[[Religion is a personal private matter of the heart and should stay there.]]

That’s what they told William Wilberforce. And M.L. King, Jr.

This conjures up images of some poor old bloke knocking weakly on a window, “Hello… hello… can I come back in now… hello…”. Meanwhile his creation goes on as if he never existed.

Life form? Somehow I don’t think that’s what the theists have in mind. That tends to conjure up DNA, proteins, and all the rest of the paraphernalia associated with living organisms. Perhaps the ancient Greeks thought of their gods in this way but I think the idea has become passe. It would also imply that God can die which none of the major religions of the world believe in (with the possible exception of Hinduism?).

Concerning the logic which is supposedly universal, which flavor would that be?

Would that be Aristotelian logic?
http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/aristotle-logic

Or perhaps Boolean logic?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boolean_logic

Or perhaps Probabilistic logic?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Probabilistic_logic

Or perhaps Fuzzy logic?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fuzzy_logic

Those are 4 different systems of logic invented by human beings which don’t agree with one another and don’t have the same assumptions. There is little reason to suppose than any of them is “universal” and would constrain a deity in any way.

Not getting the argument about the infinite amount of laws. I thought the purpose of science was to reduce the number of natural laws to as few as possible. That’s why physicists are still seeking the unified field theory which unites the strong nuclear, weak nuclear, electromagnetic, and gravitational forces under one law of nature. If science comes up with an infinite number of basic laws of nature then there is no possibility of understanding the universe whatsoever.

Concerning the concept of infinity and science here’s a question for the group. Can science measure a quantity (whether it be length, mass, time, electrical charge, etc., etc.) as being infinite? I say no. Science can deduce quantities as being infinite (i.e., curvature of a singularity) but never measure infinity directly for a physical object. If someone can think of a counter-example I’d love to hear about it. So an object such as God that was infinite in any regard would not be measurable by science.

http://www.tea.state.tx.us/sboe/districts.html

Maddox is running in district 11 which is in the Dallas/Fort Worth area (actually it looks closer to Fort Worth since Dallas seems to be district 13). The other creationist (I forget the name) is running in district 2 which is the Corpus Christi area. So unless you either live close to Fort Worth or in the South Texas Corpus Christi area you will not be able to vote on these folks.

Now, one might get the mistaken impression that creationism is a strictly Texas phenomenon but it appears to be nationwide. For example, the address of the Discovery Institute is as follows:

Seattle Headquarters:
Discovery Institute
208 Columbia Street
Seattle, WA 98104

Grunge rock ‘n roll and creationism? Now that’s a pair I didn’t think went together but apparently they do. I guess Washington state is on the brink of “doomnation” also. There do appear to be quite a few organizations up in the BA’s neck of the woods including the following:

http://www.youngearth.org
Rocky Mountain Creation Fellowship
P.O. Box 3451 Littleton, CO 80161
Phone: (303) 525-5500
Email: info@youngearth.org

According to their website their mission is as follows:

“RMCF is a group of Biblical Creationists, who have received Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior. We believe that God, through Jesus Christ, created the heavens and the earth, out of nothing (ex nihilo), in six, 24 hour literal days just as He states in Genesis. There is ample scientific evidence that not only is the Bible correct in the creation account of the universe, but is also correct in its implication that the universe is very, very young. On the order of 10,000 years or less. This is a stumbling block for many people, especially those who have been taught to believe that the evolutionary fairly tale is a “true” fact and/or that God may have used evolution to bring man into existence (theistic evolution). Neither premise is supported in Scripture. At RMCF we have faith in God’s word and that the Bible is the final authority for all our beliefs about man and the universe he lives in”

They appear to be always on the lookout for new speakers so you might want to consider setting those folks straight. Just remember to wear your bullet-proof vest during your presenation.

No, we hate every minute of it. But somebody’s gotta do it, you know.