Nikolai Gibbons

The Poehler Lecture was titled "Teaching the Children Well: One Educator's Perspective on Integrating Faith and Learning"

Carl Shoenbeck was the speaker and his comments on the education system at large and the personal educations system as teachers was quite insightful.  For me as a student I gained much from listening to a great educator give his advice on what works and doesn't work when learning and how people learn.  I attached my notes from the lecture.  Hopefully one of the quotes or one of his points will resontate with you as well.

Teaching the children well:

            Learning is a continuing process that is not bounded by the end of formal education

            Children continue to be taught and continue to learn.

 

Integrating Faith and Learning in the Bible:

            Ecclesiastes 4:9-12

 

 

Education Today:

           

Learning Outcomes--Rubrics to Identify Outcomes--Multiple teaching strategies--Gather assessment data on learning--Analyze data

 

"The pig doesn't get any heavier just by weighing it more." Carl Schoenbeck

 

New Courses

New Cirriculem

Extra Work

 

"For every complex problem there is a simple solution which is always wrong."

 

Recipe for passion for learning

Connections---Application---Questions

 

Connections of Individual Aspects of Human Development

Social-Intellectual-Spiritual-Emotional-Physical

            -This looks like the IOMA Model of learning

                        -Carl doesn't see any hierarchy in each separate discipline

                                    -They are all necessary and equal

 

The strongest learning comes from when all the variables are interacting and engaged.

 

Leonard Bernstein

 

"Education is a process form living, and not a preparation for future living."  John Dewey

 

Value of Questions:

            -Education is not about having the complete set of answers

            -Questions are tools to guide knowledge

            -Teachers must guide the students

            -They make us inclusive, not exclusive

            -Students must develop a comfort for ambiguity

 

 

 

 

From his perspective: What this means for Concordia

            -Concordia was founded on connections and faith is the core, it is not compartmentalized.

            -Integrate the study of disciplines

            -Makes connections to real life

            Advice for the future:

                        Don't rely on the past

                        Look to the future

                        Powerful education integrates the past with the needs of the future

                        Keep internships to make learning applicable

                        Keep Lutheran tradition to avoid closed minded thinking

 

"An idealist is one who, on noticing that a rose smells better than a cabbage, concludes that it will also make better soup."  H.L. Menken

 

"Only a life loved form others is a life worthwhile."  A. Einstein

 

4 Points that were key in his opinion:

Passion is Key

Questions result in more results

Faith gives strengths and flexibility

Faith prepares for the application in life

 

How does Concordia give education to a changing student body that is increasingly non-Christian?

            A. It's an opportunity.  Use the things in the past.  The passion for learning comes from the faculty. 

 

How do you teach non-Lutheran ideas at a Lutheran school?

            -Get back to saying what really Lutheran is is questioning the question.  Engage in the same mentality that Martin Luther raised questions.  There are not many strategies that are conflict free.

 

"Learning is not getting ready for life, it is life!"  Carl Schoenbeck

I found Xeexing Lee's teaching style to be very engaging.  Out of all the other guest speakers I really enjoyed listening to his insights and seeing his work.  He was one of my personal favorites.  His progression of gold leaf artwork and finding the sacred in his culture and family was especially intriguing.  It was fascinating finding the connections between the Hmong world view and his view on what are is and should be. 

Also he made the distinction that Hmong art is very personal and functional.  All of the traditional work is done for everyday living purposes.  The clothing was very ornate and intricate.  I have such a respect for these Hmong women that can create these masterpieces of art and simply use them for living.  Not hanging in a museum or selling them for massive amounts of money. 

Frequently I am in the music building so I have seen the art before, but I haven't really soaked it in.  After hearing Xeexeng's stories I spent a few minutes today looking closer at the artwork hanging on the wall.  The connections and the background of his lecture made the art stand out more so than it has before.  In general I enoyed his lecture and all that he brought to the table in his art and his outlook on art in the world.  I want to leave you with my favorite quote of his from the night...


"Art is about making the invisible, visible" -Xeexing Lee

Out of all the Hmong class sessions we have had I probably enjoyed this one the best.  First because I had a full 64 oz of coffee to sustain me!  I really didn't feel tired that night.  As for the speakers I was able to connect with all of them very well.  In fact, Xang lived on my floor in Wollaeger last year.  I got to know him casually but hearing his story and childhood was very interesting.  The other two girls, Xia and Pa Houa, were also fascinating to listen to their perspectives. 

