Gods and Goddesses Galore!

This enormous list of gods and goddesses from endless numbers of societies, neatly alphabetized, reveals the enormous creativity of the human imagination:  http://www.godfinder.org/

Is God the Cosmic Hacker?

What if my idea that God is the Cosmic Hacker is true?  What if He is sitting around on some threadbare couch eating fast food ambrosia bars and sipping on supersized nectar while coding our universe?  And who is going to pick up all those crumpled wrappings?  Read this article and find out:

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/14/science/14tier.html?_r=2&

What Does BEAST Stand For? (As in the number of the beast)

A Facebook friend asked what BEAST stands for, as in the number of the beast of Bible fame.  Here is what I came up with.  I can't imagine any better answer:

Believe Every Asinine Silly Thing.

What's your answer?

The Fundamental Theological Contradiction

Invitations to pray for the people of Boston are kindly meant, of course, but ultimately futile.  Why?  Because there is a fundamental contradiction between assertions about God and assertions about human freedom.

This contradiction is weird, isn't it?  IF you are a believer, and believe in the Judeo-Christian God, you believe in a being that is all-powerful and all-knowing, which means by definition, that particular God PLANNED everything that ever had happened or will happen.  A god that powerful and that knowledgeable must overwhelm his creation with his power and knowledge.

Therefore, EVERYTHING has been scripted.  Including the Boston bombings.  Which means even your belief and your decision to pray on a given occasion is PRE-PLANNED!!!!

Exactly what is prayer supposed to accomplish?  Ratify existence?