God vs Science

This was a bulletin posted on MySpace by one of my friends. It had me smiling and excited. Maybe it will you too.

A science professor begins his school year with a lecture to the students, "Let me explain the problem science has with religion." The atheist professor of philosophy pauses before his class and then asks one of his new students to stand.

"You're a Christian, aren't you, son?"

"Yes sir," the student says.

"So you believe in God?"

"Absolutely."

"Is God good?"

"Sure! God's good."

"Is God all-powerful? Can God do anything?"

"Yes."

"Are you good or evil?"

"The Bible says I'm evil."

The professor grins knowingly. "Aha! The Bible!" He considers for a moment. "Here's one for you. Let's say there's a sick person over here and you can cure him. You can do it. Would you help him? Would you try?"

"Yes sir, I would."

"So you're good...!"

"I wouldn't say that."

"But why not say that? You'd help a sick and maimed person if you could. Most of us would if we could. But God doesn't."

The student does not answer, so the professor continues. "He doesn't, does he? My brother was a Christian who died of cancer, even though he prayed to Jesus to heal him. How is this Jesus good? Hmmm? Can you answer that one?"

The student remains silent.

"No, you can't, can you?" the professor says. He takes a sip of water from a glass on his desk to give the student time to relax.

"Let's start again, young fella. Is God good?"

"Er...yes," the student says.

"Is Satan good?"

The student doesn't hesitate on this one. "No."

"Then where does Satan come from?"

The student falters. "From God"

"That's right. God made Satan, didn't he? Tell me, son. Is there evil in this world?"

"Yes, sir."

"Evil's everywhere, isn't it? And God did make everything, correct?"

"Yes."

"So who created evil?" The professor continued, "If God created everything, then God created evil, since evil exists, and according to the principle that our works define who we are, then God is evil."

Again, the student has no answer. "Is there sickness? Immorality? Hatred? Ugliness? All these terrible things, do they exist in this world?"

The student squirms on his feet. "Yes."

"So who created them?"

The student does not answer again, so the professor repeats his question. "Who created them?" There is still no answer. Suddenly the lecturer breaks away to pace in front of the classroom. The class is mesmerized. "Tell me," he continues onto another student. "Do you believe in Jesus Christ, son?"

The student's voice betrays him and cracks. "Yes, professor, I do."

The old man stops pacing. "Science says you have five senses you use to identify and observe the world around you. Have you ever seen Jesus?"

"No sir. I've never seen Him."

"Then tell us if you've ever heard your Jesus?"

"No, sir, I have not."

"Have you ever felt your Jesus, tasted your Jesus or smelt your Jesus? Have you ever had any sensory perception of Jesus Christ, or God for that matter?"

"No, sir, I'm afraid I haven't."

"Yet you still believe in him?"

"Yes."

"According to the rules of empirical, testable, demonstrable protocol, science says your God doesn't exist. What do you say to that, son?"

"Nothing," the student replies. "I only have my faith."

"Yes, faith," the professor repeats. "And that is the problem science has with God. There is no evidence, only faith."

The student stands quietly for a moment, before asking a question of His own. "Professor, is there such thing as heat?"

"Yes," the professor replies. "There's heat."

"And is there such a thing as cold?"

"Yes, son, there's cold too."

"No sir, there isn't."

he professor turns to face the student, obviously interested. The room suddenly becomes very quiet. The student begins to explain. "You can have lots of heat, even more heat, super-heat, mega-heat, unlimited heat, white heat, a little heat or no heat, but we don't have anything called 'cold'. We can hit up to 458 degrees below zero, which is no heat, but we can't go any further after that. There is no such thing as cold; otherwise we would be able to go colder than the lowest -458 degrees."

"Every body or object is susceptible to study when it has or transmits energy, and heat is what makes a body or matter have or transmit energy. Absolute zero (-458 F) is the total absence of heat. You see, sir, cold is only a word we use to describe the absence of heat. We cannot measure cold. Heat we can measure in thermal units because heat is energy. Cold is not the opposite of heat, sir, just the absence of it."

Silence across the room. A pen drops somewhere in the classroom, sounding like a hammer.

