Letters to the Editor: Hit the Ground Running Or Simply Running Blind?
Hit the Ground Running Or Simply Run Blind?
Editor, Times-Dispatch: Today the Richmond City Council will vote on the mayor's only choice for chief accounting officer (CAO), Byron C. Marshall.
There is some controversy around Marshall's degree from Syracuse University, a terminated contract in Durham, and consulting work done for Austin, Texas, while he was CAO in Atlanta. He resigned as Atlanta's CAO related to that controversy.
Currently, an audit of Marshall's nonprofit group is being conduct in Austin with results due in October. Yet, the City Council is in a hurry to vote to confirm him without the customary committee review. "That's the start of the fiscal year," said Council President Kathy Graziano, "We'd like to hit the ground running."
"The city can't go without a CAO for another three months," says Councilman Bruce Tyler.
Councilman Martin Jewell is upset with the media that have "called into question Marshall's credentials, his experience, and all else."
Maybe with good reason. Time will tell. Let's extend the search for candidates, vet them thoroughly, including Marshall, and audit results if a better candidate is not found before October.
Better not to hit the ground running only to fall on our faces.
Carol Buckingham.
Richmond.
Not Cheap or Painless, But Climate Needs Fixing
Editor, Times-Dispatch: Recent correspondents have pointed out some of the questions, alternative explanations, and misconceptions about anthropogenic climate change. So why do the majority of scientists (see the official policy statements of the American Geophysical Union, the American Chemical Association, and the American Physical Society) warn of the dangers of man's contribution to the global climate? Some would have us believe the worst: that they are in it for personal gain or duped by a few who will benefit. The truth is that they have looked at the scientific evidence and found it compelling.
The mechanism of anthropogenic climate change is based on the greenhouse effect: a well-accepted phenomenon whereby gases such as water vapor, carbon dioxide, and methane trap some of the sun's energy warming the atmosphere. Simple models of the greenhouse effect such as the one described in the 1989 Scientific American article, "The Changing Climate," clearly demonstrate that changing the levels of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere will cause temperature changes. While these models oversimplify the problem, the physical phenomenon is real. Better models include the effects of aerosols, clouds, the oceans, etc., and come closer to the observed changes. However, it is not possible to develop a completely accurate model.
So while the effect of CO2
on the climate is real, the models used to predict how much CO 2 is too much will always be estimates. This leaves open the possibility that the models are in error. So we have a choice: We could keep our fingers crossed and hope for the best. However, the majority of scientists looking at the data and theories recognize the likelihood that man can affect the climate. They believe that while it won't be cheap or painless. anthropogenic climate change is a significant issue that must be addressed.
David Kane.
Richmond.
Where Did Augustine Get His Information?
Editor, Times-Dispatch: In Bill Humphrey's recent letter, "Theories Aren't Bare Facts," he explained the difference between facts and theories. However, when he quotes the writings of St. Augustine as understanding the Bible as an unscientific document and knowing that God's creation would continue to evolve, I wondered how Augustine viewed the six days of creation.
The first day light and darkness were created. No evolution in that 24-hour period. Day two, the division of the waters by the firmament took only one day -- again, no evolution. The third day, the land and oceans were created, also the grass, herbs, and fruit trees came into being. The fourth day saw the creation of sun, moon, and stars to give light to the Earth. On the fifth day whales and every living creature of the oceans and every winged creature of the air was created. Also, the animal world came into being on that day. The sixth day, God made humanity in His own image to have dominion over everything that He created.
Augustine is quoted as writing that the universe was brought into being less than fully formed but able to transform itself in conformity with God's will.
Where in the Genesis account is there even a hint of the universe transforming itself? Unless I'm missing something of the six days of creation, I can only marvel at the miraculous events as written.
The Apostle Paul wrote in his letter to the Roman Christians: "Oh the depths of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God, how unsearachable are His judgments and His ways past finding out."
Sidney Preston.
Keysville.
Is Biomass Energy Another Boondoggle?
Editor, Times-Dispatch: After reading Curt Gleeson's op/ed, "Biomass Energy Holds Great Promise for Virginia," I have a couple of questions:
- Since wood and biomass are composed mostly of carbon, how is burning them any better than burning coal or oil? They both produce CO and CO2.
- If we have no manufacturing facilities, who is going to use the heat?
