Like Ripples in a Pond

During our fellowship gathering we were wondering about what influence any one believer might have in the world, perhaps without knowing it, just by being faithful and available to Jesus. I then came across the following story, written by Dick Innes in Encounter magazine for September/October 2001 (Vol. 32 No. 9/10). I thought it particularly apt in the light of the recent celebrations of the life of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

Think, too, of the amazing events of recent years and how they were affected by the action of one person.

For example, ‘19 August 2001 was the tenth anniversary of the final
downfall of international communism in the former Soviet Union. Some of you may
remember that historic event. A group of Russian generals were determined to
turn back the tide of democracy in that declining empire. They placed Mikhail
Gorbachev under house arrest at his dacha outside of Moscow. Meanwhile a tank
rumbled into Red square with the sole purpose of capturing second-in-command,
Boris Yeltsin. But Yeltsin did something quite extraordinary. Instead of
acquiescing to his captors, he leapt atop the tank and welcomed the tank
commander over to the side of democracy.

‘Later the tank commander reported that, up to this point, he had no
intention of joining the forces of democracy, but Yeltsin was so persuasive that
he could not resist. And with that single event, communism lost its final
prospect of a return to power.

‘A reporter interviewed Boris Yeltsin not long after that famous
incident. The reporter asked Yeltsin what gave him the courage to take that
stand. Yeltsin credited reading the story of Lech Walesa, the Gdansk electrician
who led the forces of Solidarity and helped bring democracy to Poland several
years before.

‘Someone asked Walesa what caused him to make the stand that brought
down communism in his land. Walesa said he was inspired to his acts of sacrifice
by reading accounts of the late Dr martin Luther King Jnr and the Civil Rights
marchers in the United States.

‘When Dr King was asked what pivotal event spurred him into action as a
leader of his people, he cited the influence of Rosa Parks, the African-American
woman in Montgomery, Alabama, who refused to sit in the back of the bus when
instructed to do so because of her skin colour. Now here is the question for the
day: is it possible that the fall of communism began with one African-American
woman who refused to sit in the back of the bus? (from King Duncan and the staff at www.sermons.com

)'

I’m sure, if we could ask Rosa Parks who it was that inspired her courage, we could follow the chain back through many often seemingly insignificant acts of courage and self-sacrifice - leading eventually to the event of Jesus hanging on the cross outside of Jerusalem.

Some things I've written recently elsewhere

In Godly Science I remarked on the cognitive dissonance of those wishing to deny a graduate in paleontology his doctorate because he is a young earth creationist.

Over at a reasonable mystic I take a look at the role of our imagination in hearing God's voice and interacting in the spiritual realm - in Imagine That! - Part 1 and continued in Part 2.

And I welcomed our new blog - Beth Tephillah News - which will carry news and discussion about Williamstown Baptist Church and Beth Tephillah Ministry Centre.

Pen2Print creative writing school

My friend Nenia Tavrou is beginning a new business. She is running the Pen2Print online and correspondence creative writing school. Her new website, pen2print.com, is just coming online, so check it out. My business, The Roaring Mouse, is doing the hosting and development.

Nenia is a published poet, has two diplomas in creative writing, has worked as an editor for CCE (Creative Christian Enterprises). She is a member of the Society of Women's Writers (SWW) and the Fellowship of Australian Writers (FAW).

She is also part of our prayer ministry team at Beth Tephillah. Clients often receive an original poem on their intercession sheet when Nenia is on the team.

Nenia will soon begin a blog as part of her site, and I'm sure many bloggers could profit from her writing tuition.

The Dawkins Delusion

It's nice to have agreement in high places. Further to my article on atheism, Science proves God doesn't exist? , John Sexton at Verum Serum has posted the comments of Oxford University theologian and historian, Alister McGrath on Dawkin's The God Delusion. Since I am greatly enjoying McGrath's insights into atheism in The Twilight of Atheism: The Rise and Fall of Disbelief in the Modern World, I was greatly interested in John's post, so I will reproduce it here:

The Dawkins Delusion.
That’s the title of a new book by fellow Oxford professor (of theology) Alister McGrath. McGrath is a former atheist who, prior to pursuing theology, received a Phd in molecular biophysics. Here’s what he has to say about Dawkins:

I have known Dawkins for more than 20 years; we are both Oxford professors. I believe if anyone is “immune to argument” it is him. He comes across as a dogmatic, aggressive propagandist.

[snip]

Our paths do cross on the television networks and we even managed to spar briefly across a BBC sofa a few months back. We were also filmed having a debate for Dawkins’s recent Channel 4 programme, The Root Of All Evil? Dawkins outlined his main criticisms of God, and I offered answers to what were clearly exaggerations and misunderstandings. It was hardly rocket science.

[snip]

But when I debated these points with him, Dawkins seemed uncomfortable. I was not surprised to be told that my contribution was to be cut. The Root Of All Evil? was subsequently panned for its blatant unfairness. Where, the critics asked, was a responsible, informed Christian response to Dawkins? The answer: on the cutting-room floor.

That sounds about right. McGrath concludes that Dawkin’s legacy may be a backlash:

Aware of the moral obligation of a critic of religion to deal with this phenomenon at its best and most persuasive, many atheists have been disturbed by Dawkins’s crude stereotypes and seemingly pathological hostility towards religion. In fact, The God Delusion might turn out to be a monumental own goal - persuading people that atheism is just as intolerant as the worst that religion can offer.

I’ve learned (from speaking to atheists) that there are a significant number who do not find Dawkin’s approach at all appealing and who find his seeming compunction for self-aggrandizement even less appealing. In the end, Dawkins may be a jerk, but he’s their jerk. I can appreciate that.

Still, I predicted that celebrity atheism would lead to the same sort of problems and embarrassments associated with Christian televangelists. The first big scandal is probably still a few years away, but it’s coming. Dawkins has a lot more in common with Pat Robertson than he realizes.

Related Articles:
The New Atheists: Arrogant, Rigid and Charmless
Some Atheists Not Thrilled with the New Atheism
Dawkins' Faith in Foam
NY Times Reviews Dawkins' Delusion
Dawkins' Fawlty Idea

John's last paragraph accords with my own conclusion that Dawkins is a prize example of a (non-Christian) fundamentalist. And I agree - we haven't seen the end of the story yet!

A million monkeys .. er penguins ... er, bloggers!

You've all heard the story that if a million monkeys typed on a million typewriters long enough they would produce the works of Shakespeare! Well someone is trying it, except they are using penguins instead of monkeys - well, they are really using bloggers.

Penguin UK have a project to let bloggers, working together using a wiki, write and edit a novel. Check it at:

http://www.amillionpenguins.com/wiki/index.php?title=Main_Page

Now that's a novel idea. Of course, if blogging penguins can come up with the next blockbuster then anyone can do it.

Recently I read a scientific article, the source of which escapes me at the moment, which explored whether by watching the behaviour of a group of apes we can discover the roots of religion. Will the next project be a monkey writen Bible? That's more of a challenge than a novel - even more than the works of Shakespeare.