LP's LampPost

"Christianity is a statement which, if false, is of no  importance, and, if true, of infinite importance."  So says C.S. Lewis in the essay, "Christian Apologetics" in the collection God In The Dock .  In terms of western culture this is definitely arguable (as done by a Lewis critic here ), but this is not, I think, Lewis's point.  In terms of what Christianity says about ultimate reality, it is either true or false.  This is true of every religious and philosophical system.  The consequences are pretty dramatic in any of the major world religions.  This has caused many to reject the whole lot.  Others say that they are all basically true but not exclusive.  (I think this position is really saying that they are all equally false, but that's a different post!)  For the last couple of posts, I have illustrated Christian belief with the obvious-to-everyone force of gravity.  No doubt, to folks who do not share my convictions about Jes...

Imagine a child born on the international space station.  As much as gravity is a part of every second of our existence, it is completely alien to him.  Every day he floats through the space he inhabits.  Everything he lets go of continues in whatever direction it was going until acted on by some other force.  Among other effects, his hip joints (our familiar ball and socket) have formed very slowly because of the lack of pressure from crawling and walking as an infant and toddler.  He had to intentionally exercise with resistance bands from the time he could be taught or tricked into doing so.  This child is now of an age where the beginnings of physics can be explained and, of course, one of the fundamental forces governing our universe is gravity.  How would you explain it? That part is actually pretty easy.  One equation with a constant and 3 variables is all it takes.  The idea is reasonably easy, but then how would you convince him it...

Have you ever thought of the benefits of gravity?  When I set something down, it stays there.  As a parent, I love this.  I would never be justified in saying, "It's probably where you left it" if not for gravity.  Gravity makes staying in shape much easier.  Built in resistance is something we take for granted but most of us have heard of the muscle atrophy experienced by astronauts due to living in weightlessness.  Gravity keeps water in my glass at supper and holds the atmosphere around earth like a blanket.  Oh yeah, it also keeps the blankets on me while I sleep and keeps me on the bed without restraints.  Certainly, there are some frustrations with gravity.  I'm not crazy about falling when I'm clumsy or when winter brings icy conditions.  I have some older friends who suggest gravity is not always an aid to the physique.  On the whole, however, it's pretty hard to argue that gravity is anything other than an overwhelming posi...