<p>I am now sitting here, with most of my mouth numb and the rest of it in complete pain. I have three holes gaping in the back of my mouth, due to three wisdom teeth that weren't supposed to fit in my mouth. And you mean to tell me that I was designed in my present form by some sort of designer?</p>
<p>lol. I wonder if that's you talking, or those painkillers. Either way, I agree. And don't worry about those gaping holes. This too, shall pass.</p>
<p>Easy on the pills.....:)</p>
<p>One can only hope. And pray to that wretch who supposedly gave me extra teeth... Damn you, YHWH...</p>
<p>(The jist is probably me, the blasphemy is most likely the painkillers.)</p>
<p>Dude, I don't think you should be posting things like that. It's disrespectful. And as a former atheist who had to go through years of eating disorders and depression to discover what a mistake that was, I pray you don't fall into the same trap.</p>
<p>I have no problem with God if evolution is right (which it is). But for those who say that God designed humans like this... What a cruel, cruel God they have.</p>
<p>Pain is a matter of opinion. It's only the nerves sending impulses to your brain (and yes, the nerves are a result of evolution). A cruel, cruel God you say? Who gave us these wonderful bodies and brains and a free country to live in? If you're not into Christianity, that's a basic Zen Buddhist principle too: suffering only exists in the mind.</p>
<p>Yes, I know, easy enough to say, annoying as heck to hear :)</p>
<p>That said, I'm really sorry about your surgery. I had my wisdom teeth out a few years ago and my face puffed out like a blowfish, couldn't eat anything but cold tomato soup for a week. Snapping all over the place, told my Singaporean methodist aunt to go do something I don't think she'd ever heard of :) But seriously, you say God didn't create our bodies because we have wisdom teeth? They aren't particularly pleasant, but....actually, this whole thread seems quite humorous now.</p>
<p>If it helps any, when you have to walk, do it on tiptoe. It doesn't jar as much.</p>
<p>I'm glad you're finding it humourous.... It was half intended that way anyway... Do you beleive in intelligent design? </p>
<p>And I tried the tiptoe thing, but alas! I'm afraid I lack the balance.</p>
<p>No, I do not believe in intelligent design. I'm a Darwinist, 100%. But I'm still a Christian. Maybe more of a Deist. I don't really fit a label. My basic belief centers around the principle that life is worth living, it is valuable and we should respect the one who created the basics of it.</p>
<p>God isn't a tangible being to me. He just represents life, and He saved me from trying to commit suicide. And everything bad that happens contributes to everything good that happens. There's the near and far of my religion.</p>
<p>Have you tried turning the toes outward at 45 degree angles? It gives more support and makes balance easier.</p>
<p>I like people like you, who are Christian but don't renounce science. When it comes to the philisophical underpinnings of your faith, I'm happy that you've found something that works for you. Me? I'm still a seeking agnostic. Maybe one day, either the Angel Gabriel or the Prophet Muhhamud or something will appear and I'll join some sort of religion... But until then, I plead the fifth.</p>
<p>And I don't think I'm flexible enough for the 45 degree angle thing... I tried it, but fell over.</p>
<p>Aw, Roger edited all the life out of my original post. Shucks.</p>
<p>I'm a biology enthusiast. It works both ways: I revere science, and want to find out all I can about the way we work, but I also see how amazing it is that we live at all. That bolsters the religion part. I'm not a Christian Scientist, but I don't understand why people have to keep religion and science at odds all the time. If both sides are reasonable, they support each other in creating good people.</p>
<p>I'd like to see science and religion get along... But science always ends up saying "there is no purpose" and religion always ends up screwing up the science part.</p>
<p>Expecially organized religion. In fact, I don't see much benefit to organized religion. All it does is end up currupting everything. You can't put something as personal as faith into a governmental organization. You end up with crusades. and fatwas. and inquisitions. Ick.</p>
<p>Just to add my $0.02, you can't justify religious faith based on the miracle of human existence. This 'transcendental feeling' of grand awe is what Einstein described as his 'god,' a word for the beauty of the natural universe in all its splendor. This does not however necessitate a creator. </p>
<p>That said, I respect religious people who do two things:</p>
<p>1) Not to take their religious text too literally. Realize that holy writings are primarily symbolic, and god rests within.</p>
<p>2) Those who respect science, respect what the human senses have discovered, and are more after fundamental truth than moral superiority and personal salvation.</p>
<p>Bingo, jerzak. Faith is instilled by God, but the church is created by man. Jesus even rails on that in the Bible. I don't personally go to a church, but if I ever decide to, I refuse to get sucked into the social hierarchy.</p>
<p>Both my parents left the church when they married each other. My Dad's Catholic family loathes my Mom's Methodist family, which I find totally hypocritical because they're both supposed to be Christians who love their bretheren. The problem with organized religion is it becomes an institution to follow blindly, instead of trusting your own philosophy. But I fear that can never be countered, because it is within human nature to crave power and identity within a larger group.</p>
<p>Reply to Knightmare: I think the Bible is more metaphorical than actual. My friends would kill me for saying that. What I mean is, the world may not have been created in six days, Pacific Time. It took billions of years. "Adam and Eve" were austalapithicans (spelling's off, I know). God created the animals and trees and all from the exact same elements we were created from, and that makes it the more wonderful.</p>
<p>My final word is that we can never know for sure. We are trapped within a body and can only absorb and interpret the world through eyes and nerves. God does not have a body, therefore, he does not think. He has higher functions we cannot even fathom. We cannot understand Him because we cannot be anything other than what we are. I don't go for Transcendentalism because that assumes the brain is capable of more than what is scientifically possible. We are not able to recognize pattern, life after death, etc. because we cannot experience it. But we can do our best to make the world we perceive a better place through science, compassion, and love.</p>
<p>"Reply to Knightmare: I think the Bible is more metaphorical than actual. My friends would kill me for saying that. What I mean is, the world may not have been created in six days, Pacific Time. It took billions of years. "Adam and Eve" were austalapithicans (spelling's off, I know). God created the animals and trees and all from the exact same elements we were created from, and that makes it the more wonderful."</p>
<p>That's exactly what I think, and I'm Mormon!</p>
<p>If man evovled from monkeys and apes, then why do we still have monkeys and apes?</p>
<p>Oy, joev. Been a while since you took Biology, eh?</p>
<p>oh i have a great idea. why don't we all just not believe in a creator because bad things like a few days of mouth pain exist! yeah, i mean i could totally overlook the holocaust and the crusades, but a few days of temporary mouth pain that will prevent me from getting a horrible bight and infections? that's too far, G-d!</p>
<p>"If man evovled from monkeys and apes, then why do we still have monkeys and apes?"</p>
<p>Just because I don't like seeing ignorance propogated I will answer this. Nobody claimed that man descended from monkies. They claim that man and modern apes descended from a common ancestor, each maxmized to his own environment. I heard something the other day. Intelligent design does not have an iota of scientific evidence. Think about the word evidence and think of examples of it that support intelligent design. Is a complex structure really "evidence" that points the the existence of a creator, and specifically God? No.</p>
<p>Don't make suffering arguments against the existence of God. Those are old and refutable easily.</p>