You married your relative

So, was the title catchy enough? Time to get back to my more... philosophical (?) posts now. Aren't all my posts though? Nevermind that.

Now, not everyone who will read this has been married. But something we all must realize is that no matter who you marry... you marry your relative. Whether it's your cousin or a stranger from across the globe. There are multiple ways to look at this and explain this, multiple ways to ponder this concept, so I will choose to look at it through the Bible. What else can you expect?

So, Day 6. There were two people. One male, and one female. 6,000 years later, you have over 7 billion people. That's quite the family there! But looking back, I noticed something interesting. In those early days, not only was it acceptable to marry close relatives, but common. As a matter of fact, there were at least two major times in history (creation and the flood) where it was not only common and acceptable to marry close relatives, but necessary as well.

This is a very interesting thought, considering Moses was told by God that close relatives couldn't marry, yet God made two major instances where that was absolutely vital. Now this seems very strange, a contradiction even. Well, what better reason to ponder the subject?

Everything looks different when you consider genetics. If Adam and Eve are our ultimate ancestors, that means all of the genetic material and variability for all of mankind was built into them. Also, since creation was originally "very good", there would be no faults in their DNA. We also now know that information is lost from generation to generation, and errors build up in the DNA.

A simple example I heard is two dogs, each with a gene for long hair and short hair, mate. They produce some puppies with both genes, but some with only long hair genes and others with only short hair genes. The puppies with only one type of gene have lost information and variability.

This is the same thing that happens when humans reproduce. And when you add in the mistakes and genetic diseases, then when two people with similar (imperfect) DNA reproduce, those mistakes compound on each other. However, early in history, with improved health and perfect DNA, these mistakes at first would be nonexistent, and later come about much more slowly.

It would take so long for these mistakes to manifest themself in a dangerous form, that for thousands of years we could intermarry with no problems. And when you look at the timing of things, it makes sense as well. Moses was told that close relatives couldn't marry about 2,000 years (I believe) after the flood. That's a long time for mistakes to build upon each other. When you consider the fact that intermarriage was allowed, and even made necessary, by God early on, and the effects of the fall on genetics, it actually seems to indicate that marrying a cousin or sibling isn't actually wrong morally. At least that's what I get out of it.

But, of course, times have changed. Now it is dangerous for close relatives to reproduce, because of what could happen to the kids. But before these mistakes existed, what reason would there be to keep close relatives from marrying? When we read the Bible, it seems God simply wants marriage to be between one man and one woman (although He also allowed multiple wives for a time... need to ponder that as well), what difference does it make how closely they are related? Assuming no genetics mistakes, of course.

My conclusion after pondering this issue? Well, we all marry our relatives anyway, what difference does it make how closely they're related to us? So I guess that means... incest isn't actually wrong (on a moral level). At least that's what I get out of it. That was really weird to say...

A Break from Silence

It is hard to believe how much has changed in one month, since my last post. There is to much for me to touch on, or even remember, right now. Instead, I will be writing regularly again and you should hear about some of it!

I have been meaning to make another post, but lacked the will to. I kept on waiting for something to happen that I wanted to talk about, and for it to happen at a time where I had lots of spare time to write (while being bored). Well... that time is now! I don't want to play computer games, don't want to eat, am tired from an active weekend, and have something to talk about. Step one to becoming active again.

There has been a recent craze going around about the Hunger Games. A popular book series that has had a movie adaptation. I haven't read the books yet because it would take time from school, but I plan to this summer.

Now, for the reason I mention this. For a reason I couldn't identify at first, the very mention of the Hunger Games stirred up lots of emotions. As I heard the story described, and later saw the movie, I had one of the deepest emotional connections yet. I wasn't completely sure why. Even the cover of the book or mention of the name would do it for me. And there's more to it than the fact that most of the action takes place in a forest. I enjoy forests and trees... but that didn't justify the way I felt when I thought about it.

I believe it is a combination of many different things, but the biggest is the games themselves. The games are a means of public entertainment, pitting kids against other kids. The rules are set up in a way that would potentially allow for an 18 year old male to fight against a 12 year old little girl, for the entertainment of the masses. It is in my nature to protect, especially the weak. That is why I am so emotionally connected to this series, because I want to protect these kids, especially the little girls. But instead, their slaughter is for nothing more than the amusement of the masses (and as punishment for a previous "rebellion").

Were the rules to bring the two champions, the greatest fighters, from each district, I would probably feel different. First off, because of the basic way biology and society works, most, if not all, of the "tributes" would be mature males. There is a reason armies are usually made up of men. However, the rules often force small children who couldn't even survive a night on their own in the wilderness to fight against others who are much older and stronger.

Part of the reason the rules would be set up like this was as a reminder to the twelve districts who is in control, and to make them feel helpless. Seeing their young children slaughtered for entertainment would have quite a heavy effect on people. Especially when that had been done as long as they could remember.

That is the main reason, I believe, why this series sticks out so much to me.

What do you think? Have you read the books or seen the movie? What do you like or not like about it? And why? Comment!

Little steps

I'm gonna be honest. The only reason I'm writing anything right now is because it's part of a checklist I made for myself. Taking little steps to increase discipline. The idea is to make a list of daily things that I try to get done everyday to help improve myself (originally just for physical health, but I added some additional things). Some of the items include at least 1 high fat meal, reading my bible, or writing in something (such as this blog). I will admit, working on a checklist everyday makes me have to up the ante a bit.


I got this idea from Matt Marshall of Tried and True Fitness. This is all for a competition he's hosting, and I am trying to get in shape by midnight of March 31st to try and win. To do so, I must take little steps which build on each other. Similar to my last post, "Lessons from Minecraft (et al)".

This is the information for the contest I am entering: http://www.triedandtruefitness.com/contest/

And taking these little steps of organizing my time by even writing on this blog will help me achieve my goals.

This is the specific picture I am trying to build myself after, at this point

So for now, wish me luck! And maybe you should consider taking a few small steps to improve yourself as well.

Lessons from Minecraft (et. al)

I am sure many of you have heard about the popular online game Minecraft. The game is made out of block graphics and allows the player to take advantage of their imagination (and lack of realistic physics in game). It is a very addictive game... but fortunately I was only absorbed in it for about three days (then Skyrim came, and examples from that can also be used for this post).

What has all this got to do with anything I would want to talk about? Why am I even mentioning this? Well, I noticed something very interesting while playing. Nothing happens at once. The biggest castle, the deepest underground city, the most elaborate maze, none of it is created at once. Sounds obvious? Well, yeah, it is. But there is a significance to this. When you play in "survival" mode on this game, you start with nothing and have to gather all your materials and make all your tools. And step 1 is punching trees to get wood (fortunately that's not a life lesson).

Everything is built gradually. I have had multiple games building a big project: a giant keep, a tree forest, a large wall village, etc. It always works with me starting with a little hut, hunting some animals, and mining a few basic materials.  I gather enough materials for a local farm, start mining deeper, get more materials, explore more, and so one. No major, immediate changes. But then suddenly, I will realize I have the resources to start building a bigger, better house. So I may lay a foundation, then go back and farm some more, then mine some more, come back and build a bit, etc.

If I stand back after several hours of playing and compare what I have done to what it all looked like when I started, there is a major difference. But that difference came through little bits here and there. It reminded me that real life works that same way.

You don't graduate high school in one day. You go there for years, day after day. You don't notice any immediate changes, but when you stop and look back, you see a difference.

When you train, you don't go from a scrawny kid (or fat kid) to a Greek Statue overnight. It takes years of dedication. Doing workouts that improve your body little by little, and eating a diet that improves you bit by bit. Then one day you look back, and realize you have a six pack, or lost 20lbs, or whatever.

And of course the old saying, Rome wasn't built in a day. It was  built over centuries. And as what happens to me in Minecraft, it is never finished. There is always a little more I can do. We should live life the same way. Don't expect major, overnight changes. They happen, but work towards the gradual, steady progression in life. I will be trying to live as such myself. Always remember to continue doing these little things (exercising, studying, writing, etc.), because although I may not notice an immediate difference, over time they will add up. This applies for negative things to. If you eat a large pizza every day it adds up over time.

So just remember, take it steady. This is my lesson from Minecraft, and many other games.

Nothing is Evil

I recently implemented something new. On Facebook I started a group called "

De' Tinker's Thoughts: Facebook Discussion Group", and asked the few members I had which post title they wanted me to write on. Well, the vote is in! So here I go...

Nothing is evil. How could that be? Don't we live in an evil world? Isn't evil all around us? What about the wars, the starvation, the lies, etc?

There is more to the saying then that. Maybe this makes more sense: Nothing was evil in it's original created form; or, nothing was created evil.

Whatever it is, it us us humans who make it evil or commit evil actions. Guns aren't evil, they are just a tool. Yet we use them for evil purposes. Eating meat isn't evil, yet we torture animals unnecessarily to get that meat or we intentionally provide low quality meat for people to eat. Even technology! Technology isn't evil, but as with the gun example, it can be used for evil purposes.

For instance, weather control technology. Some of you may not even believe we have the technology to effect the weather on any noteworthy scale. That's fine if you don't believe, it's up to you. Technology like that doesn't sound evil, does it? Well, it's not, whatever you were thinking. However, evidence suggests that this type of technology is responsible for multiple natural disasters and will also be used for a mass deception in the (near) future, with the intent of setting up a One World Government.

