Former Partridge family member debates 'truther'

I thought this was hilarious....I've never posted a video before, so we'll try it this way:

YouTubevideo

Contraception in the Realm of the Pro-Life Position

"Generations for Life" (linked on the right) is a pro-life website dedicated to bringing to light efforts to advance the pro-life cause and bring an awareness to people about what abortion is. There is a category on the website titled "Contraception" which includes all the articles or notes written on the subject of contraception. However, I have a question: is it necessary to be against any method of contraception if you are pro-life?

I'll post my thoughts on that later, depending on what type of response I get.

Monday's news...

I found a few stories that I wouldn't have believed, even if I had been told. But, they're in the news, so they have to be true, right? Here are some of the more interesting stories of the day:

PETA is upset over cockroaches now? You have to read the article to believe it - I didn't know that PETA cared about bugs, but, you learn something new every day.

I'm starting to get annoyed by what I'll call 'Pope-gate'. If Christians reacted the way some Muslims have reacted to the Danish cartoons and the remarks by the Pope, who would be meeting with them to appease the Christians?

An outspoken female official working on women's rights was shot to death in Kandahar, Afghanistan. Tolerance...

Okay, I'm annoyed enough by the news now. I'm moving on (or just going to class). Have a wonderful Monday everyone!

Apologies

This has been quite a week (after quite a weekend) and it's only Monday! There have been two apologies requested (well, one was demanded), and two apologies have been given. So, let's talk about the apologies.

The first (because it is less important): Pac-10 to Oklahoma. I don't have to tell anyone what happened, because if you don't know, you are living under a rock. The Pac-10 Conference has issued an apology to Oklahoma (at least the school, the coaches, and the players, no word on whether they are sorry toward the fans watching that sorry officiating). It is a real apology, one with meat on its bones, but, ultimately, doesn't really matter much. President Boren has requested that this game not go on either team's record book. But, the fact of the matter is that, regardless of any apology, we lost. That's that.


Second apology: Pope to Muslims. This one you might not have heard of (although, if you haven't, I still think you are living under a rock). Several days ago, the Pope, in his traditional Sunday blessing (in Germany - this fact may be important later), the Pope quoted a 7th Century Emperor as saying (I can't find it at the moment, so this is a slight paraphrase), Show me what Muhammed has brought that is new, and it is all evil and inhuman. Well, the Muslim community (I suppose I should say the extremists, but, since no one has condemned the reaction, I'm pegging the entire Muslim community as being in this group), has taken this as the Pope saying that Muhammed (and Muslims) was evil and inhuman.

However, we are, of course, lucky that Islam is not violent. What reaction has this prompted in the Religion of Peace?

Exhibit Number 1: This is what a real Martyr looks like. The Nun killed by Somali Muslims, apparently in response to the Pope's comments.

Exhibit Number 2: The London "Pope Must Die" Protest. I think that the title is self-explanatory.

Exhibit Number 3: The British Cleric calling for the Pope's death. Also probably pretty self-explanatory.

The Muslims burning American and German flags (what America has to do with the Pope, I'm not sure).

Seven Churches in Muslim countries have been firebombed.

The Pope has been burned in effigy. (Eh...just what Americans do when crucifixes are placed in urine and called art, right? Of course right)

And, of course, the Pope's comments are part of a larger conspiracy by America and Israel (Don't even think about the fact that the Pope was merely quoting from a 7th Century emperor....).

And, last, but not least, this is the start of a Crusade against Muslims. Of course it is...since we in the West are the ones who are calling for the conversion (by the sword) of the entire world...right.

The Religion of Peace - more like the Religion of Irony.

Well, everyone should be happy because the Pope apologized (of course, he apologized the way I would have - he's sorry for the reaction the remarks provoked; not necessarily sorry for the remarks). Of course, they're not happy because they don't believe the apology went far enough.

