Sunday, April 19, 2009

What Do Atheists Know That We Don't?

There are various shades of atheism, and to define it as a denial of the existence of God would be too simplistic. Free-thinkers, for instance, center their belief that the forces at work in the universe move in accordance within established systematic principles, all of which must still bear close scrutiny under laboratory conditions in order to determine theoretical authenticity. Cause and Effect The cause-and-effect paradigm is a fundamental scientific and mathematical precept. Evidences can be cited to support the case that asteroids, meteors, comets, quasars, pulsars, planets and their satellites came into existence as a result of an explosion of intergalactic proportions. And that a Black Hole is not a hole in the usual sense but a field of tremendously dense gravitational mass produced by a supernova, a star whose self-generating heat has reached critical point and literally incinerated itself. The question is, why? A delightful story about one of the world’s foremost scientific thinkers comes to mind. As told by Christian writer Richard De Haan, “Sir Isaac Newton made a working model of our solar system. At its center was a large olden ball representing the sun, and revolving around it were the planets, smaller spheres attached at the ends of rods at varying length.” Then an atheist dropped by for a visit and marveled, “My, what an exquisite thing! Who made it?” Newton, without looking up, answered, “Nobody!” The friend was startled. And Newton continued, “That’s right! These balls and cogs and belts and gears just happened to come together! And by chance they began revolving in their orbits with perfect timing!” Science is a field where man’s ingenuity has changed the world. This gives an interesting paradox: On one hand, the timeless conflict of science and religion over Adam and Apes, and on the other, almost all the men and women who made this world a better place, from Pasteur to Leeuwenhook, Edison to Graham Bell – believe in God. To enter God into the equation would be to accept the sovereign power of the One who created the universe and everything that’s in it and all the laws governing them, and to acknowledge realms of reality beyond the limits of empirical knowledge. Scientific achievements “bring fulfillment and a great deal of reverence,” according to Edward Kolb Of Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory. “This brings too, a humbling,” added Newsweek. “For science may never understand why the generative laws are what they are – nor how they were created.” Modern technology enables us to perform tasks that would have been miraculous a century ago. It is doubtful that even the Wright Brothers have imagined airplanes with enough weaponry to demolish entire cities. And while it is ridiculous that today’s children are growing up with the attention span of sound-bytes brought about by information overload, it is even more unbelievable how some atheists have worshipped Science as a god and regard theories as absolute. Ideal Springboard The pyramids of Egypt would be an ideal springboard to expound on that particular line of thought. Let’s start with the Great Pyramid at Cheops. As of today, it is supposed to be 4,499 years old. That’s according to scientists. Now, the Mediterranean Sea rose up because of glaciers melting in the north more than 12,000 years ago. History records it as Egypt’s last great flood. Halfway up the sides of the Great Pyramid, traces of sea salt were found. It shows that it was built even before the flood. That’s also according to scientists. It is widely believed that wooden rollers were used to move the blocks from the quarry 800 kilometers away. According to archeologists, each block was approximately 2 tons. The Great Pyramid alone has 2,595,632 blocks. And also according to archeologists, the only wood in Egypt during that time were date palms, soft tropical trees that sway majestically from the Nile Breeze. How on earth does one explain this? The four sides have identical measurements from top to bottom: 9,131 inches. So times four is 36,524. It just so happens that our planet circles the sun in exactly 365.24 days. Coincidence? Here’s another one. The exact height of the pyramid is the average height of land above sea level all over the earth. That’s 5,449 inches. Multiplying that to a thousand million would equal the distance of the sun to the earth. It is 136 meters high and covers 13.6 acres of ground. It commonly accepted that the Great Pyramid of Cheops is supposed to have been built in 20 years. It is equally accepted that the only way to do that is to lay a 2-ton block every two minutes working 24/7 – absolutely non-stop – for 20 years. Here are more scientifically established (albeit unexplained) facts. It is built at the exact center of the earth’s water and land mass. If you draw quadrants with the pyramid as the point of origin, the amount of land and water in the planet will be divided equally in four. Each of the four sides are curved slightly inward. The concave curvature is exactly the same as the earth’s. The builder is said to be Pharaoh Khufu (c.2634-2494). However, unearthed hieroglyphics assert authoritatively that it was already in existence in his reign. Incidentally, the white cement holding the giant blocks is still intact up to this day. The placement is such that even the point of a knife cannot be inserted. A Superior Civilization The idea of symmetry is not only appealing on the intellectual level but also gives a certain sense of security in a world of constant flux. “The geometry of the ancient temples and pyramids is purely harmonic,” according to Kent Weeks, leading Egyptologist at the American University in Cairo. “The monuments’ proportion epitomized a world of order. They used the same mathematical relationships as music, and like music, evoked emotions that are easily felt but hard to describe.” Naturally, scientific theories abound. And of course, one has to do with aliens. A superior civilization, whether terrestrial or not, building the pyramids? This idea has intrigued and fascinated the scientific community more than they would care to admit. Let us pursue this interesting line of inquiry. According to Joseph Jochman in Time Capsule: The Search for the Lost Legend of Records, “Each of the three pyramids at Giza was the tomb of an Egyptian pharaoh, the largest pyramid for the pharaoh who lived first, and the smallest pyramid for the pharaoh who lived last. If the pharaohs built the pyramids, why would each of them build a pyramid smaller than the one before? Wouldn’t each pharaoh build a pyramid larger than the previous pyramid?” The Question Remains Let us suspend disbelief for a moment. Let us suppose the pyramids were already there even before Ramses. It is only natural for a ruler to want to be interred in a shrine or a monument – it’s called delusions of grandeur. So the first pharaoh arranged to be buried at the most imposing edifice. The second had no choice but to settle for the next largest and so on. Sound logic. So the question remains: If these ancient sun worshippers were actually the ones who built those spooky cones, why would the second pharaoh construct a smaller one? And the next one, even smaller? Cost cutting? Maybe there was a recession because of an ancient budget deficit. And since free-thinkers seem to know everything, they probably have all the answers. Photo courtesy of ScrapeTV. This story originally appeared in Philippine Panorama, January 7, 2007 Your comments and links arer welcome

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