Hallelujiah and praise Manny!
Darn tootin’ - when I get to Hell, I expect him to be there, mixing me a tall one!
And I second his message: (1) the story’s obviously not only false, but impossible, for the reasons Dr.F gave, and (2) now that that’s been made clear, as one who loves the (T/t)ruth, you should acknowledge it and stop spreading the falsehood. Please stop unglorifying God.
I believe he is referring to Romulus and Remus.
-Ben
(just kidding.)
Here’s the circumcision thread: Botched Circumcision
The boy in question has now gone public, to try to prevent such surgery in the future. He lives in Winnipeg, Manitoba.
Unfortunately, the link to the Globe and Mail article will no longer work, as the G&M only keeps its links active for a week after the story first runs.
and the stars o’erhead were dancing heel to toe
I thought this “missing day” story sounded familiar. It’s pretty well covered on pages 83-85 in the third Straight Dope compilation, “Return of the Straight Dope”.
“It’s only common sense,
There are no accidents 'round here.”
Okay, I’m lost here. What does a botched circumcision have to do with the sun standing still?
I also have to point out that for the sun to appear to stand still, it would actually be the earth that stopped spinning. You’d think one of those bright boys at NASA would have mentioned that.
Wow! Went throught this whole page and was surprised no one has mentioned that great Unca Cecil has debunked the story in the OP . . . I’ll go get the link - you wait here. 
well I doubt this will change Dan’s mind anymore than the other good arguments, but then again this is the SDMB, and this is also Cecil “The Man” Adams !!
www.straightdope.com/classics/a3_083.html
Who’s on the ball ? Thats right . . .
“A single lifetime, even though entirely devoted to the sky, would not be enough for the investigation of so vast a subject.” - Seneca
Easy. If your son doesn’t stand still when they’re circumcising him, it’ll get botched.
To respond to the original topic, I have to say I don’t really approve of anyone trying to prove the Bible, or God’s existence or how many angels can dance on the head of a pin. Throughout the Bible the emphasis is placed on faith, not scientific proof. I don’t mean this as a cop-out, but if the basis of your faith in something that is, by definition, supernatural rests on scientific proof, then there is no room for faith. Sorry for the crappy sentence construction, but I think you get the idea.
I can understand a sceptic or unbeliever saying, “Show me the evidence.” That’s natural human behavior. But for a Christian (or theist) to try to offer that proof is ludicrous. How can you offer proof of something as ineffably subjective as faith in the existence of God? I can only offer that I have faith and ascribe certain events/feelings/outcomes in my life to God. If you are like-minded, you’ll nod your head in agreement. If you are not like-minded, you’ll tell me my ass is on fire.
I can’t prove my faith, but I know it exists just the same. Take it or leave it. I won’t cheapen my relationship with God by trying to “prove” anything.
The Dave-Guy
“Since my daughter’s only half-Jewish, can she go in up to her knees?” J.H. Marx
What a beautiful spirit! Thank you so much.
Thanks, Gaudere!
Sorry, Gabriel. Beat you to the punch, although I DID refer to a printed copy of Cecil’s column rather than its on-line counterpart. I’m a little dissapointed, too. I thought somebody besides us would have intercepted this one sooner.
“It’s only common sense,
There are no accidents 'round here.”
dansir, do you really believe that spreading lies is o.k., as long as it brings people to your religion? Would you mind pointing out to me the passage in the Bible that says The Ends Justify The Means?
from RTF’s post a while back:
BAHAHAHAHAAH 
Impeccable timing.
Regards,
Jai Pey
Wow. I can hardly believe this thread is still active. That story is absurd on so many levels that it is almost hard to debunk because you have so many options on where to begin. Since others (including the master) have already pointed out the problems with the source, the suppostitions and the supposed motivations for the “NASA study” allow me to point out an additional inconsistency within the story.
Scientists find a missing day (assumed by the story to be exactly 24 hours).
Christian accounts for day with “Sun stood still” story.
Scientists say, “wait we can only account for 23:20 by the time of that story.” (How they figured this is, of course, one of those ineffable mysteries).
Christian says, “in 2Kings the Lord makes the Sun go backward for 10 degrees. 10 degrees == 40 minutes! Mystery solved!”
Now, those of us who are compelled to actually do math understand immediately that “go backward” in a story problem does not mean the same thing as “stand still”. If the sun went backward for 40 minutes, then it would take another 40 minutes to return to its original position. Thus 2Kings acounts for 80 minutes of lost time.
Hey – we got an extra 40 minutes!! Cool, I think I will spend them being amazed at the credulity of the human race.
The best lack all conviction
The worst are full of passionate intensity.
*
{quote]But who am I to say it is real or not. I do not have a clue why Nasa would have to go in the past but at the same time it does make sense to look in the past.
[/quote]
I don’t think enough atention has been paid to Dr. F’s excellent original reply. It really doesn’t matter how likely it is that NASA would do such a calculation.
Digital computers are, in the absence of a miracle, deterministic. (Yeah, I know they’re complicated, and it’s practically impossible to predict everything they will do). The equations we use to predict planetary postions are continuous. Feed those equations into a digital computer, and the answers that come out will be continuous, with none of the claimed “jumps” or discontinuities. Period. End of story.
If one could compare the results of a computer calculation with accurate observations from long ago, and found a discrepancy, and verified the correctness of both the calculations and the observations, then you’d have something. But there are no accurate observations with which to compare.
So there are two possibilities. Either the story is false, or God wrought a miracle and interfered with the operation of the computer doing the calculations (if the calculations were indeed done). You are, of course, free to believe whatever you want. Whichever way you choose to believe, the story is not scientific proof of anything, because it requires a miracle for the story to be true.
jrf
Yeah, and we really need to know where the sun and other planets are so our satellites don’t bump into them. As far as I know, there are no stars or planets in earth orbit. I might be wrong on that, but I don’t think so.
Dave,
I do believe in God and like you I do not need anyone to prove it to me. I just thought the story was interesting. Slythe, I did not believe I was spreading lies and no I do not believe in spreading lies.
I know God exists because the way I feel inside, for things that I have witnessed where there is no other explanation.
I understand what all have said about this story and why all do not believe it happened.
At the same time I can see it happening.
I dont see things as black and white. I see gray if you understand that. I believe there is a little truth in every story.
I do not need for anyone or anything to prove God exists. I am however intrigued by signs other people see. If a christian made up this story, then I think he/she is very wrong for doing so. I however did not make it up and believed it might be true.
The question is: do you still believe it might be true, despite all the evidence to the contrary? I am also interested in how you decide that there is a little truth in every story? Hansel and Gretel? Frosty the Snowman? Night of the Dead? The Laffer Curve? Is there no story that you can see is false?
The best lack all conviction
The worst are full of passionate intensity.
*
Dansir said:
If you are generally as careless in looking for other explainations as you were with this story, I am suprised that you don’t also believe in the Easter Bunny, aliens living among us and the Boogie Man.
“I should not take bribes and Minister Bal Bahadur KC should not do so either. But if clerks take a bribe of Rs 50-60 after a hard day’s work, it is not an issue.” ----Krishna Prasad Bhattarai, Current Prime Minister of Nepal