The Daily Detour

An evening with Ravi Zacharias & Co.

As I mentioned briefly on Thursday I was privileged to be able to go down to Atlanta for a large community event with Dr. Ravi Zacharias and RZIM. It was a great opportunity to catch up with my good friends and fellow OCCA scholars, George Hiller and Mark Davies. I had a chance to chat with Ravi for a few minutes and connect with some other friends and colleagues from both RZIM and Oxford, including my fromer professor from Oxford, Dr. John Lennox (who will be debating Christopher Hitchens down in Birmingham, AL next Tuesday--due to the fact that Dinesh D'Souza had to cancel at the last minute) and Ian Smith (the Executive Director of the RZIM office in Oxford and the one primarily responsible for getting me involved in the OCCA program last summer).

The event itself was very well attended (with nearly 4,500 people at the Civic Center). Dr. Lennox was first in the batting order giving his response to the primary question under discussion, "Is faith delusional?". He was then followed up by Dr. Zacharias, and they concluded the evening with a time of Q & A. The entire evening started at 7:00 p.m. and didn't conclude until about 9:30 p.m. And as you can imagine, the rich content was like trying to drink from a fire hydrant. :) Thus, since I wouldn't do it justice to try to bring all of the excellent content to you, we'll just put our Dixie cup up to the fire hydrant and see if we can capture just a few drops. (Given the confines of this post and the fact that I don't expect you to spend the next hour reading it, I'll simply provide a few ideas from my notes. Naturally, there are gaps in my notes that may present an idea in only a limited sense since I'm unable to provide the full context for the comments. Perhaps we'll have more opportunity to get into further discussion on the comment board or in future posts. NOTE: Quote marks represent my personal notes, not necessarily exact quotations from the speakers.)

From Dr. John Lennox:

"Can we ever actually get absolute proof of anything? The New Atheists believe that faith is blind. We can agree with the New Atheists that blind faith is dangerous. But, is Christianity based on blind faith? The argument can be made that it is not."

"The key question in determining just who his delusional: Does God exist? Faith is delusional if God doesn't exist. But what if He does exist?"

"A certain amount of faith is involved in science. Thus, if faith is delusional, then so is science. Scientists have to believe from the beginning that science has an inherent order to it. Otherwise, the study of science becomes pointless."

"How does Darwinian evolution account for religious belief? If it is an evolutionary misfiring, wouldn't/shouldn't it cease to exist?"

"Does there really need to be a dichotomy between either science or faith?"

From Dr. Ravi Zacharias:

"The atheist worldview, based on evolutionary science, ultimately reduces the universe to meaninglessness. The notion of evil correspondingly assumes some notion of good. And good assumes some standard of goodness. From where does that standard come if not from a ultimate moral Law-giver?"

"Quoting Aldous Huxley's idea: 'I have motives for not wanting the world to have meaning...' To assume this world has no meaning frees one to do away with moral restrictions."

"Concerning the existence of God: If you take any physical quantity in the universe and section it, you will never find its origin of existence in itself. This points to the possibility of an external source."

"Whenever you see intelligibility or specified complexity, you will always assume an intelligence behind it. For example, if you saw group of rocks in a field lined up in the shape of triangle, you might be able to reasonably assume that they got through through unintended means. But if, in that same field, you came across a piece of paper with "Dear John, thanks for your letter. Keep in touch.", you will never assume any explanation less than an intelligence behind it."

"Regarding the response to God from the New Atheists: Richard Dawkins has famously compared belief in God to belief in Santa Claus or the Tooth Fairy. Certainly, children believe in Santa Claus or the Tooth Fairy when they are little. But there comes a time when they cease to believe in such figments of imagination. What is true, however, if that no person ever comes to belief in the Tooth Fairy when they are an adult. Also, It is interesting to note that the anger with which many of the New Atheists speak against (the imaginary) God you would never speak against the Tooth Fairy (which we know doesn't exist). Perhaps that anger confirms in the truth in the back of their minds--that God actually does exist?"

There was much more, but this should suffice to provide us some spirited conversation. :) All in all, it was a great trip. Special thanks to Dave, or first-rate chauffer around Atlanta, as well as, Ryan for the late night conversation Thursday night. It more than made up for the lack of sleep. :)

Quick trip to Atlanta

Friends, I'm off to Atlanta today to attend an event with Ravi Zacharias. I also have the opportunity while in town to catch up with two of my good friends from the Oxford experience, George Hiller and Mark Davies.

It should be interesting as Ravi will be addressing the topic, "Is faith delusional?" In today's divisive climate with Christians and skeptics battling for supremacy, this basic question is at the heart of the religion v. reason conversation. The promo. web ad for this event captures that tension with a quote from Robert Pirsig:

"When one person suffers from a delusion it is called insanity. When many people suffer from a delusion it is called religion."

No matter what one thinks of the idea of faith being delusional or not, one cannot overlook the importance of this question. For if faith is delusional, then we who have embraced it are wandering aimlessly down a primrose path. If, on the other hand, faith is not delusional, but instead, is a window into the larger reality of the human experience, then those who reject the notion of faith do so at their own peril. I'm interested to see what Ravi Zacharias has to say on this subject.

I'll be back in town tomorrow and will look forward to catching up with you all then. (I'm off to catch a plane...) 

The sky is not falling actually...

...but the stock market is. And as The Drudge Report asks, "Was it something he said?" (Apparently, President Obama's constant reassurances aren't being as well-received as he would assume they are.)

(Now, before I go any further, an attempt at journalistic integrity compels me to honesty. I ran into one of our faithful TDD readers this afternoon, and she told me she was looking forward to my comments about Obama's speech last night. I had to reluctantly admit that I didn't actually watch the speech. Given my new early-to-bed sleep requirements for my very early morning delivery job--combined with my assumption, perhaps presumptively inaccurate, that Obama would be presenting more of the same--I didn't indulge my usual political addictions last night. If a conservative Republican president were making the same speech under the same conditions, would I have watched? Perhaps, given my natural bias. But probably not. I say all of this to say, that if my not having actually watched the speech disqualifies me from making comments on it, so be it. Though I understand your sentiment, I'll take the risk anyway. :)

I did manage to catch the bits and pieces that have been regurgitated through the media channels today. Given that I can't speak to all of the specifics in his address, I do always find it valuable to observe various responses from friend and foe alike (and other external indicators, like the stock market, for example) in order to get a sense of how such speeches/events are received. Take Sen. Robert Byrd, for example, the senior Democratic senator from West Virginia, who recently issued a stern challenge to President Obama. As John Bresnahan over at Politico.com reported, Sen. Byrd sharply criticized President Obama's decision to appoint "czars" to oversee federal policy. He says it amounts to a power grab that exceeds the constitutional limits placed on the executive branch. This warning of the tenacles of government reaching beyond what is appropriate has been sounded here at TDD repeatedly. And this prophetic warning coming from anyone should give us considerable pause, but especially from one of the stalwarts in the president's own party.

It's also interesting to note that even the fact check article put out by the Associated Press stated that President Obama's words were light on specifics and therefore, rang hollow. That the Obama-adoring media would issue such an "endorsement" can't be good for Team Obama.

And naturally, the Republican response from Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal reacted negatively to Obama's speech, calling Obama's plan "irresponsible." While I wish he had presented himself better in the natioanl spotlight, Jindal's natural bias against the president's solutions should not have us too quickly dimissing his point.

The bottom line is that President Obama is going to have to go far beyond rhetoric to actual sustainable results if he is to solidify the argument that his approach to solving our problems is the right one. Because it won't be long before the "it's not my fault, I inherited this mess from that dastardly Bush fellow" argument will have exceeded its shelf life. The shifting blame approach to problem-solving never has had that endearing leadership quality about it. And it won't in Obama's case, no matter what his other leadership qualities might be.

On a related note, Jean and I were actually commenting on how long it will take for Obama to overstay his welcome on primetime television each week. I respect his media savvy and the attempt to capitalize on various mediums that seemed to cause a stumbling block for his predecessors. But the Obama talking head may get old when even his most avid supporters begin to feel the pinch of having missed another episode of "Law and Order". (And imagine if it was "24" which requires weekly participation in order to keep up?!?) As a fellow TV junkie, I'm just saying... I don't know, what do you think? That's my theory and I'm stickin' to it. :)

UPDATE: Just a couple of interesting footnotes. It looks like the gubernatorial revolt may be extending beyond party lines. Tennessee Governor Phil Bredesen, a Democrat, is suggesting that he may reject part of the stimulus package for many of the same reasons as his Republican counterparts.

