Pain

How do we prove the existence of pain? There are certain physical symptoms that are displayed when a person is in pain but each of these symptoms can be displayed under other conditions. A person who has not experienced real pain will not believe that it exists. Some people today want to say that we cannot demonstrate the existence of God if we refer to experience but they still believe in pain. Is this an inconsistency?

Entropy

The second law of thermodynamics tells us that the entropy of an isolated system that is not in equilibrium will tend to increase over time until it reaches a maximum value at equilibrium. If it takes more energy to go up the hill using the longer way, as established yesterday, then where does the energy come from to drive evolution? It must come from an external source. What is this external source? It requires faith to believe in some source for this energy. Any theory of origins requires faith and cannot be proved.

How much energy?

 I live at the bottom of a hill and like to ride my cycle. If I turn right I have a short steep climb to get to the top of the hill. If I turn left I have a long gentle ride to get to the top of the hill. It doesn't matter what way I go I still get to the top of the hill and have to come down again. At the top of the hill I have the same amount of potential energy no matter what way I go. I can get to the top in less than five minutes if I go the short way but it takes twenty minutes if I go the long way. It actually takes more energy to go the long way than it does to go the short way. Richard Dawkins would have us believe that it takes no energy to go the long way; at least, that is his argument concerning the gradual development of modern species. It always takes energy to go uphill no matter what way you go.

Exploitation

Huge wealth can only exist alongside an impoverished, exploited hinterland. However, exploitation debases the exploiters. It is time to look to the exploited and seek to help them and then we will find recovery from the global financial crisis. If you want to find out about exploitation you can read Gulf, available right now from jamesmcnaught.com.

Faith and the Past

How do we know if something from the past is true? We must look at the evidence and interpret it by faith. But, faith belongs to religion not pure science. Why do the United States courts favour one kind of faith over another? Visit jamesmcnaught.com if you want to read more about some of these topics.

Religious Freedom

Everything that we know about the past requires faith. We see the data but we must interpret it and we must believe the conclusions by faith. While I have no problem with the US Constitution forbidding the teaching of Creation in schools I struggle with the fact that they support the teaching of other faiths under the so called banner of faith. Surely this is a massive inconsistency! You can visit jamesmcnaught.com if you are interested in topics like this.

Intellectual Integrity

The world is full of people who tell us that we are foolish if we don't believe what they believe. However, we are all gifted with the ability to choose. The wise person chooses what to believe and they accept the full intellectual consequences of their faith. Pure science is all about taking measurements and then interpreting them; thesis, antithesis and synthesis. As soon as a scientist tells you must accept his interpretation of the data he ceases being a scientist and becomes a priest in a system of faith. Reclaiming the Bible from the "Enlightened" examines some of these issues and comes up with surprising answers. Why don't you visit jamesmcnaught.com to find out more?