[ZION] Global Warming

2002-11-06 Thread John W. Redelfs
We have a glacier up here in Alaska that is growing every year.  I don't 
recall the name of it, but I know that not all glaciers are shrinking 
around the world. --JWR

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[ZION] Taliban in Pakistan

2002-11-06 Thread John W. Redelfs
http://www.guardian.co.uk/pakistan/Story/0,2763,834287,00.html

It looks like Marc may be vindicated in his predictions that the Taliban 
will come to power in Pakistan.  Why we are planning a war against Iraq 
when the Taliban is coming to power in a nation that already has nuclear 
weapons is a complete mystery to me.

John W. Redelfs   [EMAIL PROTECTED]
===
Laurie got offended that I used the word puke. But to
me, that's what her dinner tasted like. --Jack Handy
===
All my opinions are tentative pending further data. --JWR

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RE: [ZION] Archaeology breakthrough--dramatic transitional forms

2002-11-06 Thread Jim Cobabe

John W. Redelfs wrote:
---
Jim what sources do you use to keep abreast of this kind of news?
---

Only the most reputable peer-reviewed science journals.  (Of course!)

;-

---
Mij Ebaboc

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[ZION] Supreme Court: Boy Scouts

2002-11-06 Thread Sandy and Melinda Rabinowitz
I think this is recent news, but I'm not sure.  I
didn't see this reported on any of the usual news 
sites that I read through.  

It appears the Supreme Court has ruled in favor of 
the Boy Scouts on the question of whether or not the 
organization must be compelled to accept a leader 
who advocates homosexuality--

http://laws.findlaw.com/us/000/99-699.html

--Noting, however, that it was decided 5-4, and the
court appears very divided on the issue. 

All the best,
/Sandy/

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[ZION] From somewhere in the eastern hemisphere

2002-11-06 Thread Sandy and Melinda Rabinowitz
I got the following this AM from Tony Pinto, a former 
coworker of mine who got called into active duty from
the Reserves.  FYI./Sandy/ 

--- Begin quoted message ---
Some of the things I miss:

1.  Family
2.  Friends
3.  Cold Beer
4.  Cold Milk
5.  A real shower
6A. A toilet that is less than 150 feet away
6B. A toilet that flushes
7.  Toilet paper bought at a real store, not Home Depot's sandpaper  
section 
8.  Sleeping in/on a bed
9.  Sleeping farther than 100 feet from an active runway
10. Sleeping
11. Food with FDA compliance
12. Vehicles with EPA compliance
13. Water with Flouride
14. T-shirts with color
15. Parachuting into an area with tree obstacles, not landmines
16. Curbside trash service
17. Sleeping without ear plugs
18. Sleeping - I already said that
19. Airplanes with seats
20. Paved roads

Best to all...

Tony
--- End quoted message ---

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Re: [ZION] scriptures are not secular?

2002-11-06 Thread Mark Gregson

  - Is it more important that the walls of Jericho fell as described, or
 that the people of the covenant were successful as long as they followed
 Him?

If the walls of Jericho did not fall as described in the Bible, then in what way were 
the covenant people successful?  If the Red Sea did not part then in what way can we 
say that God's power is great and that He led the Israelites?  In what way can it be 
said how willing and capable God is in helping you succeed in following His 
commandments?

The events prove the principle.  If the events did not happen we are left without any 
proof at all.  How much faith would you have in a God who said Trust me but who 
never did anything that showed He was trustworthy?
 
So far as I can recall off the top of my head, very, very few of the events described 
in the scriptures were just symbolic.  They all happened.  God really did create the 
world, create the Garden of Eden, place a truly and actually naked Adam and Eve there 
who did eat a fruit that physically changed them, etc.

The rib and the serpent may be symbolic, but I cannot think of much else that was.  
The flood, the tower of Babel with its confounding of languages, the Jaredite barges - 
all real events.

It's just as John said: real events can be symbols themselves.  But they would have no 
power as symbols if they were not real.

=  Mark Gregson  [EMAIL PROTECTED]  =

   
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RE: [ZION] scriptures are not secular?

2002-11-06 Thread Jim Cobabe

Providing authoratative interpretation of the scriptures is one of the 
explict roles of prophets, seers, and revelators who lead the Lord's 
people.  Followers of academics, apologists, revisionists, agnostics, 
and assorted fruits and nuts, will be sadly misled.

---
Mij Ebaboc

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RE: [ZION] scriptures are not secular?

2002-11-06 Thread Jim Cobabe

What Brigham Young had to say about the symbolic story of Jericho:

If we are the people of God, we are to be the richest people on the 
earth, and these riches are to be held in God, not in the devil. God 
tells us how we may accomplish this, as plainly and as surely as he told 
 Joshua and the people of Israel how to cause the downfall of the walls 
of Jericho. They were to march around the walls once a day for seven 
days, then seven times in one day, and the last time they went round the 
walls they blew their horns with all their might, and down fell the 
walls of Jericho. We do not understand all about this, if we did, we 
should understand that it was as simple as any of the acts of the Lord: 
as simple as being baptized for the remission of sins.  (Journal of 
Discourses, 26 vols. [London: Latter-day Saints' Book Depot, 1854-1886], 
17: 45 - 46.)

---
Mij Ebaboc

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[ZION] James Ossuary

2002-11-06 Thread Marc A. Schindler
A nice, in-depth commentary by Dr. Claude Cohen-Matlofsky on the
provenance and genuineness of the James Ossuary, from this morning's
Globe and Mail:
http://www.globeandmail.com/servlet/ArticleNews/PEstory/TGAM/20021106/COOSSUARY/Comment/comment/comment_temp/1/1/3/

--
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Spruce Grove, Alberta, Canada -- Gateway to the Boreal Parkland

“The first duty of a university is to teach wisdom, not a trade;
character, not technicalities. We want a lot of engineers in the modern
world, but we don’t want a world of engineers.” – Sir Winston Churchill
(1950)

Note: This communication represents the informal personal views of the
author solely; its contents do not necessarily reflect those of the
author’s employer, nor those of any organization with which the author
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Re: [ZION] scriptures are not secular?

2002-11-06 Thread Marc A. Schindler


Gary Smith wrote:

 And I think that Marc and I would agree. The point we are making, is we
 need to be careful not to go too far in the other direction, either.  We
 are not like the evangelist Christian movements out there who are literal
 Biblicists. We realize that the Bible is not perfect (see the AoF that
 says we believe it as far as it is translated correctly). Figuring out
 which points are literally true and which are just symbolic is not an
 easy task. One thing I use is if I find it in the other scriptures (like
 the Red Sea dividing), then I'm fairly certain it is historical. However,
 I also realize that the early Jewish scribes had hidden agendas. We know
 this, because our prophets have told us that they cut things out of the
 scriptures, changed things, etc. It is also very possible that they may
 have tried to enhance the story of Israel's origin somewhat, we just
 don't know.  Things changed in the Israelite religion over the centuries.
 At first, worshipping in high places was a good thing (the Tabernacle was
 at the high place in Gibeon, for example), but later Jewish kings and
 priests sought to consolidate power by destroying the high places of
 Jehovah and insisting people could only sacrifice and worship at the
 Jerusalem temple. This was a partial attempt to get people living in the
 Northern Kingdom to defect and move to Judah. This obviously was somewhat
 successful, as we have people like Lehi (from the tribe of Joseph) living
 near Jerusalem.


This is in fact exactly the political side of the so-called Josian Reform --
Josiah wanted to consolidate power in Jerusalem, and although *all* the high
places including the site of the temple of Solomon were by that time desecrated,
he declared that from that point on the only true temple would be in Jerusalem,
that Bethel, Dan and so on, were to be considered pagan (and in fact they
eventually became what we later know of as Samaritan sites -- one sees echoes
of that ancient emnity in the NT). For us LDS this is a step backwards and in a
way represents an excising of a plain and precious truth. After all, as we'll
all soon be learning about in GD, when Jeremiah's advice wasn't heeded and the
Assyrians swept down over Jerusalem, he was taken, against his will, to Egypt.
But not to the traditional Jewish refuge there, Alexandria, but to Upper Egypt,
to what we now call Elephantine, an island, near which the Nag Hammadi scrolls
were, coincidentally, found not long after the DSS scrolls were found. It so
happens that the outlines of an ancient Jewish temple have been found on
Elephantine, so clearly Josiah's reform was wrong in at least some of its
details. That it rewrote the Torah with the issuing of a document scholars think
is the precursor to the modern Deuteronomy (which was later finished by Ezra
after the Exile), is also part of this strange and complex historical soup.

It's why I keep harping on the difference between secular and scriptural history.
I know it's difficult for many people -- and if this represents some kind of a
threat to you, than just ignore it. Don't worry about and consign it to the
egghead corner of the foyer. But for those who are interested, realizing that
not all questions are meaningful is a step towards a deeper understanding of the
scriptures. I don't mean to keep banging my own drum here, but my example from
our own GD class last Sunday about Isaiah's winepresses is an example. It's not
that the history isn't important, but to get the real message you have to
transcend the history. History as we understand it today is a secular discipline,
and to pull scripture down to that level is to commit the same error the
so-called New Mormon historians do -- those who believe the BoM is not
historical in the sense that they believe Joseph Smith made it all up. We have
no idea how much comes filtered through Joseph Smith's mind. Clearly the Jacobean
language was not in the original as that is an artefact of English, for instance.
Some seize upon that as a sign that Joseph Smith aped the KJV. I say it's a sign
we should transcend the historicity and read the book for its message. To me the
issue of historicity is whether there was genuinely an ancient record (which I
believe there was), not how Joseph Smith translated it. For us to get bogged down
in modern historical approaches is to play the same game as the anti's who make
such ridiculous accusations as the BoM can't be authentic because the ancient
Lehites didn't speak French (the word adieu is found in the modern English
text). Gimme a break!

A study of how he translated the Book of Abraham is instructive in this regard,
but that's a subject for another day.


 We constantly see the kings of Israel rejecting the prophets. Yet much of
 the Old Testament was written by the scribes of the kings. Clearly, there
 was opportunity for tampering. We just don't know how much was done, and
 so must accept the history by faith, until our modern prophetic leaders
 

Re: [ZION] Bible vs. the Scientists

2002-11-06 Thread Marc A. Schindler


John W. Redelfs wrote:

 After much pondering, Marc A. Schindler favored us with:
 This is a misrepresentation. Those who deny the historicity of the Book of
 Mormon
 deny that it was the record of an ancient people, but rather that it was a
 result
 of Joseph Smith's creativity. This is a lot different from realizing that the
 scriptures are written in multiple layers, and that to restrict one's
 understanding to the literalistic understanding that arises from the
 assumptions
 we have in our culture alone is limiting the power of scripture. What Dan
 said is
 precisely the *opposite* of what those who deny the historicity of the Book of
 Mormon say, and I agree with him, and will not be tagged as a Signaturi
 because
 you don't understand how to read scripture.

 I didn't say anything about Signaturi.  I don't think you or anyone else on
 this list is a Signaturi, or I would have booted you off years ago.  But to
 suggest that something must be symbolism instead of literal just because
 one cannot come up with a naturalistic explanation is EXACTLY what the
 Signaturi do when they deny the historicity of the Book of Mormon.

No it's not. You have this wrong, John.

