Conservapedia - User contributions [en]

User:Malchus

2007-06-08T14:20:29Z

Malchus: The Bible leads to Truth

Read the Bible. All of it. Think about what you KNOW to be true and what you truly VALUE. In this way you will learn.

Talk:Ignorance

2007-06-08T14:17:05Z

Malchus:

== Possible Revisions? ==

Is it just me, or does this article seem unfairly and excessively pointed?--[[User:Stereophile|Stereophile]] 13:48, 26 May 2007 (EDT)

:No, it's not just you:
:*Liberals in particular hide from uncomfortable truths, often covering this up by cleverly accusing others of hiding. [[Al Gore]]'s documentary "[[An Inconvenient Truth]]" is a case in point. But the best known example is the Communist Manifesto which likens religious belief to drug abuse ("religion is the opium of the masses").
:I've cut my rejoinder because it's more of a comment than an actual part of the article. --[[User:Ed Poor|Ed Poor]] 13:54, 26 May 2007 (EDT)

== Of the Tree of Knowledge ==

God gave Adam ONE command. What was it? --[[User:Malchus|Malchus]] 10:17, 8 June 2007 (EDT)

Talk:Ignorance

2007-06-08T14:16:19Z

Malchus: Of the Tree of Knowledge

Ignorance

2007-05-22T05:42:24Z

Malchus:

'''Ignorance''' (from Latin ''ignorantia'') is the state of being ignorant; the want of knowledge in general, or in relation to a particular subject; or the state of being uneducated or uninformed<ref>'''Ignorance''', Webster's New International Dictionary, Second Edition (Springfield, Massachusetts: G. & C. Merriam, 1934)</ref>.

== Ignorance in the Bible ==

Ignorance is the state God intended for Man. The Book of Genesis is very clear on this. According to Genesis<ref>Genesis 2:15-17; 3:1-24</ref> God created Adam and Eve and gave them one single command which was not to eat of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil; in other words, to remain in a state of ignorance. Adam and Eve broke this commandment. The idea that Man should have knowledge was so repugnant and antithetical to God that He punished not just Adam and Eve but all Mankind.

== References ==

<references/>

Ignorance

2007-05-22T05:37:39Z

Malchus: God intended us to remain in blissful, blessed ignorance

'''Ignorance''' (from Latin ''ignorantia'') is the state of being ignorant; the want of knowledge in general, or in relation to a particular subject; or the state of being uneducated or uninformed<sup>1</sup>.

== Ignorance in the Bible ==

Ignorance is the state God intended for Man. The Book of Genesis is very clear on this. According to Genesis<sup>2</sup> God created Adam and Eve and gave them one single command which was not to eat of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil; in other words, to remain in a state of ignorance. Adam and Eve broke this commandment. The idea that Man should have knowledge was so repugnant and antithetical to God that He punished not just Adam and Eve but all Mankind.

== References ==

1. '''Ignorance''', Webster's New International Dictionary, Second Edition (Springfield, Massachusetts: G. & C. Merriam, 1934)

2. Genesis 2:15-17; 3:1-24

Telling the Truth

2007-04-04T02:49:39Z

Malchus: References another work by author

''Telling the Truth'' is
a book in which [[Lynne Cheney]] "... considers a particular aspect of [[relativism]] and the damage it has done: so-called [[multiculturalism]] in primary and secondary education; [[political correctness]] in the universities; [[deconstructionism]] in the scholarship of the humanities; [[radical feminist]] legal theory in legal education and [[jurisprudence]]; politicized exaggeration and falsification in art, [[popular culture]], and [[psychotherapy]]; and so-called new (i.e., politically slanted) news in the mainstream press. Although herself a Republican conservative, Cheney avoids [[partisanship]] in her presentation." [http://www.amazon.com/Telling-Truth-Lynne-V-Cheney/dp/0684825341/ref=pd_bbs_sr_7/103-4840651-8436636?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1174945780&sr=8-7]

Lynne Cheney is the author of ''Sisters''. [http://www.amazon.com/Sisters-Lynne-Cheney/dp/0451112040/ref=pd_bbs_sr_2/002-8665664-8629640?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1175654513&sr=1-2]

[[Category:Book]]

Ten Commandments

2007-03-27T12:51:20Z

Malchus:

The '''Ten Commandments,''' or the ''Decalogue,'' is a set of laws which, according to the [[Bible]], Moses said were given to him by God.

