Obama Seattle Survivalists & REAL People Guide
October 13, 2013 Leave a comment
And there’s more from Dewey From Detroit.
James Knows Better
October 12, 2013 Leave a comment
James McAfee and Obamacare on Neil Cavuto’s show:
James McAfee of McAfee Software (software security) and his thoughts about the Obamacare exchange system:
Personally, I would rather pay the Obamacare fine than to go to one of these Obamacare exchanges and give up my complete privacy over to the government or to hackers.
You would have to be insane to sign up!
Maybe now you will understand why Tea Party members/Libertarians in Congress stand against Obamacare and big government. It is way out of control.
Do you really want government to manage your health care needs when the government has shown you that it cannot even manage itself?
Are you really so scared of life and death that you must depend on government to bail you out? What happened to REAL Americans?
Tell your representatives today to defund/delay/destroy Obamacare!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The Faith Based-Materialist Myth & Baron Muchausen
October 5, 2013 Leave a comment
At this point in time I do not know enough about what George Gilder believes about Intelligent Design (ID). I don’t know his works well enough.
Who is George Gilder? He is a Senior Fellow and Program Advisor of Technology and Democracy at the Discovery Institute.
I recently finished reading his Knowledge & Power: The Information Theory of Capitalism and How it is Revolutionizing our World. I am currently reading his best-selling book Wealth And Poverty (21st century edition). I highly recommend both of these books just for the wealth of Gilder’s insights into Information Theory and its application (or not) to economics. Both books are very accessible to the reader.
Does Gilder believe that an Intelligent Designer shows up with ID blueprints in hand to tweak as ‘needed’ the evolutionary process? Or, does he believe that ID sprang from the God’s spoken Big Bang without further manipulation required, as I do. When I find out I will let you know. In the mean time…
In the article below Gilder dismisses the faith-based materialist myth that all we are is material (and mind) …”that…bubbled up from a prebiotic brew.” Intelligent design was involved from start to finish. Here, I know he and I agree.
The Materialist Superstition
George GilderMath and science teaching in US high schools, the richest in the world and worst performing per dollar, is a scandal, and part of the problem is biology. In all too many high schools biology classes rule the roost and dispense anti-industrial propaganda about global warming and the impact of DDT on the egg shells of eagles and tell materialist just-so stories about the eventual random emergence, after an agonizing wait of four billion years, of Britney Spears from primordial soup. But they fail to report the central testimony of twentieth century science: the paramount role of rigorous mathematical information in the universe.
About to upend the materialist evolutionary scheme in textbook biology is the same catastrophe that befell Newtonian physics at the beginning of the Twentieth Century when physicists discovered that the atom is not an “opaque massy particle” as Isaac Newton believed but a baffling domain of quantum effects. Overthrowing the Darwinian materialist paradigm is the similar discovery that the biological cell is not a “simple lump of protoplasm” as Charles Darwin believed but a complex information processing machine comprising some 50 thousand proteins in fabulously intricate algorithms of communication and synthesis. Each one of the some 60 trillion constantly changing cells in every human body stores information in DNA codes, processes and replicates it in three forms of RNA and thousands of supporting enzymes, exquisitely supplies the system with energy and seals it in conditionally permeable phospholipid membranes. As Hubert Yockey has shown in his Information Theory and Molecular Biology (Cambridge University Press, 1992) and Stephen Meyer recounts in a recent article in the Smithsonian’s peer-reviewed Proceedings, material evolution alone cannot come close to explaining this panoply of effects. Even mutations occurring in cells at the gigahertz pace of a Pentium 4 and selected at the rate of a Google search could not accumulate the intricate interwoven fabric of information, structure and function of a human being in the allotted time. Schools should continue to teach Darwinian evolution as a powerful force in intra-species adaptation. However, a successful theory of the origins of new species—new biological forms and information—still eludes biologists.
This failure is no scandal. Science still falls far short of developing satisfactory explanations of many crucial phenomena, such as human consciousness, the big bang, the superluminal quantum entanglement of photons across huge distances, even the bioenergetics of the brain of a fly in eluding the swatter. The more we learn about the universe the more widely open the horizons of mystery. The pretence that Darwinian evolution is a complete theory of life is a huge distraction from the limits and language, the rigor and grandeur, of real scientific discovery.
