Planetarium

My local Jesusland planetarium sucks.

People who don't wanna be told that Earth is four billion years old will not support a planetarium that tells you so.

As a result, our local planetarium is shoddy, run down, and antiquated.

Many areas in Jesusland are poor. When money is scarce, my local government thinks four times over before spending money on science or education.

That's why I live in one of the poorest, least educated provinces of Jesusland.

I have some family here. I enjoy my job quite a bit. But this atmosphere bothers me sometimes. I may need to migrate from here one of these days.

If I do ever move, maybe I'll base my relocation upon the quality of the city planetarium.

Is Heaven in the Sky?

In the past, I have shared several dialogues between me and my son.

But today, I will share a dialogue between me and my five year old daughter.

My five year old attends the same day care that my son once did. The facility is quite good with the exception (in my view) that they will try to indoctrinate your child. After all, the daycare facility is run by a mega-church. What can one expect?

Now my daughter is finally starting to ask the tough questions about God. This day surly came faster than I thought.

While riding down the highway my daughter asks out of the blue:

“Daddy, is Heaven in the sky?”

“No sweetie. Heaven isn't up there in the sky. We've sent astronauts into space, we fly planes in the air all the time, and we have satellites floating around way up there in space. No one has bumped into Heaven up there. Pass the sky and you end up among the moon and stars. So between the ground and space where the sky is, we haven't found Heaven.”

I could have told her that Heaven was the sky. But I think the heart of her question was really, “Is God's home up there in the sky?”

Whether you're a theist or not, can you honestly say that God is sitting up there somewhere in the sky?

Anyhow . . .

My daughter thought about my answer for a moment. Then she asked,

“Well, what are all those clouds in the sky for?”

I guess she was wondering why clouds needed to float majestically in the Heavens above if Heaven isn't really “up there”.

“They aren't really for anything, exactly." I said. "The clouds are in the sky because water turns into a gas when it gets hot.”

“A gas?” She seemed to know what “gas” was, but was caught off guard with the idea that water could exist as a “gas”.

Time to introduce the fact that matter can exist in several phases.

“Yeah . . . you know what an ice cube is, right?”

“Yeah, but I don't like ice cubes. They hurt my hands and lips and I can't crunch them with my teeth. They hurt because they are so cold.”

“Right. Well, when water is really, really cold it turns into something like a rock. It becomes solid. When water is not so cold, we see it the usual way-- as a liquid.

“Daddy . . . what's a liquid?”

“Anything that is “wet” like water is a liquid. The juice you love to drink all the time is liquid like water.”

I paused for a moment, then continued.

“And if water gets hot, it turns to gas and floats into the air. As the gas keeps going up and up, it starts to cool again and forms the clouds you see. When a cloud gets too big and can't hold any more water, it releases that water to the ground. You know that that's called?”

“Rain!”

“Exactly!”

Then my daughter says, “I know that when I drink too much water, I have to pee. Just like the clouds when they hold too much water and start to rain!”

Hey . . . she came up with that one all on her own. That "pee" thing wasn't my idea.

Then she asked why she couldn't hold her pee forever. You know, it's such an inconvenience to stop playing just to go pee, after all.

So my son and I started to explain the purpose of a bladder.

And then that question turned into another conversation all together.

Notice that I did not tell my daughter that Heaven did not exist. I only told her the truth about the sky. We have not found Heaven up there and the clouds come from a cycle of evaporation and condensation. Have you heard any reports of Heaven being found in the sky?

This is no different than what I did with my son. I simply gave him facts and tried to encourage him to think for himself.  I'm now doing this for my daughter.

No crime or criticism can be found in that.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

By the way, below is an interesting graphic of "the Heavens" as depicted by the website Live Science.

[Source: Telescopes for Beginners for OurAmazingPlanet.com]

What Does Mars Have to Do With Free Will?

Probably nothing. But here's where my mind went-- logical or not.

I recently saw an article in Scientific American that explains why the ubiquitous, thin layer of Martian dust dons a red-orange color. The Sun’s ultraviolet rays produce a chemical reaction against the thin topsoil of Mars that results in transforming the soil into a certain kind of rust

Mars has a scant atmosphere compared with Earth. The ionization process that rusts the topsoil of Mars also causes constant seepage of the atmosphere into space.

 The chemical composition of Martian soil and thin atmosphere suggest that the red planet has lost about 90% of its atmosphere over time.

Infrared photos of Earth show that hydrogen is burning off from our planet and evaporating into space due to the same ultraviolet light beaming towards our planet.

This phenomenon implies that Earth is headed for very similar conditions as the other planets in our solar system. Earth may become a twin to Venus several billion years from now. This possibility also implies that a lot of time has already passed since the planets have formed. And this also implies that a lot of time will continue to go by just as before.