First I enjoyed the countering arguments from Xang compared to the two women.  It was intriguing to hear the different perspectives each had to give about the Hmong culture and the American culture.  Especially regarding family.  The family unit in the Hmong culture is highly regarded and I was fascinated with the differences with American culture.  For instance, I didn't know that a Hmong daughter wasn't allowed to hug her father.  In that culture the daughter and father never get close, emotionally or physically.  The mom is the support for the daughters and the father is support for the sons. 

Then there was religion and rituals.  I wish we could have spent another 2 hours on that topic.  The Hmong culture is very holistic and being a theology major I was intrigued by their views on religion and spirits.  I really wish there would have been time to discuss Christianity and the Hmong rituals side-by-side.  That would have been quite interesting.  But Christianity aside, the Hmong view on death was really different than anything I have heard of.  When a baby is born they bury the placenta in the ground and when a person dies they travel back to that place, put on their "jacket" and travel to the spirit world.  I really wanted to talk more about what they believes happens from there.  I only know that they need this "jacket" to get to the spirit world.  I have no clue what this sprit world entails or what happens in this world.  Knowing more about that would have been interesting. 

Overall the discussion was fascinating and I really connected with these students since they are comparable ages and maturities in life.  

A few key thoughts struck me as I listened to these two Hmong-Americans talk about their time in Laos and their time in America; their "if you want it work for it attitude" and their deep sense of pride in their accomplishments.

First, Choua was very funny and on top of her humor she was a strong woman.  She could only have been about 5 foot even, but her voice was that of a 6 1/2 foot woman.  Her hospital stories and social work stories were fascinating to hear.  I would have been fine listening to her talk for another hour in her bold, almost overwhelming voice.

Long was much more calm and talked with thoughtful enthusiasm.  When he was asked questions about how he got his jobs he would quickly move from the job itself to the accomplishments.  Choua did the same thing.  It hit me as they quickly moved to telling stories about their individual accomlishments they had a deep sense of pride in their work.  They came from Laos and have made a life for themselves in a foreign land.  I was moved by their down to earth perspective on working and service to others.  Then in a similar way I was moved by their stand out, against the grain, way of living.

As I do research for Russian Immigration I would love to find a few stories with people like Choua and Long.  The type of strong personalities who have braved and seen many things, yet have made a life for themselves despite many daunting obstacles.

Well for starters, I had never set foot inside the Hmong Center until that night.  That fact alone brought about a few stark realities about my life.  First, the Hmong center is all of 50 feet from the RLC and I had no clue what it was about.  Second, I have been at Concordia for 1 1/2 years now and that only adds to my cultural ignorance. 

Lee was fascinating to listen to and hear his story and the story of his family.  I was also floored by how many political positions he has held regarding the Hmong culture.  I distincly remember towards the end of the presentation when he talked about how many Hmong are in America and how many are still in Tailand.  I had no clue there were just around 600,000 Hmong in America.  So far I assumed there were more and that shed even more light on the Hmong outlook on life.  It's no wonder they feel alienated in a land where they not only are much different culturally, but their sheer numbers are very few. 

Hearing Lee's story how he came to America was quite powerful as well.  Seeing him, a Dr. and well aquainted with America, growing up in Laos and his story of flying here caught me off guard.  I tend to forget that many refugees or immirants have had a much different childhood than me.  I, in ignorance, sometimes assume that if they are living in America they must be well steeped in "our" ways and that often is not the case.  So in a general way of putting it, I was opened to my own ignorances about the immigrants I see daily and my lack of time devoted to understanding and getting to know them.

Before I went to see the movie I had already heard a few friends talking about what it was like and what their opinions on the movie were.  The general response I got was "It was a great movie, but extremely racist."  That was my general stereotype of the movie going into it.  That day before I saw the movie I had read the book "The Latehomecomer" and the author Kalia Yang came into class to discuss the book she had written.  I have never had the opportunity to discuss a book with the actual author.  That was quite amazing.  It's one thing to read about a little girl who survived a refugee camp in Tailand and it's quite another to hear about it from her directly.  After hearing from Kalia about the Hmong struggles in Laos I had a very deep respect for the Hmong culture in general.  So that is what I carried into the movie.  A discussion with Kalia who had suffered the refugee camps and my friends who had seen the movie.

