Happy Birthday, St. Augustine of Hippo
Today we mark the birthday of one of the greatest Christian theologians of all time, St. Augustine of Hippo (A.D. 13 November 354 to 28 August 430). He was of Berber descent and was born in present-day Algeria.
St. Augustine developed the concept of original sin. However, more importantly, he outlined the idea of just war, a concept I use today to judge the use of military force. When I call the Iraq war an illegal, immoral and unjust war, much of my analysis rests on the concepts put forth by St. Augustine.
The other reason I admire Augustine was that he believed the Bible should not be taken literally when it contradicts what we know from science and what our God-given ability to reason tells us. He wrote against a literal interpretation of Genesis and said such a dogmatic belief in the literalism of the Bible would be dangerous to the faith.
As he wrote in A.D. 408:
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Fight at Church of the Holy Sepulcher
Israeli police rushed into one of Christianity's holiest churches Sunday and arrested two clergyman after an argument between monks erupted into a brawl next to the site of Jesus' tomb. The fight was between Greek and Armenian monks.
Glad we have religious orders to show us how to live.
Another simple-minded argument from creationists
Kirk Cameron And Bananas - Watch more free videos
A journalist with France 24 in Paris sent me this video (yes that is Kirk Cameron, he became a Christian evangelical at age 17 and is a partner in the evangelical Christian ministry The Way of the Master) and asked me to defend its conclusions. While I appreciate the opportunity to express my opinion to the French people, this video, which is several years old, is beyond defending.
The idea that the banana proves the existence of God simply because its shape makes it easy for humans to hold and eat is preposterous. Such arguments give all Christians, especially evangelicals, a bad name. Using the logic of this video, one could easily argue that the pear, pineapple, or apple, to name a few, disprove the existence of God because they are not as convenient to hold or eat.
Nor does the conclusion reached by Cameron and his buddy, Ray Comfort, take into account the wild banana. The banana we eat today is the result of thousands of years of domestication and cultivation. The wild banana, on the other hand, is not as easy to eat, is full of hard seeds, and is shaped differently. Also, if the banana is so perfect, why is it is so difficult to ship without damage?
This is typical of the simple-minded thought processes of some creationists. They are so convinced that the universe was created in a way imagined by some Jewish priest 6,000 years ago that they will grasp at every straw to try to make things fit their preconceived notions. Imagine what life would be like if doctors relied on 6,000-year-old Jewish texts when performing medical procedures.
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Vatican: It is OK to believe in aliens
Whew! I was getting worried for my eternal soul until I read this story from The Associated Press!
Seriously, though, I am always surprised by how many Christians I meet who think that belief in extraterrestrial life is a rejection of religion or somehow anti-Christian. I am sure that extends to many non-Christians as well.
Clearly, if the god in which you believe is the creator of the universe, don't you think it is presumptuous to claim that he/she/it is only capable of maintaining one planet with sentient life? Seriously, I find it more difficult to believe that in the whole universe, this little rock is the only one with intelligent life.
Regardless of your religious bent, it simply makes no sense to deny that life might very well exist elsewhere.
Here is the AP story:
Vatican: It's OK to believe in aliens
By ARIEL DAVID
Associated Press Writer
VATICAN CITY (AP) -- Believing that the universe may contain alien life does not contradict a faith in God, the Vatican's chief astronomer said in an interview published Tuesday.
The Rev. Jose Gabriel Funes, the Jesuit director of the Vatican Observatory, was quoted as saying the vastness of the universe means it is possible there could be other forms of life outside Earth, even intelligent ones.
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Luther excommunicated on this date in 1521
It was 487 years ago on this date, in 1521, that Pope Leo X excommunicated the Rev. Martin Luther from the Catholic Church. The above painting by Anton von Werner shows Luther before the Diet of Worms in April 1521. He was summoned to the Diet to be questioned by Emperor Charles V.
In 1520, Pope Leo X had issued the papal bull "Exsurge Domine" demanding Luther retract 41 errors from his 95 theses and other teachings and writings. Luther refused and the Protestant Reformation, and all its bloodshed, continued.
One can't help but think that had Luther not been guided by German princes more concerned with political intrigue than matters of religion and instead worked with the Vatican to resolve any theological differences, the world would be a different place today.
