I found this great video on You Tube which explains what closed-mindedness is.

If, as someone who believes in the bible, you consider other peoples’ arguments, theories and ideas, does this show a lack of faith? If so, can the religous ever really be open-minded without inviting the wrath of their God?

Observing the mechanisms of evolution in order to understand how a species adapts to another under different ecological conditions was the goal of researchers at the Laboratoire Écologie et Évolution at CNRS, Université Pierre et Marie Curie and the École Normale Supérieure. They studied two bacteria — a predator and a prey — over 300 generations in a controlled environment.

– Science Daily

So, it seems we’re one step closer to proving the theory of evolution (without having to wait millions of years!). Essentially, they put some bugs in a container and let them duke it out. The predator bugs ate the wussy bugs for a while, but then, the wussy bugs developed a resistance to the predators and in some cases even ate them right back.

It is slightly more complex than my summary above, involving many generations of bacteria all made genetically identical and a few months study and several transfers from one bottle to another to simulate things like hurricanes or floods causing a species to be spread about a bit. But it does lend weight to the theory of evolution. In the 150 years since Darwin wrote “Evolution of the Species”, there’s never been any real, solid proof, this takes us one experiment closer to proving the I am a monkeys uncle.

In the US, almost every polititian will make a reference to God when speaking in public. George Bush spoke of God in at least 94% of presidential addresses. Obama and Palin are also using God as a tool to win over the electorate. In the UK, a politician mentioning God, or using the bible as a political bargaining tool was unheard of, frowned upon. Now, it seems, politicians are finding it neccessary to invoke God in public addresses. The Times Online says this:

Leading politicians are increasingly using the God card to win over the electorate, a new report shows today.

Labour has made the most use of “God talk”, with Conservatives next and Liberal Democrats trailing far behind in their use of religion to make political capital.

The analysis of conference speeches by party leaders over the past decade shows Britain increasingly following the lead set by the US in exploiting the religious sentiment of political believers.

- Politicians pull out the God card – The Times Online

It’s a good article, although deliberately skirts around any opinion the author may have. However, this quote from Paul Woolley, director of Theos, annoys this piss out of me:

The increase in references to religious faith reflects an increased awareness of, and interest in, religious groups in our society.

- Paul Woollsey, director of Theos

I don’t think it does mean that at all, what I think it means is that politicians, once understanding that God and religion had no place in a democracy run by logic and reason, are now so desperate to get the voters believing in them they’ll resort to lying and outright weasel-ing, even if it means leaning on a tenet that they know isn’t relevant. I suppose it’s because it’s easier than actually finding out what your would-be supporters want to hear and growing a backbone by speaking of things relevant to your policitcal cause.

Paul Woolley did have this to say though:

Talking God is not the same as ‘doing God’. It is entirely right that politicians should draw on religion to shape and inspire their rhetoric, but that is no substitute for what the Christian tradition sees as good leadership – governing with justice and mercy.

- Paul Woollsey, director of Theos

I partly agree. Although I don’t think religion should be part of politics at all. The part of religion that Woollsey suggests to use to shape the politicians rhetoric is merely common sense, after all, I doubt anyone would suggest that the OT be used to guide a politician.

My best friend and religious nut, the guy who got me started on this journey no less, is getting married this weekend. I have the honour of being his best man. The other day he pinged me on MSN and asked if I would be happy to do a bible reading on his big day.

I couldn’t answer straight away.

A flurry of questions raced through my head like a blizzard – would I be a hypocrite? Would other people see me as a hypocrit? Would I be able to keep a straight face? Would this undermine everything I’ve been researching? Would my friend think I was an ass if I said no?

I said yes. You see, the words I read mean little to me, they will be nice words I suspect (they’ve not been chosen yet) and will convey all the neccessary sentiment for the event. I’ll enjoy reading them as I’m a sucker for public speaking and the wedding is during a normal Sunday service, so I’ll have an entire church as a captive audience! My friend asked, I suspect, because they were given the option of having a reading and being as I’m the best man, perhaps I was the first choice? Maybe this is the first footfall on the road toward salvation? Either way, I’m pleased to do it for my closest friend.

