conversations with sydney: part two

Tony: Dear Andrea,

talking point: i think there is a quantitative difference between miracles and sleight-of-hand.

Tony: What is it then ?

Andrea: well, for me, miracles are witnessed acts that contravene the known laws of the universe. sleight of hand is elaborately constructed illusion. criss angel is a favourite of mine :)

talking point: is that 2000+ years later, HE is the one that we still remember.

Tony: The same could be said of any religion and their god(s) Time and the number of believers does not make something true.

Andrea: hmmm... now personally, i don't think i could support that statement. i am a huge believer in "you can fool some of the people most of the time..." etc etc. but some of the greatest minds in history, as well as huge numbers of more practical folk over time have seen the Truth. that to me gives it tremendous credibility.

Tony: In my area of business, thousands of companies around the world practise "Six Sigma" and billions of dollars have been spent on it ... but it is total statistical and practical nonsense ... part of the reason that companies like Ford and GM are facing Chapter 11 whilst the Japanese storm past them.

Andrea: well, i suppose we'd have to wait another two thousand year to see if that argument holds true? :) i mean, you are talking about fads that are less than what... 50 years old?

talking point: "the amazing randi"! he lost all credibility with me a few years back when he shot off his mouth once too often.

Tony: I'd be most interested to hear about it !

Andrea: i will admit it was a long time ago, and don't remember names - but there was a family in the states that appeared to be beset by a "poltergeist". at any rate, something very strange was clearly going on at their house. being very private people, they actually tried to avoid media attention but "the amazing randi" rushed straight over to "debunk" whatever was going on. unfortunately, they wouldn't let him into the house. so he proceeded to "debunk" them anyway. sadly, he is a calssic example of what robert anton wilson calls "scientific orthodoxy", whose adherents are as fanatical as any auto da fe inquisitor. randi didn't actually care what might or might not have been going on in that house - he had a platform to espouse and damn the facts or any sort of investigation!
then there was that whole CSICOP scandal where facts were fabricated outright to support their "debunking" of michel gauquelin

science, sadly, is often not about the search for truth, but rather the forwarding of a bias. as more and more people compete for fewer and fewer research dollars, "science" as a concept, in many ways has become the enemy it sought to destroy.

talking point: i knew i would be taking on the yoke of the church's history

Tony: Why, for heavens sake !!??? (if you'll excuse the pun) . Why not just take it to the streets as Jesus did ? That's where people need it most !!

Andrea: the church does that too. its a much more far-reaching enterprise than many people think.

Tony: No, I haven't read NT Wright. I do find it hypocritical that the Church does not follow it's own 2nd commandment though. A great virtue preached by Jesus and Buddha is humility and letting go of the ego ... I don't see much of it in the Church ... especially the pope, in all his spendour, is not much of an ad for humility ... I have much more respect for the Dalai Lama than the pope, or Anglican leaders, in this regard.

Andrea: yes, but again, the bible speaks just as mightily of the Glory of God and the Church as an expression of that. some churches have erred on one side, other churches have erred on the other side. see, the issue with the Church is that the Church is US: the broken, fallen creatures that God has chosen to work through. WE get it wrong. we also get it right - and this is why charitable relief organizations are almost without exception christian; why christians are the first ones in and the last ones out of disaster areas; why many third world countries populations are being taught to read and write, are being fed and being taught to support themselves, and why street-people closer to home have shelter, food, resources. until the state took over a few short years ago - it was the Church alone that cared for these people.

Tony: Best regards,

Andrea: hope you are having a good day!

TXXX