Are we being lulled into a false sense of springtime? Up here in the Highlands the temperature has recently had maximum temperatures of 8-10C (and I mean PLUS 8-10) the last few days, with an extra bonus of some generous sunshine. It feels odd not having the car heater on and walking without a jacket. I've probably jinxed it now..... the third week in january is far too early to start getting optimistic about the weather.
I seem to have been bombarded by telesales of late. barely a day goes by without some company offering me 'exclusive' advertising, or priority listings, on Google, Yell or Facebook. Usually when they call it is at an inconvenient time, so I interrupt them before they launch into their interminable spiel and I end the call. Today, they timed it perfectly, just as I had finished the lesson and had an hour's gap before the next; so I decided to listen to what they had to say. After fifteen minutes they finally got around to asking me to commit. I politely said that it was an interesting idea (bad move), but I wasn't interested at this time. Strangely, as he became more desperate, offering better deals and dropping the price, I began to get a perverse please from his desperation. After nearly nearly forty minutes I had to put him out of his misery by telling him that I was going to end the call so that I could get to my next lesson.
It is rare to have the luxury of having time to take these calls. It reminded me of when I was a student at the University of Birmingham, living in the Selly Park area. Jehovah's Witnesses were regular callers and, like most people, I would answer the door, say "No thank you", and shut the door. One day - I must have been in a Christian mood - I listened while they went on about The Creation and, being a geology student, I began to question them about the age of the Earth. The more they struggled to answer my questions about the consistency of isotope dating, the time required for light to reach us from distant galaxies, helioseismic dating and the fossil record proving that the Earth (and the universe) is likely to be in excess of four billion years old (the universe considerably more), the more I enjoyed their visit. I would later enjoy further visits from Jehovah's Witnesses when I grilled them about the morality of refusing blood transfusions and the existence of God in a world of genocide and natural disasters. They probably walked away from my door muttering "bloody students".
Like most people, I find my time increasingly precious. So, if you want to sell me something, whether it is advertising, religion, or something else I don't want, I hope you have plenty of time........ because I might be in the mood to waste it.
Did you find out the the Bible, and Jehovah's Witnesses, don't teach that the earth is only a few thousand years old? See this article.
ReplyDeleteTrue, the Watchtower society teaches that Genesis describes the preparation of a pre-existing Earth for human habitation. However, the Bible (Exodus 20.11) says 'In six days, the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them.' Now, although the Hebrew word 'yom', often translated as 'day', can sometimes mean periods of longer than 24 hours, I think 750 million YEARS is stretching this translation a little.
ReplyDeleteYou're right, it's far too early to become optimistic weather-wise. Here in upper New York State, I don't start getting smug until March. Even then the coarse is not without obstacles. But it's a little like when you've finally worked up the gumption to expel that unwanted house guest. You know he'll break a lamp or two on the way out, but you also know he'll be gone soon.
ReplyDeleteBut it's your JW comments that caught your eye. It's not the Witnesses job to herald science, but neither are they blind to it. Thus, we are not among those who think the creative days of Genesis are 24 hours, and I don't think we ever were. Too, the “in the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth” comes before the creative days start, and thus could be however many billions of years scientists say they are. And at one time, each “creative day” was thought to be 7000 years (it fits certain patterns in the scriptures) but now they are said to be simply unspecified periods of time. A flip-flop? No, it's just yielding to an increasing consensus of research with the recognition that the scriptures may not absolutely insist upon this or that former interpretation.
Regarding blood transfusions, ever so slowly, but surely, medicine is coming around to our way of thinking. Thus, a 2008 article in New Scientist magazine was entitled “An Act of Faith in the Operating Room.” The act of faith referred to was not withholding a transfusion. It was giving one:
http://tinyurl.com/6n9lvx
Regarding your cartoon, sometimes when I walk into a hopelessly awkward situation, like several persons in conversation, and you've discovered it too late to discreetly pass by, or they're directly in your path, and they spot me long before I reach them, I may say something like "you look like guys that want to talk about the Bible!" It breaks the ice, and permits everyone to smile and nod pleasantly to one another.
Hi Martin,
ReplyDeleteThe apostle Paul, writing in the first century CE, actually builds an argument off of the premise that the seventh creative day, God's 'day of rest', was still continuing. So there was a realization that these 'days' were extremely long epochs of time.
Sorry, I forgot the citation for that, it's Hebrews 4:1-10 (I tend to believe that Paul was the writer of the book of Hebrews).
ReplyDeleteThank you very much for your comments. As a result, I have tried to find out more about alternatives to blood transfusion and I found the information quite illuminating. I will always believe, however, that in life-or-death situations, a blood transfusion cannot be argued against.
ReplyDeleteOn the subject of Transfusions, check out this reasonable US programme, first shown Aug 2010.
ReplyDeleteBlood Test: What you don't know about blood: A PBS Presentation (15 minutes.)
http://to.pbs.org/eKnUB5?r=bb
Nick.