Merry Christmas

I wrote previously concerning (indirectly) Steve Jobs and the cult of personality that seems to (have) surround(ed) him. I thought it amazing that people were able to look past his faults as a human being all because he gave them something shiny. Then I came across this post from a Christian blogger titled "What Steve Jobs Can Teach The Church." Now he admits that as a person, he can't teach it much, but he looks at one aspect of the way that Steve ran Apple.

Another reason that Apple eschews market research is that in Steve’s opinion, “people don’t know what they want until you show it to them.” This to me is a much more telling reason and one that can help inform how the church “does business.” While it may strike some people as elitist, the message of the Christian gospel is exactly the kind of thing that “people don’t know they want until you show it to them.” Perhaps they may feel that something is missing in life, but apart for divine intervention, non-Christians aren’t specifically looking for the truth of the gospel. The gospel simultaneously tells people they are far worse off than they think they are and yet the grace of God is far better than they could ever imagine. It’s just not the kind of message you could “guess” or that any kind of market research would reveal people are looking for.

It is presently three days before Christmas. A time when people look to spend copious amounts of money that they don't have on gifts for the people in their life. Its a time when people look to celebrate by going to as many parties as they can and drinking copious amounts of alcohol. Its also a time when many people are hit by bouts depression the most and suicide rates rise. Christmas, or at least how we in the modern western world have taken to celebrating Christmas, is rather a sad time. We talk a good game about love, joy and peace towards our fellow man, but don't get in the way of that frantic shopper on the hunt for the last 'toy of the year' or the person who's had a bit too much egg nog but still decides to drive.

I have no problem with wanting to share things with your loved ones. I have no problem with the idea of having a drink or two while celebrating Christmas. But Christmas is not about shopping, the headaches of overspending or to focus on what we don't have. These are the things that the world tries to shame us with, to make us feel inadequate and incomplete.

No, Christmas is (supposed) to be about celebrating the fact that God loved mankind so much that he sent his only begotten son, Jesus Christ, to live as a man and then to die for the sins of the world. This is the time when we can remember and rejoice knowing that God has intervened, that he has acted on our behalf and that we are loved by our creator. Christmas is a celebration of Christ and because“people don’t know what they want until you show it to them.” I want to show you the Gospel of Christ Jesus, for as the Apostle Paul writes in his letter to the Romans "I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes" (Romans 1:16).

To serve and protect who?

It wasn't surprising to me when the various levels of government in the US and other countries moved in to forcibly remove OWS protesters from the camps that they had established in many major cities. The individual's right to assemble and to speak was little more than a puff of air in the face of armed and armored riot police wielding truncheons and pepper spray.

Government oppression, massive bank fraud - 5
People - 0

After the various bailouts that the people opposed but were forced to pay for, the government's lack of willingness to protect homeowners from illegal foreclosure, the government's complicity in the mass fraud perpetrated by the various TBTF banks by not enforcing regulations or punishing those guilty of crimes and the recent repression of the people, it is nice to see that the people haven't given up. Of course I don't expect a different result.

The Occupy Wall Street protests are moving on to a new target. 

Protesters across the United States are reclaiming foreclosed homes and boarded-up properties, signalling a tactical shift for the movement against wealth inequality. Groups in more than 25 cities held protests Tuesday on behalf of homeowners facing evictions.

It is in no way surprising to see the following response from those on the front lines of the police state:

In Portland, Ore., police spokesman Sgt. Pete Simpson said he's aware the movement called for people to make a political statement by occupying foreclosed homes, but said police will "treat them all as trespassers." 

In Seattle, police spokesman Sgt. Sean Whitcomb said his department sees squatting in private properties as the same violation of trespassing Occupy Seattle made when it camped in a downtown park. 

"It's no different than when people were trespassing [in the park]," Whitcomb said. "We went nights and days, letting people camp in the park. We relied on education and outreach, rather than enforcing the law to the letter."

So when the banks were illegally forcing people from their homes through faulty foreclosures, the police were there to force people from their homes on behalf of the banks. Now that the people want to reclaim what is theirs, the police will be there to arrest them in order to protect the sanctity of the bank's property.

