Rebuttal to Answer in Genesis's article “Did a meteor wipe out the dinosaurs?”

Rebuttal to Answer in Genesis's article “Did a meteor wipe out the dinosaurs?”
By Matthew Varga

In this article I shall refute AiG's article “Did a meteor wipe out the dinosaurs?” I shall provide quotes, and then refute the quotes.

AiG states:

“The extinction of the dinosaurs is one of the greatest mysteries of secular science. It would not be if people believed the true eye-witness account of Earth’s history recorded in the Bible. This reveals that:
Land animals (this includes dinosaurs) and man were created on Day 6 about 6,000 years ago—so dinosaurs lived at the same time as people.”
I state:

The extinction of the dinosaurs is not just one of the greatest mysteries of so called 'secular' science, it is one of the greatest mysteries of all science. The 'fact' that the Bible is a 'true eye-witness account' of Earth's recorded history is based upon flawed ideologies. To proceed in true science, one must operate in true science, meaning that any reference to scriptures of any religion must be left out. Unfortunately, there is no credible scientific evidence that dinosaurs and Homo sapiens sapiens lived at the same time, or even near the same time. Every time 'evidence' of this cohabitation has been presented, it has crashed in flames as pseudoscience brought upon by shoddy collection skills and false preconditions.1

AiG states:

“Adam sinned and brought death, disease and bloodshed into the world. Before then, no dinosaur could have died.”

I state:

This cannot be true at its very core. Sure, the Scripture states that death entered the world with Adam and Eve's original sin. But the real problem is that the Old Testament god proclaimed:

“Then God said, "I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food. 30 And to all the beasts of the earth and all the birds of the air and all the creatures that move on the ground—everything that has the breath of life in it—I give every green plant for food." And it was so.”(Gen. 1:29, NIV)2

The fundamental problem with this is that unbeknownst to the author(s) of Genesis, plants are life too. Plants are living creatures, and eating them is technically death. So, either god knew this and decided to blow this off as unimportant, or Genesis is not really the word of god. And, if it comes about that Creationist organizations decide to disown the idea of a purely vegetarian society pre-original sin, then what did the creatures of the Earth eat? Ambrosia?

AiG states:

“A global Flood occurred about 1,656 years later, wiping out all land animals that breathe though nostrils (that weren’t on the Ark). Thus billions of animals were buried quickly and formed fossils. This is when most dinosaur fossils formed.”

I state:

This brings up several points. First of all, what about marine animals that breathe through nostrils, such as whales and dolphins? Secondly, did Noah take the fish fauna of the period on to the ark? If not, then the entirety of the fish 'kind', as creationists would say, would have been wiped out. This is because fish have very specific types of water that they live in. Some need salt water, some need fresh water, and some need a brackish water. Now, if the rain was fresh water, then the salt water fish and the brackish water fish would have died out. If the rain was salt water, then the fresh water fish and the brackish water fish would have died out. If the rain was a mix of these two types of water, then both the salt water fish and fresh water fish would have died out. This is not to mention the entire spectrum of waters that fish live in, just the extremes. This also leaves out the pH spectrum, the light spectrum, temperature, different chemicals, and the host of other variables.3,4 Third, if 'billions of animals' were fossilized, why don't we see billions of fossils? Fossilized animal remains are extremely rare. Fourth, most fossilization is a long drawn out process. Sure, permineralization is one process that takes less time than other forms of fossilization5, but permineralization is usually when 'soft parts' are fossilized.

