(A conversation between alice, the niece, and Alice of Underland, a queen.)
Oh Alice, said alice, to Alice the Queen,
Please tell me the tale of an Underland scene.
Just read me a story of bloody, red gore.
I can't bear to hear about fairies no more.
Please read me the book of the Red Queen's demise,
And tell me again, about Hatter's green eyes.
And when we have finished your book with the cat,
Please take me to Underland, travelled by hat.
Said Alice to alice, Perhaps when you're six,
I'll smuggle you there on a bundle of sticks.
Then maybe you'll shrink to the size of a toad,
And hide in a hat by the side of the road;
Or grow to be taller than tall as can be.
You'll maybe be taller than even a tree.
However you manage to somehow arrive,
You have to be careful to even survive.
Oh Alice, said alice, to Alice the Queen,
I think you are hiding the things you have seen.
It isn't quite fair you can go take a hike
To Underland's castle whenever you like.
It can't be as bad as you make it to be,
You went there when you were no older than me.
I want to see battles with rivers of blood.
I mean, if you will, I'll be ever so good.
Said Alice to alice. My favorite niece,
I know what you want and it isn't just peace.
You bloodthirsty hellion, life cannot be
All slashing and slaying, sometimes it's just tea.
Sometimes it is boring, for weeks upon years.
And sometimes it's painful and brimming with tears.
But if you can patiently wait, with no tricks,
I'll take you to Wonderland when you are six.
Friday, June 15, 2012
Friday, May 25, 2012
Words - If evolution is true
If evolution is true --- that all living things are descendents of a single cell --- then all simple, or single-celled, organisms will have simpler and shorter DNA than more complex, multi-celled organisms. And mankind, the supposed peak of evolution, will have the longest and most complicated DNA of all.
Generic human (picture by Leonardo via Wikipedia)
But human DNA is only 3 billion base pairs of DNA long. This is shorter than the DNA of the marbled lungfish, which has 130 billion base pairs of DNA.
Marbled Lungfish (picture via Wikipedia)
Also, human DNA is far shorter than the 150 billion base pairs of DNA to be found in the simple flower Paris Japonica.
Paris Japonica (picture via Wikipedia)
And human DNA is about 10 times shorter than the 290 billion base pairs of DNA to be found in the single-celled Amoeba proteus.
Generic amoeba (drawing via Wikipedia)
So, if we measure evolutionary intelligence by the complexity of our DNA, Amoebas may be the genius, and humans can sometimes be dumber than rocks.
Saturday, May 19, 2012
Cambrian Extinction
Wait. What?
Michael Behe ("Darwin's Black Box") says that the Cambrian Explosion (of most life forms) happened in only 10 million years. Why would anyone think that?
When you look at the fossil layer labelled the "Cambrian" period, you are not actually looking at a deposition laid down over ten million years. You are looking at what should be called the "Cambrian Extinction." This layer is evidence of a near-extinction by one or more cataclysmic floods which happened in an instant of geologic time. The thickness of such a layer of fossils does not begin to tell us how many years may have happened before this event. The lack of fossil evidence of all of that Cambrian life possibly evolving over the previous hundreds of millions of years only shows that life cleans up after itself.
This is why we are not hip-deep in skeletal remains. Life feeds on life, and just a few short years after death, there is nothing left of a dead body. It is only in very exceptional circumstances that a body can leave visible evidence: Buried in a peat bog, frozen in a high-altitude cave, desiccated in a desert, or buried in the mud of a river or flood.
In my opinion, people should stop assuming that all fossil layers were laid down slowly and gradually over millions of years. If that were the case, then the fossils would not exist because life would have consumed them. If you are going to believe in the theory of Evolution, then use the brain God gave you: The fossils were obviously laid down as the result of a great flood. You can use the lack of fossil evidence prior to that flood layer as evidence that life was alive and well, doing what life does best: consuming itself.
Do I believe that the Cambrian fossils were deposited as the result of a great flood? Absolutely! There is fossil evidence of this from the deepest desert to the top of Mt. Everest.
Do I believe that the Cambrian life-forms evolved in the millions of years before this flood-event? Sorry, I don't have enough faith to believe in something with no evidence.
Thursday, May 17, 2012
2012-05-17 Books --- Darwin's Black Box
"Darwin's Black Box," by Michael J. Behe, gives a detailed exposition of the chemical machines to be found within living cells. This is probably more about cell biology than any of us ever wanted to know. But the point is, every little thing has a cause. If our theories cannot identify or explain the little causes then, either science has not progressed to the point where we can see the causes, or the theories are telling us lies based on wishful thinking.
