Genesis 1:1 In the beginning God created… Evolution is almost an accepted fact in the schools of ‘higher’ learning but is it a fact?
Biology
Acts 17:25
“Nor is He worshiped with men’s hands, as though He needed anything, since He gives to all life, breath, and all things.”
‘We all have a number of clocks within us that help keep life constant in changing surroundings. The pineal gland is one clock that helps us adjust to our surroundings like the changing lengths of daylight through the year.
Earlier in this century, many scientists, having no understanding of the pineal, decided that it had no purpose and was left over as a vestige from our evolution. Creationists knew it must have a purpose because they knew we have not evolved.
If you are one of those people who typically feel a bit more lethargic or even depressed during the darkest months of winter, you might be able to blame your pineal, which is located near the center of your brain. How can a gland deep in the center of the brain know how long the days are? Light causes our bodies to make certain chemicals. When days are short, those chemicals are scarce, so the pineal cannot make from these chemicals the hormones that encourage the alertness we feel in the spring and summer. In addition, your pineal has a private nerve hookup to your eyes, so it can literally see for itself how much light is available! Scientists have found that adding artificial light during winter can sometimes help the winter blues.
Our bodies are a network of complex control systems and chemical factories – a complex union of systems that go beyond the abilities of the best human designers, but which testify to the wisdom of the Creator!’https://creationmoments.com/sermons/an-internal-clock-you-can-feel-2/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=an-internal-clock-you-can-feel-2&mc_cid=a7a624b243&mc_eid=00c1dcff3c
In the UK ‘A police force has been challenged over its “gross inflation” of transgender hate crime statistics, with figures posted on its social media account labelled “a falsehood”.
Last month West Midlands Police’s LGBT+ Network claimed on Twitter that “2 in 5 trans people” had experienced a hate crime in the previous twelve months, citing Stonewall as their source.
However, official Government estimates suggest instances of hate crimes occurring against transgender people are closer to one in 80 or even one in 200.
‘Exaggerated’
Harry Miller of Fair Cop, an organisation which opposes hate crime legislation, has written to the force asking it to explain the “exaggerated” figure.
Miller, a former police officer, said: “The government estimates that there are between 200,000 and 500,000 trans people in the UK, meaning that, according to your estimations, between 80,000 and 200,000 incidents of hate crime against trans people in the past 12 months.
“Such a figure would be deeply shocking if it were true.”
He cited the official Government figures which state only 2,540 hate crimes took place over the same period and queried how the force came to publish a figure “which has been exaggerated by between three and five thousand per cent?”
‘Criminally negligent’
Miller continued: “This criminally negligent statistic presents the trans community as being at unique risk of violence”.
He also mentioned another social media post by the force featuring a trans police officer with a taser, which he said “might reasonably be said to be countering an entirely fictitious narrative of violence with a very real and present threat of violence”.
He added: “This is cynical, sinister, dangerous and can do nothing but undermine public confidence” in West Midlands Police.
Survey
The group’s figures were taken from a 2017 YouGov survey commissioned by Stonewall on hate crime and discrimination as experienced by LGBT people.
There were fewer than 6000 respondents, of which only 14 per cent identified as transgender.
According to the report the figure actually relates to “a hate crime or incident”, which include false accusations of hate crimes, even where no crime has actually occurred.’https://www.christian.org.uk/news/trans-hate-crime-statistics-grossly-inflated/
It is almost if not totally impossible to know how many unborn babies are murdered each year in Australia. Many believe killing the unborn is a woman’s right but the unborn child HAS absolutely no rights according to that warped thinking. Now, abortion has progressed (if it can be called progress) to being performed over the phone! In ‘WA Liberal Senator Matt O’Sullivan has written to federal Health Minister Greg Hunt, following the FamilyVoice campaign to stop funding for medical abortion approvals by phone.
COVID restrictions have meant that a woman can phone a doctor – who may not know her – and be prescribed the abortion pill RU486 to take at home. This can put the woman at greater risk.
“Due to the nature of a telehealth consultation, it is not possible to conduct a necessary ultrasound in order to determine the exact gestation of the pregnancy,” Mr O’Sullivan told Mr Hunt a month before the Budget.
“As medical abortion is only available in Australia for terminations of pregnancies less than nine weeks gestation, (an ultrasound) is an important detail to have correct before prescribing (abortion) medication.
“Another important issue is that of reproductive coercion, which has been noted as a serious problem by organisations like Children by Choice and Marie Stopes. With the virtual aspect of a telehealth appointment, it seems almost impossible that such a system could account for the insidious nature of coercion.”