AiG states:

“Noah took two of every kind of land animal (seven of the ‘clean’ ones) on board an ocean-liner–sized Ark — this included dinosaurs. For more information, see How did all the animals fit on Noah’s Ark? “

I state:

One question that creationist cannot answer is, what is the definition of a kind? Every time this question has been brought up, the definition is always similar to a scientific genus or species.6 For example, Ken Ham speaks of the “dog-kind”.7 This is where a major problem arises. According to Nomenclator Zoologicus Online, there are approximately 340,000 discovered genera in the world.8 The estimate as to the number of species ranges from 2 to 100 million.9 Now this is where a major problem of space comes into play. There is no possible way the ark could have held 680,000 to 200 million animals plus food for those animals. It isn't just a problem of space, it is also a problem with weight! The largest ocean liner on Earth, the QM2 Southampton, holds 1,300 crew members, 2,800 passengers, and food enough to feed them for the extent of the cruise.10 Now look at the ark. It would have had to hold 640,000 to 200 million animals, food enough to feed them for a year, as well as Noah and his family and their food. It is statistically impossible!

AiG states:

“After the Flood, the descendants of those dinosaurs existed for a while with humans, and there seem to be eye-witness accounts of them, e.g. in Job 40:15 ff. and in the many dragon legends found around the world.”

I state:

I am not even going to get into the statistics of repopulating the human side of Earth. For that I refer you to Talk Origins. Let's instead look at the dinosaur part of this statement. If dinosaurs coexisted with Homo sapiens sapiens then we should be able to find skeletons of both in the same strata, correct? Unfortunately for AiG, we haven't found any dinosaur skeletons in recent strata, nor have we found any Homo sapiens sapiens, or any other hominid for that matter, in 65 MY old strata. That on face value destroys AiG's argument. Additionally, they try to say that myth and folk tales of 'dragons' lend support to the idea that Homo sapiens sapiens and dinosaurs coexisted.11 The traditional concept of a dragon in mythology is a flying, fire-breathing reptile that bears nearly no resemblance to actual dinosaurs. There was no recorded dinosaur species that had a reptilian body, yet flew. And there was no species that breathed fire. In fact, no species in the history of Earth had that capability. Also, there are no recorded 'eye-witness' cases of theropod, sauropod, or any of the other types of dinosaurs.

AiG states:

“Eventually they all died out, except for possible rare sightings in uninhabited areas which have not been properly verified. The causes were probably no more dramatic than those that cause extinctions of other species, e.g. man’s hunting, change of climate, loss of food source, fragmentation of habitat.”

I state:

This brings up the same question above; if dinosaurs coexisted with Homo sapiens sapiens and died out during our reign, why does the fossil record of dinosaurs end at roughly 65 MYA? Shouldn't we find fossilized dinosaur remains in recent strata if they lived during the times of Homo sapiens sapiens, and if fossilization is a quick process? Again, unfortunately for AiG and ICR (Institute for Creation Research), we haven't and most likely will never find those fossils. Also, on the issue of humans hunting dinosaurs to extinction, this is the same organization that denies that it is possible that Homo sapiens sapiens hunted Homo sapiens neanderthalensis to extinction, as well as other organizations.12 If it was so hard to hunt down a species, what makes it easier to hunt down 527-1844 genera of dinosaurs?13

AiG states:

“Those who disbelieve the Bible have invented many different explanations for the demise of the dinosaurs:
Mammals eating dinosaur eggs.
New narcotic plants evolved.
Global cooling/global warming.
Loss of plants causing herbivores to starve, which in turn caused the carnivores to starve.
Lowering of oxygen partial pressure in the atmosphere.”
I state:

Oddly enough, AiG presents different lists of 'explanations' of the extinction of the dinosaurs for each article it does.14,15,16 Unfortunately, it leaves out three crucial theories. First, it leaves out the asteroid/meteor impact theory, although it does talk about it later in the article. Second, it leaves out the volcanic eruption theory. Finally, it leaves out the combined theory of a volcanic eruption brought upon by an asteroid/meteor impact. Additionally, no scientist claims that mammals ate the dinosaur's young to death, leading to extinction, nor does any claim that narcotic plants claimed the dinosaur's reign. They provide no cites for these two whatsoever.

