It’s a long weekend and I decided to start reading again after a somewhat long hiatus.  My ambitious choice of bedtime entertainment ?  A volume bearing the solemn title "Postmodernism and Big Science".

Started with the second chapter on "Darwin and Fundamentalism" by Merryl Wyn Davies.  I have always held the view that scientists are not as neutral as they hold themselves out to be, and was gratified to find the author expressing the same cynicism on this matter :

"Are scientists lonely seekers after Truth, observing, measuring, testing, experimenting and driven to conclusion only by facts ?  Or are scientists, while observing, measuring and testing, involved in and products of the social construction of knowledge, influenced by the society in which they live and its ideas, ideas that shape the questions asked and answers given to problems in science ?  In which case, scientists are in an active sense inventors rather than passive discovers, imposing a pattern informed by many strands of cultural influence on the phenomena they study."

To be fair, the author is as disapproving of Christian fundamentalists ("creation scientists do immense violence to God-given reason", and here I do not entirely disagree), though I would like to believe that on balance she is at least partly persuaded by the argument that science cannot as conclusively prove as fact the theory of evolution, as evolutionists would like to assert :

"A theory is whatever one wants to believe, and, according to some versions of postmodernism, one belief is as good as another.  This argument for balance is a well-chosen strategic device, though it has consistently met with a negative response in American courts.

…

Evolution is a legitimate concern and subject for questioning by anyone - it is not capable of giving ultimate answers to all ultimate causes."

Interestingly, the author also pointed out that the Scopes Trial has almost always been inaccurately portrayed by the media, and hijacked by evolutionists to demonise creationists as persecutors of scientists.  Well, that’s new to me !

Her conclusion, which I generally agree with, was that :

"A true appreciation of the historic context of Darwin, the socially constructed nature of science, and theologically and historically informed understanding of religion, which is much more than simply Christian fundamentalism, suggests that we are being hijacked by two extremist positions.

…

The battle is not with Darwin; it is with the authority invested in and ascribed to Darwin, with the interpreters of Darwin.  The battle has been joined most publicly by Christian fundamentalists, who, however, have done battle only for their own narrow, reductive and special purposes.  But if either Darwin’s interpreters or his opponents silence, marginalise and effectively prevent legitimate, reasoned questioning, then everyone, as well as everything, that we hold dear and need to establish is diminished - be that religion or science.  Instead of a battle, there should be informed, general debate; instead of bigotry, religious or scientific, we need critical dialogue that can see beyond mythic stereotypes that propel the wrong ideas for the wrong reasons."

Used the word "ambivalent" as part of a sentence for the first time in my entire life.  So proud of myself.

Today is the last working day of the year.  As you can see, I’d rather be elsewhere.

Had dinner with my former tuition kid - now of course no longer a kid, and in fact almost one head taller than me.  We talked about the past.

I was in my final year of NS and looking to give tuition to make some pocket money; he was in primary five.  We were "matchmade" by a tuition agency - common at that time - but surprisingly got along so well that his mother offered to pay me more than what she had originally advertised.  None of my platoon mates kept in touch with their wards.

Then there was the time I invited him and his mother to church where, over lunch, he was grossed out by me and Joyce sharing a drink from the same cup.

It’s been ten plus years.  Amazingly though perhaps not entirely surprisingly, we’ve kept in touch and tonight I was glad to hear that he is doing OK despite having gone through some very difficult times in life.

I didn’t get many Christmas gifts this year but in many ways, tonight was a very nice Christmas gift.

… and blessed Christmas to all who stop by this blog.

In December 2002, I grieved and moved on to another church.  Today, almost exactly four years later, I close another chapter in my life in almost similar circumstances …

"Until the day Samuel died, he did not go to see Saul again, though Samuel mourned for him." (1 Samuel 15 : 34)

The rain has been unrelenting, pouring almost non-stop for over 24 hours already.  Short walk from canteen back to office has left me drenched from the knees down.  Sucks.

A friend wrote a strongly-worded blog entry about homosexual churches.  I didn’t quite agree with the tone, hence the following comment which I hope would add some balance to this debate :

I think balancing grace and truth when speaking to a gay person is not easy.  Let us not presume that quoting blandly from the scriptures is enough. 

Imagine a world which tells you that it is wrong for men to love women, but where emotionally you are only able to connect with women.  Perhaps that is how some gay persons feel.  Start from there, and perhaps the church may better understand the struggle that gay persons go through.  I think that unless the church is able to identify with their pain, it cannot be successful in teaching the truth.

That too, if you recall, is the High Priestly role that God has called His church to perform, to represent His love to the people and plead their cases before Him, to "deal gently with those who are ignorant and going astray, since he himself is subject to weakness" (Hebrews 5 : 2).

Finally, I think years of blandly quoting scriptures has, in some societies, perpetrated a homophobic culture where violence against homosexuals is tolerated if not condoned.  This is not something the church should be proud of.

Had a male-ego affirming drive to work today when a bitch behind the wheel of a silver Lexus SUV stalked me all the way from the Paya Lebar to Toa Payoh exit of the PIE.  She wanted to kiss my rear and in fact tried to corner me into kissing the rear of the guy in front.

(I suppose I’m cute but sorry dear, I’m married and am not into menage a tois in any case).

When she realised I was resolutely monogamous she broke off her chase, recklessly cut across three lanes to her left, and started stalking the poor sod on a motorcycle.

(The wench must have been really upset that I rejected her advances).

I decided to steal a glance to see if she was really as ugly as she looked in the rear-view mirror.  Guess what ?  She put on a come hither look and her lips formed into what looked like "f**k".

(Shameless slut).

Anyway, if you are the owner of a silver Lexus SUV (or the Toyota Harrier with a Lexus logo stuck on the front) driven by your wife / girlfriend / mistress / whore / lesbian lover, please tell her to stop flirting with death on the roads again.  And get her a chastity belt !

(Unfortunately I did not have the presence of mind to take down the licence plate number of the SUV).

Today’s papers reported, amusingly, that "bogel" (nudity), "gambar bogel" (pictures of nudity), "seks Melayu" (sex between Malays) and "cerita seks" (sex stories) are the top search words keyed in by Internet users from Kota Baru (Kelantan). 

In other words, men from this conservative / fundamentalist Islamic state in Malaysia, which has from time to time contemplated the institution of hudud law (ie. amputation of limbs for theft, stoning for adultery, etc.), and which has imposed single sex queues in supermarkets and banned public performances by women, are the most hum sup (lecherous) in the whole of Malaysia.

Of course, it could be the women and not men who are searching for porn.  That would make the majority of Kelantan women, er … well, let’s not go there … oh the horror, the horror …

(Read the article on "Malaysia’s fundamentalist state tops surfers list for porn", on ChannelNewsAsia).