Other planets had a thick atmosphere long into the past. Maybe these planets could have supported life at one time. Yet, the atmosphere leaked away or changed into a volatile environment. Earth is not immune; leakage is ever so slowly happening now.

We seem to be living on a planet that will not continue to support life as we understand it—regardless of how green we may try to live.

If nothing stops the process, Earth will no longer be the unique planet in our solar system.

But other processes are going on that will eventually turn Earth into a wasteland.

The Sun is due to nova billions of years from now. Other stars have already undergone a nova within the frame of our observation. This implies again that a lot of time has gone by and will continue to go by.

Our Sun is no exception if nothing stops the process of our star going through its nova phase.

Here’s another process to consider: why do we have an asteroid belt? Is it just for decoration, or did a former planet have a really, really bad day?

And one of the remnants of that poor planet could get hurled into our way in the future.

Two asteroid belts! Cool! (OK, probably not.)

I realize that all this can sound rather bleak. Regardless, I still find astronomy and cosmology very fascinating and beautiful. But, I have to accept the bleakness with it as well. That’s very much our universe. Life is coupled with death. Love coupled with pain. Happiness and joy coupled with sadness and loss. We must accept all these things together.

I also accept a beautiful and elegant universe that promises a bleak and entropic ending.

Perhaps I should apply this same thinking to God—a benevolent being creates a perfect, yet seemingly doomed universe. I must accept the good with the bad.

Concerning the argument of free will-- I will admit that the argument sounds reasonable when used to explain why evil exists in the world. To me at least.

At first, at least.

But when I contrast the argument of free will against the backdrop of modern cosmology, I’m no longer personally convinced by the free will argument.

God created everything like this, yes? Or has man’s sin in the garden cursed creation to the extent that even the planets have become either barren wastelands or volatile, toxic environments?

Somehow, the initial sensibility that I hear in the argument of free will deteriorates for me when I consider how our universe seems to make an inexorable spiral into oblivion.

One could say that Jesus will come before all this bleakness takes place. But the stars and planets in the sky seem to testify of a different outcome in my view.

Mars Passes Gas

What would be the implications of finding life on Mars?

I'm not talking about little green Martian men; just finding bacteria on Mars would be a huge discovery.

So, what would that mean?

Oooo, and what if some fossils were found one day!

Anyway, still no conclusive evidence or proof that life is on Mars. But, here's another clue that life might be there -- or perhaps was at one time. And this evidence gives good reason to keep searching for life on Mars -- even if that life turns out to be the tiniest of microorganisms.

You see, observers have witnessed that Mars has been farting.

Yes my friends -- Mars farts.

OK, Maybe fart is the wrong word. But, Mars has been passing gas.

Check out these findings at the link below:

Martian Methane Might Mean Life

What's in a Second?

Well, year 2008 has passed and now 2009 is here.

But did you know that 2008 was just a little bit longer 2007?

And 2008 will probably be a little bit longer than 2009?

Just by one second.

So what?

Well ask "why", before saying "so what"?

The earth's spin is slowing down. The tides, the pull of the moon, solar winds -- all of these things influence the earth's rotation. Ever so gradually, earth is slowing down. So over the years to come, a second will be added. A leap second. Some years have them, others don't.

Given enough time into the future, A day on earth could last 30 hours rather than 24 hours.

What does that imply?

Everything isn't an absolute constant in our solar system. The planets are slowing down. Their speed and distances from each other are changing in slight ways. Everything seems constant, yet everything is changing all the time.

Even time is changing.

A second used to be 1/60 of a minute. Now, a second is the duration of 9 192 631 770 periods of the radiation corresponding to the transition between the two hyperfine levels of the ground state of the caesium 133 atom at rest at a temperature of 0 K (absolute zero)".

Say what?!

The fact that all these "constants" are constantly changing at minute (mi-nyut) levels decries the notion that our universe was set into place by absolutes. While this doesn't disprove god, this does tell me that what the bible says about creation is off base. I'll bet that all the creation stories from any given religion has our world etched into stone, so to speak.

I find all of this quite fascinating. I think I'll be chewing on this idea throughout the whole new year.

Exactly Where is Heaven, Anyway?

My son has become hypersensitive to how a person uses his or her "middle finger".

He feels that every time someone throws the bird with his or her middle finger, that person is pointing that finger directly at God.

While I'm not eager for my son to become religious, I'm not eager to flood him with my current philosophy.

I can't have him blowing my cover. My son is an all-in-one tape recording blabber mouth machine. My son would blab about my skepticism and force me out of the closet!

But, I couldn't resist when my son persisted to talk about how the bird was a direct insult to god.

