Conservapedia - User contributions [en]

Abraham

2007-03-20T01:43:13Z

DarrenMcDarren:

[[Image:abraham_sacrificing_isaac.jpg|thumb|right|200px|''Abraham Sacrificing Isaac'' by Rembrandt]]

'''Abraham''' (Hebrew [[אַבְרָהָם]]) lived in [[Ur]] approximately 1800 BC. Credited in the [[Bible]] as the father of [[Judaism]] and the other [[Abrahamic religion|Abrahamic religions]]. Held up as an example of faith to all Christians, Jews, and Muslims, Abraham migrated to [[Canaan]] in obedience to God's command. In the Bible, Abraham had two important children, [[Ishmael]] and [[Isaac]]. The descendants of Ishmael became the [[Arab|Arabs]] while the descendants of Isaac became the [[Israelite|Israelites]].

'''ABRAHAM IS A BIG NIGGER.'''

Abraham was married to Sarah. However, Abraham's first son Ishmael was the illigitimate son of Sarah's slave girl Hagar. (Genesis Ch.16 v1-5). Abraham later threw Hagar and Ishmael out of house and home with the Lord's blessing. (Genesis Ch. 21 v. 8-13). Abraham was eighty-six when Ishmael was born. (Genesis Ch.16v.16). Incredibly Abraham was one hundred years old when he fathered his second son Isaac and Isaac's mother Sarah was ninety! (Genesis Ch.16 v. 17-18). Abraham took part in what may be the first recorded case of child abuse when, on God's command, he took his son Isaac up into the mountains, tied him up, made him lie on a bundle of sticks and threatened him with a knife.(Genesis Ch.22 v.1-12). At the last minute God instructed Abraham not to sacifice his son; however one may only guess as to the traumatic impact this would have had on the young Isaac. [[Category:Bible character]]

Conservative

2007-03-14T05:41:20Z

DarrenMcDarren:

A '''conservative''' is one who adheres to principles of limited government, personal responsibility and moral virtue. He agrees with the statement in George Washington's [[Farewell Address]] that "religion and morality are indispensable supports" to political prosperity.<ref>http://usinfo.state.gov/usa/infousa/facts/democrac/49.htm</ref> Conservatism arose in the 19th century as a response to [[liberalism]], particularly as manifested in the [[French Revolution]].

A conservative relies more on the application of reason rather than personal whim. Conservatives oppose collectivism and emphasize equal opportunity rather than equal results. Conservatives have the ability to reconcile completely opposing and disparate ideologies; for instance they are opposed to abortion on the basis that we should not take away life, but have no problem with allowing a foetus to survive till youth and then sending it off to war to be killed. Conservatives support a complete right of self-defense both on an individual level and for our nation as a whole.

In the United States, conservatives are generally characterized by the following beliefs:

* National defense and high military spending
* Return of prayer in school
* Stronger protection of 2nd Amendment rights (weaker gun control laws)
* Economic allocative efficiency (as opposed to popular equity)
* Stronger law enforcement and anti-crime laws, including the death penalty
* Prevention of teaching sexual education, evolution, global warming, and other controversial issues in public schools
* Abandonment of public schools in favor of private, particularly using tuition vouchers
* Private medical care and retirement plans
* Strong, unilateral foreign policy
* Weakening or cancellation of failed social support programs
* Government restrictions on same-sex marriage and abortion

Many conservatives hold a strong [[libertarian]] conviction in the belief that the state should not interfere with the [[economy]], [[gun control]], and the redistribution of wealth.

About every 20-60 years, a conservative has been elected president of the United States. Examples include:

 [[George Washington]]
 [[James Monroe]]
 [[Abraham Lincoln]]
 [[Grover Cleveland]]
 [[Warren G. Harding]]
 [[Ronald Reagan]]
 [[George W. Bush]]

In America, most conservatives tend to align with the [[Republican Party]] or the [[Libertarian Party]].

== References ==

<references/>

Al Gore

2007-03-13T12:26:49Z

DarrenMcDarren:

The Once and Future President . . .

