Reason

Great quote I read today

“Question with boldness even the existence of a God; because, if there be one, he must more approve of the homage of reason, than that of blindfolded fear.”

Thomas Jefferson

Creationists

We went blueberry and blackberry picking today at an orchard I think we had visited a few years back. I think we are a little late in the seasons for the blueberries and the blackberries were not great in number either. I noticed in the shop where we paid for our blueberries they had this massive model of Noah’s ark complete with pictorial diagrams attempting to explain how dinosaurs could have fit in the ark along with people(?). Wtf? What century is this? They had a picture of Noah’s daughter next to a nest of dinosaur eggs. Where do these nuts come from and how deep do they permeate the state of Kansas? I guess it should not be a surprise what with the debacle of the state board of education.

As a member of the Church of the flying spaghetti monster (I even have a t-shirt to prove it), I suppose it is my obligation to set people like this straight. But is it any wonder that our education system has come under fire with religious nutters imposing their fantasies on science?

Interesting finding

In the NYTimes there was an article on the subject of a new interpretation of a circa 4 BC Jewish tablet.

“This should shake our basic view of Christianity,” he said as he sat in his office of the Shalom Hartman Institute in Jerusalem where he is a senior fellow in addition to being the Yehezkel Kaufman Professor of Biblical Studies at Hebrew University. “Resurrection after three days becomes a motif developed before Jesus, which runs contrary to nearly all scholarship. What happens in the New Testament was adopted by Jesus and his followers based on an earlier messiah story.”

The notion that a messiah would come to shed his ‘blood’ not for some past sin but rather freedom from the Romans and their proxy Herod may have been a powerful motif later leveraged by early Christians. I think also that this debate will further help people to recognize the Jewish roots of Christianity.

New School – Spring Picnic

We visited the kids new school today as they were having a spring picnic. The kids enjoyed themselves.

I am excited about this smaller private Catholic school for our boys. They have a rigorous approach to the arts, music, and Science. They teach French starting in preschool.

Sean

Natural selection

At least 50 people in Kottayam district have reportedly lost their vision after gazing at the sun looking for an image of Virgin Mary.

Pretty sad, actually, how religion can drive people to do very stupid things. Evolution seems to be alive and well, though.

At last, a faith to my liking

Speaking of changing your faith, this church in Florida definitely has a certain appeal.

Changes in faith

More than a quarter of adult Americans have left the faith of their childhood to join another religion or no religion, according to a new survey of religious affiliation by the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life.

The rise of the unaffiliated does not mean that Americans are becoming less religious, however. Contrary to assumptions that most of the unaffiliated are atheists or agnostics, most described their religion “as nothing in particular.”

What drives people to suddenly change from the faith in which they were raised? The obvious ones are changes as a result of your significant other’s faith. Evidently, I have successfully converted a Baptist to Catholicism, no easy feat I tell you! Made for an interesting wedding Mass with the Baptist grandmother. But seriously, I think there are a lot of reasons and many of them reflect changes in our every day lives. You can read more of the article here. (NY Times).

Sean

Who is your daddy?

Interesting chart of the Catholic, Protestant, and Mormon churches throughout the US.  Catholicism is the largest Christian denomination in the world and evidently in the US as well.

Almost makes you want to go and start a game of Risk doesn’t it?  Risk is the only game in college where everyone ended up hating everyone else at the end of the game.

“Dude, why are you siding with him?  You know he is going to stab you in the back the next chance he gets.  Crap, why does Matt always get Australia?”

Sean

Samhain

So, I teach a kindergarten School of Religion class at our church on Sundays. This used to be called CCD when I was a child. Today we were talking about the saints. I happened to use a short movie about the life of Saint Patrick. My erstwhile lesson plan writer added that to the session’s material.

Much to my dismay it was a story about Patrick, but it portrayed everything from pre-Christian Ireland in very negative light. I was almost ready to turn off the tape! Faith is a tricky thing. It is a bit like politics today. Early Christians had to ’sell’ their faith as a ‘better deal’ to the locals. I just never thought I would see such gross misinterpretation of history. It was utterly appalling. The Druids were portrayed as ‘evil devil worshipers’. Pre-Christian Irish history and culture were treated as nothing more than a mere appetizer for the coming of Patrick. Ack. Spff, to quote Bill the Cat.

Look, faith is not black and white. It is a journey on an individual level that crosses over into grey areas most of the time. It is even more tricky if you know a lot about culture, language, and history mixed in with a science background. Early irish saints were most likely re-christened Celtic gods such as St. Bridget. Early Christian churches were actually rebuilt on Celtic shrines and groves so as to capture the prime real estate and make it easier for the locals to transition to the ‘new’ faith.

Okay, maybe I am just over analyzing a children’s video, but I must warn you I read Chomsky and I have a thing about the media and the way events and peoples are portrayed often in a way to carry a certain agenda.

I will have to tell the wife, no more videos until I preview them…

Sean

Ordination to the Priesthood

A friend of mine from work was ordained this weekend at a special mass in our parish. It was a really moving ceremony. It is a new chapter in his life and I wish him the best. Greg was ordained along with two others. After the ceremony they gave blessings to family and friends.

Congratulations Greg!

Sean