Conservapedia - User contributions [en]

Creation science

2007-03-12T14:47:33Z

Blahdeblah:

Creation science is the effort by creationists to prove [[creationism]] by means to the [[scientific method]]. Since creationism is not scientific by definition, the term is something of an oxymoron.

Kangaroo

2007-03-12T14:46:38Z

Blahdeblah: /* Origins */

[[Image:Kangaroo-bree.png|right|Eastern Gray Kangaroo (''Macropus giganteus'')]]

'''Kangaroos''' are the largest [[Marsupials]] alive today. They currently are native to the continent of [[Australia]]. There are four different sub-kinds in the kangaroo [[baramin]]: the Western Gray Kangaroo, the Eastern Gray Kangaroo, the Red Kangaroo, and the Antilopine Kangaroo.

==Description==

Kangaroos have large ears on top of their small heads, a long snout, and short arms with clawed fingers. Their legs are strong and powerful, good for leaping. Their feet have four toes at the end of elongated metatarsi that they rest on when standing. They also have a powerful, thick tail that is used as support when standing, a third-leg when walking slowly, and for counterbalance while leaping. Like all Marsupials, female kangaroos have a pouch on their stomachs in which they carry their young.

===Diet===

Kangaroos are [[herbivores]], eating grass, roots, and shrubs. They have a chambered stomach similar to [[sheep]] and [[cattle]]. They are able to regurgitate their food, chew it again as [[cud]], and then swallow it for digestion.

===Social Order===

Kangaroos travel in [[mob | mobs]] of about ten or more males and females. The leader of the mob, called a "boomer", is a male determined by age and size. The boomer has access to females in his mob for mating and will wander around the mob intimidating any other males who try to mate with his harem.

===Reproduction===

Male kangaroos will go around the mob checking the females’ [[cloaca]]. Many times, males are rejected by the females because of size if they are small. In other cases, if a larger male is checking a female out, she may just move away. Sometimes, when a male is checking out a female, the female will urinate for the male, who will sniff the urine. Some studies show that this ritual is for the male to see if the female kangaroo is receptive to him or not.

If the female is responsive to the male, she raises her tail and the male will follow her. Sometimes the kangaroos will scratch each other’s tails or the male will give the female a back rub before mating. When the female is ready to mate she will arch her tail.

Female kangaroos usually only have one baby kangaroo (called a "joey") at a time. The newborn joey weigh as little as .03 ounces when first born, after which it crawls into its mothers pouch where it will nurse, grow, and develop. They spend a lot of time in their mothers pouch developing. The Red Kangaroo joey will stay in their mothers pouch for about eight months and Gray Kangaroo joeys stay in there for about a year.

==Origins==

According to the origins theory model used by [[creation science |lame-brains who believe in the literal truth of the Bible]], modern kangaroos, like all modern animals, originated in the [[Middle East]]<ref>[http://biblicalstudies.qldwide.net.au/cs-kangaroos_dinosaurs_and_eden.html "Kangaroos, Dinosaurs, and Eden"], Ken Ham.</ref> and are the descendants of the two founding members of the modern kangaroo baramin that were taken aboard [[Noah's Ark]] prior to the [[Great Flood]]. It has not yet been determined by [[baraminology | baraminologists]] whether kangaroos form a [[holobaramin]] with the [[wallaby]], [[tree-kangaroo]], [[wallaroo]], [[pademelon]] and [[quokka]], or if all these species are in fact [[apobaramin | apobaraminic]] or [[polybaramin | polybaraminic]].

Also according to so-called creation science, after the Flood, kangaroos bred from the Ark passengers migrated to Australia. There is debate whether this migration happened over land<ref name="ca1">[http://www.christiananswers.net/q-aig/aig-c006.html "How did animals get from the Ark to isolated places, such as Australia?"], ChristianAnswers.net.</ref> -- as Australia was still for a time connected to the Middle East before the supercontinent of [[Pangea]] broke apart<ref>[http://www.answersingenesis.org/tj/v16/i1/plate.asp "What about continental drift?"], Answers In Genesis</ref> -- or if they [[rafting (ecology) | rafted]] on mats of vegetation torn up by the receding flood waters.<ref name="ca1"/>

Other views on kangaroo origins include the belief of some Australian [[aborigines]] that kangaroos were sung into existence by their ancestors during the "[[Dreamtime]]" <ref>[http://www.painsley.org.uk/RE/signposts/y8/1-1creationandenvironment/c-abor.htm "An Aborigine Creation Story"]</ref> and that kangaroos and the other marsupials evolved from a common marsupial ancestor which lived millions of years ago.<ref>http://www.accessexcellence.org/AE/AEPC/WWC/1995/australia.html</ref>

== Footnotes ==
<references/>

[[Category:Biology]]

Al Gore

2007-03-12T14:12:56Z

Blahdeblah:

Albert Gore was the Vice President of the [[United States]] (1993-2001). He also ran for the Presidency in 2000, losing narrowly to [[George W. Bush]] thanks to Bush's brother fixing the Florida result for him. He now is famous for giving lectures promoting a response at the civic and governmental levels to global warming. Some of these lectures were turned into the documentary [[An Inconvenient Truth]]. He apparently will not be running for President in 2008.

[[Category:Biographies]]
[[Category:Politics]]

Vietnam

2007-03-12T14:10:43Z

Blahdeblah:

Vietnam is a [[Communist]] nation in Southeast Asia bordering [[China]], [[Cambodia]], [[Laos]], and the [[Pacific Ocean]]. Much of Vietnam is mountaineous or covered in jungle. In the 20th century Vietnam was the site of guerilla fighting during World War Two in the 1940s, a war against the French for independance in the 1950s, and a civil war between the US backed South Vietnam and the China/USSR backed North Vietnam in the 1960s and 1970s. After American forces were defeated in 1975 the entire country fell to communism and the butcherous [[Khmer Rouge]] in nearby Cambodia was emboldened.

The US military action in Vietnam - which was condemned for using chemical weapons such as Agent Orange and napalm - killed about 3 million Vietnamese and 50,000 US Soldiers. America's defeat had a profound effect on US foreign policy in subsequent years, in that the Americans made sure that in future they would only pick on countries they could be sure of defeating. Vietnam's name is often invoked when describing other American foreign policy bodge-ups, e.g. "[[Iraq]] is the new Vietnam".

George H. W. Bush

2007-03-12T13:04:03Z

Blahdeblah:

''George H. W. (Herbert Walker) Bush'', [[Republican]], was president of the U.S. from 1989-1993, following [[Ronald Reagan]] and preceding [[William Jefferson Clinton]]. He is the father of [[George W. Bush]].

His presidency was marked mostly by a poor [[economy]], and the [[Gulf War]] with [[Iraq]] in which he deliberately made the decision to end the conflict when the original goal of liberating [[Kuwait]] was achieved, and to stop short of invading Iraq (That is, he formulated an "exit strategy" before entering). He faced a strong challenge from [[Pat Robertson]] in 1988 due to charges that he was too liberal (compared to, say, Hitler) and some claim that he lost the presidency in 1992 due to many Republicans defecting to the [[Ross Perot]] camp.
He famously described the monetrist policies of Ronald Reagan (the Laffer curve) as "Voodoo Economics" prior to his nomination and election as Vice President.

{{stub2}}
[[Category:Biographies]]
[[Category:Presidents of the United States]]

Saddam Hussein

2007-03-12T12:58:47Z

Blahdeblah:

Saddam Hussein was the [[Sunni]] president of Iraq, who came to power in 1979 thanks to backing from the CIA.

As is often the case, national alignments can change rapidly. During the 1980s, during the Iran-Iraq war, the United States considered Saddam Hussein to be a friend and assisted him both militarily and financially. During the 1990s, however, after invading Kuwait - and thereby threatening America's oil interests in the region - Saddam was considered one of America's greatest enemies.

Saddam was captured by America, and, after a trial beset by small inconveniences such as half the defence's legal team being murdered, hanged on December 30, 2006. Interestingly, the name Saddam means "one who confronts".

[[Category:Biographies]]

Atheism

2007-03-12T12:54:28Z

Blahdeblah: /* The Problem of Evil */

Atheism is disbelief in, or denial of, the existence of a [[God|god]] or gods, or any supernatural entity.

Atheism is closely tied with [[Secular Humanism]]. Popularly-known Atheists and Secular Humanists include [[Stephen Hawking]], [[Albert Einstein]], [[Stephen Jay Gould]], [[Carl Sagan]], [[Richard Dawkins]], [[William Borden]] and [[Sam Harris]]. Other famous atheists include [[Pol Pot]], [[Emilio Altieri]] and [[Stalin]].

== Atheist morality ==

Many atheists base their [[moral code]] upon [[emotion]], [[experience]] and empirically derived ethics, such as those promoted by secular humanism. Atheists hold that neither the [[Bible]], nor the [[Koran]], nor the [[Torah]], nor any religious text can be our only source of morality. This claim is made as all religious texts contain, and often ascribe to God, extremely immoral acts such as the Israelites driving out heathen nations from Canaan (i.e. [[ethnic cleansing]]), the stoning of homosexuals and adulterers to death, and the institution of slavery.

Atheists often subscribe to the secular humanist idea that it is far more ethical to do what is right because you believe that it is right, rather than because you fear divine punishment or desire divine reward. One example is illustrated in the following quote from [[Albert Einstein]]:

:“A man’s ethical behaviour should be based effectually on sympathy, education, and social ties and needs; no religious basis is necessary. Man would indeed be in a poor way if he had to be restrained by fear of punishment and hope of reward after death”.

