Saint Columba of Iona

Today, June 9, is the traditional day for recognition of Columba, a significant person in the Celtic Christian tradition. Saint Columba took part in the development of the Christian Faith in the region of Ireland, Scotland and England about 1500 years ago.

The Christian community of Iona continues as a spiritual center of thought and devotion. Located on the western edge of Scotland the island draws devotees and tourists.

In the global Christian faith the Celtic tradition shows the power of the natural world of sea and sky to shape religious ideas and practices.

Cyber Security in Context

Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff recently said, "The potential consequences of a cyber attack are very real and every bit as concerning as the potential of a physical attach on the order of what saw on September 11." Page 27 of the May 1 2008 edition of Redmond Developer.

The world where I live has gradually become dependent on a technology that demands skilled and well trained people for its very life. We so appreciate the convenience of it all that we turn the complexity of it all over to expert geeks upon whom we can call when necessity demands.

Disaster preparation is simply not a fun subject. Training for any kind of community wide disaster is done by a tiny proportion of the population - primarily those medical and law enforcement people upon whom falls the primary first responder responsibilities. The general public simply hopes that a problem will not arise in their life time or their neighborhood. That is no doubt as it should be since the odds of a major disaster in the USA are historically low. However questions need to be raised about the odds changing in the light of new developments.

The cyber attack scenario is of a different nature than other disasters. We have depended on oceans and borders with friendly nations. Tom Friedman's concept of "a flat earth" is where we actually live when it comes to electronic communication and digital processing of information. The borders are gone.

I choose to be mentally and physically preparing for a testing time for our society.

Looking for a Theology of the Ocean

For many years curiosity has led me toward a theology of the ocean - that which covers 71% of the surface of the earth. A brief surfing experience on Vancouver Island many years ago told me that the sea is where I belong. However I am a land based creature and live in the center of a vast continent. I am free to spin out ideas that may lead to some further understanding.

A question about this to a noted theologian resulted in no information. It appears that none of the world's religions have an actual theology of the sea. There are references to the mystery, majesty, and chaos of the sea. The sea is often used as a metaphor in religious texts or as a central feature in stories such as Jonah and the Whale of the Judeo-Christian tradition.

Today, in a Google search, I was surprised by an article written by Nancy Victorin-Vangerud in Pacifica, June 2003. The title is "Thinking Like an Archipelago". She raises questions about the way humans live in relation to the sea. She refers to John Havea of Tonga who was a Seminary class mate in the early 1950s. Some lines of contact begin to develop.

China - the National Geographic - a writing lesson.

Reading a piece by Amy Tan about life in a Chinese village that is caught up in the turmoil of change moving toward an industrialized society restored my confidence in print media.

[Amy Tan takes the reader to a Chinese village. The people are struggling with adjustment to industrial society. Turmoil is displayed in the writing.]

The May edition of National Geographic magazine arrived yesterday. The combination of text, pictures, and statistical diagrams gives an overview of 2008 China that lingers far after the reading is completed.

[Yesterday the National Geographic magazine arrived. Words, pictures, and diagrams caught my attention. China of 2008 is displayed. Tan writes one article.]

I admire Tan's use of short sentences, vivid words, people vignettes, and a story line that is focused and understandable. My writing uses sentences that are too long. I will now go back and try to improve - see [ surrounding the revision].

[Tan uses short sentences and vivid words. Real people appear. The story line speaks clearly.]

End of first lesson.

A Hint for Religion Advertisers

The advertising agencies for religious organizations have not requested my opinion. That is good reason to make my pitch here where it will be neglected by the powers that be.

Consider emulating the pharmaceutical companies who accompany their advertisements with several pages of tiny print explaining all the terrible things that may well accompany the use of their products. Evidently this works since those companies are real money makers and the newspapers and journal that publish their ads are doing okay as well.

Picture this: Here is a glitsy but proper half page ad for a Christian organization. ( I can say what follows because I am a card carrying Christian.) On the next page is a full page of small print saying the following but in utter detail and lawyerese type sentences.

