Another quote from the recent Scientific American article by Michael Shirmer (see entries for 10 and 12 February, 2007): “The watchmaker God of intelligent-design creationism is delimited to being a garage tinkerer piecing together life out of available parts. This God is just a genetic engineer slightly more advanced than we are. An omniscient and omnipotent God must be above such humanlike constraints. Calling God a watchmaker is belittling.”

Copernicus' “Artisan”, Galileo's “Author”, Keppler's “Creator”, none of these men would classify God as a “watchmaker”. Instead, I would think they might use words like miraculous or beyond comprehension. Of course, we think of God in human terms. But to try to compare His abilities to ours borders on heresy. Evolution, the creation of the universe and all that happens in it certainly boggles my poor little mind.

The real question is not so much when or how the universe was created as it is how much The Creator keeps His fingers in my daily life, or even the running of the universe. I would not dare to say that The Author is so incompetent that He could not create a universe that, once started, could just keep going by itself. It is even possible that God said to His Son, “In 14 billion,499 million, 998 thousand years, You are going to have to go down there, be born of a woman, and be crucified.” And then go off for coffee and a 14.5 billion year nap.

I like talking to God and my personal belief is that God does have His finger in my daily life. Or maybe His finger was in my life before I was born?

Good Morning America these last couple of days has featured Diane Sawyer's interviews with Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. He came across as an obvious liar and politician. Then this morning he restated his stand that the Holocaust did not really happen. I was born in 1936 and well remember all of it. How can a sane person with half a brain believe that the Holocaust and World War II is a sham, much less announce his idiocy to the whole world? Is there a clue in the adjective “sane”? Or is it just a politician playing to his supporters and using hatred to reinforce his power? Is there something in the water over there that makes sane folks into idiots (see entries for 22 January, 2007 , and for 30 July, 2006).

But then, how about people here is the United States who state loudly and proudly that evolution does not really exist? I guess there are idiots everywhere, aren't there.

Another quote from Michael Shirmer's Scientific American article:
“What difference does it make when God created the universe--10,000 years ago or 10,000,000,000 years ago? The glory of the creation commands reverence regardless of how many zeroes in the date. And what difference does it make how God created life--spoken word or natural forces? The grandeur of life's complexity elicits awe regardless of what creative processes were employed. Christians (indeed, all faiths) should embrace modern science for what it has done to reveal the magnificence of the divine in a depth and detail unmatched by ancient texts. “

Creationists are going to get to the Pearly Gates and St. Peter will tell them of all of their good works but then gets to, “You did not believe in evolution! Do you know how much work we put into that? Mikey, put this one on the down elevator!”

Why do we discuss when God created everything (see entry for 28 July, 2006)? Time is relative, anyway. Is God massive? Does He move close to the speed of light? Time is dependent on those factors. And, of course, who invented time? Who was around before time existed?

So, time is a variable God created. The creation of the universe with all of its wonders and miracles, especially evolution, is not.

A quote from a recent Scientific American article by Michael Shirmer: “According to a 2005 Pew Research Center poll, 70 percent of evangelical Christians believe that living beings have always existed in their present form, compared with 32 percent of Protestants and 31 percent of Catholics. Politically, 60 percent of Republicans are creationists, whereas only 11 percent accept evolution, compared with 29 percent of Democrats who are creationists and 44 percent who accept evolution. A 2005 Harris Poll found that 63 percent of liberals but only 37 percent of conservatives believe that humans and apes have a common ancestry. What these figures confirm for us is that there are religious and political reasons for rejecting evolution. Can one be a conservative Christian and a Darwinian?”

I would like to add my two bits. Do the creationists and conservatives need to force their beliefs on all the rest of us? If government is kept out of religion, why not keep religion out of government (see 10 January, 2007 entry)? As a science teacher, I want students to do well in their SAT's and in the college of their choice. Evolution is a proven part of science and rightfully significant in courses and testing. Allow teachers to teach science. Parents and pastors can teach what the Bible says.

And then there is the self-fulfilling categorization of conservative or liberal (see 14 January, 2007 entry). Being a loyal supporter of a group is admirable – unless that group is a bunch of idiots. Why must I be a conservative or liberal? Why can I not just be me?

In a recent entry (7 January), I expounded about getting our prayers answered in terms of our health and welfare. It got me thinking about stuff. Dangerous.

Is it wrong to pray for riches? If we do, will God give it to us?

My answers to those are no and yes. Prayers are never wrong. Interpretations and expectations may be, but the prayers themselves are not. Of course, if one prays for money and expects to awaken with a pile of gold at the foot of the bed, he will be sorely disappointed. If it is to shift the odds on the lottery, that is not the idea. But, we all have within us the ability to succeed. Pray for them to work. A lot of us do well, using the abilities God has given us. Through evolution and competition? Of course. How else? Evolution is one of God's greatest gifts (see 8 November and 10 September). And we have in our democratic civilization the system by which each individual's standard of living can skyrocket through his own will and ability. Another of God's wonderful gifts to us. Did our democratic civilization come to us through trial and error (Churchill said that democracy is horrible but we have tried everything else) and evolution? It surely did. That is part of life on earth which is a part of the universe which is proven (ala Stephen Hawking's proof) a gift of the Artisan.

So pray for wealth. God has already given you the response.

It would be nice to have financial wealth but I prayed for other things and got them.