Society & Culture - 23 December 2006

If we found life on other planets would you see that (as a religious person whether you are christian or not) as a beacon of hope or the downfall of the foundations of religion since they dont coincide together?

2006-12-23 16:19:31 · 12 answers · asked by Anonymous in Religion & Spirituality

Origins of the name "Easter":
The name "Easter" originated with the names of an ancient Goddess and God. The Venerable Bede, (672-735 CE.) a Christian scholar, first asserted in his book De Ratione Temporum that Easter was named after Eostre (a.k.a. Eastre). She was the Great Mother Goddess of the Saxon people in Northern Europe. Similarly, the "Teutonic dawn goddess of fertility [was] known variously as Ostare, Ostara, Ostern, Eostra, Eostre, Eostur, Eastra, Eastur, Austron and Ausos." 1 Her name was derived from the ancient word for spring: "eastre." Similar Goddesses were known by other names in ancient cultures around the Mediterranean, and were celebrated in the springtime. Some were:

Aphrodite from ancient Cyprus
Ashtoreth from ancient Israel
Astarté from ancient Greece
Demeter from Mycenae
Hathor from ancient Egypt
Ishtar from Assyria
Kali, from India
Ostara a Norse Goddess of fertility.

An alternative explanation has been suggested. The name given by the Frankish church to Jesus' resurrection festival included the Latin word "alba" which means "white." (This was a reference to the white robes that were worn during the festival.) "Alba" also has a second meaning: "sunrise." When the name of the festival was translated into German, the "sunrise" meaning was selected in error. This became "ostern" in German. Ostern has been proposed as the origin of the word "Easter". 2

There are two popular beliefs about the origin of the English word "Sunday." It is derived from the name of the Scandinavian sun Goddess Sunna (a.k.a. Sunne, Frau Sonne). 5,6
It is derived from "Sol," the Roman God of the Sun." Their phrase "Dies Solis" means "day of the Sun." The Christian saint Jerome (d. 420) commented "If it is called the day of the sun by the pagans, we willingly accept this name, for on this day the Light of the world arose, on this day the Sun of Justice shone forth." 7

2006-12-23 16:19:27 · 11 answers · asked by Anonymous in Religion & Spirituality

what should I get my brother, who has and can get anything he wants! I need a cool idea, a gift, and where i can buy the gift, please help me, I only have 1 more day!

2006-12-23 16:18:41 · 12 answers · asked by Hannah A 1 in Valentine's Day

Is saying Jesus' name in vain like saying God's name in vain?

2006-12-23 16:18:29 · 24 answers · asked by Anonymous in Religion & Spirituality

Sow how is it still right??

Darwin said this…

If it could be demonstrated that any complex organ existed which could not possibly have been formed by numerous, successive, slight modifications, my theory would absolutely break down.

OK, using Darwin's own words, let's dig in further and look at one of these complex organs - the human eye…

The human eye is enormously complicated - a perfect and interrelated system of about 40 individual subsystems, including the retina, pupil, iris, cornea, lens and optic nerve. For instance, the retina has approximately 137 million special cells that respond to light and send messages to the brain.

together, they capture, deliver and interpret up to 1.5 million pulse messages a milli-second! It would take dozens of Cray supercomputers programmed perfectly and operating together flawlessly to even get close to performing this task.

Darwin specifically discussing the incredible complexity of the eye in Origin of Species:

To suppose that the eye, with all its inimitable contrivances for adjusting the focus to different distances, for admitting different amounts of light, and for the correction of spherical and chromatic aberration, could have formed by natural selection, seems, I freely confess, absurd in the highest degree possible.

2006-12-23 16:18:27 · 21 answers · asked by ? 4 in Religion & Spirituality

Hello, I am roxanne.
But here is what has happened much yesterday to my suprise.
I need a tree for the miss of christ which is on the twenty fifth. So, i did go into my yard of the neighbors and did cut down a tree which he calls a "palm" and i put it in my room of the living. Why is the neighbor mad, even though i gave him a cake of fruit with the word sorry on it?

2006-12-23 16:18:23 · 5 answers · asked by Valkyrie 4 in Etiquette

I simply asked what the names of Catholic Churches in your area were, and it got deleted. Which of the guidlines did I violate?? It didn't say.

2006-12-23 16:16:09 · 27 answers · asked by musicgirl31♫ 4 in Religion & Spirituality

Does it mean that when people marry they will not earn money as much as before?

