Originally Posted By mele <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/11/13/john-shimkus-climate-change_n_782664.html" target="_blank">http://www.huffingtonpost.com/...664.html</a> Excerpt: The highest-ranking House official in charge of environmental and energy policy may soon be a Republican legislator who denies climate change on the grounds of his belief that nothing bad can come of the Earth unless it is preordained by God. Rep. John Shimkus (R-Ill.), a member of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce since 1997, submitted a letter to his colleagues earlier this week asking for their blessing in his campaign to assume the gavel when Republicans take control of the chamber. ----- Sigh. I'm so sick of this.
Originally Posted By gadzuux >> According to ThinkProgress.org, half of the newly elected Republicans don’t believe in man-made climate change while 86 percent of them are against climate change legislation if it costs money to the government. << And here's another stat about those crrrazy right wing christians - >> A new University of Texas/Texas Tribune survey shows just how destructive a politicized right-wing curriculum can be. A large number of Texans polled said they still don’t believe in evolution and are convinced that humans and dinosaurs co-existed: – 51 percent disagree with the statement, “Human beings, as we know them today, developed from earlier species of animals.” – 38 percent agree with the statement, “God created human beings pretty much in their present form about 10,000 years ago.” – 30 percent agree with the statement, “Humans and dinosaurs lived at the same time.” Another 30 percent said they “don’t know” whether the statement is true. << In today's polarized america, both sides think the other side is nuts. One side is right.
Originally Posted By plpeters70 How can so many people be so uneducated? Do they not pay any attention in school at all? Do they think their teachers are lying to them?
Originally Posted By DAR We have no word on what Reps Schlimiel, Schlimazel and Hasenpfeffer had to say on the matter.
Originally Posted By DAR Because I believe in both Intelligent Design AND evolution. I also believe that climate change is a combination of the ever evolving Earth along with man's advancements in the world of industry and progress throughout the years.
Originally Posted By plpeters70 <<I also believe that climate change is a combination of the ever evolving Earth along with man's advancements in the world of industry and progress throughout the years.>> And what are you basing this belief on? Are you a climate scientist? Have you researched the topic for years and come to this conclusion - or are you just going with what "feels" right to you?
Originally Posted By Mr X ***I also believe that climate change is a combination of the ever evolving Earth along with man's advancements in the world of industry and progress throughout the years*** Actually plpete, I'm pretty sure that what DAR states here is what scientists have concluded, as well. It's not as though climate change WOULDN'T occur without our help, it's just that we have now added to the mix...how much/how badly, and what we can or can't do about it, are all subjects for debate and further research. I'm a little confused on the other part though. DAR, how can you believe in both? I mean, the idea of evolution right away is that it's a RANDOM thing (random mutations lead to survival of the fittest over long periods of time). I could understand if your argument is that God "invented" the process of evolution..as opposed to perhaps a Universe where life is more directly involved in the process in that a monkey trying to reach higher fruit can simply GROW some claws or wings in a short period of time (THAT would be a far more logical Universe, and one I would think a God would rather design but I ain't know God so who knows?). So, if you say you believe both, you are saying that evolution occurs but is NOT random, but rather all designed beforehand? If so, why would God design so many abject failures? By that I mean species who over-adapt to the extent they're physically incapable of surviving, there was a picture I saw once which I couldn't just now find..of a type of mammoth who's lower lip and jaw had evolved to be so long (for scooping purposes) it could no longer eat properly...stuff like that. How do you jive the "random" and "designed" stuff together if I may ask?
Originally Posted By Mr X Here it is! <a href="http://www.50birds.com/extan/images/extanlongjawedmastodonea-j-green.jpg" target="_blank">http://www.50birds.com/extan/i...reen.jpg</a> Danged picky google search, I was tying "long jawed mammoth" when I should've been looking for "long jawed mastodon". Now THAT picture isn't quite as insane as the pic I saw before, but in essence this evolutionary feature which worked very well for a time, continued growing to the point where it killed them off. What is intelligent about THAT design? To me, seems more of a random thing (which is why I could buy the argument that God maybe created the template, but not that he designed all the stuff that arose from it...just doesn't make a lick of sense to me).
Originally Posted By gadzuux There's a well respected theory that says the reason that cromagnon man became extinct as a species is that their heads were growing so large that women would often die during childbirth. Presumeably big heads had some other value in the natural selection process, and caused them to increase over time, but eventually - size does matter. The species could no longer sustain itself and before long there's no more cromagnons. In turn, this opened the door for homosapiens (us) to emerge and flourish. We caught a break.
Originally Posted By skinnerbox If folks want to argue that a higher power was responsible for the very beginning, i.e., Big Bang, I probably wouldn't have a problem with that. But after the Big Bang comes the Big Hands Off. "Intelligent design"? Nope. Evolution all the way. Any attempt to justify "active intervention" in our universe is not plausible.
Originally Posted By gadzuux If it isn't specifically mentioned in the bible, it never happened. Science is the devil's workshop.
Originally Posted By plpeters70 <<Actually plpete, I'm pretty sure that what DAR states here is what scientists have concluded, as well.>> Kind of. I won't claim to be an expert, but from what I remember reading, while it's true that Earth's climate changes naturally throughout time, the rapid warming, and increase in greenhouse gases, we are seeing now is almost exclusively caused by man. Blaming the "earth's natural cycles" only diminishes the role that man has played in this crisis - and is sometimes used to claim that "there's nothing we can do, so we'll just have to live with it" when that couldn't be further from the truth. The truth is that there is PLENTY we could do - like getting off oil - but our governments are so locked up in battles over tax-cut extensions and gay marriage that they fail to even attempt to address climate change. Now throw in these religious idiots who think God won't let anything bad happen to America, so we don't have to worry, and you have a recipe for disaster!
Originally Posted By DAR I believe in God and I believe in science and I don't apologize for it either.
Originally Posted By mawnck >>I believe in God and I believe in science and I don't apologize for it either.<< Christianity is never having to say you're sorry. (Sorry, I couldn't resist.)
