tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-240447238522390484.post8855402623656667327..comments2024-03-09T00:51:33.602-07:00Comments on Little Catholic Bubble: Dawkins is no EinsteinLeila@LittleCatholicBubblehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09357573787143230160noreply@blogger.comBlogger327125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-240447238522390484.post-84922052132254104522013-10-15T02:33:00.176-07:002013-10-15T02:33:00.176-07:00Are you going to say a sincere and honest sorry to...<i>Are you going to say a sincere and honest sorry to them for the pain you caused them by your headstrong silliness?</i><br /><br />Francis, it is best that you not try to judge my actions. I don't need a guilt trip right now. My family loves me and they understand. Of course I apologized. Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06976342950011924171noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-240447238522390484.post-34202785061077629302013-10-14T23:04:34.644-07:002013-10-14T23:04:34.644-07:00But Bill, despite your denial, you did do somethin...But Bill, despite your denial, you did do something terrible to your family who loves you! Are you going to say a sincere and honest sorry to them for the pain you caused them by your headstrong silliness? Are you going to apologize to them, hold them, love them, and commit to be with them for a decent while now? Your meaningful surrender to a higher power will be some time coming, but for right now are you able to dedicate your existence to the joy and affirmation of others who look to fulfillment in relationship with you?Francis Choudhuryhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01146223983345452362noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-240447238522390484.post-31112341980871970002013-10-12T11:09:35.400-07:002013-10-12T11:09:35.400-07:00Thank you Nubby. I do want to point out that I am ...Thank you Nubby. I do want to point out that I am only able to talk to Jesus by considering him to be an imaginary friend. Right now, the relief that I didn't do a terrible thing to my family and the peace from surrendering my fate to a higher power are all I have to go on. It's as if I were being rescued but I don't know anything about the rescuer. Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06976342950011924171noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-240447238522390484.post-70695770220986730032013-10-11T14:24:08.528-07:002013-10-11T14:24:08.528-07:00Stay strong, Bill. Keep actively seeking Him. Yo...Stay strong, Bill. Keep actively seeking Him. You are loved. Nubbyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15972118374098863290noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-240447238522390484.post-66543422203208340322013-10-11T10:20:19.896-07:002013-10-11T10:20:19.896-07:00God is full of miracles, even to this day….
I ca...<i>God is full of miracles, even to this day…. </i><br /><br />I can't change my worldview that there is no such thing as miracles that defy the laws of nature, but I do believe that some things that do comply with those laws do seem to be miraculous. Thank you for your prayers and well wishes. Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06976342950011924171noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-240447238522390484.post-64653890794878557642013-10-11T09:20:35.345-07:002013-10-11T09:20:35.345-07:00Bill, please know that you have the prayers and go...Bill, please know that you have the prayers and good wishes for a speedy recovery from all of us here in the Bubble. God is full of miracles, even to this day….Leila@LittleCatholicBubblehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09357573787143230160noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-240447238522390484.post-15301779411229993972013-10-11T09:10:46.425-07:002013-10-11T09:10:46.425-07:00Praise God you are alive! I will be praying hard f...Praise God you are alive! I will be praying hard for you Bill. "Jesus I trust in You!" Stacy Trasancoshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14638075878905614981noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-240447238522390484.post-63531648001113284372013-10-11T08:55:17.771-07:002013-10-11T08:55:17.771-07:00Bill, thank God you're still with us, a unique...Bill, thank God you're still with us, a unique being who can never be repeated in this world. In case it helps, I went through chronic depression for two and a half years once, precisely at a time when I was farthest from God. I too went through an intensive program (at a psychiatric hospital, in fact) but, to be honest, that didn't help much. Hopefully the program you're attending will be useful. What lifted me out of my debilitated state was sheer unmerited grace from God. It came suddenly, when I least expected it, through no effort of my own, and led me to deep conversion of heart. I pray that you too will be open to this type of profound and lasting change, which leads to unassailable peace and most dependable other worldly wisdom. You've made a start into a new and meaningful life; pray and be resolved never to retreat from it but only to go forward. I'll keep you in my prayers and surely others who have met you via the Bubble will too. Love lives here. God bless.Francis Choudhuryhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01146223983345452362noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-240447238522390484.post-74573437563603283832013-10-11T08:22:36.429-07:002013-10-11T08:22:36.429-07:00Hallelujah, Bill! Welcome back! And thanks for sha...Hallelujah, Bill! Welcome back! And thanks for sharing what happened to you. God reached out so many times to you, but it was YOU, in the end, who took hold of His hand. So much more beauty