Faith vs. Science

Shamelessly stolen from a friend, fellow mom, and Christian...


"Let me explain the problem science has with religion." The atheist professor of philosophy pauses before his class and then asks one of his new students to stand.

"You're a Christian, aren't you, son?"

"Yes sir," the student says.

"So you believe in God?"

"Absolutely."

"Is God good?"

"Sure! God's good."

"Is God all-powerful? Can God do anything?"

"Yes."

"Are you good or evil?"

"The Bible says I'm evil."

The professor grins knowingly. "Aha! The Bible!" He considers for a moment. "Here's one for you. Let's say there's a sick person over here and you can cure him. You can do it. Would you help him? Would you try?"

"Yes sir, I would."

"So you're good...!"

"I wouldn't say that."

"But why not say that? You'd help a sick and maimed person if you could. Most of us would if we could. But God doesn't."

The student does not answer, so the professor continues. "He doesn't, does he? My brother was a Christian who died of cancer, even though he prayed to Jesus to heal him. How is this Jesus good? Hmmm? Can you answer that one?"

The student remains silent.

"No, you can't, can you?" the professor says. He takes a sip of water from a glass on his desk to give the student time to relax.

"Let's start again, young fella. Is God good?"

"Er...yes," the student says.

"Is Satan good?"

The student doesn't hesitate on this one. "No."

"Then where does Satan come from?"

The student falters. "From God"

"That's right. God made Satan, didn't he? Tell me, son. Is there evil in this world?"

"Yes, sir."

"Evil's everywhere, isn't it? And God did make everything, correct?"

"Yes."

"So who created evil?" The professor continued, "If God created everything, then God created evil, since evil exists, and according to the principle that our works define who we are, then God is evil."

Again, the student has no answer. "Is there sickness? Immorality? Hatred? Ugliness? All these terrible things, do they exist in this world?"

The student squirms on his feet. "Yes."

"So who created them?"

The student does not answer again, so the professor repeats his question. "Who created them?" There is still no answer. Suddenly the lecturer breaks away to pace in front of the classroom. The class is mesmerized. "Tell me," he continues onto another student. "Do you believe in Jesus Christ, son?"

The student's voice betrays him and cracks. "Yes, professor, I do."

The old man stops pacing. "Science says you have five senses you use to identify and observe the world around you. Have you ever seen Jesus?"

"No sir. I've never seen Him."

"Then tell us if you've ever heard your Jesus?"

"No, sir, I have not."

"Have you ever felt your Jesus, tasted your Jesus or smelt your Jesus? Have you ever had any sensory perception of Jesus Christ, or God for that matter?"

"No, sir, I'm afraid I haven't."

"Yet you still believe in him?"

"Yes."

"According to the rules of empirical, testable, demonstrable protocol, science says your God doesn't exist. What do you say to that, son?"

"Nothing," the student replies. "I only have my faith."

"Yes, faith," the professor repeats. "And that is the problem science has with God. There is no evidence, only faith."

The student stands quietly for a moment, before asking a question of His own. "Professor, is there such thing as heat?"

"Yes," the professor replies. "There's heat."

"And is there such a thing as cold?"

"Yes, son, there's cold too."

"No sir, there isn't."

The professor turns to face the student, obviously interested. The room suddenly becomes very quiet. The student begins to explain. "You can have lots of heat, even more heat, super-heat, mega-heat, unlimited heat, white heat, a little heat or no heat, but we don't have anything called 'cold'. We can hit up to 458 degrees below zero, which is no heat, but we can't go any further after that. There is no such thing as cold; otherwise we would be able to go colder than the lowest -458 degrees."

"Every body or object is susceptible to study when it has or transmits energy, and heat is what makes a body or matter have or transmit energy. Absolute zero (-458 F) is the total absence of heat. You see, sir, cold is only a word we use to describe the absence of heat. We cannot measure cold. Heat we can measure in thermal units because heat is energy. Cold is not the opposite of heat, sir, just the absence of it."

Silence across the room. A pen drops somewhere in the classroom, sounding like a hammer.

"What about darkness, professor. Is there such a thing as darkness?"

"Yes," the professor replies without hesitation. "What is night if it isn't darkness?"