The movie itself was extremely powerful and moving.  There were some moments as my friends said where it was racist.  At points it was uncomfortable some of the slang Clint Eastwood used to describe Hmong people.  But the way his character developed was very well done.  It wasn't just powerful on a cultural understanding level but on a level of human connection.  By the end of the movie this Korean War vet felt closer to these Hmong neighbors than his own family.  And the ending was quite powerful indeed.  I won't give too much away incase you go see it, but I have never seen a theatre sit through half of the credits without a single person moving.  And half of the women in the theatre were in tears.  I myself was deeply moved.

The movie exposed such a new understanding of a persons ability to hate and learn to love another culture.  And of course it reminded me why Clint Eastwood is such a great actor, despite the fact that he's getting really old.  If you get the chance I highly recommend seeing it. 

Summary of Capon's Dogmatics

                In The Third Peacock Robert Capon wrestles with the paradox of a good God, who is in control of all creation, yet creation is still messed up in so many ways.  This paradox of perfect good mingling with evil has been wrestled with in so many different cultures and religions throughout the ages. 

                Capon addresses in his very first chapter that God is not off the hook for evil.  He made the creation and thus he must claim responsibility for its imperfections.  If taken further, sin is only possible because God puts up with it.  Creation needs and takes beauty in freedom, yet this God given freedom creates all sorts of problems or evils. 

                Human beings take several routes of action to try and correct this visible and destructive evil.  Economies, governments, societies, infrastructures, cites; all of these are human attempts to bring order to a chaotic world.  And yet, in all of these attempts, evil is often disguised in righteousness.  "Most, if not all, of the mischief in the world is done in the name of righteousness (Capon, 194)." Sin is rarely ugly; sin is tempting and gorgeous in outward appearances and even initial results. 

                Capon addresses how God deals with this evil in the remaining chapters four through eight.  God shows His creation righteousness like a fine woman would attract a man.  The woman does not really act; the man simply is drawn to her.  This act of God takes the form of Jesus Christ.  "Into the Christian scheme of things, the ultimate act by which God runs and rescues creation is the Incarnation (Capon, 220)." Human beings are always searching for some mechanical fix for the mess around us and God's simple answer is not a mechanical fix but a relational fix.  He solves the problem of evil by loving creation and restoring a relationship that was broken.  The church's task from Christ's death until the end of time is to preach to the world what God has done.  Not prove to the world what God does; more show and proclaim what God does.

 

Capon's Theology and 911

                After the attacks on September 11^th America took a stand and went to war.  The nation rallied around a common goal and cause.  American flags flew off store shelves and prayers rang out of church buildings.  The evil America saw on that day opened eyes to what injustice and absolute hate this world can often bring.  As a counter measure to the chaos of evil, the American government declared war in Iraq.  This action towards war would ideally pinpoint the culprits of terrorism and eliminate them from harming more people. 

                Chapter 3 in The Third Peacock is titled "The Heart of the Problem."  Capon addresses the core problem of evil.  Evil is allowed to run rampant because it is desirable and it is attractive.  It appears to be very good for those performing the action, and even beneficial for whom the action is being done towards.   But this false pride in human systems brings about the heart of the problem when it comes to evil.  Capon writes:

                Most, if not all, of the mischief in the world is done in the name of righteousness.  The human race adheres devoutly to the belief that one more application of power will bring in the kingdom.  One more invasion, one more war, one more escalation, one more jealous fit, one more towering rage-in short, one more twist of whatever arm you have got hold of-will make goodness triumph and peace reign (Capon, 194).

The Iraq War was, and arguably still is, America's attempt to rid the world of evil with its own power and might.  Capon claims that evil flourishes in thinking such as this and the Iraq War may apply very well.  The most powerful country in the world has not been able to stifle a terrorist organization that has much less resources and even less people to soldier their armies.  Yet there is hope that America will bring justice to the world with an M-16 and a few smart bombs.

