Part of this was posted here before, but I can't stay angry with Look Around You. Oh darling, you know I never stopped loving you!

Your video, The largest number and cDonalds Theorem - Look Around You, has made it into the Top 15 New Videos listing. Congratulations on your achievement. For your contribution you have been awarded 1 Power Point.

That's not what he's saying at all.

The bible, or the Quran, or many other texts, just like historical events as they were, or works of literature, or other even historical texts as complex as this often have contradictory ideas. The US constitution is founded on a set of beliefs and ideas that almost all of us subscribe to, yet there are Democrats, Republicans, Libertarians, Socialists, pragmatists, etc. all deriving very different ideas from the Constitution, the Declaration of Independence, and more. The reason this is true is because those values often come into conflict, and can outright contradict each other. Freedom vs security, equality vs prosperity, I could go on and on.

With the Bible, you have Catholics, Protestants, subdivided into a plethora of different religions in their own right under the umbrella of Christianity. You have the running joke even within Catholicism that American Catholics aren't really Catholics at all. Not only do different Christians interpret the bible differently, the amount they count on the bible varies between fundamentalists like Jehovah's Witnesses who take the bible extremely literally to extremely secular Christians who have absolutely no problem discarding any part of Christian doctrines when scientific evidence proves otherwise.

You have Christians who act as saintly as Mother Theresa to mobsters.

That's just Christianity. There are extremist Islamic groups that sound more like the Westboro Baptist Church than other Muslims.

But within Christianity, there's "honor thy mother and thy father" and "thou shall not kill". What if your parents are murderers?

That's a crude, and obvious example of conflicting values, but the 10 commandments are simple rules that don't completely resolve every situation.

What's stupid is to believe that you can know about a person's specific ideology just by their religion. Does their religion play a role in their ideology? Absolutely, but how it impacted their ideology has much more to do with their experiences, their natural tendancies, etc. than necessarily their religion. If you grew up in a mob family, honor thy mother and father was more likely the lesson you took from the Bible than thou shall not kill.

And if you look around you, this is plainly obvious. Even look within yourself. We're all a melting pot of lessons and ideas we've learned from school, personal life experiences, our religious beliefs, our parents, our socio-economic backgrounds, our friends, etc. That's why you are different from everyone of your religion, your friends, who you went to school with, your socioeconomic class, etc.

Oh yes, I told you I spent some time looking around. You're adorable.

I'm betting the 1% thing is probably closer than the sift seems to think. Just look around you next time you're in town. Bare in mind that 1% of people includes all people, from babies to grannies.

My point is really not that hard to get but I suspect I won't be able to get any further with you on this. When someone makes reference to the "the incredible RISE in police violence" I'm interested in knowing whether they have done their homework and actually studied the subject or not, and can offer something more to the discussion than some college kid painting protest signs.

And I pretty much got my answer in your post:
"No studys that I know of, it is a fairly recent phenomenon". The Rodney King beating happened in 1991, was that too recent a phenomenon to be included in any study?

One last time, a rise in the number of videos you can find of police brutality on YouTube is not the same thing as a rise in police brutality. I've seen plenty of videos of police brutality all over the internet and television for years, they enrage me just like anybody else. But if you think it's a fairly recent phenomenom that's on the rise because it's trending on the internet I wouldn't know what else to say to you.
>> ^Buck:

>> ^ulysses1904:
Are there any studies you can cite documenting the "issue of the incredable (sic) rise in police violence"?
>> ^Buck:
Then there's the issue of the incredable rise in police violence too.


No studys that I know of, it is a fairly recent phenomenon. Start looking around you, can't imagine people not seeing it.
here's a vid to get you started:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CDTIviQp2pM&feature=related

>> ^ulysses1904:

Are there any studies you can cite documenting the "issue of the incredable (sic) rise in police violence"?
>> ^Buck:
Then there's the issue of the incredable rise in police violence too.



