For countless centuries, human inhabitants of this planet called Earth had a geocentric state of mind. They believed that the Earth was the center of the universe and everything, including the sun, orbited around this small spherical body. There were a few observers through the years that started to truly study the sky and began to lay the pieces of the puzzle out to construct. Copernicus was the first to put the puzzle together by coming out and saying that the Earth orbited the Sun. Later, Galileo invented the telescope to observe far off celestial bodies, and with this was able to examine the paths of orbiting planets and moons and confirmed what Copernicus had stated.
This concept went against everything that the church believed. As a matter of fact, Galileo was excommunicated from the Catholic Church, but kept his strong faith in God. Over time, with insurmountable evidence, the church finally adopted the heliocentric construction to our solar system. Now, almost five centuries after Galileo left this planet, science is in an ever heated battle with religion yet again. This time it is dealing with how life came to be on this planet. Science shows steady changes to species over time so those species can adapt to their environment and ensure their thriving through time (barring any major catastrophe). These small, steady mutations are the basis of evolution, or the survival of the fittest. There are countless species of birds on this planet all with different designs beaks, wings and feet. Some have webbed feet to allow them to tread through water easier, others have talons to grasp their prey while they fly. Pelicans have an expandable pouch to scoop up water with fish so they don't have to land to eat where as the seagull does not. These are variable traits over time to allow these different species to survive and thrive.
Yes, it took the church many of years to accept the fact that we are not the center of the universe, eventually they will come to the conclusion showing that evolution is a fact and not a belief. Galileo never gave up his faith, but stood by the scientific evidence of the heliocentric concept. Why is accepting what Darwin observed blasphemous? We see changes in our own species over time. We as a species have gotten taller over time. George Washington was 6 feet 2 inches at the time of his death, that was considered tall for his time, today that is average. We are adapting, height is a favorable trait to have, it shows dominance. Accept the fact that evolution is out there, we all evolve, we're just waiting for you.
Saturday, July 30, 2011
Wednesday, July 27, 2011
A Choice...
We encounter scores of choices on a daily basis; what shoes to wear, what to get to eat on lunch, should I pass the cop on the interstate if they're going below the speed limit? A lot of these are minimal and seem like they won't impact our everyday life (unless you read up on Quantum Theory, but that's well beyond what this is going into). We have choices galore here in the United States, most people choose to believe that science is absolutely wrong when discussing the fact of evolution. I don't mind one bit having an intelligent conversation in regards to creation vs. evolution, the validity of The Bible or how hypocritical many practitioners of religion appear to be, but there are places that are appropriate for these discussions, and I'd say that ninety percent of the time work is not a good place to have a discussion on topics such as these, a better choice could have been made.
Homosexuality is not a choice. It is a biological anomaly that has changed the face of the modern world. In 1993, President Clinton initiated an Executive Order banning gays serving openly in the military with Don't Ask, Don't Tell. One may argue that this would not infringe on any civil rights, but I wonder how many conversations were held between troops about how much they enjoyed the dancers at one of the many exotic bars in a military town, or the hot piece of ass they got from the club over the weekend. This is flaunting heterosexuality in the open and this is perfectly acceptable, despite the fact that these were the same practices in Sodom and Gomorrah before the Lord rained down fire and brimstone. It took nearly 20 years for our society to realize just how wrong Don't Ask Don't Tell was and urge the government to take action.
Now to say there is a "Gay Gene" or not is a bit ridiculous at this point in time. Yes, we have decoded the human genome, but not one gene stood out, what we did find upon further research is that 60% of the sample did share similar genes on 3 different chromosomes (read here), simply put homosexuality is no more a choice than how tall you are. Homosexuals have pheromones and hormones just like heterosexuals that stimulate their physical attraction to others, it's nothing that can just be prayed away, no more than crabs, lobsters and swine can be prayed away (more of God's abominations).
Another thing, if you're going to say that your ancestors are Adam & Eve, not monkeys and then an hour later agree with someone saying that human species started in Africa millions of years ago, either you believe the Bible is open to interpretation and flawed by man or are blindly following what you are being taught. You are free to choose what your beliefs are, but there are irrefutable evidence that life on Earth is far greater in age than six thousand years old like the Bible teaches; we don't find human, let alone chimp, remains with dinosaur remains in the fossil record. Evolution is not an attack on faith; faith and worship falls into a societal belief system (often examined in Social Studies classes) while fossils, rocks, carbon and everything surrounding us down to the molecular level can be physically examined (often studied in a science class). This is why evolution is taught in science compared to creation, or it's new cool nickname Intelligent Design. With the scientific method, you work to the answer, not give the answer and work from it. Intelligent Design, Creationism and sadly Flying Spaghetti Monsterism have no place in science books. Evolution may be a trick from the Flying Spaghetti Monster to test our faith, but since there has been a great decrease in pirates as global warming increases, there are fewer prophets out there to spread his noodly word to the masses.