Everywhere we encounter it, information comes from mind. Whether in biology or in technology, it moves from the general to the specific, from the concept to the concrete, from architecture to circuitry to device physics, in top-down, hierarchical patterns. Recognizing this phenomenon, some scholars uphold a view called Intelligent Design, which attempts to pry open agnostically the issue of whether ideas and information precede or follow their material embodiment. On this central point in the philosophy of science, however, I am not an agnostic. I believethatthe notion that the intricate biological structures of the world bubbled up from a prebiotic brew and that ideas are an after-effect of a meaningless random material flux is the most sterile and stultifying notion in the history of human thought.It inspired all the reductionist futilities of the twentieth century, from the obtuse materialism of Marx to the pagan worship of a static material environment, from the Freudian view of the brain as a thermodynamic machine to the zero-sum Malthusian panic over population, treating people more as mouths than as minds.Intellectuals should know better. In the insight of Nobel Laureate biophysicist Max Delbruck, the spectacle of scientists attempting to reduce the mind to material brain suggests nothing so much as Baron Muchausen’s effort to extract himself from a swamp by pulling on his own hair. Claude Shannon’s information theory gives biologists a powerful new mathematical tool to use in analyzing biological structures and information systems. They should use it and teach it. To focus on random chemical mutations rather than on the majestic underlying and overarching logic of the universe reduces the presentation of biology to a confectionary zoo story, replete with cute pandas and Disney dinosaurs and free of the rigors of mathematics. This approach is less 21st century science than a retrograde retreat to 19th century materialist superstitions, which delude our students that they are learning the facts of science when instead they are imbibing the consolations of a faith-driven materialist myth. In their schools and lives, they deserve some intelligent design.
(emphasis mine)
God Saw That It Was Good – All Along (Theistic Evolution)
September 28, 2013 Leave a comment
Have you read the engaging book by scientist Francis S. Collins: The Language of God: A Scientist Presents Evidence for Belief.? As someone who works in the engineering field and as a Kingdom of God Venturer the book’s discussion of science and faith intersecting piqued my interest.
Before reading this book I did have the innate understanding that science and faith were compatible and that each discipline reinforced the other with their respective insights and revelations. But prior to reading this book I hadn’t seen much credible literature discussing this premise. Currently, there appears to be plenty of antipathy between the church and science. So I was excited to purchase the book and evaluate a scientist’s take on the nexus. I was not disappointed.
Francis S. Collins, as the back cover bio reads, headed the Human Genome Project and is one of the world’s leading scientists. “He works at the cutting edge of the study of DNA, the code of life. Yet he is also a man of unshakable faith in God and Scripture.
Dr. Collins believes that faith in God and faith in science can coexist within a person and be harmonious. In The Language of God he makes his case for God and Science.”
Of special interest to me is the fact that Collins (as I do) accepts theistic evolution. In Chapter Ten he writes:
“This view is entirely compatible with everything that science teaches us about the natural world. It is also entirely compatible with the great monotheistic religions of the world. The theistic evolution perspective cannot, of course, prove that God is real, as no logical argument can fully achieve that. Belief in God will always require a leap in faith.”
The book lays out for the reader in very accessible terms how Collins who was not raised in a Christian home came to his belief in God as a budding scientist in his twenties. The book goes on to discuss why Collins fully accepts theistic evolution as opposed to literal Creationism and Intelligent Design. Based on his own research Collins says the evidence is overwhelming in favor of natural evolution as God’s creative methodology. I would agree.
He then further encourages the church to endorse scientific research as a resource for understanding God’s creation, therefore offering a better understanding of God. In concert with his plea I believe every church leader should purchase this book and read its message. There is, sadly, too much mis-information being preached and taught by the Christian Evangelical church regarding creation. This information makes the church look rather foolish. Remember Galileo’s row with the church? Being raised an Evangelical I was taught that the earth was created about 6-8000 years ago and that the seven days described in Genesis Chapter One were literal days: Poof! We just showed up on the scene.
Later in life I became skeptical of the Young Earth Creationist theology but I clung to it because I had heard of no other plausible evidence to the contrary. Evolution was routinely discounted in the Evangelical church. In fact everything I had heard in church told me that evolution was the atheist’s version of the Christian creation. Evolution was also described as a slippery slope which would carry people away from God toward unbelief. And worse, the church seemed opposed to science and science was something I truly enjoyed being involved with. I would later look into Intelligent Design (ID) and had wondered if ID might be the catch-all for my belief in God’s creative act. But I was to learn that ID was flawed theory that did not take into account the nature of God.
My change in thinking occurred a few years ago when I came across the writings of Christian philosopher Alvin Plantinga from the University of Notre Dame. Spending two and a half hours on a train five days a week over the course of several years I had been able to read and research many different science and philosophy topics. And I did this precisely because I wanted to know more about God, the nature of His being and the world around me. This excited me no end. I don’t read romance novels. I find my excitement by romancing the truth.
Through reading Plantinga’s papers, though sometimes written in difficult philosophical terms, the door of my understanding was opened wide and I accepted theistic evolution as a valid creation methodology. I would encourage anyone to read Plantinga’s papers.