"You're wrong again, sir. Darkness is not something; it is the absence of something. You can have low light, normal light, bright light, flashing light, but if you have no light constantly you have nothing and it's called darkness, isn't it? That's the meaning we use to define the word."

"In reality, darkness isn't. If it were, you would be able to make darkness darker, wouldn't you?"

The professor begins to smile at the student in front of him. This will be a good semester. "So what point are you making, young man?"

"Yes, professor. My point is, your philosophical premise is flawed to start with, and so your conclusion must also be flawed."

The professor's face cannot hide his surprise this time. "Flawed? Can you explain how?"

"You are working on the premise of duality," the student explains. "You argue that there is life and then there's death; a good God and a bad God. You are viewing the concept of God as something finite, something we can measure. Sir, science can't even explain a thought."

"It uses electricity and magnetism, but has never seen, much less fully understood either one. To view death as the opposite of life is to be ignorant of the fact that death cannot exist as a substantive thing. Death is not the opposite of life, just the absence of it."

"Now tell me, professor. Do you teach your students that they evolved from a monkey?"

"If you are referring to the natural evolutionary process, young man, yes, of course I do."

"Have you ever observed evolution with your own eyes, sir?"

The professor begins to shake his head, still smiling, as he realizes where the argument is going. A very good semester, indeed.

"Since no one has ever observed the process of evolution at work and cannot even prove that this process is an on-going endeavor, are you not teaching your opinion, sir? Are you now not a scientist, but a preacher?"

The class is in uproar. The student remains silent until the commotion has subsided.

"To continue the point you were making earlier to the other student, let me give you an example of what I mean."

The student looks around the room. "Is there anyone in the class who has ever seen the professor's brain?" The class breaks out into laughter.

"Is there anyone here who has ever heard the professor's brain, felt the professor's brain, touched or smelt the professor's brain? No one appears to have done so. So, according to the established rules of empirical, stable, demonstrable protocol, science says that you have no brain, with all due respect, sir."

"So if science says you have no brain, how can we trust your lectures, sir?"

Now the room is silent. The professor just stares at the student, his face unreadable.

Finally, after what seems an eternity, the old man answers. "I guess you'll have to take them on faith."

"Now, you accept that there is faith, and, in fact, faith exists with life," the student continues. "Now, sir, is there such a thing as evil?"

Now uncertain, the professor responds, "Of course, there is. We see it everyday. It is in the daily example of man's inhumanity to man. It is in the multitude of crime and violence everywhere in the world. These manifestations are nothing else but evil."

To this the student replied, "Evil does not exist sir, or at least it does not exist unto itself. Evil is simply the absence of God. It is just like darkness and cold, a word that man has created to describe the absence of God. God did not create evil. Evil is the result of what happens when man does not have God's love present in his heart. It's like the cold that comes when there is no heat or the darkness that comes when there is no light."

The professor sat down.

Yippee for Holidays

Labor Day.... where did that name come from? A salute to working stiffs everywhere? A day to knock out that "honey-do" list? I have no idea! I hope it is a day of un-labor, a day of rest, a true Sabbath.

I seem to have so much to do all the time that this weekend feels funny. There isn't one thing on the calendar! That feels so nice, but already tonight I'm restless. I feel like I should be doing something! I even started priming the sheetrock at 8:30 tonight because I was bored! Oh well, I'm ahead on tomorrow's chores.

I will be happy to have the laundry room finished. We're so close that some paint and shelves is all that is left- well, and the guy has to come and hang my ceiling fan. It is going to be so luxurious to have the laundry out of the basement! I might actually do some every now and then instead of letting it pile up!

This is definitely the post of a 40 year old woman. It even sounds pathetic to me- happy about a new laundry room, and happy to be home alone on a Friday night. Just pitiful!

A Fun Tag this Time!

The point of this is to get to know each other a little better. If you want to play along, after reading my blog, leave a random comment in the comments section; something like "But I've already got a penguin..." or "I can't wait until St. Alphonso's Day", etc. Then I will message you 5 questions which you should answer in your next blog.

1. If you could go back in time, what one thing would you change in your childhood, to make your life different than it is now?

---Hmm... I'd change the fact that my dad died when I was 17. (Don't know how I'd change that but I guess if I figured out how to travel back in time, I could figure that one out, too!) I think I would have made some different decisions along the way with his guidance!

