Tag Archives: life

God, the Fine-tuned Universe/Multi-verse

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Middle-age should be a thoughtful time.  You be the judge:

(Speaking of Santa Claus) as unbelievable as those tales are from the north pole, the tales from Jerusalem leave it in the dust. Snakes that can talk, the Universe built from nothing in 7 days flat, procreation without copulation, walking on water, building a single ship to accommodate 3 million animals (1,589,361 species times two), turning water into wine, feeding 5000 people with a couple small fish a few loaves of bread, rising from the dead, etc… It certainly flies in the face of reason based on everything I’ve seen in this world, but it is firmly believed by at least a billion big humans on the planet tonight.

Just because it is the person’s will and desire to make it true, sadly does not make it truth.

I don’t doubt there is much more to this world than what we can see, hear, smell, feel, etc…. Quantum physics has gone much further and deeper than regular old atoms/matter… There are most likely many more dimensions than the four that we experience. I don’t even doubt the power of prayer or other group-think exercises.. I wholeheartedly support many of the values espoused by many of the religions of the world. I just am not buying the unbelievable stories sans proof and with so much proof against.

As to the four last things…

death — empirically it’s looming for all of us, no way around it.. is it final? not too sure — if consciousness survives to go another round, it probably has a more scientific multi-dimensional explanation.

judgment / heaven / hell — empirically haven’t seen any evidence of these, but it sure sounds like a good concept for a king to control a kingdom in the here and now. If I were the man behind the curtain, I’d be telling my subjects all about the this stuff to make sure they didn’t cause too many problems for me.”

This enlightened summation of the Bible, doesn’t actually deal with the Bible.  Nowhere here is there evidence of serious inquiry. The understanding and reflection of holy men and scholars are rather ceremonially dismissed with ridicule and from a distance of disdain.  The Holy Scripture, an anthology and compilation of priestly, prophetic, scholarly and apostolic construction guided by the Holy Spirit, suffers a verbal sortie of “trash talk.” I look for a sense of respect for the sacred and fail to find it.

What I see in the derision is a sophomoric  cliff notes overview filled with disdain and a lack of true familiarity with the revealed Word of God. The foray is little more than a stylish dance of words and ego perhaps for the amusement of others. What is gained? What is lost? Knowledge? Grace? Having brushed aside the pesky gnat of Holy Revelation, the author reaches for the stars or to be more exact, to other dimensions. Though playful, the piece uncovers a well of cynicism usually reserved for the old and broken.

Does the grandeur of the Universe or a multi-verse diminish or dismiss a Creator?  Doesn’t the smallest living cell give us a sense of a plan? Doesn’t  a plan of necessity infer a planner, somewhat like finding a copy of Hamlet would point to a Shakespeare. Darwin conveniently starts with a creature with cells, so he doesn’t theorize about how they came to be- just how and/or why they might have changed.

Do untold dimensions rule out a Heaven or Hell, or increase the likelihood in the realm of the possibilities raised by new dimensions governed by rules unlike those of our own universe and time?

If the Universe, Time and the Laws that mapped out the direction of our destiny came into being with the Big Bang, what of these other dimensions, other Times and possibilities? “Eternity”, according to Dinesh D’Souza, “has become a coherent concept.” New universes, new dimensions, ergo new equations? While new stuffs and equations don’t equal life or worlds, we can dream dreams and wonder.

Stephen Hawking reveals that even he doesn’t know who or what put the fire into the stuff and equations. (“Even if there is only one possible unified theory, it is just a set of rules and equations. What is it that breathes fire into the equations and makes a universe for them to describe?” Stephen Hawking)

By reaching for fantastic and even far-fetched ideas, the question of a Creator/God doesn’t go away. D’Souza does note that while there is evidence for the Big Bang there is not an iota of evidence for the multi-verse. However, in the multi-dimensional scenario, our existence is no longer improbable. In our Universe fine tuning is necessary for us to exist. Fine tuning is of course indicative of a plan. However in a multi-verse,we are no longer privileged and unique but possible and expected to have popped up along the way. By the same token, however, with the new multi-dimensionalism, the multi-verse, emerges new laws, new realms and new possibilities. The existence of Heaven and Hell now becomes as probable as any other combination of world characteristics. The pièce de résistance… there is nothing in the multi-dimensional theory that precludes a Creator. One can still see in the grandeur of the scheme of things, the One who schemes, just as a thought reveals a thinker.