Al Gore, Jr. was the 45th Vice President of the United States, after a distinguished career in the Senate and the House of Representatives. From 1993 to 2000 he helped lead America through eight of the most peaceful and prosperous years of our history. Even after narrowly losing the presidential race in 2000, despite a plurity of votes, Al Gore has continued to lead America, enviromentally, politically, and economically. In addition to speaking about the usurporous acts of the Bush administration, the finacial trouble our nation is in, the climate crisis, and the misguided war in Iraq (which Gore spoke against before it was made public that the WMD's were ficticious), Gore has started an investment firm to invest in environmentally sustainable technology and industries, a cable channel (Current TV), and is an advisor to Google. He also starred in a keynote presentation about the climate crisis,
"An Inconveniet Truth," which won an Oscar.

In his early life, Al Gore attended Harvard University, enlisted to go to Vietnam, and worked as a journalist. Note: he actually went to combat areas in Vietnam, unlike certain prominent politicians who would like to appear patriotic for the ability to order others into combat.

In his Senate career he proposed bills to fund the internet and chaired panels on environmental issues. He has consistentally been on the cutting edge of technology and the environment. As Vice President he cast the tie-breaking vote that brought the United States out of debt, and in 1998 he proposed legislation to make our airlines safer, but that was voted down by the Republican congress. In 1992 he wrote "Earth in the Balance" and in May 2007 another of his books is set to be published, "Assault on Reason."

Gore is not God; he is only a heroic, intelligent, visionary, caring, remarkable, leading, saintly man. And he exists.

Intelligent design

2007-03-13T12:16:49Z

DarrenMcDarren:

Intelligent Design is the hypothesis that certain features of the universe and of living things are best explained by an intelligent cause, rather than natural processes, such as [[evolution]][http://www.discovery.org/csc/topQuestions.php]. The theory on intelligent design leaves the identity of the intelligent cause open, since this question is not accessible by scientific investigation [http://www.ideacenter.org/contentmgr/showdetails.php/id/1341]. Many proponents however admit to believe the intelligent cause to be [[God]].

To date there have been over 40 peer reviewed articles supporting Intelligent Design in such notable publications as the ''Proceedings of the Biological Society of Washington'' and internationally respected scientific journals such as ''Rivista di Biologia.'' [http://www.discovery.org/scripts/viewDB/index.php?command=view&id=2640]

Design Theory enjoys a small amount of stated support within the worldwide scientific community (creationist scientists report there is widespread discriminatory action against creationist scientists[http://www.answersingenesis.org/tj/v9/i2/suppression.asp]), but it is steadily growing. From 2001 to 2007 over 700 notable scientists had signed the pro-Intelligent Design manifesto ''A Scientific Dissent From Darwinism'' published by the leaders of the design movement, the Discovery Institute. [http://www.dissentfromdarwin.org/] This is largely due to much new scientific evidence from many scientific disciplines such as cosmology, physics and biology that has caused scientists to question the claim of a largely atheistic scientific community that evolution is the best explanation for the origin of life and call for public school science students to study the evidence supporting it in greater detail.

In a recent trial in Dover, PA Judge John E. Jones III ruled that Intelligent Design was not valid science and "cannot uncouple itself from its creationist, and thus religious, antecedents".

In a speech to the Anti-Defamation League, Jones replied that "had I decided the Dover matter in a different way, I would have then engaged in just the kind of judicial activism which critics decry," stating that he was bound by "over a half century of strong legal precedents."[http://www.adl.org/Civil_Rights/speech_judge_jones.asp]

The ruling was made because science is dependent upon observable, empirical, measurable evidence. If a supreme being was responsible for the creation of life, this can not be scientifically proven. Thus, Intelligent Design cannot be a scientific theory. If a supreme being was not responsible, Intelligent Design is a logical paradox - if intelligence is too complex a quality to have occurred by chance, what created the creating intelligence?

