Proof of the existence of an intelligent Creator and what His purpose of mankind is

[morgentaler]

Ha! I went looking for Hitchens on Marijuana and found this page:
http://atheistsdoitwithreason.com/tag/christopher-hitchens/

First video is a hoot.

 

[mindphuk]

I've posted an introduction of myself. No, I do not smoke weed, but I am very supportive of the legalization.

This should probably belong on another thread, but I will briefly address it here. I'm from Chicago, IL - a city that use to be one of the most corrupt cities in the U.S. during the 1920's and 1930's. I'm sure as you know we had an Italian gentleman by the name of Al Capone who ran the trafficking of alcohol to the U.S. from Canada.

Since we have evidence that drinking alcohol is more dangerous then smoking marijuana (read reports by National Academy of Sciences, British Advisory Committee on Drug Dependence, etc.)Then why aren't we legalizing? Don't get me wrong, anything you put in your body will have a trade off. Multiple case studies however give the same congruent information, in that marijuana can't even be put into the same classes as Methamphetamine, Coke, PCP, Etc. and keeping it illegal will make the drug trades with Mexico worse. I can jump into many of these topics but again, it digresses from this thread.

Welcome to RIU.
We have other folks here that don't smoke but stay for the debates. One that I can think of is Medicine Man. Unfortunately, Med usually falls on the side of the woowoos.

Isn't it interesting that in 1919 we required a constitutional amendment in order to ban a specific substance but the Controlled Substance Act somehow does away with that even though our Constitution is still the same? Not only that but now they can ban new substances administratively without an act of Congress. The personal cultivation and use where it isn't even sold and state lines are not crossed should never fall under any law that uses Commerce Clause as its basis for validity.

 

[CrackerJax]

hehehe, I missed that little gem in his post....Chicago, IL - a city that use to be one of the most corrupt cities in the U.S. during the 1920's and 1930's

USE TO BE Uhhh, Have I got news for you.

 

[Woodstock.Hippie]

"The personal cultivation and use where it isn't even sold and state lines are not crossed should never fall under any law that uses Commerce Clause as its basis for validity."

Thank god the feds aren't prosecuting the states!

 

[WelcomeToTheWest]

hehehe, I missed that little gem in his post....Chicago, IL - a city that use to be one of the most corrupt cities in the U.S. during the 1920's and 1930's

USE TO BE Uhhh, Have I got news for you.

/sigh

I understand. Unfortunately, I belong to a state with a LONG history of corruption in the government. Out of the past 5 Governors, 1/2 of them have been prosecuted for some crime. It's pretty sad and yes, I believe Springfield, IL has some issues to work out. I can agree that IL is one of the worst states to incur corruption.

 

[CrackerJax]

/sigh

I understand. Unfortunately, I belong to a state with a LONG history of corruption in the government. Out of the past 5 Governors, 1/2 of them have been prosecuted for some crime. It's pretty sad and yes, I believe Springfield, IL has some issues to work out. I can agree that IL is one of the worst states to incur corruption.

I was up in Chicago visiting after the Bush/Gore debacle and ppl at a party were giving me a hard time coming from Florida (we all know that's pure geographic jealousy ).

I listened to all the complaints about hanging chads and recounts until finally I asked one very perky and insistent woman, if Illinois was the last state and the deciding factor, and Illinois was put under the voting microscope nationally, how do you think Illinois would look to the rest of the country?

Silence ... She smiled and we all had a real good time that day.

 

[morgentaler]

Heh. I would have brought up the corruption in the Illinois legal system that led to *at least* two dozen innocent people sitting on death row.

She probably wouldn't have smiled at that

 

[CrackerJax]

She got the gist of that age old adage ... ppl that live in glass houses, shouldn't throw stones.

She was smart enough to retract her claws and we talked amicably for an hour.

 

[rookie 420]

Well actually more wars have been derived from land disputes than any other altercations combined. Religion is now an excuse for everything bad that has ever happened, Lincoln was Christian he abolished slavery. I just think it is an easy way out, instead of truly understanding religion as a whole and not just one sect. I mean where are all of the horror stories about Buddhism and Hinduism. I'm not saying that most religions are not far fetched, but the belief in a higher divinity is not impractical. Most of the documents that mindphuk rattled off were affected by religion and values that were biased by religious doctrine.

 

[CrackerJax]

Horror stories about Buddhism?