Matter which is the stuff of atheistic materialism now serves to raise questions to which we thought we had the answers. Quantum theory pokes all kinds of holes in our understanding of matter. Atheists are big on matter but are they prepared to deal with Dark Energy and for that matter, Dark Matter. Ordinary matter and energy make up only 5% of the matter and energy in the universe. If 95% of all energy and matter is made up of dark energy and dark matter doesn’t that make all arguments about matter, as atheist insists on it operation, irrelevant. How can you make any claims for it, if you can only account for 5% of it, or so asks D’Souza.

We haven’t even touched on mind, consciousness which acts as an observer of the creation about us. What are the rules governing mind which is not matter/material. Mind and consciousness do exist but they are immaterial. If you doubt that, tell me how much a mind weighs? What are its dimensions, its length and width?

In the end, Quantum Theory is not an escape from God. It, rather, gives us pause to marvel at how God has chaos under control. Which brings us back to the Bible, the very beginning, Genesis: “the earth was a formless wasteland, and darkness covered the abyss, while a mighty wind swept over the waters.” Genesis 1:2 “The waters” in biblical-speak refers to primordial chaos and “a mighty wind,” a poor translation of the Hebrew phrase “ruach Elohim” (literally the “wind/breath of God. ) While Science investigates Nature, God is not probed like a microbe or star dust. He is seen with the eye of Faith, keeping in mind that “No eye has seen, no ear has heard, nor the heart of man imagined, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him.”1 Corinthians 2:9

Evolution – “Kinds Becoming Other Kinds”

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Evolution, the theory of the origin of Life?  I don’t think so.  Dinesh D’Souza in “Life After Death, the Evidence” plays Devil’s Advocate and gets to the question Darwin avoids completely, the question of the cell – the building block of life, complete with DNA, a plan and a plant, a manufacturing plant that is.  The cell is itself alive with wonder and activity without which any life could not be.

“How did we get cells? This is another way of asking how life began. Darwin  didn’t even attempt to answer this question. He recognized that there is was no way to explain the integrated functionality of the cell by appealing to evolution or natural selection.  Evolution itself presumes and requires cells that come fully formed  with the capacity for metabolism and self-replication; no reproduction, no natural selection!

Clearly the basic template of life  came fully formed when life first appeared on this earth about 4 billion years ago.  Michael Shermer in “Why Darwin Matters” admits that Evolution is not a theory on  the origins of life but of how kinds became other kinds.”

Why I Remain Catholic

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Today, On Good Friday, Here’s Why I Remain Catholic

Though the ill aspects of the Catholic Church have recently been highlighted in the news, commentator Elizabeth Scalia says the good aspects have never gotten enough attention.

Published: April 02, 2010
by Elizabeth Scalia

Elizabeth Scalia is a contributing writer to First Things Magazine as the blogger known as The Anchoress.

The question has come my way several times in the past week: “How do you maintain your faith in light of news stories that bring light to the dark places that exist within your church?”

When have darkness and light been anything but co-existent? How do we recognize either without the other?

I remain within, and love, the Catholic Church because it is a church that has lived and wrestled within the mystery of the shadow lands ever since an innocent man was arrested, sentenced and crucified, while the keeper of “the keys” denied him, and his first priests ran away. Through 2,000 imperfect — sometimes glorious, sometimes heinous — years, the church has contemplated and manifested the truth that dark and light, innocence and guilt, justice and injustice all share a kinship, one that waves back and forth like wind-stirred wheat in a field, churning toward something — as yet — unknowable.

The darkness within my church is real, and it has too often gone unaddressed. The light within my church is also real, and has too often gone unappreciated. A small minority has sinned, gravely, against too many. Another minority has assisted or saved the lives of millions.