===Defining intelligent design as science===
The scientific method is a body of techniques for investigating [[phenomenon|phenomena]] and acquiring new [[knowledge]] of the [[natural world]] without assuming the existence or nonexistence of the supernatural, an approach sometimes called [[naturalism (philosophy)|methodological naturalism]]. Intelligent design proponents believe that this can be equated to [[materialism|materialist]] [[metaphysical naturalism]] and have often said that not only is their own position scientific(!), but it is even more scientific than evolution (which it patently isn't.), and that they want a redefinition of science as a revived [[natural theology]] or [[natural philosophy]] to allow "non-naturalistic theories such as intelligent design."<ref>Stephen C. Meyer, 2005. [http://www.discovery.org/scripts/viewDB/index.php?command=view&id=1780 The Scientific Status of Intelligent Design: The Methodological Equivalence of Naturalistic and Non-Naturalistic Origins Theories]</ref> This presents a [[demarcation problem]], which in the [[philosophy of science]] is about how and where to draw the lines around science. For a theory to qualify as scientific, it must be:
:* ''Consistent'' (internally and externally)
:* ''Parsimonious'' (sparing in proposed entities or explanations, see [[Occam's Razor]])
:* ''Useful'' (describes, explains and predicts observable phenomena)
:* ''Empirically testable and falsifiable'' (see [[Falsifiability]])
:* ''Based on multiple observations'', often in the form of controlled, repeated experiments
:* ''Correctable and dynamic'' (changes are made as new data are discovered)
:* ''Progressive'' (achieves all that previous theories have and more)
:* ''Provisional'' or tentative (admits that it might not be correct rather than asserting certainty)

For any theory, hypothesis or conjecture to be considered scientific, it must meet most, but ideally all, of these criteria. The fewer criteria are met, the less scientific it is; and if it meets only a few or none at all, then it cannot be treated as scientific in any meaningful sense of the word. Typical objections to defining intelligent design as science are that it lacks consistency,<ref>Intelligent design is generally internally consistent and logical only within the framework in which it operates. Criticisms are that this framework has at its foundation an unsupported, unjustified assumption: that complexity and improbability must entail design, but the identity and characteristics of the designer are not identified or quantified, nor need they be. The framework of intelligent design, because it rests on a unquantifiable and unverifiable assertion, has no defined boundaries except that complexity and improbability require design, and the designer need not be constrained by the laws of physics.</ref> violates the principle of parsimony,<ref>Intelligent design fails to pass Occam's razor. Adding entities (an intelligent agent, a designer) to the equation is not strictly necessary to explain events.</ref> is not falsifiable,<ref>The designer is not falsifiable, since its existence is typically asserted without sufficient conditions to allow a falsifying observation. The designer being beyond the realm of the observable, claims about its existence can be neither supported nor undermined by observation, making intelligent design and the argument from design analytic ''a posteriori'' arguments.</ref> is not empirically testable,<ref>That intelligent design is not empirically testable stems from the fact that it violates a basic premise of science, naturalism.</ref> and is not correctable, dynamic, tentative or progressive.<ref>Intelligent design professes to offer an answer that does not need to be defined or explained, the intelligent agent, designer. By asserting a conclusion that cannot be accounted for scientifically, ''the designer'', intelligent design cannot be sustained by any further explanation, and objections raised to those who accept intelligent design make little headway. Thus intelligent design is not a provisional assessment of data which can change when new information is discovered. Once it is claimed that a conclusion that need not be accounted for has been established, there is simply no possibility of future correction. The idea of the progressive growth of scientific ideas is required to explain previous data and any previously unexplainable data.</ref>