AiG states:

“The current ‘glamour’ theory was proposed by the geologist Walter Alvarez in about 1980, that a meteor strike 66.4 million years ago caused dramatic climatic changes much like ‘nuclear winter’. This caused the extinction of the dinosaurs and many other species. His evidence was his discovery of an allegedly world-wide layer of clay with a high iridium content. His father Luis, who won the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1968 for work on subatomic particles, helped him publicize the theory. It is now accepted as ‘proven fact’ in many circles, and popularized in ‘documentaries’ such as Walking with Dinosaurs. “

I state:

What they mean by 'glamour theory' is beyond me. Perhaps they mean the theory most widely accepted in the scientific community, which, by the way, AiG is not a member of. They insinuate that the only evidence for the meteor/asteroid impact is the iridium clay layer. Unfortunately for AiG, there is evidence galore for this theory. Among the most convincing is the impact crater on/near the Yucatan Peninsula, called Chicxulub Crater. (For a picture visit this site: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/9c/Chicxulub_radar_topography.jpg/300px-Chicxulub_radar_topography.jpg). This crater was dated to 65 MYA.17

AiG states:

“The secular book The Great Dinosaur Extinction Controversy exposes the way that the meteor explanation for the dinosaur extinction has become a new dogma that has way outstripped the evidence (see review by Carl Wieland in CENTJ 12(2):154–158, 1998). Some of the reasons are:
The extinction was not that sudden (using evolutionary/long age interpretations of the geological record). But the spread in the geological record makes sense if much of the sedimentary deposits were formed in Noah’s Flood.”
I state:

I don't understand AiG's need to delineate between secular and theistic books. As if being 'secular' automatically makes them dismiss it. But on to their argument. I severely doubt that the book concluded that the geological record made sense if Noah's Flood happened. That's probably just something stuck in there by AiG. But, the geologic record would make no sense if Noah's Flood happened. Why then, do no dinosaurs show up in the Silurian strata? Why do no rabbits show up in Pre-Cambrian strata? If most or all of the sedimentary rocks were laid down by Noah's Flood, then we should see that type of mixing of fossils throughout the strata. Additionally, the meteor/asteroid impact would have not killed all dinosaurs with the initial impact. Most likely, it was a long drawn out mass dying, caused by vegetation dying, leaving no food for herbivores, leading to the demise of carnivores. Additionally, the fossil record points to a mass dying, caused by radation.18

AiG states:

“Light-sensitive species survived.”

I state:

AiG doesn't cite this claim, nor do they define “light-sensitive”. Technically, everything can be light sensitive, since every organism has a preferred light spectrum. With no further definition as to what their argument is, I cannot argue it.

AiG states:

“Extinctions don’t correlate with crater dates.”

I state:

This argument is not very clear either. If it means that all extinctions do not correlate with crater dates, that is correct. For example, the Permian extinction was most likely caused by a change in the ocean's climate, glaciation, the formation of Pangaea, or a volcanic eruption not an impact.19 If it means that the Cretaceous-Tertiary Extinction does not line up with crater dates, that is incorrect. As I stated before, the Chicxulub Crater is dated to 65 MYA.

AiG states:

“Modern volcanic eruptions don’t cause global extinction patterns, even if they cause a temporary temperature drop.”

I state:

This is true, yet we have not seen a meteor/asteroid impact coupled with a volcanic eruption in modern history. Volcanic ash, together with the dust and debris ejected from the meteor/asteroid impact surely would have blocked out the sun on a global scale.

“Computer models suggest that if such an asteroid collided with Earth, it would pass through the atmosphere and ocean almost as if they were not there and blast a crater in the crust about 100 km across. The iridium and the smallest pieces of debris would be spread worldwide by the impact blast as the asteroid vaporized into a fireball.”20

Additionally, as the GSA article I cited above states:

“For several hours following the Chicxulub impact, the entire Earth was bathed with intense infrared radiation from ballistically reentering ejecta. The global heat pulse would have killed unsheltered organisms directly and ignited fires at places where adequate fuel was available.”21

So, it was not just the ejected ash, it was also the incredible amount of radiation.

