If You Could Ask God a Question
2010 February 2
If you could ask God one question, what would it be?
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We had a great board meeting for the Kibo Group this past weekend in Ft. Worth. The group was started by the fifteen of us who climbed Kilimanjaro together in 1998, and it focuses on ministries to help East Africa. Eleven of the fifteen were able to make it, plus two more were Skyped in from Searcy, and one other from Rwanda.
When you get a chance, I’d love for you to check out some of the programs that Kibo supports like: Malo Ga Kujilana, the Mvule Project, the Water Source, and the Basoga Women’s Leadership.
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The main piont here, Prophet, is that your conception of “knowing” is restricted to the Enlightenment’s empiricist paradigm. We know all kinds of things in other ways, and the subjective/objective dualism is being progressively shown as inadequate and presumptuous. It is quite possible, in fact, not to “know” something in the Enlightenment’s empirically verifiable sense and yet still know it.
The little “logic does not impress your god, I hear” snarkiness is a total misrepresentation, by the way. qb doesn’t know anyone who thinks God condemns or disparages or has contempt for logic per se. But reason – logic, for shorthand – has to start with premises, and the only way to solve the problem of infinite regress in establishing fundamental premises is to appeal to a form of knowledge outside of logic itself. The center of the controversies involving Dawkins, Hitchens, et al. is precisely on this piont: where do they get their most fundamental premises? If they get them from empirical observation, then their reasoning is circular and for that reason cannot justify the certitude that they derive from it.
And for the record, qb does loathe himself. Guilty as charged. Boy, am I glad that’s settled!
qb
Here’s another: why would *anyone* adulterate guacamole with a disgusting “extender” like MAYONNAISE?
*retch*
qb
QB,
I am confused by your use of *retch.* Are you suggesting that only a wretch would extend guacamole with mayonnaise or that the substance would make one want to retch? Due to your choice of spelling I would assume the latter, but the former is also suggested by your comment.
At last, something beside politics we can agree on.
Peace,
Geezer
And, if I may be permitted a second fudging question, why is it when bad things happen we blame You because you let them happen (as if they were all somehow worse than torturing Your Son to death) rather than blaming Satan who brought the temptation to sin into the world and all of the disastrous consequences of it, including death and destruction and damnation?
Geezy: emphatically YES. qb
This just in: one ripe avocado, two teaspoons finely minced fresh garlic and white onion, a small squeeze of fresh lime, and some salt…United tortilla chips…heavenly alchemy. What else is really necessary? Certainly not MAYO. That’s what I mean, Geez-babes. qb
@qb: Oh my god! You are so full of it!
Get it? Full of god? Please excuse my word play… but it was just too easy to resist.
“Progressively shown as inadequate and presumptuous”?? By whom, pray tell? The fact that there is zero evidence of god’s existence, sans hyperbole and speculation by faith dwellers, is completely lost to you? “Knowing” without actually knowing is wishing… otherwise known as faith. As a child, absolute faith that Santa existed did not turn out so well, eh. Wishing it so does not make it so. (Uh-oh… another snarky quip… sorry.)
Don’t get me wrong, I’m agnostic, not atheistic. I sincerely hope there is… something…, but I would be shocked if it resembles the god(s) of human imagination in the slightest. If there is a “god”, logic infers my ability to understand it would be akin to an infant understanding calculus… we simply do not have the comprehension skills. I refuse to buy the human version and instead prefer to remain blissfully ignorant.
…And your whole spin on “premise” is further evidence of your inability to understand that reason (or logic) without proof is STILL speculation. The choice to believe speculative premise is faith and nothing more. Such as my faith in my own logic.
BTW, I regard atheists as I do theists… they both are faith based religions, each “knowing” they are right. It’s the absolute I can not accept. I don’t know if you, they, or I am right. I simply don’t know… And I’m ok with that.
I’ve enjoyed our little conversation, but my time here is limited… literally, yes? You still believe in Santa? Why not? Didn’t you “know” he existed, at one time?
We asked our kids this question years ago and Addie, who was about 5 at the time, said she would ask for his autograph. Didn’t see that one coming!
Wow! I just stumbled across your blog and was excited to read about the work that is still going on in Jinja, Uganda. I was an intern in the summer of 2008 and was excited to see familiar faces on some of the links you posted. Thank you for all of the work you do with the Kibo group! I have experienced first hand the many people who are reached through this ministry. =)