Behe goes on to propose that the irreducible complexity of some cellular processes should lead the astute thinker to conclude that Intelligent Design, rather than random Evolution, caused life. But he still claims to believe in Evolution in spite of its lack of evidence.
Behe goes on to propose that the irreducible complexity of some cellular processes should lead the astute thinker to conclude that Intelligent Design, rather than random Evolution, caused life. But he still claims to believe in Evolution in spite of its lack of evidence.
Saturday, May 5, 2012
Oopsie - High Wizardry
In the book "High Wizardry," the third book of Diane Duane's Young Wizards series there seems to be a discrepancy. Page two and three has Nita conversing with a "catbird" in the back yard elm tree which was making "an enthusiastic but substandard imitation of a blue jay." She promises the bird a half a muffin to take a message to Kit.
Then, in the next-to-last page of the story, just after returning to the back yard, we read: "In the elm tree, a mockingbird was doing blue jay imitations and demanding muffins."
Presumably this is the same bird. So, is it supposed to be the Gray Catbird (Dumetella Carolinensis) or the Northern Mockingbird (Mimus Polyglottos)? The description on page three, "In a whir of white-barred wings, the catbird was gone," tells us it is a mockingbird and not a catbird. The Northern Mockingbird has white bars on the underside of its wings, but the Gray Catbird does not.
This oopsie is probably not something you would notice unless you, like me, have read the book at least five times.
Then, in the next-to-last page of the story, just after returning to the back yard, we read: "In the elm tree, a mockingbird was doing blue jay imitations and demanding muffins."
Presumably this is the same bird. So, is it supposed to be the Gray Catbird (Dumetella Carolinensis) or the Northern Mockingbird (Mimus Polyglottos)? The description on page three, "In a whir of white-barred wings, the catbird was gone," tells us it is a mockingbird and not a catbird. The Northern Mockingbird has white bars on the underside of its wings, but the Gray Catbird does not.
This oopsie is probably not something you would notice unless you, like me, have read the book at least five times.
Sunday, April 29, 2012
Words - Abiogenesis
The first fly appeared as if by magic; its wings added a mother-of-pearl glitter to the ground beneath. Looking closely at the brown and shadowed dirt as it warmed in the light of the rising sun, I could see another fly, and then another. It was like an optical illusion: as if the dirt itself were turning into flies. There were soon five, ten, twenty flies, and some of them began to take flight, buzzing slowly around, over the garden.
Faced with this plague of flies, I quickly ran into the house, returned with a spray-can of Raid insecticide, and began spraying both the air and the ground as flies by the dozen continued to appear from the dirt and take to the air. Within half an hour all of the flies were dead or gone, and the plague was over.
Abiogenesis is a word which means life beginning from non-living matter. I have seen this with my own eyes, so I understand why people up through the late 1800's used to believe it. But the science of Biology was founded on the disproving of abiogenesis. Life never comes from non-living matter. Life always comes from existing life of the same kind.
Thinking back to the warm afternoon when we had rototilled the dirt for that garden, I remember the small pile of dead fish lying under the shade of the almond tree, attracting the attention of a dozen flies. We buried those fish six inches under the soft dirt at one end of the garden. The same end of the garden where the flies later appeared.
Science is founded on testing and observation. If you want the truth, you look at the evidence. Not just the evidence that presents itself before your eyes, but all of the evidence. So, even though I did not see it, I understand that the flies which landed on the fish under the almond tree, laid eggs on those fish. And later, even though the fish were dead and buried, the fly-eggs hatched into a swarm of maggots, and those maggots grew into a swarm of flies that, when grown, struggled up through the loose dirt to appear in the sunshine before my very eyes early one morning.
Everything that begins to exist, has a cause.
Back in 1668 an Italian named Francesco Redi proved that maggots come from eggs laid by flies. He set out meat in different containers. Some were sealed shut. Others were screened to keep out flies. And others were open to allow flies to land on the meat. In the end, maggots grew only on the meat in the open containers where the flies had landed on it.
In 1859 Louis Pasteur won a contest for the best experiment that disproved spontaneous generation (abiogenesis) of bacteria. He boiled meat broth in a glass flask with an S-shaped neck to keep dust from settling on the broth. Even though the broth was open to the air, the dust would settle by gravity in the s-bend of the neck of the flask. The broth remained clear because no microorganisms magically appeared it it. But after the flask was tipped to bring the broth into contact with any dust in the neck of the flask, the broth soon became cloudy with microscopic life. Pastuer declared, in essence, "Spontaneous Generation is dead."