AiG states:

“The iridium enrichment, supposedly a key proof of meteor impact, is not nearly as clearly defined as claimed.”

I state:

This argument, like the others, is not clear either. Does it mean that the iridium layer is not geologically defined, or physically defined. Geologically, the iridium layer is quite well defined. Around the entire world, there is a clay iridium layer over top a layer of spherules, balls of vaporized rock. These two anamolies can only be produced by a meteor/asteroid impact.22 Physically, the iridium layer is very well defined as well. One only need look at a photograph. (For a photograph, visit this site: http://ircamera.as.arizona.edu/NatSci102/NatSci102/images/ktboundary.jpg)

AiG states:

“Drill cores of the apparent ‘smoking gun’ crater on the Yucatán peninsula in south-east Mexico do not support the idea that it is an impact crater.”

I state:

Again, no cite. According to a project done by University of Arizona in February 2002:

“This is the rock core that contains the contact between the sedimentary rocks that bury the crater and the top of the rocks in the Chicxulub impact crater. The rocks that bury the crater are the light-colored (approximately white) rocks in the top left portion of the image. The first of the impact breccias recovered in the crater are the green rocks in the top right and bottom half of the image. This image was taken at the core processing laboratory at the University of Yucatan in Merida, where the rock core is transported from the Yaxcopoil-1 drilling site each day. Photograph by David A. Kring, NASA/UA Space Imagery Center.”(Here is a link to the picture cited: http://www.lpl.arizona.edu/SIC/news/IMAGE11.JPG)23

So, the rock layers are in complete compliance with an impact crater.

AiG states:

“It seems that some scientists didn’t speak out against the idea for fear of undermining the ‘nuclear winter’ idea, and being grouped with ‘nuclear warmongers’.”

I state:

This is not an argument against the impact crater theory in any way, shape, or form. The whole idea of 'nuclear winter' in relation to this theory is but an analogy. The fact that some scientists didn't argue against that wording doesn't undermine the theory at all.

AiG states:

“The overview article by meteorologist Mike Oard, ‘The extinction of the Dinosaurs’ (CENTJ 11(2):137–154, 1997; download PDF file) explains many features of dinosaur fossils that are consistent with a flood, and dinosaur tracks consistent with fleeing from encroaching flood waters. Oard points out that iridium enrichment can be caused by massive volcanism, as many evolutionists agree. This would certainly have been a feature of the Flood year, associated with the breaking up of the ‘fountains of the great deep’ (Genesis 7:11).”

I state:

Dinosaur fossils are not consistent with Flood geology whatsoever. For example, as stated above, if the Noachian Flood happened, we should see a mixing of fossils throughout the strata. But we don't. Next, to say that dinosaur footprints are consistent with dinosaurs fleeing from the Flood is plain ignorant. Sure, most of the discovered tracks go in a straight line, but the Flood wouldn't have. The Flood was propagated by rain, meaning that the water would have come down, not from the side. Additionally, Figure 36.2 on page 521 of The Complete Dinosaur, edited by Farlow and Brett-Surman, shows many tracks of many species overlapping, not consistent with fleeing a flood at all. Finally, most tracks have been deemed migratory paths.24

AiG states:

“However, Oard agrees that the largest iridium anomalies were caused by meteorites striking during the Flood:
‘Iridium-rich clay falling from the atmosphere would accumulate only during temporary lulls in the Flood.’”
I state:

While it is good that Oard agrees that iridium layers are only caused by meteors and asteroids, he misses the main point. First of all, this iridium layer lines up with the Chicxulub impact crater. Secondly, it is in 65 MY old strata, not consistent with the Flood at all.

