My Ideas About Biblical Creation

I have a different point of view about creation. I learned Christianity and science together from youth, so I have never been conflicted about it. The reformation pioneer John Calvin believed people should interpret the Bible for-themselves, and that the Holy Spirit would lead them to the truth. So with that in mind my interpretation of the book of Genesis is that it is consistent generally with evolution parameters.

 It is traditional to interpret the Bible in a mostly pre-scientific era paradigm and that had nothing about modern cosmological paradigms in it, however the Bible wasn't structured such that it has parameters that are not generally permissive of an evolution paradigm under God. 

That being said, God is omnipotent, so he can 'evolve' the entire world in a second. For God, time is as a material object of no resistance. Remember that God is omniscient and omnipotent- all things including Universes exist in his mind and are actualized for-others including humans in ways that are ponderable for others yet foreknown to God. He could create an entire Universe in virtually no spatial area that would seem as vast as this one does. I wrote about some of that and made a free to download book about it.

 My ideas about the topic. http://www.lulu.com/shop/garrison-clifford-gibson/god-cosmology-and-nothingness-theory-and-theology-in-a-scientific-era/ebook/product-23976366.html

Yes Good Manners are Important

Good manners are behavior patterns that respect social boundaries similar to private property and the advantages and opportunities afforded by ownership. Respecting the private space of others allows individual pursuit of self-interests including business, invention and personal affairs.

On the other hand loutish, rude, brutal oafishness including but not limited to body slamming, verbal abuse, spitting on carpets, leaning on people in elevators, talking at a very loud volume on boring or offensive topics in public spaces where quiet is valued, taking the last five packages of sugar for a coffee in a work break room instead of just one, etc, tend to trim private pursuits of others.

An Interesting Hyperloop Video Primer

U.S. Public Debt and Economic Expansion

My thoughts on the question of U.S. public debt being a driver of national economic growth are philosophical rather than economic-technical. A trillion dollar infrastructure program here and there added to debt and economic growth together. Highway bills and defense spending that together add up to trillions drive growth- perhaps in the wrong direction partly. Meanwhile jobs were outsourced to China negating national economic growth. Taxes were cut on the rich to let them have more money to invest overseas. Some unskilled jobs were created domestically- or semi-skilled as a national sop an alibi for the tax cuts.

Student loans added to national debt yet added more college graduates with vast debt so they could pay interest to the big banks and borrow money for first homes helping the most rich to have more money to invest in China and stimulate the economy of China. That enables increased Chinese defense spending enabling increased U.S. defense spending and economic expansion in U.S. weapons manufacturing states.

Lower national unemployment attracts millions of illegal aliens (maybe 2 million annually) to surge into low-paying U.S. helping keep wages down while enabling increased economic expansion of dirty industries ecologically speaking. That is all good for corporate profits and income for the most rich. Externalities included environmental costs and mass extinction of wildlife, decayed habitat and deferred restoration and clean-up costs of trillions and trillions.

So I guess U.S. public debt helps and harms economic development simultaneously (sometimes inflation of costs and deflation of wages need occur to assure increased income for the most rich).

States Abortion Laws Concern States

Citizens of any given state theoretically should be right to make state laws that aren't in contradiction of federal laws.  Sometimes federal laws are reformed by state's challenges to federal law such that federal law moves to agreement with a particular state's law.

 The United States was formed with a large measure of the Protestant reformation sentiments about reading the Bible for oneself and the right to interpret it for-oneself instead of a government sanctioned or religious authority. There has since been a dynamic tension between those that prioritize individual liberty over autocratic government or religious power that monopolizes politics or religious matters. Alabama and other states have the right to be free from the monopolistic power of a global broadcast media that disapproves of the free choices of states and state's legislatures.

https://www.apnews.com/7a47ddc761dc4b72a017b0836da3a87b

There are of course some transcendent human principles that need be defended universally- such as individual freedom from being enslaved, yet the right to privacy permits abortion, the free for individuals in a free government to ban abortion is a universal public right that need be tolerated. Those that seek abortions and live in a state that has banned that are free to relocate to a godless atheist state where murdering the unborn is swell. The freedom for individuals to move from political conditions they regard as intolerable is another universal right.

States have the right to prevent citizens from murdering one another or the unborn. The presumption of a right to exist for the born and unborn is a logical and moral requisite.

The dynamic tension between individual rights and universal rights sometimes is eclipsed when the vast majority of individuals support the universal principle. They are then in agreement with the Kantian categorical imperative which is something like the golden rule. States right are an expression of individual rights at the public level. They are a defense against the automatic oppression of universal monopoly of power over individuals by corrupt forms of government such as are expressed in communism, socialism and monarchy.

