I’m Offended

If you haven’t heard by now bibles, crosses and other Christian symbols have been removed from the chapel at Royal North Shore Hospital. What a ridiculous thing to do. If I was offended would it actually get me anywhere to express that sentiment? Probably not, because as a nation we seem preoccupied with pandering* to ethnic and religious minorities, for fear that they might, on the off chance, be offended. So busy pandering are we that we end up offending and discriminating against the majorities.

Strangest thing is though, that such offense was not even brought up by religious minority groups. It was merely the perception of potential offense by mindless bureaucratic drones.

So if there was no original offense, then why take the action that has since caused so much offense. I can see the powers that be reversing their decision and apologising for any offense they may have caused.

For a positive spin on such events, these actions have gotten people talking about Jesus this Easter. Of all the days to annoy Christians they choose the day before Good Friday, bad move. Also interesting to notice how non-Christians going into bat for the cause.

*Pander
indulge, gratify, satisfy, cater to, give in to, accommodate, comply with.

The God Delusion – Book Review

“The God Delusion” by Richard Dawkins

Why Read It?

Might seem strange that I would read an overtly atheist piece of writing. However, as informed by Greg Clarke and John Dickson at Men Meeting the Challenge conference in 2008, there is a “New atheism” movement and it is making lots of noise. As Christians, they said, we should know what they are on about so that we can be prepared to respond when questions are asked.

Originally I was apprehensive to buy the book because in doing so I give Dawkins money (however little), thus assisting in making him justified in his opinions and possibly write another book. Although I did buy the paperback instead of the hard cover and payed a lot less. Ultimately it was more important to read it sooner rather than later. The plan was to pass on the book to avoid other people having to buy it.

Expectations before reading

• Ridiculous assumptions
• Conclusions based on flawed logic
• Vehement attack on Christianity in particular

First Impressions

From my first quick flick through I thought it would be an easy read. It is broken up into topical chapters with many subheadings. Usually short segments works for me as I can easily put the book down at the end of a segment if I need a break from reading

Dawkins’ Main Points

• Science has no room for God
• Natural Selection explains everything
• Jesus never said he was God
• Historical argument that Jesus never existed
• The 10 commandments only refers to the Jews therefore those acts can still be perpetrated on non Jews

Rebuttal

Dawkins must have never read the bible, or at least didn’t read it in its correct context. This seems strange for someone making such huge statements about Christianity and the historical Jesus.

Jesus rather emphatically and repeatedly said he was God. He was given chances to recant and refused. Ultimately he was crucified for saying he was God. It was treated as blasphemy.

As for Jesus never existing, Dawkins has ignored 99.9% of secular ancient historians that agree that Jesus existed. They might not agree on his divinity but they will say that he performed baffling deeds as stated by Josephus.

If he is willing to state such untruths then his credibility has to seriously be brought into question

Final Impressions

It wasn’t easy to read at all. Not just because he was trying to discount God. I found his writing was disjointed and had no natural flow. I found it confusing. I didn’t want to read this book more than once but had to read some parts over again to understand what he was on about. A lot of the time I couldn’t see the relationship between the text and the sub headings. His rambling was incessant, he could have made his point in half the space. I was trying to make notes as I read. In ten pages I could only usually find two or three main points. Other times I would skip huge chunks because I had learned his point already.

He is a Professor of Physics and therefore he talked a lot about scientific notions that mostly went over my head.

I was surprised to learn that newly converted atheists hold this book in such high regard. Perhaps they were searching for something as well and by their own prejudices bypassed the bible and found this book. Check out any religion section in a bookstore. There’s not a great deal of Christian material there.

The examples he uses to ridicule Christianity aren’t Christian at all instead they are ‘religious’. There is a difference. Christianity is all about Jesus, religiousness is all about following rules.

Dawkins does make some powerful points when referring the Old Testament. But one should not rely on his interpretation of the bible as his credibility has already been brought into question. Ultimately people still need to read the bible for themselves.

But thank God that is now over. Now for a book I might enjoy reading.

AFL in Western Sydney

The Australian Football League wants a new team in the west of Sydney. It will never work say many. The AFL is being bold in this new venture and will make it work.

Some Victorian teams are on the verge of bankruptcy and can possibly see the writing on the wall: relocate or die. It is an unpopular notion. It was hard in 1981 when South Melbourne moved to Sydney and it will be just as hard today. But that’s the reality. No team wants to relocate to Sydney or the Gold Coast to guarantee their survival so the AFL will form new teams.

The new team on the Gold Coast appears well on track to join the competition in 2011. There is more conjecture about the proposed second team in Sydney. Most of the detractors come from south of the border. In the Inside Football magazine, respected journalist and football historian, Russell Holmesby (St Kilda fan), states “the AFL has to see sense and abandon the West Sydney concept.” Premiership player with North Melbourne, Peter ‘Crackers’ Keenan, in the same publication suggests that having a team in western Sydney is “getting further away for the AFL.”

Wait ten years is what I’m hearing from too many. The AFL is cashed up and Rugby League is in crisis with their own problems. Strike while we can. Think it will go down the drain? Then buy a membership when the club is launched to help it get off the ground, even if you are a devout Swans fan like myself.

It is the same Victorian clubs bagging the idea that will benefit hugely when a new TV rights deal is agreed upon in the near future. Kudos to Andrew Demetriou.

Impatient Driving Irritates Me

Most of my working life is spent on the road. Hence I see a lot of good and bad driving. Unfortunately it is the bad driving that most sticks out. What I notice most is the impatient driving. The people that seem to be in such a hurry to get somewhere that the safety of all other drivers takes a lower priority.

Impatient driving takes many forms. Mainly darting in and out of traffic with reckless abandon. Speeding up the vacant left lane is another, when they could just wait briefly for the slower vehicles to move over.

Does impatient driving achieve anything, as usually impatient drivers are waiting at the next set of traffic lights with the rest of us.

Suggestions:

• Be content with the speed limit
• Choose a lane and stick to it
• Keep a gap around you to avoid crashes
• Think about the comfort of your passengers
• Never drive angry
  
• Don’t rush, as nothing is ever that important. Look at the big picture
• An obvious one – don’t answer your phone in the car. No call can be that important that you are willing to put your life in danger

I am irritated for a short moment, but quickly get over it. Can’t let stupid drivers affect my cruise to my destination.

But today (7/4), as if to confirm my point of angry and impatient driving having no place on the road, I got abused by a truck driver for going too slow (in his opinion) despite having a patient in the back with a possible fractured hip. Of course after passing me he didn't speed off into the sunset, he was stuck in the same line of traffic a few cars ahead of me. I ask, is it all really worth it?