These two experiments are part of the foundation of biological science. They proved, for the world, that life does not magically appear without cause from non-living matter. Abiogenesis is not true.
So why is evolutionism trying to return science to the dark ages by resurrecting abiogenesis?
Faced with this plague of flies, I quickly ran into the house, returned with a spray-can of Raid insecticide, and began spraying both the air and the ground as flies by the dozen continued to appear from the dirt and take to the air. Within half an hour all of the flies were dead or gone, and the plague was over.
Abiogenesis is a word which means life beginning from non-living matter. I have seen this with my own eyes, so I understand why people up through the late 1800's used to believe it. But the science of Biology was founded on the disproving of abiogenesis. Life never comes from non-living matter. Life always comes from existing life of the same kind.
Thinking back to the warm afternoon when we had rototilled the dirt for that garden, I remember the small pile of dead fish lying under the shade of the almond tree, attracting the attention of a dozen flies. We buried those fish six inches under the soft dirt at one end of the garden. The same end of the garden where the flies later appeared.
Science is founded on testing and observation. If you want the truth, you look at the evidence. Not just the evidence that presents itself before your eyes, but all of the evidence. So, even though I did not see it, I understand that the flies which landed on the fish under the almond tree, laid eggs on those fish. And later, even though the fish were dead and buried, the fly-eggs hatched into a swarm of maggots, and those maggots grew into a swarm of flies that, when grown, struggled up through the loose dirt to appear in the sunshine before my very eyes early one morning.
Everything that begins to exist, has a cause.
Back in 1668 an Italian named Francesco Redi proved that maggots come from eggs laid by flies. He set out meat in different containers. Some were sealed shut. Others were screened to keep out flies. And others were open to allow flies to land on the meat. In the end, maggots grew only on the meat in the open containers where the flies had landed on it.
In 1859 Louis Pasteur won a contest for the best experiment that disproved spontaneous generation (abiogenesis) of bacteria. He boiled meat broth in a glass flask with an S-shaped neck to keep dust from settling on the broth. Even though the broth was open to the air, the dust would settle by gravity in the s-bend of the neck of the flask. The broth remained clear because no microorganisms magically appeared it it. But after the flask was tipped to bring the broth into contact with any dust in the neck of the flask, the broth soon became cloudy with microscopic life. Pastuer declared, in essence, "Spontaneous Generation is dead."
These two experiments are part of the foundation of biological science. They proved, for the world, that life does not magically appear without cause from non-living matter. Abiogenesis is not true.
So why is evolutionism trying to return science to the dark ages by resurrecting abiogenesis?
Sunday, April 8, 2012
Words --- High School = Hunger Games
So, you are in high school? Congratulations, and welcome to the Hunger Games. The only difference is, almost all of you will survive because, after all, actually killing each other is a capital offense. But in the end, the question is this: Will you survive as an Ally by helping other people? Or will you survive as a Career Tribute by making fun of other people and tormenting them?
Will you be an ally like Rue, who kept Katniss alive and hidden for two days while she was helpless? Will you be an ally like Peeta, who refused to give up caring for other people, who refused to become the traitor that others wanted him to be? Will you be an ally like Katniss, who stepped up and volunteered to go to certain death (or in the case of high school, popularity death) instead of someone else?
Or, because you are fast, strong, beautiful, or likable, will you band together with other Career Tributes in order to torment and humiliate those you think are not worth your care and consideration?
Hour by hour, day by day, we are given many opportunities to help and care for other people, even by doing such little things as smiling at someone, or listening to someone, or, as Jesus said, by giving them a cup of water.
If, instead, we participate with the in-group's game of talking trash about other people --- If, instead of caring for people, we stand at the back of the crowd and don't speak out against the bullying and tormenting, then we are guilty of abetting the conspiracy, we are guilty of aiding the evil which is being done.
So, welcome to high school. Welcome to the Arena. This is where you learn to be the person you want to become. Will you conquer your fear and step forth to stand up for what is right and good? Or, will you cringe back to hide behind the crowd, allowing evil to succeed in crushing the weak?
Remember this. When your name was called out at the Reaping to send you to your death, it was Jesus who cried out and said, "No! Take me instead."
Will you be an ally like Rue, who kept Katniss alive and hidden for two days while she was helpless? Will you be an ally like Peeta, who refused to give up caring for other people, who refused to become the traitor that others wanted him to be? Will you be an ally like Katniss, who stepped up and volunteered to go to certain death (or in the case of high school, popularity death) instead of someone else?