There are two versions, generally similar but somewhat different in wording: Exodus 20:3-17 and Deuteronomy 5:6-21. The version in Deuteronomy adds the detail of Moses saying that God "delivered unto me two tables of stone written with the finger of God. (KJV)"

The Bible itself refers to there being "''ten'' commandments" in Exodus 34:28 and Deuteronomy 4:13, but it is not clear how to parcel out the fifteen or sixteen verses into ten commandments, and different religious groups have done this in different ways. For example, "Thou shalt have no other gods before me" and "Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image" (KJV - see below) are sometimes considered to be two different commandments and sometimes as two parts of the same commandment.

[[Protestant]]s assign the Fifth Commandment to "honor thy father and thy mother," but in [[Catholic]] texts this is the Fourth Commandment.<ref>An atheistic website provides an interesting comparison among faiths with respect to the Ten Commandments, and many sources: http://www.positiveatheism.org/crt/whichcom.htm</ref> The Jewish tradition is to call that requirement the Fifth Commandment.

However, as Jews also recognize, the ''Torah'', or Law (the first five books of the Old Testament) actually contains not ten, but 613 positive and negative commandments. Thus, when Jesus is asked (at Matthew 22:34-36) which is the greatest commandment in the Law, he picks two of the other 603: 'You shall love the Lord thy God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength' (Deuteronomy 6:5) and 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself' (Leviticus 19:18).

== King James Version (KJV) ==

#I am the LORD thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. Thou shalt have no other gods before me.
#Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth: Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me; And shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments.
#Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain; for the LORD will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain.
#Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work: But the seventh day is the sabbath of the LORD thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates: For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it.
#Honor thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee.
#Thou shalt not kill. [Hebrew ''ratsach'', to kill, slay, murder]
#Thou shalt not commit [[adultery]].
#Thou shalt not steal.
#Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor.
#Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that is thy neighbor's.

==The Ten Commandments in US law==

In several controversies over the legality of displaying the Ten Commandments on government property, and especially outside courthouses, the influence of the Ten Commandments on US law becomes relevant as proponents of the displays argue that these commandments form part of the foundation of the US legal system.

1. This is not only unmentioned in US law, but is specifically opposed by the First Amendment to the Constitution itself. Any attempt to impose the belief or non-belief in a particular God by legal means is strictly prohibited.

2. In a similar way, the first amendment, by protecting freedom of speech, explicitly forbids any legal means of enforcing the second commandment - which is itself a restriction on speech.

3. Nothing in current state or federal law specifically prohibits the taking in vain of God's name in general, but it may be in violation of broadcast decency laws if shown on television or radio.

4. Past state laws have enforced the sabbath by forbidding various activities, such as the sale of specific goods, on Sundays. These, however, are all now repealed or struck down. Closure of shops on Sundays is by convention, but not legally enforced.

5. No law enforces this commandment. It is doubtful that it could be enforced.

6. This commandment is very clearly enforced by US law, but in some US-states the death penalty is not prohibited. However, as this prohibition has arisen in many diverse religions and legal system, it is highly probable it would have been included regardless of its mention in the ten commandments.

7. Adultery is not a criminal offense, but it will influence civil divorce proceedings and affect the distribution of assets. Jesus clarified the definition of adultery, for instance in Matthew 8:27-32, to include remarriage after divorce in most cases. Until recently, most states other than Nevada outlawed divorce for this reason. Today most states and many Christian denominations define adultery in a narrow way to allow remarriage after divorce, contrary to Jesus' law. Many Christians believe that this commandment, which forbids adultery ("voluntary sexual intercourse by a married man with another than his wife or by a married woman with another than her husband" [Webster's New International Dictionary of the English Language, Second Edition, Unabridged, 1934]), also forbids fornication ("illicit sexual intercourse on the part of an unmarried person; the act of such illicit sexual intercourse between a man and a woman as does not by law amount to adultery" [op. cit.]).