"What about darkness, professor. Is there such a thing as darkness?"

"Yes," the professor replies without hesitation. "What is night if it isn't darkness?"

"You're wrong again, sir. Darkness is not something; it is the absence of something. You can have low light, normal light, bright light, flashing light, but if you have no light constantly you have nothing and it's called darkness, isn't it? That's the meaning we use to define the word."

"In reality, darkness isn't. If it were, you would be able to make darkness darker, wouldn't you?"

The professor begins to smile at the student in front of him. This will be a good semester. "So what point are you making, young man?"

"Yes, professor. My point is, your philosophical premise is flawed to start with, and so your conclusion must also be flawed."

The professor's face cannot hide his surprise this time. "Flawed? Can you explain how?"

"You are working on the premise of duality," the student explains. "You argue that there is life and then there's death; a good God and a bad God. You are viewing the concept of God as something finite, something we can measure. Sir, science can't even explain a thought."

"It uses electricity and magnetism, but has never seen, much less fully understood either one. To view death as the opposite of life is to be ignorant of the fact that death cannot exist as a substantive thing. Death is not the opposite of life, just the absence of it."

"Now tell me, professor. Do you teach your students that they evolved from a monkey?"

"If you are referring to the natural evolutionary process, young man, yes, of course I do."

"Have you ever observed evolution with your own eyes, sir?"

The professor begins to shake his head, still smiling, as he realizes where the argument is going. A very good semester, indeed.

"Since no one has ever observed the process of evolution at work and cannot even prove that this process is an on-going endeavor, are you not teaching your opinion, sir? Are you now not a scientist, but a preacher?"

The class is in uproar. The student remains silent until the commotion has subsided."

To continue the point you were making earlier to the other student, let me give you an example of what I mean."

The student looks around the room. "Is there anyone in the class who has ever seen the professor's brain?" The class breaks out into laughter.

"Is there anyone here who has ever heard the professor's brain, felt the professor's brain, touched or smelt the professor's brain? No one appears to have done so. So, according to the established rules of empirical, stable, demonstrable protocol, science says that you have no brain, with all due respect, sir."

"So if science says you have no brain, how can we trust your lectures, sir?"

Now the room is silent. The professor just stares at the student, his face unreadable.

Finally, after what seems an eternity, the old man answers. "I guess you'll have to take them on faith."

"Now, you accept that there is faith, and, in fact, faith exists with life," the student continues. "Now, sir, is there such a thing as evil?"

Now uncertain, the professor responds, "Of course, there is. We see it everyday. It is in the daily example of man's inhumanity to man. It is in the multitude of crime and violence everywhere in the world. These manifestations are nothing else but evil."

To this the student replied, "Evil does not exist sir, or at least it does not exist unto itself. Evil is simply the absence of God. It is just like darkness and cold, a word that man has created to describe the absence of God. God did not create evil. Evil is the result of what happens when man does not have God's love present in his heart. It's like the cold that comes when there is no heat or the darkness that comes when there is no light."

The professor sat down.

New Section

I've added a section to my blog dedicated to the books I've read this year. I don't remember some of the one's I borrowed from the library so as far as I'm concerned it's not accurate! =) I am going to start doing a SMALL review of each book I read from this day on so watch for those if you want. LOVE YOU!

WAIT! Where'd the time go?

I cannot believe how fast this month is flying by. It's awful... Not just because it's going fast but it makes me get my hopes up that the rest of winter will be as fast and as mild as November has been. Of course it's not though. Every year I do this. Oh well. So we've had an interesting month. Shay lost his job a month ago and I've been the bread winner. I'm really glad I worked my ass off to be able to have the business I do. Otherwise we'd be in a big hole right now! Anyhow, I don't care to share the details of the job loss so don't ask. I know that I shouldn't have brought it up then, but too bad... The point is, it's been crazy and I've been super busy. He has a new job now with a company contracted by Comcast. He will be selling upgrades to existing customers. Keep your fingers crossed it will be a good job for him. =) We're excited! Other than that I've got only two more things to share with you. READY? One of my clients is some "big wig" at Pepsi and he told me about the limited time holiday sodas. There is a Pomegranate 7up and a Diet chocolate cherry Dr. Pepper. He doesn't care for the Dr. Pepper but likes the 7up. Shay and I bought the 7up tonight and we both like it. I really like it! The Dr. Pepper hasn't been sent out to the stores yet so keep your eyes peeled. He said chocolate lovers will like it though. We'll see! Oh and the piano thing. Never mind. It's too expensive and I guess I'll put it off for a bit. LOVE YOU AND MISS YOU ALL!

