Deny The Bruise?

Several years ago (not telling how many) I was at a hotel at the end of youth convention, awaiting our leaders to check out and the bus to arrive to whisk us back home.  Since the convention was over there were so many people in the lobby that there were no places to sit.  So I decided to lean against the glass wall at the front of the hotel for a good vantage point.

Suddenly I felt a full body WHACK!  Startled I looked around and saw no one and nothing that could have done the damage.  In fact there was no one even close.  I thought nothing of it and continued to wait.

The Magic (Not Science) of Evolution

“Science is fact.  And since fact is superior to your holy book, then science is right and you are wrong.”  How many times has that argument been foisted by people who cannot acknowledge their own biases?  It would be way too simple to think that because it is based in fact, any time science seems to contradict faith then it must mean that faith is wrong.  But the question is in the word “fact,” which has its own set of definitions and connotations that may intentionally mislead even its supporters.

Speaking Creatively

Creationists and evolutionists are interesting groups of people.  It would seem that both sides of this debate are so passionate that the sound of the blood pumping in their ears prevents them from really hearing the other side very clearly.  Oh, I know, it is all about “intelligent conversation,” but if we are honest there are too many times that both sides are at fault for giving in to subjectivity.

A friend sent me a link to the following article just today.  While there are plenty of issues that I have no doubt will be hot points for debate, there is an excellent sentiment in the tone of the article as well as the challenge to discussion at the end.  The author, Alan Dowd, suggests that his fellow creations speak respectfully, humbly (yet boldly), intelligently, and personally.  He is quick to acknowledge that the debate, as much as we want to say is completely academic, is of such concern on both sides of the table that it is sincerely difficult to have apart from emotional context.

Click here for the full text of the article.  Then come back here and comment until your heart’s content.

Dan Brown Shares His Faith

Dan Brown, the author of the ever contraversial book The Da Vinci Code just released a brand new book called The Lost Symbol.  On Tuesday, September 15th he was interviewed on Today by Matt Lauer.  Among other things, Lauer asked Brown about his faith.  Here is what he said:

Q: Are you religious?

A: I was raised Episcopalian, and I was very religious as a kid. Then, in eighth or ninth grade, I studied astronomy, cosmology, and the origins of the universe. I remember saying to a minister, “I don’t get it. I read a book that said there was an explosion known as the Big Bang, but here it says God created heaven and Earth and the animals in seven days. Which is right?” Unfortunately, the response I got was, “Nice boys don’t ask that question.” A light went off, and I said, “The Bible doesn’t make sense. Science makes much more sense to me.” And I just gravitated away from religion.

Rick Warren and Richard Dawkins on Purpose

In modern, mainline, American Christianity, the concept of purpose seems to have become synonymous with a fulfilling life in Christ.  No doubt it feels really good to think that, in the words of Rick Warren, “[I am] not an accident and [I] matter to history and to the universe.”  But when I stand outside at night and I look up at the clear sky and see the thousands of stars that I am capable of seeing with my naked eyes, I have to wonder if we are just deluding ourselves thinking that way.

Inspired by an earlier conversation, here are two opposing views on the subject of “purpose.”