Todd

[Purple Haze]

The eyeball is an amazing thing, imperfect as it is. (lots of people still need glasses)

A very good friend of mine is an atheist. He posesses a very high IQ, he's extremely self-educated and has what I consider to be very good taste in art and music. He's funny, considerate, caring, generous and is as non-violent as a good christian is supposed to be. There isn't a mean bone in his body. I love him like a brother.

What drives me a little insane about the guy is his quick dismissal of any theory that doesn't have scientific proof. If you've seen a miracle, he'll produce a scientific theory why it happened or didn't happen, but many of his theories will fall short of what I consider to be "proof". If you've seen a ghost, (I have) he'll be so sure it that there must be some chemical reaction of the brain that caused this illusion, but he still hasn't proven it didn't happen anymore than I can prove it did. Ironically, one of his other best friends is a devout catholic (is there really such a thing?) who is just as firm with his belief that all the answers are in one book. How these people with diometrically opposed opinions haven't killed each other, but have stayed the best of friends for decades is a miracle in itself.

Teach the bible in public school? Absolutely not. There are plenty of private schools that do because America is free. The separation of church and state needs to be fought for on all fronts. Religon+Politics=Violence. It's been proven.

 

[Dixon Carter Lee]

Your friend sounds exactly like me, and I would very likely look at what happened to you and offer up similair mind trick theories to explain what you saw.

But...

I don't offer them neccessarily as proof (though I have proved a few ghost stories wrong in my day, to the great disapppointment of a few family members), but I offer them as much more likely explanations. Science isn't concerned with "truth" per sey, but with "the best truth available given the facts and circumstances". If you saw something strange and said it was a ghost I would offer you several "closer to the truth" scenarios, just like your friend would.

It's not that I don't believe in ghosts or the supernatural (I don't), it's more that I see many more likely possibilities to explain seemingly mytic phenomenon.

 

[Azwed]

Don't get me started on evolution. Really, don't. But since you have...

Creation is entirely possible, since science has not yet been able to synthesize life. But that is the point the 2 branch drastically off at.

I swear I read some where about a year ago about some lab managing to get Amino Acids to link up in an experiment Not really life but the very beginning basic building blocks of life and only a small step away from synthesizing single cell simple life forms.

 

[Purple Haze]

It's not that I don't believe in ghosts or the supernatural (I don't),

Does this mean you don't believe, or you don't not believe?

The world is full of phoney hocus pocus, but to dismiss all of it as a bunch of hooey, is closing off possibilities. THAT is not good science. Things like telepathy, UFO's, spirits and miracles DO exist. Because they can't be explained scientifically doesn't mean they don't exist.

(Spock voice) Eliminating possibilities is not logical, Jim.