No studys that I know of, it is a fairly recent phenomenon. Start looking around you, can't imagine people not seeing it.

here's a vid to get you started:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CDTIviQp2pM&feature=related

I've always said that the tertiary characters from Coen brothers films are literally plucked out of the time and location in which they're set. If you travel to Minneapolis and look around, you will eventually find that blond hostess (2:42). Similarly, if you ever made it down to West Texas (No Country for Old Men), you'd find that overweight, stubborn trailer park lady , or somehow made it back to 1930's Mississippi (O Brother, Where Art Thou?), you'd find the Woolworth's store clerk ready to toss you out the front door.

I know they cast these parts locally when setting up a film, but their casting people are phenomenal at finding just the right people for those parts.

>> ^Shepppard:

Seriously, you should realize that you have a problem, when your skin is the colour of an over-cooked ham.


If you look around, you can find other pictures of her that are drastically different. There are photos of her at her court appearance, and her mug shot that have a totally different color.

This looks like a spray-on tan, possibly overdone on purpose to make for a more spectacular broadcast.

It's easy to make spectacular claims, if you don't need muchany evidence.

Look around you.

Now sometimes you’re up and sometimes you're down,
When you find that you’re down well just look around.
You still got a body, good legs and fine feet,
Get your head in the right place and hey, you're complete!

"Now as for the dancin', you can do more,
You can reach great heights, in fact you can soar.
You just get a leg up and ya slap it on down,
And you’ll find you’re up in what’s called a bound.
Bound, bound, and rebound.

You probably have no idea but the scientific method was created by Christians who believed that matter behaved rationally because God created an orderly universe. The same goes for the idea of natural law. Some of the very greatest scientists who ever lived were Christians, and not lapsed Christians either, but pursued science as part of their Christian world view, with their love for Gods amazing creation.

Christianity has never been opposed to science, and neither am I. When I grew up I wanted to be an astronomer, and I had the math skills, I would probably be one today. I think the study of the Universe is extremely fascinating and wonderful. I just don't happen to agree with all the conclusions of modern science. Specifically the age of the Universe and its theories about origins.

As far as my church is concerned, there is no pressure to tithe. People give because they want to, not because anyone pressured them to do it. My church uses the money it gets to build wells for people who don't have access to clean water. The only time I ever hear money mentioned is when we're trying to raise some for a charitable cause. There are definitely some churches which are run around the tithe, but you won't find the Spirit of God there. We get together because we love God, and we study the bible and sing hymms. It's a fellowship. I'm not sure where you get your ideas from, but your salvation doesn't come from going to church. The church is a place where Christians gather together to worship God..going to church doesn't make you Christian, and pastors don't decide if you go to Heaven. A pastor is the same as anyone else in that regard.

In short you present a false dichotomy that doesn't exist in my world. I am an avid user of technology, and the beneficial use of science, but I oppose the conclusions of the secular worldview that is driving some aspects of it. If you don't think there is an agenda please watch the documentry "Expelled".

As far as my beliefs, I am not selling anything. I don't want your money. I am quite plainly just trying to save your life, because I honestly care about you as a human being. I cannot remain silent about the gospel in any case, because it is the good news and I am commanded by God to preach it.

>> ^Deadrisenmortal:
So, um, what were these lies that have been told to you all your life? That the earth is round and over 4 billion years old? That the sun is the center of the solar system? That there is undeniable evidence that suggests that man evolved from primates?
Now that you have found god and are visiting the church regularly (and likely investing a good amount of your accumulated agnostic secular materialistic wealth into the collection plate) you believe that those people are telling you the truth? Instead of providing evidence that supports their claims you are told to believe based upon faith? The church is asking you for your time, your money, your obedience, all in exchange for some supposed heavenly glory that you will never be certain that you will receive.
Tell me, what has the scientific community ever asked of you in return for the knowledge that they are offering?
Look around you, every modern convenience that you currently enjoy was made possible by science and engineering. Science drives our species forward, religion fights to hold us back while struggling to stay relevant.
Believe what you want, just keep it to your self. I don't need what you are selling.
>> ^shinyblurry:
My Dad is an atheist and my mom an agnostistic/near-theist..I was raised with no religion. Was an agnostic secular materialist by default. I received revelation of Gods existence a few years back. Although I am sad I was lied to all my life and believed the lies, I marvel at the fake world we live in, and am amazed more people don't see right through it..but then remember I used to be one of those people. Although I was never so arrogant as to rule out Gods existence, I have empathy for people who can't see it.

