Two stories in the news got my attention for different reasons.

The first story has Stephen Hawking believing in a myth. See, Mr. Hawking has been told a fairy tale so many times, he has come to actually believe it. The myth is that Stephen Hawking is smart.

Oh sure, he is relatively smart in some ways, but clearly he is manifestly stupid in others. He is criticizing belief in God to the press–again. Hawking likes to espouse on topics he is totally unqualified to address. You see, Mr. Hawking has made some relatively minor observations on the operation of a cosmos that the rules and magnitude of which are still largely unknown. Because he was able to observe the color of a fast moving vehicle flying by on the highway, he smugly pontificates that there must not be a Detroit. (If only that were true!)

Obviously, Mr. Hawking has never created an atom never mind a universe so his judgement is well, unverifiable. So much for the scientific method, champ. Anyway, at 69 years of age, you will find out soon enough. Good luck with that.

On the other end of the spectrum are Christians yelling at other Christians for acting too Christiany. A Catholic in Florida put a prayer request in his Church bulletin for Osama bin Laden, ya know, because that is what Christ would probably do. For his prayer, other parishioners are screaming at the man.

“I think it’s totally wrong, he doesn’t belong in the Catholic religion. For what he did to Americans, he doesn’t belong anywhere,” says Lois Pizzano, a Catholic Church member. “It’s unconscionable, it’s sacrilegious,” said Pizzano.

I am gonna go out on a limb here Lois and suggest that you might be missing the entire point of being a Christian. For what each of us has done, none of us belong anywhere. Yet God so loved the world, he sent his only Son to die for our sin. Stop me if you have heard this before Lois.

My Dad used to always remind me that it is better to keep your mouth shut and have people think you are stupid than to open your mouth and confirm the fact (Note to Newt and Stephen Hawking–This goes for you too!)

Anyway, my new mantra is “Judge not, lest you be stupid.”