AiG states:

“This explains the fact that so-called spikes are really composed of multiple spikes or are spread over a wider layer of sediment. John Woodmorappe has pointed out:
‘there are now over 30 iridium “horizons” in the Phanerozoic record. These can be explained by a slowdown in sedimentation rate as iridium rained from the sky (whether from a terrestrial, or an extraterrestrial source). They pose no problem for the Flood at all.’
That is, the iridium layers mark lulls in the sedimentation rate during the Flood, the iridium ‘rain’ itself being more-or-less continuous during the Flood.”
I state:

This is completely consistent with non-Noachian Flood history. Meteors hit the Earth all the time, and major meteors hit the Earth quite often.25

AiG states:

“Oard also pointed out that the K/T boundary supposedly marking the end of the dinosaur age is most likely not synchronous around the world, and is not defined coherently. Very few dinosaur fossils are actually found near this boundary. Sometimes the argument becomes very circular. For example, the end of the dinosaur era is supposed to be clearly marked in the geological column by the K/T boundary, but in many localities the K/T boundary is defined by the highest dinosaur fossil. Or else the Alvarez theory is supported by the iridium spike in the K/T boundary, but in some localities the K/T boundary is defined by the iridium spike.”

I state:

Again, no cite as to the point that the iridium layer is not synchronous around the world. Philip Bigelow has compiled several cites around the world which show the iridium layer, and their properties.26 Next, he doesn't define 'near'. This could mean around, above, below, it's really quite vague. But anyway, the fossil record is really quite incomplete. We have but a small slice of the fauna in each epoch because of this incomplete fossil record. If fossilization was as easy as AiG purportes, there should be more fossils than there are. It would make sense that the K/T boundary is defined by the highest found fossil in areas in which the iridium layer is not found, because the K/T boundary is where dinosaurs went extinct.

AiG states:

“The Bible provides the only coherent framework within which we can properly interpret history, including that of the dinosaurs. Other theories are doomed to failure, even the glamorous ‘deep impact’ theory, because all circumstantial evidence counts for nothing if it ignores the only eye-witness account we have of Creation and the Flood — the Bible.”

I state, and conclude:

It's really quite hard to understand where they get these conclusions from their arguments. For example, is the Bible the only coherent framework for interpreting the Holocaust? Of course not! Not only is it not a coherent framework for the Holocaust, it isn't a coherent framework for the rest of history. It rambles, talks in parables and metaphors, and isn't complete in the least part. Science is the only way we can have a coherent history of our natural world. And again, the eye-witness account argument is extremely circular. It is an eye-witness account because it says so.

-Matthew Varga

Footnotes

1. For a complete destruction of creationist's 'evidences' see The Tower of Babel by Robert T. Pennock.
2. Genesis 1:29, NIV translation. For more translations, go to www.biblegateway.com.
3. http://www.fishforever.co.uk/waterchemistry.html
4. http://www.fishdoc.co.uk/water/pH.htm
5. http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/paleo/fossils/permin.html
6. http://www.christianbook.com/Christian/Books/cms_content?page=736863&sp=1016&event=1016RNF
7. http://www.answersingenesis.org/docs/2.asp [I shall also refute this article]
8. http://uio.mbl.edu/NomenclatorZoologicus/background.html
9. http://hypertextbook.com/facts/2003/FelixNisimov.shtml
10. http://www.nqsouthern.com/digitalpublication/digitalpublications/index.cfm?dpid=89§ion_id=550
11. http://www.answersingenesis.org/creation/v22/i3/dragons.asp
12. http://www.answersingenesis.org/docs2005/0413dating_fraud.asp
13. Fountain, Henry. "Many more dinosaurs still to be found." New York Times: 12 Sept. 2006.
14. http://www.answersingenesis.org/tj/v11/i2/dinosaur.asp
15. http://www.answersingenesis.org/home/Area/AnswersBook/dinosaurs19.asp
16. http://www.answersingenesis.org/docs/2.asp
17. http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/features.cfm?feature=8
18. http://www.gsajournals.org/perlserv/?request=get-abstract&doi=10.1130%2FB25402.1
19. http://park.org/Canada/Museum/extinction/permcause.html
20. http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/education/events/cowen1b.html
21. http://www.gsajournals.org/perlserv/?request=get-abstract&doi=10.1130%2FB25402.1
22. http://www.bbc.co.uk/sn/tvradio/programmes/horizon/dino_prog_summary.shtml
23. http://www.lpl.arizona.edu/SIC/news/chicxulub1.html
24. http://www.talkorigins.org/faqs/paluxy/ovrdino.html
25. For a complete database of recorded impacts, visit: http://www.unb.ca/passc/ImpactDatabase/index.html
26. http://209.85.165.104/search?q=cache:ArJe1xomF1cJ:www.scn.org/~bh162/iridium.html+iridium+layer&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=1&gl=us&client=firefox-a