Concerning the Lost

If anyone believed the Bible to be an 'absolute' lie, or a simple lie, it would be necessary to discover why they believed that and what that meant to them, for if false belief has no logical basis then one is conversing with someone that is logic challenged. Even so John Calvin believed that the conscience is provided by God to everyone and is a reminder of what God wants people to be; perfected as He intended. 

Jesus Christ helps with that. It may be though that some are destined to be lost and other saved (the elect), so though know one except God knows who those people are (Paul might have appeared to be lost to some Christians before conversion - although the Jewish dispensation in the Christian era is not too easy to understand always)), the challenges of explaining to the lost why they should be saved would be accomplished with scripture from memory and the Holy Spirit.

Democrat's Impeachment Chat is Just War-Through-Other-Means Politics

The Democrats since the Obama administration have been playing Clauswitzian politics regarding that trade as war through other means. That is, they have tried to force their will upon others to the maximum extent of their ability to do so. They war on Republicans and the President so far as they can. So the impeachment chat is just the next available step after the failure of the Mueller Inquiry to find anything substantive.

https://www.npr.org/2019/05/01/718710736/poll-most-democrats-back-impeachment-hearings-a-move-thats-unpopular-overall

Some Lunar Landers Could Be Designed to Remain There as Shelters

Some lunar landers could be designed to remain on the moon as shelters and living or work modules. The lander legs might be designed like jack-up oil rigs and retract to lower the module to the ground. It should be possible to let the landers have some sort of track vehicle movement capability so they could adjust their position to a building site close to the landing pad.

Another way to move the landers into position could be with a tow chain fixed to an anchor. Then the landers would need have only built in rollers or wheels rather than mechanical power for-themselves. Of course the mechanical power units if built in to the landers could also be removable and when detached from the landers after moving the landers, be retasked as motors for work at the station- perhaps in manufacturing or extracting materials for building materials.

Central Peak in Copernicus Crater- N.A.S.A. image

N.A.S.A. Should Place an Observatory on Ultima Thule

Ultima Thule is about the most distant object in the solar system that has been accessed by electronic explorers. It should receive an ensemble of optical, infrared and radio telescopes of modest size to observe the solar system inward and outwardly as early warning sentinels, scientific measurement outposts and communications relay stations. One might even place a reflecting dish for lasers on it. In theory that infrastructure could be placed with two or three landers and pay dividends for decades.

https://heavy.com/news/2019/05/ultima-thule/

N.A.S.A. image of Ultima Thule

Rousseau on the Protestant Reformation

There have been a few good translations of Jean-Jacques Rousseau's last publications. They were published 1752-1764 and are Letters to Beaumont and Letters Written from the Mountain. Rousseau had some succinct sketches of the reformation history. Interestingly the reformers were then regarded as humanists. It is not too surprising that he knew Calvinism and the history having been born in Geneva.

A 2001 book (there is also a 2013 work in print) has a good, plain English translation. One may of course view the original 1764 text on line at the Princeton library among other sources. 

Examples of Rousseau's thought from the book page 154-157 (following) illustrate the continuing relevance of Rousseau's summary of the ideas of Protestant reformers, and their concept of independence and self-reliance for interpreting the scriptures rather than an ecclesiastical or government authority. Compulsory state monopoly on spiritual or even political reasoning can be a problem in authoritarian and theocratic governments including socialism and communism.

Jean-Jacques ROUSSEAU author, Letter to Beaumont, Letters Written from the Mountain, and Related Writings, C. Kelly and E.G. Grace editors. 2001

https://www.barnesandnoble.com/reviews/letter-to-beaumont-letters-written-from-the-mountain-and-related-writings-jean-jacques-rousseau/1101165266?ean=9781611682854
  
"When the Reformers separated from the Roman Church they accused it of error; and in order to correct that error at its source, they gave to Scripture a different meaning than the one the Church gave it. They were asked by what authority they thus deviated from the accepted doctrine? They said that it was by their own authority, by that of their reason. They said that since the meaning of Bible was intelligible and clear to all men in what concerned salvation, each was a competent judge of doctrine and could interpret the Bible, which was its rule, in accordance with his individual mind; that all would agree this way about the essential things, and that those upon which they could not agree were not at all essential.

