Why we don’t pray
People don’t pray much, even Christian people. Why is that? Because we don’t beleive it does much, because we think we are unworthy, because we think God is a utilitarian scrooge, and because we think we already know what God will or won’t give us if we pray. But something is wrong with each of these reasons.
Francis Collins: “Homosexuality not genetically hardwired”
Dr. Francis Collins, Head of the Human Genome Project, reviewed the literature and his own significant knowledge of the human genome, and concluded that virtually NO inherited personality traits are deterministic, and homosexuality, even less.
Explore Evolution: new textbook approaches the subject scientifically and maturely
British publisher Hillhouse has published a new textbook that should add real value to the scientific exploration of evolution and origins. Rather than being dumbed down, Explore Evolution: The Arguments For and Against Neo-Darwinism is full of information on evolution, and employs an ‘inquiry based learning‘, promoting ‘discovery, deliberation, and argument.’
You can read (or listen to) the CSC’s take on the book, and visit the Explore Evolution site. One endorser wrote:
I think Explore Evolution does a very good job in its stated purpose, namely, to provide a forensic presentation of the open questions surrounding the Neo-Darwinian orthodoxy in contemporary biology. The style of the textbook alone is a breath of fresh air from the sterile dogmatism that students normally encounter in the classroom.
Congressman Rohrabacher slams global warming alarmism (GWA)
On May 14 of this year, California Congressman Dana Rohrabacher gave a speech on the floor of the House on the problem of global warming – er, I mean, global warming ALARMISM. He hit many of the points that critics of the "closed case" of global warming keep saying. I hope people listen up instead of closing their minds to science out of panic and fear. It’s worth a read, but I’ve excerpted some good stuff below.
Global AIDS epidemic overstated, if not OVER
Kevin de Cock, the head of the WHO’s department of HIV/Aids, released a report stating that, outside of Africa, AIDS poses little risk to those who avoid high-risk behavior:
Dr De Cock, an epidemiologist who has spent much of his career leading
the battle against the disease, said understanding of the threat posed
by the virus had changed. Whereas once it was seen as a risk to
populations everywhere, it was now recognised that, outside sub-Saharan
Africa, it was confined to high-risk groups including men who have sex
with men, injecting drug users, and sex workers and their clients.
He goes on to say that their campaigns saying that "AIDS could affect anyone" was really not helpful or accurate outside of Africa, because AIDS is spread through specific behaviors. As I said in AIDS Does Discriminate, if you avoid what the bible calls SIN, you live. If not, you risk death.
Religion, innovation and economic progress – Part II
This symposium covered the positive impact of Protestant Christianity on economics and innovation in history. In contrasted the various world views to show which were most influential and why.
In Part I, I covered the comments of Lawrence Hamilton, Director, Cultural Change Institute and Lecturer, the Fletcher School, Tufts University, who discussed the economic progress of nations based on their predominant ideologies. Today, I review the comments of Robert Woodberry, Assistant Professor, Department of Sociology, University of Texas at Austin.
The seven deadly glasses
The designer behind Hamilton Designs has created 7 wine glasses based on the 7 deadly sins (gluttony to the right).
Interesting concept. HT: Presurfer
Religion, innovation and economic progress – Part I
The Council on Foreign Relations recently had a great three part symposium, and I wanted to summarize some of the great material from the transcripts. It covers such things as the economic progress brought by Protestantism as compared to Catholicism and other religions, as well as how literacy spread, not by the invention or availability of the printing press, but primarily by Protestant Missionaries who used it. And more. In this part, I’ll cover the comments of Lawrence Hamilton, Director, Cultural Change Institute and Lecturer, the Fletcher School, Tufts University.
The audacity of abortion
One of the overriding and significant reasons why I think that Obama would be an awful president, beyond his lack of experience (forgivable, but risky) in foreign policy and everthing else, is his overwhelming support for abortion on demand. And many conservative writers are sounding the warning bell to moderates who think that Obama’s conservative rhetoric (e.g. regarding Israel) means he is a moderate.
When it comes to abortion, he supports choice death, even for children who survive an abortion procedure and are breathing on the table outside the womb. See articles below.
Steve Jobs and the flying helmet, and why we don’t pray
I had the strangest dream this morning. I was walking down a wide stone sidewalk (about 20 feet wide), like that in a park, lined with trees, that led up to a large building. When the wind blew, I rode it up into the air, as high as 20 feet, and for distances of up to about 40 feet. I’d put out my arms and turn, almost like a dancer, enjoying the lift, and landing at the same gentle pace that I took off at. A woman behind me marveled, and I told her it was easy, she just had to relax and spread her arms out.
Some Books on Science, Faith, and Darwinism
Here’s a list of books I have either read, purchased, or added to my Amazon wishlist on science. They are all highly rated, and interesting to me. Enjoy.
Gay marriage = higher divorce rates
Joe Carter at EO has a well documented article on how to call the bluff of most gay-marriage advocates – tell them that if they are really interested in the institution of marriage, they should push for stricter divorce laws – which will never happen, since fidelity, while a common human virtue poorly practiced, is practiced even less in gay relationships (at least, male ones). Joe provided a slew of stats, and this interesting observation from the National Review:
Suppose same-sex marriages were introduced by legislation that also
made divorce much harder to obtain. How many same-sex couples would then be rushing to join San Francisco’s wedding carnival? My suspicion is that lesbians would heavily outnumber gay
men and that there would be a great many grooms left waiting at the
municipal altar. It is not lifelong commitment that the couples are
seeking (except in moments of romantic fantasy), but the revolving door
of modern marriage with no-fault divorce.
