Natural Wonder Fellowship

Hello weird, wacky, and sometimes wonderful Wednesday. Albino hummingbird spotted in Alabama Nov 11th. A strange monolith was discovered while counting sheep(!) in a remote area of Utah. The CDC may modify quarantine recommendations from 14 down to 7-10 days. My HSA card vanished, replacement ordered. Many young people are rejecting established religion, maybe calling themselves "spiritual but not religious". You know how some people just want attention, any attention? TOB continues to lie, and takes credit for the record high investment indexes. If it weren't so sad, it would be funny. Happy Thanksgiving eve, everyone. Hummers are headed to a small area of Central America  ( map  - some western ones to southern California, though not the ruby throated, AFAIK). Photo text: “It stayed in our neighborhood for about a week. Wonderful to see! My first albino hummingbird!” Photo: Christine (Owens Cross Roads, AL; 11/11/2020)". They can handle brief periods of chilly weath...

"He might say the Bible was just an ordinary book, or that Jesus Christ was an illegitimate child." He was seen reading the bible. I have read the Bible (new testament and old [or Tanakh if you prefer]), a lot. Possibly more than most who call themselves 'christian'. I've read the Qu'ran (2 translations so far, and am taking an online course - Qu'ran Lessons for the Infidel). I enjoy mythology. I have read some of the Mahabharata (Baghavad Gita fairly thoroughly), the Tibetan Book of the Dead, the Egyptian Book of the Dead (Ani's Scroll), probably others I don't remember right now. “By the time he moves into his late 20s and early 30s, he has started to temper that because he realizes that doesn’t get him very far politically .” Though many claim he "became" a christian, there is no indication that he used bible ideas and quotes for anything other than to shift public opinion; first to allay fears of his own "non-religion" so he...

This video borrowed from a tweet represents the votes actually received by colored dots within the states (size of dot indicating approximate vote count). Did you know New York City Metropolitan area has a larger population than most of the states of this country? I didn't realize that. More people live in the New York City area than live in the entire state of Maryland, for instance. More people live in New York City than live in Wyoming. When we look at the election map, we see a huge portion of the middle of the country in the republican red. Do you realize that huge land mass has much more rural area, much more uninhabitable area, much more open space, much more national park land... much more empty space than most of the rest of the county? There's fewer people there. People vote. Votes matter. Votes are counted. All of them.   Most republicans seem to have voted in person on election day. Many (maybe most?) non republicans voted by mail or in person when early voting...

Talking animals, water tricks (walking on, parting), born of a virgin, resurrection -- they're so common. The Egyptians, Babylonians and others had done that centuries earlier. The Islamists stepped it up a notch. "Do you believe that Muhammad split the moon in two? Do you believe that Muhammad flew to heaven on a winged horse?" - Richard Dawkins pic.twitter.com/h6sJNHo1T9 — Ex-Muslims of North America (@ExmuslimsOrg) November 10, 2020   

This Wednesday consider... Is your god a trinity (Jehovah, Jesus, Spirit; Brahama, Shiva, Vishnu)? Does a version of god demand that it be first, above all others, like the bible 'father', or for that matter the bible 'son'? If your 'god' is the bible 'father god' doesn't worshipping 'his son' place the son first? Is the bible jesus character a deity himself, or only a prophet? If you worship jesus as a deity, that one also says abandon everything to follow me; is that compatible with, or is it replacing, the 'father god'? Is there only one 'god entity', known by different names -- one writing says Jehovah, another says Allah, yet another says Ahura Mazda? Are they all different 'gods'? Why do you believe in your god instead of theirs? Or is the teacher (prophet) your "authority" for guidance on rules (and prayer) -- Yeshua, Buddha, Zoroaster, Mohammed, even Mary or other saints, spirits, or angels? How did y...

I was only going to make a short little joke: The Lord giveth (Biden/Harris victory) and the lord taketh away (over 126,000 new CoVID cases in the U.S. Nov 7th). Yay god? As I went in search of the exact bible quote, I came upon this blog post . It cracked me up even more than the short blurb I initially intended to write, hahaha. I hope Samuel Day doesn't mind too much that I found it so entertaining. The piece says Job said these words, not god. Now really, we're going to get pendantic over bible stories? Yeah, okay so who wrote down the stuff that Job supposedly said and did? Job didn't write it, he was busy being bald, naked and on his knees (Job 1:20-22). Job was described as "prosperous" but not as "educated" in any of the conflicting texts (Judaism, Islam, Christian bible, Mormons, Baha'i). This story is in a lot of the religious writings, all different of course. The piece writer goes on to say: First of all, how did all this crazy stuff happ...

Nearly as I can tell, the entire doctrine of Christianity boils down to 'Love ME above all else, or else". The occasional nice idea of the new testament (love your neighbor) is conditioned by "only if they're..." this, that or the other "acceptable" or not this, that, or the other "non acceptable". Like an abusive partner, the bible god assures us that he is the only way we can survive; that he does so many things for us because he loves us, and only wants us to love him back. That whole "under penalty of eternal torture" thing is just a footnote UNLESS you have doubts. Then it's waved about with a vengeance. This is only one of the techniques organized religion uses to keep its "flock" under control. There's the loss of companionship and social connections as well, but the fear of eternal torture keeps many adherents locked within the confines of the echo chamber that is "the church". Even those who manag...

Since its inception "Christianity" has divided itself into sects. Initially broad geographical sects, for the past thousand or so years, they've divided themselves further and further into more discrete dogmas. They each call themselves "Christian", but not those other guys. They are not "real" Christians, each group says of the other.  The generally accepted beliefs of "Christians" as a whole is a father god, a spirit or ghost god, and a son god as 3 personas of one supernatural entity. Except even that isn't accurate. Some accept the son as an aspect of a trinity, some accept the son as a human teacher or preacher. To cover those who do not accept the son as part of a multi-faceted whole, the "Christian" label has been expanded to include those who just accept the father god alone (no, IDK how that dichotomy works in their heads;  this would include followers of Islam too, in case no one has realized that ). "Christianity...