Well, I'm demanding an apology from them for all the crosses they have burned, all the American flags they have burned, and all the comments about Jesus being Allah's slave. I won't hold my breath, though, because I'd wait through all eternity and still be holding it.

Boredom.....and Remembrance

I have such senioritis.

It's awful.

Maybe this is the wall - three weeks into the new semester. How sad.

I'm sitting in Estate and Gift Tax - a class in which I really should pay attention because I hate math and I hate tax, and I really don't get it as well as I should, but I don't want to pay attention, so I'm not going to. I'm only going to be in this class for another 30 minutes anyway. So, I thought I'd bore my scant readership as well. Actually, I'm going to move on to some memorial stuff.

Today is September 11, 2006 - the fifth year anniversary of the attacks that took down the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001.

I can't believe it's been five years.

I remember what I was doing when I heard about the attacks. I was a sophomore at OU and I was getting ready to leave for class. My mother called and told me about the attacks right before I got on the elevator. I still had one class, one was cancelled. I remember sitting and watching the news reports for about an hour with Nicole that morning, in shock.

So....we remember...







See Michelle Malkin's page (linked on the right) for more - it's very good.

Experimental...

In this world of pointless government studies (about things like how much alcohol a pigmy whale (are there such things?) can imbibe before becoming legal intoxicated and being unable to drive), I have a study I'd like to see done.

I would like to know the correlation of three different things (or the combination thereof) to sales in businesses:

1. The presence (or absence) of an American (or, for the locals, an OU) flag in the parking lot, on top of the building, or otherwise displayed near or on the building, or in commercials.



2. The word(s) USA, American, America, US, North American, etc. (or, for the locals, Oklahoma, Oklahoman, Sooner, Boomer, OU) in the title of the company, or used in commercials.

3. The use of the colors red, white, and blue (or, again for the locals, crimson and cream) in logos, signs, paintings, or otherwise displayed on the building, or used in commercials.



This is what I'm curious about, and what I want the federal government to spend my money on. Who cares about three monkeys in Kenya who may or may not be diabetic?

We're ba-ack

So, we survived the wedding planning, the wedding, and the new travel restrictions (shame on you terrorists! I had a recurring dream about the airline losing our luggage before we left, and so I wanted to pack most of my stuff in my carry-on, but, go figure...). Amazing how quickly it all went by and how much we now have to do just to settle in! Of course, we've gotten a lot of that done at this point, and so, now it's just a matter of doing the little things (like shifting everything from this closet or this drawer to that one). A big thank you to all who came to the wedding (and to all of you who would have liked to be there, but couldn't). We appreciate your support, prayers, and love!

Okay, well, back to unpacking - everyone have a great week!

Joke of the day

Got this email from my boss. Thought it was kinda funny, so thought I'd pass it on.

One morning the husband returns after several hours of fishing and
decides to take a nap.

Although not familiar with the lake, the wife decides to take the
boat out.

She motors out a short distance, anchors, and reads her book.
Along comes a Game Warden in his boat.

He pulls up alongside the woman and says, "Good morning, Ma'am.
What are you doing?" "Reading a book," she replies, (thinking,

"Isn't that obvious?"

"You're in a Restricted Fishing Area," he informs her.

"I'm sorry, officer, but I'm not fishing. I'm reading."

"Yes, but you have all the equipment. For all I know you could
start at any moment. I'll have to take you in and write you up."

"If you do that, I'll have to charge you with sexual assault," says
the woman.

"But I haven't even touched you," says the game warden.

"That's true, but you have all the equipment. For all I know you
could start at any moment."

"Have a nice day ma'am," and he left.


MORAL: Never argue with a woman who reads. It's likely she can also think.

Book Review

Okay. I did the unthinkable (I can only hope that Justin is too busy studying for the bar to read this and fill my ear or my email inbox with rantings about my betrayal of Christianity for this action).

I bought a copy of The DaVinci Code.

