Is 'science' really 'all that'?

I remember reading about this when it happened. I find it interesting and somewhat revealing. It comes from The Spiritual Brain: A Neurosientist's Case for the Existence of the Soul,(Beauregard & O'Leary, HarperOne: NY, NY 2007). Yes, I am reading it. And yeah, my nerdism is raging. FYI, 'materialism' is another name for atheism.

IS SCIENCE A SEARCH FOR TRUTH OR SUPPORT FOR MATERIALISM?

Sometimes academic scientists are so convinced that providing support for materialism is the purpose of science that they end up violating conventional civil rights. This happened to Richard von Sternberg, a paleontologist who permitted a peer-reviewed article to be published in his journal, the Smithsonian's Proceedings of the Biological Society of Washington, an article suggesting that the explosion of complex life forms that occurred quite suddenly about 225 million years ago might best be explained by intelligent design. Almost all the existing large classifications of animals (phyla) emerged quite suddenly during a few million years, a mere sneeze of geological time. Sternberg was not himself a supporter of the intelligent design hypothesis, but he believed strongly in putting all the options on the table.

The mere suggestion of an origin that included intelligent causation set off a huge uproar, directed not at the author, geologist and intelligent design theorist Stephen Meyer, but mainly at editor Sternberg. He was cross-examined about his political and religious beliefs by his employers, removed from his position, and denied access to collections of fossils he needed for his work as a paleontologist. Also, he recounted to the Washington Post, then the biological society made a statement disowning Meyer's article, he was counseled not to attend because, in his words, "I was told that feelings were running so high they could not guarantee me that they could keep order." He appealed to the Office of Special Counsel, a federal body that protects the civil rights of government employees, who found that he had had been subjected to retaliation and a disinformation campaign. A December 2006 Congressional report again vindicated Sternberg against many false allegations, accusing senior Smithsonian officials of having "harassed, discriminated against, and retaliated against him.

It became apparent that Sternberg had violated not a written law but an unwritten one: Intelligent causation could not be considered, irrespective of either the state of the evidence or of whether or not scientists who were in any way associated with it had followed correct procedures in gathering and publishing evidence. Sternberg was supposed to have known better than to publish such a paper even though it had passed peer review.

Some argue that such unwritten rules actually hinder the very science they are supposed to protect. Mathematician and ID theorist William Dembski, for example, says, "Materialist ideology has subverted the study of biological and cosmological origins so that the actual content of these sciences has become corrupted. The problem, therefore, is not merely that science is being used illegitimately to promote a materialistic worldview, but that this worldview is actively undermining scientific inquiry, leading to incorrect and unsupported conclusions about biological and cosmological origins."

Prayer

Lord, I am dismayed by the attitude of those who do not call you enemy, but rather ignore you completely.
There are so many now, Father, who simply refuse to believe you even exist.
I think specifically of X and X.
Lord, I want to be there when they get to heaven.
Give them a spiritual awakening.
Reveal Yourself to them.
Let them see and respond to Your great love.
I want to embrace them, Lord, when they get to heaven.
And I don’t care who it is that leads them to faith.
I want no credit for their salvation.
AS IF I could ever garner such a praise!
Lord, I just really want to be able to talk with them in the middle of Your holy peace, in Your heavenly abode, and listen to their journey of faith, their discovery of Jesus and the transformation He brought to their lives.
Father, save them, for they know not who You are.
Break them, if necessary.
Ruin them.
Destroy every vestige of control they have.
Wreak whatever havoc is necessary, or do nothing at all.
Bless them beyond measure with wealth and power and fame and luxury of whatever kind they desire.
I don’t care.
I just want to know that we will one day be in heaven together.
Lord, there are so many people now who do not know you.
Who are going to Hell, Father.
Please, make it stop.
How can you sit idly by and watch the ones, created in Your image, throw their lives away on empty philosophies, false religions, misplaced faith, and personal greed?
What of the children, Lord, suffering and starving, sick and needy?
Dying without you.
What of their parents, Lord.
You alone are God.
You alone will I trust.
But, God, please.
PLEASE!
Do something.
“Here I am Lord, send me.”
It’s not working.
There are so many people going to Hell.
Father, I pray that your church here in America, in Missouri, in Joplin, at MSSU, in the BSU, would feel, for a second, what those millions who are dying right now, will feel for eternity if we don’t do something to stop it.
Give us, LORD, for a moment, a glimpse of the world, our campus, through your eyes.
Father, there are too many people going to Hell.
Don’t You care?
Help us to feel what You feel.
To embrace with compassion the world in which we live.
Heavenly Father, I love you.
But I don’t understand.
Why is there so much apathy in the church?
Why do you allow us to call ourselves, “The bride of Christ,” when we are so unfailingly hard-headed, lazy, dispassionate, cowardly, calloused and craven?
Save us, Lord.
And save the world, Your world, from us.
Send workers for the harvest.
Send me.
Open my eyes to how I can serve you more effectively, efficiently, and earnestly.
I want to be used.
I want to feel used.
I want to feel used by You!
Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name.
Heavenly Father, it is not my desire to garner praise for my name, but to bring glory to Yours.
This campus, Lord, needs You.
Please, pour out Your Spirit on us.

The Dawkins Delusion

I've read a couple of Dawkins' books, and I have to say, as intelligent as he claims to be, this satire actually does a dedecent job of exposing some of his claims. And I don't care who you are, that's funny.

10 Things I love about being a dad.

So, here's a list of things I love about being a dad. I suppose it should be noted that the list fluid because as kids grow and change you find new things love as old things cease. Seeing them grow, a true joy, is also bittersweet. I used bullets instead of numbers because I'm not ure I could ever order these properly, if that's even possible. I do this now knowing that in a year it would be different, every year it would be different. This one thing I know, above all else, I love being a dad most of all because everyone thinks they have great kids, but that's only because they don't have mine. Mine set the standard of greatness. They always have, and in my heart, they always will...

• Being treated like furniture.
• Watching my kids chase me down the driveway and across the yard when I leave for work in the morning.
• Reading to them, even if they won't listen.
• Watching them sleep.
• Seeing them grow.
• Hearing/telling goofy jokes.
• The Tickle Monster.
• Calming their nightly fears.
• Hearing their prayers.
• Squeezy hugs.
• Blanket hugs.
• Butterfly kisses from my girls.
• Wrestling with my boy.
• Daddy Dates with the Alyssa & Anna
• Man Time with Nate
• Et cetera, et cetera, et cetera ad infinitum