I clearly expressed to him that I certainly do not want him to use this gesture. However, I did not want him to obsess over the matter either.

So, I had a little talk with him:

"Son, where is up, anyhow?", I challenged.

"Up is up there, Daddy. Don't you know that"? (yeah, my son is a smarty pants).

"Ah, but son, we live on a globe. From your present location, pointing up is not the same direction as if you were -- for example -- pointing up while at the South Pole".

"Yes it is", he corrected. After all, my son is seven and knows everything.

I showed my son an apple and preceded to further illustrate my point.

"Do you see what I mean, now?" I thought my illustration was definitive, but he still didn't want to give up.

"But, you're still pointing out to heaven . . ."

"How so?" I further challenged. "Where is Heaven, anyhow? It's not in the sky or the clouds. Heaven isn't at the moon or the stars. Where is up? Where is heaven?"

"Well", my son surmised, "Heaven must be in the fourth dimension".

Well, at least I got my son thinking . . .

Then my son really got wacky . . .

"I wish my birthday was on Christmas . . .", he said, out of the blue.

"Why?" -- I thought his mind was still chewing on the Heaven paradox.

"I'd be closer to God because my birthday would be on the same day as God's."

"Son", I replied, "we celebrate Christmas on December 25th only because it's a tradition. No one knows exactly when Jesus was born."

Maybe I should have just let that one go . . . but I didn't want him developing a complex over this idea, either.

"My bible says Jesus was born on December 25th." My son seemed so confident.

"Nope. No date is given. People can only speculate." I could see he didn't agree.

"I read it in the Bible", he proclaimed.

"In which Bible? Where? I can tell you that you did not read such a thing. I dare you to look for a place that says Jesus was born on December 25th within the scripture text. If you find it, show me. I'd like to see it."

But then I added, "Don't just take my word for it. Look it up yourself one day."

With that, he gave up.

I didn't directly tell him that Heaven or Jesus were myths. But, I wanted to remind him to think beyond what he's told by various people and seek out reality for himself.

For Heaven's sake! I sure hope he was listening.

Six Silly Sayings

I recently ran across some material that made an attempt to prove God's existence in six points.

I will share each of the six points. Following each point, I will give my opinion about why I think these are weak arguments. I'm not saying that my rebuttals will disprove God -- but these arguments are not strong enough to prove that God exists.

1. Our planet's complexity points to a deliberate Designer who not only created our universe, but sustains it today.

My rebuttal: Science shows us that at the very least the Biblical account of creation is a myth. Science proves the Earth is billions of years old, not just thousands or a few million per the Biblical account. If God did create us, he used evolution to do it.

But more importantly, the perceptions and assumptions we humans have concerning the "obvious" are often flawed in critical ways. We assume that everything with structure needs a builder because we must build and design. That assumption does not have to be true for our universe.

For example, observe the image to the right:

The two lines that run across the star burst pattern appear bent; however, they are parallel lines. If you could print out this image (or one similar) and check the lines with a ruler -- you would observe that they are indeed straight lines. Our perceptions can be fooled. We assume the lines are bowed at first glance. But upon further inspection, the lines are actually straight lines.

A complex universe and complex life doesn't mean a creator is necessary. Evolution is a complex process that took millions of years -- yet few people want to say that God created us this way.

2. The complexity of the human brain shows a higher intelligence behind it.

My rebuttal: This second point is really just restating of the first point. I will only add here that evolution shows us that our brains developed over a painstaking process over millions of years. Biologists have found caves where no sunlight reaches inside them. Therein, you can find a pond that has formed from a stream of water that flows inside. Fish swim around in the ponds. Since there is no light, these fish have no eyes! They only have nodes or bulbs that have formed. Biologists surmise that the ancestors of these fish had eyes. After millions of years of swimming in the dark, natural selection decided not to bother forming the eyes in these fish any longer.

Is that intelligent design?

3. Natural causes and chance are insufficient explanations for our existence.

My rebuttal: This third point is barely different from the first two points. Evolution, again, shows us that our course of development is left to a process of natural selection. Perhaps this isn't pure chance, but the survivors and offspring in any given species continues to thrive as long as they are well suited for the environment in which they live.

Also, scientists have found that when non-organic elements found in asteroids are mixed with non-organic compounds found in earth a chemical reaction happens and organic compounds are created. Just like taking oxygen and hydrogen and putting them together -- you get water. Or, just in the same way that you take sodium and chloride and form table salt. Asteroids pelted the earth during it's early formation. Life easily could have formed from this natural occurrence.

Besides, saying that God created everything is insufficient as well. We still have questions. Who made God? Saying that he always existed is no different from simply saying that the matter and material of this universe has always existed.

