Tree Devotionals (Contain Bible Verses, so enter at your own risk)

[CaPowell]

So your god is responsible for rape, murder, incest, slavery, starvation, etc, etc...thanks for clearing that up

I'm not sure I follow your reasoning. How did you get that God is responsible for rape and incest? Sinful man is responsible for his own sinful actions.

There is no doubt God does allow certain things though. He allowed His chosen people to be enslaved for 400 years in Egypt. He sent numerous droughts in the Old Testament for various reasons. We also see God providing for those who have faith in Him during these events.

 

[Reach]

You guys can pray for me- I've been off the last week and a half with a pulled groin. That's the only reason I'm on the Buzz during a work day. Doctor says six to eight weeks for a full recovery, but hopefully I can start back next week and just take things easier.

Praying right now, before I pull out to go write the day’s round of quotes. Hope you’re well again soon!

 

[CHTjules]

You just got done telling us the your god is our creator and that he has a right to do whatever he wants with us, yet in your fucking fairy tale he is somehow not responsible for what he has created. An amazing trick and more proof as to the hoops you folks jump through to keep the fairy tale alive.

God allows humans free will/free choice...which often results in sin, one example of which is the taking away of rights (such as the right to life) of an innocent human in the womb.

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[CHTjules]

So your god created the gun and the human to pull the trigger, but he bears no responsibility for any of it. Leave it to god to create the mother of all liability waivers.

God created humans, who then made guns. A human made the choice to pull the trigger, and therefore that human should bear the responsibility, and the consequences of, taking an innocent life. Anyone who takes an innocent human life, including the life of a human in the womb, is responsible for their choice, and there should be personal consequences for their murderous choice.

It seems many do not want to take personal responsibility for the consequences of their choices over a wide spectrum of issues.

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[CHTjules]

And according to your fairy tale logic your god is also responsible for the 14th ammended which gives a woman the right to choose what she does with her body.

In reference to the 14th Amendment, the below quoted paragraph comes from the recent SCOTUS leaked initial draft majority opinion written by Justice Samuel Alito. Here is the link where you can read it in it's entirety; the quote below is found on page 5: SCOTUS Initial Draft

"We hold that Roe and Casey must be overruled. The Constitution makes no reference to abortion, and no such right is implicitly protected by any consitutional provision, including the one on which the defenders of Roe and Casey now chiefly rely - the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. That provision has been held to guarantee some rights that are not mentioned in the Consitution, but any such right must be "deeply rooted in this Nation's history and tradition" and "implicit in the concept of ordered liberty" ... The right to abortion does not fall within this category. Until the latter part of the 20th century, such a right was entirely unknown in American law. Indeed, when the Fourteenth Amendment was adopted, three quarters of the States made abortion a crime at all stages of pregnancy. The abortion right is also critically different from any other right that this Court has held to fall within the Fourteenth Amendment's protection of "liberty." Roe's defenders characterize the abortion right as similiar to the rights recognized in past decisions involving matter such as intimate sexual relations, contraception, and marriage, but abortion is fundamentally different, as both Roe and Casey acknowledged, because it destroys what those decisions called "fetal life" and what the law now before us describes as an "unborn human being."

 

[CHTjules]

The gun was a metaphor for man, and pulling the trigger was a metaphor for sin. God creates the priest, who through the free will god gave him, pulls the trigger and rapes a young boy. It’s all gods doing yet he bear no responsibility for any it? Fuck that. Its pretty clear that your intelligent designer is not very intelligent, and one sick sadistic mofo.

And anyone who rapes, or commits murder, including the murder of a human in the womb, should be held accountable for their actions and choices. God did not tell them what to do or not to do...it is their individual choice. Again, it seems many want to shirk away from the responsibility and consequences of their actions.

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[Reach]

And anyone who rapes, or commits murder, including the murder of a human in the womb, should be held accountable for their actions and choices. God did not tell them what to do or not to do...it is their individual choice. Again, it seems many want to shirk away from the responsibility and consequences of their actions.

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I agree with that statement, but with one change - God does tell us what to do and what not to do. However, we sinful humans refuse to do what he says, and thus we do wrong because of it.

 

[Rooted.Tree.Solutions]

Watching you folks squirm around as you try to make sense of your fairy tale is like watching drunk folks play twister.

I’d be very interested to hear about what you believe @rico. How did we get hear? What happens after we die? Just curious if you’re willing to share.

 

[CaPowell]

I believe in the natural world, and the wonders of nature are my place of worship.

A man and a woman fornicate, procreate, and a life is born. That life is lived, then it ends.. its as simple as that.

