Another What's the Alternative Thread

[_Chap]

...

For one thing God preserves our lives. That's real good.

My life has, I think, been 'preserved' on at three occasions. On each of these a human being was directly or indirectly responsible. There was nothing about the incidents in question that called for divine intervention as an explanation.

Or does KevinSim just mean that his deity has refrained from killing me, and I should be grateful for that?

[_Chap]

I would agree that more money should be put into research and solutions, but one of the big problems here is science deniers. Unfortunately most of them seem to come from Christian religions, especially LDS. Atheists and Agnostics are doing much better here.

Themis, what are the groups you're talking about doing to solve the problem with science deniers?...

Would you be satisfied by an answer like "Many of them are carrying on doing the best science they can"?

[_Themis]

I would agree that more money should be put into research and solutions, but one of the big problems here is science deniers. Unfortunately most of them seem to come from Christian religions, especially LDS. Atheists and Agnostics are doing much better here.

Themis, what are the groups you're talking about doing to solve the problem with science deniers?

Many things. Are you saying you don't know what many groups and individuals are doing to try and combat science deniers. What is the LDS Church doing in this regard?

Once again you talk about people working toward a solution and you talk about a problem hindering them. What are these people doing to solve this problem?

Again, many things. Some groups try to reach out to others. They try to help people in need. I remember a court case that ruled creationism has no place in the science classroom. The best way is to do as Chap has brought up by doing good science, and making sure it is taught in our science classes in school. Even most religious people want this.

[_Themis]

The only thing we can do right now is to continue to increase our knowledge of the universe(something being done) to be able to understand someday if their is a solution. This probably would not come anywhere near our lifetimes, but then we do have billions of years to get there. Also we first have to make sure of near term existence is not threatened like with Global warming or population problems.

So this generation doesn't need to work on it since the problem is around a hundred billion years away. But look! The next generation is also a hundred billion years away from it too. And so on and so on. By the time Universal Heat Death is so close to us we have to do something about it, will there be enough time to work out a way to survive it?

This is the way humanity has been solving many of its survival-threatening crises, wait until the crisis becomes imminent, and then devoting all its energy to resolving it. This has worked somewhat in the past, but it's the virtual equivalent of putting a gun to one's head and playing Russian Roulette. Sooner or later that gun is going to go off.

No, the best way to solve crises like this is to not wait until they're imminent; we've got to start working on them way before they're due to arrive.

Why play this idiotic game? I have already said people are working on it. You just don't seem to get what has to be done, and what cannot be done until other things get done first. Obviously as to heat death w don't know that much about it, nor can we do certain things right now due to lack of knowledge and ability. So people are doing what they can do to get to a point, if possible, where we have sufficient knowledge and ability. What are you, or the Church doing about it. Nothing really, and they are more of a deterrent then a help at this point. Hopefully over enough time that may change for the better.

What's the problem with having forever preservation our ultimate goal?

Nothing. Many have that as a goal they want to help work towards. Most LDS don't since they think it has already been taken care of.

How would that goal "distract from ever getting there"?

If one spends to much time thinking about it and not working on things that have to be done first.

I have no problem with the foundation needing "to be in place first," but I think having forever preservation our ultimate goal, is crucial to the whole process.

And what is the church doing?