Now, before you get all judgmental, I bought it for two reasons: 1. I needed a fluff book at the time and 2. I wanted to see what all the hype was about, and I happen to prefer books to movies (when possible).

I finished the book this evning. Now, on to the review.

First, the good: I can see how, if it were well done, this could make a good movie (I really don't know if I'd enjoy it, but maybe). There's an interesting story line, if you happen to be a conspiracy theorist.

Okay, now that the good is over and done with, let me tell you what I honestly thought about the book in one sentence and then I'll explain. This was one of the stupidest books I have ever read.

Step by step:

The writing - sophomoric at best. As one of my friends put it (better than I could), the writer is exceptionally aware of his own writing. I add, the writer is also very aware of what he is saying and the effect it would have on people. He writes a lot of short sentences that seem to carry the story along, but they are not very artful, more like a highschooler trying to think of a way to move his creative writing story along. There's not much more that can be said about the writing itself.

The storyline - intriguing, but not exceptionally so. It's a conspiracy theory that, if you ask me, is a little overdone as a story.

The lies (sorry, but I'm not going to call them misconceptions because I don't really believe that Brown believes what he is writing, it's much too off-the-wall for someone who claims to study history, although, I don't really believe that claim either) -
Blatant. I do not believe that Brown has read the Gnostic gospels, the Dead Sea Scrolls, or the New Testament.
It's rather annoying and frustrating. Check that, it's very annoying and frustrating.

Anyway, let me just repeat my opinion of the book in summary: one of the worst I've ever read. It works as light reading, but don't expect much from it.

Hope everyone else is reading more interesting and entertaining literature!

Happy 4th of July!

I was going to attempt to one-up Kevin (as though that were possible through a blog...) and post the entire Constitution, but, after an epoxy incident and talking to a four and a 2 1/2 year old in Lowe's, and the first three words of the Constitution on here, I decided I couldn't do it. So, I thought I'd merely say Happy Fourth of July and leave it at that :). I think I'll try a longer post on the Bill of Rights (or at least my favorite Amenedments) when I have time.

We have no 'Right to Happiness'

That's the title of the latest C.S. Lewis essay I have read. It's great, so I thought I'd share it with everyone else (or at least those who read this blog :)).

"'After all,' said Clare, 'They had a right to happiness.' We were discussing something that once happened in our own neighbourhood. Mr. A had deserted Mrs. A and got his divorce in order to marry Mrs. B, who had likewise got her divorce in order to marry Mr. A. And there was certainly no doubt that Mr. A and Mrs. B were very much in love with one another. If they continued to be in love, and if nothing went wrong with their health or their income, they might reasonably expect to be very happy."

Rather than retype the entire thing, I have found it reproduced online. Read the entire thing - it really is good.

Other stuff:

Things that have ceased to surprise me:

1. The clothes people wear to court. Sometimes people walk in with these bizarre outfits, and I wonder what they were thinking when they walked out of their houses to go out in public, much less walked into the courthouse.

2. The stupidity of intoxicated persons. I have read so many case reports about people who have been drinking and get behind the wheel of a car, that I think I'm going to go blind. Probably not, but maybe. (maybe people are intoxicated when they get dressed to go to court)

3. The paternalism of commercials. I really dislike most commercials (as I have probably made abundantly clear) because they assume that the public is infantile. I have been informed, to my dismay, that the public really is at that level. How depressing!

4. The amazing grace of God. Okay, that really doesn't go on this list. God's grace actually never ceases to amaze me. :)

It's been awhile...

Since it has been awhile since I have posted anything, I may save a more substantive post for later, and just do a general update in this one - we'll see how it goes.

First, after a very valiantly fought two rounds (7 games each), the Phoenix Suns fell in Game 6 to the Dallas Mavericks. Everyone take a moment to grieve... okay...now, we must all cheer for the Mavs as they take on the Miami Heat.

Wedding plans update - the planning is going fine everyone - seriously, everything's under control.

