God VS Science

Leste dette innlegget på Believe it and do it, en blogg jeg tilfeldigvis kom inn på en gang. Anbefaler deg å lese det om du synes det er interessant dette med Gud og vitenskap, og hva man skal tro. Jeg ble veldig fascinert av denne teksten hvertfall!


A science professor begins his school year with a lecture to the students, “Let me explain the problem science has with religion.” The atheist professor of philosophy pauses before his class and then asks one of his new students to stand. “You’re a Christian, aren’t you, son?”
“Yes sir,” the student says.
“So you believe in God?”
“Absolutely.”
“Is God good?”
“Sure! God’s good.”
“Is God all-powerful? Can God do anything?”
“Yes.”
“Are you good or evil?”
“The Bible says I’m evil.”
The professor grins knowingly. “Aha! The Bible!” He considers for a moment. “Here’s one for you. Let’s say there’s a sick person over here and you can cure him. You can do it. Would you help him? Would you try?”
“Yes sir, I would.”
“So you’re good…!”
“I wouldn’t say that.”
“But why not say that? You’d help a sick and maimed person if you could. Most of us would if we could. But God doesn’t.”
The student does not answer, so the professor continues. “He doesn’t, does he? My brother was a Christian who died of cancer, even though he prayed to Jesus to heal him. How is this Jesus good? Hmmm? Can you answer that one?”
The student remains silent.
“No, you can’t, can you?” the professor says. He takes a sip of water from a glass on his desk to give the student time to relax.

“Let’s start again, young fella. Is God good?”
“Er…yes,” the student says.
“Is Satan good?”
The student doesn’t hesitate on this one. “No.”
“Then where does Satan come from?”
The student falters. “From God”
“That’s right. God made Satan, didn’t he? Tell me, son. Is there evil in this world?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Evil’s everywhere, isn’t it? And God did make everything, correct?”
“Yes.”
“So who created evil?” The professor continued, “If God created everything, then God created evil, since evil exists, and according to the principle that our works define who we are, then God is evil.”
Again, the student has no answer. “Is there sickness? Immorality? Hatred? Ugliness? All these terrible things, do they exist in this world?”
The student squirms on his feet. “Yes.”
“So who created them?”
The student does not answer again, so the professor repeats his question. “Who created them?” There is still no answer. Suddenly the lecturer breaks away to pace in front of the classroom. The class is mesmerized. 

“Tell me,” he continues onto another student. “Do you believe in Jesus Christ, son?”
The student’s voice betrays him and cracks. “Yes, professor, I do.”
The old man stops pacing. “Science says you have five senses you use to identify and observe the world around you. Have you ever seen Jesus?”
“No sir. I’ve never seen Him.”
“Then tell us if you’ve ever heard your Jesus?”
“No, sir, I have not.”
“Have you ever felt your Jesus, tasted your Jesus or smelt your Jesus? Have you ever had any sensory perception of Jesus Christ, or God for that matter?”
“No, sir, I’m afraid I haven’t.”
“Yet you still believe in him?”
“Yes.”
“According to the rules of empirical, testable, demonstrable protocol, science says your God doesn’t exist. What do you say to that, son?”
“Nothing,” the student replies. “I only have my faith.”
“Yes, faith,” the professor repeats. “And that is the problem science has with God. There is no evidence, only faith.”
The student stands quietly for a moment, before asking a question of His own. “Professor, is there such thing as heat?”
“Yes,” the professor replies. “There’s heat.”
“And is there such a thing as cold?”
“Yes, son, there’s cold too.”
“No sir, there isn’t.”

The professor turns to face the student, obviously interested. The room suddenly becomes very quiet. The student begins to explain. “You can have lots of heat, even more heat, super-heat, mega-heat, unlimited heat, white heat, a little heat or no heat, but we don’t have anything called ‘cold’. We can hit up to 458 degrees below zero, which is no heat, but we can’t go any further after that. There is no such thing as cold; otherwise we would be able to go colder than the lowest -458 degrees.”
“Every body or object is susceptible to study when it has or transmits energy, and heat is what makes a body or matter have or transmit energy. Absolute zero (-458 F) is the total absence of heat. You see, sir, cold is only a word we use to describe the absence of heat. We cannot measure cold. Heat we can measure in thermal units because heat is energy. Cold is not the opposite of heat, sir, just the absence of it.”
Silence across the room. A pen drops somewhere in the classroom, sounding like a hammer.
“What about darkness, professor. Is there such a thing as darkness?”
“Yes,” the professor replies without hesitation. “What is night if it isn’t darkness?”
“You’re wrong again, sir. Darkness is not something; it is the absence of something. You can have low light, normal light, bright light, flashing light, but if you have no light constantly you have nothing and it’s called darkness, isn’t it? That’s the meaning we use to define the word.”
“In reality, darkness isn’t. If it were, you would be able to make darkness darker, wouldn’t you?”
The professor begins to smile at the student in front of him. This will be a good semester. “So what point are you making, young man?”

“Yes, professor. My point is, your philosophical premise is flawed to start with, and so your conclusion must also be flawed.”
The professor’s face cannot hide his surprise this time. “Flawed? Can you explain how?”
“You are working on the premise of duality,” the student explains. “You argue that there is life and then there’s death; a good God and a bad God. You are viewing the concept of God as something finite, something we can measure. Sir, science can’t even explain a thought.”
“It uses electricity and magnetism, but has never seen, much less fully understood either one. To view death as the opposite of life is to be ignorant of the fact that death cannot exist as a substantive thing. Death is not the opposite of life, just the absence of it.”
“Now tell me, professor. Do you teach your students that they evolved from a monkey?”
“If you are referring to the natural evolutionary process, young man, yes, of course I do.”
“Have you ever observed evolution with your own eyes, sir?”
The professor begins to shake his head, still smiling, as he realizes where the argument is going. A very good semester, indeed.

“Since no one has ever observed the process of evolution at work and cannot even prove that this process is an on-going endeavor, are you not teaching your opinion, sir? Are you now not a scientist, but a preacher?”
The class is in uproar. The student remains silent until the commotion has subsided.
“To continue the point you were making earlier to the other student, let me give you an example of what I mean.”
The student looks around the room. “Is there anyone in the class who has ever seen the professor’s brain?” The class breaks out into laughter.
“Is there anyone here who has ever heard the professor’s brain, felt the professor’s brain, touched or smelt the professor’s brain? No one appears to have done so. So, according to the established rules of empirical, stable, demonstrable protocol, science says that you have no brain, with all due respect, sir.”
“So if science says you have no brain, how can we trust your lectures, sir?”

Now the room is silent. The professor just stares at the student, his face unreadable.
Finally, after what seems an eternity, the old man answers. “I guess you’ll have to take them on faith.”
“Now, you accept that there is faith, and, in fact, faith exists with life,” the student continues. “Now, sir, is there such a thing as evil?”
Now uncertain, the professor responds, “Of course, there is. We see it everyday. It is in the daily example of man’s inhumanity to man. It is in the multitude of crime and violence everywhere in the world. These manifestations are nothing else but evil.”

To this the student replied, “Evil does not exist sir, or at least it does not exist unto itself. Evil is simply the absence of God. It is just like darkness and cold, a word that man has created to describe the absence of God. God did not create evil. Evil is the result of what happens when man does not have God’s love present in his heart. It’s like the cold that comes when there is no heat or the darkness that comes when there is no light.”
The professor sat down.

Bagasje og VISA-kort

I dag har jeg vært i byen med foreldrene mine og kjøpt koffert, sekk (til håndbagasje) og fikset VISA-kort til meg! Det er ferdig om en ukes tid, sa de i banken.

Både Reisemagasinet og Morris anbefalte Samsonite sine kofferter. Da kunne man få nye deler hvis noe skulle gå i stykker (kofferter blir jo røft behandlet når man flyr), og de er av god kvalitet. Pris: 1399,-

Jeg har hørt at man ikke kan få VISA-kort dersom man er under 18 år, men vi snakket med banken, og de sa det ikke var noe problem så lenge foreldrene mine kunne skrive under for meg. Siden jeg ikke kan pådra meg gjeld, må de stå til ansvar dersom det skjer. Kortet er klart i løpet av en ukes tid.

Så nå kan jeg krysse av 2 viktige ting på "Må gjøre"-lista mi: Kjøpe koffert og skaffe VISA-kort :)

Flybillett bestilt!

Nå har jeg bestilt flybillett fra Kjevik til Gardermoen! Jeg og Margrethe kjøpte ungdomsbilletter (SAS) som kostet 515 kroner. Flyet går 10.30 og ankommer Gardermoen kl. 11.15. Regner med at kanskje noen flere fra Kristiansandsområdet også blir med på det flyet..

Vi skal møte de andre Aspect-utvekslingsstudentene kl. 12.00 - og så fly videre til London kl. 15.10. Der skal vi ha et forkurs som varer hele helga - men det har jeg skrevet om før.

Nå kjenner jeg at det virkelig begynner å nærme seg, og det er med litt "skrekkblandet fryd" at jeg snakker med familien om det. Om ikke lenge er vi over 700 mil borte fra hverandre..

Photo: Sean MacEntee

Policies

Jeg har lest litt på nettsiden til Hastingsbury, skolen jeg skal gå på. Da jeg leste på siden om deres policies leste jeg blant annet dette om mobiltelefoner o.l.:

• "Students must have their phone switched off and in their bag.  If seen, students will be reminded of the college rules, but if they fail to respond the phone will be confiscated and returned to the student at the end of the day."
• "The College sees no reason for students to bring other electronic music, photographic or games devices to College, therefore all audio equipment/devices are banned from College and the wearing of headphones is not permitted whilst on college site."

