Piltdown Superman

One does not need to be a traveler in space to appreciate creation, but it helps. Several American astronauts, especially in the early days of the space program, have become more aware of the Creator.  These include  James Irwin ,  Buzz Aldrin  (who took communion on the moon),  Jack Lousma ,  Rick Husband , Jeff Williams , and others. Answers  magazine interviewed Barry Wilmore, an accomplished pilot who spent time on the International Space Station. Barry traveled on both Soyuz  and Space Shuttles.  He points out that we do not need to go up yonder to experience the Creator in our lives here and now. Barry Wilmore, ISS-41 in 2015 / NASA (usage does not imply endorsement of site contents) I'm going to stop right here for a moment and mention something that really puts a burr under my saddle: People who claim that NASA and all those other agencies are lying to cover up the "fact" that the earth is flat. They are stupid. That's right, I said it!  Anyone with a lick of

What comes to mind when the prophet Daniel is mentioned? Perhaps some of the accounts many of us learned as children, such as his account of his friends in the fiery furnace, eating veggies, or his own experience in the den of lions. How about Belshazzar's blasphemous feast on his last night as a ruler, which prompted the expression, "The writing on the wall?" Then there are those prophecies... The Bible has come under attack for centuries for various reasons, especially its historical reliability. Materialists act from their presuppositions that there is no God and are no miracles. There can be no prophesy, nosiree! The book of Daniel is rejected by them and liberal "Christian scholars" for similar reasons. Belshazzar's Feast , Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn, 1635 Why is it that people profess to be Christians, but try to tear down the foundations of their faith and destroy the faith of others? A simple way to reject the contents of Daniel's book is to

Those of us who have been raised believing that there is only one God may find it difficult to comprehend that there are cultures that worship many. Animism  has multiple spirits that people pray to, which is seldom known in the Western world. Polytheism  is the belief in many gods. Some folks claim that the global flood story in the  Gilgamesh  epic poem was copied by the Hebrews. It is to laugh. Those gods were like children who gained power, squabbling with each other, messing with humans, and so on. Looking at mythologies, we see that many groups were polytheistic. The Assembly of the Gods , Jacopo Zucchi 1576, WikiComm  It strikes this child as interesting that the word avatar  is used frequently, often associated with a picture to represent oneself online. In religions like Hinduism, an avatar is when one of their gods decides to show up on Earth for a spell. People with a worldview based in atheistic materialism denigrate Judaism and Christianity, obviously because of the belie

Most scientists live by the philosophy of materialism. That is, the atheistic that matter is all that exists. It is presupposed. Scientism stems from materialism, and it is a belief that everything can be explained by scientific methodologies — including philosophy and morality. Scientism is a de facto  religion . Those practicing Scientism (who may not realize that their belief system has a name) tend to be insufferably smug. They are the self-appointed intellectual elite, and thinking they are better than others because they are materialistic scientists is logically fallacious. This "1889 Guy" was colorized at  Playback.fm , further modified with  FotoSketcher One tinhorn was talking about "scientific truth", and secular elitists are to be the ones who determine truth. He bases his woefully insufficient beliefs on what is "known" through science, but his own reasoning is saturated with difficulties. After all, many scientific "facts" have been

by Cowboy Bob Sorensen  Humor is something I have studied for years, if one includes watching television. Study  is a word that I would like to use, but to be more accurate, I have pondered it off and on for about 135 years. There is a difference between humor and laughter. Some people laugh because they are nervous and are attempting to self-soothe and perhaps garner sympathy from other people. Other times, people laugh because they find something genuinely funny or see the humor in a situation.  The Laughing Violinist / Gerard van Honthorst , ca.1624 My own sense of humor has evolved over the years, inserting genetic material from old American comedies, other people, comedians, and British styles. Subtle things appeal to me, and I occasionally insert humor into my posts and articles. I wonder if people catch them, however, since I don't have "I see what you did there" comments on Fakebook and Tweeter. We often laugh when something takes us by surprise, as mentioned on