That brings me to another point, a Wold Government. Is that evil? Well, the idea itself isn't. However, the methods used to achieve such a government and the reason for that government are. The Almighty confused the languages of man at the tower of Babel when they created a One World Government, with the intention of being their own god. Mankind has always had that goal in mind, and is trying once again to create a modern "Tower of Babel" situation.

Getting away from the "conspiracy theories", here's another example: sex. These days I hear jokes about how Christianity means "if it's fun, stop doing it". In part this joke is talking about this very issue. The original purpose of sex was for pleasure between one man and one woman and to populate the earth. However, we have perverted it from it's original purpose, making most instances evil. Once again, it's not the idea that's evil, but what we do with it. That is why there is rape, adultery, homosexuality, etc. They have perverted the original purpose, in a similar way as was done with technology.

Since everything was originally "very good", any evil must have come afterwards. And of course, any object itself can't be evil anyway, just as an animal or idea can't. We are the ones that cursed creation through our actions, and we pervert and corrupt all of these things.

Of course other issues, such as killing and murder, are a little harder to explain. According to what I hear (to lazy to look it up myself), in the original Hebrew the same word is used for "murder" as is used for "kill". That means the commandment "thou shall not murder" could just as accurately be translated to "thou shall not kill". So does that mean killing isn't evil? Well... as I said, it's a little harder to explain, and I may be wrong on this one.

It is said that death will be the last enemy to be defeated. Also, in original creation there was no death. However, upon further investigation of science, you realized that destruction was both possible and necessary before the Fall. You see, there is a fine balance in creation. Destruction and creation. We can't even see without this balance! As light comes into our eyes, it destroys certain chemicals. When these chemicals break down, it sends an electrical signal to the brain, telling us what we see.

Before the Fall, things were probably balanced differently. Balanced in such a way that there was no net decay, meaning that things could not die of age; or die at all. However, as I said, things changed. So the act of killing also upsets the balance, but adding lots of net decay. This is against God's original plan, for He wanted no death. But we now live in a fallen world, where death not only is possible but happens every minute.

I have not fully answered the problem though, is killing evil? Digging a little deeper, we find Jesus said that even if you are angry with someone in your heart, you committed murder against them (in your own heart). So based off all this, it seems it is really a matter of the heart. Even God commanded the killing of thousands (men, woman, children, even babies). The people that were killed were of a corrupt heart, and this was a punishment. But when we kill someone ourselves, we have no power, right or authority to give them that punishment; except in the case of government (which I will get to in a moment).

An individual on his own does not have this authority by default, but circumstances can present them self, such as getting attacked and taking a life defending yourself. Although you may not have been given the authority to "punish" this person, per se, you were fulfilling a God given instinct of self defense. Things are different when someone is causing you trouble and you hire someone to "silence" them. That is a heart problem right there. Also since man is created in God's image, he also is set apart and special from the rest of creation. Doing something evil towards another human is far different than it is from an animal or plant.

However, governments have been given certain authority from above to make and enforce laws, including the death penalty. This amount of authority has been given to them, to take a life, so it is up to the governments to respect these privileges. No matter how powerful a government becomes, they still answer to a greater power. It is the same for all of us, we each answer to something greater than ourself. In the case of killing and murder, it is a hard concept to clearly understand. You've just seen some of how I think it through.

Ultimately, death and killing isn't part of the plan, but is happening now. We must live with that. But as long as our heart is following God, our actions will lead us away from these evil acts (although we are still fallible humans). This means that it is possible to kill someone and not sin. It is the heart, the intent, that God looks at. This isn't to justify those who fought in the Crusades for "the glory of God", or any other similar circumstances. I merely mean that He will reveal His will if we listen, and there is example after example in the Old Testament where killing was part of that.

The simple answer? No. Killing is not evil (oh boy, is that weird to say!). It is our heart that is evil, and often times we kill because of our evil heart. The origin of evil also has an evil beginning, the Fall and Satan. But death also began there as well, but death is not evil. It is just a balance of nature that is not part of God's ultimate plan. There will come a time where he gives creation it's proper balance, then death and killing will be impossible.

There are many other examples, but this will suffice for now. This post is plenty long. However, I will soon be writing another post talking more about this issue.

The Simple Life

So in America today, it is Thanksgiving. People are eating a huge amount of food (and probably getting drunk) while watching the game on big screen tv's, having big family get togethers, and following the tradition of cooking turkey and other various foods, even if no one really like's 'em.

Well I decided to make a short little post about what I am truly thankful for. It's not the food, not the traditions and customs, not even anything specific.

I am just thankful that every night when I go to bed, I can honestly say to myself "today was a good day" no matter what happened. I am thankful that I am contented with the life I have been blessed with. I am thankful for my simple life.

May you be thankful for each day as well. Have a Happy Thanksgiving!

The "Fiction" in "Science Fiction"

I had a few things in mind that I wanted to write about, on completely unrelated topics, but the most recent reading I had done immediately prior to writing this is what I decided to write on. Makes sense, write?

Okay, now what was I reading? Alright, strictly speaking the last article I read before this was about looking for the effects of the Curse in space. But beyond that, the main stuff I've been reading for the last several hours has been on things like aliens, Nephilim, science fiction, ancient technology, genetics of humans, and other things relating to all that.

Explaining the Nephilim and aliens, a friend of mine asked me to write out the back story for a game he's working on. The game is about a battle between humans and aliens in space. He wanted the aliens to attack, and he wanted the humans to have super soldiers. Simple enough, I decided; so I began writing this elaborate (that might be an overstatement, but I did go into good detail) history going back thousands of years.

However, almost immediately I noticed a problem. I wanted my story to be used as possible explanations for UFO sightings for all of human history; but in order to do that, the alien race would have had to have been around before the humans. That means I would have to make this story happen in a universe that existed for more than 6,000-10,000 years. Since this is a sub-creation of mine, I can make whatever laws and history I want, but the fact that I had to change the history of our universe to make it fit with what I needed in this story was a very unique learning experience for me.

I ended up adopting and evolutionary like history for that universe in my sub-creation for this game. How else could aliens evolve on another planet and begin exploring earth while the first civilizations were springing forth? Making a history for that universe that required an old earth and no God of the Bible was very strange for me, but I had to remember that I was making a SUB-CREATION, within the confines of my own mind.

The really strange part was in order for any of this story to be true, I had to write it out while arbitrarily defying the laws of observable science that we see in reality. The aliens? They had to evolve from non-life, and that non-living matter had to come from nothing. Same thing with the humans of earth. Now of course, matter coming from nothing and life coming from non-life are both impossible. But, this IS science fiction I'm writing, so what does it matter!

And I already arbitrarily defied the laws of physics in order to make the universe and life in that sub-creation, why stop there? I allowed both that aliens and humans to eventually overcome the "speed of light barrier". Actually, the aliens did so on at least three occasions. During earth's history, the aliens had several civil wars, the biggest of which set them back centuries in technology, meaning they had to rediscover faster then light travel. It was these set backs that allowed the humans to eventually catch up to the aliens and fight on equal ground, even though the aliens originally had faster then light travel approximately 10,000 years before that time.

Another thing I came to realize while creating this sub-creation, this science fiction universe, was that any absolutes were defined by me (as the writer). At the insistence of my friend, I may arbitrarily change any of those absolutes in order to make the  physics and history of that universe fit with what he needs for his game. But of all the absolutes I can define, they obviously include things like physics (in which I already decided life can and needs to come from non-life and faster than life travel is possible), but I am also the only one who can define any moral absolutes in that universe.

In our universe, as it was created by an All Powerful God, He defines all absolutes. That means the laws of physics, mathematics, logic, reason, morals, etc. In this universe I created, this sub-creation, this story, as the creator it is my responsibility to define these absolutes. And obviously, any reasonable story needs absolutes. Why is that? Because we live in a universe that has these absolutes. Also, the most reasonable absolutes in any story are the ones that coincide with the absolutes of reality. That is why, for instance, made gravity operate the same. Without many of these fundamental absolutes, we cannot even comprehend reality, so I therefore borrow much of what I observe here in reality and use it as a foundation for anything I create.

For all these same reasons, a story like mine (requiring an evolutionary worldview) could not be the answer to our reality. The reason my world holds together is because I hold it together in my mind, despite all the inconsistencies that the science in my sub-creation would have to deal with. However, evolution as the origin story for reality requires there be no greater being holding it together; it offers no reason for absolutes like physics, reason, or morals. Even in the evolutionary universe of my sub-creation, I am still an intelligent being holding it together using logic and reason derived from a reality that contains these absolutes.

My whole point about all this? Evolution works great as a plot device; a way of explaining things that are directly against the laws of science. How else could I have aliens? So in the end, evolution makes great science fiction. However, it doesn't make good science. The only universes that molecules-to-man evolution exists in is those that we create in our minds. In reality, it defies the absolutes we observe.

I'm really excited to see what comes of my friends game, but it is also very reassuring that I live in a universe that has absolutes that aren't arbitrarily defied or changed; a universe created by an All Powerful, All Knowing Creator. In this universe, in reality, there are no extra-terrestials, no old earth, no big bang, just logic, reason and science. Knowledge, and the God of Knowledge, the one who knows everything.

He made a universe with a more intriguing history and future then anything I could hope to write.