 Forced
 to choose between belief and man's logic, they equivocate.  They try to
 straddle a fence that is a razor blade.  If they can't explain it in
 scientific terms, they just say it is a figure of speech and that it
 doesn't matter as long as the divine principle was communicated.

 It actually reminds me of the arguments of the atheists that I grew up
 with.  Because of this or that it isn't necessary for there to be a
 God.  Well... what does necessary have to do with it anyway?  If it is
 real, if it happened, then necessity has nothing to do with it.


I'm sorry if you've interpreted your background this way, but it's not necessary.
You're forcing a false dichotomy on people which is not only not necessary, but
presents a barrier to a deeper understanding of the scriptures.


 Now I now that there are a lot of blanks that we do not know how to fill
 today.  Many of them are not going to be filled until the Second
 Coming.  But I don't think we need to fill those blanks by denying the
 miracles of God.  And yes, I think that suggesting that God did not part
 the Red Sea because it isn't necessary as long as the true message is
 communicated, is trying to force the miraculous, the divine, into a
 scientific mold.To say that something is not so because it isn't
 necessary, is bad logic in the first place.  Lot's of things are so even
 though they are not necessary.  It wasn't necessary for me to eat a big
 pizza yesterday, but I did.


Miracles are all done according to natural law, it's just that we don't
understand how they were done. We are not like Protestants -- we do not believe God
is a supernatural magician.


 There are those who want to deny the reality of the miracles reported in
 the Old and New Testaments.  Some of them try to brush off the miracle by
 saying that it never happened, that it is just a figure of speech or an
 allegory.  They point out all the symbolism that is in the
 scriptures.  Fine.  There is a lot of symbolism in the scriptures.  I
 wouldn't have it any other way.  But to deny miracles by assuming the
 record to be symbolism rather than literal, is a cop out, in my
 opinion.  Such a person ought to just admit they don't have enough faith to
 believe the miracles reported in the scriptures.

 John W. Redelfs   [EMAIL PROTECTED]


Plenty of materials have been suggested for your consideration. I have yet to see
any indication that you are inclined to consider them. That is, of course, your
business, but your forced false dichotomies are stumbling blocks I believe you will
have to learn to overcome.


--
Marc A. Schindler
Spruce Grove, Alberta, Canada -- Gateway to the Boreal Parkland

“The first duty of a university is to teach wisdom, not a trade; character, not
technicalities. We want a lot of engineers in the modern world, but we don’t want a
world of engineers.” – Sir Winston Churchill (1950)

Note: This communication represents the informal personal views of the author
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Re: [ZION] Antarctic Warming

2002-11-06 Thread Marc A. Schindler
This is precisely the way science works. It is a good study. Note, too, that he
found evidence of global warming in other areas. We know that our own Arctic is
warming up, as is the boreal forest, where I live. This is having a number of
results -- eventually everything will settle into a new stasis, but any kind of
change is disruptive. In our case it means more forest fires, in the case of the
Arctic it means the opening up of the Northwest Passage, and the coming to the
fore of an old political issue between Canada and the USA: namely, whether
internal waters should be considered high seas or not. The US says the Northwest
Passage is international waters, Canada disagrees. The US claims the Inside
Passage, between Vancouver Island the mainland of BC as international, even
though one often traverses through straits as narrow as a few km wide. It will
not accede to the channel between Los Angeles and the Catalina Islands, or Long
Island Sound, as being international, though. This is a holdover from the Cold
War, when Soviet submarines used to hover off the coasts.

Jim Cobabe wrote:

 Is global warming just symbolic?  Like so many other theories, it seems
 forever tentative.

 Deseret News, Tuesday, November 05, 2002

 Iceberg theories melting

 By Jesse Hyde
 Deseret News staff writer

 PROVO — In March 2000, the largest iceberg ever observed broke off an ice
 shelf in Antarctica, signaling for many a warming of the planet.

 A pair of scientists concluded a year later that the number of icebergs
 around Antarctica was on the rise. The icebergs were melting, it seemed,
 because the planet was getting hotter.

 A recent study by a Brigham Young University professor disputes this theory.
 David Long, a BYU professor of electrical engineering, says the increasing
 number of icebergs observed around Antarctica has nothing to do with global
 warming.

 There's no evidence that there's a connection, Long says. Basically, we
 see better now, so we see more.

 Long and his students spent more than a year studying 20 years of satellite
 pictures and radar images taken of the waters around the South Pole and
 determined the number of icebergs near Antarctica has not changed
 substantially. More icebergs are reported today because the tools to spot
 them have improved, the study found.

 Researchers have used satellite imaging to identify and monitor icebergs
 since the early 1970s, but cloudy weather and dark nights often prevented
 some icebergs from being photographed and identified.

 Scientists then began using radar, which can identify icebergs through
 clouds and operate at night. Until recently the resolution of the radar
 images was too low to detect icebergs smaller than 35 miles across.

 Long's research team created a computer program that produces images sharp
 enough to spot icebergs as small as a mile wide.

 The number of icebergs found in Antarctica has not changed much since 1978,
 Long concluded. The massive icebergs recently observed breaking off ice
 shelves are the result of periodic growth and retraction of the large
 glaciers that yield icebergs every 40 to 50 years.

 This is not evidence of global warming, Long said. But it also does not
 say global warming isn't occurring. It doesn't say anything either way.

 In fact, Long has done other research that supports the global warming
 theory. He found more melting of snow on the Greenland icecap is the result
 of a one degree temperature increase that is consistent with other global
 warming theories.

 Douglas MacAyeal, a University of Chicago glaciologist who tracks icebergs,
 applauds Long's research and says linking iceberg growth to global warming
 would be premature.

 Any reputable scientist would not disagree with what I've said, Long said.

 Long's study was published in EOS Transactions, a publication of the
 American Geophysics Union. Cheryl Bertoia, of the U.S. National Ice Center
 participated in the study.

 Jim Cobabe
 [EMAIL PROTECTED]
 http://members.tripod.com/~jcobabe

 When I use a word, it means just what I choose it to mean--neither more nor
 less.

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--
Marc A. Schindler
Spruce Grove, Alberta, Canada -- Gateway to the Boreal Parkland

“The first duty of a university is to teach wisdom, not a trade; character, not
technicalities. We want a lot of engineers in the modern world, but we don’t want
a world of engineers.” – Sir Winston Churchill (1950)

Note: This communication represents the informal personal views of the author
solely; its contents do not necessarily reflect those of the author’s 

Re: [ZION] Global Warming

2002-11-06 Thread Marc A. Schindler
I'd be interested in knowing which one it is, as it's my understanding that all
inland North American glaciers are shrinking. Naturally there could be an
exception to this, such as coastal glaciers. There's another possible
explanation, too, an ironic one:
http://www.gi.alaska.edu/ScienceForum/ASF8/890.html

John W. Redelfs wrote:

 We have a glacier up here in Alaska that is growing every year.  I don't
 recall the name of it, but I know that not all glaciers are shrinking
 around the world. --JWR



--
Marc A. Schindler
Spruce Grove, Alberta, Canada -- Gateway to the Boreal Parkland

“The first duty of a university is to teach wisdom, not a trade; character, not
technicalities. We want a lot of engineers in the modern world, but we don’t want
a world of engineers.” – Sir Winston Churchill (1950)

Note: This communication represents the informal personal views of the author
solely; its contents do not necessarily reflect those of the author’s employer,
nor those of any organization with which the author may be associated.

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Re: [ZION] Taliban in Pakistan

2002-11-06 Thread Marc A. Schindler
And since I'm in a prognisticating mood, I'll further predict that the spark that
will ignite that particular region (Pakistan) will be Kashmir. Right now al-Qaeda
appears to be most active in Yemen, but I think eventually we'll hear more about
their activities in Kashmir. The problem in Pakistan is that the elite is
basically dedicated to democracy and depends, as the lesser of two evils, on the
military to protect the country from the Islamists, who are the real enemy to
democracy. However, when the military conducts sham elections, as just happened
(and in spite of their efforts have lost two provincial assemblies* to Islamist
parties, and seen the representation of Islamist parties in the national
parliament grow to the point where they are power brokers between the two
mainstream parties), it weakens the roots of democracy. Thus the cycle spirals,
downwards and downwards. I'm afraid we'll soon see an Islamist state with the
bomb, already tested and demonstrated in the Baluchi desert.

*Baluchistan and the Northwest Frontier, iirc. -- in other words, the two
provinces bordering Afghanistan. Their capitals are Quetta and Peshawar,
respectively. Again, just going from memory, so I'm subject to correction.

My question is: why? It didn't have to happen this way, but every country
conducts their foreign policy in their own direct, short-term interests. One
could hardly expect otherwise. But what some see as my anti-Americanism is
merely pointing out that when a hyperpower conducts foreign policy in this way
(and again, why shouldn't they? The British, the Turks and the French all did
before them), it will have unforeseen consequences in the long run that will be
adverse not only to that country's interests, but to the world's interests,
simply because of the power they yield. Pakistan is a case in point. As early as
the first war over Kashmir, in 1971, the USA chose to back Pakistan, albeit
covertly, against India, even though India was (and remains) the world's largest
democracy (a messy one, but a democracy nonetheless). They did this, I think, for
ideological reasons. I can't even remember who was in the White House then.
Nixon? Ford? Whoever...but J. Nehru looked to Moscow for aid since it wasn't
forthcoming from the west (another case of the right wing creating a vacuum for
the left to fill, as with civil rights in the US). In all fairness, Nehru was a
nationalist and also a statist in any case, so was predisposed to look to Moscow
if he had to choose. The war forced him to choose. Since then the US has
historically backed Pakistan, even when Pakistan's ISI (their secret service),
patterned partly after the CIA and Mossad and the NSA, trained a cohort of
anti-Soviet fighters known as the Afghan Arabs. This cohort, which took the
name Taliban, meaning teachers or scholars, iirc, came from all over the
Arab world, and even the non-Arab world, but never really were of much help to
the US or to Afghanistan in their fight against the USSR. At most several tens of
thousands were in Afghanistan, as opposed to what we now call the Northern
Alliance (a loose grouping of disparate elements, including war lords answerable
to no one but themselves), who had hundreds of thousands of well-trained
soldiers. It was they who defeated the USSR, not the Taliban. However, so as not
to dry up the funding, Pakistan kept making the Taliban look good, and the US
depended on Pakistan for information about Afghanistan (the US pulled out of
Afghanistan, iirc, in the mid-70s -- its embassy remaining empty until it was
blown up in the mid-90s, so it had little choice but to depend on Pakistan for
intelligence).

The West should have been backing India, not Pakistan, imo, despite Nehru's
policies -- India has moderated its centralist policies considerably over the
decades. But I think the current administration is too committed to the
single-power status model, as opposed to the multi-power model (see
http://www.theatlantic.com/issues/2002/01/schwarzlayne.htm) that I believe would
be in the USA's and the West's and indeed the entire world's best long-term
interests. As long as short-term interests are allowed to predominate, this
(multi-power) model will never happen. One saw this discouragement in action a
decade ago when Europe tried to take responsibility for its own defence, by
creating the EU strike force. The US insisted that it not duplicate anything NATO
(which the US dominates) does, effectively emasculating the force from day one.
It doesn't even trust Europe, let alone India. And many US intellectuals claim
Europe is indecisive and ineffectual. No wonder!

off-the-subject rant On a personal note, I visited NATO's procurement office
once, which is located, of all places, in a sleepy little town, an ex Luxembourg
army base, just west of Luxembourg City, and talked to three procurement
officers, including the office head. The office head was Canadian, the two people
who reported to him were U.S. All three complained that 

Re: [ZION] Archaeology breakthrough--dramatic transitional forms

2002-11-06 Thread Marc A. Schindler
Two of the best-known examples are Nature and Science:

http://www.nature.com/evoeco/  (personal registration required to view ToC, and
subscription to read articles) Nature is based in the UK.
http://www.sciencemag.org/ (also requires registration and subscription to read
articles)  This is put out by the American Association of the Advancement of
Sciences (AAAS).