I have been thinking lately about one particular letter out of C.S. Lewis' "The Screwtape Letters". I thought I'd transcribe a bit here. In this letter, Screwtape is writing to his nephew about the 'patient's' mother and the gluttony of Delicacy (in contrast to what we generally think of as gluttony).
"[W]hat do quantities matter, provided we can use a human belly and palate to produce querulousness, impatience, uncharitableness, and self-concern? Glubose has this old woman well in hand. She is a positive terror to hostesses and servants. She is always turning from what has been offered her to say with a demure little sigh and a smile 'Oh please, please...all I want is a cup of tea, weak but not too weak, and the teeniest weeniest bit of really crip toast.' You see? Because what she wants is smaller and less costly than what has been set before her, she never recognizes as gluttony her determination to get what she wants, however troublesome it may be to others. At the very moment of indulging her appetite she believes that she is practising temperance. In a crowded restaurant she gives a little scream at the plate which some overworked waitress has set before her and says, 'Oh, that's far, far too much! Take it away and bring me about a quarter of it.' If challenged, she would say she was doing this to avoid waste; in reality she does it because the particular shade of delicacy to which we have enslaved her is offended by the sight of more food than she happens to want.
The real value of the quient unobtrusive work which Glubose has been doin gfor years on this old woman can be gauged by the way in which her belly now dominates her whole life. The woman is in what may be called the 'All-I-want' state of mind. All she wants is a cup of tea properly made, or an egg properly boiled, or a slice of bread properly toasted. But she never finds any servant or any friend who can do these simple thinbgs 'properly' - because her 'properly' conceals an insatiable demand for the exact, and almost impossible, palatal pleasures which she imagines she remembers from the past; a past described by her as 'the days when you could get good servants' but know to us as the days when her senses were more easily pleased and she had pleasures of other kinds which made her less dependent on those of the table. Meanwhile, the daily disappointment produces daily ill temper: cooks give notice and friendships are cooled. If ever the Enemy introduces into her mind a faint suspicion that she is too interested in food, Glubose counters it by suggesting to her that she doesn't mind what she eats herself but 'does like to have things nice for her boy'. In fact, of course, her greed has been one of the chief sources of his domestic discomfort for many years."

There is more to the letter, but it addresses another side of gluttony, and I have been focusing more on this one.

Incidentally, in light of the recent sermons at Trinity about spiritual warfare, I believe that Lewis' allegories concerning the supernatural ("The Screwtape Letters", "The Great Divorce") are worth revisiting. Lewis has a way of making the supernatural seem so accessible and brings it into a very realistic sense, and always gets me to thinking about the reality of what he is talking about (even if it doesn't happen exactly as the book says).

But, as to the gluttony of delicacy - I think Lewis makes a valid, excellent point. Some people can be very concerned with having things 'just this way,' while consoling themselves (and, in my opinion, blinding themselves to the truth) with statements like the mother in Lewis' book - "it is to prevent waste", "this is for the benefit of someone else - I just want it nice for X". At any rate, it's an interesting idea.

I'm in the middle of a good book - "The Ground Beneath Her Feet" by Salman Rushdie. It's not as good as "The Satanic Verses", but I think I like it better than "The Moor's Last Sigh" although a couple of the minor characters are the same as the major characters in "The Moor's Last Sigh", a fact which I find fascinating.

I just found an interesting blog post on the Jolly Blogger.

Okay, well, that's enough from me for now. Everyone have a great week!

Suns emerge victorious in Game 7

CORRECTION: Steve Nash has been named the NBA MVP for the second year in a row. Well done Steve and congratulations (whenever you read this, you can say thank you in the comments ;)).

Good for him.




MVP twice in a row? He probably doesn't deserve it over some of the players out there (perhaps even Bryant deserves it over my personal favorite, Steve Nash - yes, I admit that Bryant is a good player), but he just might get it after managing to lead his team to victory after being down 3-1 in the series.