4. The enormously vast number of people who are passionately convinced that there is a God must be ignored should you say God does not exist.

My rebuttal: Galileo Galilei had to ignore the enormously vast number of people who were passionately convinced that the earth was the center of the universe. Nuff said.

5. We know God exists because he pursues us. He is constantly initiating and seeking for us to come to him.

My rebuttal: You cannot say that this pursuit is true for everyone because you have not met everyone to ask them if God has sought him or her out. Besides, why is God so subtle if he is pursuing us?!?!?! Also, since so many people have a vast difference of opinion in who God really is, (because he's so subtle in his "pursuit") how can you say the same God is calling a Muslim to pray when at the same time he calls a Christian to prayer? Perhaps God only exists because we still have questions about ourselves. The more questions we answer with science, the less we need God and scripture to explain everything.

6. Unlike any other revelation of God, Jesus Christ is the clearest, most specific picture of God pursuing us.

My rebuttal:

The Pagan Origins of the Christian Myth
The Bible's Buried Secrets
The Hidden Book of the Bible

And that's just for starters . . .

I'm not declaring that I've disproved God's existence in my rebuttals. However, I am saying that the six arguments offered for God's existence are not sound and cannot prove his existence, either.

Oh My God . . .

I thought the word holiday was akin to the word vacation.

Somehow the words holiday and vacation seem to only mean busy and work.

Anyhow, I have finally found a moment to post.

Why do theists generally believe in certain gods while excluding other gods from belief?

Christians tend to only believe in Christ.
Muslims generally only believe in Allah.
Jews tend to only believe in YHWH -- minus Jesus.
Cult followers tend to only believe in their wonderful leaders.

Consider the ancients of long ago. They tended to believe in the respective gods of their time -- Thor, Oden, Isis, Dionysus, Zeus, Ra, and so on and so on. Even the polytheistic worshipers had to sort out the rivalry within any given pantheon.

But reason and logic seem well equipped to explain why Jesus, Allah, Thor, Oden, Isis, and the other gods of history are nothing more than characters of mythology. Flawed religious texts and doubtful "eye witness" accounts are all that proclaim the divinity of these mythological beings. Archeology, science, and astronomy sorely contradict the so called truths of scripture and human experience. The earth, solar system, and universe could not have been created in the manner that ancient scripture texts have claimed in the past based on current scientific discoveries.

And just like that -- the weak and flimsy notion that any of the previously mentioned deities serve as Governor of the universe is easily cut down by Reason's razor.

Upon considering this, I've realized that discussing God and his existence becomes murky if we do not pin down a definition for exactly what or who God is.

I've often heard that the idea of God can neither be proven nor disproved. Reason and logic alone may not have enough facts to totally explain why God cannot possibly exist. Nor, can reason and logic seem to explain why God must exist.

I can feel quite sure that none of the mythological figures of the past are true manifestations of God, should he possibly exist. After all, if God should exist -- he wouldn't be a myth, now would he?

And should God exist, what definition might God offer of himself that we might know who he (or she) is? (Remember, we have already discounted the Bible and other religious text for the reasons mentioned above).

Well . . . unless God comes down from the sky and convinces all of us of his (or her) nature, I'm afraid we will only end up with a new myth on our hands.

Perhaps God is frustrated that he (or she) cannot communicate with all of us. Perhaps God is like a tesseract -- a four dimensioned object which can only be expressed as a shadow in our world. In such an event, God would be ill-equipped to communicate with us.

That idea is starting to sound like deism to me.

Agnosticism, anyone?

By the way, why should I bother with being a devout deist if God doesn't even interact with us?

Why hold to theism if we must all conjure the definitions of God and worship him (or her) in those very terms which we create. I might as well make an idol with my own hands and worship it.

So, here I am . . . staring at atheism.

Oh my God! Maybe you can prove God doesn't exist!

A Little Perspective

I've had the pleasure of receiving several great recommendations for short videos, books, and documentaries over the past week or two. I have a lot to soak in; there is much to see. I still haven't had the chance to follow up on all the suggestions yet, but I am eager to do so.

One short video so far has truly impressed me and has opened my perspective concerning this planet we all share.

Carl Sagan provides an amazing perspective concerning our existence in a short video called The Pale Blue Dot. Watch it. If my link doesn't work, simply visit YouTube and search for:

The Pale Blue Dot -- full speech

I found the film humbling and touching. Somewhat saddening and quite sobering; yet, somehow the film was still very inspiring and hopeful all at the same time.

And I must say . . . people who argue that morality cannot exist without god would be challenged after gaining this new and awesome perspective. After seeing where and what we really are in this universe, I can't help but to have the desire to cherish life. And not only my life, but the life of every other human being around me.

Isn't that sentiment morality enough?