Our readers weigh in:
Florida storms prophesied in Revelation
A writer who said he spent many years studying “The Revelationof St. John the Divine,” the last book of the New Testament, madean error when he prophesies “alas, alas” meant the destruction ofLos Angeles, which was to occur last summer. Of course it didn’thappen. I spent an hour on the subject and discovered it meantTallahassee, and the multiheaded beast stood for the fourhurricanes that hit Florida last month.
My method included secrets of the Kabbala and makingthree-letter transpositions ending up with Tallahassee instead ofL.A.
The Florida disaster was worsened because religious marketer PatRobertson, a few years back, called on God to destroy Orlandobecause it permitted a gay pride parade. The Rev. Pat used thewrong incantations, which caused a delay and God damaged most ofthe state.
It’s simple when you study religion.
JOSEPH R. GRANT
Oceanside
There is no such thing as sin
The most deadly lie ever spread among the human species has beenthe lie that sin exists.
The truth is that there is no such thing as sin, for all thingsare created by the great goddess/great spirit/Ch’i, for they areall one and are good and sacred.
When the three Mideast sky gods brought the poisonous idea ofsin to humanity, humanity has known nothing but ongoing wars,genocide, the torture and burning to death of millions of women,enslavement, mutilation, oppression and the destruction ofnature.
From this poisonous lie that sin exists sprang a poisonous treefrom which the three Mideast sky god religions sprang forth, andthey spread their deadly poisonous fruits of hate, fear, guilt,intolerance and ignorance throughout humanity for 5,000 years.
When this poisonous tree is finally uprooted and utterlydestroyed, then and only then will women and the Earth knowhealing, and humanity will be free to embrace a spirituality thatholds all things sacred.
CONNIE FRANKOWIAK
Julian
Christians, beware of Michael Moore
All you Christians be prepared to vote for a godly president tolead our nation: one whose aim is to keep the terrorists out of ournation by not withdrawing our troops until the proper time; not apresident who wishes to withdraw the troops so that the terroristshave more freedom to attack us. Voting time is drawing near andMichael Moore has just spoken at the Del Mar fairgrounds. Beware,he is like a snake crawling in to destroy President Bush’scharacter.
There is a Scripture in the Bible that the people who listen toMichael Moore need to know. “God had said not to put confidence inan unreliable man, it’s like chewing with two sore teeth, or tryingto run on a broken foot,” Proverbs 23:19.
I pray not one Christian was present to hear this garbage fromMoore. In fact, God has the exact words for Moore: “God had said hewho would love, live and see good days, let him refrain his tonguefrom evil and his lips from speaking deceit. Let him turn away fromevil and do good. Let him speak peace and pursue it,” 1 Peter3:8-12. So, Christians, remember: Together we stand, divided wefall and, yes, George Sturman, I want more of President Bush’sleadership.
IOLA KING
San Marcos
Evolutionists like to hide the truth
George Peabody’s letter of Oct. 7 shows what can happen whenpeople look at evidence with an open mind. Evolutionists want us tohear only their side of the story and to disregard anything thatdebunks their theory. Thanks to the Internet, people like Mr.Peabody now have unlimited sources of information. The truth isthere, you just have to sift through a lot of garbage to findit.
It was the uncovering of information that nearly replacedgradual evolution with punctuated equilibrium due to the exposureof evolution’s trade secret as acknowledged by Stephen J. Gould:lack of intermediate forms in the fossil record. Now that Gould haspassed away, P.E. is being downplayed, since it had its own set ofproblems equal to gradualism. I encourage Mr. Peabody to keepdigging. Evolutionists would like nothing better than to hide thetruth to protect their fact-free philosophies. Don’t let theprejudices of others keep you in the dark.
EZRA CHAPMAN
Temecula
True believers will never accept facts
Dr. Irvin Forbing’s accusation that neither I nor my family hasprovided “one iota of evidence supporting evolution” falls flatbecause he would not accept any proof we provide. Bacterialmutation is a fact the theory of evolution explains. Forbing cannotor will not understand that to get from a bacterium to a man takesabout 3 1/2 billion years, and my example is only one step in thatprocess, but a step nonetheless. Creationists who cannot understandthe vast amounts of time it takes to evolve from one thing toanother will never be satisfied with the answers of science.
A fact is a piece of information that can be tested, such as ascientific observation. A theory is a general principle created toexplain a group of tested and documented facts and observations. Abelief is a statement of faith that an idea is true whether thereis any evidence for or against it.
Therefore biblical creationists are asking and answeringdifferent questions than scientists. You will not get a scientistto ignore fact for belief. And it is apparent that true believerswill never accept facts even when they hit them between theeyes.
CAROL DAVIDSON BAIRD
Solana Beach
Who are the real deceivers?
When Ezra Chapman or Rick Kellogg become aware of factscontradicting their mythology (like atavistic hind limbs onwhales), they resort to slander.
Chapman claims the photo of the hind limb on the whale taken in1919 (without benefit of a digital camera) and published by RoyChapman Andrews of the American Museum of Natural History wasprobably doctored. This makes Andrews, who was one of the mostrespected scientists in America, a liar. He also says the claim byprofessor Douglas Theobald of Colorado University that his copy wasdifficult to reproduce was ridiculous, making him a liar too.
Sidney Ruck of the whaling company that caught the whale andgave the limb to the museum in Victoria and said it was an”extraordinary development” (an external rudimentary leg) must havebeen a liar too.
After calling me a deceiver (as Kellogg did Dr. Carpenter),Chapman falsely claims evolutionists would call these limbsvestigial organs, not legs.
This proves again that ignorance doesn’t deter creationists frompontificating. Vestigial organs are vestiges of past organs andtypically found on all individuals (like appendices). Atavisticappendages, however, are throwbacks (like whale legs) and arerare.
Who are the real deceivers here?
RAYMOND W. BRIGGS
Escondido
Creationists can’t present a better theory
Dr. Irvin Forbing has exhibited his usual misunderstanding ofevolution in his attack on the Baird family’s letters. The theoryof evolution explains observable facts by saying that organismschange over time by a mechanism of descent with modification.
Thus bacteria developing resistance to antibiotics and mothschanging color as their environment changes are both supportingevidence for this idea. For speciation to occur, a lot of time isrequired, more than any human lifetime. So to see evidence thatspeciation has, in fact, occurred by descent with modification, onelooks at the record in the genomes of organisms ranging frombacteria to humans and everything in between.
There one sees a continuous record of modification as one goesfrom organism to organism. Now, Dr. Forbing, present a theory thatexplains the facts better than evolution does.
If you present intelligent design, then we should discuss anumber of engineering errors, such as the prostate wrapped aroundthe urethra and the lordosis of the lumbar spine. The ball is inyour court. Present a better theory.
STEPHEN M. BAIRD, M.D.
Solana Beach
The true Gospel is Jesus
In response to Georgio Vasile’s “Where is the true Gospel ofJesus?” and John Lynn’s “Religious beliefs are just opinions”(Faith & Values Letters, Sept. 23 ): Have they read theGospels, or are their opinions from hearsay? The true Gospel isJesus, God’s grace to the world.
“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only son(or his only begotten son) that whoever believes in him shall notperish but have eternal life.
“For God did not send his son into the world to condemn theworld, but to save the world through him. Whoever believes in himis not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemnedalready because he has not believed in the name of God’s one andonly son.”
This is the verdict: “Light has come into the world, but menloved the darkness instead of the light because their deeds wereevil. Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not comeinto the light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. But whoeverlives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seenplainly that what he has done has been done through God,” John3:16-21.
BRYAN SHAHEEN
Oceanside