So, what is next for the indomitable Suns? Bring on L.A.'s 'other team' the Clippers!

Studying is for the birds...

Arwen If I were a character in The Lord of the Rings, I would be Arwen, Elf, the daughter of Elrond. In the movie, I am played by Liv Tyler. Who would you be? Zovakware Lord of the Rings Test with Perseus Web Survey Software

The Ultimate Battle of Good vs. Evil

UPDATE: Game One to Phoenix! 107-102

One battle down, bring on the rest of the war.

(Read this in the 'movie promoter's voice' - if you don't know what that is, call me and I'll explain (or I'll read it to you in the voice))

On Sunday, April 23rd, the battle begins...

Two teams will meet on up to seven occasions...

One team will emerge victorious...

Will Good...



Or Evil...



Prevail?


The World waits and watches to see...

(This message was not paid for by the NBA. The author of this post disclaims any possible connection of this post with the NBA other than the author's personal view on the NBA, the Phoenix Suns, or the Los Angeles Lakers.)

We remember...

HAPPY EASTER!

He is risen!

He is risen indeed!

Taking the miracle out of the miraculous

Rhetorical question: what is the point of a miracle if it is not miraculous and has an explanation that completely excludes the possibility of the supernatural stepping into nature?

Rhetorical answer (I know you've figured this out by now, but I thought I'd provide it): there is none.

Apparently the scientists are claiming that, instead of Jesus walking on water, it is possible that he was walking on (take a seat before you read this) invisible patches of ice. Yes, that is right. Invisible patches of ice. Well...I wonder if Peter knew that when he walked on water out toward Christ?



Here is a snippet of what C.S. Lewis has to say on the topic of miracles:
I use the word Miracle to mean an interference with Nature by supernatural power." He describes the integration of miraculous intervention and the natural world in this way: "It is therefore inaccurate to define a miracle as something that breaks the laws of Nature. It doesn't. ... If God creates a miraculous spermatozoon in the body of a virgin, it does not proceed to break any laws. The laws at once take it over. Nature is ready. Pregnancy follows, according to all the normal laws, and nine months later a child is born. ... The divine art of miracle is not an art of suspending the pattern. ... And they are sure that all reality must be interrelated and consistent. I agree with them. But I think they have mistaken a partial system within reality, namely Nature, for the whole. That being so, the miracle and the previous history of Nature may be interlocked after all but not in the way the Naturalists expected: rather in a much more roundabout fashion. The great complex event called Nature, and the new particular event introduced into it by the miracle, are related by their common origin in God, and doubtless, if we knew enough, most intricately related in his purpose and design, so that a Nature which had had a different history, and therefore been a different Nature, would have been invaded by different miracles or by none at all. In that way the miracles and the previous course of Nature are as well interlocked as any other two realities, but you must go back as far as their common Creator to find the interlocking. You will not find it within Nature. ... The rightful demand that all reality should be consistent and systematic does not therefore exclude miracles: but it has a very valuable contribution to make to our conception of them. It reminds us that miracles, if they occur, must, like all events, be revelations of that total harmony of all that exists. Nothing arbitrary, nothing simply "stuck on" and left unreconciled with the texture of total reality, can be admitted. By definition, miracles must of course interrupt the usual course of Nature; but if they are real they must, in the very act of so doing, assert all the more the unity and self-consistency of total reality at some deeper level. ... In calling them miracles we do not mean that they are contradictions or outrages; we mean that, left to her [Nature] own resources, she could never produce them."

This quote is from Miracles.

My point is merely that, in attempting to deprive us of the miraculous, science does a serious disservice and focuses our attention on nature itself in a wrong way rather than on the glory of God who is infinitely able to insert Himself into His creation because He sits outside it as Shakespeare sat outside Hamlet.

Martyrs

UPDATE: realized that the link to the article was not working - so I fixed it.

