Friday, January 18, 2013
Thursday, January 10, 2013
Therapeutic cloning - How it is done; possible benefits
Therapeutic cloning: (a.k.a. Somatic cell nuclear transfer or research cloning): This starts with the same procedure as is used in adult DNA cloning. The resultant embryo would be allowed to grow for perhaps 14 days. It's stem cells would then be extracted and encouraged to grow into a piece of human tissue or a complete human organ for transplant. The end result would not be a human being; it would be a replacement organ, or piece of nerve tissue, or quantity of skin. The first successful therapeutic cloning was accomplished in 2001-NOV by Advanced Cell Technology, a biotech company in Worcester, MA.Is an embryo a human person? Pro-life supporters generally believe that a human person comes into existence at conception. Some believe that somatic cell nuclear transfer is sufficiently similar to normal conception with an egg and spermatozoa that a human person also comes into existence during therapeutic cloning. The process of extracting stem cells involves killing the embryo. To many pro-lifers, this is murder. They feel that murdering one person, the embryo, to cure another person of paralysis, or diabetes, or heart disease, etc. can never be justified. More details. Therapeutic cloning research may well be limited to those countries, like China, the UK, and perhaps Canada, where pro-life supporters are relatively few in number.
Sunday, December 16, 2012
Sunday, December 9, 2012
Saturday, November 17, 2012
Response to "Redeemed"
>"Evrything in "THE BIBLE" must be received by..."FAITH-ALONE"...with no "PROOF".
Why is that? Why can't there be proof? This seems like an extremely ridiculous notion to me. In other words, the Bible can say anything at all, and not matter how absurd or immoral it might seem, you will believe it.
Your willingness to believe anything does not lead you to truth. Consider the bumper sticker:
God said it.
I believe it.
That's final.
However, this is circular reasoning. What it is really saying ...
I believe God said it.
I believe it.
That is final.
However, you have no rational basis to know that God said it in the first place. How is your faith any better than any Muslim, Hindu, or Buddhist? Because you are right and they are wrong? They would say the same thing about you.
Evidence is how you determine if something is true or not. Reason is the process of figuring that out.
Your reasoning starts with the notion that the Bible is true. That should be the conclusion and not the premise.
If you believe in an evil God who tortures people without mercy, and kills children, babies and pregnant women, then the Bible is the "good" book for you. If you accept these things without any thought whatsoever, then the Bible is the book for you. However, I don't believe these things. I think they are evil, therefor the Bible disproves itself.
Friday, November 16, 2012
Conspiracy Theories
I think that people believe Conspiracy Theories because they see
themselves as victims. Because they view themselves as victims, they
have pent up resentment. This resentment causes people to quickly
accept rumors or partial truths as full truth.
One of my goals in life is to not see myself as a victim of anything,
which maybe isn't 100% possible. I think that this leads to a more
objective view.
themselves as victims. Because they view themselves as victims, they
have pent up resentment. This resentment causes people to quickly
accept rumors or partial truths as full truth.
One of my goals in life is to not see myself as a victim of anything,
which maybe isn't 100% possible. I think that this leads to a more
objective view.
Thursday, November 15, 2012
From: Reedemed
I'm..."PRAYING FOR YOU JOHN"...
The..."HOLY GHOST"...is ((("VERY POWERFUL"))) !!!
Dear..."LORD JESUS"...I ask for...("JOHN"),...
Redeemed,
You can waste time all you want. It doesn't really hurt me. But why send me the same message 6 times? When you say that you "ask for John", you ask for John what?
Given the tone of your messages, I assume that you are a somewhat emotional person. All humans are going to be emotional to one degree or another, but I like to think of myself as much less so. (I was much more emotional in my teens, and thus religious.) The concern that I have is that emotion might cause someone to believe in something because they need something emotionally and not because it is rational.
Regardless of what anyone believes, people have a hard time straying from their beliefs because those beliefs become part of their identity and their self esteem. If you are proud of being a christian then taking away that belief would hurt your self image.
PLEASE see:
Real Proof that Jesus was NOT real
THE EMPTY CROSS: WHY JESUS DIDN'T EXIST COMPLETE DVD PART 2 OF 7
The God Who Wasn't There
The Jesus Myth - Timothy Freke
Best wishes,
John Coffey
I'm..."PRAYING FOR YOU JOHN"...
The..."HOLY GHOST"...is ((("VERY POWERFUL"))) !!!
Dear..."LORD JESUS"...I ask for...("JOHN"),...
