Dear Mr. Shermer,

I recently read a little essay by Michael Shermer on why religion is stupid.  I first encountered the work of Mr. Shermer when  I first became a prof at Alabama.  One of my colleagues sent me an interesting challenge to Christianity.  I didn't realize it at the time but my colleague had grown up as a devout Roman Catholic.  Whilst working as a prof at SMU he fell in love with a married woman.  Obviously this resulted in tremendous cognitive dissonance.  In the end, the woman won out over Catholicism and to ease his pain, my colleague vowed to stamp out any vestige of Christianity he encountered in public Higher Education.

Then along comes me...representing the very thing he was stamping out.

I initially thought that my colleague was simply raising interesting objections to Christianity, not realizing he was re-cycling objections from the anti-religion generally, and very anti-Christian particularly, Mr. Shermer.  I would respond to one objection, and a few days later another would arrive.

In the latest of Mr. Shermer's essays I read, he raises the objection that Jewish law included the death penalty for a variety of offenses.  "But Jesus said love thy neighbor!" explains Mr. Shermer with incredulity.  "What a self-contradictory religion is Christianity!"

Pleeeease!

Surely an experienced anti-Christian like you, Mr. Shermer, can do better than that!

Regardless of your political leanings, even the most simplistic of us recognize that there are certain functions that accrue to the governing council, legislature, etc. that DO NOT accrue to individuals.  I don't want to pass a death sentence, or declare someone NOT GUILTY on my own volition.  I don't want to determine the speed limit, or how many unrelated people can live in the same house.  This is not because I hate making rules, I love it! consider this, some--things are done by individuals, and somethings are done by councils, governments etc., and most people don't have trouble distinguishing between those things... except Mike Shermer.

So, Mr. Shermer, go back to asking questions.  When I ask people things, I tend to look less whack than when I say whacky things.  Just saying...

What is a Leader?

This afternoon I had the occasion to discuss leadership with one of my colleagues with expertise in the area of management.  During our brief conversation, we discussed a well known administrator at our university.  We agreed on what he had done, where we disagreed was what it should be called.

I claimed this person was a great manager, but my colleague argued that he was a great leader.  That got me thinking about the possible differences.  In my mind, managers mainly manage resources (which includes people) whereas leaders inspire those led to act in a somewhat different way than they would on their own.

I looked up some definitions.  Here’s a start:

“… leadership is the art of motivating a group of people to act towards achieving a common goal.”  Or, “The act of inspiring subordinates to perform and engage in achieving a goal.” Or, "a process of social influence in which a person can enlist the aid and support of others in the accomplishment of a common task". A leader is somebody whom people follow, or as somebody who guides or directs others, while others define leadership as "organizing a group of people to achieve a common goal".

 To elaborate:

 “Leadership involves:

1. Establishing a clear vision,
2. Sharing that vision with others so that they will follow willingly,
3. Providing the information, knowledge and methods to realize that vision, and
4. Coordinating and balancing the conflicting interests of all members and stakeholders.”

And, “A leader steps up in times of crisis, and is able to think and act creatively in difficult situations. Unlike management, leadership cannot be taught, although it may be learned and enhanced through coaching or mentoring.”

Compare this with administration/management: 

“The activities that relate to running a company, school, or other organization.”

 “The management of any office, business, or organization; direction.”

 And: “Management in organizations is the function that coordinates the efforts of people to accomplish goals and objectives using available resources efficiently and effectively. Management comprises planning, organizing, staffing, leading or directing, and controlling an organization to accomplish the goal.” 

While the person in question certainly managed our university well, as far as I can tell he had little influence on the teaching, research or service of any faculty member, nor the performance of any staff member.  To be honest, I enjoyed the quietness on campus while this person ran the show, but I never heard, read, or perceived that he care one whit about our attitude, work, or support.  He had an excellent plan, he executed it well, and it worked, but it had NOTHING to do with the people of the organization.

So, what is leadership and have you ever seen a great leader?  I’m really interested.

A Blog Post about… Genocide??

Let me begin by affirming, without reservation, a total abhorrence of genocide. I write this chiefly as an apologetic exercise.

