Happy New Year as we Welcome 2019...

"Your success and happiness lies in you. Resolve to keep happy, and your joy and you shall form an invincible host against difficulties." -- Helen Keller

A Scientific and Rational Perspective......

The conflicts between religion and science have existed and been well studied for generations, yet many people deny they exist at all.

As someone who studied religion in college, I’ve seen both sides of this. On one hand, it’s true that many people apply religion and science in different ways, meaning they don’t always conflict. But on another hand — a much bigger hand — it’s impossible to ignore the war that has been waged between science and religion throughout human history.

Jerry Coyne, who literally wrote the book on this subject in Faith Versus Fact: Why Science and Religion Are Incompatible, has a piece up at the Conversation pointing out how science and religion actually “represent incompatible ways of viewing the world.”

In contrast to the methods of science, religion adjudicates truth not empirically, but via dogma, scripture and authority — in other words, through faith, defined in Hebrews 11 as “the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” In science, faith without evidence is a vice, while in religion it’s a virtue. Recall what Jesus said to “doubting Thomas,” who insisted in poking his fingers into the resurrected Savior’s wounds: “Thomas, because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed: blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed.”

And yet, without supporting evidence, Americans believe a number of religious claims: 74 percent of us believe in God, 68 percent in the divinity of Jesus, 68 percent in Heaven, 57 percent in the virgin birth, and 58 percent in the Devil and Hell. Why do they think these are true? Faith.

Coyne goes on to point out that, while science works to unify all people behind testable theories, religions make completely different (and often contradictory) claims.

There are over 4,000 religions on this planet, and their “truths” are quite different. (Muslims and Jews, for instance, absolutely reject the Christian belief that Jesus was the son of God.) Indeed, new sects often arise when some believers reject what others see as true. Lutherans split over the truth of evolution, while Unitarians rejected other Protestants’ belief that Jesus was part of God. 

And while science has had success after success in understanding the universe, the “method” of using faith has led to no proof of the divine. How many gods are there? What are their natures and moral creeds? Is there an afterlife? Why is there moral and physical evil? There is no one answer to any of these questions. All is mystery, for all rests on faith. 

The “war” between science and religion, then, is a conflict about whether you have good reasons for believing what you do: whether you see faith as a vice or a virtue.

I see blind faith as a vice, and one I’d rather live without. Being able to deduce the truth through research and inquiry, however, is certainly a virtue. Instead of reconciling the two by compartmentalizing each one in our lives, we’re much better off sticking with the inevitable winner of this war: science.

SOURCE

How and Why We Missed Christ's Birth By Three Months......

Many Biblical scholars have argued from time to time that December 25th was not the actual birth date of Christ. It was just adopted as a day to celebrate the birth of Christ as a Christian substitute to the Roman festival Saturnalia in the third century. Saturnalia was celebrated as the Feast of Sun and was actually considered the birth date of the Sun God of the Romans. Catholic priests held a special mass that day for Christ and thus, it came to be known as 'Christ-mass' or 'Christmas'.

Along with the date, several other pagan traditions, rituals and customs followed the way to become associated with Christmas such as decorating fir trees and burning yule logs. According to these scholars, Christ was most probably born on September 11, 3 B.C., which was Wednesday, according to the Bible. Source:

References: ENCYCLOPÆDIA BRITANNICA
CLASSROAM
Influence of Zoroastrianism on other religions
Pagan Influence upon Roman Catholicism
10 Ways The Bible Was Influenced By Other Religions


Feel free to express your thoughts on the ancient historical references cited in support of today's post.

tRump's 2018 X'Mass......

Hat Tip: Infidel753

Happy Holidays and Merry Christmas to All!!......

May 2019 bring an end to our national disgrace which begin with the 2016 election that brought us tRump.

The Insulter In-Chief......

The 550 People, Places and Things Donald Trump Has Insulted on Twitter: A Complete List

It is highly unlikely the tRump supporters will even read, let alone believe, the truth embodied in the voluminous number of insulting and incorrect tweets their buffoon leader has tweeted out.

Click on the hot link above to read the 550 .

Pelosi Cutting a Deal to Regain the Speakership......

America is changing, so, it I entirely appropriate that members of the House of Representative leadership change with it. With the top three democratic leadership positions being held by individuals 78-79 years of age the "deal" that would seat Nancy Pelosi as Speaker of the House would insure that all three relinquish there leadership positions in 2022.

This is good for the party, and, it will be good for America. Perhaps BOTH parties should adopt a rule that anyone holding any one of the  top three leadership positions  are required to relinquish said position at the end of their congressional term in which they turn 80. There comes a time in business and government when NEW blood is essential. If America hopes to continue its forward progress new blood is a must.

Maybe the presidency should have a maximum age when one can assume the office. When elected by the voters. 72 perhaps?

WASHINGTON — Representative Nancy Pelosi is nearing a deal with dissident Democrats to limit herself to four years as speaker, according to two senior Democratic officials with knowledge of the emerging plan, her most consequential move to date to put down a rebellion in her ranks and clinch the votes she needs to win the gavel in January.

