I have returned from a military mission
Photo by Army Spc. Van Der Weide
Old Guard Soldiers from the Commander-in-Chief's Guard demonstrate the role of skirmishers at a celebration commemorating the 225th anniversary of the American victory at Yorktown, Va., during the Revolutionary War. This photo appeared on www.army.mil in October 2006.
I'm back!
Sorry for the lull the last few weeks but I was away fulfilling my military obligation as a member of the National Guard. Even if I don't support the current war, I am still a strong believer in the 371-year-old tradition of the National Guard and the vital role it plays in defending American liberty.
I see my last column caused quite a stir so it will take me some time to get through all my e-mail, blog comments and forum comments.
[COLUMN] Creationism is not science
According to Plato, it was Empedocles (circa 490-430 B.C.) who first enumerated what would later become the Four Elements. The list, what Empedocles called the Four Roots, consisted of Fire, Air, Earth and Water. It was generally believed that everything in the universe consisted of these Four Elements.
These elements, with some modifications depending on when and where you lived, dominated philosophical, religious and scientific thought for more than 1,000 years. It wasn't until the Enlightenment and the Scientific Revolution that the Four Elements was finally replaced by a more accurate periodic table of elements.
Of course, Enlightenment scientists had access to resources of which Empedocles could not even imagine. Still, Empedocles reasonably used the resources he had available to theorize about the universe. Later scientists, using more modern techniques, were able to create better theories and laws about the nature of the universe, a turn of events that Empedocles, as a man of reason, would have welcomed.
That is how science works. Every discovery strengthens an existing theory, changes an existing theory, or debunks an existing theory.
Comparatively, evangelical Christians take an ancient creation and flood story penned by an unknown Middle Eastern Jewish priest some 3,000 years ago and accept that fable as history, science, and the unerring word of God all wrapped into one. Such thinking defies reason and ignores 3,000 years of editing and translating. As an editor, I can tell you that 3,000 years worth of rewrites can seriously alter a story.
Read more!
Cartoon right on target
This comic is dead-on accurate. It was drawn by Tracie Harris, a graphic designer in Austin, Texas. According to the Atheist Community of Austin Web site, Harris was raised in Orlando, Fla., and received her BA in Liberal Studies from the University of Central Florida. Her long, slow recovery from a rabid fundamentalist upbringing led her to the creation of Atheist Eve.
[COLUMN] A right to die with dignity
AP Photo/CBS
In this image taken from video and released by CBS, Dr. Jack Kevorkian is shown during an interview with Mike Wallace at a Battle Creek, Mich., hotel, Friday. Kevorkian's first interview since being paroled earlier Friday morning will air on "60 Minutes," this evening.
Dr. Jack Kevorkian's release from a Michigan prison Friday and a planned California vote this week are bringing the issue of physician-assisted suicide back to the forefront, where it belongs.
For more than eight years, the government kept Kevorkian, prisoner No. 284797, in a cage because he behaved humanely. In essence, Kevorkian, 79, was a political prisoner, prosecuted for his humanity.
It is simply inhumane for government to prevent terminally ill patients from safely and humanely ending their lives. In fact, it is wrong for government to prevent anyone from safely and humanely ending his or her life. However, when it comes to the terminally ill, it is downright Draconian to force people to continue living in pain if they wish to die. We do not even force that fate on animals.
Kevorkian, who reportedly is dying from hepatitis C he contracted during the Vietnam War, is the perfect example of how powerful and dangerous government in this country has become. In a free society, you can have no crime worth imprisonment if you have no victims. Kevorkian's patients requested his services; he did not simply kill people randomly. The septuagenarian was obviously no threat to society.
Read more!
![[Valid RSS]](http://www.lucente.org/images/valid-rss.png "Validate my RSS feed")