Or, because you are fast, strong, beautiful, or likable, will you band together with other Career Tributes in order to torment and humiliate those you think are not worth your care and consideration?
Hour by hour, day by day, we are given many opportunities to help and care for other people, even by doing such little things as smiling at someone, or listening to someone, or, as Jesus said, by giving them a cup of water.
If, instead, we participate with the in-group's game of talking trash about other people --- If, instead of caring for people, we stand at the back of the crowd and don't speak out against the bullying and tormenting, then we are guilty of abetting the conspiracy, we are guilty of aiding the evil which is being done.
So, welcome to high school. Welcome to the Arena. This is where you learn to be the person you want to become. Will you conquer your fear and step forth to stand up for what is right and good? Or, will you cringe back to hide behind the crowd, allowing evil to succeed in crushing the weak?
Remember this. When your name was called out at the Reaping to send you to your death, it was Jesus who cried out and said, "No! Take me instead."
Friday, March 16, 2012
Poetry --- Psalms 22
Archive, first draft from 2011-07-19
My God, My God, please hear my plea.
Oh, why have You forsaken me?
You are so far from saving me,
And from my words of misery.
Oh God, My God, I cry by day,
but not one word I've heard You say.
By night I pray but have no rest,
No comfort comes, no welcome guest.
But You are true, and praised by all.
They trusted You and did not fall.
They cried to You and were set free.
They hoped in You and did not flee.
A crimson worm, I'm not a man;
But scorned by men, despised by them.
They sneer at me, stick out their tongue;
They wag their head and call me dung.
Commit to God! Go on! Be brave!
Let's see if God will really save.
Since God has said, "This is My Son,"
Come! Prove to us that you're the one.
Yet You are He who brought me forth;
Who made me trust in You from birth.
Stay close to me as trouble comes,
For no one else can lead me home.
The bulls surround, encircle me.
They open wide their mouth at me.
As lions tear and roar for prey,
They rave and roar at me, today.
Like water, I am poured to ground,
And all my bones are stretched, unbound.
My heart is wax in melting flame;
My strength, dried out in shrinking shame.
My tongue, a piece of broken pot,
In sticking to my jaw, feels hot.
I'm placed within the dust of death,
In ashes where ther is no breath.
For dogs surround me everywhere,
And evil men who do not care
pull rope around my throat,complete,
to pierce my hands, and then my feet.
My ribs, like tally marks, are seen.
They stare and gape at me, unclean.
My clothes are shared among them all,
And on my cloak, the dice, they roll.
[continued 2012-02-27 (with different meter)]
But You, O Lord, my help, be near; come quickly to my aid.
Release my soul from looming death; my life from sword's bright blade.
Come take me from the lion's mouth; and save my life from dogs.
Hold closely my afflicted soul, when gored by savage ox.
And I will tell your name to friends, and sing your praise with all.
Let all who fear the Lord give praise, and we shall stand in awe.
For He has not despised His one, afflicted unto death;
But He has seen, and He has heard, and given him life's breath.
My God, My God, please hear my plea.
Oh, why have You forsaken me?
You are so far from saving me,
And from my words of misery.
Oh God, My God, I cry by day,
but not one word I've heard You say.
By night I pray but have no rest,
No comfort comes, no welcome guest.
But You are true, and praised by all.
They trusted You and did not fall.
They cried to You and were set free.
They hoped in You and did not flee.
A crimson worm, I'm not a man;
But scorned by men, despised by them.
They sneer at me, stick out their tongue;
They wag their head and call me dung.
Commit to God! Go on! Be brave!
Let's see if God will really save.
Since God has said, "This is My Son,"
Come! Prove to us that you're the one.
Yet You are He who brought me forth;
Who made me trust in You from birth.
Stay close to me as trouble comes,
For no one else can lead me home.
The bulls surround, encircle me.
They open wide their mouth at me.
As lions tear and roar for prey,
They rave and roar at me, today.
Like water, I am poured to ground,
And all my bones are stretched, unbound.
My heart is wax in melting flame;
My strength, dried out in shrinking shame.
My tongue, a piece of broken pot,
In sticking to my jaw, feels hot.
I'm placed within the dust of death,
In ashes where ther is no breath.
For dogs surround me everywhere,
And evil men who do not care
pull rope around my throat,complete,
to pierce my hands, and then my feet.
My ribs, like tally marks, are seen.