But only the most newsworthy items make it to Nature or Science; you have to
check the specialty archaeology and biology journals for this sort of thing.
They're rarely reported even in the popular science press unless they're
particularly noteworthy.

Jim Cobabe wrote:

 John W. Redelfs wrote:
 ---
 Jim what sources do you use to keep abreast of this kind of news?
 ---

 Only the most reputable peer-reviewed science journals.  (Of course!)

 ;-

 ---
 Mij Ebaboc

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Re: [ZION] scriptures are not secular?

2002-11-06 Thread Marc A. Schindler
He had even stronger language about Bible stories in some discourses. Note though
that the lesson Pres. Young gets out of this isn't that a physical act led to
faith, but that the telling of the story, and the reading of the story, is the
act of faith -- this is what I get out of his likening it to being baptized for
the remission of sins.

Jim Cobabe wrote:

 What Brigham Young had to say about the symbolic story of Jericho:

 If we are the people of God, we are to be the richest people on the
 earth, and these riches are to be held in God, not in the devil. God
 tells us how we may accomplish this, as plainly and as surely as he told
  Joshua and the people of Israel how to cause the downfall of the walls
 of Jericho. They were to march around the walls once a day for seven
 days, then seven times in one day, and the last time they went round the
 walls they blew their horns with all their might, and down fell the
 walls of Jericho. We do not understand all about this, if we did, we
 should understand that it was as simple as any of the acts of the Lord:
 as simple as being baptized for the remission of sins.  (Journal of
 Discourses, 26 vols. [London: Latter-day Saints' Book Depot, 1854-1886],
 17: 45 - 46.)

 ---
 Mij Ebaboc


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RE: [ZION] Antarctic Warming

2002-11-06 Thread Tom Matkin


 -Original Message-
 From: Marc A. Schindler 
 Subject: Re: [ZION] Antarctic Warming
 
 This is precisely the way science works. 

Or doesn't work!  What will the next study show? And the one after that?
One is tempted to observe after a lifetime of encounters with scientific
contradictions, false leads, overblown conclusions, forgotten lessons,
conflicts of interest, grandiose hubris, smoke and mirrors, and (as a
steady disturbing diversion), bald faced lies, spiced up by the
occasional lucky guess or flash of genuine inspiration that these so
called scientific studies are at best desperate flailing hunting
oscillations, mere wild and hopeful hunches based on incomplete and
false readings of the landscape, that have staggered through history
like a merry band of oblivious drunken sailors ignorantly reeling down a
narrow waterfront pier ever more in danger of drowning than safe passage
to shore. But I will resist the temptation.

Tom


It is a good study. Note, too,
 that he
 found evidence of global warming in other areas. We know that our own
 Arctic is
 warming up, as is the boreal forest, where I live. This is having a
number
 of
 results -- eventually everything will settle into a new stasis, but
any
 kind of
 change is disruptive. In our case it means more forest fires, in the
case
 of the
 Arctic it means the opening up of the Northwest Passage, and the
coming to
 the
 fore of an old political issue between Canada and the USA: namely,
whether
 internal waters should be considered high seas or not. The US says the
 Northwest
 Passage is international waters, Canada disagrees. The US claims the
 Inside
 Passage, between Vancouver Island the mainland of BC as international,
 even
 though one often traverses through straits as narrow as a few km wide.
It
 will
 not accede to the channel between Los Angeles and the Catalina
Islands, or
 Long
 Island Sound, as being international, though. This is a holdover from
the
 Cold
 War, when Soviet submarines used to hover off the coasts.
 
 Jim Cobabe wrote:
 
  Is global warming just symbolic?  Like so many other theories, it
seems
  forever tentative.
 
  Deseret News, Tuesday, November 05, 2002
 
  Iceberg theories melting
 
  By Jesse Hyde
  Deseret News staff writer
 
  PROVO - In March 2000, the largest iceberg ever observed broke off
an
 ice
  shelf in Antarctica, signaling for many a warming of the planet.
 
  A pair of scientists concluded a year later that the number of
icebergs
  around Antarctica was on the rise. The icebergs were melting, it
seemed,
  because the planet was getting hotter.
 
  A recent study by a Brigham Young University professor disputes this
 theory.
  David Long, a BYU professor of electrical engineering, says the
 increasing
  number of icebergs observed around Antarctica has nothing to do with
 global
  warming.
 
  There's no evidence that there's a connection, Long says.
Basically,
 we
  see better now, so we see more.
 
  Long and his students spent more than a year studying 20 years of
 satellite
  pictures and radar images taken of the waters around the South Pole
and
  determined the number of icebergs near Antarctica has not changed
  substantially. More icebergs are reported today because the tools to
 spot
  them have improved, the study found.
 
  Researchers have used satellite imaging to identify and monitor
icebergs
  since the early 1970s, but cloudy weather and dark nights often
 prevented
  some icebergs from being photographed and identified.
 
  Scientists then began using radar, which can identify icebergs
through
  clouds and operate at night. Until recently the resolution of the
radar
  images was too low to detect icebergs smaller than 35 miles across.
 
  Long's research team created a computer program that produces images
 sharp
  enough to spot icebergs as small as a mile wide.
 
  The number of icebergs found in Antarctica has not changed much
since
 1978,
  Long concluded. The massive icebergs recently observed breaking off
ice
  shelves are the result of periodic growth and retraction of the
large
  glaciers that yield icebergs every 40 to 50 years.
 
  This is not evidence of global warming, Long said. But it also
does
 not
  say global warming isn't occurring. It doesn't say anything either
way.
 
  In fact, Long has done other research that supports the global
warming
  theory. He found more melting of snow on the Greenland icecap is the
 result
  of a one degree temperature increase that is consistent with other
 global
  warming theories.
 
  Douglas MacAyeal, a University of Chicago glaciologist who tracks
 icebergs,
  applauds Long's research and says linking iceberg growth to global
 warming
  would be premature.
 
  Any reputable scientist would not disagree with what I've said,
Long
 said.
 
  Long's study was published in EOS Transactions, a publication of the
  American Geophysics Union. Cheryl Bertoia, of the U.S. National Ice
 Center
  participated in the study.
 
  Jim 

Re: [ZION] scriptures are not secular?

2002-11-06 Thread Marc A. Schindler
I think your list contains false choices. For an explanation of the difference
between secular and sacred histories, I suggest:
http://www.members.shaw.ca/kschindler/frye_1.htm

Your questions seem to me to proceed from the false assumption that narrative
accounts are to be read in the same manner as modern historical narrative is to be
read. But that mode of thinking was unknown to Semitic peoples. It was invented by
Herodotus, a Greek, in 500 BC.

Stacy Smith wrote:

 Then we must ask ourselves if the Biblical accounts are a.  Only
 allegories.  B.  Lies.  C.  Half and half.  D.  Half truth, half error.  If
 they are erroneous our faith is in vain.  For if God did not intervene in
 the affairs of man, our faith is vain.  If Christ be not raised, etc.

 Stacy.

 At 11:33 AM 11/05/2002 -0900, you wrote:

 After much pondering, Marc A. Schindler favored us with:
 People think Churchill's remark that sometimes a truth is so precious
 that it has
 to be protected by numerous lies is a cynical reading of history, but
 there's a
 lot of wisdom to that. It doesn't matter when Jericho's walls came
 tumbling down.
 It's pretty certain that they didn't tumble when Joshua's account said
 they did,
 but so what? That's not the point.
 
 I think it makes a lot of difference whether or not Moses was a liar.  It
 also makes a lot of difference whether or not we may rely upon the Bible
 for anything.  I understand the qualifier in the Article of Faith.  But if
 the story of the wall tumbling is not to be taken literally, perhaps we
 shouldn't take the story of the Israelites in Egypt seriously
 either.  Maybe the resurrection of Christ was just a figure of speech.
 
 I think we are in danger of throwing the baby out with the bath water when
 we start labeling as figurative those things that might be literally
 true.  And we need to remember that just because something is symbolism,
 doesn't mean that is not also literally true.  Literal facts can serve as
 symbols.
 
 I would like to see a thread on how we separate the figurative from the
 literal in scripture.  Do we just automatically assume a thing is only a
 figure of speech if it doesn't fit in with our naturalistic interpretation
 of the human past?
 
 John W. Redelfs   [EMAIL PROTECTED]
 ===
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 intellectuals --Uncle Bob
 ===
 All my opinions are tentative pending further data. --JWR
 
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Re: [ZION] scriptures are not secular?

2002-11-06 Thread Marc A. Schindler
Sorry to reply to my own post, but I should add, too, that Hebrews 11 goes on to show 
that it is through faith that the actions of the ancients are well-attested. We 
accept the stories on faith, not on historicity, because they tell us something 
essential, and that something transcends actual history, the details of which would 
get in the way of
the spiritual message, something several BoM authors also complained of. But we do 
have to accept that something happened -- it's that the how and when needn't concern 
us -- and this is why reading the scriptures by the spirit, rather than by modern 
interpretation as the Biblicists, our modern-day Pharisees, do,  is not akin to the 
modern new
history movement which denies historicity altogether, contrary to what John alleges.

Marc A. Schindler wrote:

 Hebrews 11:1 -- that's where we get our faith from.

 Mark Gregson wrote:

 
- Is it more important that the walls of Jericho fell as described, or
   that the people of the covenant were successful as long as they followed
   Him?
 
  If the walls of Jericho did not fall as described in the Bible, then in what way 
were the covenant people successful?  If the Red Sea did not part then in what way 
can we say that God's power is great and that He led the Israelites?  In what way can 
it be said how willing and capable God is in helping you succeed in following His 
commandments?
 
  The events prove the principle.  If the events did not happen we are left without 
any proof at all.  How much faith would you have in a God who said Trust me but who 
never did anything that showed He was trustworthy?
 
  So far as I can recall off the top of my head, very, very few of the events 
described in the scriptures were just symbolic.  They all happened.  God really did 
create the world, create the Garden of Eden, place a truly and actually naked Adam 
and Eve there who did eat a fruit that physically changed them, etc.
 
  The rib and the serpent may be symbolic, but I cannot think of much else that was. 
 The flood, the tower of Babel with its confounding of languages, the Jaredite barges 
- all real events.
 
  It's just as John said: real events can be symbols themselves.  But they would 
have no power as symbols if they were not real.
 
  =  Mark Gregson  [EMAIL PROTECTED]  =
 
 
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Re: [ZION] Global Warming

2002-11-06 Thread Stacy Smith
Have you seen any season reversals in the last few years?  I don't think I 
have seen actual complete reversals--maybe something for a day or two.

Stacy.

At 01:04 PM 11/06/2002 -0600, you wrote:

We have a glacier up here in Alaska that is growing every year.  I don't

recall the name of it, but I know that not all glaciers are shrinking
around the world.