Matt O’Sullivan (42) has two children with Montanique, his wife of 21 years. He was elected to the Senate last year.
He was formerly an electrical technician and a church youth worker. For some years he also helped train indigenous young people and place them in permanent jobs.
In his maiden speech on 30 July 2019, he told the Senate: “My faith is an integral part of my life. I am a Christian, and I believe and affirm the Apostles’ Creed.
“In my late 20s, I seriously considered studying theology and becoming a minister of religion. But, while my faith was, and still is, a very important part of my life, I came to the realisation that being a pastor wasn’t the right path for me.”
FamilyVoice WA Director Darryl Budge is delighted that Senator O’Sullivan is putting his Christian faith into practice by speaking up for the most vulnerable members of society – the unborn, and quite a few of their mothers.
“Medicare funding for phone abortions teaches society that children are an inconvenient cost during this COVID-19 crisis, even though they are our future,” Mr Budge said.
“The Australian government is facing the lowest population growth in a century, while it funds over 70,000 abortions each year. It should instead simplify adoption – and fund counselling, compassionate care, family-support services and pregnancy crisis centres.”’https://familyvoice.org.au/news
‘Dogs don’t read the words on a page. Neither did Coco, the famous gorilla that learned to communicate using simple hand signs. So what affords humans the unique ability to read and write, and why do we do it? These kinds of questions drive Zeynep Saygin’s research at Ohio State. Her team’s recent discovery sets the stage for some answers.
Brain experts already knew about the visual cortex—an area of the brain where neurons fire as we interpret faces, shapes, and words. But Saygin’s group seeks to understand what happens in our brains as we learn to read.
The team compared functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) data sets from 40 newborns to similar scans of 40 adults. fMRI shows neuron activity within the brain, so the comparison would indicate if baby brains come into the world already equipped with the wiring necessary to perceive and process letters later in life.
Literate adults have close connections between the part of the brain that processes the sight of letters, called the visual word form area (VWFA), and the brain’s nearby language network. The researchers discovered that newborn brains come prewired with similarly tight connections between the two areas.
They published their discovery in Scientific Reports.1
Saygin, the senior author of the study, told Ohio State News, “Even at birth, the VWFA is more connected functionally to the language network of the brain than it is to other areas. It is an incredibly exciting finding.”2
Lead author Jin Li said, “It’s interesting to think about how and why our brains develop functional modules that are sensitive to specific things like faces, objects, and words.”2
Why indeed?
From a Darwinian perspective, our brains’ functional modules would have incrementally developed over eons for our survival. But in what scenario would our ancestors have been forced to read or die? For that matter, how could such pressures reach into and rewire our brains?
On the other hand, if humans came from supernatural creation instead of mere nature, then the possibility opens for God to have intentionally prewired our brains “to see words.”2 And why would a Creator do that?
Reading is the key to understanding the most important information for time and eternity found in the Bible. Scripture says we were created for God, that our sins have driven a wedge between us and God, but that God sent His Son to take our sins upon Himself in order to restore our relationship with Him.
So, it makes sense that a God who has invested so much into us would also have endowed us with the prewiring needed to see letters. That way each can learn to read, take up the Bible, and discover the way back to Him.
References
1. Li, J. et al. 2020. Innate connectivity patterns drive the development of the visual word form area. Scientific Reports. 10: 18039.
2. Grabmeier, J. Humans are born with brains ‘prewired’ to see words. Ohio State News. Posted on news.osu.edu October 22, 2020.
*Dr. Brian Thomas is Research Associate at the Institute for Creation Research and earned his Ph.D. in paleobiochemistry from the University of Liverpool.‘https://www.icr.org/article/baby-brains-arrive-ready-to-read/?utm_source=phplist9212&utm_medium=email&utm_content=HTML&utm_campaign=Merry+Christmas+from+ICR%2C+Babies+Are+Born+Ready+to+Read%2C+and+More%21
Don’t bother me with the facts! That seems to be what the political elite seem to be saying. However, ‘Using a new observational approach to an old but most important question, CLINTEL President Guus Berkhout finds that about 62% of the atmospheric CO2 increase is due to natural sources, not human emissions. The study then looks at the implications for drastic CO2 reduction measures, finding that these measures will not stop the atmospheric increase. Actually, they will have very limited effect. Hence the title of the report is “Managing the Carbon Dioxide Content in the Earth’s Atmosphere“.
Professor Berkhout’s approach is based on proven technology in geophysical imaging. He calls his method spectral ‘fingerprint detection (FPD)’, because it looks at the relationship between fine-grained details of the atmospheric CO2 increase and anthropogenic emissions over time by computing auto and cross correlation functions.