"Be advised that use of the information in the ad on the preceding page is likely to lead to personal anxiety, family disorders and possible homelessness. Use of the information should be under the supervision of a well trained professional clergy person or certified lay consultant in religious matters. Results of using the information does not guarantee that advertised results will take place in a timely manner or ever.

"Death may occur if the information is coupled with certain personality disorders or if the information is used while also consuming drugs, alcohol or tea. Social situation are especially dangerous in that by standers may feel led to apply corrective protocols. Home owners or liability insurance may not apply to cases under this circumstance.

"This is a special caution to persons given to enjoying dangerous activities while under the influence of the aforementioned information. The pleasurable sensations are temporary. Prolonged treatment may be prescribed.

"This information is provided by the Department of Religiotropic Treatments - an authorized arm of the ______ Church."

My guess is that people would be fascinated to check out any religious organization that appeared to be interesting and adventurous, even if they were at risk of injury or death. Well, it is just an idea. I am not worried about action on this sure fire winner of a plan. The Heirarchy would no doubt become nervous, preferring boredom to risk.

Ray Kurzweil and Osama bin Laden

Ray Kurzweil presents his vision of The Singularity. Osama bin Laden presents his vision of The Muslim World. A momentary comparison is helpful.

Moving to a point when computers have more capability than the human mind is the core of Kurzweil's argument - as I understand the message. In the view of Gary Wolf (Wired magazine April 8) the aim of this futurist is to "become a robot - the robots of his dreams are complex, funny, loving machines".

A world where the Qur'an with its message from Allah is the order of the day everywhere appears to be the project for bin Laden. In the view of Michael Scheuer (Marching Toward Hell 2008) the purpose of bin Laden is to do away with American democracy and liberty in that it disrupts the Islamic vision.

Holding these two visions together in the mind is to stretch ambiguity beyond its limits. The attempt to rationalize and make comfortable these viewpoints is doomed to failure in the universe that I experience. And yet I believe it is necessary to explore the territory between these two approaches and discover their message for the human experiment.

Time.com byline this week

To be quoted in Time Magazine on line edition is to enter another frame of reference. A certain patina of worldly presence lurks in this innocent event. The global communications community keeps track of who enters the sacred zone. Google is the announcer of all who enter the ranks.

Having been raised up in a culture that frowned on people who pretended to know things and who wished to gather public attention, any kind of blatant public announcement was certainly an unseemly accident. The saying was "Fools faces and Fools names are often seen in public places." I recall it from the days of early childhood. For us it meant keeping a low profile in a world where property and money called the shots. We had neither.

All the bother is about an article on world religion holy days in which I am quoted and reference is made to www.interfaithcalendar.org This is Holy Week, 2008. Easter is tomorrow.

On Being Programmed by a Computer

In the process of installing a new computer in the household, moving to Microsoft Vista from Microsoft XP, and dealing with a failed DSL line, a person becomes vividly aware of personal mental interface with technology.

This is such an intimate process. The minds of the computer programmers burrow into ones inner mental frame of reference via the learning process when taking on a new operating system like Vista. In order to get the machine to do what one wishes to accomplish there is no alternative to taking on the thought patterns of the writers and the limits of the machines. Even as dogs and cats program us to feed them regularly so the computer programs us to handle information in a disciplined way.

It is a bit daunting to wake in the morning with the solution to a computer problem right there in plain view. Obviously the mind has been working in some back room of the brain during sleep time. Since one has also been dreaming various strange stories at the same time, one comes to speculate on what else is going on in there out of conscious view.

System maintenance, organizing files, cleaning out trash, checking the timing mechanisms, doing routine health reviews, healing broken systems, doing mathematical computations that integrate conscious planning into the ancient systems that govern the future shape of this organism. All this and much more.

I allow the computer to program me until I know enough of what needs to in place to say that now I will program what the mechanical device will enable me to do. Let us hope that this is more than wishful thinking.

The Discipline of Proving Something to be False

In a recent Time Magazine letter to the editor the scientific approach toward truth is described in a helpful manner. The issue is over whether a scientist seeks to prove that a hypothesis is true or whether the effort is to prove that a hypothesis is wrong by subjecting it to every possible attack.