That isn't the half of it. The seas shall go beyond their bounds. I
believe there will be a great melting of the ice caps and all this in
conjunction with the return of the 10 Lost Tribes. All the cities on the
coasts will be threatened. All of them.

Paul O
[EMAIL PROTECTED]


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Re: [ZION] Antarctic Warming

2002-11-06 Thread Marc A. Schindler


Tom Matkin wrote:

  -Original Message-
  From: Marc A. Schindler
  Subject: Re: [ZION] Antarctic Warming
 
  This is precisely the way science works.

 Or doesn't work!

You want results, I fear, that science can't provide. Science is forever
tentative is a well-known saying in science.

 What will the next study show? And the one after that?
 One is tempted to observe after a lifetime of encounters with scientific
 contradictions, false leads, overblown conclusions, forgotten lessons,
 conflicts of interest, grandiose hubris, smoke and mirrors, and (as a
 steady disturbing diversion), bald faced lies, spiced up by the
 occasional lucky guess or flash of genuine inspiration that these so
 called scientific studies are at best desperate flailing hunting
 oscillations, mere wild and hopeful hunches based on incomplete and
 false readings of the landscape, that have staggered through history
 like a merry band of oblivious drunken sailors ignorantly reeling down a
 narrow waterfront pier ever more in danger of drowning than safe passage
 to shore. But I will resist the temptation.

 Tom


I think the real problem is that people use science to support other ends.
Science in and of itself is neutral, it's what you do with it that counts.

I'm glad you're able to resist temptation. We are all involved in human
occupations in a telestial world, with all that that implies  ;-)

--
Marc A. Schindler
Spruce Grove, Alberta, Canada -- Gateway to the Boreal Parkland

“The first duty of a university is to teach wisdom, not a trade; character, not
technicalities. We want a lot of engineers in the modern world, but we don’t want
a world of engineers.” – Sir Winston Churchill (1950)

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Re: [ZION] Bible vs. the Scientists

2002-11-06 Thread Marc A. Schindler
Dan, put another way, the difference between us and Biblicists is that they
believe the Bible to *be* the word of God in an existential, substantive, an und
für sich (in and of itself) sense, whereas we believe it is a *record* of the
word of God, to be preached from, and interpreted by prophets. The prophet could
teach from a grocery list if he were so inclined. (the latter is a nod to the
famous SF short story, A Canticle for Leibowitz)

Dan R Allen wrote:

 Dan:
 And I know that the Bible _does_ have errors in it, not just might. But it
 is _still_ the Word of God; how can this be? Simple: the errors are in the
 _specifics_, not the true principles.



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[ZION] Antigravity

2002-11-06 Thread John W. Redelfs
I have been doing a massive search on the multiple Ebsco full-text 
databases on the term antigravity.  And I have been amazed by some of the 
things I have been reading.  Apparently, according to Scientific American, 
Science News, Time magazine and others, recent discoveries indicate that 
the big bang that allegedly started this universe is not slowing down as 
expected, but is speeding up.  Many responsible scientists are saying this 
turns everything on its ear because it suggests that in some parts of space 
there is not only gravity, but antigravity.

Well, of all the sciences, physics is the one that I expect the fewest 
surprises from.  I mean the top people in the field agree on basics.  And 
one of the assumptions has always been that gravity is the same everywhere 
in the universe.  But low and behold it looks like this may not be the case.

Question: If gravity varies from place to place in the universe, why 
couldn't such other phenomenon as inertia, centrifugal force, etc?  And if 
these most basic forces are not constant throughout the universe, just how 
can we know anything for sure?

Do any of you propeller heads know anything about this?  If you like, I can 
post a couple of these stories to the list.  Just let me know.

John W. Redelfs   [EMAIL PROTECTED]
===
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intellectuals --Uncle Bob
===
All my opinions are tentative pending further data. --JWR

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Re: [ZION] scriptures are not secular?

2002-11-06 Thread John W. Redelfs
After much pondering, Marc A. Schindler favored us with:

That it rewrote the Torah with the issuing of a document scholars think is 
the precursor to the modern Deuteronomy (which was later finished by Ezra 
after the Exile), is also part of this strange and complex historical soup.

Deuteronomy was written by Moses, just as the rest of the Pentateuch 
was.  It was not part of a strange and complex historical soup. --JWR

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RE: [ZION] Archaeology breakthrough--dramatic transitional forms

2002-11-06 Thread John W. Redelfs
After much pondering, Jim Cobabe favored us with:

Jim what sources do you use to keep abreast of this kind of news?
---

Only the most reputable peer-reviewed science journals.  (Of course!)

;-


Could you share a title or two with me?  Or is this some kind of 
proprietary secret?  --JWR

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Re: [ZION] scriptures are not secular?

2002-11-06 Thread Dan R Allen



Mark:
If the walls of Jericho did not fall as described in the Bible, then in
what way were the covenant people successful?  If the Red Sea did not part
then in what way can we say that God's power is great and that He led the
Israelites?  In what way can it be said how willing and capable God is in
helping you succeed in following His commandments?

Dan:
They overcame the people of Jericho. I do not question that the city of
Jericho, or the people of Jericho were destroyed by the Israelites. God
promised that He would give that land to the Israelites if they would only
follow His commandments. They moved in, conquered the people that were
there, and God's promise was realized. _That's_ the principle, and the fact
that they lived in the area afterwards is the event that proves the
principle.

Mark:
The events prove the principle.  If the events did not happen we are left
without any proof at all.  How much faith would you have in a God who said
Trust me but who never did anything that showed He was trustworthy?

Dan:
But isn't faith supposed to be the belief in something _without_ physical
evidence that it exists? To insist that the walls of Jericho _had_ to fall
a specific way or else all faith is void, sounds very similar to the
demands of the Pharisees that a sign was necessary before they could
believe that Jesus was the Christ. I'm sure that's not how you meant it,
but it could be understood that way.
How much faith should I place in a God? If I want to accept Him as _my_
God, that faith should be total - whether He does anything in this mortal
realm for me or not.

Mark:
So far as I can recall off the top of my head, very, very few of the events
described in the scriptures were just symbolic.  They all happened.  God
really did create the world, create the Garden of Eden, place a truly and
actually naked Adam and Eve there who did eat a fruit that physically
changed them, etc.

The rib and the serpent may be symbolic, but I cannot think of much else
that was.  The flood, the tower of Babel with its confounding of languages,
the Jaredite barges - all real events.

Dan:
And if that fruit actually turned out to be a hostess twinkie, would your
faith be destroyed? Should it be? I don't question the existence of this
world, or the garden, or the lives of Adam and Eve, or that the Israelites
made a covenant with God that He did keep. I'm saying that if the
description of some ancient event turns out to have been symbolic in
nature, it would not affect my testimony of the principles involved.

Mark:
It's just as John said: real events can be symbols themselves.  But they
would have no power as symbols if they were not real.

Dan:
The flow of current in a metallic conductor is an actual, measurable event.
It's also understood that this current is the result of electrons passing
from one molecule to another. 'I' is the conventional symbol for this
current flow, which is understood to flow from positive to negative. But
electrons _actually_ flow from negative to positive potentials in a
metallic conductor. So the conventional symbols are wrong for the case of
metallic conductors; yet we continue to use them. Why? because the
conventional models hold true for _all_ conductors regardless of whether
the current flow comes from negative or positive charges.
The symbols of the conventional current model hold a lot of power for those
who use them - even when they don't really match what's physically
happening circuit-wise.

The tumbling of the walls of Jericho can be seen the same way; it doesn't
particularly matter whether they fell as described, or the Israelites
pushed them down after conquering the city. The fact is that Jericho was
conquered by the Israelites as God promised them they could.

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Re: [ZION] scriptures are not secular?

2002-11-06 Thread John W. Redelfs
After much pondering, Marc A. Schindler favored us with:

...one sees echoes of that ancient emnity in the NT). For us LDS this is a 
step backwards and in a way represents an excising of a plain and 
precious truth. After all, as we'll
all soon be learning about in GD

The 13th chapter of 1 Nephi makes it clear that the plain and precious 
parts that were removed from the scriptures were removed after the record 
of the Jews went to the Gentiles thought the hands of the great and 
abominable church of the devil.  This would not include the various 
corruptions that had already occurred in the Old Testament record.  After 
all, Moses wrote the whole Pentateuch himself.  Not much room for 
corruption in that part of the record any way.

John W. Redelfs   [EMAIL PROTECTED]
===
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which I guess is why several of us died of tuberculosis.
--Jack Handy
===
All my opinions are tentative pending further data. --JWR

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Re: [ZION] Taliban in Pakistan

2002-11-06 Thread John W. Redelfs
After much pondering, Stacy Smith favored us with:

Do any of you believe that the Islamist goal is not just to get Israel out 
of the west bank but also to take over the entire world?

I do.  The goal of Islam, like the goal of the Church of Jesus Christ of 
Latter-day Saints is to convert the whole world to their faith.  And at one 
point in their history they believed in missionary work by the sword.  I 
don't know how they believe today. --JWR

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Re: [ZION] scriptures are not secular?

2002-11-06 Thread John W. Redelfs
After much pondering, Dan R Allen favored us with:

The tumbling of the walls of Jericho can be seen the same way; it doesn't
particularly matter whether they fell as described, or the Israelites
pushed them down after conquering the city. The fact is that Jericho was
conquered by the Israelites as God promised them they could.


We will just have to agree to disagree.  If the walls did not tumble, the 
scriptures have made a false report.  And if they are false in this 
instance, they may be false in many others, perhaps most others.  And there 
goes my confidence in the scriptures.  Even the Book of Mormon has a 
disclaimer indicating that some things in it might contain human error.

It is a matter of credibility.  Who are you going to believe?


John W. Redelfs   [EMAIL PROTECTED]
===
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intellectuals --Uncle Bob
===
All my opinions are tentative pending further data. --JWR

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Re: [ZION] Global Warming

2002-11-06 Thread Jon Spencer
I can assure you that if it were not for the DNC and the Sierra Club, not to
mention Greenpeace, that glacier would be shrinking so fast your home would
be beachfront property.  However, now that the Reps have the Senate, say
goodbye to that glacier.

Noj

JWR wrote:

 We have a glacier up here in Alaska that is growing every year.  I don't
 recall the name of it, but I know that not all glaciers are shrinking
 around the world. --JWR

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Re: [ZION] Taliban in Pakistan

2002-11-06 Thread Jon Spencer
Who objected to Marc's obvious statement?  The Taliban was put in power by
people in Pakistan.

This is a real Duh!.  By the way, are you advocating that we attack
Pakistan first, and THEN Iraq?  I have a better idea.  First, we'll attack
Israel - that will completely fool the fake Islamists and we can sneak in a
sucker punch at both Pakistan and Iraq when they are still in shock.  France
can come next.

Jon

John W. Redelfs wrote:

 http://www.guardian.co.uk/pakistan/Story/0,2763,834287,00.html

 It looks like Marc may be vindicated in his predictions that the Taliban
 will come to power in Pakistan.  Why we are planning a war against Iraq
 when the Taliban is coming to power in a nation that already has nuclear
 weapons is a complete mystery to me.

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Re: [ZION] Supreme Court: Boy Scouts

2002-11-06 Thread Jon Spencer
Very old news.  But if 5-4 switches to 4-5, we are ready with Duty to God.