The bottom line is that we are all brothers and sisters on this floating rock ideally placed far enough away not to be scorched by the sun but still close enough to benefit from the heat it puts off. No matter what you study, we all come from a common ancestor whether it be Adam & Eve or rely on scientific proof showing our decent from chimpanzees. There are millions upon millions of genes that can be activated and deactivated over time. Whales have the gene to grow legs, we as humans still have the gene to grow a tail. We don't see whales walking with legs or humans wagging their tails out of excitement because these genes have been turned off biologically to benefit the survival of the species. So whether you are black, white, yellow, brown, heterosexual, homosexual, transgender, intergender or just have questions, stop the hate and ignorance. We are all citizens of this planet, not by choice but by chance and we're all here for the same reason, to make the best of what we're given and survive.
Homosexuality is not a choice. It is a biological anomaly that has changed the face of the modern world. In 1993, President Clinton initiated an Executive Order banning gays serving openly in the military with Don't Ask, Don't Tell. One may argue that this would not infringe on any civil rights, but I wonder how many conversations were held between troops about how much they enjoyed the dancers at one of the many exotic bars in a military town, or the hot piece of ass they got from the club over the weekend. This is flaunting heterosexuality in the open and this is perfectly acceptable, despite the fact that these were the same practices in Sodom and Gomorrah before the Lord rained down fire and brimstone. It took nearly 20 years for our society to realize just how wrong Don't Ask Don't Tell was and urge the government to take action.
Now to say there is a "Gay Gene" or not is a bit ridiculous at this point in time. Yes, we have decoded the human genome, but not one gene stood out, what we did find upon further research is that 60% of the sample did share similar genes on 3 different chromosomes (read here), simply put homosexuality is no more a choice than how tall you are. Homosexuals have pheromones and hormones just like heterosexuals that stimulate their physical attraction to others, it's nothing that can just be prayed away, no more than crabs, lobsters and swine can be prayed away (more of God's abominations).
Another thing, if you're going to say that your ancestors are Adam & Eve, not monkeys and then an hour later agree with someone saying that human species started in Africa millions of years ago, either you believe the Bible is open to interpretation and flawed by man or are blindly following what you are being taught. You are free to choose what your beliefs are, but there are irrefutable evidence that life on Earth is far greater in age than six thousand years old like the Bible teaches; we don't find human, let alone chimp, remains with dinosaur remains in the fossil record. Evolution is not an attack on faith; faith and worship falls into a societal belief system (often examined in Social Studies classes) while fossils, rocks, carbon and everything surrounding us down to the molecular level can be physically examined (often studied in a science class). This is why evolution is taught in science compared to creation, or it's new cool nickname Intelligent Design. With the scientific method, you work to the answer, not give the answer and work from it. Intelligent Design, Creationism and sadly Flying Spaghetti Monsterism have no place in science books. Evolution may be a trick from the Flying Spaghetti Monster to test our faith, but since there has been a great decrease in pirates as global warming increases, there are fewer prophets out there to spread his noodly word to the masses.
The bottom line is that we are all brothers and sisters on this floating rock ideally placed far enough away not to be scorched by the sun but still close enough to benefit from the heat it puts off. No matter what you study, we all come from a common ancestor whether it be Adam & Eve or rely on scientific proof showing our decent from chimpanzees. There are millions upon millions of genes that can be activated and deactivated over time. Whales have the gene to grow legs, we as humans still have the gene to grow a tail. We don't see whales walking with legs or humans wagging their tails out of excitement because these genes have been turned off biologically to benefit the survival of the species. So whether you are black, white, yellow, brown, heterosexual, homosexual, transgender, intergender or just have questions, stop the hate and ignorance. We are all citizens of this planet, not by choice but by chance and we're all here for the same reason, to make the best of what we're given and survive.
Sunday, July 10, 2011
The Sanctity of Life
Last week in Orlando, FL a jury acquitted Casey Anthony for the murder of her daughter. The majority of Americans cried foul at the verdict. Granted there was a lot of suspicion in this case, first and foremost the month that Caylee was missing before the authorities were notified. Every individual brought to trial in the United States has the right to a quick and speedy trial granted to us by the Sixth Amendment to the Constitution of the Untied States. The defendant is also innocent until proven guilty. This last section is the most important detail in this case as the prosecution failed to provide reliable physical evidence tying Casey to the death of her daughter. We can blame the jury all we want, but they executed their civic duty as instructed by the court. It was the prosecution that dropped the ball on this, not the jury.