Those of us who are fortunate enough are able to spend our time here with people we love, doing what we love to do. These things give way more purpose and meaning to life than any man made religion or fairy tale could ever do.

I love being in nature as much as the next guy. I envy you because of the “giants” you get to walk through and work on compared to my little prairie twigs. What are you worshipping when you are in nature?

Trees are complex organisms and certainly didn’t create themselves.

What is life? You say, “as simple as that.” Where’d it come from? The Law of Biogenesis says life only comes from life. Life has never been observed to form from non-living matter. How does a bundle of cells have thoughts, feelings, and emotions?

“A man and a woman fornicate.” Where’d the sexes come from in the first place? Males and females are both humans, yet are so radically different that they almost look at each other as aliens. It is way deeper than hair length or stature. It goes to the cell level, to the DNA. The sexual organs compliment one another. The whole reproductive process is complex. How long would it take for fallopian tubes, and ovaries, and breasts to evolve? I imagine there would be more than one or two steps in the process. What about the timing of the menstrual cycle and eggs? How did this evolve simultaneously with all of the changes necessary to make a male? The probability of both coming about by random chance at the same time and perfectly complimenting one another seems quite astronomical to me.

What about the life that is born that you mentioned? How do you explain instincts? How do you explain babies knowing how to latch onto the breast immediately? How do you explain how babies know how to nurse?

Honestly, your view sounds pretty bleak to me. You’re born, life is hard, then you die, and then nothing… Why bother doing good? Why bother working hard or even living at all for that matter?

My view is that you are more than a fancy walking talking computer and way more than a big moving sack of elements. You are special. There is no one else quite like you in the whole world. Even though you mock Him, Jesus died for you.

 

[Tom Dunlap]

The probability of both coming about by random chance at the same time and perfectly complimenting one another seems quite astronomical to me.

Especially in only 10k years if anyone believes in young earth.

 

[CaPowell]

2. I never said life was hard so please refrain from putting words in my mouth.

Dude, you've been bemoaning what an awful world this is. Probably ten times in the last three pages. "Rape, incest, murder, disasters, your God is awful at His job." That's a paraphrase, but does that sound familiar? Surely "life is hard and then you die" is not too much of a stretch for your worldview.

Basically, from what I see, you are quick to scoff and quicker to mock. You love to belittle, yet are blind to the fact that you are the one believing a fairy tale. From your short response, your worldview lacks the ability to answer any of life's most basic questions and looks to be built not upon fact, but on feelings.

 

[CaPowell]

There ya go putting words in other peoples mouths again. So much for honesty huh.

You seem to think that because I am not buying your line of jive that I am somehow unhappy.

I'm really not aware of putting any words in your mouth. I don't think I ever said you were unhappy or that you had a hard life. The "life's hard and then you die" thing is a general statement for most people. I don't see anything dishonest in that. If so, it certainly wasn't intentional.

I appreciate you giving a little background and believe it or not, I can understand where you are coming from.

Your mom might have been a Sunday School teacher, but have you ever given the Bible a fair chance? Have you read it for yourself? If not, you are speaking of things you know nothing about.

I'll admit that I don't have a perfect answer for the problem of evil. It's hard. There's not a specific verse to point to, but instead, I think the whole Bible is the answer. I don't understand why God allows evil to continue, but God does answer that one. He is patient. He does not wish for any to perish, but wishes for all to come to repentance (2 Peter 3:9).

Here is a link to a very good article on the classic problem of evil if anyone is interested:

How can a good God allow suffering? – Redeemer Presbyterian Church

redeemersd.org

 

[rico]

I'm really not aware of putting any words in your mouth. I don't think I ever said you were unhappy or that you had a hard life. The "life's hard and then you die" thing is a general statement for most people. I don't see anything dishonest in that. If so, it certainly wasn't intentional.

I appreciate you giving a little background and believe it or not, I can understand where you are coming from.

Your mom might have been a Sunday School teacher, but have you ever given the Bible a fair chance? Have you read it for yourself? If not, you are speaking of things you know nothing about.

I'll admit that I don't have a perfect answer for the problem of evil. It's hard. There's not a specific verse to point to, but instead, I think the whole Bible is the answer. I don't understand why God allows evil to continue, but God does answer that one. He is patient. He does not wish for any to perish, but wishes for all to come to repentance (2 Peter 3:9).

Here is a link to a very good article on the classic problem of evil if anyone is interested:

How can a good God allow suffering? – Redeemer Presbyterian Church

redeemersd.org

Thanks for the honest answer. i appreciate it..I would like to apologize for my sometimes over the top responses during our back in forth...i believe you to be a good man, with good intention, and that is good enough for me..

