This is one heck of a Supreme Court ruling!

Well put, Nosborne--I actually agree! Thanks for not lumping us all together in a mishmash of superstition; though I agree wholeheartedly that much of what passes for religious faith in the world is based on superstition--it doesn't mean in all cases, however, that the person who believes in a manner based on superstition is wrong in their beliefs, however. They might have veered into the truth even if they believe it without utilizing what passes among higher thinkers for "logic" and "reason".

In my personal opinion, the earth is a few billion years old, and the universe over twelve billion. But of course, I could be wrong, as could the state-of-the-art of science, which is always wrong at any given point, yet getting (presumably) closer to a description of the truth.

And now, permit this essay:

I do believe, however, what the Torah says: that Adam was the first "man", at least as in the first being made in the image of G-d. And I believe that he lived, with his wife Eve, in what is now Northern Iraq, and that this was approximately 6,000-7,000 years ago--as the Torah claims--and that from that point and time, civilization spread throughout the Middle East. Within 3,000 or 4,000 years, the region was teeming with advanced civilizations with which Israel fought and was eventually conquered--all as the Torah claims.

And coincidentally, that's what archaeologists and anthropologists say also, in a manner of speaking. They just call the descendents of Adam "Sumerians", but they agree precisely on the place and time of this first great civilization: they place it in the region of Northern Iraq 6,000-7,000 years ago, they refer to it as the "Explosion of Civilization". And they say that from that point, civilizations rapidly spread throughout the region, within 3,000 or 4,000 years forming the so-called "Fertile Crescent".

Of course, you know that the Moses and the Torah beat the best scientists and archaeologists to the punch by about 3,000 years. Indeed, science seems to be gradually inching towards the truth which your ancestors knew over 100 generations ago.

 

If science "inches towards the truth" of accepting the Bible as the literal Word of God, and that it contains irrefutable historical fact (including people who lived 900 years or more) I will personally eat my hat....

 

My dear Carl, who's to know? Truth is, you don't know.

And as science does seem to be finally starting to reveal the fingerprint of G-d, who knows but that these discoveries will yet be made? I can assure you that a few hundred years ago, archaeologists (what there were of them at the time) and scientists in the first blush of the Enlightenment would be shocked to see that our modern discoveries have moved the state-of-the-art of discovery decidedly in the direction of confirming much of this ancient, dusty text.

In other words, how is it that those superstitious tribals managed to throw together a book passed down for the first 200 years or so by oral tradition and first written down a full 3,000 years ago that somehow managed to nail our modern understanding of where and when the first great civilization occured, even though such was ancient history even to them, and even though they were ignorant nomadic ex-slaves with nary a college degree to share among them? Curious, eh? Or how about the fact that the prophet Isaiah confirmed that the earth was round about 2,700 years ago? These are things that should give one pause, even a confirmed skeptic such as you.

You might want to season that hat a bit, takes the edge off of the flavor, you know.

 

In defense of Congress!

There is nothing wrong or even inappropriate in the House of Representatives choosing to restrict federal funding of projects that involve condemnation to transfer property to private hands.

I neither agree nor disagree with the proposal. If Congress and the President think that this is good policy, I'm fine with it. Doubtless the President will be relieved to hear it!