Chuck Norris... the Columnist

[DigitalMan]

In terms of awesome, Mr. T is now in the lead since his tv show seems a lot more awesome.

Bwahaha, I saw that this weekend, if it's titled "I Pity Da Fool". "The biggest room in any household....... is the room for improvement." I stared for ten seconds trying to accept the fact that Mr. T just said that, and so did the family he was talking to.

I think she may have been talking about the cartoon with Mr. T. Chuck Norris also had one, and they both appear on Cartoon Network sometimes, really early in the morning... it's hard to say which is cheesier.

[Aridas]

In terms of awesome, Mr. T is now in the lead since his tv show seems a lot more awesome.

Wait a min, which show? His cartoon? The A-Team? T & T?

[Saist]

... What the hell? It's like I'm back in religion class. And evolution? Did he really have to go there? You can be a Christian and believe in evolution too, ya know.

um. No. You can't.

On the edit: There are two different types of evolution, and I probably need to clarify this. What Chuck Norris is refering to, and what is taught in schools today is Vertical Evolution. Vertical Evolution states that a lower creature, over time, is possible of becoming a higher level creature. Vertical Evolution is already in flagrant disregard of the 3 Laws of Thermodynamics. If you don't know what those are, you could look over here: http://www.irregularwebcomic.net/431.html  The short version is that there is no genetic evidence that a monkey could turn into a human. After all the work done in today's scientific world it is still not possible for us to change the DNA strands in a creature and turn it into a completely different creature. We can change hair color, fur color, size of tail, size of muscle, gender, and other items, but we still cannot turn a cow into a horse. If we cannot modify ourselves with Aggressive Action, what makes us think that a passive action over time would cause DNA strands to change?

Christians have additional issues. By Definition, A Christian accepts that what is written in the Bible is true. A Christian, therefor, depends on the translations provided to them to be accurate, and expect the Clergy to research the original Greek, Hebrew, and in some cases, Latin, texts to be sure on the translation. Since Christians have to accept that Genesis is true, then all creatures and Humans have been created separately. Dogs, Monkeys, Cats, and other animals were created separately, and are not Humans. There are some aspects that we may like about them, but that is just some of the items that sets them apart.

As such, a Christian can not, under any circumstance, believe in Vertical Evolution.

Vertical Evolution, however, is not to be confused with HORIZONTAL Evolution. Horizontal Evolution is also known as adaptation. Charles Darwin noted Horizontal Evolution with Finches ( http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/historic_figures/darwin_charles.shtml ). He observed Finches with Longer Beaks, shorter beaks, bigger claws, different feathers, and other various external differences. However, the birds were still finches. A finch had not turned into a Canary or a BlueJay. A finch was still a finch.

There are also articles on file about Fish that live deep under the ocean or in caves that do not have eyes. They, rather, rely on feelers or sound waves to direct their movement. They still are fish, they haven't become "not-fish", but they have different characteristics. In these cases the 3 laws of Thermodynamics are even more apparent. The fishes have given up Eye-Sight for senses more suited to their natural enviroments. They haven't developed superior eye sight, AND the ability to hear sound waves or feel around.

Mutation also falls under this class, when you force something to change due to chemical, biological, or radiation reasons. Think about birds from Chernobyl that are reported to have 3 legs for a second, or for the overly large cows that have undergone gene-therapy. They haven't changed to be other creatures. They have, however, been forced to change into different forms, some beneficial, some not so beneficial.

I hope that clarifies what is being talked about by Chuck Norris and why the Evolution debate is such a hot topic.

[Vidar]

... What the hell? It's like I'm back in religion class. And evolution? Did he really have to go there? You can be a Christian and believe in evolution too, ya know.

um. No. You can't.

Apparantly, Digitalman can.

Christianity is not the same all over the world. There are about as many forms / interpretations as there are believers.

I've heard descriptions of god that range from extremely vengeful (as in He shall cast you down into the depths of Hell, if you ever think about anything other than him) to extremely forgiving (He forgives everyone for everything, even hitler's genocidal rampage). There's no such thing as one single unified christian faith.