Nope

the bible is an interesting piece of literature. it has had an affect on millions, both positive and negative. but let's look at it like just a book. the concept of god makes several huge transitions throughout the book. in the pentateuch, the first five books, Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Deuteronomy, and Numbers, as well as throughout most of the old testament, god is anthropomorphic. he walks among men, he talks with men, he does human things. this is possibly because that was the common god concept of the time. yahweh assumed the form of zeus, and the other patriarch gods that came before him. then when you read Ezekiel and Jermiah, and those books around them, you get the rumblings of a transcendent god whom you can't walk with. this is one of the only real revolutionary ideas of judaism and christianity, but boy is it a big one. Moses kinda freaked me out in the story of Aaron making that golden calf. so here's the story. moses goes up mt. sinai to get the ten commandments. as we all know, one of them is to not have idols and to worship no gods before yahweh. so as moses is coming down the hill, he sees that aaron has smelted all their gold into a golden calf, and idol. now remember, no one else has seen the ten commandments. so moses freaks out. he goes absolutely ballistic that aaron made this calf. he smashes the ten commandments on the ground. holy hell moses, anger management not your strong point?

it's interesting, we all know the story about moses and the burning bush. so, god says that he is the same god that abraham worshiped, but he was called by a different name. his name was el shaddai, or something to that effect. what's interesting though is that el shaddai is one of the names of el, the main god of the canaanite pantheon. so basically yaweh and el are one and the same? i dunno.

talking about religion, i hate those freaking mortgage ads on places like CNN.com. What the hell. they thing they are going to get more business by having a fucking shadow dance around? or how about my favourite. a wack-a-mole type thing with all 50 states on it. fuck. those are the stupidest ads ever. who is going to be surfing CNN, wanting to find more about don imus, and see one of those ads and think, "damn, i haven't gotten a mortgage on my house yet. maybe i should trust this dancing shadow and refinance with this no name company." DRRR. *slams head on keyboard*.

speaking of CNN, i was surfing their website the other day and I came across a certain article. here i'll share it with you. (http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/europe/04/14/kasparov.protest/index.html) Garry Kasparov, the russian chess champion was detained by the russian government because he was protesting the government. god damned russians, trying to prohibit free speech. free speech isn't just a law that we have in the comfy ole' U S of A. no, it is an intrinsic right of life. let no one silence you. fuck the government. hah, eat that NSA. and let me say something else. free speech 'zones' like bush had set up at his speeches aren't free speech. it is restricting free speech to a 'zone'. that's bullshit. free speech isn't something to be had in glass boxes with no way to get your word out. it is something that permeates everywhere and everything. i have the right to free speech. you do too. so does a 13 year-old chinese sex slave.

back to the bible. who thinks that the bible just appeared after jesus died. show of hands? *half the crowd raises their hands*. idiots. here's the scene they envision...

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

paul and thomas enter the room. it's quite dark, with only a few candles for light. mary and peter and the rest of the apostles are sitting around a table with blank books.

"hey hey, i've got an idea." luke says. "'ow about Jesus heals a leper."

"what a fucking stupid idea, peter." mary snipes back.

"hey, i thought it was a good one." luke replies.

"hey, me too. i'll write it into my book." mark says.

"stupid prude." mary whispers under her breath.

the camera pans to the dim corner of the room. two small white lights are seen about eye height. suddenly, chains rattle and something snarles and growls.