All I want for Christmas is...

Nope, not my two front teeth. I've got those and don't plan on them going anywhere soon! I want a digital piano. One with 88 keys. SO, if anyone hears of someone selling theirs please let me know. Also if you feel like contributing to the fund send check or cash to... =) LOVE YOU ALL!

Tagged by Meg

OK MEG! Here's your new blog post...

5 things I was doing 10 years ago:

• I was in high school.
• I was working at a flower store.
• I was getting in a lot of trouble.
• I was way more social.
• I was definitely not worried about my future.

5 things on my to-do list today:

• Really the only one was to work. I can check that off now, I was there for 11 hours!
• Eat.
• Read.
• Fill up my gas tank.
• Make a new post for Meg.

5 foods I enjoy:

• Tacos.
• Chocolate.
• Cheez-its
• Warm gooey chocolate chip cookies.
• Fruit.

5 bad habits:

• I pick at my cuticles.
• I complain too often.
• I judge others too quickly.
• I speak without thinking first.
• I procrastinate cleaning, bad.

5 of my favorite toys:

• My cell phone.
• My computer.
• The TV.
• BOOKS!
• Word searches.

5 people I tag:

• Poyfair
• Lafranca
• Evers
• Pearson
• the other Pearson

FIRST SNOW OF THE YEAR!

It snowed for the first time this year last night... Of course I'm excited because you always are when it snows for the first time, however, I'm very glad that it is already melting and that there isn't anything but sunny skies in the forecast for the next week. Winter and I don't get along very well so I'm happy to have it say hello but it better not start sleeping on my couch just yet! Hope you all are well! XOXO

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME!

It was my 27th birthday yesterday! (October 12) The day of my birthday I worked and had a party with the girls at the salon. We ordered CPK and Merrily brought yummy peanut butter bars and Tiffany brought homemade salsa. (I hope I didn't forget to give props to any other food people. Sorry if so.) It was a lot of fun. I felt so loved! I got lots of fun stuff from the girls and I had a blast!
Shay had to work 18 hours yesterday so it was so wonderful to be able to have a little party at work. Since he had to work so late I spent my evening cleaning and grocery shopping. I actually was really happy to do that stuff. I'd been meaning to and I felt productive! (Who in their right mind does that on their birthday?!) So I opened some of my presents on Friday night and Saturday we went to Outback Steakhouse for dinner with his parents and more presents.
Shay gave me some awesome presents and flowers. My favorites from him are THE NEW BLANKIE! (If you know me you know that my blankie never leaves my hands when I'm home and occasionally I'll take it with me to someones house. HAHAHA! It's my security blanket!) My other favorite is from him and Kelly (his sis). They went in on a G.C. to Sanctuary Day Spa in Sandy. I can't wait to go somewhere and be treated like a REAL client. There's no way they will know I do hair and I hope they don't ask what I do. (I'll probably have to lie if they do...)
My mom and dad sent me some cute decorations for my house and some moola, and Shay's parents gave me this really nice purse and a couple G.C. to the University Mall. It was a wonderful birthday weekend and I'm sad it's over. Thank you so much to everyone who left me birthday wishes and I love you all! Have a great weekend. xoxo D

HAWAII

We left Wednesday September 12, 2007 and flew from Salt Lake to Phoenix, Phoenix to Honolulu, and then Honolulu to Li hue (Kauai). The flight from Phoenix to Honolulu was torture. It was so small and cramped and the plane was so old there were ashtrays in the armrests still! It went smoothly, but, after what felt like 14 hours and was only 6.5 hours I wanted OFF! HeeHee. Ugh, it was not my favorite part of the trip.

Then we drove to our condo and went to bed.

This was the view from our balcony...

