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.”
May 18, 2011 at 5:19 am
There might be more to this story that it says; I know my folks' parish has a lot of trolls in the prayer request entries– "that all sexual orientations will be respected as moral equals" type stuff, that "hatred of those who are different" will go away… this in a place that will pray about the death penalty, but never even mention the a-word, or even the phrase "pro-life."
May 18, 2011 at 1:28 pm
When I saw the headline I thought you were talking about me!
Yes, one should pray for the repose of the soul of the hairy-faced what's-his-name, though I don't do so with a whole buncha fervor.
— Mack
May 18, 2011 at 5:42 pm
Here's my prayer for BinLaden: where ever he is may he be surprised. Make of that what you will.
May 18, 2011 at 9:01 pm
As far as praying for Osama, that's what our religion explicitly asks of us. Even Bin Laden deserves a chance at God's mercy.
It was stupid of the parish to put it in the bulletin, though. Really stupid. With the bad state of catechesis these days, a lot of people probably think having a mass said for somebody is just a nice way to honour them. I once had a mass said for a friend in university and when I announced that I had done so to a roomful of university age Catholics, almost none of them knew what a mass card was or why I didn't just send flowers instead.
Catechesis is the key here. If people understood why we have masses said we'd have very few of these problems.
May 18, 2011 at 9:53 pm
Another thought comes up, reflecting the tone I've seen in folks publicly praying for bin Laden:
By their actions, it's got little to do with doing the right thing, and much to do with showing off. (see also, most college kids making a big show of "doing the right thing"; it's a pet peeve of mine)
A much more loving action that wouldn't risk scandal would be something like "pray for those who hate us, who have harmed us, including Osama bin Laden, that by doing so we may more fully understand the amazing mercy of our God."
May 19, 2011 at 4:42 am
Stephen Hawking believes that he came into existence through the laws of gravity, and says so in his book. The laws of gravity are not a Person. If his belief were true, Stephen Hawking would be a law of gravity but still not knowing from Whom he came. God is a Person
May 19, 2011 at 4:52 pm
Hey, watch it with the cheap shots at Detroit, Patrick!
May 20, 2011 at 8:00 am
Osama Bin Laden, like all of us was a sinner for whom Christ died, we should hope against hope that looking at the bussiness end of an assult rifle he had a genuine death bed conversion.
And we know that if bin Laden is where prayer will not help him the prayer will be applied to the benifit of someone who needs it, perhaps one of his victims.
It might have been more tactful to put in a prayer request for the ever popular "special intention".