress, even if she picks out another one on your insistance, may stop shopping with you and take someone else the next time.  People can’t handle total honesty.  They understand lies.

No honesty then?  That could work.  Your fat friend might still change without your insistance and you keep your friendship.  Later when other people are pointing out the world, you will fuel her fantasies that it isn’t so bad.  She might, due to the positive outlook, change anyway.  Although there’s always the other possibility that she’ll live in denial, that’s always possible no matter what you do.  The dress girl?  She goes out wearing a hideous dress, and if a vindictive woman shows up, you simply create a story about how she dated someone that the dress girl is dating now or something.  Now, not only does she want you with her when she’s shopping, she thanks you for being her protector in some ways.

It is assumed in each of the above paragraphs that you follow through with one type of lie.  If you’re a “white liar”, then you tell white lies to cover up white lies.  If you are totally dishonest then there is no moment of truth, so to speak.  I wrote this more to cover the types of dishonesty, because we all know that someone will lie at some point.  You tell a pregnant woman she’s fat.  I dare you.  How do I know you haven’t?  You’re alive. I believe that most people lie within a middle ground.  They lie to get themselves out of serious trouble or to protect those they love.  They tell white lies in order to keep from blowing a situation out of proportion.  Sometimes they just try to avoid situations in which they’ll have to lie or keep silent.

I will leave you to judge which of the types of dishonest I am and I promise to update daily from now on.

Qualifications

To be honest, I don’t have any.  I’m just a young man who believes that he has ideas ahead of his time.  I’ve had a lot of time to think and reflect and whether I’m right or not, I want to change the world.  I believe it’s a world that needs change and one that will change regardless of my input.  I also recognise it’s a foolish and arrogant statement that I could change the world.  However, I will give it a try.

What should change?  The way people think and act.  Sometimes specific examples will be given and sometimes I will touch on much broader problems.  I will touch on politics, personal beliefs, and popular opinions.  I hope that I can make at least a small change with my arguments but if I fail with this blog it won’t be the end.  After college and during my career I plan on releasing a series of self-help themed books.  This blog will serve as a useful experience towards that end.  I hope if it doesn’t serve to change your mind or educate that at least it will be entertaining.  Let’s hope together shall we?

Christian Outreach

I just happened upon a rather clever site by the name of X3 Church thanks to a good friend and it sparked an important topic in my mind.  Let me preface this by saying that I’m christian myself and that any criticisms I have for practicing christians are directed in what I hope is a constructive way.  I ask for your forgiveness in advance if I fail in that.  I recommend the cover video of the time of this post, EP 18 titled “Skate & Debate”.  It features Ron Jeremy in a debate about pornography.  I’m impressed that they chose someone who is eloquent and a good supporter of pornography, rather than just picking up any guy off the street.  The principle aim of this site is to draw people away from pornography and hopefully to Christ.

I picked a few videos at random and caught an evangelist doing a few things that don’t serve to convert in the slightest.  One big mistake is to try to use the bible to convert people.  I’m not saying that the bible doesn’t have a place, but most young people are bored at the thought of it.  Don’t reference any of the biblical material or offer them a chapter of the Gospel to read because that is just boring to them.  Of course if it seems that the person would be receptive to a certain passage, don’t hesitate to use it.  However, most of the time it only works against you as the person will see you as someone far too different.  Instead, describe the Bible and whatever message you have in your own words.  Paul wasn’t afraid to do that and neither should you.  Joel Osteen is a good modern day example of this trait.  Perhaps you could mention some of God’s promises.(Those certainly arouse my interest!)

Another big mistake is not knowing whether a person is receptive to hearing you speak or if they simply can’t find a way out of the conversation.  We mustn’t make learning about the Bible something that young people look at with dread.  Whatever you do, don’t make it seem at all like homework.  Give the person the option to walk away and don’t offer any remarks if they do.  A good phrase to use would be, “Is this boring you?  I guess you probably wish you were somewhere else right now, right?”  Make it funny if you must, to cover the awkwardness.  Try a few jokes.  Show them you aren’t a mindless puppet for God.

Don’t ever argue.  You aren’t there to prove your beliefs to an unreceptive audience.  You cannot win someone in faith with an argument of logic.  Should your argument succeed, you have only proven to them they were wrong in that instance.   You can’t imagine the number of arguments against christianity and you surely can’t disprove them all.  If they offer you an argument as a personal question, a stepping stone, then surely explain things to them.  However the moment you realise that it has become less a discussion and more a debate, it should end.  Christians should not be quick to anger, nor should we seem as if we need to prove our beliefs.  Do not let your pride take you to a place where you feel grander than you are.  These are traps of sin.

Above all else, my advice is to not be an evangelist.  I haven’t seen one that’s converted anyone but I’d like to be proven wrong.  The best evangelising you can do sometimes is to live by example as Paul recommended.  After all, becoming a Christian is a deeply personal decision.  Many people’s pride will keep them from saying that they heard an evangelist speak and that converted them unless it’s a rather noteworthy and effective evangelist.  The popular evangelists that you see on TV mostly just convert other christians from other denominations or schools of thought.  I’ve seen a sizeable number of people turn christian due to my good example, so I know it works (at least for me.)

One little side note of advice I could use myself.  I recall not being very taken by the word “convert” before I was christian and I’m not a very big fan of it now.  I’m not aware of another word to really use however, so for clarification’s sake it stayed.