Hubble didn’t “kill God”

November 12, 2006

Stu Hasic argues that a photo from the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) “killed God,” or at least the notion that God played a role in creation.

Hubble Ultra Deep Field Image Reveals Galaxies Galore

Where do bloggers get such fantastic, erroneous ideas? My educated guess is that most preachers looking at this photograph of hundreds of galaxies (no, not individual stars), deep in space and therefore deep back in time, would be awestruck — and were they to preach about it, they’d call this evidence of God’s hand in creation, making a leap in logic and faith about equal to that of Hasic, but in the opposite direction. Hasic’s post nicely encapsulates some of the knowledge we get from the photo, but then he leaps to an unwarranted conclusion.

Hasic argues that since the photo is a brilliant refutation of some of the less scientific claims of creationism, it disproves God.

If Man is the purpose of creation, why did it take so long to create Man? And what’s with all the over-the-top elaborate sky decorations? Surely some painted white dots on a big canvas hung around the Earth would have sufficed?

Thanks should go to Hubble for opening our eyes. If only some men would open theirs. Being a Christian or being a Muslim means being different. Being a Human means being the same.

I can’t speak for all Christians, of course, but I’d wager most Christians would agree with Hasic’s last sentence there: Being a human means being the same as other humans. That’s rather the point of much of scripture (see Ecclesiastes, for many examples). I would also note that most Christians like the Hubble photos as much as anyone else. Photos of “star incubators” (see end of the post for an example) are among the more popular images in religious publications in the last decade. Contrary to Hasic’s assertion, the photo offers no challenge at all to any belief of most Christians. Read the rest of this entry »

13 Comments | Accuracy, Astronomy, Current History, Physics, Religion, Research, Science, Science and faith | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell

10 political regions that make up the U.S.

November 12, 2006

CommonWealth is a magazine of Massachusetts politics and policy. In their latest issue they feature an article by Robert David Sullivan which argues the U.S. should be viewed as having ten distinct political regions. In “Beyond Red and Blue,” Sullivan argues that a savvy candidate for president can win by paying attention to the real issues that unite the people in these regions into sizable voting blocs.

The fun part of the piece is the map that accompanies it, though (here I use the Boston Globe’s version — I couldn’t get CommonWealth to link).
Beyond Red and Blue map

This map runs contrary to a lot of political thought.  The west Florida coast residents don’t think of themselves as having much in common with the residents of Waco, Texas, for example — but this map shows them voting together.

There is much grist for thought in this map, and in the accompanying article.

It’s the old press guy coming out in me, but I can’t help but notice that many of these political regions are splintered in media markets.  It would be very difficult to devise a strategy to advertise to an entire region.

Of course, if you’re running for president and you need someone who can devise the strategy for targeting these markets, I’m available!  (I do have a good track record, too — my first big client just won his 6th term in the U.S. Senate.)

Tip of the scrub brush to Strange Maps.

Leave a Comment » | Politics | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell

Help tell the story of Iraq veterans

November 12, 2006

I stumbled on an interesting film project, to tell the story of Iraq veterans readjusting to life in the U.S. after duty in Iraq. On this day after Veterans’ Day, you may be looking for ways to honor vets. Donating to the completion of this movie is one way. You be the judge.

The film’s working title is “Reserved to Fight,” focusing on one of the first Army Reserve units called to duty in Iraq, and what happens to four of the members of the unit upon their return. The unit is Fox Company, 2nd Battalion, 23rd Marines, whose home is Salt Lake City, Utah. The film’s director is Chantelle Squires, a film student at Brigham Young University. Film production classes there are generally top-notch. The project will be well done, and the content should be compelling in almost any production.

We need not wait for a latter-day Clint Eastwood to chronicle these events 50 years from now, as he has done for veterans of Iwo Jima in the film Flags of Our Fathers.  (See my earlier posts here, and here.) I hope to see more efforts to record this war’s history, in any medium.

Tip of the old scrub brush to Utah Boy.

6 Comments | Current History, History, History video sources, Iraq, War | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell