LIVE DEBATE - The More We Evolve, The Less We Need God

Nice to see an honest debate that's both logical and civilized with equal time devoted to both those in favor and those against the

Streamed live on Mar 27, 2018

Views-to-Date: 14,141

Does God have a place in 21st century human affairs? For many, the answer is an unapologetic yes. Belief in a higher power, they argue, is the foundation of human consciousness and the soul of all social, political, and scientific progress.
Further, some claim, humans are biologically predisposed to embrace religion and require faith to live moral lives. Others are far more skeptical. For them, adherence to faith and religious tradition serves only to fracture communities and prevent humanity from embracing a more enlightened, reasoned, and just social order.
As we look to the future in uncertain times, should spirituality and religion play a central role in human evolution, innovation, and discovery? Or has God become obsolete?
Cast YOUR vote on the motion "The More We Evolve, The Less We Need God" at http://smarturl.it/ReligionDebateVote

For the Motion:
Heather Berlin, Cognitive Neuroscientist
Michael Shermer, Founder, The Skeptics Society & Best-Selling Author

Against the Motion:
Dr. Deepak Chopra, Integrative Medicine Advocate & Best-Selling Author
Dr. Anoop Kumar, Emergency Physician & Author, "Michelangelo's Medicine"
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RELATED CONTENT:
Link > https://www.intelligencesquaredus.org/briefing-room/more-we-evolve-less-we-need-god

As We Evolve, Do We Need God?

Posted on: April 17, 2018 | Comments: 0

By Deepak Chopra, MD and Anoop Kumar, MD

We recently participated in a public debate on the proposition “The more we evolve, the less we need God.” The results were clearly in favor of the proposition against the stance we took. This was so amongst both the live audience and the online audience.

 The cerebral cortex, the most recent part of the human brain to evolve, hasn’t changed for more than ten thousand years. The writers of the world’s ancient spiritual texts used the same brain as modern people, and since the world’s religions revere these ancient texts, we accept that the Ten Commandments and the Four Noble truths of Buddhism came from minds whose processes we’d recognize today, however dissimilar the cultures of ancient Judea and India.

 It must be cultural evolution that is relevant, and of course our modern secular culture has moved away from the age of faith. Rationalism seems to dominate our lives, and when we read of religious fanaticism, we feel that such issues belong to people living outside the reach of a modern secular society. Few people seeing news on TV of an attack in Paris or London feel an impulse to fight back by re-energizing their own religious beliefs. Being secular can easily feed the belief that one has evolved beyond God, religion, dogma, and the whole rigmarole. . .
READ MORE > https://www.choprafoundation.org/articles/as-we-evolve-do-we-need-god/

From Russia with C**ts > More Pie, Please!

Published on Jun 3, 2018

Views: over 37,000

Pie berates Ukraine for creating even more Fake News to wade through. He also offends Tim by calling Theresa May a not very nice name.

THIS IS REAL !!! Hawaii volcano creating its own weather

No doubt > Get out

Published on Jun 3, 2018

Military Update : Unbelievable !!! Hawaii volcano creating its own weather
During a volcanic eruption, pyrocumulus clouds form due to the intense heat releasing from the ground below. This heat warms the air near the ground, causing it to rise and condense into a cloud. Not only do these clouds look like thunderstorms, they can act like them too. They can even produce lightning if they have enough electrostatically charged particles from an ash cloud.
These clouds don't just form near volcano summits, but they are the same type of clouds that build over intense wildfires.
While these clouds may look ominous, these clouds have been low to the ground. So far, they have yet to produce a thunderstorm or lightning.

Chinese Military Official: Territorial Integrity China' s Core Interest

Please Note: 2 sides to every story - this is from another POV other than from Jim Mattis,   "Mad Dog" General & U.S. Secretary of Defense