Ran across this article on Michelle Malkin's website about a Christian on trial in Afghanistan. Since Sharia law is part of the new Afghani Constitution (in a sense), a Muslim who leaves the faith can be executed. Read the article and Michelle's comments.

Here is LaShawn Barber's take on the same story. She discusses the first Christian martyr - Stephen.





These are clean (meaning no blood, for sure not in the manner of Mel Gibson's The Passion) depictions of the first martyr, Stephen. (Acts 6:8-8:2)

Short discussion about the persecution of Christians.
First, the use of persecution to scatter the believers to where God wanted them. God says, you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth (Acts 1:8). And then, when they stay too long in one place, God sends persecution to scatter them to those places. (Acts 8:1) Oh He will do whatever it takes to get His will done!

Second, something that we should, if not expect, not be surprised about. "If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you. Remember the words I spoke to you: 'No servant is greater than his master.' If they persecuted me, they will persecute you also. If they obeyed my teaching, they will obey yours also." (John 15:19-20) Since we know that Jesus was persecuted, I think we can be pretty sure that Christians will be as well.

Third, something through which to, if not be thrilled about, rejoice. Because first, persecution will not separate us from our Savior. "Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or famine or nakedness or danger or sword?" (Romans 8:35) And, second, when we are weak, we are strong. "But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong." (2 Corinthians 12:9-10)
So, anyway, maybe American Christians are complacent. The extent of the persecution in America is a bit of ragging by the atheists or those who just think Christianity is nonsense. Maybe what we need is a good dose of persecution to wake the American church up! (I don't know that I want to go through that, though) Just something to think about :).

All this is not to say that we should just sit by and watch as Christians throughout the world are persecuted!

There are things we can do to help. We can contact the Voice of the Martyrs or the White House (email - comments@whitehouse.gov). Or see International Christian Concern. (Hat's off to LaShawn Barber for collecting these helpful links).

In other news:
If you haven't watched the OU women's basketball team lately, you have missed out on some quality basketball. They are quite good (concession - they've only played 16 and 7 seeds in the tournament, but they have dominated both games). Tonight they beat BYU by a score of 86-70.

Religion and Science

I am reading a compilation of C.S. Lewis's essays entited God in the Dock. I found this essay and I thought I would share it because I really liked it.

