Ike's Passing

Hurricane Ike was a Category 2 Storm, but it had a storm surge approaching that of a Category 4. Even though a little more than two weeks have passed since it made landfall, the effects are still there. Many traffic lights are still blinking red lights, some traffic lights are still not attached at all. Everyone I know suffered at least some damage to their house, and one of them lost his house completely. While the cities are cleaning up the piles of debris, there are still piles of branches, roofing, and fencing piled here and there by the side of many roads.

In Galveston, Bolivar Peninsula, and other places directly on the Gulf of Mexico, those whose houses have survived have mold, and thousands of people have to throw away almost everything they have. Raw sewage can be found in swimming pools and ditches, and animals are running loose. Disease is a huge concern.

Many people stayed behind because it was too late for them to get out because the city did not order an evacuation soon enough (thus making it legal for businesses to keep people at work). Others remember the evacuations ahead of Hurricane Rita and refused to leave. Many of those who stayed behind on Galveston Island and Bolivar Peninsula are either dead or missing, but there are many survivors.

Houston and the surrounding areas showed a great deal of cooperation and generosity, and citizens donated and volunteered by the thousands at hospitals, shelters, and points of distribution (PODs). If one thing can be taken from this crisis, it is that the citizens of Houston, its surrounding areas, and places across the US showed a tremendous level of generosity.

There are still people who are in need, though. You can help by donating money or time to the following organizations.

Gulf Coast Ike Relief Fund
Mayor Bill White has announced that a relief fund has been set up by the city of Houston. Donations in the form of checks can be mailed to:
Houston Ike Relief Fund
4550 Post Oak Place Ste 100
Houston, TX 77027

Red Cross:
Galveston County Red Cross Unit
Houston Area Red Cross
American Red Cross

Bush Clinton Coastal Recovery Fund

Houston Area Salvation Army

Houston Food Bank

God bless, and take care.

Hurricane Ike

My home and family are okay. I hope God blesses those who are less fortunate.

I'm back in southeast Texas and I am fine.

Take care, all, and God bless.

AntiSpore.com

Here we go again...

Radical Christians have targeted games for being evil in the past. First, it was Dungeons and Dragons, and then it was Pokemon. Now, it's Spore. (Readers: Correct me if I forgot a game or toy that was attacked by a radical Christian group, for no other comes to mind now.)

When God created us, he could have very well done it over centuries of fine-tuning. Personally, I appreciate God's creation more if I think that God took all the time to create the animals that currently reside on our planet. By the way, if you ever consider using the Bible to back itself up, you should know that it is not the way to go in trying to convince people of one's beliefs.

This blog is new, but it is already showing how ridiculous it is. The blog takes screen shots of player-made creatures out of context and tries to make it seem as if full-frontal nudity exists in the game itself--as if that's going to prove that the theory of evolution is a lie out of Hell.

Also, as a professor of mine said to me, intelligent design is a first cause theory, whereas evolution only deals with how species develop.

Here is something I posted on the HookedOnSpore user blog not too long ago:

As a Christian, I often run into other Christians who are totally against the theory of evolution. You know the type.

Also, it could be that the creator finally put a soul into a the body once it was capable of higher intelligence.

Honestly, I do not see the problem with a Christian, Jew, Muslim, or any person of any other religion being open to the idea of evolution. I will give my own reasons for being open to evolution from the standpoint of a Christian, Jew, or Muslim, since the three religions include the Old Testament in their holy writings, and I am simply more familiar with the Old Testament.

For instance, the Book of Genesis states that the “world” was created in seven “days.” Remember that the people for whom these stories were told were most likely passed down orally. By the time the story reached parchment or papyrus, the story was probably changed. Also remember that the stories were probably written soon after the tribes of Israel settled down from being nomadic.

Not that they were stupid. People at this time did not have the language to accurately describe epochs of development that the universe took to form. Also, remember that if you believe in a higher being that created the space-time continuum, he probably exists outside of time and space to be able to form the universe, so the time span of “days” could mean months, years, centuries, millenniums…even epochs.

Whether or not you abscribe to a religion or are open to evolution is up to you, but I just want to show my justifications and thoughts on being spiritual and being open to scientific theories.

Speaking for myself, I really don't know the mechanics behind the creation itself, but thinking of the complexity of it all and the time God put into creating the universe makes me appreciate it more.

Click here for the fun.