wed night

Dinner together- with little planning, how about returning to "whatever"? Do we have a theme? What about "food I really like"? phil

About that "Golden Rule" thing...

Truly disturbing. From The Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life:

Poll shows support for torture among Southern evangelicals

by Adelle M. Banks
Religion News Service

WASHINGTON -- A new poll released Thursday (Sept. 11) finds that nearly six in 10 white Southern evangelicals believe torture is justified, but their views can shift when they consider the Christian principle of the golden rule.

The poll, commissioned by Faith in Public Life and Mercer University, found that 57 percent of respondents said torture can be often or sometimes justified to gain important information from suspected terrorists. Thirty-eight percent said it was never or rarely justified.

But when asked if they agree that "the U.S. government should not use methods against our enemies that we would not want used on American soldiers," the percentage who said torture was rarely or never justified rose to 52 percent.
.....
David Gushee, a Christian ethics professor at Mercer and the president of the evangelical group, said the poll numbers should tell leaders, including presidential nominees Barack Obama and John McCain, who oppose torture that people can change their minds about this issue if it is discussed from a moral standpoint.

Interesting how things change when the tables are turned...

To Phil: answer to Facebook question

At long last, I remember to answer your question, which I had completely forgotten.

"Ryan McMinn had a random thought: If matter changes its properties via chemical reactions, does energy change its properties via reactions?"

Not exactly. There is an apples-&-oranges issue here. Matter, in the sense of E=mc^2, means "mass", and mass itself does not change properties per se -- in chemistry, it itself is a property of all atomic or subatomic material, not explained by chemistry. In chemical reactions, mass itself does not change: you can either lose/gain mass from one system to the next, or mass can be converted to/from pure energy.
But this question isn't entirely off-the-mark. Energy can be converted to and from different forms, one of which is mass. Potential energy can be converted into kinetic energy, which could also be converted into mass; which could be converted into, say, "chemical" energy (e.g. the energy of atoms and molecules to combine together); which could also be lost in the form of friction. You haven't created or destroyed energy, you've just changed the form each time. That isn't the same thing as saying that you've changed the properties of energy, per se, you've just changed the properties through which energy is realized.
Which of course begs the question of what mass really is, and why is can be viewed as a form of energy... Heh-heh. I'll leave you at that for now.

Despite the interest that comes from funky, punky, junky unmarried priests in the Anglican communion and rapping from Deep Space 9, we have a task before us: what shall we share next?

Tell me, what can it be
That opens the door of majesty?

Incline your heat and your mind
The truth and grace of God to find.

And so we journey the path along
Hearing His Word create a song

That sings the story of our walk
As we gather to share the Talk.

What guidepost will it be?
Wedesday night we shall see!

"Lager-loving punk who dresses as a dominatrix is appointed village curate"

No, this isn't from LarkNews.com or The Wittenburg Door (satirical sites). I suppose that this is part of the Anglican Church's effort to become more "in touch" with younger Brits... Adrian Plass would be proud (I think).

Some days she strides up to church wearing hot pants and biker boots. Or she might opt for dominatrix-style red leather high heels to go with her six piercings including a nose stud.

Not the apparel you would normally expect from a Church of England curate.

But punk rocker Skye Denno insists it is her way of serving God.

.....

'The Church can be quite cliquey and it's important for me to keep it real and not be another stuffy, middle-class vicar.'

Miss Denno moved to the town with her partner Joel and their two young children last month to take up her new role.

She had previously wanted to be a missionary and went to the Redcliffe Christian College for Bible and Mission Training in Gloucester.

But she realised her natural calling was to become a vicar.

.....

When not helping out at the small church, she prefers to spend her time in the pub or watching bands.

She added: 'I like a good gig and I love dancing. I like The Cure, Sex Pistols, Clash, Sisters of Mercy and Last Dance. Luckily I have never been into drugs.

'I would sometimes end up praying in a club. People would hear I was a Christian and come and talk to me and I would say a prayer for them if they wanted me to.'

Large Hadron Rap

I thought of Bill immediately when a friend forwarded me this YouTube video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j50ZssEojtM

Bill, next time we get into a physics discussion, I would be much appreciative if you could present your thoughts in the form of a rap. That would help me to make sense of things!

Hope to see you all soon.

-Patrick

Yes, the peppers, onions, sausage, marinara and penne is coming. Also, we have cake from Labor Day.