Sunday Afternoon: Interfaith Nativity
By Scott | November 16, 2008
I just got home from a meeting with representatives from four churches who hold services in the small town in which I live. The meeting was called by a friend of mine who thought it would be a good idea to try an interfaith live nativity this year. He’s LDS, I was there representing the Catholics, and the Presbyterian and Baptist pastors were also there. It looks like we’re all in! We decided to do it on Tuesday night, Dec. 23. Wish us luck!
Our town, like I said, is nearly all LDS. The Catholic congregation is around 40 when we all show up somewhere at the same time, and the Presbyterians (whose church we use for our services) are about the same size. I’ve never been to a Baptist service in town, but will soon because they are building a new church and will have an open house that I will attend.
We have a lot of differences, these churches of ours. And in a small town, there are often long brewing resentments, often for forgotten reasons. But there are a lot of things we agree on as well, and this is a chance to focus that way. I’m excited to be part of it.
Sometimes, living here makes me feel like I live in a Garrison Keillor story. That’s a good thing.
Tags: nativity, Sunday Afternoon | 1 Comment »
Earth, Meet Fomalhaut b
By Scott | November 14, 2008
Wow. The picture above is the first DIRECT VISIBLE-LIGHT snapshot of a planet that is in orbit around another star. This planet is circling a star named Fomalhaut, which is 25 light-years away and can be seen from the southern hemisphere in the constellation Piscis Australis. According to this article at NASA’s site, the planet (Fomalhaut b) is about three times more massive than Jupiter, so it’s not a planet anyone will take a stroll on someday.
Absolutely incredible.
Tags: astronomy, science | No Comments »
“Article of Faith” by Mike Resnick
By Scott | November 11, 2008
Mike Resnick has a way of revealing truths about ourselves that are often uncomfortable. That they are truths and that he can present them so well in fiction is why I like his writing so much. The Kirinyaga series of stories, “The 49 Antarean Dynasties”, and “Seven Views of Olduvai Gorge” are three of my favorite Resnick stories. From the latest issue of Baen’s Universe, Resnick offers another story that left me shaking my head at the truth of it.
“Article of Faith” is a story about a robot who cleans churches. One day a pastor asks him to listen to him practice a sermon, and talk to him about logical inconsistencies. The rest you can read for yourself.
Tags: books, science fiction | No Comments »
Phoenix Lander
By Scott | November 10, 2008
The Phoenix Lander recently stopped communicating with Earth (no contact since Nov. 2), ending it’s 6 month mission on Mars. This is the lander with the shovel that dug a deep hole in the surface of Mars, looking for evidence of water. It verified the existence of water-ice under the surface, which is what the whole mission was designed to do! This means two things as I see it: 1) life may have existed on Mars a long time ago, and 2) we won’t have to pack all of our own water when we go.
By the way, the Mars Rovers, Spirit and Opportunity, are still working, nearly five years after landing on Mars! National Geographic has a great website built that is full of info about the rovers: Five Years on Mars.
Tags: Mars, science | No Comments »
Sunday Afternoon: The Pontifical Academy on the Sciences
By Scott | November 9, 2008
Last week, the Vatican hosted a plenary assembly of the Pontifical Academy of Sciences. The subject was “Scientific Insight Into the Evolution of the Universe and of Life”.
First thing, what is the Pontifical Academy of Sciences? It is an independent entity within the Holy See. New members are “elected by the body of Academicians and are chosen from men and women of every race and religion on the basis of the high scientific value of their activities and their high moral profile. They are then officially appointed by the Roman Pontiff.” (1). The purpose? “…to promote the progress of the mathematical, physical and natural sciences and the study of epistemological problems related thereto.” (2).
