Some of these one line responses make NO sense, and others are impossible to decipher. Please, for the love of all goodness, justice, righteousness, intellect, and whatever invisible man we all might pray to, PLEASE don't treat this like an instant messenger.

So, now that i'm done pouting and crying like a school-yard punk, can somebody launch a more detailed arguement against the "discrimination" being alleged against the use of biblical/secular sources? It really could be an interesting topic if we do more than bicker about it. Are religious histories more or less valid and why?

Im gonna play both sides of the fence here.. Lets say there was an Atlantis (which I believe there was, perhaps not as science fictony as people like to think) but lets say it was.
If this civilization was so advanced back then, wants to say they are not still around, but we cant find them, because we cant "see them" yes, Im refering to some type of cloaking device. Or lets say on another extreme note, lets say that the society of Atlantis was an Alien civilization, they did their thing here, packed up and left, removing any trace that they even were here.. Or on the sceptic side, Atlantis was nothing special, just some civilzation that vanished, like many others have.

Malkavin, I like your idea about the cloaking device. It's an interesting theory. I've always been interested in the Atlantis and other similar stories and my take on it somewhat reflects your other theory about them doing their thing and leaving. I believe that every civilization has a part to play in completing the cycle of life. Some civilizations may have already accomplished their task thus leaving clues, guidelines etc., others may pass it on, thus leaving the slack for successive civilizations to pick up until humanity completes that cycle thus enabling it to move on to another plane of existence. About the cloaking device, yes, it's possible that someone from those ancient civilizations had to stay back to ensure that the guides were found and followed. Heck, it could be the seeming vagrant walking down the street, or the old man sitting next to you.
What do you think??

Thats an interesting theory as well. I read a book actually that kind of discussed different ideas about Atlantis, one of them being, which I found the most interesting, that the people of Atlantis were some sort of divine beings, and went around giving some of their technology and architectual ideas to various civilzations, which explains why there are pyramids in Egypt and South America, which are across the world from each other, and also that these beings were these peoples gods. Ill have to find the book again so I can say what it said directly, but it was an intersting read.

The Divine beings thing ties in very nicely with the Atlantis story actually. Atlanteans were the mortal children of a Greek God- Poseidon, according to Plato's dialogue Critias, which is one of only 2 historical sources of information on Atlantis. Plato also says that Atlantis sank in the 3rd big earthquake before the great deluge, and in Judeo-Christian tradition, the great flood wiped out a race of half-angels called Ephilim.

I'm inclined to believe the alien explanation first, but there is a catch to that. Plato is pretty clear that Atlantis was NOT a sci-fi type place. His description of their army includes chariots. What sort of assenine aliens would found a civilization and make them use Chariots in battle? So in that sense, the devine answer seems worthy of consideration. At any rate, the place Plato described corresponds to the mid atlantic ridge, and he says it was destroyed. Since he is the ONLY source on this matter (if you dont count "channeled" works from recent times) we are somewhat bound to take his word for it. Not that there can't be existing civiilizations beneath the earth, beneath the sea, in antarctica, deep in the rain forest, or elsewhere... just that Atlantis itself is all but certainly underwater, and not under a protective bubble like in cartoons.

Speaking of undiscovered cultures though, it bears mentioning that to this day, there are unknown plants and animals in the rain forests. In the Mato Grosso (spelling?) of South America, for example, as yet unknown species os carnivorous plants have been described by past adventurers. Ape pelts have been found for sale in South American markets, although officially there are no apes in South America. In Kenya, natives are afraid of a creature called a nandi bear, which is an unmistakable sabertooth tiger. I could go on for quite a while, but my point is this: in the places we can not see, or do not bother to look closely, there could be civilization. For all we know, an alternate path in human evolution may be in progress still in some unreachable jungle or mountain range, or maybe the last one of them was eaten by a raptor yesterday. How could we know for sure... we've never been there.

I tend to think Vagabond is on the right track, at least according to my own beliefs...The whole story ties in very nicely with Genesis 6:1-6:7...