In light of its apparent failure to adhere to scientific standards, in September 2005, 38 [[Nobel Prize|Nobel laureates]] issued a statement saying "Intelligent design is fundamentally unscientific; it cannot be tested as scientific theory because its central conclusion is based on belief in the intervention of a supernatural agent."<ref>The Elie Wiesel Foundation for Humanity Nobel Laureates Initiative. Intelligent design cannot be tested as a scientific theory <cite>"because its central conclusion is based on belief in the intervention of a supernatural agent."</cite> [http://media.ljworld.com/pdf/2005/09/15/nobel_letter.pdf Nobel Laureates Initiative] (PDF file)</ref> And in October 2005 a coalition representing more than 70,000 Australian scientists and science teachers issued a statement saying "intelligent design is not science" and called on "all schools not to teach Intelligent Design (ID) as science, because it fails to qualify on every count as a scientific theory."<ref> Faculty of Science, University of New South Wales. [[20 October]] [[2005]]. [http://www.science.unsw.edu.au/news/2005/intelligent.html Intelligent Design is not Science - Scientists and teachers speak out]</ref>

Critics also say that the intelligent design doctrine does not meet the criteria for [[scientific evidence]] used by most courts, the [[Daubert Standard]]. The Daubert Standard governs which evidence can be considered scientific in United States federal courts and most state courts. The four [[Daubert Standard|Daubert criteria]] are:
:* The theoretical underpinnings of the methods must yield testable predictions by means of which the theory could be falsified.
:* The methods should preferably be published in a [[peer review|peer-reviewed]] journal.
:* There should be a known rate of [[error]] that can be used in evaluating the results.
:* The methods should be generally accepted within the relevant scientific community.

In deciding ''[[Kitzmiller v. Dover Area School District]]'' on [[December 20]], [[2005]], Judge [[John E. Jones III]] agreed with the plaintiffs, [[Wikisource:Kitzmiller v. Dover Area School District/6:Curriculum, Conclusion|ruling that]] "we have addressed the seminal question of whether ID is science. We have concluded that it is not, and moreover that ID cannot uncouple itself from its creationist, and thus religious, antecedents."

[[Category:Biology]]
[[Category:Religion]]
[[Category:Politics]]

Natural selection

2007-03-13T12:13:26Z

DarrenMcDarren:

"Natural selection" is the mechanism by which biological complexity and adaptation arises. It was first proposed by [[Charles Darwin]].

Darwin pointed out that organisms with favorable traits are more likely to survive and reproduce than those lacking those traits or possessing unfavorable traits. Over time this mechanism might allow those favorable traits which are inheritable to become more common. Natural selection has been known to occur in microbes (ie, antibiotic resistance) but cannot create new species. Natural selection is the means by which species develop and mutate; this can lead to incredibly complex organisms and is often mistaken for inteligent design.

Abraham

2007-03-13T11:07:04Z

DarrenMcDarren:

[[Image:abraham_sacrificing_isaac.jpg|thumb|right|200px|''Abraham Sacrificing Isaac'' by Rembrandt]]

'''Abraham''' (Hebrew [[אַבְרָהָם]]) lived in [[Ur]] approximately 1800 BC. Credited in the [[Bible]] as the father of [[Judaism]] and the other [[Abrahamic religion|Abrahamic religions]]. Held up as an example of faith to all Christians, Abraham migrated to [[Canaan]] in obedience to God's command. In the Bible, Abraham had two important children, [[Ishmael]] and [[Isaac]]. The descendants of Ishmael became the [[Arab|Arabs]] while the descendants of Isaac became the [[Israelite|Israelites]].
Abraham was married to Sarah. However, Abraham's first son Ishmael was half Egyptian and was the illigitimate son of Sarah's slave girl Hagar. (Genesis Ch.16 v1-5). Abraham later threw Hagar and Ishmael out of house and home with the Lord's blessing. (Genesis Ch. 21 v. 8-13). Abraham was eighty-six when Ishmael was born. (Genesis Ch.16v.16). Incredibly Abraham was one hundred years old when he fathered his second son Isaac and Isaac's mother Sarah was ninety! (Genesis Ch.16 v. 17-18). Abraham took part in what may be the first recorded case of child abuse when, on God's command, he took his son Isaac up into the mountains, tied him up, made him lie on a bundle of sticks and threatened him with a knife.(Genesis Ch.22 v.1-12). Fortunately God had a change of mind at the last minute; however one may only guess as to the traumatic impact this would have had on the young Isaac.
[[Category:Bible character]]