Jon

Sandy Rabinowitz wrote:

 I think this is recent news, but I'm not sure.  I
 didn't see this reported on any of the usual news 
 sites that I read through.  
 
 It appears the Supreme Court has ruled in favor of 
 the Boy Scouts on the question of whether or not the 
 organization must be compelled to accept a leader 
 who advocates homosexuality--

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Re: [ZION] Antigravity

2002-11-06 Thread Jon Spencer
I have supreme confidence that the Lord knows what He is doing.  I also feel
confident that He is happy that we are trying to understand it.  As long as
I have been studying science, the assumption that physical laws are constant
across time and space has always been held to be tenuous, subject to further
confirmation.

Jon

John W. Redelfs wrote:

 I have been doing a massive search on the multiple Ebsco full-text
 databases on the term antigravity.  And I have been amazed by some of
the
 things I have been reading.  Apparently, according to Scientific American,
 Science News, Time magazine and others, recent discoveries indicate that
 the big bang that allegedly started this universe is not slowing down as
 expected, but is speeding up.  Many responsible scientists are saying this
 turns everything on its ear because it suggests that in some parts of
space
 there is not only gravity, but antigravity.

 Well, of all the sciences, physics is the one that I expect the fewest
 surprises from.  I mean the top people in the field agree on basics.  And
 one of the assumptions has always been that gravity is the same everywhere
 in the universe.  But low and behold it looks like this may not be the
case.

 Question: If gravity varies from place to place in the universe, why
 couldn't such other phenomenon as inertia, centrifugal force, etc?  And if
 these most basic forces are not constant throughout the universe, just how
 can we know anything for sure?

 Do any of you propeller heads know anything about this?  If you like, I
can
 post a couple of these stories to the list.  Just let me know.

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Re: [ZION] Taliban in Pakistan

2002-11-06 Thread Jon Spencer
That has always been their goal, just as it is our goal.  It's the means
that are important.  There are many good Moslems who want to take over the
world just as we do (start buildin' them thar fonts).  Then there are the
rest.

We do need to be careful not to throw the baby out with the bathwater.  But
we do need to get rid of the bathwater.

Jon

Stacy Smith wrote:
 Do any of you believe that the Islamist goal is not just to get Israel out
 of the west bank but also to take over the entire world?

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Re: [ZION] Antigravity

2002-11-06 Thread Marc A. Schindler
There's gravity, and then there's gravitational force. They are not the same --
that's why other forces, such as inertia, centrifugal force (which is really
another term for gravitational force) are considered to be constant. In physics,
gravity is the curvature of space caused by the presence of a mass, so is a
characteristic of space-time geometry itself. If, as some physicists now think,
the universe is not contracting or even at stasis, an acceleration of the
space-time continuum itself would mean that anti-gravity exists near the edges of
the universe; standard inflation theory holds that gravity was much stronger at a
time very shortly (and we're talking ridiculously short periods of time) after
the Big Bang because of the presence of anti-gravity, but that in a static or
shrinking universe the anti-gravity would have quickly disappeared.

The data needed to determine which scenario is actually correct are not yet
availble -- as it stands they show somewhat conflicting results.

This is how I understand the current state of astrophysics, but I look forward to
whatever anyone else has to offer.  Incidentally, here's a Scientific American
link to an article on anti-gravity in an accelerating universe:
http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?colID=18articleID=000EC6F1-66D3-1C71-9EB7809EC588F2D7

John W. Redelfs wrote:

 I have been doing a massive search on the multiple Ebsco full-text
 databases on the term antigravity.  And I have been amazed by some of the
 things I have been reading.  Apparently, according to Scientific American,
 Science News, Time magazine and others, recent discoveries indicate that
 the big bang that allegedly started this universe is not slowing down as
 expected, but is speeding up.  Many responsible scientists are saying this
 turns everything on its ear because it suggests that in some parts of space
 there is not only gravity, but antigravity.

 Well, of all the sciences, physics is the one that I expect the fewest
 surprises from.  I mean the top people in the field agree on basics.  And
 one of the assumptions has always been that gravity is the same everywhere
 in the universe.  But low and behold it looks like this may not be the case.

 Question: If gravity varies from place to place in the universe, why
 couldn't such other phenomenon as inertia, centrifugal force, etc?  And if
 these most basic forces are not constant throughout the universe, just how
 can we know anything for sure?

 Do any of you propeller heads know anything about this?  If you like, I can
 post a couple of these stories to the list.  Just let me know.

 John W. Redelfs   [EMAIL PROTECTED]
 ===
 Atheistic humanism is the opiate of the self-described
 intellectuals --Uncle Bob
 ===
 All my opinions are tentative pending further data. --JWR

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technicalities. We want a lot of engineers in the modern world, but we don’t want
a world of engineers.” – Sir Winston Churchill (1950)

Note: This communication represents the informal personal views of the author
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Re: [ZION] Archaeology breakthrough--dramatic transitional forms

2002-11-06 Thread Marc A. Schindler
As I mentioned in my response, sometimes, if the finds are considered newsworthy
enough, they'll make it to at least the popular science press, if not to the
general media. An example from Scientific American:
http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?articleID=000464A6-F2C7-1CE2-93F6809EC588pageNumber=1catID=1

John W. Redelfs wrote:

 After much pondering, Jim Cobabe favored us with:
 Jim what sources do you use to keep abreast of this kind of news?
 ---
 
 Only the most reputable peer-reviewed science journals.  (Of course!)
 
 ;-

 Could you share a title or two with me?  Or is this some kind of
 proprietary secret?  --JWR


--
Marc A. Schindler
Spruce Grove, Alberta, Canada -- Gateway to the Boreal Parkland

“The first duty of a university is to teach wisdom, not a trade; character, not
technicalities. We want a lot of engineers in the modern world, but we don’t want
a world of engineers.” – Sir Winston Churchill (1950)

Note: This communication represents the informal personal views of the author
solely; its contents do not necessarily reflect those of the author’s employer,
nor those of any organization with which the author may be associated.

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Re: [ZION] Taliban in Pakistan

2002-11-06 Thread Stacy Smith
Who says we should attack anybody?

Stacy.

At 08:35 PM 11/06/2002 -0500, you wrote:


Who objected to Marc's obvious statement?  The Taliban was put in power by
people in Pakistan.

This is a real Duh!.  By the way, are you advocating that we attack
Pakistan first, and THEN Iraq?  I have a better idea.  First, we'll attack
Israel - that will completely fool the fake Islamists and we can sneak in a
sucker punch at both Pakistan and Iraq when they are still in shock.  France
can come next.

Jon

John W. Redelfs wrote:

 http://www.guardian.co.uk/pakistan/Story/0,2763,834287,00.html

 It looks like Marc may be vindicated in his predictions that the Taliban
 will come to power in Pakistan.  Why we are planning a war against Iraq
 when the Taliban is coming to power in a nation that already has nuclear
 weapons is a complete mystery to me.

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Re: [ZION] Taliban in Pakistan

2002-11-06 Thread Jon Spencer
I figured that if I added the France option, people would get the what I
thought to be obvious facetiousness, given John's well stated objection to
any preemptive strikes.  (Of course, I don't think that they are preemptive,
but reasonable people can disagree;  thus John and I can CLEARLY disagree!)

Jon

Stacy Smith wrote:

 Who says we should attack anybody?

 Stacy.

 At 08:35 PM 11/06/2002 -0500, you wrote:

 Who objected to Marc's obvious statement?  The Taliban was put in power
by
 people in Pakistan.
 
 This is a real Duh!.  By the way, are you advocating that we attack
 Pakistan first, and THEN Iraq?  I have a better idea.  First, we'll
attack
 Israel - that will completely fool the fake Islamists and we can sneak in
a
 sucker punch at both Pakistan and Iraq when they are still in shock.
France
 can come next.
 
 Jon
 
 John W. Redelfs wrote:
 
   http://www.guardian.co.uk/pakistan/Story/0,2763,834287,00.html
  
   It looks like Marc may be vindicated in his predictions that the
Taliban
   will come to power in Pakistan.  Why we are planning a war against
Iraq
   when the Taliban is coming to power in a nation that already has
nuclear
   weapons is a complete mystery to me.

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Re: [ZION] Taliban in Pakistan

2002-11-06 Thread Stacy Smith
I am in contact with a former Muslim American.  I have also been in contact 
with another former Muslim from Turkey and present Muslims.  Like you I 
once believed that was the goal of all Muslims--to take over countries by 
the sword.  I no longer believe this.  I also believe that when it started 
the Jews and Christians threatened the little religion by war.  I am not 
totally convinced any longer that Islam was always out to convert everyone 
by the sword.  Often, definitely, but not always.

Stacy.

At 01:41 PM 11/06/2002 -0900, you wrote:

After much pondering, Stacy Smith favored us with:

Do any of you believe that the Islamist goal is not just to get Israel 
out of the west bank but also to take over the entire world?

I do.  The goal of Islam, like the goal of the Church of Jesus Christ of 
Latter-day Saints is to convert the whole world to their faith.  And at 
one point in their history they believed in missionary work by the 
sword.  I don't know how they believe today. --JWR

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Re: [ZION] scriptures are not secular?

2002-11-06 Thread Marc A. Schindler
I Nephi 13 says that the brass plates were *not* the same as what we would call
the OT, actually. Furthermore, it says that the GBC in the days following Christ
removed plain and precious parts from the *Gospel*, not the Pentateuch.  By the
time we get to verse 29 it does also include the OT, but it merely says that the
GBC would take away plain and precious parts, it doesn't say that what they had
up to that point was pristine, or the brass plates would not have been a superset
of the OT (see verse 23). I Nephi 14 further explains that Nephi was forbidden to
write certain things -- including, e.g., the Apocalypse of John (Revelation). I
would point to things like the Johannine Comma as an example of verse 28. That
doesn't preclude earlier changes.

 Did Moses also write the part about his own burial? Did he also contradict
himself on the number of animals taken aboard the ark?

I realize that some brethren have assumed that Moses was the literal author of
the Pentateuch, but that is not necessarily doctrine. For instance, in this last
January's Ensign, in an article called Enjoying the Old Testament, we read, 1.
The books of Genesis through Deuteronomy are historical books, sometimes called
“the law.” They are also called the “five books of Moses” because Moses wrote or
spoke much of what is in them. These books tell us of the history of the earth as
the Lord revealed it to Moses. Genesis begins with the Creation of the world and
Adam and Eve. Deuteronomy finishes at the end of Moses’ life.

Note that it leaves the door open by saying Moses wrote OR spoke MUCH OF WHAT IS
IN THEM.

Also, the Josian Reform occurred 20 years *before* Lehi left Jerusalem.

Here, for those who have interest in exploring the topic further, is what the EoM
says under Biblical Scholarship:

Bible Scholarship
Latter-day Saints recognize Bible scholarship and intellectual study of the
biblical text. Joseph Smith and his associates studied Greek and Hebrew and
taught that religious knowledge is to be obtained by study as well as by faith
(DC 88:118). However, Latter-day Saints prefer to use Bible scholarship rather
than be driven or controlled by it.

The Prophet Joseph Smith suggested certain broad parameters for any LDS critical
study of the Bible: We believe the Bible to be the word of God as far as it is
translated correctly; we also believe the Book of Mormon to be the word of God
(A of F 8). Because Latter-day Saints prefer prophets to scholars as spiritual
guides, and the inspiration of scripture and the Holy Ghost to the reasoning of
secondary texts, Bible scholarship plays a smaller role in LDS spirituality than
it does in some denominations.

