Evolution, development, and random biological ejaculations from a godless liberal
PZ Myers is a biologist and associate professor at the University of Minnesota, Morris.
…and this is a pharyngula stage embryo.
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Not only does the application to horrors of such generic and global reasons for Divine permission of evils fail to solve the second problem of evil; it makes it worse by adding generic prima facie reasons to doubt whether human life would be a great good to individual human beings in possible worlds where such Divine motives were operative. For, taken in isolation and made to bear the weight of the whole explanation, such reasons-why draw a picture of Divine indifference or even hostility to the human plight. Would the fact that God permitted horrors because they were constitutive means to His end of global perfection, or that He tolerated them because He could obtain that global end anyway, make the participant's life more tolerable, more worth living for him/her? Given radical human vulnerability to horrendous evils, the ease with which humans participate in them, whether as victim or perpetrator, would not the thought that God visits horrors on anyone who caused them, simply because s/he deserves it, provide one more reason to expect human life to be a nightmare?
Marilyn McCord Adams, "Horrendous Evils and the Goodness of God" http://www.faithquest.com/philosophers/adams/horevil.html
Two-legged goats and developmental variation
Polar lobes and trefoil embryos in the Precambrian
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Category: Environment • Organisms
Posted on: July 31, 2006 11:27 AM, by PZ Myers
There is now a web page dedicated to the Neoceratodus cause. If you haven't yet fired off a letter to oppose the destruction of the lungfish's habitat, there's a sample letter there to help you get started. It's not too late to make your voice heard!
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Comments
If those lungfish would jsut evolve into land-dwelling tetrapods, then they and we could dispense with the swamps.
(yes, I'm joking)
Posted by: quork | July 31, 2006 11:34 AM
...and don't forget, by helping to save the lungfish, you get to save at least 2 endemic species of side-necked turtles too! Bonus cool vertebrates!!
Posted by: CCP | July 31, 2006 7:13 PM
PZ, you ain't gonna save the lungfish. Just last weekend a Queensland city held a referendum and overwhelmingly rejected the recycling of sewage water.
Australians are insane. We live on the earth's driest continent and will happily destroy every river system in order to avoid drinking our own cleaned-up toiletwater. Then we claim it's it's our democratic right to hose down our cars and grow Kentucky bluegrass in our front yards. After all, when the well finally dries up we can just ask Evian to build a giant water production plant in every city, can't we?
Posted by: pastor maker | July 31, 2006 7:17 PM
I got a long, detailed return letter saying that because of the extended droughts they have no choice but to proceed with the projects and will take every consideration into account regarding any endagered species.
Man - we must expand and change to world to our bidding, else how can we claim domination as granted by Bog?
It's a sick sad world.
Posted by: Mike Haubrich | July 31, 2006 8:29 PM
The detailed reply is obviously standard.
It is dissapointing that the Queensland governments forsight is only until the next election.
They are correct in stating we are in one of our worst droughts ever, and that we are a naturally dry country etc..
What happens once we dam all the rivers? Will they finally consider regulating populations in an environment that clearly cannot sustain them? No government will make the hard decisions, and our natural heritage will have to bear the burden
Posted by: Josh | July 31, 2006 8:36 PM
Australians are insane? Tell me, do you drink recycled grey water in your home pastor maker? Racist!
And if you want to bandy charges of insanity, which country has dragged the world into the quagmire of Iraq and now is sitting on its hands while Israel murders civilians and UN officials in Lebanon. Talk about the pot calling the kettle black!
Posted by: Andrew | August 1, 2006 8:10 AM
there's plenty of insanity to go around.
Australians are a "race"?
Posted by: CCP | August 1, 2006 8:23 AM
And yeah, despite living in one of the largest coastal cities in the world, we *do* recycle our sewage water. It's cheaper than running out of groundwater...
Posted by: Xanthir | August 1, 2006 12:36 PM
Andrew,
What part of "we" didn't you understand?
I'm an Australian. You're calling me a "racist" because I called Australians insane.You're obviously the exception. You're not insane. You're "special".
Posted by: pastor maker | August 25, 2006 7:13 AM