The next morning while the fam was at the Monk Monastery Shay and I wandered around the beach by our "home" and had some fun digging crabs out of their homes aka holes in the sand.

Friday we all went on a helicopter tour of the island. It was amazing and so beautiful. I did really good on that ride until we flew over the ocean. For some reason that made me have a panic attack. Luckily I've been able to learn a lot more about my "disorder" and it wasn't very bad and went away very quickly. I am so glad I went and would totally go again! I loved it.

Saturday everyone but I went and did a zip line course. I thought I would never be able to be that high attached to a metal rope but after i saw the pictures and videos I wish I had gone. However, the pool was awesome. (the first picture...)

Everyone got back later and showered and got ready to go to this yummy restaurant, The Beach House. It was about an hour and a half drive so we were super hungry. We got to sit by the walls (which open to a view of the ocean) and we got there just in time for the sunset. I loved eating in Kauai, I had fish everyday! It was so good and fresh. I ate Marlin, Mahi Mahi, raw Tuna, Salmon from New Zealand... Yum. I loved the food. Sunday we were all supposed to go on a hike but we decided to just have a lazy day instead. I just went to the pool that day and then later in the afternoon we went to Tunnels Beach to try and snorkel. That didn't work so well for me. I've never done it before so it wasn't my forte. Also, the bottom of the ocean we were walking on and swimming over was all coral reef so I kept getting hurt. I played a little bit in the water but spent most of my time in the shade. I really did not want to get sunburned, I wore SPF 45 and reapplied every hour or so but I still could tell I'd received my fair share of sun that day.

On our final day before we left, Monday, Shay and his father went on the hike and Jared, Kelly, and I went to Queens Bath. OOOHHH I LOVED this place. Queens Bath is ocean water trapped making a pool. It was 8 feet deep and I could see through to the bottom. It was so cool, I could see the tropical fish swimming around my legs and on the hike there we saw tons of sea turtles swimming around. I wish I'd gone there earlier in our trip and then gone back a few times. It was my favorite. While Shay was on his hike this huge centipede ran in front of him on the trail! He barely got it in the picture. (It's on the left side in the grass.) After their hike they went to Ke'e Beach and snorkeled. Shay got to swim with some sea turtles. They were all around him so he grabbed onto two of their shells and they all swam around together! I'm jealous. :)

We found this nasty Cane spider in the bathroom. The angle the picture makes it look smaller than it was. It was 4 inches from one tip of the leg to the other. YUCK! We caught it in a cup and then flushed it down the toilet, but the dang thing kept trying to climb out of the toilet while the water was spinning down. Luckily it finally went down. I have video but I yell the S word in it so watch out...

I will have you know I didn't get sunburned, I finally acheived my goal of WARM IVORY. However, Shay got fried. He peeled TWICE!

Our departure day, Tuesday, 3 am rolled around much too fast. We had to get up to leave for the airport to go back to crappy, cold Utah. ;) wink wink. That was an adventure also! Our flight left Honolulu to LAX and I fell asleep immediately. Then I wake up and see Shay yanking off his IPOD headphone and listening to the speakers so I did the same and the captain is telling us "we should be landing shortly and switching planes. We'll try to do this as smoothly as we can and we apologize for the inconvenience." WHAT! What's going on? Shay says "they've been circling the island for about an hour now." He apparently didn't want to wake me up and tell me this, VERY SMART OF HIM, cuz he didn't want to agitate me. I'm freaking out, I keep looking out the window expecting to see the wing (we were sitting over it) fly off, and then I was praying, OK Lord, if it's my time to go please make it fast and painless! At least we'll all go together... Me, the drama queen, but I had every right to be so! Apparently after 20 min. of flying it became apparent to the captain that some air bleed valve was broken and we can't fly at the proper elevation with out it. So he turned around and we circled the island for over and hour wasting fuel so we could land. The captain was doing "tricks" with the plane. He was going up and down and making the plane bank sideways-ish. Oh my goodness I was glad I took a Dramamine! Anyhow, we finally landed and I cried and then we got on the other plan and made to LA way later than planned so we missed our flight. We were able to make another flight, barely. We had 30 min. to get to the terminal, check in, go through security and get the the gate. To top it off, they searched everyone of us and our carry-ons. We made it though and the coolest part of that day was meeting Shaun White aka "The Flying Tomato". He won gold in the Olympics under the snowboarding competition and is very good at skating also. He was on our flight heading to Salt Lake for the Dew Tour. So after we got off the plane I got a picture of Him and Shay. He was really cool about it. I'd hate to have people asking for my picture and autograph everywhere I go! So nice of him.

