I mentioned in my last post that I hurt a friend's feelings recently. It was in our small group fellowship that meets on Sunday nights, and somehow we got to talking about extraterrestrial life.
When I commented that I was almost sure there was lots of intelligent life in the universe, he was completely floored and said that if that was true, he'd lose his faith. His reasoning was that humanity is God's special creation, made in His image, and if we're not alone then we're not special and we might as well throw out the bible.
I did not have a good poker face. My friend saw that I thought his stance was ridiculous, and it crushed him. It was not one of my better moments.
So as a heart/spirit issue, I blew it! All that blogging I do about having an open mind, and respecting the opinions of others, and then I openly show condescencion to the feelings of a brother. Shame on me.
But besides the heart issue, a few of you were curious about my intellectual approach, and why I would be so sure that there is other intelligent life out there. Let me start by confessing my bias.
I grew up as a total science fiction nerd. Books, movies, short stories... I devoured them all and regularly read tales of alien species. I loved it, so in a way I really really want ETs to be real. Which of course has no bearing on whether or not they actually exist.
So biases aside, my logic is very simple -- the universe is so unbelievably massive that the odds are overwhelmingly in favor of there being other intelligent life. Not just one or two civilizations, but millions.
In the 1960s the "Drake equation" was formulated in an attempt to calculate the # of alien civilizations that might exist just in our Milky Way galaxy. They included multiple factors (chance of a sun having a planet like Earth, the chance of that planet having life, the chance of that life becoming sentient, etc...) and put the probabilities really low, like 1% and under for each factor. The final calculation came out to over 10,000 intelligent civilizations just in our galaxy.
And our galaxy is barely a blip in the universe. There are billions of other galaxies out there. If our sun was a grain of sand, then all the grains of sand on all the beaches of our planet might equate to how many stars are in the universe. Think about that one for a moment until it gets too big to fathom.
See this previous post for another illustration on how huge our universe is.
I actually think the Drake equation is a bunch of bunk as a final calculation, because we just have no clue what those probabilities are. And when you completely guess at eight different factors, then multiply those guesses together... you get crap. Statistically speaking.
But even if you set the probabilities at .000000001% for each number, there are still many intelligent species all over the universe. Unfortunately it's so big out there, we'll almost surely never meet any of them.
Perhaps first we should continue the search for proof that we have intelligent life on this planet! That gets more difficult every time I watch television. :)
Does it seem that most people interpret silence in a negative way? Seems that way to me, but I've always been the opposite.
When I was in college and would drive back to school after a holiday break, I would tell my parents, "If you don't hear from me in the next couple of days, it means I'm doing great." I felt the same about others -- if they didn't contact me I assumed everything was fine.
I have to remember that most people don't seem to be like that. And here I've been silent on the blog for a few months, and you may be wondering if I'm ill, divorced, unemployed, a Democrat or an atheist. No need to worry!
Sure, I've been sick a couple of times this fall just like everybody else, but the swine flu hasn't hit me. Yet. I'm certainly still married to Jamie and we're having more fun that ever now that we're outnumbered by children in the house (baby Luke was born September 5).
Not only am I still employed, I just got my second big promotion of 2009. I'm now running two separate teams and have pretty huge responsibilities. Best of all I'm finding that I love the work, and I happen to be good at it too. It's the first time in years I've truly enjoyed what I do and my life's energy is going to efforts that will do some good.
Politically I'm still as apathetic as ever. Didn't vote in any local elections and the only time I follow what's happening in Washington is on the topic of economics, since it's an interest of mine and it affects my company.
My faith's evolution hasn't slowed down a bit, and I wish I could've been available here to write more about it over the past few months. Rest assured I'll be writing about it shortly, and that this post is merely the first step to building some momentum along those lines.
Just so you don't think all is rosy and I have a halo over my head, I promise that I'm still causing trouble:
-- I frustrated a friend when I told him I was 99% sure there is lots of other intelligent life in the universe. He said if that's true, the bible is meaningless to him because we are made in His image and are God's chosen creation. I was stumped, surprised, and didn't have a good poker face.
-- I went to a speech/reading by a Jewish agnostic gay playwright (his self-description) who has won a Tony, a Pulitzer, and got an Oscar nomination for a screenplay a few years ago. I was probably the only straight white married male in the auditorium, listening to a brilliant man speak on oppression and social justice in 21st Century America. And I liked it.
-- I infuriated our minister in bible class by asking the question, "Isn't it presumptuous for us to say we know why Jesus had to die, and that God had no other choice?" I'm in a place right now where apologetics don't do much for me, and I'd rather explore the biblical teachings that I can actually test out right now in this life. And there ain't no way I'm figuring out penal substitution doctrine in this life. The minister raised his voice and said, "God doesn't deal in lunacy. Of course Jesus had to die, or else God is a butcher." I had learned my lesson by that point and stayed quiet.
-- If I had spoken up again, it would have been to ask, "So God is not a butcher... He's merely incapable of forgiveness without killing himself? Do we really have to choose between a butcher and a God who's backed into a corner by sin?"
