My husband and I settled down on the couch last night to watch Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed by Ben Stein. It wasn't a typical documentary. There is plenty of Ben Stein's classic dry wit to keep you chuckling while he discusses a somewhat alarming topic: the fact that the scientific community is determined to ban the theory of intelligent design. Intelligent design is not the same as creationism. Creationism leans wholly on the creation story as it is depicted in Genesis. Intelligent design is a theory that states that biology as we understand it today, with all of its complexities, seems to point to an intelligent designer. Most scientist who support the intelligent design theory do so because they believe Darwinism, the concept of macro-evolution (that all life forms evolved from a single cell organism), cannot sufficiently explain the complexities of life on earth. Further more, there is a sufficient lack of evidence for macro-evolution, which some see as cause to doubt Darwinism.
Expelled is not an attempt to prove intelligent design (ID). Instead, it attempts to present the evidence that the scientific community is blackballing any member who holds to the intelligent design theory, dismissing them as dangerous "religious nuts" and idiots, despite the fact that these scientists hold several degrees from some of the most prestigious universities in the world and were considered the top in their fields until they began to support the intelligent design theory. And Expelled, in my opinion, achieves this goal. Through interviews with individuals who have been attacked for their beliefs (including non-religious people who have reported on or supported ID), the evidence is clear that this hostility is really taking place. Mr. Stein also calls into evidence several documents from universities showing a clear bias against staff that holds to ID.
The thing that amazed me the most, as a believer, is some of the theories that Darwinists do hold to. First of all, none of the Darwinists that Mr. Stein interviewed could answer the question "how did life start?" They repeatedly answered "I don't know." However, even though they don't know how life started, how the essential building blocks of life just happened to end up on this third rock from the sun, they do seem to know how it evolved. One scientists explained it in the form of crystals. The basic building blocks of life (elements) were attached to these crystals, and as the crystals formed, it forced the elements to meld together, which eventually led to a single celled organism. Richard Dawkins, who wrote The God Delusion, stated that it could be that another civilization evolved on a distant planet, and through their scientific genius, they came and "seeded" our planet with the first single cell organism, then left to let us evolve on our merry way. The man who claims that anyone who believes in a god of any sort is delusional and of sub-average intelligence also believes we most likely resulted from an alien experiment. Right.
Overall, I enjoyed Expelled. I'm sure many atheists and Darwinists would scream that it's biased and pure idiocy. However, Mr. Stein took time to interview both sides of the argument. And while he did not attempt to completely disprove Darwinism, he did bring to light many of the problems with the theory. Ultimately, his goal was not to support either side of the argument, but to support freedom of speech. I would recommend it for anyone who wants to know more about ID v. Darwinism from a fair perspective.
Thursday, February 19, 2009
Thursday, February 5, 2009
excessive absences
So far, there have been six Sundays this year. I have attended church exactly twice since January 1 (and no, today wasn't one of those days).
I can't seem to make myself want to go. Every Sunday morning I wake up, crawl a little deeper under the covers and think, "no, I don't want to go today". It doesn't help that the rest of my week feels like one whirlwind event after another leaving me drained and exhausted my the weekend. Then church becomes one more thing to check off on my to-do list rather than a place for spiritual feeding and fellowship. And it doesn't make it any easier that my husband works 9 pm to 5 am on Saturday nights, making his struggle to make it up in time for worship service actually valid.
And it's not just the church that we are attending; I've struggled with this ever since college. I had a bad "experience" in high school with the church and its youth group that I had started attending after I was saved. I was never really welcomed there, just tolerated, and when my boyfriend (who was the golden boy of the church) broke things off with me, no one really understood why I didn't make myself scarce. And after facing that attitude, I did make myself very scarce...and stumbled down a road I wish I never would have. I had such a strong faith back in high school and a earnest passion for church, both of which quickly died after I left off for college, despite the fact that I was attending a Christian college and working on my BA in Christian studies.
I miss my "first love." I want to feel involved and accepted into a fellowship again, but I'm scared that it will be conditional like it was last time. All of this has been over ten years ago, and there are still times when I'm filled up with bitterness at the thought of those I imagine as having wronged me. And I have to fight the desire to go to a church where I'm just another face in the crowd. I'm deadlocked and Christ can't possibly want this for me. I've been praying to be able to forgive those people for about five years now, but do I really want to forgive them? Or has all this unhappiness and anger become a safety blanket for me, cushioning me from getting too close to another group of believers "just in case" I might get hurt again.
Joan C. Webb writes in The Relief of Imperfection
I expected those who had hurt me, who were spiritual leaders, to behave perfectly. But in the end, they were human, and they were humans who happened not to like me very much. And for a girl who has strived since elementary school to be likable, it was a hard blow to take. But how long can I let all of this stop me from moving forward, from growing deeper in my relationship with Christ? In the end, I'm only the victim if I let myself be.
I can't seem to make myself want to go. Every Sunday morning I wake up, crawl a little deeper under the covers and think, "no, I don't want to go today". It doesn't help that the rest of my week feels like one whirlwind event after another leaving me drained and exhausted my the weekend. Then church becomes one more thing to check off on my to-do list rather than a place for spiritual feeding and fellowship. And it doesn't make it any easier that my husband works 9 pm to 5 am on Saturday nights, making his struggle to make it up in time for worship service actually valid.
And it's not just the church that we are attending; I've struggled with this ever since college. I had a bad "experience" in high school with the church and its youth group that I had started attending after I was saved. I was never really welcomed there, just tolerated, and when my boyfriend (who was the golden boy of the church) broke things off with me, no one really understood why I didn't make myself scarce. And after facing that attitude, I did make myself very scarce...and stumbled down a road I wish I never would have. I had such a strong faith back in high school and a earnest passion for church, both of which quickly died after I left off for college, despite the fact that I was attending a Christian college and working on my BA in Christian studies.
I miss my "first love." I want to feel involved and accepted into a fellowship again, but I'm scared that it will be conditional like it was last time. All of this has been over ten years ago, and there are still times when I'm filled up with bitterness at the thought of those I imagine as having wronged me. And I have to fight the desire to go to a church where I'm just another face in the crowd. I'm deadlocked and Christ can't possibly want this for me. I've been praying to be able to forgive those people for about five years now, but do I really want to forgive them? Or has all this unhappiness and anger become a safety blanket for me, cushioning me from getting too close to another group of believers "just in case" I might get hurt again.
Joan C. Webb writes in The Relief of Imperfection
Some things we will never understand, like why God chooses to partner with imperfect, limited human beings; who God calls to lead; why some spiritual leaders abuse and hurt others; how people can study and memorize Scripture and then disrespect God's children. It doesn't make sense to us. It's not how it's supposed to be. Yet we heighten our pain when we silently insist that other Christians (especially our leaders) must be perfect, doing things just the way we believe they should. And we increase our stress when we insist that just because we long to, we should serve others flawlessly.
I expected those who had hurt me, who were spiritual leaders, to behave perfectly. But in the end, they were human, and they were humans who happened not to like me very much. And for a girl who has strived since elementary school to be likable, it was a hard blow to take. But how long can I let all of this stop me from moving forward, from growing deeper in my relationship with Christ? In the end, I'm only the victim if I let myself be.
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