Liar, Lunatic, Lord . . . or just a little mistaken?

Okay, I promise this is my last post on the God Delusion. This is just so inane I had to share it.

There are still some people who are persuaded by scriptural evidence to believe in God. A common argument, attributed to C.S. Lewis (who should have known better), states that, since Jesus claimed to be the Son of God, he must have been either right or else insane or a liar: 'Mad, Bad or God'. Or, with artless alliteration, 'Lunatic, Liar or Lord'. The historical evidence that Jesus claimed any sort of divine status is minimal. But even if that evidence were good, the trilemma on offer would be ludicrously inadequate. A fourth possibility, almost too obvious to need mentioning, is that Jesus was honestly mistaken. Plenty of people are. - Richard
Dawkins

Waking up one morning and thinking it is Thursday when it is actually only Wednesday, or thinking that your shoes are in your closet when you actually left them in the living room are examples of being honestly mistaken. Believing you are the Son of God as the basis of your life experience, your teaching and your death is a belief far beyond something that could be reasonably categorized as an honest mistake.

Going through the book, it is not that Dawkins never makes a good point or a reasonable argument, but strewn along the paths are so many arguments like this one that, to me, it significantly mitigates the credibility of the book over all. Another aspect that I found frustrating is that at one point when a scientist makes a statement supportive of religion, Dawkins states that he surely must not have meant what he said and that he was under powerful social pressure to be polite to those of faith. So, if anyone says something that is different from you, they obviously didn't mean it? I also find it interesting that he heaps tremendous praise on all of those atheists who were brave enough to stand up for their beliefs in an environment that is predominantly religious, but he considers the praises of those who admire devout Christians who are also distinguished scientists (in an environment that is predominantly atheistic or agnostic) as an act of desperation.

Neglecting the Evidence?

So this week my hold on Richard Dawkin's The God Delusion came through, and I was able to pick it up. I'm about ready to take it back. Here is an example of why:

The genie of religious fanaticism is rampant in present-day America, and the Founding Fathers would have been horrified. Whether or not it is right to embrace the paradox and blame the secular constitution that they devised, the founders most certainly were secularists who believed in keeping religion out of politics, and that is enough to place them firmly on the side of those who object, for example, to ostentatious displays of the Ten Commandments in government-owned public places. But it is tantalizing to speculate that at least some of the Founders might have gone beyond deism. Might they have been agnostics or even out-and-out atheists? - Richard Dawins

Maybe. Let's see:

Whereas it is the duty of all nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to obey His will, to be grateful for His benefits, and humbly to implore His protection and favor; and Whereas both Houses of Congress have, by their joint committee, requested me to "recommend to the people of the United States a day of public thanksgiving and prayer, to be observed by acknowledging with grateful hearts the many and signal favors of Almighty God, especially by affording them an opportunity peaceably to establish a form of government for their safety and happiness:"

Now, therefore, I do recommend and assign Thursday, the 26th day of November next, to be devoted by the people of these States to the service of that great and glorious Being who is the beneficent author of all the good that was, that is, or that will be; that we may then all unite in rendering unto Him our sincere and humble thanks for His kind care and protection of the people of this country previous to their becoming a nation; for the signal and manifold mercies and the favorable interpositions of His providence in the course and conclusion of the late war; for the great degree of tranquility, union, and plenty which we have since enjoyed; for the peaceable and rational manner in which we have been enable to establish constitutions of government for our safety and happiness, and particularly the national one now lately instituted for the civil and religious liberty with which we are blessed, and the means we have of acquiring and diffusing useful knowledge; and, in general, for all the great and various favors which He has been pleased to confer upon us.