Redeemed,
You can waste time all you want. It doesn't really hurt me. But why send me the same message 6 times? When you say that you "ask for John", you ask for John what?
Given the tone of your messages, I assume that you are a somewhat emotional person. All humans are going to be emotional to one degree or another, but I like to think of myself as much less so. (I was much more emotional in my teens, and thus religious.) The concern that I have is that emotion might cause someone to believe in something because they need something emotionally and not because it is rational.
Regardless of what anyone believes, people have a hard time straying from their beliefs because those beliefs become part of their identity and their self esteem. If you are proud of being a christian then taking away that belief would hurt your self image.
PLEASE see:
Real Proof that Jesus was NOT real
THE EMPTY CROSS: WHY JESUS DIDN'T EXIST COMPLETE DVD PART 2 OF 7
The God Who Wasn't There
The Jesus Myth - Timothy Freke
Best wishes,
John Coffey
Wednesday, October 10, 2012
Did you choose your religion? - Roger Ebert's Journal
"Today I saw an extraordinary film named "The Other Son," about Israeli and Palestinian baby boys who were mistakenly switched at birth.
http://blogs.suntimes.com/ebert/2012/10/would_you_kill_baby_hitler.html
The switch is discovered when the Israeli boy is turned down by the army because his blood type doesn't match his parents. We have two boys accustomed to think of themselves as Jewish or Palestinian, and they are legally each other."
Monday, July 30, 2012
Tuesday, July 24, 2012
Tuesday, May 29, 2012
Sunday, May 27, 2012
Monday, April 30, 2012
Monday, April 23, 2012
The Force
Force (Star Wars)
The Force is a binding, metaphysical, and ubiquitous power in the fictional universe of the Star Wars galaxy created by George Lucas. Mentioned in the first film in the series, it is integral to all subsequent incarnations of Star Wars, including the expanded universe of comic books, novels, and video games. Within the franchise, it is the object of the Jedi and Sith monastic orders.
Lucas has attributed the origins of "The Force" to a 1963 abstract film by Arthur Lipsett, which sampled from many sources.
One of the audio sources Lipsett sampled for 21-87 was a conversation between artificial intelligence pioneer Warren S. McCulloch and Roman Kroitor, a cinematographer who went on to develop IMAX. In the face of McCulloch's arguments that living beings are nothing but highly complex machines, Kroitor insists that there is something more: "Many people feel that in the contemplation of nature and in communication with other living things, they become aware of some kind of force, or something, behind this apparent mask which we see in front of us, and they call it God." When asked if this was the source of "the Force," Lucas confirms that his use of the term in Star Wars was "an echo of that phrase in 21-87." The idea behind it, however, was universal: "Similar phrases have been used extensively by many different people for the last 13,000 years to describe the 'life force,'" he says.
Sunday, November 27, 2011
Saturday, November 26, 2011
In response to ...
In response to ...
The "LORD__PROVIDES"
I'm thankful for "HIS__PROVISIONS & CARE" !!!
We determine our own fate to the extent which we can control it. Hundreds of millions of people died from wars during the 20nth century. I am sure that many of them prayed to a god but perished anyway. I do not believe that God intervenes in our behalf. To say that he does is to say that he chooses to help some people while allowing others to suffer and die. "God's chosen people" died by the millions at the hands of the Nazis.
<Here followed a very long response full of religious references and scripture.>
I am sorry that you wasted your time on such a long response. Empty platitudes do no make something true. I understand that you want to argue for your viewpoint, as I often do. I see a harsh reality, and we are better off understanding the world as it is, rather than to believe that some supernatural force is looking out for us or is on our side. If you drive your car too fast around a curve, the laws of physics are not going to care if you hit a tree. Best wishes, John
It's a matter of belief John,& nothing more.
As my Uncle's close friend would say all the time..."We shall see what we shall see".
It is not a question of one belief versus another. I am a pantheist,
but not with any conviction because there is no credible evidence for
any religious belief. Religion is a matter of philosophy.
It is a question of do we trust the world as it is presented to us and
try to survive using the evidence of our experience and knowledge , or
do we believe that some supernatural force is going to provide for us,
for which we have no evidence?
People can choose to think rationally, but that means that they make a
distinction between those things that are speculation and those things
that are fact. People believe because they want to believe, which
means that their reasoning is based upon emotion.