"shut up judas." matthew shouts.

"i didn't betray him!" judas screams, "he told me to do it...*growl*"

"yeah, when pigs fly." peter says.

"hey! what a good idea! i bet jesus could do that." luke says.

"peter, stop smoking that shit." mary says. "i told you to stop."

luke fires back, "i did!"

"bollucks" mary says.

"hey, i was thinking. falling of a roof and dying isn't too messiah-like." matthew says.

"ya know, i was thinking the same thing." john adds.

"'hey, how about he is crucified and resurrected. i bet the romans would get a kick outta that." luke says.

"finally, a good idea." mary says.

"this is shaping up to be a good fiction series." peter says.

the camera fades out.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Yeah, that's most likely not how it happened.

Nothin much

our country is going down the shitter. on one hand we have neoconservatives who try to force religion and racism down our throats, and on the other hand we have the liberals who try to force a different type or racism and socialism down our throats. i'm sick of it. thats part of why i made the transition to libertarianism. just stay the fuck away from my personal property. and come on, income tax! talk about injustices. the income tax amendment wasn't even passed by the correct majority of states to become a constitutional amendment. all it does is pay for the government's wars. like iraq. whoever thought that a backasswards country had wmds is an idiot. hell, that country was in the shitter before we even invaded. it was perhaps even better off. like, at least they had electricity. and islam extremists weren't killing 60 people a day. what's up with that anyway?! it seems like every time i turn on the tv i hear about another car bombing that killed 60 people. it's hardly any more or any less than 60. do the terrorists have a quota or something?! is osama sitting there saying "hey guys, we only killed 40 today. go kill some more"?? and whatever happened to osama?! did we just kind of forget about him? oh well. i guess he wasn't really our enemy, now was he georgie?

i went to church on easter sunday. that was an odd experience. i used to go every sunday, so the priest/bishop person knows our family well. she looked like she was going to have a heart attack when she saw me. my mom warned her not to talk to me. damnit. i have like a stigma around me. who gives a damn if im an atheist. shouldn't they just look at my personality instead of my religious beliefs? i can be a nice guy even though i don't believe in a sky daddy who answers all my prayers. prayer. that's so stupid. for example, when sports teams win, they always go on tv and say something to the effect of "god must have answered my prayers when i prayed that we would win." I wish i were that reporter. i would ask, "so basically god shafted the other team." i would probably be fired. haha.

i got my book of mormon in the mail the other day. mormonism makes me laugh. hahahahaha. they believe that jesus came to north america 600 years before he was born, and then decided to make a pit stop here again after he died. wtf?! and also, they believe that the 12th tribe of israel sailed here in 600 BC, fought with steel swords which didn't exist, on elephants that didn't exist. what?! and, hahaha, they believe that the north americans desended from a race of men who could do no good. lol talk about racism. they were the lamanites. the good guys were the nephites. apparantly, they were favoured by god, but he decided to let them be wiped out. i'm glad they had god's help pffff.