Also, it seems like there's a conspiracy afoot. Now that people have had time to actually retroactively read the over 1,000 page stimulus bill, there are some troubling aspects to it, including the over $4 billion being given to ACORN. (You may remember the scandal-laden voter registration organization who has very strong ties to Obama). As we used to say back in the day, "Coincidence?... I don't think so. :) On a related note (as one of our readers has already pointed out), it is even more troubling to realize that not a single lawmaker actually read the bill before signing it into law. Granted, they weren't given adequate time to do so, but that's all the more reason why we should slow this whole process down so as to make sound decisions rather than expedient and hastily-executed ones (which is also why the Obama camp is having to send out their PR pros to assure the American people that, "No, we're not going to nationalize the banks...and then the healthcare system...and then the...").  The encroachment on liberty continues...

One last thing, here's Politico.com's take on "what Obama really mean". :)

A refreshing show of sportsmanship

In today's sports-obsessed culture we often see athletes who have capitilized on our obsession and created an environment driven by the "me-first" mentality. And through it all, the real value of the sports world is diminished. However, there are those rare instances where we are reminded of the greater good that can be accomplished through sports. And this story of Darius McNeal's missed shots heard 'round the world serves as a great example of what true sportsmanship is all about. I'll let you read the details, but suffice it to say, wouldn't it be nice if this kind of example was what permeating sports at every level?

I'm about partied out!?!

Today, #2 son, Andrew turned "The Big 4" officially. I say, "officially," because this is the fourth party in as many days, and Yours Truly is crying tears of fruit flavored punch (Tears of joy, mind you). Saturday, Jean and I had some quality time with Andrew at the Children's Museum and then topped it off with some pizza and cartoons at Pizza King. Then, Sunday was the extended family festivities. Yesterday, was the party at Bouncer Town with his friends, and today it culminated in the traditional breakfast in bed (before I crashed the party and hustled everybody out the door to school). If I eat any more cake and ice cream...uggghhhh!

As with any child, it's hard to believe that the last four years have passed so quickly. And what was once a squirrelly little munckin is now a bigger squirelly bubber. I love that kid (as I do all of them). His sweet nature and inquisitive mind comes alive each day as he foregoes daily necessities (food, drink, the bathroom, etc.) in order to immerse himself in his own personalized land of make-believe. It's amazing to watch, and heart-warming to hear as he carries on extended dialogue between the characters in his world. It's like watching a one-man play. :) It will be interesting to watch how his imagination develops and where his sharp little mind will take him in the coming years.

Andrew, buddy, I love you very much. And as I remind you often, you're my favorite Andrew in the whole wide world. Happy Birthday!

Was America founded as a Christian nation?

My apologies for the delay in posting. We've just started into the first wave of the birthday bashes. (Brother Stephen's and Natalie's on Saturday. And today marked the third of four separate party celebrations for Andrew, who turns four tomorrow. I can't keep up with all of the cake, punch, and party favors.)

Well, I waited as long as I could before taking advantage of the blog medium and publishing this myself. I got the call from The Indianapolis Star 10 days ago but didn't make the cut apparently regarding a Letter to the Editor I submitted. It seems that my journalistic ambitions may have found their way on to the editing floor this time around.

You presumably have heard the question bandied about as different people seek to establish once and for all whether or not this country was founded as a Christian nation. That back-and-forth exchange has been taking place on The Star's editorial page over recent weeks. It began with a letter from Tom Hallett (Feb. 5) challenging what he perceives as a watering down of religion. In his letter, he was also advocating the position that America was indeed founded by people "of the Christian persuasion."

Two weeks ago Bryan M. Cahen wrote his Letter to the Editor in The Indianapolis Star taking a contrary position, unequivocally stating that there was no Christian influence whatsoever in the founding of this country. Given the inflexible nature of his letter and his revisionist view of our nation's historical beginnings, I felt it necessary to respond with this submission:

The contention that America was founded as a Christian nation will not be settled anytime soon. Advocates on both sides of the debate are quick to present their perspectives on the question. Thus, I must respectfully take issue with Bryan M. Cahen's (Letters, Feb. 12) statement that "none of the founding documents mentions any religion, much less Christianity."

Dr. Benjamin Rush, one of the original signers of the Declaration of Independence has this to say in his essay, "Thoughts Upon the Mode of Education Proper in a Republic":

"...the only foundation for a useful education in a republic is to be laid in Religion. Without this, there can be no virtue, and without virtue, there can be no liberty, and liberty is the object and life of all republican governments."

So important is the value of religion to the establishment of the republic says Dr. Rush, "...that I had rather see the opinions of Confucius or Mohammad inclucated upon our youth than see them grow up wholly devoid of a system of religious principles. But the religion I mean to recommend in this place is the religion of Jesus Christ."

This statement in no way resolves the debate about our country's origins, But it does suggest that perhaps there is more to the discussion than Mr. Cahen's revisionist assertions would have us believe.

