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Written by Robert F. Smith, aka Seeker4
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Saturday, 11 April 2009 12:10 |
 Ask people in poll after poll what they would like to change about themselves, and the overwhelming number of responses, at least in first world nations, have to do with losing weight, exercising more, getting fit and staying healthy. We equate a slim, muscular body with being healthy and sexually attractive. |
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Written by Robert F. Smith, aka Seeker4
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Tuesday, 31 March 2009 06:53 |
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From time to time I’m going to write a short blog on some of the freethinkers, atheists and rationalists that have influenced my thinking. I’ll start with Douglas Adams, because today is his birthday.
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Written by Robert F. Smith aka Seeker4
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Wednesday, 11 March 2009 11:35 |
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The dichotomy of how many Americans view science was brought home to me rather vividly the other day in two television shows on the same evening. A Nova program on PBS called The Four Winged Dinosaur was a fascinating look at how science works. It was a documentary about the investigation of flightless birds, in particular the archaeopteryx. That same evening, on the NRB Network, there was a Creation Ministries International program on Dinosaurs and the Bible. |
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Written by Robert F. Smith aka Seeker4
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Sunday, 15 February 2009 12:36 |
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I like Esquire magazine, and a lot of other magazine’s as well. With Esquire, you get some of the best non-fiction writers in the country - Chuck Klosterman, Cal Fussman, Scott Raab, Tom Chiarella and especially Tom Junod and Mike Sager. Good stuff. But you also get a lot of ads, some of them interesting, a handful just funny, and a couple simply embarrassing. Are there people who actually wear some of these clothes? |
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Written by Robert F. Smith aka Seeker4
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Saturday, 14 February 2009 06:02 |
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One of my favorite websites is Edge where some of the most brilliant minds of our time write and debate on science, politics culture, whatever. For an intellectual junky, it’s a heady mix of mind candy. It’s an overt attempt to create what is termed the Third Culture. As defined on the site, "The third culture consists of |
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Written by Robert F. Smith aka Seeker4
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Sunday, 08 February 2009 09:32 |
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Despite being an avid reader all my life, especially of biographies, I know very little about Charles Darwin. Growing up as Jehovah’s Witness, I think I unconsciously avoided reading about him and that oh-so-dangerous idea of evolution. But with 2009 being the 200th anniversary of Darwin’s birth, and the 150th anniversary of the publication of On the Origin of Species, I think it’s time to learn a little more about Mr. Darwin. |
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Written by Robert F. Smith aka Seeker4
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Tuesday, 03 February 2009 15:38 |
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There are a lot of really pissed off people in this country right now, folks just completely wired over the audacious greed, arrogance and outrageous stupidity of the heads of the Wall Street financial firms and the nation’s leading banks. The daily news we’re receiving of lavish retreats, million dollar office make overs, unbelievably over-priced office area rugs, $19 BILLION dollars-plus in year end Wall Street bonuses, Bernard Madoff’s penthouse house arrest and his millions in gifts to friends as his empire got sucked into a black hole of financial despair - all of that has just led to a level of contempt for these men and women that can hardly be described. |
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Written by Robert F. Smith aka Seeker4
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Saturday, 31 January 2009 11:01 |
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The April 15, 2009 Watchtower, according to sources I trust, contains the following lines with regard to what Jehovah’s Witnesses (JWs) refer to as apostates, that is, any former Witness who now speaks openly questioning the Watchtower Society (WTS), the Bible or the Witnesses: "Modern day apostates display characteristics similar to those of the Devil. Their mind may be poisoned by a critical attitude towards individuals in the congregations, Christian elders or the Governing Body. Some apostates oppose the use of the divine name, Jehovah. They are not interested in learning about Jehovah, or in serving him. Like their father, Satan, apostates target people of integrity." Watchtower, April 15, 2009 |
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Written by Robert F. Smith aka Seeker4
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Wednesday, 28 January 2009 13:52 |
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How exactly can a thinking Jehovah’s Witness, without any real scientific background, make sense of the science that contradicts Witness teachings and a literal understanding of the Bible? How can you know what to believe? Part of the struggle on the path of a Jehovah’s Witness (JW) becoming a rationalist, is the fact that most JWs have little or no scientific training. Yet most freethinkers and atheists would agree that science is the biggest factor in their rejection of Bibles as supernaturally inspired texts, religious stories as literal truth, and the actual existence of invisible, supernatural gods, angels and demons. That was true for myself. |
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Written by Robert F. Smith aka Seeker4
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Thursday, 22 January 2009 04:28 |
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President Obama spoke of the need for the US to return science to its rightful, and respected place in our culture. Today's NY Times discusses a situation in Texas with regard to teaching evolution in the schools that is worth noting: www.nytimes.com/2009/01/22/education/22texas.html?_r=1&th&emc=th Here's a key quote with regard to the theory and the concerns with it that is worth highlighting: |
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