and peace awaiting you!Sebastianhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03993048824594772782noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-240447238522390484.post-41752713897078407942013-10-11T06:56:23.283-07:002013-10-11T06:56:23.283-07:00I am posting this on two of the threads that I hav...I am posting this on two of the threads that I have commented on so excuse me if you get it twice. I arrived early at my outpatients program so I have a few minutes to tell my story. I'm dictating it so please excuse the typos and try to phonetically understand anything that doesn't make sense. Since I turned to atheism, my whole sense of purpose for my life has hinged on how successful my life has been. For various reasons, it has not been very successful. That made me so depressed that I made plans to end my life. A string of events including the government shutdown when my wife would not have to go to work for a while made that time optimum in my mind to go through with it. So on October 1 I went to the liquor store and bought a six pack of Sam Adams and a bag of kettle cooked potato chips and set out to end my life. I won't get into the details except to say that a hose that I ran from the exhaust into my car came out by itself two times before I could finally get it to stay in there. During that time my son got the email that I have sent out to my family and was able to send the police to where I was. I'm really hurrying this because it is time for me to go inside. To make a long story short, I was hospitalized for a week and M now attending an outpatient program. I emailed Leila as soon as I got my iPhone back. In describing what I had been through I recognized what had happened to me as a series of small miracles. I decided to just give up on my atheism in turn to Jesus and I really have to make a long story short I am at peace with that decision. Got to go. Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06976342950011924171noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-240447238522390484.post-61781718464934878732013-10-10T12:46:40.780-07:002013-10-10T12:46:40.780-07:00Bill, I'm happy to hear that. You remain in my...Bill, I'm happy to hear that. You remain in my prayers.JoAnna Wahlundhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09942928659520676271noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-240447238522390484.post-49075294987317012252013-10-10T12:18:26.408-07:002013-10-10T12:18:26.408-07:00Bill, this has been a horrible day for me and &quo...Bill, this has been a horrible day for me and "Jesus, I trust in You" is about all I can get right. Your note brought a smile! Thank you. I admire your humility and honesty.Stacy Trasancoshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14638075878905614981noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-240447238522390484.post-34227419533644542862013-10-10T11:32:30.636-07:002013-10-10T11:32:30.636-07:00For those with whom I corresponded stating my athe...For those with whom I corresponded stating my atheist views, something has happened to me that has restored some of the faith I once had. I don't have much free time to discuss it right now, but I have gotten in the habit of saying "Jesus, I trust in you" again as I used to do and feel the peace that I once had. I renounce my atheism. Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06976342950011924171noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-240447238522390484.post-12924253983263106872013-09-16T07:04:42.350-07:002013-09-16T07:04:42.350-07:00Just admit that the person who wrote it knew virtu...<i>Just admit that the person who wrote it knew virtually nothing about the subject he was writing about, as is the case for most of the Bible.</i><br /><br />What a pity.Francis Choudhuryhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01146223983345452362noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-240447238522390484.post-33918331861434482562013-09-16T03:00:00.730-07:002013-09-16T03:00:00.730-07:00A Dummies Guide to Genesis
In the beginning God b...<i>A Dummies Guide to Genesis<br /><br />In the beginning God brought about an infinitely dense singularity, designed to spawn everything that we know as our three dimensional universe today. </i><br /><br />Francis,<br /><br />If you are going to try to tell me that I am failing to understand how Genesis relates to the creation of the universe, then you can't make up your own version of it. Just admit that the person who wrote it knew virtually nothing about the subject he was writing about, as is the case for most of the Bible. Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06976342950011924171noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-240447238522390484.post-25462991103034703522013-09-15T23:48:58.984-07:002013-09-15T23:48:58.984-07:00Jesuit priest Georges LeMaitre was the first to sh...Jesuit priest Georges LeMaitre was the first to show, scientifically and mathematically, that our Universe could be subject to the laws of General Relativity and be in a constant state of expansion.