               

Capon's argument regarding evil claims the only cure for evil is the restored, loving and passionate relationship between God and His people.  He goes further to finish the book saying the church's privilege is to be a physical sacrament of Christ to the world.  There will always be one more fight to win, one more war to finish and one more invasion to quell.  After the dust settles the world is left right where it started and that is the problem with evil.  It leaves the situation the same or worse than before.  Many Americans are getting frustrated over the war because there is no apparent good that is coming out, even after 5 years.  Could it be Capon is highlighting that very frustration in his book?  One more war never seems to solve the injustice in the world and people see that.  Capon's argument for evil shows that people do what they think is best for the world and in the process cause more problems.  When churches pray for the war and for soldier's safety they pray for American soldiers.  That is perfectly good, but what about the Iraqi soldiers, or even the Al-Qaeda soldiers.  They have families, loved ones, friends, and most importantly just as much claim to God as we do.  When the quest for peace and justice becomes one-sided that is when evil works its best.  However, Capon does not finish with what evil is and is not.  He finishes proclaiming Christ, who sets the world right and the church who has been given the opportunity to partake in that relationship.  The people of Christ are a sacrament to all creation and that will bring peace, not one more war.  "The church is like the rest of the sacraments, an effective sign-a notable outcropping-of what people are by the Word's work of creation and Incarnation...The only difference is that in church the Mystery wears a hat on its head (Capon, 229)."  The church shows the world the invisible man.  Military power cannot show Christ, and according to Capon, if you are not showing Christ then you are not showing peace.  That is why Capon's arguments for evil and perfection relate well to the war in Iraq. 

Summary of Hunting the Divine Fox

 

            Robert Capon begins Hunting the Divine Fox with a preface that summarizes his reasons for writing the book.  He believes that in order to do proper theology one must strip down to the bare basics and start from there, realizing as they go the disadvantages of a human trying to figure out God.  Capon also stresses that understanding these disadvantages lead to an acceptance of the questions that humankind cannot completely answer.  The book goes back and analyzes theology from the beginning and from a different approach than most are used to hearing.  "It plays, as it were, with the words and images of Scripture in order to bring the readers to cheerful but serious insights into both their limitations and their glories" (Capon 242).

            The first chapter reveals the limitations of understanding God with a clever, and slightly odd, analogy.  Capon compares a human being trying to understand God like an oyster trying to understand the movements and motives of a ballerina.  Thinking about God and his Mystery is going to be confusing and most questions will be left unresolved, but that's the nature of the beast.  Capon then takes the train of thought further when he illustrates the limitations of human communication and analogies.  In chapter three he gives his perspective on proving God's existence; it's a waste of time.  A theologian's work is to figure out "Not, Does God exist?  Rather, What is he like?" (Capon 254).  To key to discussing God is words.  Have fun with the words, enjoy the discussion and enjoy the love of it.  Capon does give a caution because words carry so much power: "not power enough to grasp things as they are, but power enough to wreck them as they stand" (Capon 263).  Along with words humans use images to communicate broader and more complex ideas.  A single image can give more insight than a whole paragraph, thus images are key to theology much in the same way Jesus used parables during his ministry. 

           

 

Capon outlines one of the trickiest subjects of theology in chapter six; the will of God.  Predetermined?  What we must do?  What if we don't find it?  What if we mess up?  All these questions are gracefully killed with the statement "God just wants us."  God's will is to have an intimate relationship with us, the rest is "flying by the seat of our pants" (Capon 275).  Like the will of God where the relationship is the primary focus, the bible is also about a relationship.  The bible is not intended to give us what we need to know about God.  "Theology is not, as the old manuals had it, "the science of God and things divine"; properly speaking, it is not about God but the mystery of God's relationship to the world" (Capon 277).  This relationship is shown in His covenants to His people and the priesthood of all creation that praises Him. 

Capon addresses the new, and more modern, setback to the work of the theologian; the computer.  The computer is such a complex machine and we are equating human characteristics with the computer.  Leveling the thinking of a computer to human thinking perverts the whole system.  It makes us mad and sad that we are nothing more than machines, which is false.  In chapter eleven Capon spends time honing the term soul, the essence of the soul and how it interacts with the physical body.  He also spends some time reiterating the caution to spend time looking at the depth of words.  When a theologian says something he suggests the phrase "whatever that means" to put words in their proper perspective. 

