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Thu, 16 Sep 1999 09:24:55 EDT
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Salaams,
 >> >
 >> > This is the whole story of the quote if u want to read it.
 >> >
 >> > Why Science fails to explain God.
 >> >
 >> > "Professing to be wise, they became fools . . .. "
 >> > "LET ME EXPLAIN THE problem science has with God."
 >> >
 >> > An atheist professor of philosophy pauses before his class and
 >> > then asks one of his new students to stand.
 >> > "You're a Muslim, aren't you, son?"
 >> > "Yes, sir."
 >> > "So you believe in God?"
 >> > "Absolutely."
 >> > "Is God good?"
 >> > "Sure! God's good."
 >> > "Is God all-powerful? Can God do anything?"
 >> > "Yes."
 >> > "Are you good or evil?"
 >> > "The Koran says I'm evil."
 >> >
 >> > The professor grins knowingly. "Ahh! THE KORAN!" He considers for
 >> > a moment.
 >> > "Here's one for you. Let's say there's a sick person over here and
 >> > you can cure him. You can do it. Would you help them? "Would you try?"
 >> > "Yes sir, I would."
 >> > "So you're good...!"
 >> > "I wouldn't say that."
 >> > "Why not say that? You would help a sick and maimed person if you
 >> > could...in fact most of us would if we could... God doesn't.
 >> > [No answer]
 >> > "He doesn't, does he? My brother was a Muslim who died of cancer
 >> > even though he prayed to God to heal him. How is this God good?
 >> > Hmmm?
 >> > Can you answer that one?"
 >> > [No answer]
 >> >
 >> > The elderly man is sympathetic. "No, you can't, can you?"
 >> > He takes a sip of water from a glass on his desk to give the
 >> > student time to relax. In philosophy, you have to go easy with the new
 >> > ones.
 >> > "Let's start again, young fella." "Is God good?"
 >> > "Er... Yes."
 >> > "Is Satan good?"
 >> > "No."
 >> > "Where does Satan come from?" The student falters.
 >> > "From... God..."
 >> > "That's right. God made Satan, didn't he?" The elderly man runs
 >> > his bony fingers through his thinning hair and turns to the smirking,
 >> > student audience.
 >> > "I think we're going to have a lot of fun this semester, ladies
 >> > and gentlemen."
 >> >
 >> > He turns back to the Muslim. "Tell me, son. Is there evil in this
 >> > world?"
 >> > "Yes, sir."
 >> > "Evil's everywhere, isn't it?  Did God make everything?"
 >> > "Yes."
 >> > "Who created evil?
 >> > [No answer]
 >> > "Is there sickness in this world? Immorality?  Hatred? Ugliness?
 >> > All the terrible things - do they  exist in this world? "
 >> > The student squirms on his feet. "Yes."
 >> > "Who created them? "
 >> > [No answer]
 >> > The professor suddenly shouts at his student. "WHO CREATED THEM?
 >> > TELL ME,PLEASE!
 >> > The professor closes in for the kill and climbs into the Muslim's
 >> > face. In a still small voice: "God created all evil, didn't He,
 >> > son?"
 >> > [No answer]
 >> > The student tries to hold the steady, experienced gaze and fails.
 >> >
 >> > Suddenly the lecturer breaks away to pace the front of the classroom
 >> > like an aging panther. The class is mesmerized.
 >> > "Tell me," he continues, "How is it that this God is good if He
 >> > created all evil throughout all time?"
 >> > The professor swishes his arms around to encompass the wickedness
 >> > of the world. "All the hatred, the brutality, all the pain, all the
 >> > torture,all the death and ugliness and all the suffering created by this
 >>
 >> > good God is all over the world, isn't it, young man?"
 >> > [No answer]
 >> > "Don't you see it all over the  place?  Huh?"
 >> > Pause.
 >> > "Don't you?" The professor leans into the student's face again and
 >> > whispers, "Is God good?"
 >> > [No answer]
 >> >
 >> > "Do you believe in God, son?"
 >> > The student's voice betrays him and cracks. "Yes, professor. I
 >> > do."
 >> > The old man shakes his head sadly. "Science says you have five senses
 >> > you use to identify and observe the world around you.Have you? "
 >> > "No, sir.  I've never seen Him."
 >> > "Then tell us if you've ever heard your God?"
 >> > "No, sir.  I have not."
 >> > "Have you ever felt your God, tasted your God or smelt your
 >> > God...in fact, do you have any sensory perception of your God
 >> > whatsoever?"
 >> > [No answer]
 >> > "Answer me, please."
 >> > "No, sir, I'm afraid I haven't."
 >> > "You're AFRAID... you haven't?"
 >> > "No, sir."
 >> > "Yet you still believe in him?"
 >> > "...yes..."
 >> > "That takes FAITH!"  The professor smiles sagely at the underling.
 >> > "According to the rules of empirical, testable, demonstrable
 >> > protocol,science says your God doesn't exist. What do you say to that,
 >> > son?
 >> > Where is your God now?"
 >> > [The student doesn't answer]
 >> > "Sit down, please."
 >> > The Muslim sits...Defeated.
 >> >
 >> > Another Muslim raises his hand. "Professor, may I address the class?"
 >> > The professor turns and smiles. "Ah, another Muslim in the vanguard!
 >> > Come, come, young man. Speak some proper wisdom to the gathering."
 >> > The Muslim looks around the room. "Some interesting points you are
 >> > making, sir.  Now I've got a question for you. Is there such thing
 >> > as heat?"
 >> > "Yes," the professor replies.  "There's heat."
 >> > "Is there such a thing as cold?"
 >> > "Yes, son, there's cold too."
 >> > "No, sir, there isn't."
 >> > The professor's grin freezes. The room suddenly goes very cold.
 >> >
 >> > The second Muslim continues. "You can have lots of heat, even more
 >> > heat, super-heat, mega-heat, white heat, a little heat or no heat
 >> > but we don't have anything called 'cold'. We can hit 458 degrees below
 >> > zero, which is no heat, but we can't go any further after that. There is
 >> > no
 >> > such thing as cold, otherwise we would be able to go colder than 458 -
 >> You
 >> >
 >> > see, sir, cold is only a word we use to describe the absence of heat. We
 >>
 >> > cannot measure cold. Heat we can measure in thermal units because heat
 >> is
 >> > energy. Cold is not the opposite of heat, sir, just the absence of it."
 >> > Silence. A pin drops somewhere in the classroom.
 >> >
 >> > "Is there such a thing as darkness, professor?"
 >> > "That's a dumb question, son. What is night if it isn't darkness?  What
 >> > are
 >> > you getting at...?"
 >> > "So you say there is such a thing as darkness?"
 >> > "Yes..."
 >> > "You're wrong again, sir. Darkness is not something, it is the absence
 >> > of something. You can have low light, normal light, bright light,
 >> > flashing light but if you have no light constantly you have nothing and
 >> > it's
 >> > called darkness, isn't it? That's the meaning we use to define the word.
 >> > In
 >> > reality, Darkness isn't. If it were,  you would be able to make darkness
 >>
 >> > darker and give me a jar of it. Can you...give me a jar of darker
 >> > darkness,professor?"
 >> >
 >> > Despite himself, the professor smiles at the young effrontery
 >> > before him.This will indeed be a good semester. "Would you mind telling
 >> us
 >> >
 >> > what your point is, young man?"
 >> > "Yes, professor. My point is, your philosophical premise is flawed
 >> > to start with and so your conclusion must be in error...."
 >> > The professor goes toxic. "Flawed...? How dare you...!""
 >> > "Sir, may I explain what I mean?"
 >> > The class is all ears.
 >> > "Explain... oh, explain..." The professor makes an admirable effort
 >> > to regain control. Suddenly he is affability itself.  He waves his
 >> > hand to silence the class, for the student to continue.
 >> > "You are working on the premise of duality," the Muslim explains.
 >> > "That for example there is life and then there's death; a good God
 >> > and a bad God. You are viewing the concept of God as something finite,
 >> > something we can measure. Sir, science cannot even explain a
 >> > thought. It uses electricity and magnetism but has never seen, much less
 >>
 >> > fully understood them. To view death as the opposite of life is to be
 >> > ignorant of the fact that death cannot exist as a substantive thing.
 >> Death
 >> >
 >> > is not the opposite of life, merely the absence of it."
 >> >
 >> > The young man holds up a newspaper he takes from the desk of a
 >> > neighbor who has been reading it. "Here is one of the most disgusting
 >> > tabloids this country hosts, professor.  Is there such a thing as
 >> > immorality?"
 >> > "Of course there is, now look..."
 >> > "Wrong again, sir.  You see, immorality is merely the absence of
 >> > morality. Is there such thing as injustice?  No. Injustice is the
 >> > absence of justice. Is there such a thing as evil?"  The Muslim pauses.
 >> > "Isn't evil the absence of good?"
 >> > The professor's face has turned an alarming color. He is so angry
 >> > he is temporarily speechless.
 >> >
 >> > The Muslim continues. "If there is evil in the world, professor,
 >> > and we all agree there is, then God, if he exists, must be
 >> > accomplishing a work through the agency of evil. What is that work, God
 >> is
 >> >
 >> > accomplishing?
 >> > The Quran tells us it is to see if each one of us will, of our own
 >> > free will, choose good over evil."
 >> > The professor bridles. "As a philosophical scientist, I don't view
 >> > this matter as having anything to do with any choice; as a realist, I
 >> > absolutely do not recognize the concept of God or any other
 >> > theological factor as being part of the world equation because God is
 >> not
 >> > observable."
 >> >
 >> > "I would have thought that the absence of God's moral code in this
 >> > world is probably one of the most observable phenomena going," the
 >> > Muslim replies.
 >> > "Newspapers make billions of dollars reporting it every week! Tell
 >> > me, professor. Do you teach your students that they evolved from a
 >> > monkey?"
 >> > "If you are referring to the natural evolutionary process, young
 >> > man, yes, of course I do."
 >> > "Have you ever observed evolution with your own eyes, sir?"
 >> > The professor makes a sucking sound with his teeth and gives his
 >> > student a silent, stony stare.
 >> >
 >> > "Professor. Since no-one has ever observed the process of
 >> > evolution at work and cannot even prove that this process is an on-going
 >>
 >> > endeavor, are you not teaching your opinion, sir? Are you now not a
 >> > scientist, but a priest?"
 >> > "I'll overlook your impudence in the light of our philosophical
 >> > discussion. Now, have you quite finished?" the professor hisses.
 >> > "So you don't accept God's moral code to do what is righteous?"
 >> > "I believe in what is - that's science!"
 >> > "Ahh! SCIENCE!" the student's face splits into a grin.
 >> > "Sir, you rightly state that science is the study of observed
 >> > phenomena. Science too is a premise which is flawed.."
 >> > SCIENCE IS FLAWED..?" the professor splutters.
 >> > The class is in uproar.
 >> >
 >> > The Muslim remains standing until the commotion has subsided.
 >> > "To continue the point you were making earlier to the other
 >> > student, may I give you an example of what I mean?" The professor wisely
 >>
 >> > keeps silent.
 >> > The Muslim looks around the room. "Is there anyone in the class
 >> > who has ever seen the professor's brain?" The class breaks out in
 >> > laughter. The Muslim points towards his elderly, crumbling tutor.
 >> > "Is there anyone here who has ever heard the professor's brain...
 >> > felt the professor's brain, touched or smelt the professor's brain?"
 >> > No one appears to have done so. The Muslim shakes his head sadly.
 >> > "It appears no-one here has had any sensory perception of the
 >> > professor's brain whatsoever. Well, according to the rules of
 >> > empirical, stable, demonstrable protocol, science, I DECLARE that the
 >> > professor has no brain."
 >> > The class is in chaos.
 >> >
 >> > The Muslim sits... Because that is what a chair is for.
 >
  End Forwarded Message ---
---------------------
 Amie Siebert
 [log in to unmask]
  >>

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