Its unfortunate that this is what things have come to, but it has been long said that people get the government that they deserve and when people continue to empower a increasingly centralized government, one shouldn't be surprised when it begins to flex its muscle for its own purposes rather than those of the people they are supposed to serve. 

Climate change: bogeyman for the 21st century

Science has taken on a life of its own in modern society. Where once, in the supposed Dark Ages, people looked to clerics and monks for answers and proscriptions for the future, our modern society has empowered the 'scientist' to take over this role. But the human reliance upon faith has not changed. Whereas once the majority of society placed their faith in the wisdom of theologians, now the majority of society places their faith in the wisdom of scientists. Gone are the habits and tonsures, replaced by white lab coats and pocket protectors. But faith remains.

Science is a wonderful tool that seeks to answer questions concerning the natural world and universe. It is a method of investigation that continually seeks to refine its information by constantly questioning itself rather than letting a matter rest. But there is a difference between science and scientists. Science is an idea, a process of inquiry. Scientists are human beings, just as flawed and prone to the foibles of man as any other. Yet the ideal of the former has been bestowed upon the latter, transforming mere humans in the quest for understanding to fonts of knowledge that must always be believed. They are the modern day cleric, leading their flock of believers in the church of Scienthology. 

Just as religious believers in the past lacked the knowledge and ability (literacy, understanding of Latin and ancient Greek) to understand theological texts and so relied upon those 'in the know' as a basis for understanding things not known, so today science believers rely upon scientists as the source of knowledge given their own lack of knowledge and ability (vast sums of money, research laboratories, space craft), placing in the scientist the same reverence as was once placed upon the cleric. 

Faith has not been replaced, simply the receptacle of that faith has changed. 

That is why it is not surprising to see people staging protests concerning Canada's stance on renewing the Kyoto protocols this past week in Durban. They argue that the science is finished. The results are in and there is no room to question the 'science'. 

Really?

Despite the revelations that have come from the leaked emails from East Anglia. Despite the lack of global warming for the past decade. Despite scientists not being able to produce data sets, or having had their data shown to have been falsified. Despite the fact that earlier claims concerning AGW being a result of flawed computer models. Despite the reliance upon computer models rather than the scientific method of experiment and replication. Despite the admission that some scientists have allowed personal views govern results rather than the data. 

Despite all of this and the very fact that science as a process is never finished questioning (for that is the strength of the scientific method), we are continuously bombarded by members of Scienthology to stop questioning climate change science and the very scientists themselves. The matter is settled, if you question it you are to be shamed and abused. Just get on with your life and give us your money.

Science is a tool that works properly when employed properly. It helps us understand a great deal about the universe and its willingness to question, to not rest has been its strength. We didn't rest on the work of Newton and today continue to question the work of Einstein. So why should we stop questioning the work of climate scientists that have proven to be far more questionable than either Newton or Einstein?

Science demands that we question and remain skeptical, for that is what will drive the growth understanding and knowledge. Saying that the 'science is finished' is the ultimate betrayal of science.

Update:

I came across this list of things to watch our for when science is put forth to the public:

I’ve seen a lot of “scientific” panics ginned up from nonexistent or scanty evidence over the last several decades. There’s a pattern to these episodes, a characteristic stench that becomes recognizable after a while. I’ll describe some of the indicia, which I’ve culled from episodes like the Alar scare, the ozone-hole brouhaha, the AIDS panic (are you old enough to remember when it was predicted to become endemic among heterosexuals in the U.S.?), acid rain, and even the great global cooling flap of 1975. 

So. Here is a non-exclusive list of seven eight symptoms to watch out for:

I'll only point to one symptom in relation to my post:

Rhetoric that mixes science with the tropes of moral panic. When the argument for theory X slides from “theory X is supported by evidence” to “only bad/sinful/uncaring people disbelieve theory X”, you can be even more sure that theory X is junk science. Consciously or unconsciously, advocates who say these sorts of things are trying to induce a state of preference falsification in which people are peer-pressured to publicly affirm a belief in theory X in spite of private doubts.

Now compare that to this ad from the 10:10 movement aimed at combating global warming.