In chapter 12 Capon gets into the topic of supersizing Jesus.  Making him more than human, because the savior of the whole human race couldn't possibly be 100% human...right?   Christianity likes to make Jesus the Superman in more ways than just the person of Jesus.  In the next chapters he discusses how human logic not only distorts the humanness of Jesus, but lowers the deity of Jesus.  The chapters Bookkeeping and Transacting reveal ways in which people limit what God can actually do.  God is fully human and fully God, Christ and his work of salvation are not bound by time and space, nor can salvation be contained by logical, human rationale.  Capon also emphasizes in chapter 16 and 17 that Christ's work cannot be reduced or diminished.  God has accepted the whole world with no strings attached.  "The church's temptation to welsh on the Mystery, to fake it, to reduce it to a plausibility, to equate it with morality, philosophy, or religion must be fought to the death" (Capon 337).  Parallel to that the church cannot assume that it has some claim to Jesus that others to not.  Capon's quote says it best; "So no faking of the signs, if you please, and no simplifying of the Mystery...Just the true church-the old leaky bucket, full of the water of life, from which we drink and never thirst again" (Capon 354).  The human condition always assumes that we have to do something and often the church helps foster that false way of living; after all nothing is free...right?  In chapter 18 Capon reminds the reader that forgiveness is not an equation, it is a state of being.  "Maybe Baptism is not a transaction by which forgiveness is given in return for repentance, but rather a sacramental proclamation of the fact that we're always forgiven, always welcome home, and that we will never have to do anything to earn forgiveness" (Capon 359).

In the final chapter, Fireworks, Capon uses the analogy of four fireworks coming together in the sky.  When the fireworks titled "Ark of the Covenant," "Promised Land," "Humanity of Jesus," and "New Jerusalem" all come together these four signs and promises become the new creation.  "By the drawing of the Mystery, the world has passed from her lostness and found him whom her soul loves" (Capon 373).

The Author Robert Capon

            Robert Capon was born in 1925, raised in New York and still lives there.  He was a full-time Episcopalian priest in Port Jefferson, NY for 30 years.  He wrote his first book in 1965, Bed and Board, and in 1977 he left ministry full-time so he could spend more time writing.  So far he has authored 20 books and lives in Shelter Island, NY with his wife Valerie.  Hunting the Divine Fox was published in 1985.  He is also an avid cook and has written books on cooking.  Capon also does food columns for "Newsday" and the "New York Times."  This partially explains why his book Hunting the Divine Fox has so many cooking and seafood analogies in it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Analysis

            One of Capon's key elements throughout the book and even displayed in the title is that theology should be fun, it should be a love, a passion.  The title of the book The Romance of the Word: One Man's Love Affair with Theology speaks heavily about how Capon deals with a subject that is sometimes used as a weapon.  After all, the Bible is the sword of the spirit and some theologians take that literally.  Too many people use their understanding of God and use that to validate their point, and obviously shoot down another opinion.  Capon does a fantastic job of keeping the discussion light and open.  A good example is chapter 16, Faking.  Members of any church body, and preachers, don't take it well when somebody comes along and compares their practices to being "fake."  Capon however, does a nice job of directing the conversation to the church at large.  The way he writes never focuses on ridiculing but simply thinking.  Comedians can often talk about serious issues that most cannot bring up.  He uses the same technique of lightheartedness to keep the conversation going when Capon presents many divisive issues. 

            Along the lines of keeping the reading light and humorous he uses so many, often ridiculous, analogies and references that people don't usually associate with theological terms.  The "unlobstered lobster"...and some readers are asking, what?  He also throws in so many food analogies, it is obvious to see that Capon is an avid cook.  Those analogies and references are ideas that people from any profession can relate to, which fits well into his idea that every person is a priest.  Much in the same way Jesus used parables to talk about heaven in a way the masses could understand.  Capon has a finesse of comparison that gives so much more meaning to the words.  The odd allusions also get the mind wandering in different directions, which adds new vigor to the conversation about God and His relationship.  While adding some very nice and fresh perspectives these same analogies also have some confusion mixed in.  Sometimes the analogies are just too odd.  Some of his images are so random that, if the reader isn't familiar with the subject, it can be confusing and possibly misleading.  Capon himself stresses the importance of analyzing and focusing on the details of words.  Theology can be really messy if all the words being thrown around are undefined; that will only lead to more confusion.  In some sense Capon does use brilliant analogies that can be taken many different ways, which detracts from their value and adds to it.  Overall Capon is an excellent writer with novel ways of looking at old ideas.  Often his presentation adds great meaning to the gospel message, and sometimes it confuses.  The humor is, that was probably Capon's intention all along.

