What are Some of Your Random Thoughts on the Passing Scene*?

Robert J Marks II  

 

Christ and Christianity

I first recognized the deity of Christ and his role in my redemption because, like Pascal says, it filled a vacuum in my soul.  I continue to be a Christian because it's consistent with all I know, feel, experience and learn.  Because it's true.

Sometimes I feel far from God and unworthy of his love.  If I was worthy, though, Jesus would not have had to die.

I pray for God to make me more famous, rich and powerful so that I can be even more humble.  Is this wrong if I mean it?  (At least I think I mean it.)

There is a strong drive to always justify what you do.  If someone admits they are wrong and takes steps to turn the wrong into right, chances are they are a Christian.

Having a "Christian tradition" does not equate to following Christ.  The YMCA can claim a Christian tradition. 

 

Evolutionary Informatics

What is the motivation for evolutionary informatics? Evolution is modeled as an assembly line where complexity pops out at the end.  It took a lot of smarts to construct that assembly line.

A computer program no more creates information than a iPod creates music. Computers can only do what they are told a lot faster than a human can.

Baylor, who blocked my web site on evolutionary informatics, remains an visionary university with dedicated Christian professors performing top tier cutting edge research.  For example, I'm on the faculty.

I am an engineer - not a scientist.  Scientists enthrone their theories like a queen and admire the beauty.  Engineers make the queen come down from the throne and scrub the floors. And if she doesn't work, we fire her.

 

Intelligent Design

My belief in biological evolution starts with the reality of dog breeding and stops somewhere before an elephant falling into the water and becoming a whale.

Before we talk about whether I.D. is falsifiable, let's discuss how I.D. has falsified Darwinian evolution.

Pasteur falsified spontaneous generation with germ theory.  By discovering relativity, Einstein did not falsify Newtonian physics.  He, rather, gave further insight into the limitations of  Newtonian physics.  ID and evolutionary informatics will either falsify or show the limitations of Darwinism. Stay tuned.

The US government funds fifty billion dollars worth of scientific research every year.  None of it is anti-evolution.  Those actively questioning Darwinism are like garage workshop inventors seeking alternate energy sources competing against Exxon.

 

God and Time

The Bible refers in many places to "before the beginning of time."  Physics says time was created at the Big Bang.  So, from God's perspective, what's the big deal about free will versus predestination which both assume there is time?

Predestination versus free will can be summed up in a single question.  When you dig a hole, are you creating a hole; or is the hole already there and you are simply taking the dirt out?

The question "Who created God?" is a leading question akin to "Have you quit kicking small blonde children?"  God created time.  Without time, questions of who created what are meaningless.

Next to today's mind boggling science areas like algorithmic information theory, string theory and even quantum mechanics, the science fiction I read as a kid is boring.

The existance of no space and no time before the creation of the universe exceeds my ability to comprehend.

On Atheism

When atheists offer the existence of evil and the suffering of the innocent as evidence against a loving God, they are assuming there is an absolute good and evil.  Where do they think this comes from?

Scientism is atheism dressed up in a cheap tuxedo.

Does the atheist's broad brush stroke of casting Christian fundamentalists as dangerous include the Amish?

In the North, the identity of Christians and Pagans was usually clear.  In the South, those who are dedicated followers of Christ are a subset of those who call themselves Christians and Baptists.

Doesn't the belief that naturalism will ultimately explain things now unknown constitute a Darwin of the Gaps?

Some atheists are really mean.  Hey.  Why not?

Some atheists are really kind and moral.  But they have a rough time defending why.

There have been many atrocities committed by those who call themselves Christians.  They pale next to the twentieth century atrocities of the hundreds of millions killed under atheistic Nazism and atheistic Soviet, Chinese, and other communistic regimes.

 

On Peer Review

Albert Einstein had only one paper peer reviewed anonymously.  It was rejected. [link]

Truth is not subject to democracy.  Peer review is.

Having a science journal publish a paper implying there is a Creator today is as likeley as the ACLU sponsoring the posting of ten commandments outside of the Supreme Court.

In the 1970's, no medical journal would publish a paper on "nonscientific" acupuncture.

Neither the Bible nor the Origin of the Species was peer reviewed.

Those who ask why peer reviewed papers concerning ID are not published need to talk to Dr. Richard von Sternberg.  As a journal editor, he allowed publication of a pro-ID peer reviewed paper - and was fired.

The AMA would probably vote Chiropractors as non-scientific.  Mechanical manipulation of the body, though, seems like a reasonable addition to chemical manipulation (pills) and plumbing manipulation (surgery).  Besides, Chiropractors are the only who can relieve my lower back pain without mind clouding medication or permanent tissue scaring.

 

On the Two Sphere Model of Christianity and Science

Claiming the Bible is not a book about science is like saying a cook book is not a book about chemistry.

The two sphere model is the only Christianity accepted by atheists.  If your goal as a Christian is to be compatible with the world, your only choice is the two sphere model.

If my faith in the God of the Bible is true, nothing from science will topple it.  If my faith is wrong, I want to know.

The two sphere model and separation of church and state are a new form of "separate but equal" laws.

Pursuance of truth requires consideration of a creator. If the definition of science excludes the possibility of a creator, then it is not a pursuance of truth.

 

Success Tips

Do what needs to be done. When it needs to be done. Whether you like it or not. (You will be infused with energy when you do.)

In a room full of people, pick out the person who you are most afraid to talk to and go talk to them.

The best ways to resolve a conflict with a person, in order of effectiveness, are (a) a nose-to-nose private conversation, (b) a telephone call, (c) email, and (d) ignoring it.   For me, in order, these are also the most uncomfortable ways to resolve a conflict.

One of the hardest things I do is keeping my mouth shut and my email silent when I am mad.