And also that we may then unite in most humbly offering our prayers and supplications to the great Lord and Ruler of Nations and beseech Him to pardon our national and other transgressions; to enable us all, whether in public or private stations, to perform our several and relative duties properly and punctually; to render our National Government a blessing to all the people by constantly being a Government of wise, just, and constitutional laws, discreetly and faithfully executed and obeyed; to protect and guide all sovereigns and nations (especially such as have shown kindness to us), and to bless them with good governments, peace, and concord; to promote the knowledge and practice of true religion and virtue, and the increase of science among them and us; and, generally to grant unto all mankind such a degree of temporal prosperity as He alone knows to be best.

Given under my hand, at the city of New York, the 3d day of October, A.D. 1789. – George Washington

Yeah, you're right Richard. That's just sheer secular atheism through and through.

Lazy Money

Yesterday I went to the bank to deposit a check, and as I was waiting I overheard someone opening a savings account that paid a paltry 1% APR. (Apparently, this was a special offer; the regular rate was only 0.4% APR.) It was all I could to keep from interrupting and telling him, "Don't do it!". If you are looking for somewhere to put your cash, I would encourage you to consider the following:

• Checking: Charles Schwab - 4.25% APR on checking with no monthly fees, minimum balance or ATM charges.
• Savings: HSBC Direct - 5.05% APR, no fees or minimum balance
• Money Market: AmTrust Direct - 5.36% APR, no fees on online transfers, $1 minimum

Don't settle for what your local brick and mortar bank pays. There are better options out there. Make your money work for you.

Sunday Breakfast Mission Back To School Drive

If you are planning on purchasing some school supplies for the Sunday Breakfast Mission, I would definitely encourage you to check out Wal-Mart's Back to School sale. Granted, I've probably just doubled our trade deficit with China but they have some great deals. I was able to purchase the following last night:

• 48 boxes of crayons (24 crayons per box)
• 22 spiral notebooks
• 12 rulers
• 12 bottles of glue
• 12 reams of notebook paper
• 3 boxes of erasers
• 6 scissors
• 6 school boxes
• 6 packs of pens
• 6 packs of pencils

All for a grand total of . . . $46.

Stark Contrasts

I have come across a few pages recently on the leadership of Lincoln and Churchill which really stood out to me in contrast to President Bush, who I think genuinely aspires to be such a principled leader. I no longer have the books to pull a direct quote, so I'll try to describe the situation as best as I can.

There was a point when Lincoln was being berated by a political opponent and Lincoln's colleagues were upset and angered by this and wanted to go on the offense. Abe however acted with great restraint and humility commenting that this legislator is very often right and should be heard out to see what was valid in his argument and what Lincoln might need to do to change. In another instance, someone commented in front of Lincoln during the war that "God is on the Union's side." Lincoln quickly chastised him by saying that God is on the side of the right and that the Union must seek to be right and so be aligned with God and not opposing him. As Bush has often framed the battle against terroristic Islamic extremism as a battle of good against evil, he would do well to listen carefully to the nuance of Lincoln's admonition. I don't think God necessarily has a soft spot on his heart for America; he is much more concerned about justice and rightness.

The third difference comes from Churchill. It is reported in the book Good to Great:

Churchill said, 'We are are resolved to destroy Hitler and every vestige of his Nazi regime. From this, nothing will turn us. Nothing! We will never parley. We will never negotiate with Hitler or any of his gang. We shall fight him by land. We shall fight him by sea. We shall fight him in the air. Until, with God's help, we have rid the earth of his shadow.' Armed with this bold vision, Churchill never failed, however, to confront the brutal facts. He feared that his towering, charismatic personality might deter bad news form reaching him in its starkest form. So, early in the war, he created an entirely separate department outside the normal chain of command, called the Statistical Office, with the principle function of feeding him - continuously updated and unfiltered - the most brutal facts of reality.

This stands in significant contrast to the current administration's formation of a strategy and execution of it in Iraq.

Be A Man

I received my packet from Shared Hope International and started reviewing the materials this morning. One of the methods they are utilizing to combat the devastating child slavery and sex tourism trades is by uniting and challenging men who

Have joined together to take a stand, declaring that the sexual exploitation of children, using pornography, and buying sex is not something real men will tolerate. Real men guard themselves and protect children with dignity.

Become a Defender.

Introducing Oluwafemi

On Tuesday, our small group joined Bayo and Anita in the naming celebration of their first child (and our group's first baby)! I felt a sense of awe looking over her crib and seeing this precious little life. Her name means "God loves me." Indeed, and so do your parents and your small group!

It was great to enjoy the evening with their family and friends and to see Bayo and Anita dressed in their traditional garb for the festivities.

I think I see a babysitter!

I would like to close this post with a prayer of blessing:

O God, you have taught us through your blessed Son that whoever receives a little child in the name of Christ receives Christ himself: We give you thanks for the blessing you have bestowed upon this family in giving them a child. Confirm their joy by a lively sense of your presence with them, and give them calm strength and patient wisdom as they seek to bring this child to love all that is true and noble, just and pure, lovable and gracious, excellent and admirable, following the example of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

Almighty God, giver of life and love, bless Bayo and Anita. Grant them wisdom and devotion in the ordering of their common life, that each may be to the other a strength in need, a counselor in perplexity, a comfort in sorrow, and a companion in joy. And so knit their wills together in your will and their spirits in your Spirit, that they may live together in love and peace all the days of their life; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Spread the Love

One of the organizations that was highlighted during the 40 Day Fast that I have been reading about is Kiva.org. They are a microfinance organization that links lenders (at least in America and perhaps around the world) with borrowers in developing nations. For instance, tonight I was able to help make a loan to Hafiz, an Internally Displaced Person (IDP) from the occupied territory of Azerbaijan so that he could purchase a milk cow.

This is kind of a neat convergence point. I have been increasingly interested in microfinance since joining Chatham, but their involvement is a rather technical aspect of helping organizations in this field mitigate their foreign currency exchange risk. So, it was great to learn about Kiva and come across this opportunity to really get connected and involved.

I think the final tipping point in getting me to pull the trigger on this is catching the enthusiasm from the people in my small group who just returned from the Morocco trip. There was a request to borrow the Prayer of Jabez and leafing through a journal version I have of the book again tonight challenged and convicted me.

"He who is kind to the poor lends to the LORD, and he will reward him for what he has done." - Proverbs 19:17

Map Game

50 States - Shockwave Edition
Play Games
at Shockwave

This game is pretty cool. I would have done better, but I tried dumping New Jersey into the Atlantic Ocean.

Words of Wisdom

Today while I was at the library I came across Dale Carnegie's book How to Stop Worrying and Start Living. I discovered the following pearls and gems of wisdom in the first chapter:

"Our trouble is not ignorance, but inaction." - Dale Carnegie

"Our main business is not to see what lies dimly at a distance, but to do what lies clearly at hand." - Thomas Carlyle

"Every day is a new life to a wise man." - Unknown

"One of the most tragic things I know about human nature is that all of us tend to put off living. We are all dreaming of some magical rose garden over the horizon - instead of enjoying the roses that are blooming outside our windows today." - Dale Carnegie

"Happy the man, and happy he alone
He who can call today his own
He who, secure within, can say
Tomorrow do thy worst, for I have lived today."
- Horace

A Better Opposition

Recently I commented on of Christopher Hitchen's God Is Not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything, and noted that I was still looking for a more reasonable argument against Christianity and religion in general. Well, today's visit to Border's introduced me to Richard Dawkin's The God Delusion. While perhaps not likely to shake religious institutions to their core, it at least makes Hitchen's book pale like a nickel comic next to an actual novel. It has a much more academic feel to it and is not dripping with the same obnoxious hubris as Hitchen's writing. Of course, he still goads "Bible thumping" believers into giving a hostile response with his belligerent description of Yahweh in the opening of chapter 2 but even this did not strike me with the same sort of smugness as Mr. Hitchens offered.

