johac <jhachmann@remove.sbcglobal.net> wrote in news:jhachmann-
502AF8.00092611052007@news.giganews.com:

Good article.


http://scienceblogs.com/pharyngula/2007/05/christianitys_sins_against_s

ci

.php

or

http://tinyurl.com/ynuyne

Nice! I was thinking about predestination this morning, in response to a
billy graham column's headline (he's located conveniently next to the
comics--go figure):

"Past is done, but gawd can help change future."

Horse cookies. This assumes that the future's already set (much like
Jell-O), but if you beg him like a dog, gawd might help you get it into a
different shape, or add mixed fruit to it without screwing it all up.

It's something that rankles--an event "changes the course of history"--
but how can that be? History is what's already happened, not what's about
to happen. Like, "The bombing of Pearl Harbor on December 7th, 1941,
changed the course of history forever."

No it didn't.

It changed people's perceptions of their own lives and their place in the
world. It killed several thousand people. But wasn't "history" already on
that course before the first bomb fell? It's not like the Japanese were
surprised to find themselves flying airplanes that morning. Those ships
they sailed weren't there because of a wormhole. It was the culmination
of months of planning, not a bloody accident.