A term that has become common in recent years is fact check , predominantly used in political matters. It seems that fact-checking organizations (as well as individuals) are bolstered by appeals to their authority and popularity — as well as those who want their biases confirmed. Who checks the checkers? The Snopes site was outstanding for looking up information and refuting silly urban legends, but it became disingenuous when supporting leftist politics . The FactCheck outfit claims that Snopes is reliable (this post has a mix of good and bad information, but supports leftist sources), but they are biased themselves . Negative biases are used when fact-checking the Bible using archaeology. Study room at Qumram, Israel - Flickr / Dennis Jarvis  ( CC BY-SA 2.0 ) Although this may seem like the genetic fallacy , it is worth considering the presuppositions of people making assertions and challenges. Many times on social(ist) media, people will simply make claims. For example, in Matthew

On the holiday traditionally known as Easter, millions of professing Christians gather to celebrate how God the Son was bodily raised from the dead. Jesus is our Creator (John1:1-3, Colossians 1:15-17) and took the form of man to die on the cross (Philippians 2:8), then his Resurrection was on the third day. We have eyewitness testimony in the Gospels (1 Corinthians 15:3-8). We also have evidence from archaeology. While it is not direct  evidence, there are many aspects that support the biblical narratives. Something noteworthy about the Bible that sets it apart from myths, legends, fairy tales, and so on is the amount of very specific details that are not found in made-up stories. Church of the Holy Sepulcher image credit: Flickr /  Seetheholyland.net  ( CC BY-SA 2.0 ) There are several compelling facts supported by archaeology, including the fact that he was worshiped as God long before such a legend would have time to develop. Cumulative details from history and archaeology indicate

Let me run this up the flagpole in the fort and see if anyone salutes it. Christians believe in an awesome God as described in the Bible. He is infinite, yet is mindful of us (Psalm 8:3-4). Scientists keep on exploring and learning, then developing new technology to continue exploring. Cells that were considered simple are extremely complex. At the other end, astronomy, planetology, cosmology and so forth continually yield new discoveries. If created beings had the Creator all figured out, he would be a puny God. Disk galaxy NGC 7814 credit:  Sloan Digital Sky Survey (usage does not imply endorsement of site contents) Materialist get high and mighty, making pronouncements about the universe, then they realize that science doesn't support atheistic and deep-time views for cosmic evolution. Then they commence to utilizing the complex scientific principle of Making Things Up™ because evidence is recalcitrant toward their speculations. There are also new discoveries in space that cann

It is readily apparent that everything in the universe was designed, from celestial objects to humans to single-celled organisms. A commonly used argument by apologists is that a building requires a builder, a painting requires a painter, so all these things with specified complexity require a Creator. However, that argument from intelligent design is all right for a starting point, but it does not go far enough . You may convince a skeptic that there is a higher power, but then what? Made at PhotoFunia Through his creation, the Master Engineer has made himself known from the beginning. It is a good thing for us that we don't have to speculate; he made himself known through special revelation. The Maker is the God of the Bible, and he has given us gifts for Christmas. The Creator of the world and all that is in nature has been identified! He speaks every language on earth. Here is the English version of what he said: Take a look over at " Nature’s Maker Identified ."

Disciples of the Lord Darwin have a problem because they are reaping what they have sown. After all, they believe in natural selection and survival of the fittest, so those things logically should occur in the secular science industry. The mysterious machines at work in their mind are not consistent with their fundamentally-flawed worldview. If morality comes from evolution , they cannot be consistent and lament unethical and immoral behavior. Secularists are inadvertently appealing to God when they want an ultimate standard. Hudson River...thing, Flickr / Cowboy Bob Sorensen ( CC BY-NC-SA 2.0 ) If using fake science, referencing retracted papers , submitting fraudulent papers and having them pass peer review makes them survive better — sure, why not? Some establishments have a "publish or perish" standard that puts tremendous pressure on some folks who simply want to go about their business conducting scientific research, so that probably contributes to the temptation to ch

