Letters to the Editor
AnOptomist
Published Letters: 46 Editor's Choice: 1
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Doubt is Not Always The Best Option
[Read the article: Something to believe in]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Jesus did not have a crisis of faith. Jesus had a crises of physical fear and suffering-- which for Christians makes Him that much more a Diety, in that he proved, in this physical manefistation of doubt, the amazing duality of his humanity and Holiness.
The writers and readers of Salon seem to revel in doubt, ESPECIALLY when it comes to Christianity. Reasonable doubt then leads to multi-facted condemnation.
On an almost daily basis, Salon publishes a story meant to chip away at faith. Certainly there are many stories that would tend to support faith, but it is clear that Salon writers have an agenda-- in many ways no different than the agenda at Fox News-- to project a particular mindset on the readers and claim it is the interest of "fairness" and "truth"
If you believe that the disparity between "good" news about the GOP and "bad" news on Fox News is coincidence, then you might believe that the fact that Salon constantly publishes disparaging stories about faith is "coincidence."
There are other viewpoints that might be considered and discussed.
Case in point, on CNN.com yesterday, the head of the Human Genome Project, a multi-billion dollar, global enterprise involving a great many of the top scientists in the world, and a project on the forfront of understanding the very nature of humanity and how we came to be, explained why he believes in God. Why he is certain there is a God, and why he, as one of the world's top scientists, has valid, scientific reasons for that. He believes, as I do, that the ver DNA that makes up our nature is far too elegant and developed to have happened by chance.
Go read his comments at
http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/04/03/collins.commentary/index.html
I heard in person a few speeches given at Stanford a few years back on the same subject and heard Standford's top scientists applaud the presentation and comment on its validity.
Why, I wonder, did that story not appear on Salon? I wonder.
Coincidence, I suppose.
I had a long conversation the other day about the difficulties of Secular Humanism. This person could not even define the nature of what a person was. Could you?
I can. Faith is very simple for me. The Ten Commandments aren't a rock group for me. They are a set of principles I live by. I spent some time in the wilderness, wondering and wondering. Confused. I had doubt. As maybe you have now.
I didn't sleep well then. I do now. I have read the Bible, the Koran, the Book of Mormon, most of the major works of Zen Bhudism, I've been hypnotised, delved into crystals and Eckenkar and many many other faiths. I have read hundreds of books on science, archeology, cosmology and evolution.
When I say I have no doubt about the personhood of Jesus Christ, that He died for my sins and offers belivers in Him everlasting Life, I say so not out of ignorance or blind, uniformed faith.
I do so as a scholor.
I sleep well, in the Peace of God.
How about you?
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Amen Salon! The Blogosphere and Internet are the Hope of the the World
[Read the article: Iraq: Why the media failed]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]From 1980-1985, I was a telecommunications technician in the USAF. I helped maintain large communcations systems that became part of the backbone of the present internet. In fact, for one night, in 1982, as part of an excersize, I was responsible (for 8 hours), for maintaining the entire ARAPNET network of computers... I didn't invent the internet, but yes indeed I have been part of this wonderful revolution... and since 1994 have helped build websites and portals...
Never did I dream that the Internet, largely funded by commerce and capitalism and built on a framework designed by military folks and engineering geeks would become the best, last hope for mankind.
It is.
The Internet is the hope for mankind because it is the last place where truth, the unvarnished, unbiased truth, can live.
In virtually every other media, commerce trumps truth. Not just at FOX Spews, but elsewhere.
For the most part, Salon has been a bright, shining example of how truth sets us free. The prisons in Iraq, the selling of the War, the Coruption on K Street... Salon was there and is here, now, keeping us in the loop on what's going wrong... so we can make it right!
Nora Ephram, on a column on the Huffington Post yesterday, decried the Gulags in Havana run by our Monarch in Chief, GWBush-league, as an example of how complicity, in our collective silence, equals shared blame.
I agree. We HAVE to keep reading the truth, even though it hurts. We HAVE to keep telling the truth to our co-workers and ditto heads and O-Reilyittes, because if we dont, WE ALL reap the whirlwind.
Bravo, Salon. Here's a chink in the armor of willfull ignorance that is so pervasive in our society.
You know, a few days after McCain "strolled freely" in the Bagdad market, most of those happy shopkeepers were rounded up and shot by folks whe didn't think McCain's visit was the flower-power event he portrayed.
Did you get that news today in the mainstream? No. McCain admitted, on 60 Minutes on Sunday, that he mispoke about his level of protection and much more... did we get that on the tube? No.
We got stories about Imus, who uttered a slur. Imus is an idiot, a buffoon, and should be run out of town on a rail.. but is THAT the most compelling, important, far reaching, affect all of our lives important? More so that imminent war in Iran and worse? No.
So, Salon, write on. Readers, read on. Forward links to your friends.
Convince them that the rhetoric that we should ALL be talking about is stuff we agree on.. which should start with the truth.