2. You are in a room of celebrities past and present, and your favorite has just come up to you and asked you something. Who is it? and what did he/she ask you?

----It was Vin Diesel, and he said "why are you drooling?" LOL!

3. You are about to be born. Which can you live without? Sight or hearing?

---Hearing, definitely. At least with sight you can still drive, read things, learn sign language... with blindness you are more dependent on others.

4. I am coming to dinner! What are we having? (sorry, that one from ZB was good) and what would you like me to bring?

---You bring the beer and I'll put the burgers on the grill!

5. You've won the lottery! After the shock, what will you do now?

---Pay off the house, buy a new car, and put money back for the kids' college. I'm sure after taxes that is all I'd have the money for!!


This was fun Kat- thanks!

Jamie sent me some questions, too- one was the same as Kat's, but here are the others....

2. Whom is the one person that has influenced your life the most?

---My mother. She made me the person I am today- and most of what I do, I measure what she would think of it before I do it.

3. What was your dream job growing up?

---Lifeguarding, until I did it. BORING!!

4. If you were given ten thousand dollars and could not spend it on yourself or your family. How would you choose to spend it.

---I would send people from my church on a mission trip. And I'd help a friend who lives in a wheelchair on disability. (if she would let me!)

5. What one accomplishment are you proud of?

---My kids- definitely my kids!!

Super Saturday

Well today was wonderful! Our Community Chorus concert was tonight and went so well! I am the concert master (they tell me that is a fancy name for "slave driver" I'm the one doing sectional rehearsals and warm-ups. ) And I had a solo! This is a Broadway show and the audience was laughing and clapping and very relaxed. It was super fun! If I can get a recording of it I'll post it here (someone may have to tell me how to do that- I've seen some of you do it so I know it can be done!)

And the best part- we had it at the church I work at- and the internet is back up! Which means all the AV stuff worked (and hopefully will work on Monday at work, too!) So next week should be much calmer, well, except for school starting and the kids needing more money than I make in a month for all that first-week-of-school stuff. Oh well, you can't take it with you!

TGIF!!

I haven't been this happy to see Friday in a long time! Nothing got straightened out at work- plus I got a date wrong in a mass email and misspelled a word on our big sign. Not my best week all around! Thank goodness it is over!!!

Now, please pray with me that things are up and running on Monday.....

Since you asked....

No, today was not better. You know when the IT guy goes outside and throws and kicks things that it isn't going to be good. He got one end up and running but can't seem to isolate the switch (0r the port on one switch) that is making the rest not work. We did get the info I needed spooled off of one hard drive, so that was good.

It was a day of... do something, save it to a jump drive, find a computer that has a printer, print it off, go to the copier, copy... just too many added steps. He promises it will be better tomorrow, but I'm already planning to take everything to Kinkos. It has just been one of those weeks!!

One of THOSE days

Ok so you know that we need rain in NC really bad- this is the driest summer on record. Everything is brown. So I'm excited that we finally got a thunderstorm last night. A good 20 minutes of rain, that made puddles and ran down the street and we're all screaming "thank you, Lord!"

Then I go to work this morning. Yes, lightning toasted the DSL modem, the router, and two computers. Hopefully it just got the power supply but they wouldn't come on at all. So here I am- at least my computer works, but I can't print, network, email, surf, nothing. I didn't realize how dependent I have become on having that work- one program even took forever to open because it wanted me to connect so it could update first!! Everything I did, I couldn't finish because it had to either be printed, emailed to someone, or it needed more info I didn't have available. That was a real wakeup call as to how much I rely on this to work now.

Hopefully the tech guy has it all fixed tomorrow- or I'm gonna go crazy!!

Left out?

OK so I need some help- are any of you the middle child? You all know that Chris demands a lot of attention, and Savannah is the youngest, and the only girl, and so she gets things the others don't anymore, but Brandon seems to get lost in the middle. He is an easy kid- laid back, doesn't want much, just content wherever you put him. He has a truck, gets an allowance, I do feed him, and buy him things, but he just doesn't demand much. So my question is, is this normal? What do you middle children want? Do you like hanging back and watching and staying out of the fray? Or is there a part of you that screams silently for something?

The Boy is Back!

