Items tagged humor

Soul Patches: a Defence of the Trueman Hypothesis

Fri, 15 Feb 2008 19:58:54 GMT

Some may remember that a few months back I argued that soul patches on ministers were a sign of pathetic middle aged men in the uncoolest and untrendiest calling on earth trying to pose as -- say it ain't so -- cool and trendy. Well, a friend in Grand Rapids has challenged that thesis.

From Banana to Man

Thu, 12 Jul 2007 01:05:16 GMT

BY STEVE HAYS
Associated Press

The discovery that man shares half his DNA with bananas has triggered a paradigm shift in religion, paleoanthropology, and bioethics.

Richard Dawkins has already penned several bestsellers on the subject, including The Selfish Banana, The Blind Banana, and Climbing A Banana Split.

In an interview I recently conducted with him, he said, “It is absolutely safe to say that if you meet somebody who claims not to believe in the bananan origin of man, that person is ignorant, stupid or insane or wicked—but I'd rather not consider that.”

Jumping on the bandwagon, Daniel Dennett rushed to press with Darwin’s Dangerous Banana.

Edward O. Wilson published a book entitled Sociobananthropology in which he derives a secular blueprint for human ethics from the social life of bananas.

For his part, Stephen Jay Gould published a book highly critical of Wilson’s thesis, entitled The Mismeasure of Banana-Man. He proposed punctuated paleobananthropology as a scientific alternative to sociobananthropology.

His colleague, Richard Lewontin, has made this an issue of scientific method. In an exclusive interview for this reporter, he said, “We take the side of methodological bananaturalism in spite of the patent absurdity of some of its constructs, in spite of its failure to fulfill many of its extravagant promises of health and life, in spite of the tolerance of the scientific community for unsubstantiated just-so stories, because we have a prior commitment, a commitment to materialism. It is not that the methods and institutions of science somehow compel us to accept a material explanation of the phenomenal world, but, on the contrary, that we are forced by our a priori adherence to material causes to create an apparatus of investigation and a set of concepts that produce material explanations, no matter how counter-intuitive, no matter how mystifying to the uninitiated. Moreover, that materialism is an absolute, for we cannot allow a Divine Foot in the door.”

By contrast, Francis Collins took issue with Lewontin’s naturalistic bananthropology. Describing his own position as theistic bananthropology, Collins explained to me that man evolved from a banana at the point in time when God miraculously endowed the banana with a rational soul.

Dr. Collins deplored “woodenly literalistic” interpretations of Genesis. He expressed his concern that Appalachian fundies, by their backward denial of bananthropology, would drive many young students away from the Christian faith.

Other lines of dissent have begun to emerge. John Maynard Smith has argued that man is actually descended from a cucumber while Ernst Mayr has argued, to the contrary, that the zucchini is the true ancestor of modern man. In turn, Francis Crick recently proposed the theory of directed panbananaspermia.

The ְ Fight

Sat, 30 Jun 2007 22:36:26 GMT

Watch two shewas fight it out.

Calling All Funny Pastors

Mon, 25 Jun 2007 17:05:12 GMT

Is this really where the world(ly church) is heading? This very well could be a fake advertisement it is so ridiculous. A friend sent me this “job listing” for a new church, which from the ad, I think is named The Comedy Hour. The right candidate for the job will help in:

“Developing new age church. The idea is to use humor and comedy to bring people to Christ. With the right Pastor we plan on becoming a rapidly growing mega church soon. Would like to work with new Pastor to come up with new ideas, so please share what God has put on your heart.”

Now, I know a number of pastors that possess a wonderful sense of humour and are quite funny. But none of them would even think of turning their sermons into stand-up routines. I’m pretty sure God will not find this very funny.

Roman Catholic Scholar Converts to the Evangelical Cause

Wed, 09 May 2007 12:20:11 GMT

Jean Calvin, 25, of Noyon, a leading scholar of the classics and law student in the University of Paris, has reportedly converted to the evangelical cause. A classicist with a bright future before him, Calvin published a promising work on Seneca's On Clemency just two years ago.

That future has become considerably cloudier of late. Sources tell us that it was likely young Calvin who wrote the provocative sermon given by Nicholas Cop, rector of the University. Since the so-called Affair of the Placards (during which one of the Protestant radicals actually posted a placard on the chamber door of his Majesty!) the authorities are cracking down on the movement and the evangelicals have scattered. Calvin may be living under an assumed name. There are some unconfirmed reports that he has left Paris and may be heading to Basle, a known haven for the Protestant rebels. When contacted, some of the other so-called "humanistas," led by the Dutch scholar Erasmus and Jacques LeFevre d'Etaples, are reported to have rejected the new movement as too radical. Erasmus expressed the strongest measure of disappointment saying, "It seems that another son of the church has been persuaded by Luther's De servo (On the Bondage of the Will). I had hoped to moderate that movement but I guess it isn't happening." LeFevre was less critical saying only, "Calvin is a bright young man. I have high hopes for him."

Calvin has apparently joined the so-called Protestant movement begun about 13 years ago at Worms by the German monk Luther. Most of the theology faculty in the University reckon that this movement will be short-lived. Said one of the theologians, "We'll crush these people just as we did the Cathars. Why do you think we have an inquisition?" The press office of the Holy See said that they were aware of a disturbance in Paris but had little information about Calvin.
Students in the University, however, are said to be excited by the news. Said one of them, "He could be a pain. We call him 'The Accusative Case' because he always has his nose in a book. He's always so serious, but If you need help with a translation, he's definitely the 'go-to' guy. He was really wound up about the new theology. I saw him talking to several groups of students about Luther. I hate to see him go. He's a little uptight, but he's a good guy."

Does Richard Dawkins Exist?

Fri, 02 Feb 2007 23:34:27 GMT

Does Richard Dawkins Exist?

HT: Jeff Downs