Science and Religion are orthogonal

Science describes how things work. Religion tells why things are the way they are. The two do not oppose each other but each is a part of knowing about things.

In mathematics when we graph an equation with two variables, X and Y, the two axises are at right angles (orthogonal) to each other. The value of X and Y are independent of each other until the equation is considered. With different equations the value of Y is different for a value of X. For example: for the equation X=Y, when X=2 then Y=2, and for the equation 3X=Y, Y=6 when X is the same value of 2.

How (science) and why (religion) are the variables, X and Y, in the graph of the equation of existence. The domain of Science is the physical and the domain of Religion is the spiritual. Knowing how things work does not tell us why they work. Neither does knowing why tell us how they work. You need both to fully understand existence.

However there are two problems. The first is that different groups of people have different ideas of why things happen. The second problem is that some people confuse the why and the how.

There are different religions in our world. Native Americans view the why different than Christians and both are different than Pagans to name three of the hundreds of belief systems or religions. For each the equation of existence is different so the why is different for the how. Which is the true and correct equation?

Some people confuse the how and why. Because the how and why are related they get confused and think they are same thing. Distance and altitude are both measured in feet but they are not the same. You should not confuse the altitude of a city and distance to a city if you want to drive there. If you do get the two confused you might run out of gas or time.

Many of the people who are pushing Intelligent Design have the how and why confused. The idea of why of the changes in evolution occur the way they do has nothing to do with the fact that evolution occurs. The rest of the people who are pushing Intelligent Design just want to teach their brand of religion in the public schools.

The people pushing Intelligent Design do not have any idea of what science is about.

Who’s in charge?

Everyone knows that if you are the manufacture or designer of an item that is flawed then you are responsible to make it right, that is replace it or make a refund. If you do something that causes harm to others, again your are responsible. You should do something to right the wrong or make restitution to the party that was wronged. This is true even if the harm comes about because of a mistake on your part. Making excuses is not making restitution.

If you start a war based on a mistake, then shouldn’t you do everything you can to stop it? Of course, if the reason given is not the real reason for the war, then the war is not based on a mistake and you should “stay the course.”

So if you are the intelligent’s behind “Intelligent Design” then aren’t you responsible for the flaws resulting from your design?

So question is, when is it going to be made right?

I love fruitcake

I know that there are many jokes about fruitcakes. The comic strip Garfield had such a joke about fruitcakes today.

I don't care for the light brown colored cakes, I like the dark rich ones. And its better if its moist. If it is too dry, I soak it in rum for a few days. Some times even if its not too dry I soak it in rum. Dark rum is better than light colored rum.

Excuse me while I go get a piece of fruitcake. Now my fingers are sticky and I have to clean the keyboard. :-)

Its hard to find good dark moist fruitcakes. A reliable source of good fruitcakes is the Assumption Abbey in Ava, Mo. I have mail ordered a Fruitcake from them every year for over ten years. I am the only one in my house that likes the fruitcake so I get to eat the whole thing. Boy, oh boy, oh boy.

I often wonder about all the jokes about fruitcakes, do most people really think that badly about fruitcakes and I just outed myself or do most people really like fruitcake and don't want to say so?

I bet most people have not eaten a good rich rum soaked piece of fruitcake.

Christmas Cantata

Sunday (Dec 18th) was the big Christmas music Sunday for the church choir. We even had an orchestra performing with the choir. I sing tenor in the choir. We sang two services and my voice is tired. Since I have stopped teaching my voice is not as strong. Also age does effect my singing voice. I lost my high A and few years ago (5 or 6 years?) and now my high G is gone also. When the tenor part splits I now sing second tenor. Its a bit sad as I loved singing first tenor but can no longer reach the highest notes.

But I stilled enjoyed yesterday morning. I just love to sing. I started singing in junior high school and sang in the schools double quartet. In high school I sang in the quartet and we got "1" in the state competitions two year in a row. I don't have a solo voice but I do blend well in a choir. Oh, the Cantata we sang was "The Winter Rose" by Joseph Martin. I think we sounded very good.

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow

And boy did it snow. We got about 10 inches here. Its the lightest most powerery (sp?) snow I have seen in a long while. A snow shovel full weights almost nothing. Even so, its going to take a while to shovel out the driveway in order to get the car out onto the street. And its cold, very cold. Its 6 degrees. The only good thing is that there is almost no wind. Its funny that one of the local TV weather forecasters had predicted total snow fall for this winter was to be 11 inches. He said he would be revising his forecast. :-)

I think I will be spending a lot of my time today shoveling snow. I live on a corner lot and have the sidewalks on my side of the street. I am going to take my time as I don't want to become one of those guys who has a heart attack while working in the snow.

Well, I've warmed up now - - so its back outside for me.