A modern example is the absurdity with which we view Islamist suicide bombers acting on a desire for 72 virgins in the afterlife. Atheism condemns this desire, along with other religious desires for exclusive reward (and the punishment of others) such as are found in all religious texts.

== Origins ==

It is difficult to trace the origins of atheism as a result of the incomplete historic record. It is known that ancient Greece produced a theory of materialism as early as the 5th century BC. The materialist world view was essentially mathematical and had no room for gods{{fact}}.

== The Problem of Evil==

A central argument against religious belief in all powerful entities ('gods') is the problem of evil. First identified by the philosopher and materialist Epicurus (341-270 BC), this problem points out the difficulty created by the mere existence of evil:

:Is God willing to prevent evil, but not able? Then he is not omnipotent.
:Is he able, but not willing? then he is malevolent.
:Is he both able and willing? Then whence cometh evil?
:Is he neither able nor willing? Then why call him God?

This "argument" does not take into account the fact that God is beyond our understanding and has a good reason for allowing evil that we simply can't understand. This point of view, often summarised as "God works in mysterious ways", is frequently used as a get-out by Christians who can't think of a proper argument.

== Atheism and Agnosticism ==

Atheism and agnosticism are logically distinct concepts. Whilst atheist reject the existence of a god or gods, agnostics do not do so. [[Richard Dawkins]] has contrasted the two positions as follows:

:“There may be fairies at the bottom of the garden. There is no evidence for it, but you can’t prove that there aren’t any, so shouldn’t we be agnostic with respect to fairies?”.

==References==

<references/>

[[Category:Religion]]

Iraq

2007-03-12T12:50:50Z

Blahdeblah:

{{stub}}
A [[Middle East|Middle-Eastern]] country, invaded in 2003 and currently occupied by a U.S.-led coalition. Following an illegal invasion, condemned by the international community. The alleged Weapons of Mass Destruction have not, as yet, been located, despite Donald Rumsfeld still having the receipts.

The Occupation has been beset by scandal and outrage, with the horrendous and unjustifiable abuse of Iraqi citizens in torture camps, and the descent of the country into civil war, leading to the rise of unmoderated Religious extremism. America hopes to repeat this success when they bomb Iran in a few months time.

According to some estimates 600,000 Iraqis have died as a result of the American/British invasion, and at least 50,000 a month are fleeing the country.

[[Category:Countries]]

Iraq, the best country in the world, famous for its military, high qualioty uranium and the site for George W Bush secret penthouse. Home of the world class Taliban tigers baseball team who each year give america a good wooping in the super league.

God

2007-03-12T12:48:20Z

Blahdeblah:

Christians believe that God (variously named ''Elohim'', ''Yahweh'' - originally simply Israel's tribal god - and, in variant form, ''Jehovah'') is the creator of the universe, and have asserted since about the fourth century that He is a trinity comprised of the [[Father]], the [[Jesus Christ|Son]], and the [[Holy Spirit]]. His [[creation]] of man is described in the [[Book of Genesis]] in the [[Bible]]. Belief in God (specifically, belief in [[Jesus Christ]] as your personal lord and savior) is said to be a necessary condition to go to [[heaven]] (rather than [[hell]]) in the afterlife.

It is claimed that [[Christianity]], [[Islam]], and [[Judaism]] worship the same God in different ways. This claim is regarded by some as a way to convert Jews and Christians to Islam, since it supports the idea that Abrahamic religion has "grown" from Judaism to Christianity to Islam.<ref>http://www.biblebelievers.org.au/moongod.htm</ref> However, many are skeptical of this idea.<ref>http://www.letusreason.org/Islam6.htm</ref>
Common powers attributed to God include [[omnipotence]] (the ability to do anything), [[omniscience]] (the ability to know anything), and [[omnipresence]] (the ability to be everywhere at once) although even that level of detail is not common throughout all monotheists{{Fact|date=March2007}}. Many believers in God also believe that he eternally punishes the wicked in [[hell]] and eternally rewards the righteous in [[heaven]] and variants of this theme are found in all the Abrahamic faiths. While He is said to be unique, the Old Testament in fact mentions 'other gods' constantly.

Nearly half of the humanity still does not believe in God, primarily because there is no evidence to support his existence or that of any other deity.

==References==
<references/>

==Sources==

* Cruden, A., ''Complete Concordance to the Old and New Testaments'' (Lutterworth, 1930)
* ''The Holy Bible'' (King James Version)
* ''The New English Bible'' (Oxford & Cambridge University Presses, 1970)
* ''The New Jerusalem Bible'' (Darton, Longman & Todd, 1990)
* Peake, A.S., ''Commentary on the Bible'' (Nelson, 1962)
* Young, R., ''Analytical Concordance to the Holy Bible'' (Lutterworth, 1939)

[[Category:Religion]]