Thus the individual mind is established as the sole interpreter of Scripture; thus the authority of the Church is rejected; thus each is put under his own jurisdiction for doctrine. Such are the two fundamental points of the Reform: to acknowledge the Bible as rule of one’s belief, and not to admit any other interpreter of the meaning of the Bible than oneself. Combined, these two points form the principle on which the Reformed Christians separated from the Roman Church, and they could not do not any less without falling into contradiction; for what interpretive authority could they have reserved for themselves, after having rejected that of the body of the Church?

But, it will be said, how could the Protestants have been able to unite based on such a principle? Wanting each to have his manner of thinking, how did they constitute a body against the Catholic Church? They had to do it: they united in this, that all acknowledged each of them as competent judge for himself. They tolerated and they ought to tolerate all interpretation except one, namely that which removes liberty of interpretation. Now that single interpretation which they rejected was that of the Catholics. Thus they had to proscribe in concert Rome alone, which equally proscribed all of them. The very diversity of their manners of thinking about all the rest was the common bond that united them. It was so many small States leagued against a great Power, and the general confederation of which removed nothing from the independence of each.

      The Protestant Religion is tolerant by principle; it is tolerant essentially; it is as much so as it is possible to be, since the only dogma it does not tolerate is that of intolerance. That is the insurmountable barrier that separates us from the Catholics and unites the other communions among themselves. Each one indeed views the others as being in error. But none views or ought to view that error as an obstacle to salvation."

Locke and Calvin- What Intellectual Relation?

I will give it a try.

The idea that Locke might have been much influenced by Calvin is interesting. I tend to regard the British philosophical evolution of empiricism and utilitarianism following as forming informed by Continental intellectual developments yet substantially separate. In my opinion 18th century British philosophers preponderantly developed from a Magna Carta (1215) tree-diagram outgrowth and increasing democratic rationalization for liberalism (meaning in this case liberty from absolute power or rule by Monarchs and royalty). Though many Brits of the day were protestants and informed by movements of reformed theology of which Calvin was one of the foremost, the British philosophical trend was toward empirical observation and consideration of that which is, while Calvin's deontological interpretation of scripture was occupationally of a different character.

https://courses.lumenlearning.com/suny-hccc-worldhistory/chapter/louis-xiv-and-the-huguenots/

Christian theologians and philosophers of the reformed church did exist in a day where the separation of Church and state in Europe was amorphous at best. Royals in Britain seemed to tolerate empirical researches in philosophy and science without considering the information threatening to them politically for good reason. Continental neo-theocracy was more complex, as were the economic systems in Europe with royals only very reluctantly relinquishing any sort of right to rule. It is a great irony that Giordano Bruno attended Calvin's Academy in Geneva only later to be burned at the order of the Pope in Italy. Papal relations were more bound up with secular neo-theocratic power held by the royal houses. Britain's King James in 1603 had put down Papal religious monopoly in Britain. While Calvin and continental reformers of the church had their own issues with the Catholic Church, philosophically the development was different- and philosophers need be careful and with different considerations regarding economics than those of Britain- a nation with a far-flung materialistic empire.

Germany's great philosophical renaissance of the 18th century with Kant and Hegel (and into the 19th) with others followed German independence from the Catholic Hapsburg power to monopolize and only tolerate parsimoniously, independent philosophical researches.

Collapsology and Neo-Smartologists

With Democracy ostensibly blessed with free political choice the future is malleable and non-deterministic. There are fundamentalist collapsologists of all faiths and faithlessnesses I would guess, including pre-trib Christians. As a neo-Calvinist, Gentryist post-tribber, post-Darwinian and quantum metatheoretical transcendence optimist American my opinion is that the future can be shaped toward the optimal with intelligence rightly applied. That may appear to be lacking in politicians generally, yet one can’t have everything.

collapsology

It should be possible to stop population growth on Earth and restore the ecosphere to health, transition the economy to an ecologically long-term, sustainable footing and halt and reverse the 6th planetary mass extinction caused by human destruction of habitat. The first world is already entered into the post-industrial evolution though upgrading materials science and production as well as, unfortunately, outsourcing some dirty industries to countries like China.

It is always possible to select dystopian economic industrial and residential ensembles politically. Escapism such as unlimited space expansion hypothetically avoids the clear and present challenges on Earth. The solar system should have no more than maybe five billion souls living off-Earth anywhere in reasonably healthy places with Earth-like gravity norms. The resources of the solar system should not be relocated in mass or consumed as fast as bacterial-like growth rates can allow.

There are not religious or political reasons why the people of Earth cannot recover the ecosphere and manage it well in a non-bacterial way as God probably intended. Well, if there is a reason it is just plain, pervasive social and political stupidity.