They stare and gape at me, unclean.
My clothes are shared among them all,
And on my cloak, the dice, they roll.
[continued 2012-02-27 (with different meter)]
But You, O Lord, my help, be near; come quickly to my aid.
Release my soul from looming death; my life from sword's bright blade.
Come take me from the lion's mouth; and save my life from dogs.
Hold closely my afflicted soul, when gored by savage ox.
And I will tell your name to friends, and sing your praise with all.
Let all who fear the Lord give praise, and we shall stand in awe.
For He has not despised His one, afflicted unto death;
But He has seen, and He has heard, and given him life's breath.
Thursday, March 15, 2012
Words --- Preaching to the dead
Read 1 Peter 3:18 through 4:6, and remember that there are no chapter and verse divisions in the original letter.
Many commentators would treat chapter 3 and 4 separately, but look at the similarities:
* 3:18 "having been put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit;" and 4:6 "though they are judged in the flesh as men [they died], they may live in the spirit,"
* 3:19 "in which [in the spirit] also He went and made proclamation to the spirits now in prison, and 4:6 "For the gospel has for this purpose been preached even to those who are dead,"
If every knee shall bow and every tongue confess that Jesus is Lord, in heaven and on earth and under the earth [in Hades] (Philip. 2:10). How shall they believe in Him whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher? (Rom. 10:14) For the gospel has for this purpose been preached even to those who are dead, that though they are judged in the flesh as men, they may live in the spirit according to the will of God. (1 Peter 4:6) As Jesus says, "I was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of death and of Hades." (Rev. 1:18)
Yes, we can take the verse "It is appointed man once to die, and then comes the judgment," (Heb. 9:27) to mean that we are not reincarnated over and over until we get it right. But in context, this verse is making the point that Jesus had to die only once for the sins of many. It does not mean that no one has a choice after death. Jesus can make exceptions to the rule. Just ask Lazarus, whom he raised from the dead.
And the argument that "preaching to the dead" is giving people a second chance is mostly not true. God is giving everyone a first chance to know the truth and make a choice, unblinded by the deceptions of the world. And who are we to demand that God not give people second chances? He does it every day.
So, why did Peter use the example of those who had died in the flood?
* He used that example to show us that God is not so unjust when potentially innocent people are killed with the guilty, that they will have no chance of salvation, but that "the gospel has ... been preached even to those who are dead."
* And he used that example to show us that like the flood, we are saved by God through baptism's symbolic death, not that baptism in and of itself saves us. After all, Noah was not saved by the waters of the flood, he was saved by God in spite of the water which killed everything else in the world. That is the purpose of baptism, to put to death the things of the world.
Many commentators would treat chapter 3 and 4 separately, but look at the similarities:
* 3:18 "having been put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit;" and 4:6 "though they are judged in the flesh as men [they died], they may live in the spirit,"
* 3:19 "in which [in the spirit] also He went and made proclamation to the spirits now in prison, and 4:6 "For the gospel has for this purpose been preached even to those who are dead,"
If every knee shall bow and every tongue confess that Jesus is Lord, in heaven and on earth and under the earth [in Hades] (Philip. 2:10). How shall they believe in Him whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher? (Rom. 10:14) For the gospel has for this purpose been preached even to those who are dead, that though they are judged in the flesh as men, they may live in the spirit according to the will of God. (1 Peter 4:6) As Jesus says, "I was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of death and of Hades." (Rev. 1:18)
Yes, we can take the verse "It is appointed man once to die, and then comes the judgment," (Heb. 9:27) to mean that we are not reincarnated over and over until we get it right. But in context, this verse is making the point that Jesus had to die only once for the sins of many. It does not mean that no one has a choice after death. Jesus can make exceptions to the rule. Just ask Lazarus, whom he raised from the dead.
And the argument that "preaching to the dead" is giving people a second chance is mostly not true. God is giving everyone a first chance to know the truth and make a choice, unblinded by the deceptions of the world. And who are we to demand that God not give people second chances? He does it every day.
So, why did Peter use the example of those who had died in the flood?
* He used that example to show us that God is not so unjust when potentially innocent people are killed with the guilty, that they will have no chance of salvation, but that "the gospel has ... been preached even to those who are dead."
* And he used that example to show us that like the flood, we are saved by God through baptism's symbolic death, not that baptism in and of itself saves us. After all, Noah was not saved by the waters of the flood, he was saved by God in spite of the water which killed everything else in the world. That is the purpose of baptism, to put to death the things of the world.
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