Then again, it is the nature of religious groups to continually break down into other groups because no one can ever really agree on a belief in something that is, at its heart, unprovable and is a matter of personal faith, or disbelief. Look at how splintered Protestants are. Even the Lutherans are divided into at least two groups. The Middle East and the Islamic faith is another example of people killing each other because their god is better than the other group's god. Even if you are a believer in a god, all the killing and other behavior engaged in by religious groups today is enough to turn even the most ardent believer into an athiest.
Obviously, the problem is magnified when church and state are mixed because there is an element of power involved. Still, it is amazing to me that religion seems to be a public preoccupation with a vast majority of people. That a presidential candidate's religious faith is a campaign issue is a sign that we have not come very far from the 16th century.
Religion, like government, will become much better when it learns to accept the fact that every person is free and has free will to choose to worship or not worship as he or she pleases.
So much for Christian values ...
A recent story from the Associated Press:
Church cancels memorial for gay Navy vet
By ANGELA K. BROWN
Associated Press WriterARLINGTON, Texas (AP) -- A megachurch canceled a memorial service for a Navy veteran 24 hours before it was to start because the deceased was gay.
Officials at the nondenominational High Point Church knew that Cecil Howard Sinclair was gay when they offered to host his service, said his sister, Kathleen Wright. But after his obituary listed his life partner as one of his survivors, she said, it was called off.
"It's a slap in the face. It's like, 'Oh, we're sorry he died, but he's gay so we can't help you,'" she said Friday.
Wright said High Point offered to hold the service for Sinclair because their brother is a janitor there. Sinclair, who served in the first Gulf War, died Monday at age 46 from an infection after surgery to prepare him for a heart transplant.
The church's pastor, the Rev. Gary Simons, said no one knew Sinclair, who was not a church member, was gay until the day before the Thursday service, when staff members putting together his video tribute saw pictures of men "engaging in clear affection, kissing and embracing."
Simons said the church believes homosexuality is a sin, and it would have appeared to endorse that lifestyle if the service had been held there.
Read the full story here.
So much for Christian values, eh?
The paster, a slimeball, said he did not want it to appear the church was endorsing that lifestyle. Gary Simons should probably ask himself, "What would Jesus do." Isn't the whole idea of Christianity to embrace the sinners? Did Jesus not surround himself with prostitutes and other sinners?
A visit to the Web site of this megachurch is enough to tell me that Simons is just another evangelist trying to make a buck off Christians. Send an e-mail and let him know how much of a slimeball he is. The "church's" e-mail form can be found at http://www.churchunusual.com/general-email.html.
Cartoon right on target
This comic is dead-on accurate. It was drawn by Tracie Harris, a graphic designer in Austin, Texas. According to the Atheist Community of Austin Web site, Harris was raised in Orlando, Fla., and received her BA in Liberal Studies from the University of Central Florida. Her long, slow recovery from a rabid fundamentalist upbringing led her to the creation of Atheist Eve.
Crying Virgin?
Stories like this one from The Associated Press always fascinate me. Not sure why.
In this story, a life-size statue of the Virgin Mary may be crying in one furniture shop in Florida. The replica of the Pieta, has what appears to be, a gray tear falling down the left cheek of the Virgin Mary.
Letter writer misses mark
The following letter appeared in Tuesday's The Lima (Ohio) News in response to my March 11, 2007, column on the Tomb of Jesus:
There are several things wrong with Mr. Osborne's letter. Let's look at this paragraph by paragraph.Lucente wrong about religion
PAUL OSBORNE
Alger
In his March 11 column, “Discovery no threat to faith,” Thomas J. Lucente, Jr. made the statement that if Christians refuse to weave scientific knowledge into their faith, they will find themselves marginalized. True Christianity has never been taken seriously by unbelievers. We have been mocked, scorned and persecuted from the beginning. Being considered ignorant is nothing new to us. Because we reject what we believe to be shoddy science, we are called unreasonable and foolish.
Lucente gave the example of Christians altering their opinion of the world being the center of the universe as proof of their needing to change their views and adjust to what science claims as truth. The fact that Christians throughout history have been wrong about many things speaks only to the depravity of mankind and has nothing to do with the infallibility of the Scriptures.
Historically, it has been the scientific community that has constantly contradicted itself. Through the years, the scientific community has upheld countless theories as fact, only to later disprove earlier findings.
Lucente has made it known in the past that he believes the biblical creation account to be mere superstition. It appears now he also believes the bodily resurrection of Christ to be more of the same. Does this mean anyone who is foolish enough to “cling to the superstitious ways of our ancestors” cannot be taken seriously when it comes to science, education, public policy, government or any other debate? I believe this is the implication.
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