* I disclaim being a neo-smartologist that regard humanity, except for oneself, as generally stupid. Is there enough oxygen in the atmosphere still?

Diafron and Cosmology - reading from 'Pieces of Eight'

                   I read a passage from my science fiction work.

AOC and The Dirty Dozen

I heard AOC say recently on a news sound bite (less than a paraphrase) that the 12 year number wasn’t to be taken literally. It was comparable to a Biblical comment like ‘the sheep in my flock here my voice’- not to be taken literally (that is- the saved Christians aren’t really sheep in the way that a cruel heat wave is not really a hater).

The 12 years was used to symbolize the urgency of correcting Earth ecosphere or atmospheric issues in particular that need be fixed directly or things will get much worse. They say that there is more carbon dioxide in the atmosphere than at anytime in the past 3.5 million years (415 p.p.m.), and the number is steadily rising.

Washington Gov. Inslee Seems Like Democrat's Adult Supervision Candidate

Washington State Governor Jay Inslee boosted his campaign for the Democratic nomination for President of the United States with the announcement of an eight or nine trillion dollar program to move the United States toward a non-carbon emitting infrastructure. With his qualifications and a reasonable plan (maybe the most practical so far) to create a low-carbon transportation infrastructure footprint the candidate seems like the adult supervision in a room full of pretenders.

https://thinkprogress.org/inslee-2020-campaign-climate-plan-labor-workers-jobs/

It may well be that additional programs could appear that get more bang for the buck regarding efficiency of tax dollars vs quality results of movement to zero-carbon transportation and ecological economic transition that restores ecosphere. Washington State has sales and income taxes so high that living there is fairly undesirable. It would be better to pass zoning and regulatory laws that compel low carbon ecological economics and ecospheric restoration and not increase the Federal budget. Democrats apparently haven't any such rational ideas like that in their heads.

Outlaw Forced Innoculations

Science has clearly proven the value of vaccines against illness, viruses etc. Even so it is important to prevent the government from being able to force vaccination on any citizen. The reason is plain and simple; governments cannot be trusted with one's life.

https://www.sciencealert.com/scientists-redesign-e-coli-s-genome-to-create-the-most-synthetic-life-form-yet

Vaccines can be used to kill as well as heal. In the age of designer D.N.A. and viral recombinant engineering the ability for the 1% or government co-conspirators to vaccinate people with mal-ware lethal viruses or viruses that modify behavior for the benefit of the richest is always an Existential or perhaps Utilitarian, Zoroastrian, Taoist, Hedonist, Zarathustran, Consequentialist or Empirical threat.

https://www.wsj.com/articles/no-religious-exemptions-from-vaccines-11557875456

When government can force all of the public that are poor or middle class to receive a vaccine for the strange news disease then the temptation to accomplish population reduction will challenge select government and wealthiest insider lunatics to act. The danger to the pubic is too great to ignore.

America Isn't In Danger of Being or Collapsing as an Empire

The United States is supposed to be a Republic rather than a nation with an imperial government such as own empires. One might find that communist governments own empires sometimes- China annexed Tibet and the former Soviet Union wrought power grabs wheresoever it could. In that case the Communist Party simply annexed the new lands and made them part of the nation. The enhanced nation had different classes of state units and representation.

The United States could have had an empire if it had kept the Philippines after winning it in a war from Spain. Instead that colony was gotten rid of- granted independence after just 36 years. ref https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tydings%E2%80%93McDuffie_Act

What would end in the United States would be a Republican form of government. That could happen. Eliminating the electoral college would allow dopified densely populated urban proles under the daily hate supervision of party and media corporate marionettes to yes-vote every politically correct item. It would be called democracy, although in fact it would be some kind of corporatism-socialist nominalism under an elite cadre of plutocrat directors.

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-05-16/steel-rabbit-by-koons-sells-for-record-91-million-at-auction

The most interesting fin de siè·cle trend I have noted is the movement toward outsourcing jobs offshore while neglecting national financial competence in management (23 trillion of public debt) and letting infrastructure rot. There are additional challenges; failure to reinforce public college education for all with free tuition in order to remain competitive internationally is rivaled by needs to secure boundaries against illegal entry, resurrect ecospheric health and so forth.  Those are serious challenges yet not greater than successful nations have overcome in the past.

The general social abandonment of traditional moral values is a serious danger for that will weaken public competence regarding virtue in political management sand social relations. The threats to the United States arise from elites with global agendas, over-the-border illegal aliens by the millions, and the corrupted Democrat Party without substantively high-quality leaders.