@markD, what doe “YMMV” mean? Thanks. 
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I was confused also Randy until I realized his comment referred back to an old post from July 14th. You can click on the icon on a post in the upper right corner with the little reply arrow, and it will bring up the post referenced.
YMMV-your mileage may vary
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The fecundity of this thread means it will be a long catching up.
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Hi Randy. “Your mileage may vary”. 
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We’re certainly capable of empathy toward other animals and we can know about their worlds in some ways. But whether by way of our imagination or by careful study all those ways by which we can know another animal are human ways. We can find out what their concerns seem to revolve around but we do so once removed, experiencing what it’s like to be a human imagining he was a lion. Our home base for all experience is human. Doesn’t mean the effort isn’t worth it and the desire to know what it’s like to be all those things is certainly human.
You know, if there is any more interest in discussing Mitchell’s response to that Wittgenstein inspired comic, perhaps some kind mod would like to give it its own thread? Otherwise we are in danger of losing track of this thread’s very important mission, namely showing that people interested science and religion are capable of laughing at themselves.
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I certainly have more to say on the subject.
Our church hired the Dobson Pipe Organ company to build us a new organ. It took more than a year to build. And for the organ, the Dennis Collier family created a case adorned with gothic liturgical wood carvings.
All very intricate and beautiful.
But the Colliers were not without a sense of humor–
check out these carvings:
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Great! Those are beautiful, too.
Just from church stories–my five year old daughter, Leah, came home from Awana last week to tell Mommy that “Harlan got saved. He’s going to go to Heaven soon. I am going to miss him sooo much!”
How do you explain that you don’t want to go to Heaven right now when your Awana teachers are so glowing about what it will be like?
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PS I’m interested–I learned a bit more about the saints and their symbols (from Tintin in Red Rackham’s treasure, this time!) Does that eagle represent St John the Evangelist?
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Absolutely! On our organ case the 4 evangelists are represented in beautiful wood carvings, and St. John is represented by an eagle, St. Mark by a lion, St. Luke by an ox, and St. Matthew by a man.
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This xkcd cartoon this week resonated with me. It is sort of freaky when you think about it that trees are pretty much totally synthesized from the CO2 sucked from the air, and you can feel gravity sucking everything towards everything else but seldom give it a second thought.
What caption would you place on an evolutionary biologist or an EC (may be a little different)?
“I can’t believe the bacteria in my colon is as evolutionarily advanced as me?”
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It would be more accurate to say that trees are made out of smoke and water. Only .04 percent of air is carbon dioxide. 80% of the air is nitrogen and although there is some nitrogen in trees they don’t get this from the air but from the soil. 20% of the air is oxygen but in that case it is the other way around… it is the air that gets its oxygen from the trees (and other plants).
Dubious. That is like saying those who get an F in a class learned us much as those who got an A – learning things other than material being taught? The point is that this “advanced” business is a rather subjective measure. But that puts me on the spot to think of something better. Humor is not my forte. On the other hand the bar is pretty low on this one. How about… “What is that tail and fish DNA doing in here anyway?”
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Hum. Certainly trees are more than carbon and water, but are predominately such, with wood chemically being (According to Wikipedia ). about 98% “air” and water. You can even argue the nitrogen ultimately came from atmospheric sources:
The chemical composition of wood varies from species to species, but is approximately 50% carbon, 42% oxygen, 6% hydrogen, 1% nitrogen, and 1% other elements (mainly calcium, potassium, sodium, magnesium, iron, and manganese) by weight.[22] Wood also contains sulfur, chlorine, silicon, phosphorus, and other elements in small quantity.
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And btw, our church bulletin printed a very interesting quote by the great French organist and composer Jean Langlais, because the choir of men and boys sang his Messe Solennelle on Sunday:
“To play only what is written is the domain of science. To realize what is not written is the domain of art.”
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As a gardener it used to make me wonder how every big plant like a tree wasn’t sitting in a hole caused by it’s incorporating materials in the ground around it. This is somehow even more amazing. Chemistry for the win!
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Comedian Mike Klimkowski looks just like prosperity gospel televangelist Joel Osteen. He wanted to see how far he could go at a real Joel Osteen event. Hilarious! Watch the video
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Since it mentioned Chick tracts and brutal atheist arguments, thought this was appropriate:
I’m thinking dressing as Martin Luther and nailing your candy demands to the neighborhood doors would be a win.
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