Published on Jun 2, 2018

Views-to-date: 3,017

Territorial integrity is China's core interest and Taiwan is an inalienable part of China, a senior Chinese military official said in Singapore Saturday.
Responding to the remarks regarding the Taiwan issue made by U.S. Secretary of Defense James Mattis at a discussion session of the ongoing 17th Shangari-la Dialogue, He Lei, vice president of the Academy of Military Science of the Chinese People's Liberation Army and the head of the Chinese delegation to the dialogue, reiterated that the government of the People's Republic of China is the sole legitimate government that represents China.
The Chinese government and the Chinese people resolutely oppose U.S. arms sales to Taiwan as well as any official contact with Taiwan and upgrading ties with Taiwan in any way, he said.
The Chinese government and the Chinese people firmly oppose all the actions that undermine the one-China policy and the principles of the three China-U.S. joint communiques as well as the Taiwan Relations Act and the Taiwan Travel Act, He noted.
Speaking of Mattis's scheduled visit to China later this month, He said that China cherishes its relationship with the U.S. and the Chinese military welcomes Mattis's visit to China.
The Shangri-La Dialogue has been held annually since 2002 in Singapore, gathering military officials, diplomats and experts to discuss regional security challenges and prospects for cooperation.
http://www.cctvplus.com/news/20180603...

Robert's Report: ASU President Michael Crow Living High-On-The-Hog

Here's "an opinion" from a member of the free press, reporter Laurie Roberts who never hesitates to speak truth to power.
This is a timely telling of information the public has a need-to-know and a right-to-know.
It is published at a good time and at the same time that Scott Smith has just had published his "Guest Opinion" in today's East Valley Tribune to convince Mesa taxpayers to take on more debt to pay for an ASU 'campus' in downtown. . .
When's the last time YOU GOT A RAISE????
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Let's Lift The Curtain one more time

Roberts: University presidents score big raises and, for one, maybe a $1.3 million house

Laurie Roberts, opinion columnist Published 11:33 a.m. MT June 1, 2018 | Updated 12:43 p.m. MT June 1, 2018

"Double-digit raises for university presidents, a million-dollar house.

Clearly, things are looking up at Arizona’s universities.

Just a few years ago, university officials were raising the alarm about dramatic cuts in state funding and what those ever-tightening belts might mean for Arizona students.

Now, the state Board of Regents is buying bigger belts, offering nice raises to the people who lead the three schools and contemplating the purchase of a $1.3 million residence to house one of them.

Happy days are here again

. . . Arizona State University President Michael Crow will score a 15 percent raise to his base pay, retroactive to January, boosting his total compensation to north of $1.1 million.

It has, after all, been three years since his last raise, a 20 percenter. . . .

Read more > AZ Central Laurie Roberts Opinion June 1,2018

Taking-A-Turn At Scott Smith: A Game-Changer? ....Same Old Game

The Times Media Group has a near-monopoly covering what they want to make the news to be here in Mesa. Let's lift-the-curtain again to reveal something:
If ASU wants a campus here in downtown Mesa, ASU can well afford to pay it. *
Ex-mayor Scott Smith is just another in the cast of characters trying-to-game-taxpayers here in Mesa to take on more debt to pay for a radical transformation that would be Ground Zero for the massive speculation in real estate that devoured downtown Tempe.
It's TIME TO SAY NO to the schemes - tomorrow is the time to make sure taxpayers tell that to the Mesa City Council.
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Who can forget the last time in 2016 they tried to turn another trick to convince Mesa taxpayers to pay for that ASU "satellite campus" ????
Goofy current Mayor John Giles, endorsed by Scott Smith to run the city when he resigned to wage an unsuccessful race to be governor, flopped big time two years trying to set-the-stage for a take-over when taxpayers REJECTED his lame act-public relations fiasco called Yes1Mesa that was privately-financed to the tune of over $500,000 by entrenched interests . . . Taxpayers just said NO!
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It is time tomorrow to let every single one of the other six members sitting on the Mesa City Council to express your opinion on this ASU issue - it deserves action to move it forward as a ballot item on this November's General Election.
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Here the "Guest Opinion" piece published today . . . Scott Smith is free to express his opinion. The same thing applies to everyone - it is your turn to get engaged!
(Note that there is no mention at all of "ghost writers" who probably drafted Scott's opinion)
Your Turn: An ASU campus would be a game-changer for downtown Mesa

Scott Smith, opinion contributor Published 6:00 a.m. MT June 2, 2018 

Link > Scott Smith Guest Opinion Piece

        

2 More Mesa Mormon Republicans Called To Testify in Gary Pierce Bribery Trial

It's getting very curious to follow a series of clues dropped by AZ Cap Media reporter Howie Fischer who's covering a grand jury trial now going on in Phoenix that started on Wednesday, June 1, 2018 against a former Mesa legislator and a Pinal County utility company that involves charges of bribery and fraud. There are also charges that Pierce sought to buy some land in east Mesa . . .
(Hang on to that clue for just a moment . . . save it for later)
The indictment mentions "an unindicted co-conspirator" . . .