- Why would we support using productive farm land to produce fuel for electric production? I see another ethanol boondoggle where the taxpayers are paying for uneconomical, subsidized production that cannot be used unless one buys a new vehicle that gets 20 to 30 percent less miles per gallon than a conventional engine (not my numbers, these are from the EPA -- but I digress).
Biomass left in the forests and fields after harvesting rejuvenates the forests and the fields and promotes new growth -- natural fertilizer.
So, once again, why is this a good idea? Henry C. (Hank) Marshall. Mechanicsville.
Reader Reactions
“Plenty of people in many times and places have done things ‘in the name of God’, but don’t confuse them with Him.” Posted by ( Dave )
Dave:
I did not mention God; just religious fundamentalists.
“There is no foundation for morals or ethics without a benevolent creator. There is no substantiation for any set of values without an unmoved mover.”
I don’t know if there are gods; and I am no expert on the physics of Aristotle as relating to “any set of values.” When one declares “there is no foundation for morals or ethics without a benevolent creator” (with which one has a belief-relationship) one negates others & asserts one’s superiority over “misbelievers.”
“In the universe of your imagination the only validation of one’s values over another is brute force.”
You seem to imply that the underlying determinant in my worldview is “brute force.” It is not. If such is you implication you are wrong. My parents tried their best to teach me right from wrong (apologies to Merle Haggard), and I follow my conscience through life.
“Modern-day skeptics are quick to characterize God based upon what humans do. It’s convenient and it allows them to set themselves on a moral-ethical pedestal to judge others. They proclaim themselves ‘God’. THAT’S nihilism. Stop projecting yourself onto what you hate - it’s unbecoming.”
Dave: It’s been my experience that evangelical-fundamentalists often respond to criticism by warning the critic against “characterize[ing] God based upon what humans do”—as if such criticism or offering an alternative interpretation of scripture is to “mock God.” To take offense of criticism & then accuse the critic of blasphemy is to “proclaim [one’s self] ‘God’”—the blasphemy of blasphemies.
The creation self & group identity by negation (by what one claims not to be) through blaming, eagerness to take offence & faux self-defending are nihilist traits I’ve noticed that prevail in American Evangelical-fundamentalist culture. I am concerned about it.
Again: I am not talking about “God.” I am talking about religious fundamentalism in the United States.
studebaker- ‘They are the nihilists of our age.‘ There is no foundation for morals or ethics without a benevolent creator. There is no substantiation for any set of values without an unmoved mover. In the universe of your imagination the only validation of one’s values over another is brute force. Plenty of people in many times and places have done things ‘in the name of God’, but don’t confuse them with Him. Modern-day skeptics are quick to characterize God based upon what humans do. It’s convenient and it allows them to set themselves on a moral-ethical pedestal to judge others. They proclaim themselves ‘God’. THAT’S nihilism. Stop projecting yourself onto what you hate - it’s unbecoming.
“Perfection and then annihilation. No wonder some folks prefer to believe in a hereafter.” -greta
It’s hard to imagine humans evolving wisdom enough to overcome their folly. I do hope, though. There’s an ember of hope & faith in me that is never quite squelched. Whether by human heart or some unfathomable spirit beyond, I really believe we are capable of goodness.
But religious fundamentalists frighten me; here at home or abroad; Christian, Islamic or otherwise; they are the nihilists of our age. And I fear that, if we fail to neutralize their hatred, by their hand we will be annihilated.
The universe , or God, if God even exists, is under no obligation to make the universe the way we would like it to be with a fuzzy, happy place called Heaven, and a fiery, dark place reserved for those who don’t share our beliefs. The Universe is the way it is whether we like it or not, and in all likelihood oblivion is what awaits us. That idea is too scary for some people to even ponder, so they bury their heads in the sand and try not to think about it, or anything else for that matter. You’re born, you live, you die, and there is nothing to be done about it. Nothing is forever, not even matter.
The hypocrisy is thick in Christianity. It’s hard to get through the Bible and find one passage that is not completely contradicted by another. So many Christians find homosexuality as an abomination to their religion, but in the same book that calls it that, shellfish are also referred to as an abomination. That’s just one of a thousand ridiculous statements from the Bible. And if you look at the reasons Jesus was crucified, front and center is his preaching that you don’t need a “go between” to have a personal relationship with God, you don’t need a temple or church, or reverend or pastor, or money or power to know God. Yet here we are with all these dogmatic fundamentalists, and from who all you ever hear is hatred. That is one of the reasons I left behind my affiliation with any church, along with believing in Santa Clause, because in the end, is belief in one really that different from belief in the another?