by Cowboy Bob Sorensen  Although misotheists are divided on many things, some pretend that they are unified and it is the fault of Christians and creationists for not understanding them. Some time ago, I made a disparaging remark about an atheist's claim that people get morality from evolution. When I mentioned it later, another told me I was being ridiculous because they do not believe such a thing. The telegraph lines must have been down because one or the other did not get the correct message. Atheists frequently get on the prod and seem compelled to contradict anything the st00pid dujmb theist will say — even at the point of denying their own mythology or actual scientific facts for the sake of being disputatious. Trying to have a rational discussion with the average internet atheist is often like trying to teach a pig to sing (it wastes your time and irritates the pig). As a student of presuppositional apologetics , I've learned that the apologists needs to show that the u

by Cowboy Bob Sorensen  Once again, I had an inspiration from an unlikely source when my mind wandered off all by its lonesome. I have no idea why I was on the rabbit trail, but I was looking up When Worlds Collide . The book by that name was written by Philip Wylie and Edwin Balmer in 1933. Bookstores have it, and used copies can be had. Try your library. A movie based on the book was made in 1951, and that can also be found. Pixabay /  Neypomuk-Studios The genre of science fiction has a dilemma: Keep the science in it, or skip reality to garner more sales. Some manage to balance storytelling with science and speculative science, but willing suspension of disbelief is still necessary. Not as much as comic book superhero stuff, though. Sometimes people want to shut off reason so they can have fun, or mayhaps guys want to look at Scarlett Johannsson. Discourteous Celestial Objects In the book version of When Worlds Collide , two rogue planets are going to make life on Earth a mite diff

by Cowboy Bob Sorensen This article is going to be mighty different from our usual fare. If you or someone you know is a lighthouse aficionado, the first part may prove interesting.  Warning beacons are ancient, ranging from open fires to building more permanent structures when possible. The most famous lighthouses of old include the Pharos of Alexandria, Egypt and the Tower of Hercules (which still exists, albeit with reconstructions and such). Rebuilding happened frequently throughout history, and many restorations are done even now. Smeaton Lighthouse at Eddystone The word "lighthouse" is often used generically because although they were lights, not every one had living quarters. Some were visited by the keepers. Also, that word has connotations of the famous big towers, but there were other kinds. Let's look at a few on the Hudson River. The "spark plug" tower at Tarrytown had living quarters. Look at the  Saugerties Lighthouse , it strongly resembles a ho

Although Sigmund " Frood-dude " Freud tried to make psychotherapy into a science, it has very little to do with real science. Indeed, there are many schools of psychology, so if someone is told to "see a therapist", it could be any of several forms — several of which drew from Freud . Modern psychotherapy is actually dangerous, and labeling people with a condition can be quite harmful . There is a condition known as borderline personality disorder (BDP), but on the border of what is debated . Pexels / Alex Green Psychologists really don't know what's going on in their fundamentally-flawed Darwinian-based pseudoscience. There's almost an even chance that someone will improve over time. I've been open about my own struggles with depression, and that I was seeing therapists and taking medication. That's long past. Don't get me wrong, there are times when therapy is necessary, but to spend huge amounts of money for months and years is wasteful.

by Cowboy Bob Sorensen  In an article about climate screams , the word groupthink was used. It sounds like something from George Orwell, but is actually a psychological phenomenon. In some ways it is like herd mentality where everyone goes in the same direction, but groupthink is more complex. Even though I've used the word and had a cursory knowledge of the concept, I wanted to get a better understanding of groupthink. I found a good article to which I will add my own thoughts, linking to it later. Credit: Unsplash / Eric Herni Conformity involves people changing their actions (and probably their thoughts as well) so they can fit in with a group, but groupthink involves the decision-making process. What do you think happens when people appeal to the consensus, whether it is evolution, climate change, or something else that is highly charged? There is an appeal to emotion. Psychologist Dr. Irving L. Janis coined the word in 1972. People go with the views of a group and practice sel