I finished reading "What Evolution Is" by Ernst Mayr. great book. loved it. it taught me so much more about evolution than bio did. i recommend it to evolutionists, ID-iots, and creationists alike. in fact, i highly recommend it to creationists. if you are going to try to argue against evolution, creationists, at least know the theory. so many of them don't. *sigh* it makes me want to slam my head on a wall. "Oh! evolution breaks they second law of thermodynamics!" they say. doifhgsuodhfgoisdjfh! the second law of thermodynamics applies to CLOSED SYSTEMS! in case they didn't know, earth is anything but a closed system. for example, the earth gets energy from the sun! DRRRR! and comets and asteroids hit the earth all the time. and there is no such thing as macroevolution, and there is no such thing as microevolution. there is just e v o l u t i o n. there are three intrinsic properties of life. 1) everything dies. 2) if an organism is unsuited for its environment, it dies easier. 3) there is descent with modifications (for example, i look different than my parents). these three things are as intrinsic to life as the statement that the fact that a square has 4 sides is and instrinsic property of a square. these three properties ensure that evolution happens. for example, lets go to a cooled lava bed. there is a population of beetles (the population is the level at which evolution occurs, even though it plays out at the gene level). now, in this population, some beetles are whiter than the other black beetles. in the area, there is a type of bird that eats these beetles. the white beetles are more likely to be eaten than the black beetles, because they are easier to see. because of that, the population will eventually shift to be all black, or dominatly black. that is called gene flow. now lets look at another scenario. take a population of bunnies, and toss them onto alaska. the organisms that have a thicker coat will survive long enough to reproduce, whilst the ones with thinner coats will die. eventually, the bunny population will shift to having thicker coats. now introduce a predator that feeds by sight. now, the bunnies with coats that more closely match the rocks and vegetation of the area will survive. fast forward 1,000 generations. the alaskan bunny population will be so much more different (because of the different factos in it's niche and habitat) that it will no longer be able to reproduce with the original population from which it was taken from. that constitutes a new species.

talking about reproduction, i think i am coming to terms with the idea that i most likely will never get a girlfriend. i don't like that prospect, but i think i might have to deal with it. i walk down the hallways and i see couples. i don't just want A girlfriend, i want THE girlfriend. the person who is right for me. maybe i'll find that person who likes me back in college. but then i'll be so focused with learning about things i actually care about that i won't want to devote time to dating.

talking about learning, i think math that is beyond geometry is completely useless. like, when are you going to need to graph a parabola in the real world? are you going to be sitting there at your desk at your job, and have you boss walk in and say to you "hey, graph xsquared times three x"?! NO! God damnit, i wish they would just let me take a philosophy class. then i would be happy. what is the meaning of life? 42! how can you know the answer if you know not the question? here is a box. in it has the answer. but what is the question? it could have a plastic figurine in it, but i don't care. what is the question? plastic figurine! i think there is a plastic figurine in the box. i dont! i dont care! i'm going to leave the plastic figurine alone. if a tree falls down in the forest with no one around to hear it, does it make a sound? on a purely scientific level, yes because it would make sound waves as it crashed through the forest. but what if sound is all perception? i hear one thing, but someone else hears another. the what is sound? is sound purely relative? what is that ringing noise i sometimes hear? who is john galt?

maybe some answers are best left un-said. maybe some questions are best left un-asked. maybe God is hiding behind the moon.

Customer Bill of Rights

So, Jet Blue Airlines is leading the way in passenger rights. They've released the Customer's Bill of Rights. This Bill of Rights says that if you get stuck on their airplanes you get some compensation. As far as I know, the compensation ranges from $25 to full compensation depending on how long you get stuck on the plane. Also, if your flight gets canceled within 12 hours of departure, you can ask for a full refund.

By the way, Michelle Malkin thinks its a bad idea. "I'm skeptical of anything with 'Bill of Rights' tacked to it".

What about the Bill of Rights that allows you to say that?

America: Christian Nation?

Ok, lets start by putting up my video I have on YouTube that pertains to this subject.

Now, lets deviate from it because it mainly focuses on quotes from the Founding Fathers. Lets look at the actions of the United States. Now, whenever you pin a Christian down by giving an example of a Christian who did bad things (ie Hitler), he/she will say "Oh! But that person wasn't a reeeaaaall Christian! No reeeaaall Christian would do things like that!" Ok then, what about the United States? If the United States were really Christian, wouldn't we have done something about the Rwandan Genocide where 900,000 of our fellow human beings were killed? What about the 100,000-500,000 innocent Iraqis killed in Iraq. Sure a lot of them were killed by sectarian violence, but possibly the same amount were killed by midnight raids and bombing runs but the US. Wouldn't we have stopped that? Lets turn to domestic issues. Gay rights. If Jesus really loved all, wouldn't he want gays to have the same rights as everyone else? Nice Christian morals there.