“I was a young man with uninformed ideas. I threw out queries, suggestions, wondering all the time oer everything; and to my astonishment the ideas took like wildfire. People made a religion of them.“
Odd that he should use the tertm “religion” in reference to his work which today is mostly held up as a sort of counter to religion.
Has the evolutionary process stopped?
According to Darwin “Believing as I do that man in the distant future will be a far more perfect creature than he now is, it is an intolerable thought that he and all other sentient beings are doomed to complete annihilation after such a long continued slow progress.“
Perfection and then annihilation. No wonder some folks prefer to believe in a hereafter.
( CWB717 )
To me the greatest irony of all is the tendency of Fundamentalist-Evangelicals to embrace the 19th century political & economic scam that Victorian industrialists mislabeled as “Social Darwinism.” Their stance vis-à-vis the rest of the world is the exact opposite one would expect from who claims to follow Christ.
Fundamentalists-Evangelicals “god said it, I believe it, that settles it” Christians indulge in end-times revenge fantasies. Sometimes I wonder if the political expression of American Fundamentalist-Evangelicals’ obsessive worldview of “spiritual warfare” & the “other” as the ENEMY, may have been the major factor in the U.S. invading Iraq.
There is an old Rabbinic saying that goes something like this: If you have a sapling & hear that the messiah has come, plant the sapling first, then seek the messiah.
studebaker, you know what is one of the most sadly ironic things about those that reject evolution is that they take advantage, daily, of the very same technologies that have proven evolution as one of the most sound scientific concepts in history. So all you people out there who deny evolution, stop using your televisions, DVD players, computers, cell phones, smoke detectors, prescriptions, oh, and only eat food that is caught in the wild and for heavens sake, whatever you do, don’t go to the hospital or the doctors office. I would urge you to go to a science class, but I doubt that would do any good being religiously indoctrinated and all.
“Why think for yourself when your pastor can do it for you? It is scary when you read the polls that show roughly half of Americans reject evolution…” Posted by ( CWB717 )
CWB717
What frightens me is that these “Christians” are convinced that they are being persecuted 24/7, and they still amount to the largest single voting bloc in the U.S. Their votes too often serve the interests of other unsavory powers. They actually believe that they mean well, and yet they truly do not mean well at all.
There are many folks out there would think nothing of blindly chucking scripture verses at St. Augustine—one of the most important figures in the development of Western Christianity—without even reading his works:
“he quotes the writings of St. Augustine as understanding the Bible as an unscientific document and knowing that God’s creation would continue to evolve, I wondered how Augustine viewed the six days of creation…Where in the Genesis account is there even a hint of the universe transforming itself?”—Sidney Preston. Keysville.
No doubt Mr. Preston would be better for the effort after reading Augustine’s On Christian Doctrine, Confessions, or City of God .****
It not infrequently happens that something about the earth, about the sky, about other elements of this world, about the motion and rotation or even the magnitude and distances of the stars, about definite eclipses of the sun and moon, about the passage of years and seasons, about the nature of animals, of fruits, of stones, and of other such things, may be known with the greatest certainty by reasoning or by experience, even by one who is not a Christian. It is too disgraceful and ruinous, though, and greatly to be avoided, that he [the non-Christian] should hear a Christian speaking so idiotically on these matters, and as if in accord with Christian writings, that he might say that he could scarcely keep from laughing when he saw how totally in error they are. In view of this and in keeping it in mind constantly while dealing with the book of Genesis, I have, insofar as I was able, explained in detail and set forth for consideration the meanings of obscure passages, taking care not to affirm rashly some one meaning to the prejudice of another and perhaps better explanation.
Augustine of Hippo – De Genesi ad literam 1:19–20, Chapt. 19 [AD 408] “The Literal Interpretation of Genesis”
vamedic03, I understand your frustration. I have somewhat resigned myself to the fact that some people are incapable of reconciling their faith with scientific fact. I doubt we will ever change the minds of those folks. When so many people have a second grade understanding of science, and are happily and willfully ignorant, and then you toss in religious dogma and the fear that is often accompanied by it you get what amounts to a fundamentalist, incapable of free thought, and really, probably not very interested in free thought. Why think for yourself when your pastor can do it for you? It is scary when you read the polls that show roughly half of Americans reject evolution, but I also take solace in the fact that at least a legal precedent has been set to keep creationist garbage out of the science classroom.
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