Overview of Big Bang Arguments

            The big bang has several scientific and religious categories that attempt to solve why and how our distinct, life-giving universe came into existence.  Some arguments follow the logic that anything that exists in time must have had a beginning.  Hawking counters that argument with calculus that says instead of a beginning to time, time can just equal infinity.  The anthropic principal puts another spin on the argument and shows the extremely rare conditions for the big bang material having the ability to develop into life giving matter.  Some thinkers explain these coincidences with theories stating since the probability is so low for "natural" evolution it is more rational to accept a designer, which could be labeled God.  This God fills in the gaps when empirical logic cannot explain the causes for this universe.  Another theory that attempts to explain the extreme probability of life forming is having multiple universes, if not infinite universes.  The more universes that exist the more chance one of them will be tuned just right to build carbon and thus life.  Phil Dowe gives perspectives why science and religion can be in harmony on the topic of the big bang.

 

Dowe's Harmony between the Kalãm Argument

            The Kalãm argument states that everything which has a beginning of existence must have a cause for that existence.  Science claims this cause is unknown at the moment but will be found with further research.  Religion claims this initial cause is God.  The Hartle-Hawking no-boundary condition makes the argument that time has no boundary at the time of the big bang and therefore there is no start to the universe or time.  He goes on to say that because of this no-boundary condition there is no need for a creator.  Dowe rejects Hawking's theory saying the universe cannot be mathematically proven.  The concept of infinity, as known through calculus and theoretical math, does not apply to reality.  Thus, Hawking is trying to force a mathematical principal in a situation that cannot allow it.  Dowe's argument is quite strong on this.  Just because Hawking can derive the math to prove his point gives no actual truth past the 6000 years of recorded human history.  Although, math is accepted in many schools of thought as truth even when the results cannot be observed.  Understanding the atomic levels of the universe deal almost purely in math and it is not disputed to be true.  None the less, it is a large assumption by Hawking to claim that math can single handedly answer questions of universal infinity. 

The Anthropic Principle

            Hoyle researched the conditions necessary for substantial amounts of carbon to be produced through nuclear fusion.  He discovered that the process of three helium atoms combining at the same time to form carbon is extremely unlikely.  And it is even more irrational to assume that enough carbon could be produced in the time frame traditionally calculated from the big bang.  Other research shows coincidences where quarks and anti-quarks are balanced just right for atoms to fuse.  Even further, the initial blast during the big bang had to be just right or matter could not have formed.  All of these studies are done looking at our current life.  It is assumed the universe must have been fine tuned since human life and this world is where it is today.  Dowe writes that looking back from the present and declaring the universe must have certain characteristics, since life exists, is a very weak argument.  He says the stronger argument explains the state of the universe which would have given the current result.  That perspective leaves much more open for scientific and theological reasoning to explore.  Here are some of the different explanations proposed to bring about this finely tuned universe.

 

God of Gaps

            When science cannot answer the question this perspective says that it is more logical and probable to just assume it was God's doing than leave unanswered questions in the realm of science.  Dowe expands his thoughts and says this argument is dangerous when science uncovers more and more of the mystery previously held as God's doing.  This leads to the slippery slope where God is slowly removed from being necessary in creation.  Dowe does not do a good job expounding on the fact that even if science can explain how something works that does not exclude God from the creation process.  For instance, through scientific logic, people know that the aurora borealis is created when gamma rays hit the upper atmosphere and turn into plasma.  This does not mean God did not create this beautiful light display for all of creation to enjoy.

Pantheism

             Pantheism explains God as everything in existence and likewise everything in

existence as God.  There is no distinction between God and creation, it is all God.  This logic would give God the ability to fine tune creation for life since he is creation.  God, in this case, is not a personal God but more a mechanical God.  That line of thinking contradicts the personal God known by most of the world's religions.  Dowe argues that reducing God to a mechanical explanation undermines the core model of God as we know it.  This argument would not hold much weight for a pure empirical scientist.  They will see no need for a personal God and thus could care less if he is personal.  There is something about this universe all around that has a very beautiful and intimate relationship, which would point, as Dowe argues, to a personal God.  The problem with his argument against pantheism is it doesn't have to.  It can, but it does not have to.

 

 

Multiple Universes

                If science is having trouble figuring out how this universe could be so fine tuned for life another option is to assume multiple universes.  The more lottery tickets you play the more chance you have of winning.  Dowe dedicates several pages to explaining the gambler's fallacy.  This fallacy states if a person wins the lottery an observer assumes they played the however many million tickets to win that one ticket.  Likewise, if you have one life-bringing universe that does not mean there had to be countless others for this one to bear life.  Dowe makes the case that attributing this world to mere chance does not excuse the need for explanation.  This world is too good to just sit back and assume it happened over the course of millions of other universes failing.  This argument cuts right to the divide between science and religion.  Science answers the how and religion answers the why.  Dowe summarizes the big bang debate with this basic idea of science answering the how and religion answering the why.  This approach provides a harmonious interaction.