I write because many a-theists use the God-commanded "genocide” of the conquest of Canaan as an argument against Jehovah. Such and argument raises several problems of logical inconsistency, and I love a good logical inconsistency.

First of all, is the issue of “sez who?”  You are morally opposed to genocide, as am I, but what’s your basis?  You don’t like it?  It doesn’t seem right? It’s “inherently” wrong?  Sez who?  In your objections, you have merely stated your preference.

A bigger problem is the logical inconsistency inherent in the protest. Most a-theists, I’m guessing virtually all, deny the “divine inspiration” and even the authenticity of the Bible in general, but the “Old” Testament in particular. So, to state the objection in slightly different terms, you don’t believe the Bible, but you use the Bible which you don’t believe to disbelieve in G^d, because of what the Bible tells us G^d did in history. Hmm, I’ hoping most see the problem here.

But you argue instead, NO, I am challenging the Bible you say YOU believe! True enough, but YOU are the one who is disturbed greatly of the view of G^d expressed in a book in which you have no faith.

So, you may ask a Person of Faith, and you probably won’t, my a-theist friend, “How could you believe in a G^d who kills innocents? There are a couple of responses to this:  1) G^d does NOT have to justify Himself to me, you or anyone. HE made it, He can destroy it.  2) G^d is BEYOND time and space, by definition. G^d sees all from what we call “beginning” to what we call “end”. If G^d sees the few days of life that ends in frustration and pain, statistically what does it matter if those futile lives are terminated early? This is a harsh argument, but we’re talking about a harsh topic any way you look at it. A-theists may want to argue about a “G^D of Love”, but that’s a different topic. 3) Why do we mere mortals, pretend that we should be able to fully comprehend the G^d who “spoke the world into existence”? We are pretty content NOT understanding lots of much simpler stuff than G^d, yet here we want perfect coherence of the infinite with our finite minds.  Go figure. And, 4) So you, my a-theist friend, believe in a god who is different? Tell me about him/her?

The last point in this brief post is perhaps the worst. Hitler, Pol Pot (killed 3 mil out of 8 million fellow Cambodians in only 4-yrs), Stalin, Lenin, all were genocidal maniacs. They killed many times the number of people of ancient Canaan. And I didn't even mention the 56 million babies aborted. If you are an a-theist, then you must think that we humans, in our wisdom, are smart enough, logical enough, to figure out there is no G^d. So the highest rung on your developmental ladder turns out to be rampant pursuers of genocide?  You worship man, we worship G^d.  Who’s got the bigger genocide problem?

To conclude, I do NOT favor genocide, and hopefully neither do you.  If you are an a-theist, I suspect I have NOT changed your mind, even slightly.  That is because your objection isn’t sincerely an objection to genocide, your objection arises from a different issue, but that’s another post.

Ever Present, Too Often Heeded

Fear is ever present, and way too often heeded.

As I have blogged before, Scripture speaks of fear in only two ways:

1. Fear NOT!
2. Fear G^d!

The word is the same for both cases.  We ought to both fear NOT and fear G^d, but I, and we, seem to get it exactly backwards. Most of us fear all sorts of things.  I am reminded of my own fears, as we left for Africa a bit over 2 years ago.  Arriving in Africa to live for a year evoked more fear than about anything I have done.  And that fear is instructive.

Brenda and I spent a year in Botswana, and nothing bad happened.  We traveled to the Northern reaches of the country and south all the way to Cape Town, RSA.  Nothing bad happened.  We were never robbed, mugged, or even threatened.  Now, many people have been mugged, robbed, injured and killed during a year in southern Africa.  Two of our good friends moved out of Botswana after their home was broken into whilst they were in bed.  Another one of our friends lost their son in a robbery in their own home when a robber killed him.

Bad things do happen, but fear not!

Fear not.  Rather fear him who can cast you into hell.  Who would that be?  Yep, not a tough question.

I am creative and imaginative, so I can imagine all sorts of bad things that can happen to me.  True enough, bad things can happen at any moment.  But all the potential bad things that can happen are extremely temporary.  None of us are on this earth for very long.

Again, like so many things, it is easier to understand than to do.

Fear Not!

