dogbreath

The tragic case of two college girls who looked like twins. They were involved in a crash and one was killed. Mistakes at the scene meant that the girl who died was thought to be the survivor and vice versa. The family who thought their daughter survived spent 5 weeks at her hospital bedside praying for her recovery from serious injuries and a coma. The parents of the "dead" girl were grief stricken and buried who they thought was their daughter.

As it turned out, the identities were mixed up. The parents of the "dead" girl discovered 5 weeks later that their daughter was alive. The parents who had prayed all that time discovered they had been praying for someone else's child - their own daughter was dead.

It was a horrible case. My question is this. Both families were deepely religious, originally claiming the work of god in both cases. The "surviving" daughter was claimed to be spared by god.

So, was god just playing a sick joke? Is this an example of prayer working?

This is a serious question. Evolution is not a belief system, but an imperfect explanation of how life evolved. It's based on excellent, but incomplete evidence. Each new discovery adds to this knowledge.

Creationists criticize science because there is no complete proof. They say that until every step of the fossil evidence is in place...well, I still don't think they'll accept it, but you get my point. They even undermine great science by casting doubtful aspersions when evidence is irrefutable, such as dna progression.

However, creationists do not demand the same of their own belief system. They require zero scientific evidence, they have no wish to subject their beliefs in creation to scientific enquiry. They have no scientific proof of anything.

How come the double standard?

What is it about Republican ideas that is consistent with their interpretation of the bible?

I ask this because of the pathetic, gutless silence of any christians who are Democrat.

Can anyone cite any evidence where this has been repeated? And I mean scietific evidence...not some quote from the bible.

The Christian Church of England is the established church. There is no separation of Church and state, although there is a separation of powers of legislature, executive and judiciary - the church has appointees in the legislative and executive branch of government.

The US has a "stated" separation of church and state with no established church. It also has similar separation of powers with no overt religious involvement.

However, religion (predominantly Christian) traumatizes debate in the US - from abortion to gay marriage. Whilst these issues are strong in the Uk the religious basis for the debate is less perceptible.

Is it just that the US is more juvenile in the way that it conducts discussion of these issues? Or is religion too powerful an interest and lobbying group? I don't think the UK is right and the US is wrong, but the UK seems more mature in the way it conducts these debates.

I'd be interested in any perspective.

What evidence links the alignment of planets in space at a specific point in time with the claimed ability to descibe a person's traits and personality and make predictions about their life chances on a daily basis (horoscope)?

Remember...the question asks for EVIDENCE>

Rather than wear all that padding and face make-up, why don't they test themselves in a proper game...like rugby? Or at least get rid of all that ridiculous padding...the make-up can look quite nice with the right shade and highlights!!!!

Most questions seem to lose steam after about 20-30 responses. Which question got the most responses of any posted?

I know many Republicans (and a fair number of Democrats) winced in pain over Clinton's contortions on truth, but, what about Bush? How can a person who claims such religiosity act so dishonestly, whether over de-classifying information after stating he wanted no "leaking", or telling blatant lies over the invasion of Iraq? Doesn't this administration represent a morally reprehensible standard of public behavior?

Before all our Republicans pile in...I was also sharply critical of Clinton's lieing...and Nixon's...and Reagan's..........

This phrase is in common usage by pretty much everyone in the US, including blacks describing themselves. As a pinkish skinned person, am I not also "a person of color?" In the UK this phrase would be seen as racist. I'm just interested in what people think.

Let's just take the King James' version. Has this been written exactly as god intended? Despite all the imperfect recollections of events (often written hundreds of years after the events being described)?

What about the recent discovery of the book of Judas? How do you know it wasn't god's intention to include this book in the bible? And if he didn't want it included, why was it written and why did he allow it to be discovered?

I'm intrigued to discover why Christians believe the selection process, that involved so many independent people over time, perfectly aligned to create the exact words and version of events god intended?

If the only thing you can say is "because god intended it this way", don't bother posting - I'd like an intelligent response.

Precisely the same scientific methodology that has been used to identify, date and sequence the ancient documents believed to be the basis for christianity, has been used to prove the identified steps in the fossil record of evolution.

Neither record is complete and gaps abound. Despite continued discoveries that show the ancient scriptures to be the work of man (selectively interpreting events to suit the political and social beliefs of the day, often hundreds of years after the events they say they are describing), why do christians fully accept what science has discovered about the scriptures, but deny what that same scientific methodology has discovered about evolution?

Scientists have made one of the most important fossil finds in history: a missing link between fish and land animals, showing how creatures first walked out of the water and on to dry land more than 375m years ago. This discovery will be a major blow to those creationists who believe in Intelligent Design. This discovery of an animal that straddles the gap between water and land-based animals fills a gap that had previously the subject of speculation. Read the news article here

http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/story/0,,1747926...

This is another nail in the coffin of those who believe that evolution is a myth. Any chance of a sensible response? Maybe one based on some scientifically testable evidence?

I've been pondering on this for a while!!!

I ask this question because today (March 31 2006) saw the publication of the most extensive scientific study (led by a Doctor who supports prayer as part of healing) that has yet been undertaken into the effect of prayer on healing. One finding was that, at best, prayer has a neutral effect (in other words, a waste of time), and in another case it found a negative effect (it was associated with incidents of extreme complication following surgery). A link to the news story is below.

http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/2006-03-30-pra...