Best wishes, John
<Here followed a very long response full of religious references and scripture.>
I am sorry that you wasted your time on such a long response. Empty platitudes do no make something true. I understand that you want to argue for your viewpoint, as I often do. I see a harsh reality, and we are better off understanding the world as it is, rather than to believe that some supernatural force is looking out for us or is on our side. If you drive your car too fast around a curve, the laws of physics are not going to care if you hit a tree. Best wishes, John
It's a matter of belief John,& nothing more.
As my Uncle's close friend would say all the time..."We shall see what we shall see".
but not with any conviction because there is no credible evidence for
any religious belief. Religion is a matter of philosophy.
It is a question of do we trust the world as it is presented to us and
try to survive using the evidence of our experience and knowledge , or
do we believe that some supernatural force is going to provide for us,
for which we have no evidence?
People can choose to think rationally, but that means that they make a
distinction between those things that are speculation and those things
that are fact. People believe because they want to believe, which
means that their reasoning is based upon emotion.
Best wishes, John
Thursday, November 17, 2011
Capitalist vs Socialist vs Creationist
Check out this video on YouTube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=14C-H3W03VI&feature=youtube_gdata_player
Monday, November 14, 2011
Re: Where is Steve Jobs now?
Dean wrote: Where do you think Steve Jobs is now?
(After some discussion ...)
John wrote:
|
1. Steve is rotting in his grave. There is no afterlife.
2. Steve is part of God like everything else. He has reunited with God.
3. He is part of some unknown afterlife.
I do not think that it is possible to know. All I do know is that I don't believe in the traditional religions, parts of which are evil.
Mardawna wrote:
|
John wrote:
Dear Mardawna,
It is debatable if Steve Jobs was a good person. I am sure to his friends and family he was a good person. Maybe to others not so much. What is certain is that made possible products that benefited millions of people, so much so that huge numbers mourned his passing. At the very least, tens (if not hundreds) of millions of people noted his passing with some regret. To the extent that he benefited others, we can say that he was a good person.
It is clear that Steve Jobs did not believe in Christianity. He wasn't sure if he believed in anything at all. I have known many good people who didn't.
I believe myself to be a good person. I have helped many people whenever I could. I have been generous and I have an enormous amount of empathy for my fellow man.
Dean quotes scripture that says that no one is good except God. I disagree. My mother is a very kind hearted and loving person, and my inspiration.
I feel a little angry and frustrated that some people say that God would send good people to hell. Ask yourself if I am a good person? If you think that I am, then ask yourself if I deserve to go to hell? Do other good people deserve to go to hell? Do you known anyone who is a really good person but not a Christian? Do they deserve to suffer for all eternity? Do you think that God would make people suffer for just being wrong?
The Christian concept of hell is illogical because it says that God would make people suffer for all eternity for no other purpose other than to make them suffer. This concept says nothing of punishment for reform or redemption. This is the same god that supposedly loves us. I am frustrated with this Christian concept of God because it says that God is evil and vindictive. The bible is full of examples of an evil God, who for example punishes children for the sins of their parents, or kills children himself, or commands the Israelites to murder children and pregnant women. This same god commands that people who work on the Sabbath be stoned to death (which is reported to have been carried out in the Bible), and commands that raped women be forced to marry their rapist.
In short, the Christian concept of god is blasphemy, because it says that God is evil.
Your talk of believing in evidence struck a nerve with me. Evolution is supported by overwhelming evidence from several different sciences, yet many people choose to stick their head in the sand not believe it. I'm O.K. with people believing what they want to believe, until they make absurd scientific claims that they have no real understanding of, as some of them do.
Best wishes,
John Coffey
Friday, November 11, 2011
Family Guy - Jews in Egypt
Check out this video on YouTube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xRi8maT6gQA&feature=youtube_gdata_player
Christianity in a nutshell
Check out this video on YouTube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n16PpvdpMXo&feature=youtube_gdata_player
Futurama Explains Religion
Check out this video on YouTube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XK7ZDSUvB6E&feature=youtube_gdata_player
Monkeys Talk About Religion
Check out this video on YouTube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MyxmTGt9H2E&feature=youtube_gdata_player
Friday, October 7, 2011
Steve Jobs: How to live before you die
This inspirational video is well worth watching...
http://www.ted.com/talks/steve_jobs_how_to_live_before_you_die.html
If you have a slow Internet connection, the way to watch a video like
this, or any other video, is to hit play, pause it, and allow at least
a minute for the progress bar to indicate that the video is mostly
loaded. If your Internet connection is really slow then you might
want to go away for five minutes and cone back.
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