Note that in the spectral FPD approach knowledge about the existence of different CO2 isotopes (C12 and C13) is not required. This is consistent with the current decarbonization practice, where minimization of the atmospheric CO2 concentration is the target, whatever the isotopic composition.
Note also that spectral FPD reveals that a lot of information is hidden in the variability of observations. Therefore, spectral FPD starts with decomposing observations into trends and changes along the trends.
The study puts it this way:
“The fine-grained variability of the anthropogenic emission represents the ‘fingerprintof the human CO2-source, telling us that most of the anthropogenic CO2-emission is absorbed by the land-ocean reservoir (fingerprint detection). It also reveals the existence of internal oscillations between the atmosphere and the land-ocean reservoir.”
There is a lot of math here, including least-squares minimization, but the results are clear. An estimated 62% of the increased CO2 concentration is entirely natural.
The study then applies these findings to determine the impact of four different emission reduction scenarios, as follows:
“Four policy scenarios for decarbonization purposes have been built: ‘Business as Usual’, ‘Stabilizing the Emission’, ‘Reducing the emission’ and ‘Making use of CCS’. A big impact conclusion for policy making is that zero anthropogenic emission – being a major achievement– does not mean at all that the atmospheric accumulation becomes zero.”
The analysis comes with a warning:
“Each scenario has its own phase diagram, showing the relationship between atmospheric concentration and anthropogenic emission. It is advised that decarbonization policies are designed such that the transition path in the phase diagram is technically, economically and socially feasible.” (Emphasis added)
Given that even the most stringent (and hugely expensive) scenario does not stop the natural CO2 increase, their rationale is greatly diminished. Also, given that most of the past increase is natural, we can stop blaming ourselves for it.
Professor Berkhout says this is just the first step in applying spectral FPD to the science of climate change:
“By considering spectral fingerprint detection on any source variability, there will be a lot of applications. Apart from CO2 variability, we will look at solar-irradiation variability, cloudiness variability, etc. to determine their individual influence on atmospheric temperature. It leads to a multidimensional causality determination. Again, without any theoretical assumptions. It is all based on observations.”
In science new methods often yield surprising results. I look forward to this multidimensional causality determination with great interest. In the meantime, the climate science and policy communities need to rethink the contribution of human emission to the atmospheric CO2 increase, especially with regard to the potentially destructive mitigation actions.
Combining this conclusion with the evidence that more CO2 will make our planet greener, what the h… are politicians up to? Are they racing to see who can enact the worst policies?’https://papundits.wordpress.com/2020/12/20/clintel-study-finds-most-of-the-co2-increase-is-natural/
“And out of the ground made the LORD God to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of knowledge of good and evil.” (Genesis 2:9)
‘It is significant that the first reference to “science” in the Bible is in connection with the tree of the “science” of good and evil. The English word “science” comes from the Latin scientia, meaning “knowledge.” In both Old and New Testaments, “science” and “knowledge” translate the same Greek and Hebrew words respectively. Science—properly speaking—is what we know, not naturalistic speculation (as in evolutionary “science”). Adam and Eve knew a great deal about God and His creation, and all of it was “very good” (Genesis 1:31); they did not need to have a knowledge of evil, and God warned them against it (2:17).
But they partook of the evil tree anyway, and therewith evil knowledge entered the hearts and minds of mankind. Throughout the long ages since, true science has been of great good in the world and false science has wrought great harm. The apostle Paul has warned us against it: “Keep that which is committed to thy trust, avoiding profane and vain babblings, and oppositions of science falsely so called” (1 Timothy 6:20). In the context of the times, Paul was specifically warning against the evolutionary pantheism of the gnostic philosophers.
In contrast, the final climactic reference in the Bible to knowledge is Peter’s exhortation to “grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ” (2 Peter 3:18). “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge” (Proverbs 1:7), and in Jesus Christ “are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge” (Colossians 2:3). Therefore, let us resolve to eschew the knowledge of evil and grow in the knowledge of Christ!’https://www.icr.org/article/12501/?utm_source=phplist9187&utm_medium=email&utm_content=HTML&utm_campaign=December+19+-+Science–True+and+False
This video will introduce you to Christian Concern which exists ‘to protect the freedom to live and speak for him, and to empower Christians to be compassionate and courageous ambassadors.’ Please make it a habit to visit their web site often and to remember them in prayer as they seek to serve the Lord.
‘I grew up in Sri Lanka during a time of civil war. Anyone who criticised the Sinhalese-dominated government disappeared. And anyone who criticised the Tamil rebels was assassinated. So we all learned to keep our mouths shut.
