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3 things the Christians are wrong about
2008-Feb-04, Monday 11:45 amI'm not Christian myself, but I do tend to encounter them. The obvious counterpoint is a dinosaur bone, even complete skeletons. My life is seldom so obvious though. Some days, I keep a slab of coprolite in my pocket. If I lick it to make it wet, it shows very pretty shades of green and brown. (Coprolite is fossilized dinosaur "remains". See samples of the full thing and also a cross section like I have.)
1) Binomial Nomenclature is Holy work
Most Christians think that the first task that God set to Adam was to go out and multiply (Gen 1:28). They're wrong. Before God created Eve, He was bringing animals to Adam to give them a name (Gen 2:19-20). Apparently God wanted His creations to be noticed and identified. Killing them off in this current great extinction should amount to some kind of blasphemy, preventing humans from fulfilling the "first task" given them by their creator. Scientists are identifying new species all the time, though not at a fast enough pace to catch them all before extinction. Christians shouldn't be at odds with the evolutionary tree and the naming scheme that ties these different lives together. Instead, they should regard binomial nomenclature (the formal system for naming of species) as Holy work that fulfills an early duty. Oh, and "Hurt not the earth, neither the sea, nor the trees." (Rev 7:3) Creation deserves a little respect, not disdain, for its temporary nature.
2) God never stopped Creating
Have you ever watched a video where you saw an initial explosion and then the ring of destruction (fire, smoke, dust, or cloud) that expands from the center as the force moves outward? Yeah, that's what this photo is like. This Hubble Telescope image was taken after some new kind of stellar explosion (not a regular nova) from a star 20,000 light years away in the constellation of the Unicorn. The initial burst of light first reached us in January 2002, and this photo was taken 11 months later. That's nearly a year that the sudden burst of light was allowed to expand in a shell, the "wave of light" a million times brighter than normal. As that brilliance contines to expand in a sphere from the original star, we get to see the reflections (or visual light "echo") of whatever was in the path of the light at that moment. Like a strobe light catching secrets in the dark, we see the gas and debris that was always there but hidden from sight. We get to see the shape of the wispy tendrils that weave the tapestry of our galaxy (and even the universe). And, appropriately enough, we get to see bright blue stars in the foreground, classic color of new young stars.
New stuff happens. All the time. The universe didn't achieve its final shape on any given day in the past (6000 years ago or more). After the light passes, then the physical shockwave will expand from that star. Such compressions are thought to eventually give rise to new star formation. Creation did not end at the seventh day. It continues even today.
3) End Times are NOT nigh
When the universe holds such sights waiting to be seen, I do not believe in any deity that pretends compassion while simultaneously threatening to keep us from finding these wonders in the universe. We should be "out there" someday living stories that even the science fiction writers of today can't imagine. The "End Times" didn't come in the years after Jesus. Or the centuries. Or, now, the millenia. I will not live in doom when I know (just look up, into the night sky! *points upward*) that discoveries are waiting for us.
I live in a universe where creation never ended, where everything changes, and where animal shit outlasts the animal and later (equally temporary) species dig it up from the dirt to turn it into jewelry. Why would anyone want to live somewhere else?
"Did you know that in a world so full of wonders, they have actually invented boredom? Quite astonishing." - Death, regarding humans and their creativity, in the movie "Hogfather"
1) Binomial Nomenclature is Holy work
Most Christians think that the first task that God set to Adam was to go out and multiply (Gen 1:28). They're wrong. Before God created Eve, He was bringing animals to Adam to give them a name (Gen 2:19-20). Apparently God wanted His creations to be noticed and identified. Killing them off in this current great extinction should amount to some kind of blasphemy, preventing humans from fulfilling the "first task" given them by their creator. Scientists are identifying new species all the time, though not at a fast enough pace to catch them all before extinction. Christians shouldn't be at odds with the evolutionary tree and the naming scheme that ties these different lives together. Instead, they should regard binomial nomenclature (the formal system for naming of species) as Holy work that fulfills an early duty. Oh, and "Hurt not the earth, neither the sea, nor the trees." (Rev 7:3) Creation deserves a little respect, not disdain, for its temporary nature.
2) God never stopped Creating
Have you ever watched a video where you saw an initial explosion and then the ring of destruction (fire, smoke, dust, or cloud) that expands from the center as the force moves outward? Yeah, that's what this photo is like. This Hubble Telescope image was taken after some new kind of stellar explosion (not a regular nova) from a star 20,000 light years away in the constellation of the Unicorn. The initial burst of light first reached us in January 2002, and this photo was taken 11 months later. That's nearly a year that the sudden burst of light was allowed to expand in a shell, the "wave of light" a million times brighter than normal. As that brilliance contines to expand in a sphere from the original star, we get to see the reflections (or visual light "echo") of whatever was in the path of the light at that moment. Like a strobe light catching secrets in the dark, we see the gas and debris that was always there but hidden from sight. We get to see the shape of the wispy tendrils that weave the tapestry of our galaxy (and even the universe). And, appropriately enough, we get to see bright blue stars in the foreground, classic color of new young stars.New stuff happens. All the time. The universe didn't achieve its final shape on any given day in the past (6000 years ago or more). After the light passes, then the physical shockwave will expand from that star. Such compressions are thought to eventually give rise to new star formation. Creation did not end at the seventh day. It continues even today.
3) End Times are NOT nigh
When the universe holds such sights waiting to be seen, I do not believe in any deity that pretends compassion while simultaneously threatening to keep us from finding these wonders in the universe. We should be "out there" someday living stories that even the science fiction writers of today can't imagine. The "End Times" didn't come in the years after Jesus. Or the centuries. Or, now, the millenia. I will not live in doom when I know (just look up, into the night sky! *points upward*) that discoveries are waiting for us.
I live in a universe where creation never ended, where everything changes, and where animal shit outlasts the animal and later (equally temporary) species dig it up from the dirt to turn it into jewelry. Why would anyone want to live somewhere else?
"Did you know that in a world so full of wonders, they have actually invented boredom? Quite astonishing." - Death, regarding humans and their creativity, in the movie "Hogfather"