Writings and Resources on Religion, Science, and Politics
An excerpt from Francis Collins’ book, The Language of God, spurred a particular realization for me some months ago, when I first read it:
I know a young college student who was living alone during summer vacation while she carried out medical research in preparation for a career as a physician. Awakening in the dark of night, she found a strange man had broken into her apartment. [Read more…]
How can my great-great grandfather, Marco, help clarify how we view the beginning of life and the universe? Well, interesting question. Though it will take us circuitously through a barking-mad courtroom, a mock trial, and some rather startling suggestions regarding my own ancestry, the final picture should be crystal clear.
But first things first: a little background. There are two questions that demand (!) an answer.
I have friends who are creationists, as indeed I myself once was. We’ve been dialoguing quite a lot since the Ham-on-Nye debate not long ago. So much so, that I have had to put aside some previously planned blog projects and such, and I’ve been spending my time fielding science sorts of questions instead. Or at the very least, I’ve been trying to. [Read more…]
I have had friends deeply enamored with Ravi Zacharias, but I have found his writing and lectures to be tepid and maddening, respectively. Those who are not familiar with the works of better minds mistake Ravi for a sort of CS Lewis-like figure, or a great intellectual. He doesn’t rise to Lewis’ wasteline, I am afraid. He regurgitates the work of others, and he possesses an unfortunate dimension that was essentially absent from Lewis’ work: malice. Lewis always maintained an eye toward evangelism – really reaching to people outside the church. Ravi’s drivel is perfect cheering fodder for those who already agree with him, but little more.
I was, as such, quite pleased with the cleverness of this wonderful new game: Ravi Apologist Bingo!
Potholer always does a superb job:
I’m cognitively defective. Or that’s what Christians tell me. It’s not true, of course. But the curious thing is how desperately they need to believe there is something wrong with me. For otherwise, they cannot explain how someone so well informed about their religion could reject their faith—indeed, someone who doesn’t just give it a pass, but rejects it as firmly as any other bizarre cult or superstition. Which is what it is. This book is about why.
Carrier, Richard (2011-02-28). Why I Am Not a Christian: Four Conclusive Reasons to Reject the Faith (Kindle Locations 35-38). Philosophy Press. Kindle Edition.
~~~
Well, on the background of some responses that I’ve received during my exodus from the faith, I certainly resonate with the felt diagnosis from others. And the more people I converse with, the more I realize how common this viewpoint is… and how guilty I myself have been of the same.
How can one say it to friends?
It isn’t our fault.
It isn’t our fault if the people who raised us, and the people who raised them, were given bad information by other well-meaning but misled people. People like Ken Ham and Kent Hovind.
Or that you simply could not check out the legitimacy of information sources back then, at least not the way you can now.
In looking at Ken Ham, [Read more…]
I find myself still flush and aglow from the resounding victory of Nye over Ham last night. But I did muse that another nail in the coffin of Ham’s literalist view would make for happy fodder. That this find was made in Israel makes for palpable irony. The world can’t have begun 6,000 years ago if we have the remains of a 10,000 year old house.
The Biologos Forum is a Christian website studded with a host of legitimate scientists and theologians who tackle issues of origins. I found them very helpful when I was trying to figure out questions of biological evolution, the age of the earth, etc. Having had such protracted FB discussions yesterday surrounding the Bill Nye vs Ken Ham debate, I think they are a very good resource for other Christians grappling with questions like the Old Earth, etc. Bill Nye checks out in terms of factuality, by the way, and that’s an understatement. Ken Ham, I am sorry to say, had no real answers for the type of information that Bill presented, nor indeed for the information summarized in this infographic.
To my friends who hustle off to Ham’s Answers in Genesis, I’d like to suggest that you take a two-pronged approach to any science related conundrums. Sure check AIG, but also check out Biologos. Both are Christian sites for those who worry about that, but AIG presents viewpoints from minority-position Christian scientists, while Biologos gives you the mainstream-position Christian scientists.
Biologos Infographic on Earth Age
Well, it seems I’ve been ousted from a blog for the first time, ostensibly because I didn’t talk enough about facts. Though for the life of me, I would say it was more because I challenged a few sacred cows than anything else.
In any case, I have found a few belated comments in response to my remarks on the same thread. They were thoughtful and cogent, so I think they deserve a response. No need for good discussion to die.
Sadly, I don’t really have a great deal of my own initial comments. But – *trumpeting heralds* – one of my interlocutors was good enough to copy/paste most of what I said. Those comments will be below, and then I’ll respond in additional comment bubbles following.
Cheers,
Matt
There are days when I think about shuttering Jericho and giving up the blogosphere. I ask myself, Matt, why do this any longer? The purpose of this blog was originally to provide friends and family with an explanation for my own change in perspective on faith matters, and it was also meant to provide resources for other inquirers. Jericho has probably done as much as it will do for the former, and may or may not be of use for the latter. So, I think that perhaps I could – or should – walk on.
And then it happens again. PURPOSE crosses my threshold, in the form of awe-striking nonsense that deserves debunking. And in the process of debunking this bit of nonsense, we will find a useful object lesson regarding Creationism too, followed by some proposed guidelines for better navigation of the science battlefield.
But I get ahead of myself… Watch in wonder, for the answers are coming in Spring 2014…
~
That’s right: Geocentrism, with a capital “G”, is back. Yes, that’s correct, we’re talking about the proposition [Read more…]
Where The Eagles Fly . . . . Art Science Poetry Music & Ideas
Science fiction, fantasy, mystery and what-not
Reflections of a Francophile
My Quest to ride through all 254 Texas Counties
Social justice book reviews
I don’t want to start a class war; it started a long time ago and, unfortunately, we lost.
I have zero expectation that anything I ever say will end someone’s belief in their God. Not my goal or purpose. That alone belongs to the individual. ~ Zoe
Jericho Brisance 