Though modern religion has been portrayed as being in conflict with science, the Catholic Church doesn’t see it that way. From a previous Pontifical Academy meeting, we have this famous statement from Pope John Paul II:
…new knowledge has led to the recognition of the theory of evolution as more than a hypothesis. (3)
This year, Pope Benedict XVI added these remarks in his welcome to the Pontifical Academy:
To state that the foundation of the cosmos and its developments is the provident wisdom of the Creator is not to say that creation has only to do with the beginning of the history of the world and of life. It implies, rather, that the Creator founds these developments and supports them, underpins them and sustains them continuously. Thomas Aquinas taught that the notion of creation must transcend the horizontal origin of the unfolding of events, which is history, and consequently all our purely naturalistic ways of thinking and speaking about the evolution of the world. Thomas observed that creation is neither a movement nor a mutation. It is instead the foundational and continuing relationship that links the creature to the Creator, for he is the cause of every being and all becoming (cf. Summa Theologiae, I, q.45, a. 3). (4).
That Catholicism is responsive and considerate of the world of science increases my faith. Truth is Truth - if science contradicts religion, then one or the other needs to be reconsidered. Like Pope John Paul II said, “Truth Cannot Contradict Truth”.
I have had no problem in my life reconciling science and religion. Brother Guy Consolmagno, in his wonderful book Brother Astronomer: Adventures of a Vatican Scientist, says:
The science-fundamentalist believes, and the religious fundamentalist fears, that religion is a fairy tale suitable only for children, and that once you learn science it will leave no more room for religion. But that just doesn’t happen.
It certainly hasn’t happened with me. The world (and history) is full of scientists that are also religious people. How could it be otherwise?
Links:
1 - The Pontifical Academy of Sciences: A Historical Profile
2 - Statutes of the Pontifical Academy of Sciences
4 - Pope to Pontifical Science Academy (October 31, 2008)
Tags: Catholicism, religion, science, Sunday Afternoon | 1 Comment »
Up!
By Scott | November 8, 2008
Tags: movies | No Comments »
The Robots
By Scott | November 6, 2008
The robots… they now have giant trucks! Where is the department of Homeland Security on this?
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Watching it Work
By Scott | November 5, 2008
No matter who you supported yesterday, there ought to be a certain measure of pride as we watched this country work. You’d think (from all the demonization of President Bush you’d think he was straight from hell) that the Republicans would resist a transfer of power, yet Bush called our next president immediately, pledging that the transition would be smooth, and for him to visit the White House at his earliest convenience. I explained to my son this morning that it doesn’t work that way everywhere. This is an amazing country we live in!
Tags: politics | No Comments »
By Scott | November 4, 2008
Hi, all! My Facebook account disappeared last night! I’m trying to get it restored. If that goes well, I’ll be back on shortly, and if not, then I’ll probably wait a while before starting a new account.
What I think happened: I decided to delete a bunch of accounts I had out there on the interweebs that I don’t use. Facebook was one of those - this was probably two weeks ago. Right after I deleted it, I got a friend request, so I decided maybe I’d keep that one open. I logged back in, which reactivated the account. I used it quite a bit… and then it was deleted as scheduled, as if it had not been reactivated. That is my guess, anyway.
Tags: Facebook | No Comments »
24hr Coverage
By Scott | November 4, 2008
I voted first thing this morning, hope you all are doing the same…
I’ve got today off of work, so I’ve been doing laundry while watching election coverage. It’s been a long time since I’ve watched news coverage like this for more than fifteen minutes at a time, and I’m reminded why I don’t like it. One, our news isn’t news, it’s opinion. Reporter after reporter and pundit after pundit talk about potential problems as breathlessly as if the problems were real. Moments ago, for example, on MSNBC, a reporter demonstrated a ballot exactly like the one I used, and explained how confusing it is for voters to complete an arrow with a black felt tip pen. My goodness. Back to the studio where Andrea Mitchell was properly appalled.
24 hour news is not a good thing. What are you going to fill that time with if you don’t have any new facts to present? Exactly what these network fill it with now. Reporters, sent somewhere for a potential story, are asked to report when nothing actually happens.
And there’s so little positivity in the news. Yes, there’s a lot of things going on right now that are NOT GOOD, but my kingdom for Tim Russert. I really miss him, his optimism, and his enthusiasm.
Tags: news, politics | No Comments »
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