It is nice to have my soldier home! So many things about him have changed:
1- I actually had a phone conversation where we both spoke- not just me asking questions and him replying in monosylables.
2- I volunteered to wash some of his laundry and he said "don't do that, I can get it."
3- He offered to give his little brother money (that is huge- usually they fight over money!)
4- He volunteered to babysit his little sister and two little cousins for an hour today without having his arm twisted.
5- He has hugged us all goodnight for two nights in a row!

But, he did leave his clothes on the bathroom floor this morning! There is still a little of the kid left in him!!

Congratulations Chris!!

We're home from Oklahoma, and it is great to have Chris with us. He just spent 9 1/2 weeks in Army basic training at Ft. Sill, OK.

We left on Wednesday, flew to Dallas and made the three hour drive to OK. No one could sleep that night knowing that we would see him for the first time in months the next morning. The first glimpse we got was during their demonstrations. I know it sounds sappy, but I cried! We couldn't talk to him or hug him until they dismissed the entire batallion. Then, Savannah launched herself at him and cried and held on for dear life. We weren't too far behind!

He spent the rest of the day with us, telling stories of what he'd done the past few months and, I have to tell you, I am so proud of him. He really seems different and grown up. We told him what his graduation present was (it was going to be a surprise but since it isn't ready, and he was going to get home ahead of us, we went ahead and let him know.) We had the basement renovated into an apartment for him. He is so tickled- says he may never move out. That is ok with me after being without him for so long! (Well, and hopefully his stuff will stay down there!)
The graduation itself was impressive. 245 soldiers chanting, moving in rhythm, and sitting stock still, even when their little sisters are taking their picture (see the one above!) When it was over, he had an hour before he had to be on a plane home. We were 12 hours behind him! So once again we were traveling with "we gotta get home and see Chris" on our minds. Thankfully the flight was uneventful, and even 10 minutes early (thanks, American Airlines!)

What makes us blog?

Have you thought about it?

Is it so you can educate your fellow bloggers ?

Is it so you can unload all the anger and frustration?

Is it because you want to let your online friends get to know you better?

What makes us blog ?

This is shamelessly stolen from another blog, but it made me think. Why do I do this? I love to write, for one, and read for another, so I am having a really fun time making friends and getting to know some really fun people!

I think the other reason has to be to unload things- sometimes seeing it in print is cathartic. Some times it makes the answer to the problem seem simple (even if I never did find that check!) and sometimes it makes the problem not seem as big.

I know I have met some wonderful people- and even got to go to a ball! Without having to get my nails done! What could be better?

Getting Nervous

I am so anxious to see Chris! We leave on Wednesday for Ft. Sill, OK, and to see the boy who we sent off 10 weeks ago as a new man. I'm a little nervous because from the tone of his letters, he has become a new person. He has also done a lot of thinking about his life, his dad, and his self-worth. One letter actually said that no one, including himself, thought he'd make it through basic training. Funny, I always knew he would. It was just his psyche that always tells him he is going to fail.

Anyway, I hope that he is ready to come home and be a student again. I can't imagine how hard of an adjustment that will be for him. We have the basement fixed up like a little apartment for him so he won't have to hear "mom" tell him what to do all the time. I'm worried that he'll think we don't want him in the house, although his younger brother wants to live down there! He thinks it is really neat! My worries go to Chris' psyche again- he always thinks that no one loves him and he isn't worthy. Comes from his biological mother leaving when he was 3. He has worked through a lot in those 15 years but that underlying belief is still there.

I'll take the camera and take lots of pictures to let you know how much fun we had. I know it will be a great reunion for our family, even if his dad doesn't go (which it doesn't look like he will.) Oh well, he will have his bio mom, me, both little sisters, and his little brother and his grandma. Sounds like that is way more than some of the guys have. Pray for us that the trip goes smoothly.

Going to the Ball

Hey thanks Kat- I was looking for somewhere to go all dressed up! And I have to go as Abigail Adams! She is probably the strongest woman in history, left alone while her husband served our country as congressman, ambassador, and president. She ran the farm, finished raising the kids, and stood by him through it all. She was well spoken and well educated and her letters to him survive to this day. So here's to the strong women of the world, who can run the house without the man around, who are really the ones who make the world turn.

If you would like to join the Baron's ball, click here and follow the instructions.