2006-12-23 16:15:55 · 8 answers · asked by Ear 3 in Other - Society & Culture

2006-12-23 16:15:27 · 29 answers · asked by http://hogshead.pokerknave.com/ 6 in Etiquette

2006-12-23 16:15:12 · 14 answers · asked by Anonymous in Other - Holidays

2006-12-23 16:15:01 · 3 answers · asked by Ainur 2 in Other - Holidays

If you speak french, tell me what this says.....

http://meyerchabons.net/JoyeuxNoel.jpg

Thanks, I'd appreciate it!

2006-12-23 16:14:13 · 13 answers · asked by Anonymous in Languages

2006-12-23 16:13:52 · 24 answers · asked by Cosmic I 6 in Christmas

(Ahem) Sound similar to a question that atheists are asked every 5 minutes?

2006-12-23 16:12:23 · 21 answers · asked by Haiku Hanna 3 in Religion & Spirituality

if you do...............WHY!!!!!!!

2006-12-23 16:11:12 · 10 answers · asked by Anonymous in Other - Holidays

after surfing this site's questions section i notice alot of people bickering. Your either Christian or atheist and some of those people r being ***** to each other here with some of the things they've said. i notice it myself when i speak with my friends, who r Conservative christians. I being agnostic baffles them and when we get into dicussions on my beliefs one of them usallly(sp) gets anger and starts to insult me. so i ask this question: what Does it take for people to be more tolerant of others beliefs and what should we do to teach tolerance to others?

2006-12-23 16:10:40 · 12 answers · asked by MikeM2.5 1 in Religion & Spirituality

I m going to attend a service tomorrow evening , what do you think I should dress?or what do you usually dress for church event

thanks

2006-12-23 16:10:18 · 8 answers · asked by LB James 3 in Etiquette

Peace and Love

2006-12-23 16:09:42 · 13 answers · asked by digilook 2 in Religion & Spirituality

Hey, does anyone kind of feel weird this Christmas?? I mean im not as excited as i was last year!!!!

2006-12-23 16:08:34 · 11 answers · asked by Adidas soccer15 2 in Christmas

I've noticed a broad discrepency responses from opinion based (much higher #) and knowledge based (much lower #) questions involving politics. Why do you think this is and what does it say about a people that Publius said needed to be "aspiring towards reason (knowledge)" for our federalist system to function?

2006-12-23 16:08:03 · 6 answers · asked by Mark P 5 in Other - Society & Culture

2006-12-23 16:07:53 · 11 answers · asked by anOnymOus 2 in Other - Holidays

happy festivus and merry christmas : ]



which would you rather celebrate?

2006-12-23 16:07:14 · 6 answers · asked by your wonderwall 5 in Other - Holidays

OK I know bra's for women serve a support purpose, but the bottoms for men and women - is this just a trickle down from ancient times (when undergarments would cover the entire body for modesty and tradition), and, as time wore on, the garments (like bathing suits) got smaller, and if so will they be phased out or evolve into something else?

2006-12-23 16:06:54 · 26 answers · asked by icecreamrules 3 in Other - Society & Culture

Christians or not your welcome to answer

2006-12-23 16:04:52 · 30 answers · asked by aram_buck 1 in Religion & Spirituality

Did you try to make your avatar look like you or did you just put something together?

2006-12-23 16:04:47 · 25 answers · asked by Anonymous in Christmas

I'm asking purely out of curiosity so please don't go on a rampage.

2006-12-23 16:04:26 · 44 answers · asked by Anonymous in Religion & Spirituality

I finally got to see the movie tonight. These are issues that have been on my mind for some time now and I am implenting changes in my life where I can. I hope it is on everyone's mind too. Doesn't matter if you're Christian, Jew, Athiest, Agnostic. We all have a responsibility.

If you haven't seen it....watch it!

Everyones thoughts?

2006-12-23 16:04:11 · 10 answers · asked by motherbear 3 in Religion & Spirituality

Why does it seem like most black people are crazy and can snap at any moment? They're so loud and in-your-face.

2006-12-23 16:03:49 · 16 answers · asked by Kyle S 1 in Other - Society & Culture

I don't want anything organized, and nothing Christan.

2006-12-23 16:03:38 · 28 answers · asked by danizduhman 1 in Religion & Spirituality

plz. it seems interesting, i'm bored, and if i pick you or whatever you get 10 points.

2006-12-23 16:02:07 · 20 answers · asked by R ♥ I ♥ P ♥ Casey Calvert 3 in Languages