 

[CaPowell]

Thanks for the honest answer. i appreciate it..I would like to apologize for my sometimes over the top responses during our back in forth...i believe you to be a good man, with good intention, and that is good enough for me..

Thank you, Rico. That means a lot. Best to you.

 

[Willber]

Especially in only 10k years if anyone believes in young earth.

I've seen many reasons to think the earth, even our solar system, to be young. Here's a link to a presentation by Spike Psarris,

I found it interesting about the orbital decay of the moon. I haven't researched what is actually causing the decay or why it wouldn't be a decay towards the earth. Either way it's happening, and we know the moon plays an essential role in life on this planet. It just doesn't seem, that even our solar system being more than 10,000 years old, is plausible.
At this time, I'm not trying to promote creation, just that by these observations, an old earth seems even less possible.

 

[Willber]

The bible states in Exodus 21, "If men strive, and hurt a woman with child, so that her fruit depart from her, and yet no mischief follow: he shall be surely punished, according as the woman's husband will lay upon him; and he shall pay as the judges determine."
The man to who caused the miscarriage was required to pay for the damage/loss. Almost as if the fetus was a loss of time and effort from the mother, and was determined by how much value the investment, of the fruit, was for the couple.

I see abortion as being much too over sensationalized by pro-lifers, in that why are others concerned if a woman wants/needs an abortion for reasons we (men may not [cannot] understand). Surely a woman doesn't get an abortion on a whim or would do it constantly. It's a tough decision and comes with much contemplation, because it will affect her life and eventually the child's life. After all, it was an easy, quick pleasurable act by the man; that came with no physiological and phycological burden or effort, that she will bear in the next few months. She is simply choosing not to bring a child into this world, it certainly is not murder.

For those who think it so wrong to abort a fetus, then it must also imply that not having as much children as possible is also wrong. For there could be many children brought into this world. Why concern oneself with the difficult decision of others, and focus on one's potential to fulfill their ability to bring as many into this world as possible.
Also, not to care for the life of current living children in this world, suffering from hunger, mistreatment, etc. Is infinitely less pro-life than keeping a woman from having an abortion.

I can see one's desire to have compassion for a woman who is contemplating abortion. In consoling her that maybe she might want to have her child, for reasons she may appreciate. But, ultimately it is her decision.

Edit:
Remember, just as one may say it's wrong for a woman to terminate a "life"; is it not just as wrong not allowing life into this world? There are sins of commission, though the sins of omission are bad, if not worse.

 

[southsoundtree]

Along with the explanation for brontosaurus and triceratops, can someone point out about neanderthals place in the bible?

Were 2 put aboard the ark?

There should be an easy, non-magical answer to this, right?

 

[Tom Dunlap]

This morning I watched an interesting science show about the geologic understanding of meteor impacts. These events left HUGE records that are gradually being understood. New dating systems are being created that have given scientists the ability to have confidence in the time line record they see.

So often I read/hear the young earth/flood talk claiming that the record of the flood is THE ONLY world wide geologic record that has been found. This has come up in almost every item that I've read. What a bunch of lies. Besides not being
a global event these flood records don't fall into the same timeline record.


The science show I watched looked at the craters in:

Northern Arizona
Sudbury, Canada
Siberia
Yucatan...this was the one that killed the dinos off millions of years ago.

Records of these and other events are found as unique mineral depositions in the area around the impact and in the case of he dino killer, the dust record has been confirmed and dated around the globe.

A while ago I read an article that talked about the alt-history we would be part of if the dino-killer meteor had hit about 20 minutes earlier or later it would have hit a different part of the earth's surface and likely would have had a much less cataclysmic result. In other words, earth would have dodged the bullet but less than a half hour. This is based on the understanding of the geologic record as well as solid astronomic knowledge.

 

[Reach]

Along with the explanation for brontosaurus and triceratops, can someone point out about neanderthals place in the bible?

Were 2 put aboard the ark?

There should be an easy, non-magical answer to this, right?

I can’t say the answer is easy, but it is non-magical. Neanderthals were humans, they just looked a little different than we do today.

If you’re willing to read a rather long and technical article, this one gives some pretty good explanations of Neanderthals and also explains and compares/contrasts different theories that have been postulated.

Those Enigmatic Neanderthals

Young-earth creationists rightly consider that Neanderthals were human, but are divided on various issues.

answersresearchjournal.org

 

[southsoundtree]

Can you be clear what you mean by human?




They are not Homo sapiens.

Not H. habilis, either.



Australopithecines? Where do they come in?