In September 1991, I changed nationalities. I swore allegiance to Australia at a citizenship ceremony in Parramatta Park. During that ceremony, I delivered a speech where I committed myself, as one of those who come from “beyond the seas”, to “advance Australia fair”.
Migrants like me love Australia because “we are young and free”. And many of us come from countries which are not free – where deviating from the approved political opinion is punished, therefore there’s no free speech. Public speech, in countries like the Sri Lanka of my childhood, was costly. It could cost you your life.
And it’s precisely that love of freedom, and my desire to advance Australia fair, that makes me worried about the Victorian government’s Change or Suppression Bill 2020.
The bill aims “to ensure that all” LGBT+ people “are able to live authentically and with pride” and “to denounce and give statutory recognition to the serious harm caused” by practices which suggest that “a person’s sexual orientation or gender identity” is in any way “broken”.
Nobody who opposes this bill is seeking to harm people who identify as LGBT+. The problem with this bill is the its definitions and prohibitions are so broad, it potentially criminalises any suggestion that sexuality has an objective order and that discovering and conforming to that order could be healthy for individuals, families, and society as a whole.
Most of human civilisation has, throughout history, believed that human sexuality is not a matter of personal preference, but possesses an objective order. Not all cultures agree on what that healthy pattern is. And not everyone within that society lives according to that healthy pattern. But they agree that it exists. And that talking about it, trying to discover it, and helping each other live according to it, is good.
This bill denounces that kind of belief, and prohibits and suppresses talking about it. This bill is on the wrong side of history. It seeks to criminalise something that has historically made human civilisation civil and humane.
Therefore, this bill is not actually progressive. It takes us backwards, into a dark age where public speech is costly and deviating from the approved political opinion gets punished.
LGBT+ activists often speak about “authenticity” and “pride”, and often accuse people who hold conservative values – especially religious people, and within that, especially Christians – as “harming” them. They’re welcome to do that. That’s an application of free speech.
And under conditions of free speech, social conservatives, religious people – including Christians – can talk back. We’re allowed to defend ourselves against those accusations of harm. And explain why we think healthy sexuality is not a matter of personal preference but possesses an objective order. And invite all people – including LGBT+ people – to willingly join us in living that sexuality because they’ve been persuaded that it’s right and good.
But by being an instrument of law, this bill takes away the right to talk back. If this bill becomes law, any assertion that healthy sexuality is ordered, not a matter of personal preference, could cost money or land you in jail. This threat of formal, legal punishment would intimidate people to self-censor. And that amounts to a stifling, in practice, of free speech.
That’s why this bill is dangerous. Not just for Christians, religious people, or social conservatives. This bill wrecks the social environment which has underpinned what we take for granted as a free, open, tolerant society – the kind of Australia I migrated to, love, and vowed to advance.
Mainstream media tend to caricature those who oppose this bill – especially religious people – as using public freedoms, like freedoms of speech and assembly, to protect themselves in a selfish, self-interested way. Is the mainstream media broad-minded enough to consider that we oppose this bill out of love? Love of freedom and tolerance? And love of country? And even – shock, horror – love of LGBT+ people?
And is the Victorian government broad-minded enough to make Victoria a place where social conservatives and religious people feel safe and welcome? Or has Australia gone backwards to become precisely the kind of country I was trying to escape from – a place that is not young and free, but old, cynical, and enslaved?’ https://www.spectator.com.au/2020/12/daniel-andrews-gender-antics-are-a-threat-not-enhancement-to-the-fundamentals-of-our-free-open-tolerant-society/
I had some black friends in high school back in the early 60’s and we all got along fine. They were black and I was white! We all knew what color we were and we lived with it. Not so today! Today, race and gender are the issue! Society is truly screwed up and sadly doesn’t look like it will get any better. The Western governments facilitate this racial and gender confusion and hatred. Do they really think having organizations for the different ethnic groups are going to cement everyone together? Well, whatever their reasoning ‘The National Black Justice Coalition (NBJC) celebrates the Black LGBTQ+/SGL candidates who have won their elections, and all who ran.
Of the 574 LGBTQ+ candidates running this year, at least 157 have won, including Ritchie Torres, the first out gay Afro-Latino, and Mondaire Jones the first out gay Black man, to be elected to Congress. They’re not alone.’ http://www.nbjc.org/media-center/releases/2020-election-NBJC-celebrates-100s-lgbtq-candidates
So, now we or rather they are celebrating not only the color of the person but the gender identity! My worry is not so much for me as an older person but my grandchildren growing up in this nonsensical society!
whatyareckon 