See what I mean? I had learned my lesson and kept my mouth shut.
Yes, the title of this post is from one of the greatest pound-for-pound philosophers of our time. Yoda:
So if my last post noted that Christian Republicans, in general, have been stoking their fears for a while now, Yoda would say that the next step is anger.
Seen any angry Christian Republicans lately? I live in Texas and am surrounded by them.
The next step is hate. Seen any hateful Christian Republicans lately? I can only speak for myself, but yes, I can almost guarantee to hear hateful speech every Sunday at church if someone starts talking about politics. Simply hearing the name Obama made a woman's face turn into a sneer of derision in bible class last week.
Some of our local politicans have tried to hold open meetings lately to do Q&A sessions on the health care bill, but most have been a disaster due to screaming, belligerent protestors. And several men have shown up with guns, claiming that they're merely exercising their rights. Sure, and it's my legal right to walk into church with a sign saying "God hates you", but that doesn't mean it's smart or appropriate.
Yes, there are angry Democrats as well. And there are many peaceful Republicans. Politics don't really interest me all that much, but even I can see that in general there seems to be a heightened sense of fear and anger, and much of the noise is being made from the Republican side. That's fine with me. My concern is that the label "Christian" has become so tightly wound with the labels of these angry people.
I think Christians are making a huge mistake in picking this battle and fighting it with such transparent fear and anger. Even if it works to their favor in the short-term with different legislation, it sets a bad precedent for how Christians get involved in political processes. How can we be a people proclaiming love, grace and spiritual pursuits while yelling at public servants, propgating lies and comparing our elected President to Hitler? Disgraceful.
For me personally, I have two tactics that I use to self-examine my anger and see if it needs an adjustment:
Tactic #1 -- Righteous anger? Or just anger?
There are injustices in this world that I think it's okay to be angry about, especially if that anger inspires us to action. For some people in America right now, health care is that kind of issue. If I choose to get caught up in the anger over health care reform, then I'm going to ask myself the following questions:
-- How much time am I spending angry about politics? -- How does that time compare to time spent on anger about oppression, poverty or genocide? -- How much has my anger spurred me to useful activity? Or has it instead just festered and been fuel for my own complaining? See here for my thoughts on three types of anger and which ones are actually useful.
Tactic #2 -- What are my influences?
This one is understandable to anyone over the age of 5 (because parents grind it into us!), so I won't spend long on it. We know that we are heavily influenced by what "input" we receive from the world. The friends we have, the books we read, the TV shows we watch... all of it shapes us.
For this reason, I watch neither Keith Olbermann nor Glenn Beck. I listen to neither Daniel Dennett nor Rush Limbaugh. Each of those pairs are on opposite sides of the political spectrum, but their spirits and their messages have the same core ingredients -- outrage, yelling fear, anger, hate. I've chosen not to have those kinds of messages as my daily input.
So to sum up, I guess there are two main principles I try to follow when I see people around me getting angry about an issue:
1) Make sure I'm picking the right battle, and that it's something eternally important 2) Discern whether anger is the right path to actually fight the battle, or if there's a better way
As an example of this process, let me ask you this question -- which is more worthy of an angry response, health care reform or racial prejudice?
Here's how a black minister fought against the latter:
Let's pick the right battles. And then let's fight them with a spirit of love and understanding.
If you are over 30 years old and grew up in a Protestant church, it's likely that you were exposed, at some point, to the "fire and brimstone" style of preaching. This style was meant to motivate repentance, baptism, conversion, etc... by filling people with the fear of hell. Responses to God would sometimes come in droves at a church service or revival meeting, fueled by images of a vengeful God ready to condemn sinners to an eternity of torment.
If you are over 50 years old and grew up in a Protestant church, it's likely that your experience with this style qualifies as more than "exposure". You very well may have heard this type of preaching on a regular basis.
While it's still heard in some churches, the fire and brimstone message has greatly decreased in most churches. Yet the legacy remains, and it carries over into the entire lives of those generations who lived through the messages of terror.
Lately I've been seeing a lot of this carryover in the political discussions of Christians. It seems like every week at church, I hear someone lamenting the current government and fearing that our country is becoming socialist. I've probably received 50 political emails in the past six weeks -- all from Christian/Republicans, and all laced with obvious notes of fear.
If you've read this blog before, you already know what I think about the use of fear to motivate religious activities. In short, I despise it.
But fear can be equally destructive when it's used to motivate political activism. I think this can be especially true for Christians, because the religious fear of their childhood combines with nationalistic/political fear and creates a behemoth of panic that brings terrible consequences. Which consequences, you might ask? Here's what I've observed over the past month:
1) Religious/Political fear masks the individual, and creates mob mentality
-- I've seen Christians lump all Democrats into a category of "them", with the word voiced in a tone of outright contempt. Not all Democrats are the same -- they have the same diversity as any other group. But if we're too scared to be open to this diversity, we'll never see a person, a soul. Instead we'll see only a group label.
2) Religious/Political fear distracts Christians from the more important issues in life
-- Jesus lived in a society of oppression, slavery, legal prostitution and unfair taxation. He apparently only spoke to one of these issues (taxes, which he said to pay unto Caesar). He focused on people, not politics. Why should his followers do any different?
-- When churches send missionaries to foreign countries with socialist/communist governments (China, Eastern Europe), are the missionaries sent with a political agenda? No, I've never seen that. They're sent to serve those in need. Why should the local missionaries (church members) do any different?
-- A common theme of the bible, especially the New Testament, is that once we know we are loved by God, there is no threat from man. Paul wrote of his contentment with life, and his security that came from God's grace. It's hard for Christians to realize and demonstrate this deep-seated security if they're constantly upset over things like taxes and health insurance.
3) Religious/Political fear separates us into nationalistic groups that aren't very Christian
-- Personal opinion: I don't think America is "God's nation", because I don't think there's any such thing. Think about it -- if people think that our century-long dominance of world affairs is evidence of God's blessing, do they confer the same special status on Ancient Egypt? How about 16th Century Spain? Superpowers come and go, and we've had a nice ride in America. But let's be careful about saying that our strength is divine blessing, if we won't say the same about previous world leaders. I believe that every nation is an equal-opportunity beloved of God.
4) Religious/Political fear leads to the demand to be heard at any cost, even if our arguments are inconsistent or flat-out untrue
-- Like I said earlier, I've gotten at least 50 political emails from Christian Republicans lately, both at home and at work. Every single one has had blatant lies in it. Shouldn't we do better than that? Honestly, I've got plenty of disagreements with the current agendas in Washington, but there's enough ammo there to critique the policies truthfully. Truth should outweigh our need to be heard.
-- I've heard several Christians lament government's role in healthcare, but not one has volunteered to give up Medicare. Several have complained about socialism, but not one of them mentioned a surrender of their social security check. Some of them practically worship at the altar of economist Milton Friedman and his capitalist teachings, but none of them embrace Friedman's case for the legalization of drugs. Just three examples of inconsistency, but we're blind to it because we're motivated by out biggest fears, instead of our highest aspirations.
If I was to rephrase those four observations in a positive way, it would be to encourage Christians to:
1) Cast aside group labels and look for the unique nature of each soul we meet 2) Focus on what we can control, and what really matters 3) Remember that there is no Jew nor Greek, no slave nor free -- we are all God's handiwork 4) Hold up the ideals of truth, honor and respect above our own need to be heard
In closing, I'll cite two of my references on fear from the world of entertainment. The first is from the epic science-fiction book Dune, where the main character often repeats the mantra "Fear is the mind killer". He's right. When we're scared, we don't think straight. That's not good a good place to live.
The second is a song called "Drive" by the band Incubus. Here are some lyrics, and then I've also posted the video.
Sometimes, I feel the fear of uncertainty stinging clear And I can't help but ask myself how much I let the fear take the wheel and steer It's driven me before and it seems to have a vague, haunting mass appeal But lately I'm beginning to find that I should be the one behind the wheel
Whatever tomorrow brings, I'll be there, with open arms and open eyes yeah Whatever tomorrow brings, I'll be there, I'll be there
So if I decide to waiver my chance to be one of the hive Will I choose water over wine and hold my own and drive? It's driven me before and it seems to be the way that everyone else gets around But lately I'm beginning to find that when I drive myself my light is found
My sermon from last Sunday has been posted online -- this link is here and then click on either the audio or video files for July 12 ("Perfect Strangers").
I haven't listened to it all yet but my memory of the experience was very positive. I threw myself into the message and am glad to have done it.
Catchup with family members from vacation (inside jokes and stuff)
Mom, did you read Romans 11 yet? What did you think?
Great, thank you for sharing with me about your near-death experience. It was powerful.
Lisa, seen any deer lately?
Matt, the funny Saturday Night Live video I mentioned (Marky Mark Talks to Animals) is here. It's my kids' favorite right now.
Bob, you have a very cool family. We love spending time with the four of you (plus whichever special guest get to come along) and wish it could be more than a week.
AJ, thank you for all the pictures you took. Because somehow we, like... didn't take any? So we're stealing yours.
Dad, now that Tom Watson almost won the Open today, I fully expect you to recover quickly from whatever swing ailment you had during vacation. You've still got a few years before peaking.
Nonny, Samantha protects her teacup with great vehemence.
Adam, your laugh sounds like Pee Wee Hermann and your ears smell like cauliflower.
Drew, your laugh is contagious and your voice sounds like... well, I'm not sure, because it's usually above my auditory range.
Bonus gifts
An old comedic ploy is to edit songs or movies and turn them into something far different than the original. These are two of my favorite examples:
Jurassic Park -- Hey!
The Darth Vader you never knew
Yes, that last video is nine minutes long, but it makes me laugh more times than most 90-minute comedy films!
Don't worry. My next post will be back to the usual deeper thoughts.