The basics of theistic evolution are clearly delineated in Francis Collins’ book and on the Biologos website. Biologos is the name given to theistic evolution by scientist Collins. Here are the Biologos premises/beliefs from that website:
We believe that God created the universe, the earth, and all life over billions of years. God continues to providentially sustain the natural world, and the cosmos continues to declare the glory of God.
- We believe that all people have sinned against God and are in need of salvation.
- We believe in the historical incarnation of Jesus Christ as fully God and fully man. We believe in the historical death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, by which we are saved and reconciled to God.
- We believe that God continues to be directly involved in human history in acts of salvation, personal transformation, and answers to prayer.
- We believe the Bible is the inspired and authoritative word of God. By the Holy Spirit it is the “living and active” means though which God speaks to the church today, bearing witness to God’s Son, Jesus, as the divine Logos, or Word of God.
- We believe that God also reveals himself in and through the natural world he created, which displays his glory, eternal power, and divine nature. Properly interpreted, scripture and nature are complementary and faithful witnesses to their common Author.
- We believe that the methods of science are an important and reliable means to investigate and describe the world God has made. In this, we stand with a long tradition of Christians for whom Christian faith and science are mutually hospitable.
- We believe that the diversity and interrelation of all life on earth are best explained by the God-ordained process of evolution and common descent. Thus, evolution is not in opposition to God, but a means by which God providentially achieves his purposes.
- We believe that God created humans in biological continuity with all life on earth, but also as spiritual beings. God established a unique relationship with humanity by endowing us with his image and calling us to an elevated position within the created order.
- We believe that conversations among Christians about controversial issues of science and faith can and must be conducted with humility, grace, honesty, and compassion as a visible sign of the Spirit’s presence in Christ’s body, the Church.
- We reject ideologies such as Deism that claim the universe is self-sustaining, that God is no longer active in the natural world, or that God is not active in human history.
- We reject ideologies such as Darwinism and Evolutionism that claim that evolution is a purposeless process or that evolution replaces God.
- We reject ideologies such as Materialism and Scientism that claim science is the sole source of knowledge and truth, that science has debunked God and religion, or that the physical world constitutes the whole of reality.
As a follower of Christ and as someone who seeks to bring people to faith in Him I see it as imperative that Evangelical church leaders (John Paul II accepted theistic evolution) come to grips with science (natural science, quantum physics, genetics, etc.) and to avail themselves of all empirical data and evidences coming out of science research. As I see I, the church and science are completely compatible. Therefore, the church must not seek to restrain the hand of God, an evolved hand that was once nailed to a tree, a resurrected hand that now reaches out to all of us.
For more information about theistic evolution and Christianity I especially recommend Dr. Karl Giberson’s book The Language of Science and Faith: Straight Answers to Genuine Questions, InterVarsity Press | March, 2011
More from Dr. Giberson:
The Language of Faith: Straight Answers to Genuine Questions by Karl Giberson and Francis Collins, Intervarsity Press, 2011
The Wonder of the Universe: Hints of God in Our Fine-Tuned World by Karl W. Giberson, Intervarsity Press, 2012
Other resources:
I Can’t Help Myself, I’m Laughing & Crying Too Hard
September 22, 2013 Leave a comment
Bridesmaids – Wilson Phillips – Hold On
Chicago at a Glance
September 14, 2013 Leave a comment
Everyone comes to Chicago.
When I take my lunch-time walks through Millennium Park I hear cacophony: voices from foreign lands. I hear Mandarin, Polish, German, Portuguese and Spanish – a Bable of noise from everywhere. And, everywhere I look there are cameras and iphones – e-devices capturing the moment to share with another.
The Grant Park Orchestra rehearses for its weekly concert at Wednesday noon under the Pritzker Music Pavilion. Recently I was lucky enough to listen to them rehearse the fourth movement of Shostakovich’s Fifth Symphony –Allegro Non Troppo. This is one of my favorite pieces of music. I had to stay. I became enamored like the rest of the foreign gaggle.
(Did I mention Lurie Gardern shown in the bottom third of the photo that I had taken that day? Lurie Garden is a garden only a Dutchman could create. The stainless steel waves of the Frank Gehry-designed Pritzker Music Pavilion appear just above the hedge. The “Bean” is off to the left of the pavilion and not shown.)
Lurie Garden
The Walk along Lurie Garden to the Modern Wing of the Chicago Art Institute
The Entrance to Lurie Garden from the Great lawn and the Pritzker Music Pavilion
In Lurie Garden looking toward the Modern Wing of the Chicago Art Institute designed by Renzo Piano. The half-tube ramp across the middle of the photo is the Piano-designed walkway connecting Millenium Park and the Art Institute.
(I work in one of the buildings in the background.)
All photos © Sally Paradise, 2013, All Rights Reserved
A Tale of Two Waitresses
September 2, 2013 Leave a comment
Labor Day. I decide to go to one of my favorite breakfast places to indulge in some eggs over easy with ham.