Disassembly

Well, today and yesterday (2 Jan) we disassembled the Christmas decorations.  This is typically a little sad, as it marks the end of one my favorite seasons.  The tree is down and back in the attic.  The outside lights and deer are not yet put away- too wet- but the lights are off the eves and the wiring is stored.

Taking down is not nearly as hard as putting them up, but not nearly the fun.  As many things, the anticipation is a large part of the fun.

What am I anticipating now?  I find myself asking that question.  I have a trip to Dallas that should be fun and rewarding.  I have another trip in April to College Station, TX, and then to Rome and London in May.  Of course there's also Spring Break, and a professional meeting in Jacksonville.  Then too, there is a new group of students to be met and taught, new papers to write, and new dissertations to assist.

But in a few months more, these will too be disassembled.  What after that?  Well Summer Break, and trips to the beach, and the UA swimming pool...

But these cycles are continuous and only temporarily satisfying.  Nothing we anticipate will bring us ultimate fulfillment.

But we have one BIG anticipation that we don't think about very often.  Think of what it will be like to be in heaven. Those streets of gold, those terrifically interesting Christians who proceeded us.

All holidays and celebrations come to an end... but eternity... well the name says enough.

Ahhh, sweet anticipation.

An Unusual Quote

Most who know me realize that I love a well-turned phrase, so I collect quotes.  Most also know I use a day-planner, but most don't know that it has a quote at the top of each page.  Todays quote:

"Just as your car runs move smoothly and requires less energy to go faster and farther when the wheels are in perfect alignment, you perform better when your thoughts, feelings, emotions, goals, and values are in balance."  Brian Tracy

Read carefully and you will note an oddity- it is a small mixed metaphor.  Mr Tracy is the author of a book, "The self-made millionaire, and I checked, and the quotes appears to be correctly quoted.

The quote could be repaired by either changing the first wheel reference to "perfectly balanced" or change the last part to "values in alignment", but as is, it is a bit mixed.

The quote makes the most sense with the "alignment" metaphor maintained.  If a person's "thoughts, feelings, emotions, goals, and values" are out of alignment, then the car does not go as well as it could.

As someone attempting to PRACTICE Christianity as the aligner for my life, I find his recommendation challenging.  My"thoughts, feelings, emotions, goals, and values" seem to wander in different directions at times.  As Christians, if we look to Scripture, we have at least a MEANS to align ourselves, but as I said, I find it challenging.  My thoughts go one way, my feelings another, the small emotions I have seem to have a mind of their own, and let's forget my goals, and values, they ought to go where I wish them to, but those crafty values wander at will it seems.

BUT, we do have a craftsman at work.   The Holy Spirit would like to align us, would align us with the will of the G^d, but the Holy Spirit is a gentleman, who only works as we permit.  Odd that the MOST POWERFUL force in the Universe, the Holy Spirit, restrains itself.

I cry out, and perhaps you will join me, "Come Holy Spirit!  Confrom me to YOUR WILL.  Align my thoughts, feelings, emotions, goals, and values!  I want to do your will.  In the same way we received salvatioin, we trust in Your work in us.

Amen.

Tearing Down Altars, but Where are They?

Today, our pastor, Fred Schuckert, preached about Gideon in Judges 6-8.  Right after G^d calls Gideon to defend Israel, He calls on Gideon to tear down the altars to Baal, belonging to his father, Joash.

IN case you missed it:

• Joash is Gideon's father, a Jew.
• Gideon is therefore tearing down pagan altars built my G^d's own people.
• If you read carefully , it took Gideon, ten men and two bulls, to do the destruction.  These must have been some major altars.

As Fred noted, this happens even today. We, we Christians, build pagan altars.  G^d clearly prohibits this, but we conveniently ignore His commands because... we lapse back into sin.

I do this, and perhaps so do you.

I can gin-up a pretty substantial altar to things like:
Money
Materialism- stuff
Status
Greed
Pleasure

Like Gideon's Israel- to be victorious, we must FIRST tear down these altars.   Like Gideon, these may be substantial and we may need help tearing them down.  Just another reason we are called together in the CHURCH.

Happy Destroying!