The temptation to toss the bible over my shoulder, lean over the pulpit and point my finger at the congreation as I begin a soliloquiy with “Now, listen up while I tell you the truth…” is almost utterly overwhelming!

Deism is a religious philosophy and movement that derives the existence and nature of God from reason and personal experience [and not from revelation or faith].

Wikipedia

Isn’t that a kind of contradiction? Surely there isn’t any way to “reason” that God exists? Logic can’t prove that God exists, otherwise there wouldn’t be atheism, we’d all believe in God.

Obviously this isn’t a contradiction, I expect there is more than one way to find belief in God, but it does strike me as changing the nature of religion. If you can reason that God exists without using scripture or having faith then religion and, specifically, following Gods law becomes less religion and more philosophy. This then can lead you further down a path littered with rhetoric when you consider that much of what NT God says (and OT God when you talk about the Commandments) is, at it’s very core, common sense. So, it then ceases to even be a philosophy and finally becomes the “abscence of abject stupidity” and isn’t really very special at all.

1.    belief in the existence of a God on the evidence of reason and nature only, with rejection of supernatural revelation.
2.    belief in a God who created the world but has since remained indifferent to it.

Dictionary.com

So, God made everything and then buggered off to some place to put his feet up and drink a Mai Tai. Now, that’s something I might be able to believe! *

I can’t stop thinking that deism is some wishy-washy cop out on the part of someone who doesn’t really believe in organised religion, but also won’t take the time to learn about the alternative explanations to everything. Not an untenable position for someone who doesn’t really give a rats arse and really just wants to get on with shopping at Asda and playing their PS3.

*Not really, that’s just as ridiculous.

… is a new film that you can buy now. The God Who Wasn’t There.

From the website:

Bowling for Columbine did it to the gun culture.

Super Size Me did it to fast food.

Now The God Who Wasn’t There does it to religion.

The movie that has been astounding audiences in theaters around the world is now available on a high-quality, feature-packed DVD. Own the taboo-shattering documentary that Newsweek says “irreverently lays out the case that Jesus Christ never existed.”

Ordered my copy, I’ll let you know how it is.

“The most salient feature of existence is the unthinkable odds against it. For every way that there is of being here, there are an infinity of ways of not being here. Statistics declare us ridiculous. Thermodynamics prohibits us. Life, by any reasonable measure, is impossible.”

RICHARD POWERS (1957-)

Birmingham City Council have decided they should should stop anyone who works there from looking at any websites about atheism, the paranormal, witchcraft (wicca) or satanism. Christianity, Hinduism and Islam are safe though, anyone can take a peek at those.

It’s the “atheism” bit that gets me though, if someone doesn’t believe in any gods, then why would they be looking at websites about it? Do they need to be reminded of their stance?

Council: You can’t look at websites about atheism.
Worker: OK, but I don’t care about god(s). I’m completely ambivilent about the whole scene man. God isn’t even on my radar.
Council: Right, so you can’t look at them.
Worker: But I don’t want to. It would be contrary to my position as an atheist to give any god any credence at all.
Council: Right. Yeah. Don’t look at them or sites about Satanism.
Worker: Dude, if I don’t believe in god, why would I believe in Satan?
Council: Or witches.
Worker: *sigh* you really are an idiot aren’t you?

Lets hope that legal action ensues.

A city council has blocked its staff from looking at websites about atheism.

Lawyers at the National Secular Society said the move by Birmingham City Council was “discriminatory” and they would consider legal action.
BBC News

I asked my friend if he had a NKJ (New King James) bible I could read. He said yes. What he actually meant was no, but I’ll get you one. So, I was presented with a gift boxed NKJ bible (complete with gold edging no less) and two books – “Through the British Museum with the bible” and another (the name of which I forget at the moment).

The bible itself is pretty sweet. It’s got a center column on each page with references to passages, phrases or words on the same page which are either themselves references to other parts of the bible, or simply notes on the translation (sometimes even suggesting that the word used might not be the correct translation).

I intend to read this book cover-to-cover. Although the Old Testemant is pretty hard going at times. There’s lots of stuff I really can’t get to grips with and I’ve made plenty of notes and my own version of heiroglyphics to remind me of the craziness of the people depicted therein.

Stay tuned for guffaws ancient style.