The Questioning Christian

Terry Schiavo's Tragedy: God's Benevolence At Work?

The tragic case of Terri Schiavo shows us one of the true miracles of human existence:  it illustrates the process of communication and learning by which -- over time, as individuals and communities, and not without cost -- we seem to gradually change the world for the better.   In that process, I can't help but wonder whether God is somehow at work.

Parallel Universes, Attempted Coups, and Guerrilla Warfare

In "A Closer Look at the Attempted Coup," liberal blogger Father Jake calls our attention to some court proceedings in Pittsburgh, in which conservative archbishop-in-waiting Robert Duncan is being challenged by one of his moderate parishes.  In a pretrial hearing, the judge evidently started to "get it"  -- he recognized the challenging parish's concern that the Network (a rump traditionalist group headed by +Duncan) is seeking to set up a parallel church organization that will eventually displace the Episcopal Church. 

Apparently referring to the infamous Chapman "secret plan" letter, about which more below, the judge had this to say (on page 26 of a 52-page, 3 MB PDF file):

THE COURT:  Well, the Court is troubled by obviously the smoking gun that Mr. DeForest [counsel for the challenging parish] was looking for was provided to him .... 

*  *  *

"There is strength in numbers, but there is not truth"

In this week's print edition of The New Republic, Leon Wieseltier writes about the Supreme Court's pending case concerning challenges to government displays of the Ten Commandments.  Wieseltier's comments will anger some conservative Anglicans, those who believe that  scriptural views on homosexuality are entitled to deference, not just because of the innate authority of Scripture, but because the scriptural views happen to be held (for now) by the majority of Anglicans worldwide:

... A number of justices declared [during the oral argument] ... that "we are a religious nation."  The implication was that there is a quantitative answer to a philosophical question. 

But what does the prevalence of a belief have to do with its veracity or its legitimacy?  . . .  There is strength in numbers, but there is not truth. * * * 

Ashley Smith Statement About Her Hostage Saga

We've all heard about the courage of former Atlanta hostage Ashley Smith in getting her captor, courthouse killer Brian Nichols, to surrender.  The transcript of Smith's press statement is reproduced in Peggy Noonan's column today in the WSJ's OpinionJournal.   Noonan takes note of the national impact that Smith's actions have had:

Tuesday evening on the news a "hostage rescue expert" explained that she "negotiated like a pro." Actually what she did is give Christian witness. It wasn't negotiation. It had to do with being human.  *  *  *

The more the news played the testimony of Ashley Smith, the more each news show came to seem elevated, ennobled. The past few days the TV screen has been filled with some wonderful light.
*  *  *

Is it an accident that a great but troubled country that yearns so to be good is given such instruction at this time?

Maybe we should be thinking: God loves all of us, every one of us most tenderly, even convicts, maybe especially convicts, who know what they are and hang their heads and one of whom, so long ago, looked up, and cried out to the man on the other cross, and received from him a promise of forgiveness and a promise that soon, very soon, they would stand together in a place without pain.  *  *  *

I just feel like bowing to everyone, all the victims and all the survivors, the good judge, the good guards, the good woman, the reporters, all of whom became part of something big and without borders. The only lesson is love. I feel certain this is true.

"Twins Study Finds Adult Religiosity Heritable" -- FuturePundit

From FuturePundit: 

University of Minnesota at Minneapolis psychology graduate student Laura Koenig and other U Minn researchers have found in a twins study that religiousness becomes more genetically determined as we age. (same article here) *  *  *  If any of the Minnesota researchers see this then what would be extremely interesting would be to collect fertility data on these men. Are the more religious men reproducing at higher rates than the less religious? Are genes for religiosity being selected for? I'm guessing the answer is Yes!

Epistemological Pessimism

I learned a great new expression today, courtesy of a comment by Jim Naughton of the Diocese of Washington:

... I’m not an epistemological relativist. I am an epistomological pessimist. I think we all frequently get things wrong. In this instance, you think I am wrong, and I think you are wrong, and each of us believes that the other’s viewpoint can lead to sinful actions. So the question you pose: Who decides? is straight to the point. I think the Episcopal Church decides, and (I’m guessing here, and forgive me if I am wrong) you think the Anglican Communion decides. But aren’t we both just appealing to the power that we think will give us what we want?

Story Mutation: Denzel Washington's Support of the Troops

A few weeks ago, an email story was circulating about how actor Denzel Washington, while visiting wounded soldiers in an Army hospital in December 2004, had written a check on the spot to pay for a new facility where wounded soldiers' families can stay while visiting.   I certainly believed the email when I saw it, because Washington is known for his quiet generosity in supporting the Boys' Clubs / Girls' Clubs and other charitable causes. 

But this particular story proved to have mutated in the retelling, in the space of just a few short weeks.  In fact, the person who originally sent the email apparently wasn't even there.  According to a story in today's Houston Chronicle:

"There is no doubt that [Washington] and his wife are going to support us, but he did not whip out his checkbook and write us a check," said Jim Weiskopf, of the Fisher House Foundation in Rockville, Md.  * * * 

A widely circulated e-mail, popular among troops in Iraq, praises Washington for underwriting the construction of a third housing facility near Brooke Army Medical Center. But officials say plans for that unit were well under way when he visited in December.

Now that Washington's generosity has reached urban-legend proportions, Fisher House has received many inquiries and has tracked down the e-mail that claims he spontaneously agreed to pay in full for the housing unit.

"The person who sent it wasn't even there that day," Weiskopf said.

A popular urban-legends site, snopes.com, has more details.

Submarines and Scripture: You Can't Always Trust Your Navigational Charts

A few months ago I drew an analogy between Scripture and the navigational charts used by seafarers.  I also pointed out that in the U.S. Navy, your charts are only part of the information you're expected to use to get where you're going -- and that commanding officers are accountable for the safety of their ships and cannot abdicate that responsibility to the chartmakers.

A tragic recent incident illustrates the point.  The USS San Francisco, a nuclear-powered submarine, struck an uncharted mountain in the Pacific Ocean while traveling submerged at high speed.  One sailor was killed and 98 others injured; the cost of repairing the damage to the boat could reach $100 million.

Yesterday's New York Times reported that the commanding officer and other officers apparently relied too heavily on a chart that proved to be inaccurate:

The Ascension - More Significant Than the Resurrection?

This morning a visiting Anglican bishop from South Asia preached at our parish's World Mission Sunday.  In what seemed to be more than just a passing comment, he wondered aloud -- "with fear and trembling," I believe he said -- whether the Ascension might be more significant than the Resurrection.  I hope I don't misrepresent his views, but I thought he was saying something like the following:

• the significance of the Ascension was that, at the end of Jesus' eartly mission, God embraced and welcomed him home; whereas ...
• the Resurrection was simply a step in the process that culminated in his being (re)united with God.
  

That's an intriguing notion.  The Resurrection holds an exalted place in Christian doctrine.  By taking the Resurrection down a peg, this idea hints at a different kind of soteriology (theory of salvation):  When we say that Jesus saves, maybe the mechanism was not his death per se; and perhaps we of the present day are not saved by a belief that God raised him from the dead.

Maybe instead the mechanism of salvation has more to do with:

1. putting our trust in the message Jesus preached and conducting our lives accordingly -- that is, striving to love God above all; to love our neighbors as ourselves; and to repent, that is, work on changing our lives; and
2. participating in the church that Jesus catalyzed, both (i) to help each other in our efforts to internalize that message, and (ii) to help carry the message to all the world.
   

"The Problems Are Real, But So Is the Uncertainty"

No rational person could dispute that our predictions about life can sometimes be wildly off the mark.  In case you needed any examples, you can find some, courtesy of the environmental movement, in NY Times columnist Nicholas Kristof's piece in today's edition:

... I was once an environmental groupie, and I still share the movement's broad aims, but I'm now skeptical of the movement's "I Have a Nightmare" speeches.

In the 1970's, the environmental movement was convinced that the Alaska oil pipeline would devastate the Central Arctic caribou herd. Since then, it has quintupled.