Finally we wait and wait and wait for our luggage. Alas, no luggage. We assume it's still at LAX, report it and go home. I was so glad to be home. I was sad to leave but I had an amazing time and hope you didn't go crazy reading my novel! Here are some leftover pictures...

Shay caught these Horsefly sized frogs.

Back from Hawaii

This is not the BIG post I have planned to do for this trip because I'm too burned out to do it right now. I'll do it later. We got back at 1am this morning after a hellish day of travelling. Our plane from Honolulu to LAX ended up just flying in circles around the island for over an hour trying to burn and dump enough fuel to land again because some valve wasn't working right. Consequence; we missed our connecting flight in LAX to SLC. We finally arrived in SLC and discovered that our luggage never made it and we still don't know where it is. Needless to say, SUCKY! But on a positive note, I HAD AN AMAZING TIME! I'm sad to be home and not there anymore but at the same time, it feels so good to be home. It was a ton of fun and we have lots and lots of pictures. Keep watching for the HAWAII blog.

TAG, YOU'RE IT!

The Game of Tag
1. Who is your man? Shay, aka Shayken
2. How long have you been together? Almost 2 1/2 years. (1 1/2 years married)
3. How long dated? We dated 10 months before we got married
4. How old is your man? 27
5. Who eats more? HIM
6. Who said "I love you" first? He did. =)
7. Who is taller? He totally is!
8. Who sings better? Well after all the training I've had I'd say I do, but my talent has declined over the years so in truth we are probably on the same level of horrible! LOL!
9. Who is smarter? Who knows, probably me! HEEHEE
10. Who's temper is worse? MINE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
11. Who does the laundry? Both of us. He usually starts them and one of us ends up folding them.
12.Who takes out the garbage? Shay would say I never take out the garbage but I can count on my hand at least 4 or 5 times...
13. Who sleeps on the right side of the bed? What way are you looking at the bed? On it, I do. Looking at it straight on, he does.
14. Who pays the bills? I do. Once in awhile he does. I'd say it's the same answer as #12 but reversed.
15. Who is better with the computer? Me? We're probably the same.
16. Who mows the lawn? HOORAY FOR US! NO LAWN!
17. Who cooks dinner? Some restaurant. I try to cook dinner and it never works out and then I'm embarrassed and feel like a bad wife so we usually eat out. I'm great at boxed dinners though! Mac and Cheese anyone?
18. Who drives when you are together? If we take his car he drives, if we take mine, I drive.
19. Who pays when you go out? It all comes out of the same checking account, but usually I grab my wallet first. And I would leave much better tips if he would let me.
20. Who is most stubborn? ME! sigh... I think I have some things to work on. WAIT! No I don't. I'm perfect!
21. Who is the first to admit when they are wrong? I think we are about even on that one. But I think he's better at it.
22. Whose parents do you see the most? HIS
23. Who kissed who first? He kissed me. He would've kissed me the day we met but I told him I didn't want him too cuz I didn't know him. So he waited till we knew each other 3 days. HAHAHA!!!
24. Who asked who out? Neither of us. His friends wife (who are also my clients...) talked me into going out with them that night. Boy am I glad she did.
25. Who proposed? He did, at the Bellagio in Las Vegas. The story is in my Vegas blog if you're interested.
26. Who is more sensitive? We're both pretty sensitive, but I get my feelings hurt over anything.
27. Who has more friends? I would say I do. Mostly cuz I know way more people through doing their hair.
28. Who has more siblings? I do. By one. He has one sister, I have one brother and one sister.
29. Who wears the pants in the family? Sigh, who knows. I don't.

Now I have to tag 3 people so, Cort, Kory, and Rylee. No big deal if you don't play along, but it's kinda fun! LOVE YA!