the merge

I just read an article by William Lobdell on the LA Times website about how being a religion reporter led him away from the church and, ultimately, God. I am assuming, based on information found elsewhere, that it is an excerpt from an upcoming memoir.

Here is a quote:

WHEN Times editors assigned me to the religion beat, I believed God had answered my prayers.

As a serious Christian, I had cringed at some of the coverage in the mainstream media. Faith frequently was treated like a circus, even a freak show.

I wanted to report objectively and respectfully about how belief shapes people’s lives. Along the way, I believed, my own faith would grow deeper and sturdier.

But during the eight years I covered religion, something very different happened...

Be sure to read the rest of the article here.

The rest of the article is a shortened explanation of how researching and reporting on various churches and scandals led him away from the church and God. As I read, I found myself sad for him, feeling the need to wring the necks of many in the church, and remembering a time when I was very much in his shoes...except that I couldn't let go of my faith.

I felt more like the Eskimo in the holding cell from his story.

What do you think?

Over the past few days, I have been reading Bill Bryson's A Short History of Nearly Everything. In his typical travelogue humorous style, Bryson gives a whirlwind tour of science history and development. The book is an attempt to make some pretty deep and muddy science more understandable and accessible to the general public.

At the end of chapter 11 Bill Bryson states, "The upshot of all this is that we live in a universe whose age we can't quite compute, surrounded by stars whose distances we don't altogether know, filled with matter we can't identify, operating in conformance with physical laws whose properties we don't truly understand."

What I get from this statement is this...if we think that science holds all the answers and is the final authority for determining truth we are sadly ignorant.

I don't, by any stretch, believe we can disregard science, but I am amazed science's imprecision. The more that is known, the more scientist know they don't know and don't understand, and many theories and statements are made based on scant research and data. The very nature of scientific philosophy is one of development, growth, change, and correction.

We need more research. We need more experiments. We need more science. Science cannot be our only measure of truth...because scientific truth is always changing with each new discovery.

What do you think?

Here some other things I have written on science.
Evolution Sunday
Intelligent Design
Intelligent Design 2

I heard Randy speak in 2004 at an evangelism conference in Dayton, Ohio. He lived only a few miles from me when I planted a church in Kansas City, but never got around to contacting him. I spent several days a few years ago reading through every article on his blog...Randy if you see this I am not a stalker and I DO have a life.

Anyway...

I was reading a post from his blog the other day and it is worth reading. Check it out here.

His 7 year-old son said, "Just because you're okay doesn't mean you didn't get hurt."

What great wisdom!

Since moving back to Dayton, I have found a great new pizza place...Classic Pizza. In fact, I go there more often than any of the other places I used to crave when living in Kansas City.

Now the owner is a hero...He helped capture a bank robber!

This Saturday I will be drug through the mud...playing volleyball. This is a big event in Dayton, and looks to be a lot of fun. Peace, Love, and Mud!

I just got back from a whirlwind tour of the East Coast. It was our first real family vacation ever. I know that is hard to believe, but it is true, unfortunately. Having worked through two degrees and then living away from our families, all of our vacation time was spent going to see them. But now that we live in our hometown, we can finally get out to other places.

We did 9 states in 10 days! (Ohio, West Virginia, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia, Delaware, New Jersey, New York, and Connecticut) It was a blast. Spent two days exploring Washington D.C., two days in New York City, and then the rest of the week in Connecticut. I found the best used book store in the world! We swam in the Long Island Sound and Atlantic Ocean, ate New York Pizza and Bagels, had New England seafood, and bought lots of books...it was a great time.

Over the next week, I have some observations and thoughts that were floating around my mind while I was gone. I will unload them here.