Paul G. FitzGerald of the University of California at Davis, Calif. says that in the scientific realm a new idea is not accepted until it has been tested over and again. If the idea survives it is likely to be "true" in scientific terms, at least for the time being. So try to prove the idea wrong.

This discipline of questioning is sometimes seen as antithetical to the world of religion. The assumption is that religion is a matter of revelation and and is beyond question or testing. I take another stance in saying that religious ideas are so varied and omnipresent that the need to question and test is even more necessary than in the scientific realm.

It can be said that life is not long enough to do all the questioning and that real people need answers in the here and now since the individual life span is brief. I agree. One has to choose ones belief system before all the information has arrived. However, the frame of mind that keeps religion alive for individual humans is one that chooses certain beliefs for the moment while being open to next experiences and insights that may clarify the religious vision.

Arriving in Tel Aviv

Two friends recently left for an extended visit to the environs of Jerusalem. They arrived on Saturday, February 16. Here is a brief snippet of an email received today, Monday the 18th.

"We arrived in Tel Aviv about 3:30AM and snoozed for a while in

the airport..van to Jerusalem, got our housing...napped a bit...visited with

a shop owner we know. ate a belated Valentine's day supper..Today, Sunday,

went to church at East Jerusalem Baptist..Tomorrow we start seriously

looking for long term housing and places to volunteer although there are

possibilities emerging...."

A rather normal trip to a world known scene of turmoil and danger - or so the reports would
lead us to believe. Balance is helpful in a world of instant reports on troubles that at one time would have been invisible to 99% of the rest of the world. One considers the need to have a
global perspective that goes beyond the assumption of dangers and paralyzing fears.

It is as if we return in imagination to the ancient times when life was a desperate daytime struggle to find food and night time fears of the creatures of the dark menacing life and limb. It is as if we long to return to the dynamics of that primitive life style in order to satisfy some ancient internal security system needed for survival. Although dragons and fateful curses are no longer present - other than on video games - the internal mechanisms built into the human operating system are on duty. If that be an accurate appraisal of our situation, we can benefit by taking charge of our situation and exerting personal control over irrational fears and depressing visions. Easy to say. Hard to do. Courage! Carry On!

First Amendment Rights and School Products Regulation

The promotion of unhealthy foods and drinks in public schools raises some surprising First Amendment issues. There is a basic difference between School District policies that regulate products and policies that regulate speech regarding unhealthy foods and drinks.

To attempt to regulate advertising for the products is where First Amendment can be challenging. Constitutional challenges can arise for a School District that attempts of be pro active about prevention of such advertising.

If the School negotiates a vendor contract prohibiting advertising that is not desired it would seem that the company surrenders their First Amendment rights. If several schools in a District negotiate the same kind of contract it may open the District to charges of having a de facto District policy which may be treated by the courts as a First Amendment issue.

It is my opinion that commercial speech has become an active legal field since there is an apparent tendency to commercialize as many aspects of society as possible. Public School education offers a captive audience to advertisers without parental or community interference. The School becomes a tool for advertisers in shaping the minds of consumers.

Apparently courts today wish school district public policy on foods and beverage advertising to apply the test of being both "reasonable" and "viewpoint neutral". Interesting and highly subjective tests.

Religion is barred from influencing the minds of students but apparently advertisers are to be permitted to shape mental attitudes. If one looks on materialism as one among many philosophies that give meaning to life, the school may become an agent of materialism with no interference from other meaning giving systems of thought.

Samantha Graff present the situation in the article "First Amendment Implications of Restricting Food and Beverage Marketing in Schools" in the January, 2008 edition of The Annals...

President Bush Sums It Up

The State of the Union address last night was a strange kind of graduation like event. For a moment Americans teeter on the brink of a next step in leadership. One man is already beyond his position of power even though decisions will be made in the light of his policies. Hopeful successors cluster around the decision making process. Each of them is on the make. Do they know or care what they are getting into? My hope is that at least one of them has a capability of leadership that is realistic about 21st century options.

George W. Bush is graduating into the next era of his personal life. I wish him well. And I certainly do wish us all the very best in the immediate future.

Delton