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06976342950011924171noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-240447238522390484.post-47855431293652592922013-09-15T19:57:44.900-07:002013-09-15T19:57:44.900-07:00The desire for God is written in the human heart, ...The desire for God is written in the human heart, because man is created by God and for God; and God never ceases to draw man to Himself. Only in God will he find the truth and happiness he never stops searching for... <br /><br />In many ways, throughout history down to the present day, men have given expression to their quest for God in their religious beliefs and behavior: in their prayers, sacrifices, rituals, meditations, and so forth. These forms of religious expression, despite the ambiguities they often bring with them, are so universal that one may well call man a religious being... <br /><br />But this "intimate and vital bond of man to God" can be forgotten, overlooked, or even explicitly rejected by man. Such attitudes can have different causes: revolt against evil in the world; religious ignorance or indifference; the cares and riches of this world (Matt 13:22); the scandal of bad example on the part of believers; currents of thought hostile to religion; finally, that attitude of sinful man which makes him hide from God out of fear (Gen 3:8f.) and flee His call (Jon 1:3). <br /><br />"Let the hearts of those who seek the Lord rejoice," (Psalm 105[104]:3) <br /><br />Although man can forget God or reject Him, He never ceases to call every man to seek Him, so as to find life and happiness. But this search for God demands of man every effort of intellect, a sound will, "an upright heart" (Psalm 97[96]:11), as well as the witness of others who teach Him to seek God. <br /><br />“You are great, O Lord, and greatly to be praised: great is your power and your wisdom is without measure” (Ps 145[144]:3; 147[146],5) and man, so small a part of Your creation, wants to praise You: this man, though clothed with mortality and bearing the evidence of sin and the proof that “you withstand the proud” (Jas 4:6). Despite everything, man, though but a small a part of your creation, wants to praise You. You yourself encourage him to delight in Your praise, for You have made us for Yourself, and our heart is restless until it rests in You,” (St Augustine, Confessions 1,1,1).<br /><br />- Catechism of the Catholic Church, § 27-30 Francis Choudhuryhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01146223983345452362noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-240447238522390484.post-26540231078857192882013-09-15T19:15:40.647-07:002013-09-15T19:15:40.647-07:00Bill,
A Dummies Guide to Genesis
In the beginnin...Bill,<br /><br />A Dummies Guide to Genesis<br /><br />In the beginning God brought about an infinitely dense singularity, designed to spawn everything that we know as our three dimensional universe today. The earth (and indeed the universe) was formless (there being no matter, all things at t=0 existing only as a concept in the mind/intelligence of God). Physically there "existed" only the darkness of nothingness, i.e., the emptiness of the deep (void). And God's Spirit (His creative power - His Spirit, the "Giver of Life") acted upon the nothingness. God decreed, "Let there be light." And all of a sudden light emerged from the singularity. "Something" suddenly came to be, as opposed to the preceding "nothing". From the decay of the photons of this light, matter and antimatter began to be formed. The matter cooled, condensed and coagulated into stars and planets, spinning and orbiting in space with the forces which the animating Spirit of God had infused it with. As the earth's spin exposed parts of its surface periodically to the light of its own sun, day was formed, followed by night. And thus, with the earth's alternating between the darkness (night) and the light which it received (day), time was created.<br /><br />One doesn't have to be a rocket scientist to see that the Creation account in Genesis and the sequence proposed by Big Bang model are parallels. Even an averagely intelligent primary school kid gets it.<br /><br />By the way, do you know who first postulated the (now widely accepted) Big Bang theory of the beginning of the universe?Francis Choudhuryhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01146223983345452362noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-240447238522390484.post-46220166812649990442013-09-15T17:03:17.371-07:002013-09-15T17:03:17.371-07:00"Show me anything in this that describes the ..."Show me anything in this that describes the Big Bang."<br /><br />Bill, you are arguing a straw man. The Bible is <i>not</i> a science textbook and never was meant to be. But surely you know this. You seem to be someone who studies the Church a lot. How could you misunderstand or fail to know this very basic truth?Leila@LittleCatholicBubblehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09357573787143230160noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-240447238522390484.post-19246521179287892262013-09-15T15:22:22.253-07:002013-09-15T15:22:22.253-07:001 In the beginning God created the heavens and the...<i>1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. 2 Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.<br /><br />3 And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. 4 God saw that the light was good, and he separated the light from the darkness. 5 God called the light “day,” and the darkness he called “night.” And there was evening, and there was morning—the first day.</i><br /><br />Show me anything in this that describes the Big Bang. Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06976342950011924171noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-240447238522390484.post-3939733363422536212013-09-15T13:15:42.664-07:002013-09-15T13:15:42.664-07:00You may be able to find scientists who believe the...<i>You may be able to find scientists who believe there is but many more know that there isn't. Ridiculous.</i><br /><br />You've been counting, have you, Bill? Can you share the list and the score of believers vs non believers with us? We'd be soooo keen to know! No, really.