But then, my country is the most generous and compassionate nation on Earth; it is also the only country that has ever deployed nuclear weapons of mass destruction.

My government is founded upon a singular appreciation of personal liberty; some of those founders owned slaves.

My family was known for its neighborliness and its work ethic; its patriarch was a serial child molester.

Read the complete essay here.

Golgotha of Jasna Gora

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H/T Julia : Golgotha of Jasna Gora – Artist: Jerzy Duda Gracz

 

More Golgotha of Jasna Gora

War of Words – What’s In A Name?

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NPR staff memo quoted by La Shawn Barber in NPR Drops ‘Pro-Life for'”Abortion Rights Opponents’:

NPR News is revising the terms we use to describe people and groups involved in the abortion debate.

This updated policy is aimed at ensuring the words we speak and write are as clear, consistent and neutral as possible. This is important given that written text is such an integral part of our work.

On the air, we should use “abortion rights supporter(s)/advocate(s)” and “abortion rights opponent(s)” or derivations thereof (for example: “advocates of abortion rights”). It is acceptable to use the phrase “anti-abortion”, but do not use the term “pro-abortion rights”.

What’s in a name?  Barber points us to: “How the Public is Manipulated” which gives us a heads up and out of the sand noting:

  • It Makes a Pro-Abortion Assumption that the Debate is About Abortion Rights, Not Abortion
  • It Plays Word Games with the Word “Rights”
  • It Ignores the Fact That Abortion Can Exist Without Abortion Rights
  • It Assumes the Negative
  • It Ignores the Concept of a Right to Life
  • It Affirms the Concept of a Right to an Abortion

    • Barber makes some points of her own for the mainstream media:

    • Refer to abortion supporters as “right to life opponents”
    • Refer to gun control supporters as “gun rights opponents”
    • Refer to “hate speech” backers as “speech rights opponents”
    • Refer to racial preferences advocates as “constitutional rights opponents”

    Write me if she missed any.

    Blurring the Line Between Life and Death

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    Terri Schiavo died on March 31st, a week from today.  Next week will mark the 5 year anniversary of that murderous action/event, indicating a turning point . Next week also begins Holy Week leading to Easter.  It also marks the beginning of Passover, starting Tuesday, March 30th.  It is a good time to consider: Are we to value human life by its utility or because God has have placed His life in us?  Passover is about God delivering His people from Slavery and setting them/us free for Life. Easter celebrates the victory of Life over Death, Christ’s victory. Terri’s death brings both into focus.

    Writes Dr. Daniel Eisenberg, M.D. in The Death of Terri Schiavo: An Epilogue:

    Blurring the line between life and death, and between medical data and morality, her death signifies a disturbing turning point for American society.

    Terri Schiavo did not die of PVS; she died of starvation and dehydration

    Terri Schiavo died on March 31, 2005, after lasting 13 days without food or water. Her life and death had a profound impact on the American psyche and brought to the forefront the unresolved debate regarding how we treat severely disabled people and who should be their surrogate decision-makers. There is reason to be disturbed by the role that physicians play in molding public opinion regarding end of life issues, because their expertise is generally in medicine and not ethics.

    A letter from a neurologist in complete disagreement with Dr. Eisenberg prompted him to respond:

    He (the neurologist) states:

    …I find myself in sharp disagreement with Dr. Eisenberg. The article refers to PVS as a “cognitively impaired” condition. In fact, there is no cognition whatsoever in someone who is in a persistent vegetative state. Modern aggressive emergency care developed over the last several decades, has allowed us to resuscitate patients with what would have been terminal hypoxic brain injury (what happened to Terri Schiavo). Unfortunately, the entire brain cortex becomes nonfunctional in these people and we are left with a functioning brainstem that allows for reflex eye movements, facial movements etc. PVS patients can even track a moving object in their field of vision because collicular function of the intact brainstem reflexively guides these eye movements. It is all too easy to imagine sentience in the PVS patient because, as humans, so much of our communication is nonverbal and cued by facial and eye movements.