A fundamental operating principle of revealed religions is that all truth
cannot be completely discovered through human reason alone. Without God's aid, no
one can obtain the vital data, proper perspectives, and interpretive keys for
knowing him (see --Reason and Revelation). Because Latter-day Saints believe
that their religion is revealed through living prophets of God, they subordinate
human reason to revealed truth.In this latter connection, Latter-day Saints show
some affinities with contemporary conservative Roman Catholic and evangelical
Bible scholarship.

They accept and use most objective results of Bible scholarship, such as
linguistics, history, and archaeology, while rejecting many of the discipline's
naturalistic assumptions and its more subjective methods and theories. In those
instances where Bible scholarship and revealed religion conflict, Latter-day
Saints hold to interpretations of the Bible that appear in the other LDS
scriptures and in the teachings of latter-day prophets.

These observations suggest three basic operating principles for Bible scholarship
among Latter-day Saints:

1. Approaches to the Bible must accept divine inspiration and revelation in the
original biblical text: it presents the word of God and is not a merely human
production. Therefore, any critical methodology that implicitly or explicitly
ignores or denies the significant involvement of God in the biblical text is
rejected. With minor exceptions, such as the Song of Solomon, which Joseph Smith
judged not to be inspired (cf. IE 18 [Mar. 1915]:389), the text is not to be
treated in an ultimately naturalistic manner. God's participation is seen to be
significant both in the events themselves and in the process of their being
recorded. His activity is thus one of the effects to be reckoned with in
interpreting the events and in understanding the texts that record them.

2. Despite divine inspiration, the biblical text is not uninfluenced by human
language and not immune to negative influences from its human environment, and
there is no guarantee that the revelations given to ancient prophets have been
perfectly preserved (cf. 1 Ne. 13:20-27). Thus, critical study of the Bible is
warranted to help allow for, and suggest corrections of, human errors of
formulation, transmission, translation, and 

Re: [ZION] scriptures are not secular?

2002-11-06 Thread Marc A. Schindler


John W. Redelfs wrote:

 After much pondering, Dan R Allen favored us with:
 The tumbling of the walls of Jericho can be seen the same way; it doesn't
 particularly matter whether they fell as described, or the Israelites
 pushed them down after conquering the city. The fact is that Jericho was
 conquered by the Israelites as God promised them they could.

 We will just have to agree to disagree.  If the walls did not tumble, the
 scriptures have made a false report.

Or a false and/or limited understanding has occurred.

  And if they are false in this
 instance, they may be false in many others, perhaps most others.  And there
 goes my confidence in the scriptures.  Even the Book of Mormon has a
 disclaimer indicating that some things in it might contain human error.

 It is a matter of credibility.  Who are you going to believe?


False dichotomy.


 John W. Redelfs   [EMAIL PROTECTED]

--
Marc A. Schindler
Spruce Grove, Alberta, Canada -- Gateway to the Boreal Parkland

“The first duty of a university is to teach wisdom, not a trade; character, not
technicalities. We want a lot of engineers in the modern world, but we don’t want
a world of engineers.” – Sir Winston Churchill (1950)

Note: This communication represents the informal personal views of the author
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Re: [ZION] scriptures are not secular?

2002-11-06 Thread Marc A. Schindler
Cute, but it doesn't say anything. We've been explicitly told that there are all
kinds of things we don't know, that haven't been revealed to us yet.

John W. Redelfs wrote:

 After much pondering, Marc A. Schindler favored us with:
   It's not that the history isn't important, but to get the real message
  you have to transcend the history.

 In order to transcend something, you have to have it to transcend.  --JWR



--
Marc A. Schindler
Spruce Grove, Alberta, Canada -- Gateway to the Boreal Parkland

“The first duty of a university is to teach wisdom, not a trade; character, not
technicalities. We want a lot of engineers in the modern world, but we don’t want
a world of engineers.” – Sir Winston Churchill (1950)

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Re: [ZION] Taliban in Pakistan

2002-11-06 Thread Marc A. Schindler
My original point was to ask why the US was so obsessed with Iraq when Pakistan
presents a greater danger. And there's more to it than saying they were put into
power by the people of Pakistan. It was the Pakistani government plus extremist
clerics, using US taxpayer dollars, who put the Taliban into power.

This is Manuel Noriega all over again.

Jon Spencer wrote:

 Who objected to Marc's obvious statement?  The Taliban was put in power by
 people in Pakistan.

 This is a real Duh!.  By the way, are you advocating that we attack
 Pakistan first, and THEN Iraq?  I have a better idea.  First, we'll attack
 Israel - that will completely fool the fake Islamists and we can sneak in a
 sucker punch at both Pakistan and Iraq when they are still in shock.  France
 can come next.

 Jon

 John W. Redelfs wrote:

  http://www.guardian.co.uk/pakistan/Story/0,2763,834287,00.html
 
  It looks like Marc may be vindicated in his predictions that the Taliban
  will come to power in Pakistan.  Why we are planning a war against Iraq
  when the Taliban is coming to power in a nation that already has nuclear
  weapons is a complete mystery to me.

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Spruce Grove, Alberta, Canada -- Gateway to the Boreal Parkland

“The first duty of a university is to teach wisdom, not a trade; character, not
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Re: [ZION] Global Warming

2002-11-06 Thread Marc A. Schindler
Thanks -- as I suspected, that's a coastal glacier. You'll probably have seen my
post by now about this.

John W. Redelfs wrote:

 After much pondering, Marc A. Schindler favored us with:
 I'd be interested in knowing which one it is, as it's my understanding
 that all
 inland North American glaciers are shrinking. Naturally there could be an
 exception to this, such as coastal glaciers.

 http://www.iceagenow.com/Growing_Glaciers.htm

 Alaska's Hubbard Glacier surging. Yakutat, Alaska. July 15, 2002.
 Bulldozing a gravel moraine in front of it, the Hubbard Glacier is
 advancing so rapidly that has nearly cut off Russell Fiord from
 Disenchantment Bay. The resulting ice and gravel dam is cutting off the
 supply of salt water, turning Russell Fiord into Russell Lake, endangering
 the small fishing village of Yakutat.

 Russell Lake is now rising at the rate of six inches a day as freshwater
 from snowmelt and rainfall continues pouring in. Once the lake level rises
 to about 130 feet, it will begin spilling over into the nearby Situk River
 basin, flooding the usually tranquil stream. This would all but destroy the
 world-class salmon and steelhead fishing in the area, and devastate
 Yakutat's economy.

 The Hubbard Glacier, 73 miles long and 6 miles wide at the face, is the
 largest tidewater glacier in North America.
 ---

 Yakutat, incidentally, is one of the branches in our stake.  Although I
 have never traveled there, it receives a regular visit from the high
 council just like every other unit in the stake.  In other words, this is
 happening right inside our stake.

 Apparently there is another glacier near Mt. McKinley that is growing
 to.  And I cannot speak to the other glaciers mentioned on this website,
 but it claims that there are many glaciers around the world that are
 growing instead of retreating.  Maybe we should tell these glaciers to
 knock it off because it isn't politically correct, do you think?

 John W. Redelfs   [EMAIL PROTECTED]
 ===
 Dad always thought laughter was the best medicine,
 which I guess is why several of us died of tuberculosis.
 --Jack Handy
 ===
 All my opinions are tentative pending further data. --JWR

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a world of engineers.” – Sir Winston Churchill (1950)

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Re: [ZION] Taliban in Pakistan

2002-11-06 Thread Jon Spencer
Oh boy!  An exciting day to turn the tables!  I did not say people of
Pakistan.  Rather, I said people in Pakistan, not thinking it necessary
to offer a long and boring recital of what we all already know.

When you say it was the Pakistani gov't with US money who put the Taliban in
place, you imply something that isn't true.  It was the OLD Pakistani gov't,
of which remnants remain in power, but most have been purged.  It was also a
cold war era event.

Things have changed.  The people IN Pakistan who put the Taliban in place
come primarily from the south, where trouble still boils.  The cold war is
over.  Power vacuums come and go, and so thugs will come and go.

The fact is that it is difficult to watch everyplace in the world, so that
errors can and do occur, and people with hidden agendas can get away (for a
while) with their mischiefs.  It is easy to hide in the frozen north and
pontificate on things which will not directly affect you, especially when
(in your frozen north case) you depend upon the citizens of the US to defend
you.  It is not so easy when you live next to one of the top targets in the
world for a terrorist's attack.  (I had to get in at least ONE ad homonem
attack, since people on this list are so fond of them, and at least one
personal ownership issue.  And yet, both statements have a lot of truth in
them ...  :-)

And, if you haven't noticed, Manny is in jail.  And Clinton gave the Panama
Canal to the Chinese.  So, some problems have been rectified, and others
have not yet been rectified.

Jon

Marc A. Schindler wrote:

My original point was to ask why the US was so obsessed with Iraq when
Pakistan
presents a greater danger. And there's more to it than saying they were put
into
power by the people of Pakistan. It was the Pakistani government plus
extremist
clerics, using US taxpayer dollars, who put the Taliban into power.

This is Manuel Noriega all over again.

Jon Spencer wrote:

 Who objected to Marc's obvious statement?  The Taliban was put in power by

 people in Pakistan.

 This is a real Duh!.  By the way, are you advocating that we attack
 Pakistan first, and THEN Iraq?  I have a better idea.  First, we'll attack
 Israel - that will completely fool the fake Islamists and we can sneak in
a
 sucker punch at both Pakistan and Iraq when they are still in shock.
France
 can come next.

 Jon

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Re: [ZION] Taliban in Pakistan

2002-11-06 Thread Stacy Smith
If the Taliban are coming back, why are we moving on?

Stacy.

At 06:20 AM 11/06/2002 -0900, you wrote:


http://www.guardian.co.uk/pakistan/Story/0,2763,834287,00.html

It looks like Marc may be vindicated in his predictions that the Taliban 
will come to power in Pakistan.  Why we are planning a war against Iraq 
when the Taliban is coming to power in a nation that already has nuclear 
weapons is a complete mystery to me.

John W. Redelfs   [EMAIL PROTECTED]
===
Laurie got offended that I used the word puke. But to
me, that's what her dinner tasted like. --Jack Handy
===
All my opinions are tentative pending further data. --JWR

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Re: [ZION] Taliban in Pakistan

2002-11-06 Thread Jon Spencer
They are in Pakistan, not Afghanistan.  And by the way, as W said, this will
take a long time.  Afghanistan will not be converted overnight from a
hellhole to a place of peace and tranquility.  However, I look forward to
the day when we can send missionaries there.

Jon

Stacy Smith wrote:

 If the Taliban are coming back, why are we moving on?


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[ZION] Guns, Germs and Steel

2002-11-06 Thread Gary Smith
Yes, we are. We at least must prove them sufficiently to ourselves in
order for us to accept them. 

What is one plus one? The majority will say two.  Why? Because we
accept the theorem, based upon evidence that it works for us. Do you and
I believe in the BoM? Yes. Why? Because we have tested it against the
evidence of the Holy Ghost.
Though your text book told you about biology, you still cut into that
frog in class. Why? To prove the statements in the book that a frog does
have heart, lungs, etc.
Each time you turn on a light switch, you do it with faith, because you
have previously tested the theory that it will normally turn on the
light. When the light doesn't come on, then new theories appear: the bulb
is broken, the power is out, the wiring is messed up, etc. To get this
fixed, we must test each possible answer until the evidence points us to
the correct one.
IN other words, we test theories out each and every day. Most are on
things that are not earth shattering. But they are theories, nonetheless.