Background Leading to the Declaration

 

            The basic ideas of enlightenment challenge the established system and believe that these traditional systems should be subjected to critical and empirical reasoning.  If they cannot stand against the test of reason then they must change or be changed in order to achieve a more perfect state of human existence.  In the British world dominated by a monarch the values of enlightened thought fueled Thomas Jefferson and the Committee of Five to draft the Declaration of Independence.  The king was dictating the government of the new colonists and these colonists had no say in the laws being passed that directly affected them.  King George also imposed taxes that funded the government across the Atlantic.  Worse yet he was blocking the trade of the colonies and was in many cases plundering and killing the citizens themselves.  All of these atrocities are listed in the body of the Declaration of Independence.  The grievances against King George the III, which were based in the values of enlightenment and Deism, gave these men the foundational thoughts and ideas for this new statement of freedom. 

Enlightenment and the Declaration

            The first paragraph of the Declaration is saturated in the ideas of the enlightenment.  The phrase "...and to assume among the Powers of the Earth, the separate and equal Station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them..." is on the second line and already gives meaning as to why these men are declaring their independence from the British crown.  In enlightenment thought one of the concepts for knowing and judging is based in sensing the things of nature.  Nature is reasonable and logical; however, humans have corrupted it with social, political and religious complexities.  King George is that complexity.  He embodies the political system which is based on traditions and customs and don't serve the common good.  Enlightened thought is all about empirically finding what is better for human behavior and social constructions.  Thomas Jefferson believes that when basic reason and the structure of the natural world are compared with the actions of King George, the people have the responsibility to "throw off such government." 

            In the very next section the Declaration of Independence states "We hold these Truths to be self-evident, that all Men are created equal..."  The words "self-evident" give that phrase its power.  If something is self evident it is not objective nor is it abstract, and it definitely is not hard to understand.  It implies that any person reading this must agree with the following statement because the idea proposed is so...rationale.  One of the key understandings for enlightenment thought is that people must perceive with their senses and process reasonably with their minds.  The only accepted truth is that which has gone through the empirical process of knowledge.  If that progression of thought is followed then there is nobody that can stand against it.  In a way Thomas Jefferson is giving King George a slap to the face.  If the King objects to the following statements in the declaration, Jefferson has cleverly set him up to be more or less irrational and crazy, going against what is logical and obvious.

              The fourth section, or paragraph, of the Declaration demonstrates the change and progress encouraged by enlightenment.  The handout says "Change, when dictated by reason and when in line with nature, liberates individuals and should be pursued.  Such change contributes to individual and social progress on earth."  The founding fathers saw that when governments, such as the British, became destructive to an individual's rights and natural born freedoms the people must rise and form a new security.  Even the idea of individual freedoms that need protection came about through the enlightenment movement, and the founding fathers took that awareness of freedom and declared their independence.   

Deism in the Declaration

            The enlightenment had an obvious and widespread effect on the formation of the United States.  Out of the enlightenment came the religious view of Deism.  Deism in a brief overview believes that the God of our universe is rational and can be understood through knowing the physical or sensory universe.  Revelation has no necessary place as God can be known through rational means.  This God was perceived as merely being the person who set the world in motion, other than that he has little impact on everyday life.  The facet of Deism that the Declaration specifically focuses on is the rational means of God.

            The first section hones in on the God which Deism believes to exist.  The sentence "...the separate and equal Station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them..."  God is possessed by nature and can be seen through nature according to Jefferson.  Using enlightenment ideas, such that, through rational and natural means God has given people certain rights just because they are human and he created them.  This awareness of God given rights is the driving purpose for declaring independence from the tyranny imposed by King George.

            What might those rights be which the God of Deism has given, and enlightened thinking has revealed for every individual human being?  These unalienable rights are "...Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness."  During the process of creation God has given all people those rights and they must be upheld no matter what.  If they are not being upheld then the current system must be logically and empirically analyzed.  If necessary the individual must throw off the current government and provide new Guards for future security so that individual and social progress can occur on this earth.  This was the purpose of Thomas Jefferson and the founding fathers when they crafted the Declaration of Independence under the ideals of Enlightenment.