<br /><br />And your response to my query about your own noteworthy qualifications to criticize experts in various fields while proffering these profound and penetrating pronouncements of your own - as you've been doing, on the hour, each hour, for days now - was...????????Francis Choudhuryhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01146223983345452362noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-240447238522390484.post-91988706575278397482013-09-15T12:54:25.976-07:002013-09-15T12:54:25.976-07:00Oh, really? You've just demonstrated to the en...<i>Oh, really? You've just demonstrated to the entire readership here that you either don't understand Genesis or know anything worth the mention about the universe. Possibly both.</i><br /><br />What is there not to understand about the Creation Myth? You have to really, really want to believe to think there is anything to salvage from Genesis to explain anything. You may be able to find scientists who believe there is but many more know that there isn't. Ridiculous. Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06976342950011924171noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-240447238522390484.post-39976915552310619972013-09-15T12:00:50.106-07:002013-09-15T12:00:50.106-07:00"It is a real stretch to compare the Big Bang...<i>"It is a real stretch to compare the Big Bang to "the biblical concept of God". There is hardly any correlation between Genesis and what we know about the universe."</i> <br /><br />Oh, really? You've just demonstrated to the entire readership here that you either don't understand Genesis or know anything worth the mention about the universe. Possibly both.<br /><br />Incidentally, your distinguished qualifications to dismiss the thoughtful comments of an accomplished physicist with a grandiose two sentences were...?Francis Choudhuryhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01146223983345452362noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-240447238522390484.post-44551971020626704482013-09-15T11:42:55.804-07:002013-09-15T11:42:55.804-07:00Very much like the biblical concept of God: not ph...<i>Very much like the biblical concept of God: not physical, outside of time, able to create a universe.</i><br /><br />It is a real stretch to compare the Big Bang to "the biblical concept of God". There is hardly any correlation between Genesis and what we know about the universe. Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06976342950011924171noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-240447238522390484.post-79872881055276475512013-09-15T11:24:16.660-07:002013-09-15T11:24:16.660-07:002. Now… given that we are able “go back” in time t...2. Now… given that we are able “go back” in time to our origins (with the first light of the universe literally still bathing us now, 13 billion light years later), how come we can’t (yet) travel forward in time by at least the same amount? Has “the future” too not already emerged from the singularity? Were the past, present and future not all one at t=0? The singularity no longer exists – therefore all that had to emerge from it has already done so, right? So where is the future? Where did today reside yesterday? And where does tomorrow reside today, in the time-space continuum? Or in whose hand is it held? Is tomorrow to be duly given to only some of us? Or will all “children of the singularity” somehow know “tomorrow” just as they have known the past (which was their present)? <br /><br />Given that by its very nature, anything beyond the horizon of a singularity cannot be investigated by science, I contend that we will, ultimately, be compelled, by deductive reasoning (a most elementary and essential tool of science), to merely attribute the most feasible/likely characteristics to it, and leave it at that – as we might do with a Mystery towards which a plethora of evidence overwhelmingly points. And those characteristics of the singularity (or its Cause) would, in my view, include: <br />a) the essence of being (“I Am”) <br />b) life giving and governing laws (“justice”) and <br />c) a benevolent disposition towards expression, creation, growth, order, development and sustenance i.e. a bias for all things to be, rather than not be (“love”).<br /><br />3. We might be laughing now at Richard Dawkins’ clumsy attempt to define nothing as something, but he might, for all we know, have the last laugh, though not quite in the way he expected it. For he might be hailed one day as one of the first scientists, to verbalize, albeit tangentially, that nothing (as commonly understood) cannot give rise to anything (as claimed by some unthinking atheists) and that the universe did indeed come into being from “something” (which is but a step away from “someone”). Thus, perhaps we should consider his current statements to be a first faltering step toward the point where scientists and theologians, must, eventually meet – and bow in humble surrender to The Greatest Mystery of all.<br /><br />As orthodox Jewish physicist Gerald Schroeder wrote in "The Big Bang Creation: God or the Laws of Nature": <br /><br /><i>"The Grand Design</i> (a popular science book written by physicist Stephen Hawking) <i>breaks the news, bitter to some, that … to create a universe from absolute nothing, God is not necessary. All that is needed are the laws of nature. [That is…] there can have been a Big Bang creation without the help of God, provided the laws of nature pre-date the universe. Our concept of time begins with the creation of the universe. Therefore if the laws of nature created the universe, these laws must have existed prior to time; that is the laws of nature would be outside of time. What we have then is totally non-physical laws, outside of time, creating a universe. Now that description might sound somewhat familiar. Very much like the biblical concept of God: not physical, outside of time, able to create a universe."</i>Francis Choudhuryhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01146223983345452362noreply@blogger.com