I anticipate that the real weakness of the work, as in Hitchen's, will be that it claims that religion, by its very nature is what actually produces evil and all types of human suffering. By contrast, he would claim, science and secular atheism will be humanity's true salvation. But if religion, by its nature, inherently must produce the defective attributes of hatred and oppression, it seems to me that it does a rather poor job of it. Perhaps here one should create a "Delusion Hypothesis" as Dawkins creates a "God Hypothesis." For if it is religion that is to be blamed for creating those attributes, as perhaps evidenced in someone like Osama Bin Laden, then what does one do with the evidence of creating virtuous attributes and practices in someone like Mother Theresa or Martin Luther King Jr? For every inflamed fundamentalist who would do violence under the banner of religion, there are hundreds of thousands and perhaps millions who practice their faith with kindness and benevolence towards others. And if religion is such a curse to humanity, how does one explain all of the schools, hospitals, orphanages and humanitarian organizations that are faith based? Dawkins also warns about the dangerous sexual repressions caused by religion and points frequently to the Catholic priests' sexual abuse scandals. While those incidents are truly shameful, I do not believe they invalidate Christianity or religion any more than the experience of a doctor who commits malpractice invalidates all of modern medicine.

I have the book on hold at the library. I will be interested in exploring his presentation and how he might handle objections along these lines.

SB5 Defeated

Delaware Representatives have defeated SB5. As a sidebar, I wish that when the issue was covered, reporters would be more precise on what is being opposed and instead of stating stem cell research generically, state if they are describing adult or embryonic stem cells. For instance, I recently saw a poll on CNN.com which was stated along the lines of "Do you believe stem cell research is immoral?" Well, it depends. Opponents of embyronic stem cell research are not cold hearted individuals who are calloused to those suffering from "diabetes, cancer, cardiovascular disease, sickle cell disease, Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, spinal cord injuries, osteoporosis, and multiple sclerosis" and are not opposed to all stem cell research that would seek to alleviate these terrible afflictions.. I simply feel that the destruction of life at its earliest and most vulnerable form should not be permitted, especially when there are attractive research opportunities with adult stem cells and emerging discoveries of procedures that would not destroy human embryos. We would never permit the harvesting of organs from adults even if it would serve the "greater good." Why should we allow this?

Joshua

Great long lost song. I've got to find this CD.

Spotlight

On the lower right hand side of my blog is a little link to a member of Kairos who is serving in Cambodia. Reading Zach Andress's last posting, it's exciting to hear of the work he is doing and the attitude he has towards it. I felt challenged to not forget to pray for those serving on a long term basis as we pray for those utilizing their vacations to serve on a shorter term basis. I have a woefully short attention span when it comes to this sort of thing.

Numbers Freak

Odomoter Reading of the Day: 090909.

Go little Saturn.

The Party's Over

In a repulsive triumph of power over justice, President Bush commuted Scooter Libby today. Apparently, obstructing justice and committing perjury can be done without penalty when you do them for the right people. I know that it is not uncommon for Presidents to pardon people for the sake of political interests, but that doesn't make it right or even excusable. I am disgusted with the present administration.

If anyone else in the state of Delaware is interested in changing their party affiliation, click here.

Sicko

I have not yet seen the Michael Moore movie Sicko which came out this weekend. I was kind of interested in seeing it, and then I heard an interview with Moore on CNBC on Friday afternoon which kind of turned me off. He was perturbed and seemed convinced that it was a conspiracy because the interview was held on the steps of Wall Street and not actually inside the building on the trading floor as he apparently had intended. But, Paula saw it and raved about it and encouraged me to see it so maybe I will try to do so. Moore did make a very sensible comment in his interview that his goal is not to advocate adopting another particular country's policies, but to try to learn the best practices of each and adopt those here. The Wall Street Journal ran the following article in response to the film.