The May 2010 Euthanasia Prevention Coalition Newsletter can now be found at: http://www.euthanasiaprevention.on.ca/Newsletters/Newsletter108(May2010)(RGB).pdf Bill C-384 was soundly defeated by a vote of 228 to 59. Check how the Members of Parliament voted at: http://www.euthanasiaprevention.on.ca/HowTheyVoted.pdf On June 5, 2010, we are co-hosting the US/Canda Push-Back Seminar at the Radisson Gateway Hotel at the Seattle/Tacoma Airport. The overwhelming defeat of Bill C-384 proved that we can Push-Back the euthanasia lobby in the US and Canada and convince people that euthanasia and assisted suicide are a dangerous public policy. Register for the Seminar at: http://www.euthanasiaprevention.on.ca/2010SeminarFlyer(RGB)(LetterFormat).pdf The Schindler family are being attacked by a Florida television station and Michael Schiavo. The Euthanasia Prevention Coalition is standing in solidarity with the Schindler family. My blog comments: http://alexschadenberg.blogspot.com/2010/05/att
Reflections from the pastoral ministry of an Evangelical Catholic Priest.
Hi Tim,
ReplyDeleteIn my opinion, Mr. Camping's cardinal sin is that he made his religious dogma specific and easily falsifiable. Had he left his apocalyptic musings vague and non-specific, his fellow Christians would not be tripping over themselves to point out his misguided “theology”. Remember – the only thing that separates most Christians from Mr. Camping is not his eschatology, but his insistence on pinpointing a specific date on the calendar.
What Mr. Camping’s musings do is highlight two elephants in the sanctuary of all religious folks:
• Any religious claim can comfortably exist, and even contradict our share observed reality, as long as it is vague. Take any religious claim – it enjoys longevity precisely because it avoids conflicting with what we can readily observe (e.g. Jesus rose from the dead – no body, no tomb, no contradictory evidence).
• Even when a religious claim runs smack into the wall of reality, religious thinking can find a way to co-exist with the ensuing cognitive dissonance. For example, take the belief that a soul survives our physical death: the soul is nothing if not the essence of a human being (i.e. personality, perception et al). Nevertheless, our personality and perception can perish once the physical brain is damaged. But this is “no problema” for the religiously inclined – simply ignore the implications and double down your bets and insist that god magically smooths over the observed biological interdependence between mind and body.
Even though Camping has failed spectacularly in his prophecy, I predict that he and his hardcore believers will emerge even STRONGER in their faith. Just like any other religious adherent who encounters a rude punch in the face from reality, he will pick himself up and see success in his failure.
You guys share more in common with Mr. Camping than you care to admit.
Cheers…Martin