    Dr. Eisenberg responds:

    His assessment of the persistent vegetative state is succinct and it is accurate. To the best of our medical understanding, we presume that a person in a persistent vegetative state has no cognition whatsoever. I never gave much credence to those who argued about the rehabilitation potential of Terri Schiavo. Not because I did not believe it to be true (I have no way of knowing), but because it really does not make a difference to outsiders like myself. CT scan results, Glascow Coma Scales, and following balloons are really only of interest to neurologists and family members who need to arrange for the best possible care for the patient.

    As a society, what we must concern ourselves with are two questions: What is the significance of being so terribly impaired that there is no cognition and how should such people be treated? It is here that the doctor falls woefully short in his analysis. While I am sure that his credentials are impeccable and his understanding of neurology is excellent, he completely misunderstands the role that physicians should play in society’s evaluation of end of life issues (as we will discuss) and he clearly does not appreciate where medical knowledge ends and morality begins.

    Neurologist’s letter continued:

    Nevertheless, the activity of our cerebral cortex is what distinguishes our very “humanness”. If the cortex is dead, then the human individual is dead. . . If the cortex is destroyed, personhood ceases. PVS is an abomination of life –in essence a human shaped colony of cells with no sentience — a glorified cell culture. . .Thankfully, I have not seen this irrational preservation of “life” at all costs in this situation since my training in the early 1970’s. . . Patients with PVS and end-stage Alzheimer’s disease routinely have IV’s and feeding tubes removed in the United States every day.

    Dr. Eisenberg responds:

    The opinions expressed above are very widespread in the medical community today. Variations of these views are espoused by many of the physicians with whom I have discussed this topic. For this reason, they cannot be lightly brushed aside. Please understand that the issue is not autonomy (which is an independent and important issue), but the definition of life. Is the cerebral cortex what makes us human and is it true that “if the cortex is dead, then the human individual is dead”?

    Of course not. My physician critic clearly has stepped beyond the bounds of medicine into the realm of philosophy, and that is the problem. As any physician knows, there is neither a state in America nor any sane physician in the world who would declare that someone who is in a persistent vegetative state is dead. If PVS really equals death then why bother pulling the feeding tube? Just bury the patient with the feeding tube still in place! The doctor’s comments are clearly hyperbole, and represent a very insidious type of bias that leads people to equate PVS with death.

    People want to feel “good” about the killing they allow whether by deeming a fetus ‘not a real living person’ or a person in a persistent vegetative state ‘as good as dead.’  In matters of morality, the doctor steps beyond the data and expertise of his training to play God.  Dr. Eisenberg asks “why the medical knowledge of the physician seem to translate into skill in evaluating the value of life?”

    Dr. Eisenberg reminds us:

    “The belief that medicine can determine which lives are worth preserving was an intrinsic part of the pre-Nazi German medical establishment (see “Why Medical Ethics“). In the late 1920’s and early 1930’s:

    “a number of prominent German academics and medical professionals were espousing the theory of “unworthy life,” a theory which advanced the notion that some lives were simply not worthy of living. . . If Mengele himself (an infamous physician who performed murderous experiments on live concentration camp inmates) became a cold-blooded monster at the height of his Nazi career, he certainly learned at the feet of some of Germany’s most diabolical minds. As a student Mengele attended the lectures of Dr. Ernst Rudin, who posited not only that there were some lives not worth living, but that doctors had a responsibility to destroy such life and remove it from the general population. His prominent views gained the attention of Hitler himself, and Rudin was drafted to assist in composing the Law for the Protection of Heredity Health, which passed in 1933, the same year that the Nazis took complete control of the German government. This unapologetic Social Darwinist contributed to the Nazi decree that called for the sterilization of those demonstrating the following flaws, lest they reproduce and further contaminate the German gene pool: feeblemindedness; schizophrenia; manic depression; epilepsy; hereditary blindness; deafness; physical deformities; Huntington’s disease; and alcoholism.

    I ask again: Are we to value human life by its utility or because God has have placed His life in us?

    Read more here.