God versus Science introduction
On November 13, 2006, Time Magazine published the cover story; God vs. Science. I intend to blog the article in parts, since the entire article is too big to swallow in one gulp. This is the introduction.
Taking a Trip
Suppose Me and my buddy have an agreement: On our respective birthdays, the two of us will do something the "birthday boy" really wants to do and split the costs down the middle. It is his birthday, and he suggests he wants genuine Chicago-style deep dish pizza from the classic restaurant for deep-dish, Lou Malnati's Pizzeria.
So he presents the idea to me and I compute this in my mind:
Time-
3 hour round trip to the nearest Lou Malnati's if leaving after rush hour
2 hours to eat and schmooze at the restaurant
total of 5 hours minimum time elapsed for the trip
Money-
Five bucks gas, tops
Ten bucks parking
75 bucks for pizza and drinks
heck, add ten bucks to round it off
total of one hundred bucks spent
Decision-
Okay, from our location we invest five hours of time and split about one hundred dollars in costs to celebrate his birthday. No problemo!
But now suppose we live in Hawaii. Make it Oahu, on the Diamondhead side of the island but not too far from Honolulu proper. Same scenario, my buddy wants to do the Malnati thing.
Time-
2 hour round trip to the Honolulu airport if leaving after rush hour
2 hours to check in and get through at the airport times four (Honolulu out, O'Hare in, O'Hare out and Honolulu in) is 8 hours of airport time
9 hours flight time there and back is 18 hours of flight time
2 hours round trip by cab to and from the restaurant
2 hours to eat and schmooze at the restaurant
total of 32 hours minimum time elapsed for the trip, assuming sleeping takes place onboard so that a motel stay is not involved.
Money-
five bucks gas, tops
Twenty five bucks parking at airport
round trip tickets Honolulu to Chicago $2400 each, $4800 total
20 bucks each way cabfare
75 bucks for pizza and drinks
heck, add ten bucks on this one, too.
total of $4,955.00 bucks spent
Decision-
Okay, from our location we invest almost a day and a half of time and split about five thousand dollars in costs to celebrate his birthday. I don't think so!!!
~~~~~~~
So in both scenarios the destination is the same but the starting point is very different. The vast difference in starting points is the difference between whether the trip is reasonable or unreasonable.
The Journey of the Mind
When we consider ideas, our starting point within our minds is our worldview. If I have a worldview that is not far from the idea that is presented from me in terms of what I have logically accepted as the realm of possibility, then a new idea is readily accessible. I may or may not accept it, but I can grasp it and give it due consideration. If the idea is in Chicago and my mind resides in Northwest Indiana, I can agree to go there and check it out with no problem.
On the other hand, if my mind is allegorically out living on an island in the Pacific, such an idea is far from my worldview and is very nearly unthinkable. I cannot easily grasp and consider and idea that is in Chicago, so to speak.
To me, people who only can see the world from a completely naturalistic point of view are stuck out there on an island. Such a limited point of view keeps them from being able to even consider supernatural options when questioning the whats and wherefores of life and the Universe. Yet the majority of the news media personnel and perhaps of the scientific community have placed their minds way out there.
Time-Warner Corporation publishes Time Magazine. Time loves to publish articles that promote evolution and deride Christianity. Ted Turner, that bastion of atheism, is behind much of what Time-Warner now controls, including CNN and HBO. No one is going to charge them with being conservative, that is for sure! So Time Magazine is allegorically being published from, you guessed it, Hawaii!
My intention is to blog the article beginning tomorrow or even late this evening and discussion will hopefully follow. Looking forward to hearing from all of you islanders out there!
Taking a Trip
Suppose Me and my buddy have an agreement: On our respective birthdays, the two of us will do something the "birthday boy" really wants to do and split the costs down the middle. It is his birthday, and he suggests he wants genuine Chicago-style deep dish pizza from the classic restaurant for deep-dish, Lou Malnati's Pizzeria.
So he presents the idea to me and I compute this in my mind:
Time-
3 hour round trip to the nearest Lou Malnati's if leaving after rush hour
2 hours to eat and schmooze at the restaurant
total of 5 hours minimum time elapsed for the trip
Money-
Five bucks gas, tops
Ten bucks parking
75 bucks for pizza and drinks
heck, add ten bucks to round it off
total of one hundred bucks spent
Decision-
Okay, from our location we invest five hours of time and split about one hundred dollars in costs to celebrate his birthday. No problemo!
But now suppose we live in Hawaii. Make it Oahu, on the Diamondhead side of the island but not too far from Honolulu proper. Same scenario, my buddy wants to do the Malnati thing.
Time-
2 hour round trip to the Honolulu airport if leaving after rush hour
2 hours to check in and get through at the airport times four (Honolulu out, O'Hare in, O'Hare out and Honolulu in) is 8 hours of airport time
9 hours flight time there and back is 18 hours of flight time
2 hours round trip by cab to and from the restaurant
2 hours to eat and schmooze at the restaurant
total of 32 hours minimum time elapsed for the trip, assuming sleeping takes place onboard so that a motel stay is not involved.
Money-
five bucks gas, tops
Twenty five bucks parking at airport
round trip tickets Honolulu to Chicago $2400 each, $4800 total
20 bucks each way cabfare
75 bucks for pizza and drinks
heck, add ten bucks on this one, too.
total of $4,955.00 bucks spent
Decision-
Okay, from our location we invest almost a day and a half of time and split about five thousand dollars in costs to celebrate his birthday. I don't think so!!!
~~~~~~~
So in both scenarios the destination is the same but the starting point is very different. The vast difference in starting points is the difference between whether the trip is reasonable or unreasonable.
The Journey of the Mind
When we consider ideas, our starting point within our minds is our worldview. If I have a worldview that is not far from the idea that is presented from me in terms of what I have logically accepted as the realm of possibility, then a new idea is readily accessible. I may or may not accept it, but I can grasp it and give it due consideration. If the idea is in Chicago and my mind resides in Northwest Indiana, I can agree to go there and check it out with no problem.
On the other hand, if my mind is allegorically out living on an island in the Pacific, such an idea is far from my worldview and is very nearly unthinkable. I cannot easily grasp and consider and idea that is in Chicago, so to speak.
To me, people who only can see the world from a completely naturalistic point of view are stuck out there on an island. Such a limited point of view keeps them from being able to even consider supernatural options when questioning the whats and wherefores of life and the Universe. Yet the majority of the news media personnel and perhaps of the scientific community have placed their minds way out there.
Time-Warner Corporation publishes Time Magazine. Time loves to publish articles that promote evolution and deride Christianity. Ted Turner, that bastion of atheism, is behind much of what Time-Warner now controls, including CNN and HBO. No one is going to charge them with being conservative, that is for sure! So Time Magazine is allegorically being published from, you guessed it, Hawaii!
My intention is to blog the article beginning tomorrow or even late this evening and discussion will hopefully follow. Looking forward to hearing from all of you islanders out there!