Destroying the universe?

It looks like someone is trying to sue to stop scientists from running something called a Large Hadron Collider. Check out the article here. Basically, some people are worried that this Collider could create a black hole that might swallow the earth. Or the Collider could destroy the universe.

As far as I know, there's no real scientific consensus on whether the universe is infinite or not. But I think this article proves that either the Large Hadron Collider will not destroy the universe, or the universe isn't infinite. If the universe is infinite, then basically everything that could possibly happen in 13 billion years would have happened somewhere. Since we're on a relatively new planet, odds are, aliens would've already developed Large Hadron Colliders, and some of them would've tested it. Obviously, it did not destroy the universe. But we don't know what happened to their planets. On the other hand, if the universe is not infinite, there is a chance we might be the first to develop this technology. Should we be worried?

I do not exist

"God spoke to me, repeating four simple words: 'I do not exist.'"

I just read an interview with a guy named Peter Rollins on one of my favourite websites, The Wittenburg Door. (If you noticed that they don't know how to spell Wittenberg, your knowledge of German geography is much greater than mine. I had to be told about that.) Anyway, Peter Rollins has a pretty interesting way of thinking about God. Have a look at the interview here.

Later on Sunday

(See my post from earlier today if you haven't read it already.)

Mary turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not realize that it was Jesus.

"Woman," he said, "why are you crying? Who is it you are looking for?"
Thinking he was the gardener, she said, "Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will get him."

Jesus said to her, "Mary."
She turned toward him and cried out in Aramaic, "Rabboni!" (which means Teacher).

Jesus said, "Do not hold on to me, for I have not yet returned to the Father. Go instead to my brothers and tell them, 'I am returning to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.'"

Mary Magdalene went to the disciples with the news: "I have seen the Lord!" And she told them that he had said these things to her.

--John 20:14-18 (NLT)

Sunday morning

Saturday evening, when the Sabbath ended, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome went out and purchased burial spices so they could anoint Jesus’ body. Very early on Sunday morning, just at sunrise, they went to the tomb. On the way they were asking each other, “Who will roll away the stone for us from the entrance to the tomb?” But as they arrived, they looked up and saw that the stone, which was very large, had already been rolled aside.

When they entered the tomb, they saw a young man clothed in a white robe sitting on the right side. The women were shocked, but the angel said, “Don’t be alarmed. You are looking for Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He isn’t here! He is risen from the dead! Look, this is where they laid his body. Now go and tell his disciples, including Peter, that Jesus is going ahead of you to Galilee. You will see him there, just as he told you before he died.”

The women fled from the tomb, trembling and bewildered, and they said nothing to anyone because they were too frightened.

--Mark 16:1-8

Why people give up faith

You get two posts for the price of one today!

A Christian radio station in Edmonton likes to mention something related to Christianity during it's newscasts. Frequently, they have reports about things that World Vision or other Christian organizations are doing in poor countries. Today, they played a clip of Ken Ham from Answers in Genesis talking about how bad it is that some churches support the theory of evolution. The report said many people give up their faith in Christ when they get into college where they're taught evolution as fact.

I wonder about the backgrounds of these people who give up their faith. How many of them actually came from churches where evolution is accepted? Maybe many of them were raised in churches where evolution was fiercely denounced. If they end up thinking the evidence for evolution is pretty good, and they've been raised to think Christianity and evolution are incompatible, I can certainly see why they'd give up their faith. Maybe the message of Answers in Genesis is backfiring.

Or maybe some of these people who give up their faith come from churches where commitment to God doesn't really matter. Maybe they get into college and think, "Why bother? Faith doesn't make a difference in my life anyway."

There are some people, like Human Genome Project leader Francis Collins, who say a person can be completely committed to God and believe the theory of evolution. And it's not like this leaves us with no evidence for Christianity. Francis Collins himself wrote a book about why he believes in God. There's also evidence for the resurrection of Jesus. And some people have personal experiences that make God's involvement in their lives seem pretty obvious.

Romeo Dallaire

"You must give them my messages whether they listen or not. But they won't listen, for they are completely rebellious!" --God's words to the prophet Ezekiel in Ezekiel 2:7

Last Sunday, while I was in Calgary, I had the opportunity to hear Romeo Dallaire speak. He led the UN mission in Rwanda during the genocide there. While he didn't say much about Rwanda, he talked about some ways in which conflict has changed, and what Canada can do in it. He thinks that as a "middle power" we need to step up and intervene more in situations like Rwanda and Darfur. He also spoke of the need for countries like ours to be less motivated by self-interest.

While I was thinking about Romeo Dallaire before he spoke, I noticed some similarities between him and the prophets in the Old Testament. He had an important message (many people in Rwanda were being killed and the world needed to do more about it), he was ignored, the results were disastrous, and now we honour him. How long will it take us to learn to listen to these warnings? I suppose the world doesn't always ignore the important warnings we get, but I think we can do better.

Why life needs some messes

An empty stable stays clean, but no income comes from an empty stable.

--Proverbs 14:4 (NLT)

Election day

I'm watching the TV coverage of the Alberta election as I'm writing this. So far it looks like the Progressive Conservatives will have a strong majority, but it's not over yet.

Over the last year and a bit, I've been moderately satisfied with Ed Stelmach's leadership. One of my biggest worries about him was that he's too nice and can't make tough decisions or take criticism. But he's been decisive on issues like natural resource royalties and some other areas that Ralph Klein neglected.

Then there's the issue of integrity. He may not be very charismatic, but he seems trustworthy. But I'm concerned about some things, like having his own party appoint the people running the election--not his party's election campaign, but the actual polling stations and things like that. Maybe this was a lapse in judgment, and I doubt it would lead to any significant electoral fraud. As much as I hate "slippery slope" arguments, I have to say that this could be a slippery slope to increased government corruption. Maybe this wasn't Stelmach's idea, but in his position, he has a responsibility to stop this kind of thing. Since he didn't stop it, it shows some weakness in his leadership.

I also think we should slow down this crazy rate of economic growth here, and Stelmach doesn't want to do that. The Liberals, NDP, and Green Party all want to slow the growth. Actually, I've been more impressed with Kevin Taft than any other Liberal leader (provincial or federal) in my voting years. I tend to think the NDP is too left wing and the Wildrose Alliance is too right wing. I'd like to see the Green Party gain some seats, but so far it doesn't look like they will.

So how did I vote? I'm not telling.