[DigitalMan]

*gets his "I have experience that you apparently don't" grin, which no one is ever happy to see*

Vidar is correct. That is how they managed to teach Biology at Lutheran East, where I went to school. Many of the students still preferred to take Genesis literally, but the only person to actually deny that Christians can believe in evolution was the second religion teacher. Who, for the record, is one schizophrenia episode away from attempting to kill a whole lot of people, so his opinions are generally thrown out, and even mocked by the staff.

It should also be noted that there are in fact some books of the Bible that are meant to not be taken literally. Revelations comes to mind. If the end of the world is spoken of figuratively, why can't the beginning be, too?

Conveniently enough, Christianity and evolution actually go well together. What's that you say? We humans have been incapable of manipulating DNA in an evolution-like manner? I think there's a term for attempting such, something along the lines of... "playing God." Just because humans can't accomplish something no matter how hard they work at it, doesn't mean it would be impossible for a much more powerful being. And don't even get into the "then that's not passive" thing, that's a whole 'nother topic entirely, and I'm not here to teach a religion course.

As such, a Christian can not, under any circumstance, believe in Vertical Evolution.

I shouldn't even have to say by now that that has been thoroughly, scientifically, and religiously disproven. And if you don't believe me, I'd be happy to get a letter from my biology teacher confirming that he genuinely is a real, live Christian that believes in vertical evolution.

[Aridas]

And let's not forget this whole selective adherence thing, where we tend to twist meanings and ignore things to suit our needs >.>

...and the double standards..

but I won't get into that now. The only religious figure I believe in is Father Gregori.

[Cogidubnus]

Good Lord. What has happened here? If we keep talking about things like this, I'm changing my title to 'Philosopher King'. 

   Evolution, versus Creation, is somewhat a pointless debate. Yeah, I said it! Only because, there can no resolution to this. It WILL turn into a pissing contest. None of us were there - no-one can say with any EXACT certainty how the Universe was made. If you do, I hope you took notes! I want to see them!
    We can guess about how it happened. But, I would say, it is futile to argue about it:
     If you accept the Bible as true, then, you have at least 5 different theories about what Genesis means.
     If you do not, you have about 10 different theories about how the world came into being.
      Neither can be definitively proved.
        'But Rabbi?' You might ask 'Doens't Genesis make it pretty clear that the world was created?'
        Yes, my child, it does. But, Genesis might indeed be more metaphorical than popularly thought. Think about it:
      The Jews spent over 300 years in captivity - the Pentateuch, or the first four books of the Bible, were written by Moses, who wrote down the Oral Traditions of the Bible. It is likely that their time in captivity affected these oral traditions. I.E.:
        Genesis 2:"2 Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.

   Now, what does that mean? What does God hovering over the waters have to do with anything? Well, as it's been explained to me, the Egyptian creation myts stated that their gods came out of the sea. So, this was a way of saying 'Yahweh is greater than your gods, Egyptians!'

    So, be careful what you say as fact.

   Yeah, that's it. The title is now Philosopher King.

[Cogidubnus]

Something strange happened...sorry. Double post.

[thegayhare]

In terms of awesome, Mr. T is now in the lead since his tv show seems a lot more awesome.

Wait a min, which show? His cartoon? The A-Team? T & T?

No I bel;ive they mean his new show named "I pitty da fool"

[DigitalMan]

Nice post, Cogidubnus. And a nice title, to boot

As interesting as arguing over creation theories is, it always causes very bad things on forums. And as much as I'm not here to teach religion, I'm not here to teach biology or anything else, either But when people want to argue "it is not possible for anyone to ever believe in this and this at the same time" in spite of my personal experience, that's a big no-no

I need a title. I should be the king of "Oh no you di'in't!"

As for which show RJ meant... Dood! Get back here and tell us what show you meant!

[Supercheese]

http://tv.yahoo.com/feature/ipitythefool.html
http://www.tvland.com/originals/ipitythefool/

And what the heck is up with his Wikipedia article?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mr._T

Looks like it's been/being vandalized a crapload.
http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Mr._T&action=history

[Aridas]

Bah. He should give up while he's ahead.

[Eibborn]

Thanks, guys, for explaining to je.saist about the whole Christian/Evolution thing. It really irks me, being told what I can and can not believe in.

Moving on, I agree one hundred percent that Mr. T is more full of awesome than that Norris man.

[Cogidubnus]