The agreement, which if finalized and adopted would also bind the other three top Democratic leaders, would almost certainly clear the way for Ms. Pelosi, the Democratic leader from California, to reclaim the mantle of first woman to serve in the post that is second in line to the presidency. It would also signal a major shift for Democrats, who despite the striking diversity and demographic shifts within their party, have governed for more than a decade with the same trio at the helm. That trio, Ms. Pelosi, 78, Representative Steny H. Hoyer of Maryland, 79, and Representative James Clyburn of South Carolina, 79, must now prepare to cede power to a new generation, even as they move to take the House majority next month.

Ms. Pelosi handily won an internal vote among Democrats this month to be nominated as speaker, a post she held from 2007 to 2011. But a small group of defectors who have agitated for new leadership at the top of the party have been threatening to withhold their votes when the new Congress convenes Jan. 3 for a formal vote on the House floor. Ms. Pelosi would need a majority of those present and voting in the chamber — as many as 218 — to be elected.

The rebels demanded that Ms. Pelosi either step aside or give a date when she would do so, something she had refused to do, arguing that it would weaken her hand as a bulwark against President Trump.

SKIP

The agreement would also apply to the other three top Democratic leaders: Mr. Hoyer, who is in line to be the majority leader; Mr. Clyburn, who is set to be the whip; and Representative Ben Ray Luján, the assistant Democratic leader.

Under the agreement being discussed, which was first reported by Politico, the four leaders would be limited to three two-year terms, with the possibility of a fourth if they could garner the support of two-thirds of the Democratic Caucus. Given that Ms. Pelosi, Mr. Hoyer and Mr. Clyburn, all in their 70s, have already served two terms in the top three posts, it would put a hard cap on their tenures, forcing them out of their posts by 2022.

Find the complete story HERE

From the Mouth of the GOP's Leader......

Since the 2016 presidential campaign, Donald Trump’s aides and advisers have tried to convince him of the importance of tackling the national debt.

Sources close to the president say he has repeatedly shrugged it off, implying that he doesn’t have to worry about the money owed to America’s creditors—currently about $21 trillion—because he won’t be around to shoulder the blame when it becomes even more untenable.

The friction came to a head in early 2017 when senior officials offered Trump charts and graphics laying out the numbers and showing a “hockey stick” spike in the national debt in the not-too-distant future. In response, Trump noted that the data suggested the debt would reach a critical mass only after his possible second term in office.

“Yeah, but I won’t be here,” the president bluntly said, according to a source who was in the room when Trump made this comment during discussions on the debt.

SOURCE

It can't get much clearer than the above, tRump quite simply does not care cause he won't be around.

Nuff said!

Food For Thought......

It is not often these days that I post commentary from a "conservative" weblog. Today is different. Having come across a post at Always On Watch I believe has merit because it offers up great food for thought I decided to reproduce it on the pages this weblog. My hope is it generates some conversation that is thoughtful as well as respectful.

Destructive Destruction

Silverfiddle Rant!

Apologies to John Prine…

Daddy won't you take me back to Muhlenberg County,
Where good jobs are boomin' and men get good pay.
I'm sorry my son but you're too late in askin'
Mr. Jeff Bezos' website done hauled them away.

You can’t bring those Sears jobs Back

Is retail dead, destined for the obituaries along with the whale blubber industry that was replaced by kerosene lamps, which were replaced by the lightbulb?

What kind of new economy will give people meaningful work as technology ends up doing so much of what humans used to earn their living doing?

Is free money for everybody a solution? How would that work if nobody is working and paying taxes to fund it?

Will the world end up Silicon Valley’s vast domain, with the giants handing out monthly vouchers for us to shop at their company stores?

Bust the Trusts?

The Eye of Evil......

The Eye of Sauron , guiding the present day GOP and the conservative movement lead by Donald J. tRump and his minions.


Willingly supported and assisted by FreeThinke, aka Franco Aragosta.

RIP President George H.W. Bush......

America was a better place because President George H.W. Bush dedicated his life to service to our country. The United States of America was a greater nation when he served as president than it is today. Current and future leadership of this nation would do well to emulate President Bush's example.

Rest in Peace Mr. President.

Though George H.W. Bush's presidency ended just a quarter-century ago, it seems like a different era altogether. He personified a time when Democrats and Republicans could work together and when international diplomacy was not scorned as a sign of weakness.

Last year, a C-Span survey of historians ranked Bush — who died Friday at age 94 —   20th of 44 presidents considered. A survey of political scientists this year ranked him 17th. Though both polls put him atop the list of presidents turned out of office by the voters, they may be a bit low for a president who looks better and better each year.

Bush was a thoroughly decent man, in stark contrast to the current occupant of the White House. To him, loyalty to country — whether in serving as the Navy's youngest aviator in World War II or forging a bipartisan consensus on air pollution — came well before party and self.

SOURCE