So, um, what were these lies that have been told to you all your life? That the earth is round and over 4 billion years old? That the sun is the center of the solar system? That there is undeniable evidence that suggests that man evolved from primates?

Now that you have found god and are visiting the church regularly (and likely investing a good amount of your accumulated agnostic secular materialistic wealth into the collection plate) you believe that those people are telling you the truth? Instead of providing evidence that supports their claims you are told to believe based upon faith? The church is asking you for your time, your money, your obedience, all in exchange for some supposed heavenly glory that you will never be certain that you will receive.

Tell me, what has the scientific community ever asked of you in return for the knowledge that they are offering?

Look around you, every modern convenience that you currently enjoy was made possible by science and engineering. Science drives our species forward, religion fights to hold us back while struggling to stay relevant.

Believe what you want, just keep it to your self. I don't need what you are selling.

>> ^shinyblurry:

My Dad is an atheist and my mom an agnostistic/near-theist..I was raised with no religion. Was an agnostic secular materialist by default. I received revelation of Gods existence a few years back. Although I am sad I was lied to all my life and believed the lies, I marvel at the fake world we live in, and am amazed more people don't see right through it..but then remember I used to be one of those people. Although I was never so arrogant as to rule out Gods existence, I have empathy for people who can't see it.

I'm not here to save people from science. Science agrees with a young creation. I don't have anything against science, I have something against lies. I take it you're some manner of Christian..well here is where you're wrong. The theory of evolution and the bible are totally incompatible; they are at war with eachother. If you believe in one you can't believe in the other. There is no room for millions of years in a six day creation. The moment you try to doctor the bible to fit evolutionary theory you might as well just throw the whole thing away because it all falls apart. And that's the goal of evolution, to write God out of the picture. To say all of this could have happened without Him. If you believe in evolution you don't believe in the God of the bible, period.

>> ^burdturgler:
@<A rel="nofollow" class=profilelink title="member since January 21st, 2011" href="http://videosift.com/member/shinyblurry">shinyblurry
There is no cognitive dissonance in accepting evolution and believing in God. It's not a sin to use our gifts to gain a more accurate understanding of reality. Mistakes will be made along the way, but the more we learn, the more we can appreciate the amazing universe we live in.
My unasked for advice is to stop trying to save people from science, it's really not helping anything. At best it comes off as ignorance and at worst it seems intentionally deceptive and almost cultish. It also makes it harder to have sane dialog between those who do believe and those who don't, because it creates a framework that confirms that people who do believe are in the category of "crazy".
If you want to understand the nature of creation then look around you. The whole universe is evolving. Everything is destined and seemingly driven to transform into something else. It's a beautiful and awe inspiring thing and I do believe there is a creator for it all.
Faith in God is not dependent upon disproving evolution.
I limit my religious related posts to about one per year .. so think about it.

@shinyblurry

There is no cognitive dissonance in accepting evolution and believing in God. It's not a sin to use our gifts to gain a more accurate understanding of reality. Mistakes will be made along the way, but the more we learn, the more we can appreciate the amazing universe we live in.

My unasked for advice is to stop trying to save people from science, it's really not helping anything. At best it comes off as ignorance and at worst it seems intentionally deceptive and almost cultish. It also makes it harder to have sane dialog between those who do believe and those who don't, because it creates a framework that confirms that people who do believe are in the category of "crazy".

If you want to understand the nature of creation then look around you. The whole universe is evolving. Everything is destined and seemingly driven to transform into something else. It's a beautiful and awe inspiring thing and I do believe there is a creator for it all.

Faith in God is not dependent upon disproving evolution.

I limit my religious related posts to about one per year .. so think about it.