Posted by Soldat222 I also dont see problem with 501c3. Tons of organizations qualify for tax exemptions, why is it a big problem religions do?

The problem is when a particular church tries to influence politics or when an organization (like the CoS) makes it mandatory to pay for either membership or lessons. In either case, under government rule, these groups have free reign. I think they should not. Church has no place in Schools, I don't care if you believe that god created everything. Creationism is not founded in science, as such, it has no place in schools. If you want to be taught faith, go to church.

Moreover, I would like the CoS to be labeled a Corporation(which it is), and not only have to pay taxes in the future, but also back taxes. If all goes well, 50 years of back taxes would cripple the CoS for a short time. Which would be a good time for all the people ruined by the CoS to sue the shit out of the org to total collapse. Oh, one can dream.

Well the CoS is pretty much as big a scam as the catholic church in the middle ages.

Posted by Soldat222 I understand you dont want any religion, but the fact is on this forum the most popular thing to do to those who dare defend religion is insult them. Even the language that you use, such a terming somebodies belief in a God or Gods as having an "invisible friend" is degrading towards them.

A later post:

Well the CoS is pretty much as big a scam as the catholic church in the middle ages.

Pot, meet kettle.

Posted by Trixi A later post: Pot, meet kettle.

Classic!

But for compassion's sake, just know that it is healthy to have contradictory opinions, as otherwise one would put themselves in a box. Stuck positions are never a good thing.

Posted by Soldat222 I understand you dont want any religion, but the fact is on this forum the most popular thing to do to those who dare defend religion is insult them. Even the language that you use, such a terming somebodies belief in a God or Gods as having an "invisible friend" is degrading towards them. It makes it sound as though they are nothing but kids or nuts, and implies their inferiority to you and your beliefs. I would ask to have alot of shit out of my taxpayer supported schools, such as all the no tolerance shit towards fighting or any aggression, DARE class, and political correctness, but its still there. I also dont see problem with 501c3. Tons of organizations qualify for tax exemptions, why is it a big problem religions do?

Well, if you are insulted, I'm sorry. I have nasty terms for republicans, democrats, all religions, almost every "ism" and "ist" you can name, I have a rip for. And since I, like you, don't do the political correctness thing, I use them at the drop of a hat. Most times I use them just because I can (more 1st Amendment! Fuck Yeah!) though at times I will pack in a fair amount of venom for the KOOL-AID drinker that needs to be verbally beaten into facing reality. (Most of these ones are not religious, but political loons)

The other things on your "outta my schools" list are also on mine. But only religion has been singled out in the Constitution and SCotUS rulings as a GTFORTFN topic. The others, bitch at the local board of education. I do.

Ahhh, 501c3. The bane of my existence. Like so many other good ideas, this one has so exceeded it's usable life. We cut certain organizations a deal where they don't pay taxes because of the good they do for society as a whole. The idea works so well it is abused like a cute foster kid. Scientology has it. Jim Baker had it. The SCA has it (I'm a member and think that's bullshit). All sorts of people have it for all sorts of reasons, all decided by the feds. The issue here is that the feds get to decide who is doing enough good to rate it. So the government, in this very specific case, decides if YOUR religion is worthy of a massive tax break. The government, who are not allowed to promote one faith over another by order of the SCotUS, get to....wait for it....promote one faith over another by approving or denying their request for 501c3. THAT is my biggest problem. It is bullshit on a Constitutional basis! Then there is the fact that by not collecting taxes from churches, we are effectively forcing the rest of us to take up the slack. We pay for the services the all these groups don't, but they still receive the bennies. Throw in what states add to the pot for 501c3 recipients, and those numbers really climb. It amounts to a massive taxpayer subsidy for these groups. And since a large number of them are faith-based orgs that means a big taxpayer provided prize for religions. And that just burns me mighitly.

Questions?

Posted by Cerealx59 ... and said that he believes that life may have been planted here by an advanced alien civilization.

this is known as "The Ancient Astronaut Theory" i *heart* Zecharia Sitchin. i actually agree with this, but then again it is my religion.

Posted by Cerealx59 I don't want to rain on anyone's parade here, but there simply is no real evidence available in the fossil record to support anyone's theory of evolution, or to explain away the very real Cambrian Explosion in the fossil record that has simply baffled scientists for almost 3 centuries. There is no explanation from "science" as to where life originated. None. In fact the worlds foremost evolutionary biologist just came out and said that he believes that life may have been planted here by an advanced alien civilization. Now if that is not ID, I don't know what is. I think the problem is that too many so called evolutionists relate Intelligent Design with Christianity, when in fact among real Scientists it is approached much differently. Also every single religion on the planet has a version of a "creation story", yet I find the hatred is directed mostly at Christianity, and usually from the people that preach so-called "tolerance".

The Cambrian Explosion took place over several million years. It was wasn't like "dude! Where'd all these new species come from?!?!" In terms of the history of the earth, it was an explosion.

In the late a '70s an experiment was conducted at Cornell that created organic molecules from inorganic gases and stuff using electricity. The intent was to recreate conditions on earth before life began and spark life using something like lightning.

Introduction of life by extraterrestrial means is actually a serious scientific hypothesis. It's nothing so Lovecraftian as physical alien beings seeding the earth with early creatures as an experiment, cool as that sounds, but just that organic molecules may have been introduced via meteors or comet fragments.

The reason ID is equated with Christianity is because that is who is pushing it. Hindus aren't trying to push their creation myths, only Christians are.

And really, Cereal, shouldn't you know the difference between a hypothesis and a theory? ID is a hypothesis. Evolution is a theory. There is a mountain of evidence supporting evolution. Support for ID comes from poking holes in evolution that are easily filled. The gaps in the fossil record are being filled in as we speak. I don't claim to fully understand the biology, but I know BS when I see it.

click to view

Posted by splumer Support for ID comes from poking holes in evolution that are easily filled. The gaps in the fossil record are being filled in as we speak. I don't claim to fully understand the biology, but I know BS when I see it.

Speaking of filling in the gaps:
http://en.wikipedi...dipithecus_ramidus

Posted by Cerealx59 You can call whatever you want, it does not change the facts. http://en.wikipedi...Y-chromosomal_Adam

From the link:

it is important to understand that he probably co-existed with a large population of human males. None of Y-chromosomal Adam's male contemporaries, however, have a direct unbroken male line to the present day. Either their lines died out entirely, or at least one generation within each line produced only daughters, who could not pass their male parents' and ancestors' Y-chromosomes to their own children.

http://en.wikipedi.../Mitochondrial_Eve

Also, your eve was first. That contradicts the bible, seeing as how god created Adam and some random woman, then Adam made Eve out of that pesky extra rib or some shit. Am I being too literal?

Posted by underdark Didn't Frederick Douglas say something about the path to socialism being paved with government-run schools? He obviously hadn't seen what a cock-up a bunch of concerned parents can squeeze out of vote hungry pols.

I wouldn't know, but Sinclair Lewis did say "when fascism reaches America, it will be wrapped in a flag and holding a cross"