RE: Heads up advice for atheists.
October 31, 2014 at 7:53 pm
(October 31, 2014 at 12:07 pm)AtlasS Wrote: Well, I always wanted to test this verse against science (probably most Muslims wanted to) :
Okay, go!
Quote:( 33 ) O people from jinn and mankind,
Oh dear, we're off to a bad start here. References to supernatural creatures won't get you past any peer review process.
Quote:if you are able to pass beyond the regions of the heavens and the earth, then pass.
'Beyond' the heavens & earth? What does this even mean; outside of 2 universes? It should be clear by now that these are not scientific definitions.
Quote: You will not pass except by power (literal translation of the word سلطان).
...yeah, I'd imagine it might take quite a lot of energy to 'pass beyond' 2 universes...
Quote:( 34 ) So which of the favors of your Lord would you deny?
Woah there! Big jump. So the ability to 'pass beyond' 2 universes will piss allah off? How? Why? You need to show your working.
Quote:( 35 ) There will be sent upon you Fragments (the literal translation of شواظ) of fire & brass and you will not succeed.
Firstly, 'fragments of fire' is not scientifically possible. Fire is not an element (contrary to the beliefs at the time the qur'an was written), it's a facet of energy-release which accompanies a change of material state following the addition of sufficient amounts of energy. Secondly, since both fire & brass are aspects of our universe, how would anyone know if either of them exist once we 'pass beyond' not just our universe but that of 'heaven', too? Thirdly, given what we know of what's necessary to make interstellar space travel possible, why would you imagine that anyone who could 'pass beyond' 2 universes wouldn't have developed sheilding?
Quote:So for an ancient Muslim, he/she must be wondering : am I really really going to get hit by tiny hot fragments if I got into outer space without the proper power -the sultan literally means "ultimate power/authority + control over something"..
Well, they wouldn't have known what outer space was but otherwise plausible, I suppose...
Quote:Well we could've saved scientists some extra time by showing them this verse ; it would've guided them immediately to MICROMETEOROIDS !! with are actually fragments so hot (just like a mixture of fire & brass/copper) that kills you if you travel outer space without enough "sultan/power" !!!
What? You're not serious?! There's nothing in those verses that even comes close to describing micrometeoroids. They're certainly not composed of 'fire & brass'.
This is clearly an attempt to retro-fitting current knowledge in to an obviously vague reference in an attempt to make it look like bronze-aged mystics had even the foggiest idea what was really going on in the universe. Anything but scientific.