Like greit, egentlig. Så slipper man de små forstyrrelsene som at en mobil ringer eller mottar melding. Og så lenge jeg kan ha med meg mobilen (og ev. bruke før/etter skolen) går det greit for meg. Men uten den er jeg nok litt lost..
En annen ting jeg leste handlet om IKT. Dere som kjenner meg skjønner at jeg liker dette:

• "At Hastingsbury we believe that all students have the right to develop their Information Technology skills and to learn about the use of Information Technology in the world around them."

Jeg ble imponert over Anti-Mobbing policy'en til Hastingsbury! Et Word-dokument på 8 sider om hva man skal gjøre om man blir mobbet (råd til både elever og foreldre), og hvordan skolen skal hindre mobbing og takle den. Det stod bl.a:

• "We are a TELLING college.  This means that anyone who knows that bullying is happening is expected to report this to any member of staff."
• "DON’T SUFFER IN SILENCE. If you are being bullied, get away from the situation as quickly as possible and tell an adult what has happened straight away. If you have been bullied tell a member of staff or another adult in the college. Tell your family. If you are scared to tell a member of staff or an adult on your own, ask a friend to go with you. Don’t blame yourself for what has happened."
  
  
  Når vi først er inne på temaet; jeg opprettet en gruppe på Facebook for en stund siden. "Sammen mot mobbing". Er du ikke medlem synes jeg du bør melde deg inn i den nå. Per i dag er det 2354 medlemmer.

The sky is that beautiful old parchment in which the sun and the moon keep their diary.

All photos @julieegeland

2 måneder

Bare en liten oppdatering fra meg:

2 måneder igjen!

...og nå surrer tankene som bare det. Har jeg husket alt? Hva gjenstår å gjøre? Hvor mye skal jeg pakke? Når skal jeg pakke? Skal jeg ta med gitaren? Tar jeg med meg norskboka eller lar jeg den ligge hjemme? Når får jeg stipend? Hvor mye får jeg? Har jeg søkt riktig? Hvor mye tjener jeg i løpet av sommeren? Hvordan blir det å si hadet til venner og familie? Snakkes vi mye på Skype? Kommer noen på besøk til meg? Kommer jeg til å reise hjem til jul? Hvordan vil jeg takle hjemlengsel? Hvordan blir første møte med familien? Første skoledag? Hva skal jeg ha på meg? Blir skolen vanskelig? Hvordan er miljøet? Får jeg gode venner? Kommer jeg til å forandre meg? Bli mer selvsikker? Kommer jeg til å få reise litt rundt i England/Storbritannia? Besøke Cambridge? London? Andre steder? Hvordan blir det med mobil, internett og bankkort? Kommer jeg til å være mye sliten? Ha mye å gjøre med skole? Bruke mye tid sammen med venner? Kommer jeg til å ha mange plikter? Gå i kirka? Hvordan skal jeg vende meg til pengesystemet? Hvordan er kollektivtransporten der? Får jeg en fin britisk dialekt? Kommer jeg til å drømme på engelsk? Tenke? Snakke språket flytende? Hvordan blir det å komme hjem igjen? Kommer noen til å møte meg på flyplassen? Og hvordan vil det kommende året påvirke resten av livet mitt?


Dette blir så spennende! Tida har gått så fort.. Snart befinner jeg meg på andre siden av Nordsjøen. Og jeg innrømmer gjerne at jeg synes det er litt skummelt også, eller jeg vet ikke.. Er ikke redd liksom - for både organisasjonen og vertsfamilien kommer jo til å ta godt vare på meg. Det er mer den "frykten for det ukjente" som skremmer meg. Å dra fra alt som er kjent og kjært. Men jeg gleder meg - don't get me wrong! :)

Sommerferie

Siste skoledag i Norge på 1 år og 2 mnd er over. Dette året har gått utrolig fort. Det har til tider vært mye å gjøre, og jeg har opptil flere ganger vært irritert over vanskelig pensum - men nå er det over, og sommerferien smaker ekstra godt. Går det an å si det?

I kveld var jeg på stranda sammen med mine beste venner. Kjempekoselig! Kommer til å savne dem masse når jeg er i England. Og jeg håper jo at de kommer til å savne meg litt også da, hehe..

Dette var også siste gang jeg traff Kathrine på et helt år. Hun flytter til California med familien sin om få dager. Håper du får et fantastisk år! Det er godt vi har Facebook, Skype og blogg. Gleder meg til å lese og høre om hvordan du har det på andre siden av jordkloden. Og så gleder jeg meg til vi sees igjen i Norge!