The Nosh staff knows me by name except for Erika. Erika waited on me once before and things didn’t work out too well.
Now I tend to order one of two different items. The waitresses who have waited on me before come over with the coffee pot – ready to pour and take my order
My food and more coffee arrive in minutes. They make sure that my coffee cup stays full. They ask me several times if I’m doing OK. But that is not what happened with Erika the first time she served me.
Erika asked if I wanted coffee and I smiled and gave the nod “yes.” She came back with coffee and took my order. The restaurant manager brought my breakfast and some Cholula hot sauce. He knows me.
I drank me coffee until there was none. And there was no Erika either.
Now the restaurant wasn’t completely full and there were several waitresses but Erika was no where in sight. Lots of time passed before she arrived in view across the way. She stood at the computer tallying some orders and then went and checked on every new table she was given. This happened several times over and now I was a little upset. This wasn’t a hard job. She just didn’t seem to be aware of her surroundings or her customer’s needs.
Getting out of my seat I finally waved her down as she about to walk right past me. She asked, “More coffee?” I said “Yes!”
Once again I had a few sips of warm coffee and finished my breakfast. But again no Erika in sight to ask me if I wanted a warm up on the coffee. I gave up. I flagged her down again.
After several minutes and detours she brought the bill. She gave me the bill and said nothing – at all.
I paid the bill and gave her a 10% tip (I usually give the other waitresses up to a 30% tip because the bill is small and they worked hard for my benefit). I wanted to tell Erika that she wasn’t very good as a waitress but I let the small tip do the talking.
Labor Day. I decide to go to one of my favorite breakfast places to indulge in some eggs over easy with ham. Erika is my waitress.
She may have gotten my tip message or she may have decided that I’m not worth her effort. She behaved the same way as the first time. And this, even though the restaurant was almost empty and there were four other waitress waiting for customers.
Next time I will make sure I have a different waitress and I will tell the manager why.
****************
Are there really people so unaware of customers that they can’t do their job? And, in this economy? Or is it that some young people think that they have done their job by bringing you coffee once, taking your order and then your money when you are done. In other words, are there young people who feel they are entitled and don’t need to do any extra effort? I have encountered this before: there are the zealous customer service people and there are the “do I have to people?” I give great tips to the former.
I fear Obama and the Progressives are creating the latter class of worker aka the “Entitled.”
God Be With You – Kids
August 25, 2013 Leave a comment
School started this past week. Last Sunday the Rector asked the school kids to bring their backpacks up to the altar during the Eucharist.
Today, surrounding the altar were dozens of deposited backpacks. Our rector prayed a prayer of blessing and protection over the school gear and the children who were watching closely.
The music playing:
Betrayed By My Own Church
August 19, 2013 Leave a comment
I was surprised to learn yesterday at church (Anglican Evangelical) that tomorrow night the Illinois Voices of Immigration Reform: A Call to Action will be giving a presentation in our church.
This event is sponsored by Bibles, Badges and Business (BBB) network ~ a front for progressives like George Soros and Jim Wallis of Sojurnors
The speakers will include Noel Castellanos of Christian Community Development Assoc., Mark Harris Illinois Science and Tech. Coalition, a Kane County Sheriff, Matthew Soerens of World Relief, Ben Taylor director of the Great lakes region U.S. Chamber of Commerce and Joel Vargas, J.D. of InterportPolice
“But the facts point towards a concerted public relations campaign on the part of the progressive religious left funded heavily by one individual who is himself a leftist and an atheist…What are Soros, the open borders lobby, and the progressive left really trying to accomplish? The Left sees a prime opportunity to exploit Evangelical leaders (World Relief, NAE) by crafting a media campaign designed to convince the GOP leadership that one of their main constituencies, Bible Belt Christians, favors comprehensive reform.” Marjorie Jeffrey from her post:
The Immigration Table Exposed As Another Soros Front
These people will impose a guilt trip on you:
http://legalinsurrection.com/2013/08/townhall-tactic-2013-why-do-you-want-to-deport-my-daddy/
My solution to immigration reform is straight forward and simple: all of the people who want to open the floodgates of immigration into the US should, instead, turn around and go to the countries where these people are coming from. They should seek to help these people to reform their own countries ~ like good “neighbors.” Now, if you are a lefty, I don’t think Noam Chomsky will think this is American Imperialism but who knows and who cares.
George Soros, Jim Wallis and his Sojourners can become “missionary-like” emissaries of “good” and not involve a dime of U.S. Tax-payer money. They can take their Bibles, Badges and Business to the countries where people are exiting.
Example: We do not want narco-terrorists and their users/suppliers coming across the border. We do not want more people coming into the US when we as a nation cannot control drug trafficking. When I go to juvenile court I see dozens of Hispanic kids facing serious charges.
Cindy Wity 