Tuesday, February 10, 2009

morally evil or scientifically ignorant

I've had the pleasure over the years to meet some interesting characters. Some of these have been helpful in my life and others not. One of the helpful personalities believes man-induced Global Warming. In conversation with him he is convinced that the science is overwhelming. I am not. The point of this post is to not belabor that. The point I'd like to make is that all of us believe as we do because of prejudice - those preconceived ideas that shape our worldview and affect who we trust and who we do not trust.

My friend, not an expert in this field, is opting to believe "scientists he respects". I, also not an expert, opt to believe the opinions of people I respect which in turn leads me to which scientific data/explanation I believe. I cannot help but wonder if my friend is doing the same. How does one come to respect a body of scientists without prejudice by the opinions of politicians, media, etc.? I suspect it is not possible unless you are intimate with a given scientific field.

Now to my real point, at the national prayer breakfast last week, President Obama said: “There is no God who condones taking the life of an innocent human being. This much we know.” I find that interesting because in the case of human life, I think there is scientific consensus that life begins at conception. But based on his pre-election comments at the Rick Warren interview, Obama does not believe there is enough evidence to support that.

So let me get this straight, Obama finds enough scientific evidence to believe in man-induced Global Warming but not enough to determine when human life begins. He believes/disbelieves the "data" so much that he will invest millions in dealing with GW (not clearly mandated by God) and yet he'll risk rebelling against God's clear command to protect the innocent.

Now I'm not saying all of those buying into the GW idea are abortionists - far from it, many I know are not. But the majority of world leaders and media buying that particular scientific data are. Conversely, many leaders who affirm the sanctity of human life for some reason find the opposite scientific data to be more credible. So given that most of us are not scientists, I'm curious what is causing many Christians to not see how they are influenced by questionable people with questionable motives to believe questionable data. I'm not asking that they say they're wrong or even change their opinion. I'm just shocked that they are amazed that someone can believe data contrary to their position. It seems their eyes are closed and therefore I question whether they are really looking at the data or have they been blinded by this weltgeist.

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