Who knows, maybe I've jumped the gun and the editors at The Indianapolis Star are still planning to publish the letter. But, if not, you can take it for whatever it's worth.

Frankly, while I have a certain level of respect for those who engage in principled debate on both sides of this issue, I have come to recognize that questions such as whether or not our country was founded as a Christian nation are not ones I'm personally willing to go to the stake for. Does our answer to this question actually make a difference? Probably not as much as some folks would believe. I think the important thing  where our nation is concerned is where we go from here. In that sense, I would concur with Dr. Rush's additional comments in his essay that there are ideas specific to the Christian religion that are quite beneficial to the furtherance of healthy governance in this Republic. Imagine for a minute what our country would be like if we actually applied the Christian ideals of considering others better than ourselves (Philippians 2:3-5) or follow Jesus command to "...in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you" (Matthew 7:12). 

What are you doing with your gift of "today"?

How often do we wake up and go through our day without a second's thought about what a gift that day really is? Typically, it isn't until we're thrust into a crisis that the value of life and time takes on more significance. Think back to 9/11... How many of us allowed the events of that day to pare away the frivolity of distraction?

The passengers on US Airways flight #1549 which landed in the Hudson River a few weeks ago found themselves facing the rare "life and death" situation that most of us simply talk about. Perhaps you've seen or heard some of the accounts from different survivors of that averted tragedy. I received this one from one of our readers in which Gerry McNamara, an executive at a New York firm, described his experiences on that day. At one point in his reflection he poses an intriguing question, "Why have I survived and what am I supposed to do with this gift?"

Have you ever considered why it takes a event of such magnitude to put us into that kind of appreciative frame of mind? Wouldn't it be transformational to us (and those around us) if we viewed every day of life as a gift? Because, indeed it is. So, what are you doing with your gift of "today"? 

Keep on walking

This brief video documentary is inspiring! It follows the life and goal of D.J. Gregory, an avid golf enthusiast who was born with cerebral palsy. His love for sports (and for golf) propelled him beyond the limits of his own body. And in 2008, he began the journey to accomplish what no other golfer has done--walking every hole of every round during the entire 2008 PGA tour. For any able-bodied person, that task is daunting. But for someone who has difficulty walking period, the over 900 miles necessary to accomplish that goal seems virtually impossible.

D.J. Gregory's circumstances remind me of the previous post on Nick Vujicic. Both men have been dealt a life that would cause any lesser person to sink into the throes of despair. And yet, they have used their physical circumstances to not only challenge themselves to greater heights, but to inspire the rest of us in the process.

Take a few minutes to be inspired! And while you're at it, reflect on some goals you have in your own life. As D.J. reminds us, anything is possible is if you're willing to do it. Keep on walking!

UPDATE: Also, take a moment to read the comments associated with the video. This young man's life has help reshape the perspectives of so many. I hope his courage will do the same for you. It has for me.

The revolution is growing...

These comments from TyKef's blog reflect the revolutionary undercurrent that is brewing. Sign me up for the next Boston Tea party! :)

UPDATE on the REVOLUTION: Here is the the video clip of the impassioned, impromptu speech given by CNBC's Rick Santilli (to which TyKef is referring in his post). Also, one of our readers sent along this update on revolutionary rumblings across the country.

A GOP gubernatorial revolt in the making?

Reports are coming in which show an increasing number of GOP governors who very seriously considering turning down their piece of the stimulus pie. Included in this group are governors from states like Texas, Mississippi, Louisiana, Alaska, South Carolina, and Idaho. The move is based on conservative philosophical principles and a basic questioning of whether or not the infusion of spending will even work long-term.

This is something we've alluded to here a bit, both on a personal level and on a state level. And one of our readers from here in Indiana even suggested the possibility of writing our own governor, Mitch Daniels, to make a similar case. (Go for it! :)

Opponents of the move suggest that these governors are putting ideology ahead of the needs of constituents. I, for one, am heartened to see national leaders who are finally willing to stand on principle, even if it means sacrificing political capital to do so. Such an example gets past politics as usual and demonstrates real leadership. Certainly, it would put a strain on the immediate crises in their respective states. But if I were one of those governors, I would respond to the critics by making the case that it is the very needs of the constituents which were prompting my resistence to accepting a bailout. For the argument can be made that promoting greater independence and freedom among one's people will actually promote more significant benefits to one's state in the long run. When we sacrifice principles for the sake of expediency, we sow the seeds of our own eventual demise.

But that's just my 2-cents. :) What do you think? Is it the right thing to do?