K'aya K'ama,
Gerald/gary  Smithgszion1 @juno.comhttp://www
.geocities.com/rameumptom/index.html
No one is as hopelessly enslaved as the person who thinks he's free.  -
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe


Stacy:
Not all of us are required to prove theories.
 
Stacy.


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[ZION] Gethsemane

2002-11-06 Thread Gary Smith
Another thought on Gethsemane. Most Christians believe Christ prayed in
the Garden of Gethsemane. However, there is evidence that he may have
actually done it in the Cave of Gethsemane. On the Mount of Olives, in
Gethsemane is a winepress in a cave. During the oil pressing season it is
very busy making olive oil from the trees on the Mount. However, in the
spring, it was often used as a place for travelers to stay.  In Mark,
where the man (Mark himself) was found by the Roman soldiers in a
blanket, and runs off naked, it suggests someone who was sleeping. What
better place than the cave?  Is it possible Christ prayed in a corner of
the cave, and then left it to meet with Judas Iscariot and the soldiers?
I think so.
Another thought: rather than sleeping, maybe Mark was receiving
initiatory temple ordinances, which would also explain his lack of
clothing. Perhaps the cave was being used as a temporary place for
ordinances, and Christ wanted the disciples to stay awake with him to
receive an endowment, when the angel came to strengthen him.

K'aya K'ama,
Gerald/gary  Smithgszion1 @juno.comhttp://www
.geocities.com/rameumptom/index.html
No one is as hopelessly enslaved as the person who thinks he's free.  -
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe


Marc: n.B. my example of Isaiah
and how to read the confusing references to winepresses and the like.
It's not
winepresses that are important (although it's interesting to note that
Gethsemane comes from a word meaning winepress but I digress), 


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[ZION] antigravity

2002-11-06 Thread Gary Smith
It is also called the cosmological constant that Einstein came up with,
then later considered his biggest error.

It was discovered recently when we found out that the universe is not
only still expanding, but it is expanding at an increasing speed.
Previously, it was believed to be expanding at an ever decreasing speed
as one would expect from a universe impacted by gravity and distance.

I believe that this invisible constant is what we call the Light of
Christ, which fills the immensity of space (DC 93).

K'aya K'ama,
Gerald/gary  Smithgszion1 @juno.comhttp://www
.geocities.com/rameumptom/index.html
No one is as hopelessly enslaved as the person who thinks he's free.  -
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe


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[ZION] scriptures are not secular?

2002-11-06 Thread Gary Smith
Originally it was written by Moses. However, we do not know how many
iterations it has gone through since then. How often was it translated
and retranslated by Jewish scribes. Which version was found by Josiah's
people in the temple?
There were different versions of ancient writings, depending on whether a
person was from Judah or Israel, for example. We have what are now
considered the written traditions of J and E (Jehovah and Elohim). Some
LDS scholars suggest that the Brass Plates of Laban may have been the E
source, as it would have come from the land of Israel and speaks of
prophets that were concentrated there. Instead of pushing the law of
Moses and the Yahwist/Jehovah-ist belief system, it tends toward the
Elohim belief system: high places and altars for worship, personal
revelations to individuals rather than a societal religion that imposes
revelation on the individuals, etc.

Both Hezekiah and Josiah tried changing the Yahwist religion into one of
centralized temple worship, removing all other places of worship.
Meanwhile, the nation of Israel/Ephraim stayed loyal to the ancient
tradition of high places and altars (like Abraham, Isaac and Jacob used),
and building two specific altars with gold calves. I have surmised
through my studies that these calves may have been representative of
Elohim, who like Baal, was represented by a bull anciently (power,
reproductive ability, etc).

While much of ancient Israel believed Jehovah and Elohim had a consort
(female wife), later Yahwists rejected this idea. 

So there were many ideas floating around. All of these beliefs found
their way into the Bible, with only the Yahwist belief, modified by a
later Priestly form, strongly surviving into the post-Babylonian exile
period. After 500 BC, the prophets were based on a temple-centric
religion and taught from that form. Christ and his apostles actually
broke somewhat from the Yahwist format, returning to the ancient form
(Christ praying in the wilderness, infrequent visits to the temple except
for Passover, Mount of Transfiguration, etc).

So, it is as complicated as Marc puts it. Interestingly, the BoM supports
the idea of it being complicated. The Brass Plates show another version
of the scriptures, with additional prophets (Zenos, Zenoc, etc) and a
different viewpoint (Joseph vs Judah). Lehi and Jeremiah also preach
against the Yahwist religion of the day. Jeremiah praises the Rekhabites,
a tribe of Israelites that lived in the wilderness and worshiped as the
ancients did, and condemns the way temple worship turned out.

We see this same thing occur with the Dead Sea Scrolls, as their Teacher
of Righteousness condemns the False/Wicked Priest for usurping the
priesthood and temple authority. They go to the wilderness to worship in
purity. I see a trendthat continues today.
K'aya K'ama,
Gerald/gary  Smithgszion1 @juno.comhttp://www
.geocities.com/rameumptom/index.html
No one is as hopelessly enslaved as the person who thinks he's free.  -
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe


JWR:
Deuteronomy was written by Moses, just as the rest of the Pentateuch 
was.  It was not part of a strange and complex historical soup. --JWR
 


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[ZION] Bible vs the Scientists

2002-11-06 Thread Gary Smith
John,
The difference is that we have many GAs who have told us that portions of
the Bible ARE symbolic. That leaves the Bible's historicity at least
partially in question. Meanwhile, they have all told us that the BoM is
literal.  Signaturi don't want to believe that any scripture is
historically based. We believe all of the BoM is, and much (if not most)
of the Bible is.  Marc and I are consistent with what the GAs have taught
on these books. We haven't stated definitively that Joshua never was at
Jericho, but only that there are discrepancies with current science. This
allows all to look at the evidence and make up their own mind with all
the current facts.  I don't ask anyone to stop believing in the Global
Flood or Jericho's walls. I only ask them to consider other ways of
interpreting a book that we have been told has symbolism in some of its
stories.

K'aya K'ama,
Gerald/gary  Smithgszion1 @juno.comhttp://www
.geocities.com/rameumptom/index.html
No one is as hopelessly enslaved as the person who thinks he's free.  -
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe


JWR:I didn't say anything about Signaturi.  I don't think you or anyone
else on 
this list is a Signaturi, or I would have booted you off years ago.  But
to 
suggest that something must be symbolism instead of literal just because 
one cannot come up with a naturalistic explanation is EXACTLY what the 
Signaturi do when they deny the historicity of the Book of Mormon. 
Forced 
to choose between belief and man's logic, they equivocate.  They try to 
straddle a fence that is a razor blade.  If they can't explain it in 
scientific terms, they just say it is a figure of speech and that it 
doesn't matter as long as the divine principle was communicated.
 


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[ZION] scriptures are not secular?

2002-11-06 Thread Gary Smith
Matter is not empty. Recently it was discovered that Einstein was right
concerning the cosmological constant that maintains the universe
spreading out at an ever increasing speed. This means there is an
invisible force that acts on all matter. I think LDS would call this the
Light of Christ, which fills all space (DC 93).

K'aya K'ama,
Gerald/gary  Smithgszion1 @juno.comhttp://www
.geocities.com/rameumptom/index.html
No one is as hopelessly enslaved as the person who thinks he's free.  -
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

JWR:
Now if matter is so... empty, if we are really just a mass of whirling 
atomic and subatomic particles, then anyone with the requisite faith can 
literally move mountains just by wishing them elsewhere.
 


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Re: [ZION] Bible vs the Scientists

2002-11-06 Thread Marc A. Schindler


Gary Smith wrote:

 John,
 The difference is that we have many GAs who have told us that portions of
 the Bible ARE symbolic. That leaves the Bible's historicity at least
 partially in question. Meanwhile, they have all told us that the BoM is
 literal.  Signaturi don't want to believe that any scripture is
 historically based. We believe all of the BoM is, and much (if not most)
 of the Bible is.  Marc and I are consistent with what the GAs have taught
 on these books. We haven't stated definitively that Joshua never was at
 Jericho, but only that there are discrepancies with current science.

Furthermore, I would add that it doesn't matter. Brigham Young referred to baby
stories in the Bible, assuming that there is a more transcendent way of
understanding them than as mere history.

 This
 allows all to look at the evidence and make up their own mind with all
 the current facts.  I don't ask anyone to stop believing in the Global
 Flood or Jericho's walls. I only ask them to consider other ways of
 interpreting a book that we have been told has symbolism in some of its
 stories.

 K'aya K'ama,
 Gerald/gary  Smithgszion1 @juno.comhttp://www
 .geocities.com/rameumptom/index.html
 No one is as hopelessly enslaved as the person who thinks he's free.  -
 Johann Wolfgang von Goethe


--
Marc A. Schindler
Spruce Grove, Alberta, Canada -- Gateway to the Boreal Parkland

“The first duty of a university is to teach wisdom, not a trade; character, not
technicalities. We want a lot of engineers in the modern world, but we don’t want
a world of engineers.” – Sir Winston Churchill (1950)

Note: This communication represents the informal personal views of the author
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Re: [ZION] Guns, Germs and Steel

2002-11-06 Thread Stacy Smith
What are we to do if our talents are being hindered?

Stacy.

At 07:58 PM 11/05/2002 -0700, you wrote:


This is true. Each has their own challenges, opportunities, talents, gifts and
assignments in life. This is what I get from what Paul says in I 
Corinthians 13.
YOUR challenge and MY challenge are to use those to the best of our 
advantage. I
learned a very interesting lesson recently. I've been going through a 
great deal
of physical pain due to some neurological problems (among other things I had a
blood clot on the brain, between the surface and the lining of the brain, 
called a
subdural haematoma, which they say is one of the most painful things a 
person can
experience, along with childbirth and kidney stones). A neuropsychologist 
(who is
a diagnostician, not a counsellor) told me that I would probably have this
difficulty, due to brain damage in the parietal pre-frontal lobe of my 
brain, for
quite some time, and I had to learn to separate pain itself, which I can't do
anything about (beyond analgaesic relief) and suffering which he defined 
as my
reaction to pain. He told me to take more social risks and if I have a 
seizure
in public, well, so what of it? Other people's reaction to it is their 
problem.

Now let's turn that around. If you have a talent, you have a responsibility to
magnify it. Other people, who may not have that talent, should not envy 
you for
it, but should be glad for you, and should not react negatively when you 
succeed
in that area. We put a lot of barriers in our own way, and often attempt 
to put
barriers in other people's lives, too. Don't let anyone put barriers in 
your way.

And what I've said goes for Gary, too. I'm sure I'm not telling any of you
anything you don't already know, but this is by way of encouragement.

Stacy Smith wrote:

 Not all of us are required to prove theories.

 Stacy.

 At 03:55 PM 11/04/2002 -0900, you wrote:

 After much pondering, Gary Smith favored us with:
 No, it is postulating a theory. Once a theory is set out for all to read,
 then it is up to the rest of us to disprove the theory by testing it
 against known evidences. That does not yet make it a fact, as future
 evidence can always refute a theory. Without theories, we would not
 advance in science or knowledge. The danger comes when we convince
 ourselves that a theory is a fact, when in fact, it isn't.
 
