Something profound from Pharyngula

There’s something interesting on Pharyngula today.  Well, to be fair, there’s always something interesting over there aside from the religion bashing and name calling.

Dr. PZ Myers has reviewed a book entitled “Don’t Be Such a Scientist:  Talking Substance in an Age of Style.”

In his review, he writes:

There are lessons worth learning throughout the book; one of them is one I’ve known for a long time, that science is at odds with popular culture because it is largely an exercise in constant criticism, and people hate being criticized. We encourage a culture of negativity, because it works for us…which means, of course, that I can’t simply let the book slide by with a happy two thumbs up. I must be such a scientist. One of the things Randy seems to be oblivious to is the fact that character and personality are an essential part of the style element he is endorsing, and scientists can capitalize on their particular, peculiar, aggravating set of common characteristics. He tells his story of being the scientific dufus in the company of artists; the guy who takes things too literally, who has strange stories, who can obsess over odd stuff that no one else cares about, and who has enough character that his friends can talk about “being a Randy” and everyone knows exactly what they’re talking about. He writes as if this was a problem, and I can sympathize with some of his embarrassing moments…but it was a strength. He sounds like he was one of the interesting people in his group.

So I end up feeling a bit torn. He’s telling us “Don’t be such a scientist”, and it’s true that there are many occasions when the scientific attitude can generate unnecessary obstacles to accomplishing our goals. At the same time, though, I want to say “Do [emphasis his] be such a scientist”, because it’s part of our identity and it makes us stand out as unusual and, like Randy, interesting, even if it sometimes does make us a bit abrasive. But, you know, some of us revel in our abrasiveness; it’s fun.”

I find these thoughts very profound and insightful, though perhaps not for the reasons they were intended.

Read on and I’ll explain….

Christians should be weak and abused because of their weakness

In a recent blog conversation someone made the following comment to me:

The belief in the Christian god tells oneself that being meek, weak, and abused in this world out of weakness will be rewarded in your afterlife.

So being meek, weak, and abused in this world out of weakness will be rewarded in my afterlife?

He associates being meek with being weak and abused out of weakness. Should Christians be weak? Does meek mean weak as we understand it today? Does humble mean weak?

I want to hear from you.

My questions to you reading this:

IS THIS THE PERCEPTION OF CHRISTIANITY, (CHRIST) ONE OF WEAKNESS AND ABUSED PEOPLE?

SHOULD IT BE IF IT IS (OR IS NOT)?

Read on…

G-I-G-O

THE QUESTION:

You know what GIGO is? Ask any computer programmer and they’ll be able to tell you.
It stands for “Garbage In, Garbage Out”. If you build a program and the input is bad, then the output is bad too.

THE SITUATION:

For example, I have a tax program and I need to know what my taxes are going to be.
I gather all my forms and documents that I need such as W-2s, charitable deductions etc.
Now, while I’m entering my tax information, I happen to input an extra zero into my wages for the year.
My earned income just went from $30,000 a year to $300,000 a year. However, I don’t realize that I entered “garbage” for my income. (Since I’m doing this on computer and not on paper, I don’t notice it right away)

So I go through and enter my deductions, and exemptions etc etc. At the end of my inputs, I tell the tax program to do the final calculations. I’m all set to see a nice green figure, i.e. a refund. What happens?

Instead of a refund, the computer program is telling me I owe over $100,000 in taxes! OUCH! How did that happen??
I feel like throwing the computer through the window, because it obviously screwed up. But thankfully, common sense kicks in and I know I messed up somewhere, but where? Luckily for me, this is a tax program and I can easily find my “garbage” data, and correct it. I rerun the final calculations and now I see my refund. Everything is right with the world again.

BAD (garbage) INPUT ALWAYS EQUALS BAD (garbage) OUTPUT.

THE APPLICATION:

So how does this apply to the Christian life you’re asking?

Well, I’ll tell you. Jesus knew this truth and He taught about it. And it didn’t have to do with computers (obviously!).
So lets see what He has to tell us about GIGO.

In Luke 11:34, Jesus tells us that “The eye is the lamp of the body; when your eye is clear, your whole body also is full of light; but when it is bad, your body also is full of darkness”

So as we behold (see) good things, our eye is clear, our whole body is full of LIGHT. BUT when we behold bad {garbage} things, our eye is bad and our body is full of darkness {garbage}.

If our body is full of darkness, then our thoughts are dark. Our actions are tainted by darkness. Our heart is tainted by darkness.

THE SOLUTION:

So how do we keep that from happening?

Remove the dark things from your life. Don’t watch movies that are filled with sex, blood, murders, fear, loathing, lies, violence. Watch movies that are uplifting and edifying. Quit watching those crime shows on television that depict murders, rapes, violence, sex, drugs. Start watching shows that are family oriented. Shows with a positive message. Quit looking at sites or magazines with scantily clad women. Instead spend that spare time reading stories of miracles and good news. Dig back into scripture and God’s Word. Fill your life with light instead of darkness and it will change your life.

Remove the dark music from your life too.   HUH?  Yeah, remove the music that’s filled with violence, cursing, drug use, negative messages.  You might like the sound sure.  Heck, I grew up with AC/DC, GNR, Ozzie, Metallica, Aerosmith, Def Leppard, Poison.  And I still enjoy listening to that music.  But do I listen to it?  Not much anymore.  Sometimes if I’m flipping through the stations and I come across one of my favorites, I’ll stop and listen because I do still like it.  But I also realize that the messages are dark and I’m influencing my life.  So, typically I’ll flip between the Christian stations and listen to all kinds of music.  Contemporary, Rock, rap even.  Some old-time gospel, though I tend to not enjoy it as much driving.  Its just not driving music.  My point is, keep your inputs positive, and your outputs will be positive.  Keep your inputs Christian, and your outputs will be Christian.  Keep your inputs worldly, and your outputs will be worldly.

PRAYER

Father, I pray today for everyone that reads this. I pray that we’ll remember this teaching from Jesus about light and darkness, and we’ll remember that whatever we put into our bodies we are sowing. And whatever we sow we will ultimately harvest. Father help us to avoid the dark things of life, and fill our lives with things that are light and life. Help us to remember that much of what we see on TV and on the movies is about fear, and you cast out all fear.
Help us to remember that we are your light in these dark times. Father, most of all, please help us reach those that are lost in their own darkness and help them bring light and hope back into their lives.

AMEN