8. As with 6.

9. As with 6. This law is required for any functioning legal system.

10. As a prohibition on a form of thought, this cannot possibly be enforced by legal means.

==The movie==
''The Ten Commandments'' is also the title of a famous 1956 motion picture, produced and directed by [[Cecil B. DeMille]] and starring [[Charlton Heston]] as Moses. It tells the story of Moses essentially as told in the Book of Exodus, with a few changes.

As publicity for the film, and in conjunction with a project of the [[Fraternal Order of Eagles]], Paramount helped finance the placement of hundreds of stone tablets engraved with the Ten Commandments. These were placed at courthouse squares, at city halls and in public parks, and became a center of controversy, particularly in recent years, as to whether they violate the separation of Church and State<ref>''Ten Commandments Monoliths'', from the March 2002 issue of ''Eagle Magazine''[http://www.foe.com/tencommandments/]mar_2002_ten_commandments.html</ref> In recent years, liberal attorneys and judges have opposed the display of the Ten Commandments on public property by exploiting the judicial system.

==References==
<references/>

[[Category:Bible]]
[[Category:Religion]]

Atheism

2007-03-13T04:02:34Z

Malchus: /* Origins */

Atheism is disbelief in, or denial of, the existence of a [[God|god]] or gods, or any supernatural entity.

Some Atheists are tied with [[Secular Humanism]]. Popularly-known Atheists include [[Stephen Hawking]], [[Albert Einstein]], [[Stephen Jay Gould]], [[Carl Sagan]], [[Richard Dawkins]], [[William Borden]] and [[Sam Harris]].

== Atheist morality ==

Many atheists base their [[moral code]] upon [[emotion]], [[experience]] and empirically derived ethics, such as those promoted by secular humanism. Atheists hold that neither the [[Bible]], nor the [[Koran]], nor the [[Torah]], nor any religious text can be our only source of morality. This claim is made as all religious texts contain, and often ascribe to God, extremely immoral acts such as the Israelites driving out heathen nations from Canaan (i.e. [[ethnic cleansing]]), the stoning of homosexuals and adulterers to death, and the institution of slavery.

Atheists often subscribe to the secular humanist idea that it is far more ethical to do what is right because you believe that it is right, rather than because you fear divine punishment or desire divine reward. One example is illustrated in the following quote from [[Albert Einstein]]:

:“A man’s ethical behavior should be based effectually on sympathy, education, and social ties and needs; no religious basis is necessary. Man would indeed be in a poor way if he had to be restrained by fear of punishment and hope of reward after death”.

A modern example is the absurdity with which we view Islamic suicide bombers acting on a desire for 72 virgins in the afterlife. Atheism condemns this desire, along with other religious desires for exclusive reward (and the punishment of others) such as are found in all religious texts.

== Origins ==

It is difficult to trace the origins of atheism as a result of the incomplete historic record. It is known that ancient Greece produced a theory of materialism as early as the 5th century BCE. The materialist world view was essentially mathematical and had no room for gods{{fact}}.

The writer of the Book of Psalms knew of atheists and atheism and registered disapproval in Psalm 14: "The Fool hath said in his heart, There is no God."

== The Problem of Evil==

A central argument against religious belief in all powerful entities ('gods') is the problem of evil. First identified by the philosopher and materialist Epicurus (341-270 BCE), this problem points out the difficulty created by the mere existence of evil:

:Is God willing to prevent evil, but not able? Then he is not omnipotent.
:Is he able, but not willing? then he is malevolent.
:Is he both able and willing? Then whence cometh evil?
:Is he neither able nor willing? Then why call him God?

A number of responses to this logical paradox have been put forth including those which assert human ignorance as the culprit, the concept of free will and the specific writings in some faiths which discuss the co-existence of good and evil (such as the book of Job in the Christian and Jewish faiths).[http://www.iep.utm.edu/e/evil-log.htm]

== Atheism and Agnosticism ==

Atheism and agnosticism are logically distinct concepts. Whilst atheist reject the existence of a god or gods, agnostics do not do so. [[Richard Dawkins]] has contrasted the two positions as follows:

:“There may be fairies at the bottom of the garden. There is no evidence for it, but you can’t prove that there aren’t any, so shouldn’t we be agnostic with respect to fairies?”.

==References==

<references/>

[[Category:Religion]]