Though the US is a representative democracy, not a theocracy, this has not prevented the religious among us, specifically the "evangelical" or "fundamentalist" "christians" from trying to force their beliefs onto everyone. You don't hear or think about In Allah We Trust (national motto 1956, on paper money 1957) or that we're "one nation, under Brahman, indivisible" (added to pledge 1954). Limitations on personal freedoms ( bodily autonomy from 2011), who you can love (an abomination only to the biblical O.T. god; no other 'religion' has anything to say about homosexuality AFAIK), even attitudes about owning people(!) have all been defended by verses (real and imagined) in 'the bible' by "christians". So who are these "christians" and what do they really want? We know they want even more privilege than they already have. They want public education money to be shared with private religious schools. They...

A favorite tactic of dishonest people everywhere. The science deniers reading a science paper they do not understand often choose a tiny little blurb to repeat, stripping context totally away. Whether it's flat earth or NASA or evolution, they make the most unbelievable  assertions based on their faulty understanding of what they've read. The second law of thermodynamics is one of their favorite misunderstood targets.  How about religion? From being a "religion of love" to being the "one and only right" religion, religionists manipulate people and apologists try to explain away conflicts in the holy texts. Desperate believers will take whatever solace they can find... often taking things out of context then being offended or taking things out of context to claim someone said something they didn't. Sometimes that attempt is hilarious.   Politicians are famous for this sort of thing too. Of course, one their best techniques is to think we don't know ho...

We're coming up on that time of year again. Fall celebrations of a successful harvest, larders are full. The sun is halfway back to its southernmost spot in our sky (from equinox, heading for solstice). Winter celebrations are coming soon. Celebrations held maybe just to brighten the long dark winter days, or to celebrate the return of the sun (solstice), or to commemorate a religious event. These celebrations usually include gatherings to share food (in these COVID days the groups will be smaller ). It may be your first time hosting or you just want something a little different or want leftovers that are a little less boring this year. Most of us have a huge ceremonial banquet, a table plus the side buffet laden with all kinds of foods and various deserts; an obscene amount of food, if truth be told. In the oven or on the grill, crisp (effin cold!) fall or tropical weather, indoor comfortable and homey or outdoor all-out decorated , Thanksgiving is the first of these food-oriente...

Suppose the bible isn't only a collection of humans' (limited) knowledge of that time? Sure it was important to pass on knowledge of basics like the lever, the wheel, fire, metal working (bronze age leading into the iron age), animal husbandry and crop rotation, signs of the changing seasons and such. What was really needed was a collection of tales and stories. Stories told by parents to lull their children to sleep at night, while teaching them a life lesson; similar to Aesop's Fables or Grimm's Fairy Tales or even Disney. In teaching the value of hard work, consider the story of Fred. Fred listened to management (workers are strong, not weary or fainting Isaiah 40:28), and crossed the worker picket lines one day. This upset the striking wood gatherers, who called him a scab and stoned him to death (possibly not really, but it's a better story this way). The striking workers negotiated one day off per week  (Exodus 31:17 on the 7th day he rested) , and a 10-minute...

I don't usually agree with Gingrich , but on this I do. Your vote matters. Make your voice heard. The absurdity of this Tucker Carlson piece  is obvious to even most of the Fox regulars (see the comments section). Biden's brother (who knew he had a brother?) is ignoring this non-story we're trying to make be a story...  how dare he? hahaha!   Would you rather spend the next 4 years with a "wretched human being" or a "doting uncle"? There's a Washington newspaper opinion piece stating the "wretched human being" is the better choice than the "doting uncle"  because the "doting uncle" will ask you to pay for the new and improved infrastructure as it were. For the wretched human being the piece says: "He panders to racists and prevents sensible immigration reform in a nation built on immigration labor and intellect,” he wrote. “He tweets conspiracy theories. He’s cavalier about COVID-19 and had led poorly through the ...

I keep asking believers to tell me why you believe what you believe, but no one really answers me. In spite of 1 Peter 3:15 "But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts, and be ready always to give an answer to every man who asketh you a reason for the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear", no one will answer me. It just falls back to 'faith'; no good reason, just 'faith'. I really struggle with this 'faith' concept. Do you have 'faith' that the plane will fly or the bridge will stand? No, based on evidence and barring external events (poor maintenance, earthquake,  deliberate sabotage) you know the bridge will stand. Even more baffling to me is the desire to believe that a capricious, jealous, all powerful, vengeful entity not only exists, but is a "loving god" wanting (and worthy of) your adoration and worship. Why do you describe yourself as a 'God fearing Christian'? How do you 'love' someone you fear? How can...

Another thing that's always confused me... politically speaking. Democrats are the "big spenders", social program initiators. Republicans are the fiscal conservatives, the small government pro-business lobby. Democrats want business to be responsible for the impact of their methods, demanding fair hiring and fair and equal pay, healthcare coverage, and limited environmental damage. Republicans want business to be free to concentrate on their business without regulatory interference. And really, how can you be 'pro-life' only for the pre-born, but pro-death for a convicted criminal? And don't get me started on why your god should have any influence of any sort in my government -- both are beyond the scope of this discussion. Continuing on... O wait a sec, the title. A Star Trek Original Series episode (actually named The Omega Glory ). Examining (spoofing?) the devastation possible if the 'yankees' and the 'communists' carry their ideological gr...