Global Climate Change: Probable, not human-caused, and good
Jay W. Richards, Director of Acton Media and a Research Fellow at the Acton Institute, recently gave an excellent lecture entitled Is it Hot In Here? What Should Christ
ians Think About Global Warming? It is well worth a listen, but I would like to quickly summarize. He asked and answered five questions about GW:
- Is the earth warming?
- Are humans primarily responsible?
- Is global warming bad or good?
- Are the proposed corrective policies worth pursuing?
- How do you know when you are resisting established science rather than political orthodoxy in science?
Jindo’s Moses Miracle
Skeptics of Biblical miracles need to be more open minded about how such things could easily happen in nature, and that such miracles are miraculous because of their providential timing, and usually not because such things are impossible.
Case in point? The bi-annual appearance of a land bridge between Jindo and Modo islands in South Korea (click through both links to see the amazing pictures – those dots in the image at right are people!). Twice a year, a 2km land bridge appears at low tide, and people walk between the islands in a celebration. This same type of bridge has been identified in the Red Sea crossing. The more you do your archaological and historical research, the more you realize the stunning accuracy of the Bible.
Quote of the Day #009 – Religion and Science
"Science can purify religion from error and superstition. Religion can purify science from idolatry and false absolutes."
– Pope John Paul II
False absolutes and idolatries like scientism (science is the only valid way of knowing), evolutionism (‘it’s real science, I swear! As sure as gravity’), feticide (‘it’s just a blob of cells, and it is better to kill it than to allow it to suffer’), eugenics (‘we’re just helping Darwinism along, it’s for the good of the species’), slavery (‘of course they are less evolved!’), sexual permissiveness (‘people can’t be expected or encouraged to abstain, it’s against nature’ or ‘just because we can never produce progeny doesn’t mean that it’s unnatural’), etc.
Superstitions and errors like … [anti-religionists and thinkers (somewhat mutually exclusive groups), have a field day]
Gravitas publishes ‘framework-agnostic’ science textbooks
Casey Luskin has a nice 13 minute interview with Rebecca W. Keller, founder of Gravitas Publications, which publish a series of science books for homeschoolers called Real Science 4 Kids. By ‘framework-agnostic’, I mean that she presents science and scientific methods withOUT committing to any specific philosophy-of-science framework like evolution, creationism, or ID. Or in her words:
I believe that the best science is rigorous and objective about the
facts, but open and tolerant of what those facts may mean both to
science and outside of science. In other words, we should be diligent
to practice science rigorously and carefully utilizing the scientific
method and critical thinking. But we should allow everyone to interpret
those facts through their own lens.Intelligent design is an interpretative framework for evaluating
scientific data as are evolutionary theory and creationism. Each are
different lenses used to understand and interpret scientific
information.
My Two Cents #122 – Atheism: Unpopular, FSM, Dawkins, Violence & Christianity
Here’s some recent stuff:
- Why atheism is politically unpopular in the US (Economist) – “One problem is that they are hardly a cohesive group. Another issue is simply branding. ‘Atheist’ has an ugly ring in American ears and it merely defines what people are not. ‘Godless’ is worse, its derogatory attachment to ‘communist’ may never be broken. ‘Humanist’ sounds too hippyish. A few have taken to calling themselves ‘Brights’ for no good reason and to widespread mirth. And ‘secular’ isn’t quite the word either; one can be a Christian secularist. But another failing of the irreligious movement has been its tendency, frequently, to pick the wrong fights.”
Evangelical Manifesto Released
Today at the National Press Club, a group of 80 Christian leaders signed on and released An Evangelical Manifesto: A Declaration of Evangelical Identity and Public Commitment. Justin Taylor wrote a summary, and Joe at EO also commented. I agree with Joe on this point:
It is not the term "evangelical" that the world despises but the
beliefs behind the word. Call yourself whatever you
want–’post-evangelical’ is my favorite–but the minute you tell the
world that homosexual behavior is sinful, that killing infants in the
womb is wrong, and that man has an inherent dignity because we are made
in the image of God then you can expect to have that label spat upon
too.How many labels are will willing to abandon before we finally realize it is our identity that we are shirking?
Me for one, I’m proud to wear the label.
BORED WITH CHURCH Part I – Are you really a Christian
I have often heard people say that they have stopped attending church, but the reason that I have thought about most recently is the statement that people stop going because ‘church is boring.’ There are at least four reasons why someone might be bored with church – but they all boil down to this – the problem is either with you, or with your church, or both.
Global warming, political correctness, and wikipedia
Many of us rely on wikipedia as a quick and dirty source of information in a hurry. And while some attack it as unreliable, it has shown to be fairly reliable in comparison with the Encyclopedia Britannica.
But on controversial subjects like global warming, DON’T expect wikipedia to be objective. As Lawrence Solomon of the National Post reports, Wikipedia’s zealots may be removing information that is not politically correct, or of the minority opinion.
For the last 18 months I have been profiling scientists who disagree
with the UN panel’s position. My Deniers series, which now runs to some
40 columns, describes many of the world’s most prominent scientists.
They include authors or reviewers for the UN panel (before they quit in
disgust). They even include the scientist known as the father of
scientific climatology, who is recognized as being the most cited
climatologist in the world….I then exercised the right to edit Wikipedia that we all have,
corrected the Wikipedia entry, and advised Peiser that I had done so. Peiser wrote back saying he couldn’t see my corrections on the Wikipedia page. Had I neglected to save them after
editing them, I wondered? I made the changes again, and this time
confirmed that the changes had been saved. But then, in a twinkle, they
were gone again! I made other changes. And others. They all disappeared
shortly after they were made.