Let's see if you can continue to follow all these clues:
. . .  Who happens to be the former wife of lobbyist Jim Norton, who's firm employed Sherry Pierce, Gary Pierce's wife . . .
Ashley Adams, represents Sherry Pierce . . .
ACC bribery trial includes angry ex-wife
Originally published June 1, 2018 @ 5:56 am
The government's theory is that Johnson (owner of Johnson Utilities that provides services to Queen Creek and San Tan Valley) used lobbyist Jim Norton to funnel funds to Gary Pierce, not directly but by having Norton's wife provide a $3,500-a-month contract to Sherry Pierce, a contract that Assistant U.S. Attorney Frank Galati said did not actually require she do any work . . . Adams intends to call former Congressman Matt Salmon and current Congressman Andy Biggs, for whom she did work.
The defense lawyers also contend that there was a legitimate reason for Johnson to not only contract with Kelly Norton, but to insist she, in turn, contract with Sherry Pierce. They said Johnson had an interest in issues in the San Tan Valley area of Pinal County and Sherry Pierce had political contacts there, allowing her to do things like look for a Mormon Republican to run for the Board of Supervisors.
WHY MORMON?

"Who better to be hired as a contractor than somebody who knows everybody in the Republican Party?” Adams asked. . . And to buttress Sherry Pierce's credentials, Adams intends to call former Congressman Matt Salmon and current Congressman Andy Biggs, for whom she did work.
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Blogger Note: "Revolving-door" former U.S. Congressman Matt Salmon (who has a public relations firm with his wife), resigned from office before the end of his term to make way for Andy Biggs, the former President of AZ Senate, to succeed him. He announced at the same time he was hired by ASU (as a lobbyist and influence-peddler) as Vice-President of Government Affairs.
< He's seen in the image to the left.

Matt Salmon appeared with AZ State Bob Worsley, another Mesa Mormon Republican, a Mega-Millionaire who defeated the infamous SB1070 Russell Pearce, who also "knows everybody". He came out in public at a Mesa City Council as the private real estate speculator [mixing up trust in public office and gains in private profits] who's gambling what he says is $20M on a $130M "Upscale-Living" 15-story 75-room luxury hotel and 75 "above-market"-rent apartments in a mixed-used project with Habitat Metro atop a parking lot in downtown Mesa.

Mesa city officials and the Mesa City Council passed a Memorandum of Understanding and approved a development agreement fairly quickly. As you can see, also, Worsley's speculative proposal appears on the front cover of Compass Magazine obviously endorsed by the Mesa Chamber of Commerce as a Stakeholders Prospectus 2018

One of the partners in this speculative project is Kent Lyons, his campaign manager, whose registered at least 8 more holding companies for recent property transactions. In Snowflake, AZ Worsley bought up two biomass energy utility plants with 10-year contracts to supply SRP and APS, along with 7,000 acres of land. Another 40,000 acres in Arizona and New Mexico is controlled by NZLegacy. 

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More clues . . . Are you still following the trail?
" . . . Galati told jurors that Pierce was interested in buying some land in east Mesa. Galati said there was a scheme being cooked up to have Jim Norton buy the property and have Johnson pay for it. . . . Galati said part of the reason it didn't happen was because Kelly Norton balked, saying it would endanger her real estate license. And in the end, he said, the bank wouldn't accept the offer.
But Patricia Gitre, Gary Pierce's attorney, said there was never any discussion about Johnson buying the property for her client.
"It's a made-up story,” Adams said of the whole government's case. 
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RE: Land is east Mesa/Pinal County

At one time, the City of Mesa owned an 11,000-acre "Water Farm" in Pinal County, pledging to sell that in pieces with an estimated value of $100 Million dollars to use the proceeds to pay for a baseball sports complex Wrigleyville West instead of asking Mesa taxpayers to approve a bond issue 2012 . . . that didn't happen.
In early April 2018  a new 14,000+-acre land development bordering east Mesa and going all the way south to Casa Grande was announced as Saints Holdings.
Re: The Question Why Mormon?
This map might explain that