 So basically what you are saying is that I can forward any way out weird
 theory, maybe like something that Velikovsky or von Daniken might write,
 and the burden of proof is on us to use evidence to showing how wrong
 headed my theory is.
 
 I disagree that a person can responsibly postulate a theory and then
 expect it to be accepted unless someone can disprove it.  Even a theory
 needs to be supported with some kind of evidence.  Otherwise it isn't even
 a theory, just a wild speculation.
 
 John W. Redelfs   [EMAIL PROTECTED]
 ===
 You know what would make a good story?  Something
 about a clown who make people happy, but inside he's
 real sad. Also, he has severe diarrhea. --Jack Handy
 ===
 All my opinions are tentative pending further data. --JWR
 
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character, not
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a world of engineers.” ­ Sir Winston Churchill (1950)

Note: This communication represents the informal personal views of the author
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nor those of any organization with which the author may be associated.

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Re: [ZION] Taliban in Pakistan

2002-11-06 Thread Marc A. Schindler
I appreciate your correction of my misreading, and you are right.

There is no old Pakistani government. It's not a democracy, but has always been
controlled by the military, even when civilian leaders are in power. And I was
clear to point out that it was a Cold War event -- that's my point. Short-term
interests have unforeseen long-term consequences. What was sown during the Cold
War is being reaped today.

I think you meant to refer to southern Afghanistan, rather than southern
Pakistan? Southern Pakistan consists of partly of Baluchistan and of Sindh. Sindh
is hardly a hotbed of islamic fundamentalism, but the parts of Baluchistan which
border Afghanistan are. The worst problem is in the Northwest Frontier Province
and the so-called tribal areas, along the Afghan border.

Jon Spencer wrote:

 Oh boy!  An exciting day to turn the tables!  I did not say people of
 Pakistan.  Rather, I said people in Pakistan, not thinking it necessary
 to offer a long and boring recital of what we all already know.

 When you say it was the Pakistani gov't with US money who put the Taliban in
 place, you imply something that isn't true.  It was the OLD Pakistani gov't,
 of which remnants remain in power, but most have been purged.  It was also a
 cold war era event.

 Things have changed.  The people IN Pakistan who put the Taliban in place
 come primarily from the south, where trouble still boils.  The cold war is
 over.  Power vacuums come and go, and so thugs will come and go.

 The fact is that it is difficult to watch everyplace in the world, so that
 errors can and do occur, and people with hidden agendas can get away (for a
 while) with their mischiefs.  It is easy to hide in the frozen north and
 pontificate on things which will not directly affect you, especially when
 (in your frozen north case) you depend upon the citizens of the US to defend
 you.  It is not so easy when you live next to one of the top targets in the
 world for a terrorist's attack.  (I had to get in at least ONE ad homonem
 attack, since people on this list are so fond of them, and at least one
 personal ownership issue.  And yet, both statements have a lot of truth in
 them ...  :-)

 And, if you haven't noticed, Manny is in jail.  And Clinton gave the Panama
 Canal to the Chinese.  So, some problems have been rectified, and others
 have not yet been rectified.

 Jon

 Marc A. Schindler wrote:

 My original point was to ask why the US was so obsessed with Iraq when
 Pakistan
 presents a greater danger. And there's more to it than saying they were put
 into
 power by the people of Pakistan. It was the Pakistani government plus
 extremist
 clerics, using US taxpayer dollars, who put the Taliban into power.

 This is Manuel Noriega all over again.

 Jon Spencer wrote:

  Who objected to Marc's obvious statement?  The Taliban was put in power by

  people in Pakistan.
 
  This is a real Duh!.  By the way, are you advocating that we attack
  Pakistan first, and THEN Iraq?  I have a better idea.  First, we'll attack
  Israel - that will completely fool the fake Islamists and we can sneak in
 a
  sucker punch at both Pakistan and Iraq when they are still in shock.
 France
  can come next.
 
  Jon

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Marc A. Schindler
Spruce Grove, Alberta, Canada -- Gateway to the Boreal Parkland

“The first duty of a university is to teach wisdom, not a trade; character, not
technicalities. We want a lot of engineers in the modern world, but we don’t want
a world of engineers.” – Sir Winston Churchill (1950)

Note: This communication represents the informal personal views of the author
solely; its contents do not necessarily reflect those of the author’s employer,
nor those of any organization with which the author may be associated.

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Re: [ZION] scriptures are not secular?

2002-11-06 Thread Stacy Smith
If a testimony is only based on how often the Lord can get me to follow 
Him, then I could be in trouble not because of God but because of my 
stubborn will.  How do I know I'm not at fault?  My testimony never alone 
rests on my puny experience.

Stacy.

At 05:50 PM 11/05/2002 -0600, you wrote:

A testimony should never rest on whether or not the sea actually parted
a'la Charlton Heston, but on how willing and capable He is in helping
you
succeed in following His commandments.


Hmmm. How about the Jaredites and their incredible floating barges? Could
they be nothing but a faith promoting story along with other stories from
the mistranslated bible? Frankly, there are stories in the Book of Mormon
that I find hard to believe. I accept them all on faith just as I do the
stories from the mistranslated Bible.

Paul O
[EMAIL PROTECTED]


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Re: [ZION] scriptures are not secular?

2002-11-06 Thread Marc A. Schindler
There was, in the most recent conference, a reference to the Pentateuch (although
not by that name) as being by Moses, or written according to what had been passed
down to him, so we already know that the Bible wasn't inerrant and hasn't come to
us as originally revealed by God -- that's pretty clear doctrine. I think where
people get in a tizzy is over some of the modern critical tools some Biblical
scholars use, roughly although inaccurately known as higher criticism. To the
extent that HC seeks to de-spiritualize the Bible it is clearly wrong, but
several GAs such as John Widstoe and B. H. Roberts pointed out that we can make a
lot of use of the technique.

I like the way Kevin L. Barney, a well-known LDS apologist, put it in his
article. I'm going to give a link to a draft of this (I need to clean it up
cosmetically, as it's up there basically how my scanner scanned it), and say that
I like his approach. But one needs to read the *whole* article -- if you only
read parts you're in danger of coming away with an incorrect impression.
http://www.members.shaw.ca/mschindler/B/doc_hyp.htm

And that's all I'll say on the matter. As the history of BYU has shown, as soon
as these tools are introduced to those students who are not yet equipped to
handle them properly, some of them lose their faith. And I'd hate to be the means
of that happening here to anyone.

Also, here's one of Widstoe's tract used in the European Mission in the 1920s,
30s and 40s. He had 20 tracts, written by various GAs, but the authors' names are
not on the tracts, so we don't know who actually wrote this. They were used to
standardize discussions with non-members and are the precursors of today's formal
discussions. But this particular explains that technique and results are two
different things:

The Bible
Centennial Series-Nineteen
Origin

The results of all sound scholarship are welcomed by Latter-day Saints. Higher
criticism is not excluded. To us, however, the most certain fact, the best
authenticated and the most demonstrable, is the existence of God. This knowledge
can not be laid aside in any human research, especially in Biblical
investigation.

From the beginning of the human race the Lord has spoken to and inspired his
children on earth. Truth has been among men from the first day. He thus speaks
and inspires men today. At various times men have been moved upon to commit to
writing the eternal truths revealed to them pertaining to man's existence. Thus
have come the holy scriptures.

The Text

The scriptures have been given by God and under his direction; but in the
language of man. It has always been so. In this day, the Lord speaking to Joseph
Smith said, These commandments are of me, and were given unto my servants in
their weakness, after the manner of their language, that they might come to
understanding. That is, the Lord does his work in our behalf through earthly
instruments. Naturally, therefore in outside form there may be many errors, but
in inner substance the eternal truth is preserved for those who can read the
language understandingly. This doctrine has been stated in unusual beauty by
Moroni, one of the prophets of the Book of Mormon. Thou hast also made our words
powerful and great even that we cannot write them; wherefore, when we write we
behold our weakness, and stumble because of the placing of our words; and I fear
lest the Gentiles shall mock at our words. In such manner has come the text of
the scriptures.

As these early manuscripts, before the days of printing, were copied by hand,
often by unbelievers who did not respect the text, errors and changes crept in.
When we say we believe the Bible to be the word of God as far as it has been
translated correctly, we refer to all changes, in all transcriptions and
translations, back to the very original manuscripts. The Church, therefore, is in
full harmony with the avowed purpose of the higher critics.

Preservation

The scriptures contain the most precious truths of humanity. They give the most
complete exposition of God's law for human conduct and destiny. Without them, the
earth would be poor indeed.It was part of the purpose under which man dwells on
earth that the plan of salvation, with its included principles, should be
revealed to men from the beginning. The scriptures are as a gift from God. They
not only contain the story of man's own devices; but of the dealings of the Lord
with his earthly children. Thus our Father in heaven is better understood.

Accepting the existence of God, and the doctrine that the gospel truths were
deliberately taught to men, it can not be believed that the Lord would allow
these precious gifts to be wholly lost, and thus leave the children of men at any
time without a witness for him.

Throughout the ages, therefore, amidst all the vicissitudes of time, the holy
scriptures have been preserved, and though mutilated by careless men, they yet
bear amid their human imperfections and errors, the message of God's nature and

Re: [ZION] George III continues the tradition of malleable truth

2002-11-06 Thread Stacy Smith
The thing that gets me is this:  If we're all of a sudden so concerned 
about Saddam's nuclear and biological weapons abilities, why weren't we as 
concerned in 1992?

Stacy.

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Re: [ZION] Taliban in Pakistan

2002-11-06 Thread Stacy Smith
My point still holds even if they are no longer in Afghanistan.  Why are we 
moving on?

Stacy.

At 09:30 PM 11/06/2002 -0700, you wrote:

My original point was to ask why the US was so obsessed with Iraq when 
Pakistan
presents a greater danger. And there's more to it than saying they were 
put into
power by the people of Pakistan. It was the Pakistani government plus 
extremist
clerics, using US taxpayer dollars, who put the Taliban into power.

This is Manuel Noriega all over again.

Jon Spencer wrote:

 Who objected to Marc's obvious statement?  The Taliban was put in power by
 people in Pakistan.

 This is a real Duh!.  By the way, are you advocating that we attack
 Pakistan first, and THEN Iraq?  I have a better idea.  First, we'll attack
 Israel - that will completely fool the fake Islamists and we can sneak in a
 sucker punch at both Pakistan and Iraq when they are still in 
shock.  France
 can come next.

 Jon

 John W. Redelfs wrote:

  http://www.guardian.co.uk/pakistan/Story/0,2763,834287,00.html
 
  It looks like Marc may be vindicated in his predictions that the Taliban
  will come to power in Pakistan.  Why we are planning a war against Iraq
  when the Taliban is coming to power in a nation that already has nuclear
  weapons is a complete mystery to me.

 
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Marc A. Schindler
Spruce Grove, Alberta, Canada -- Gateway to the Boreal Parkland

“The first duty of a university is to teach wisdom, not a trade; 
character, not
technicalities. We want a lot of engineers in the modern world, but we 
don’t want
a world of engineers.” ­ Sir Winston Churchill (1950)

Note: This communication represents the informal personal views of the author
solely; its contents do not necessarily reflect those of the author’s 
employer,
nor those of any organization with which the author may be associated.

/
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