Where the real crime lies in this is after the verdict was read. The family of Casey Anthony, Caylee's grandparents, embraced Casey jubilantly. This little girl left this Earth three years ago, she would be getting ready for kindergarten this summer, but there has been no mention of the family asking for the authorities to continue the search for the real killer. We can debate all we want now whether Casey killed her child or not but we will be wasting breath because Double Jeopardy prevents her from being tried for the same murder again. Nobody saw it suspicious that Casey's father attempted suicide not long after Caylee was reported missing and found on his property? Now Casey is off scott-free and is being made offers for her story. She is going to become rich off the blood of her child who is still seeking justice as she lies in state in the ground rather than growing up playing with Barbie dolls and Legos.
A few days later there was a baseball game in Arlington, TX. Josh Hamilton caught a routine foul ball and being the final out of the inning, he tossed the ball into the stands to give a fan the opportunity to get a ball at a game. Those not familiar with the layout of the field in Arlington, the wall in right field, where Josh Hamilton was playing that day, is about 18 feet high and there is a gap between the wall and the stands, so the stands are about 20 feet up from the ground. As the ball was making its way to the stands, a father at the game with his 6 year old son was trying to make the day all the more special for his son by catching the ball. He lost his balance and tumbled head first over the railing between the bleachers and the wall hitting the concrete below. Tragically Shannon Stone died in this fall.
In this incident media outlets kept airing video of this one man falling to his death as his poor son looked on. Rather than being respectful to the family of the departed, media outlets were only looking for ratings with the shock factor. Today is 7/11/11 and this video is sadly still on YouTube for the world to see. When American prisoners were being decapitated by terrorists in Afghanistan and Iraq, the media did not show this out of respect to the families, but this video is still available online to be viewed. There is no doubt that this child will be scared for life from witnessing the death of his father and yet media outlets showed this video and made money off of it.
The crime in these two incidents is the potential for profiting off of the loss of life. If Casey was truly innocent why hasn't she urged the police to find the true killer rather than trying to strike a book deal with the diary she kept in prison or advice book? Ratings numbers are not as important as the well being of a child and family that tragically lost their father in a freak accident. Profiting off another's loss is the true crime people and this is what needs to stop. I hope one day we'll be able to see this.
Where the real crime lies in this is after the verdict was read. The family of Casey Anthony, Caylee's grandparents, embraced Casey jubilantly. This little girl left this Earth three years ago, she would be getting ready for kindergarten this summer, but there has been no mention of the family asking for the authorities to continue the search for the real killer. We can debate all we want now whether Casey killed her child or not but we will be wasting breath because Double Jeopardy prevents her from being tried for the same murder again. Nobody saw it suspicious that Casey's father attempted suicide not long after Caylee was reported missing and found on his property? Now Casey is off scott-free and is being made offers for her story. She is going to become rich off the blood of her child who is still seeking justice as she lies in state in the ground rather than growing up playing with Barbie dolls and Legos.
A few days later there was a baseball game in Arlington, TX. Josh Hamilton caught a routine foul ball and being the final out of the inning, he tossed the ball into the stands to give a fan the opportunity to get a ball at a game. Those not familiar with the layout of the field in Arlington, the wall in right field, where Josh Hamilton was playing that day, is about 18 feet high and there is a gap between the wall and the stands, so the stands are about 20 feet up from the ground. As the ball was making its way to the stands, a father at the game with his 6 year old son was trying to make the day all the more special for his son by catching the ball. He lost his balance and tumbled head first over the railing between the bleachers and the wall hitting the concrete below. Tragically Shannon Stone died in this fall.
In this incident media outlets kept airing video of this one man falling to his death as his poor son looked on. Rather than being respectful to the family of the departed, media outlets were only looking for ratings with the shock factor. Today is 7/11/11 and this video is sadly still on YouTube for the world to see. When American prisoners were being decapitated by terrorists in Afghanistan and Iraq, the media did not show this out of respect to the families, but this video is still available online to be viewed. There is no doubt that this child will be scared for life from witnessing the death of his father and yet media outlets showed this video and made money off of it.
The crime in these two incidents is the potential for profiting off of the loss of life. If Casey was truly innocent why hasn't she urged the police to find the true killer rather than trying to strike a book deal with the diary she kept in prison or advice book? Ratings numbers are not as important as the well being of a child and family that tragically lost their father in a freak accident. Profiting off another's loss is the true crime people and this is what needs to stop. I hope one day we'll be able to see this.
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