'Miracles,' said my friend. 'Oh, come. Science has knocked the bottom out of all that. We know that Nature is governed by fixed laws.'
'Didn't people always know that?' said I.
'Good Lord, no,' said he. 'For instance, take a story like the Virgin Birth. We know now that such a thing couldn't happen. We know there must be a male spermatozoon.'
'But look here,' said I, 'St Joseph --'
'Who's he?' asked my friend.
'He was the husband of the Virgin Mary. If you'll read the story in the Bible you'll find that when he saw his fiancee was going to have a baby he decided to cry off the marriage. Why did he do that?'
'Wouldn't most men?'
'Any man would,' said I, 'provided he knew the laws of Nature - in other words, provided he knew that a girl doesn't ordinarily have a baby unless she's been sleeping with a man. But according to your theory people in the old days didn't know that Nature was governed by fixed laws. I'm pointing out that the story shows that St Joseph knew that law just as well as you do.'
'But he came to believe in the Virgin Birth afterwards, didn't he?'
'Quite. But he didn't do so because he was under any illusion as to where babies came from in the ordinary course of Nature. He believed in the Virgin Birth as something supernatural. He knew Nature works in fixed, regular ways: but he also believed that there existed something beyond Nature which could interfere with her workings - from outside, so to speak.'
'But modern science has shown there's no such thing.'
'Really,' said I. 'Which of the sciences?'
'Oh, well, that's a matter of detail,' said my friend. 'I can't give you chapter and verse from memory.'
'But, don't you see,' said I, 'that science never could show anything of the sort?'
'Why on earth not?'
'Because science studies Nature. And the question is whether anything besides Nature exists - anything 'outside'. How could you find that out by studying simply Nature?'
'But don't we find out that Nature must work in an absolutely fixed way? I mean, the laws of Nature tell us not merely how things do happen, but how they must happen. No power could possibly alter them.'
'How do you mean?' said I.
'Look here,' said he. 'Could this 'something outside' that you talk about make two and two five?'
'Well, no,' said I.
'All right,' said he. 'Well, I think the laws of Nature are really like two and two making four. The idea of their being altered is as absurd as the idea of altering the laws of arithmetic.'
'Half a moment,' said I. 'Suppose you put sixpence into a drawer today, and sixpence into the same drawer tomorrow. Do the laws of arithmetic make it certain you'll find a shilling's worth there the day after?'
'Of course,' said he, 'provided no one's been tampering with your drawer.'
'Ah, but that's the whole point,' said I. 'The laws of arithmetic can tell you what you'll find, with absolute certainty, provided that there's no interference. If a thief has been at the drawer of course you'll get a differet result. But the thief won't have broken the laws of arithmetic - only the laws of England. Now, aren't the laws of Nature much in the same boat? Don't they all tell you what will happen provided there's no interference?'
'How do you mean?'
'Well, the laws will tell you how a billiard ball will travel on a smooth surface if you hit it in a particular way - but only provided no one interferes. If, after it's already in motion, someone snatches up a cue and gives it a biff on one side - why, then, you won't get what the scientist predicted.'
'No, of course not. He can't allow for monkey-tricks like that.'
'Quite, and in the same way, if there was anything outside Nature, and if it interfered - then the events which the scientist expected wouldn't follow. That would be what we call a miracle. In one sense it wouldn't break the laws of Nature. The laws tell you what will happen if nothing interferes. They can't tell you whether something is going to interfere I mean, it's not the expert at arithmetic who can tell you how likely someone is to interfere with the pennies in my drawer; a detective would be more use. It isn't the physicist who can tell you how likely I am to catch up a cue and spoil his experiment with the billiard ball; you'd better ask a psychologist. And it isn't the scientist who can tell you how likely Nautre is to be interfered with from outside. You must go to the metaphysician.'
'These are rather niggling points,' said my friend. 'You see, the real abjection goes far deeper. The whole picture of the universe which science has given us makes it such rot to believe that the Power at the back of it all could be interested in us tiny little creatures crawling about on an unimportant planet! It was all so obvoiusly invented by people who believed in a flat earth with the stars only a mile or two away.'
'When did people believe that?'
'Why, all those old Christian chaps you're always telling about did. I mean Boethius and Augustine and Thomas Aquinas and Dante.'
'Sorry,' said I, 'but this is one of the few subjects I do know something about.'
I reached out my hand to a bookshelf. 'You see this book,' I said, 'Ptolemy's Almagest. You know what it is?'
'Yes,' said he. 'It's the standard astronomical handbook used all through the Middle Ages.'
'Well, just read that,' I said, pointing to Book I, chapter 5.
'The earth,' read out my friend, hesitating a bit as he translated the Latin, 'the earth, in relation to the distance of the fixed stars, has no appreciable size and must be treated as a mathematical point!'
There was a moment's silence.
'Did they really know that then?' said my friend. 'But - but none of the histories of science - none of the modern encyclopedias - ever mention the fact.'
'Exactly,' said I. 'I'll leave you to think out the reason. It almost looks as if someone was anxious to hush it up, doesn't it? I wonder why.'
There was another short silence.
'At any rate,' said I, 'we can now state the problem accurately. People usually think the problem is how to reconcile what we now know about the size of the universe with our traditional ideas of religion. That turns out not to be the problem at all. The real problem is this. The enormous size of the universe and the insignificance of the earth were known for centuries, and no one ever dreamed that they had any bearing on the religious question. Then, less than a hundred years ago, they are suddenly trotted out as an argument against Christianity. And the people who trot them out carefully hush up the fact that they were known long ago. Don't you think that all you atheists are strangely unsuspicious people?'