Please ... do tell.

 

[mindphuk]

Well actually more wars have been derived from land disputes than any other altercations combined. Religion is now an excuse for everything bad that has ever happened, Lincoln was Christian he abolished slavery. I just think it is an easy way out, instead of truly understanding religion as a whole and not just one sect. I mean where are all of the horror stories about Buddhism and Hinduism. I'm not saying that most religions are not far fetched, but the belief in a higher divinity is not impractical. Most of the documents that mindphuk rattled off were affected by religion and values that were biased by religious doctrine.

Those documents I "rattled off" have nothing to do with religion, especially Christianity.
You will have a hard time convincing anyone that our laws are based on Christianity when you actually read what those documents say.

BTW, just because someone in history was Christian, doesn't make his or her religion the reason for doing something. Lincoln talked a lot about saving the Nation but I don't recall him ever giving Jesus the credit for the reason he wanted to end slavery.

 

[CrackerJax]

Well, the real truth about Lincoln is not well known.

Lincoln wanted to round up all the slaves and send them to Honduras. Now John Wilkes Booth was really on the side of the slaves and he knew that he had to kill Lincoln so the slaves could stay and be truly free.
After Booth shot Lincoln, the jig was up on Honduras and Booth got his way. The ppl in power knew Booth did the right thing, but he had just shot the President so they vilified him with a wink. These same ppl had to make Booth the bad guy, but they knew it was Lincoln who was the danger. It had come to light that once Lincoln knew the northern army would be eventually victorious, he started buying up vast tracks of land in Honduras under an alias. Lincoln was going to create a super sized plantation and then generate a lucrative breeding program.

If it wasn't for Booth, that all would have happened. It was the descendants of the same ppl (whom I cannot name for fear of my safety), who pulled off the 9/11 conspiracy as well.

It all ties in together.

 

[2much]

well, who ever created this mess needs to get over here and clean it up! mother fucker

 

[Shrubs First]

BTW, just because someone in history was Christian, doesn't make his or her religion the reason for doing something. Lincoln talked a lot about saving the Nation but I don't recall him ever giving Jesus the credit for the reason he wanted to end slavery.

Back in the dark ages and roman times it did. You only lived and breathed if you
were the same religion as the people around you, does that not base every
decision they made on religion?

 

[WelcomeToTheWest]

Well actually more wars have been derived from land disputes than any other altercations combined. Religion is now an excuse for everything bad that has ever happened, Lincoln was Christian he abolished slavery. I just think it is an easy way out, instead of truly understanding religion as a whole and not just one sect. I mean where are all of the horror stories about Buddhism and Hinduism. I'm not saying that most religions are not far fetched, but the belief in a higher divinity is not impractical. Most of the documents that mindphuk rattled off were affected by religion and values that were biased by religious doctrine.

There is a fond difference between happens to be and did for a purpose. Did Lincoln free the slaves for religious purposes or did he free them and happen to be Christian?

Stalin was an atheist, but he didn't do the things he did because he was an atheist. He did them because he wanted to. He just "happens to be" an atheist.

But, I'm sorry butters, Lincoln was at best a Deist. Lincoln once said, "The Bible is not my book nor Christianity my profession. I could never give assent to the long, complicated statements of Christian dogma."

But I digress. Are we still fighting over land today? Is that the reason why 2 planes were flown into the World Trade Center?

 

[WelcomeToTheWest]

well, who ever created this mess needs to get over here and clean it up! mother fucker

I want to give insight from a very famous and one of my favorite astrophysicists, Neil DeGrasse:


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p_nqySMvkcw

 

[mindphuk]

Back in the dark ages and roman times it did. You only lived and breathed if you
were the same religion as the people around you, does that not base every
decision they made on religion?

What the fuck are you trying to say? Of course not every decision was based on religion.

 

[rookie 420]

There are extremist in every organization including religion. Atheism is the lack of an explanation at best.

 

[Sure Shot]

Atheism is the lack of an explanation at best.

Religion is a fairytale full of murderous jealousy, at best.

 

[Shrubs First]

What the fuck are you trying to say? Of course not every decision was based on religion.

I'm telling you that RELIGION was taken more seriously than life itself, people GIVE
their lives for that shit, the spanierds raped and stole gold and land in the name
of religion, israel and pakistan have been having a war since before
the countries were formed, you have no idea the ridiculous acts which have been
carried out in the name of religion