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Recently, on vacation to the cooler climate of the NorthEast, I stumbled upon some most beautiful examples of church architecture. Old New England and Canadian churches, built in the 1800's as centers of town life and designed to be both lasting and inspiring in their design and beauty.
I have had an interest in church architecture since college when I was introduced to the cathedrals of Europe as part of an art history class. Being from small town Texas, where churches offered little to nothing in terms of aesthetics, I was fascinated with these great cathedrals as I had never seen one in person. Of course, I was dissuaded by my parents and their cronies from exploring them further, which only led more to my interest. On my recent trip, I stopped frequently to explore and photograph old churches.
I noticed that in Canada, churches are often unlocked, whereas in America, they are locked unless a service is taking place. On a Sunday my son and I decided to pay a visit to the service. A-midst his complaints of "We don't go to church at home why then are we doing it now?" I explained that our attendance was not in any way a statement of faith or an endorsement of any religion, it was to gain access inside and make a socio-cultural observation.
Some have already cried about my doing this, but my philosophy is that if I am going to spend an hour in the company of shallow, judgmental and maybe hateful people, then I had better be surrounded by art and architecture worthy of my time.
The theme of the summer at this church was "reconciling science and religion" and instead of a sermon, the speaker who was a theist was presenting a look at the Higgs-Boson and her work on the Hadron Collider. She is also a professor of physics at an esteemed Ivy league college.
My son's attitude went from foul to ecstatic when he found out that she would be speaking.
Afterwards, we hung around to talk to her. Some of the people said hi and greeted us, but none of the "So WHO are you and what do you believe?" that we have encountered in the South and e en sadly here in Florida. Just a pleasant hi and hello. I got some photos inside the church after the service.
What struck me was how encouraging this professor was to my son. He has already decided that he wants to be a physicist. She was very encouraging and complimentary of him. The opposite of what I had received at his age when I announced to church people that I wanted to be an astro-physicist. (Oh you'll burn in hell for that because those scientists are evil) Of course, I had controlling parents who believed that they had some divine right to choose my career and schooling for me, and when I did what I wanted, on my terms, they reacted with hatred and fear, typical of fundamentalist Christians.
But there was something else. When the service started, the words "We welcome all, believers and non-believers to our family." I have never heard that before. During the prayer, we were not the only one's who did now bow our heads and pray. Possibly, some people attend this church only for social reasons, not for religious ones, and Sunday AM is a way to relax and enjoy some well performed music. (The music was not overtly religious, and it was very well performed by some very talented musicians.)
But in the end, the resolution of science and religion must be a personal one. For myself, and my son, we consider ourselves scientific types. We do not base decisions of myths or mythological teachings, but on tried and true results and methods. That goes for everything from economics to cooking to social involvement. We follow what works, not what some book or religion says works. And ultimately, that remains the explanations of life and the universe for us.
Good story. Nice to learn that there are some churches out there that are recognizing that Christian theology must come to grips with science. And there are a fair share of Christians who accept most if not all of the tenants of science.
Here's the thing, the reason I find myself so frustrated with many fundamentalists, is their adamant beliefs in a young earth and their rejection of any and all science that they believe contradicts the bible. (So they drives cars and use the internet, take advantage of modern medicine, and maybe even work in nuclear power plants, but deny that the earth is far older than the 10,000 years they claim the Bible teaches)
I can imagine how much it must have saddened some Christians when they finally had to accept that earth was not the center of the universe.
The implication is that Satan must have created all the evidence for the age and size of the universe to deceive us. The mind boggles at the implication vis a vis the relationship between God and Satan.
Fortunately I dont have to worry because I believe in a 4.5 billion year old earth and a 13.5 billion year old universe, and I do NOT believe in Satan.
The blog on their website mentions the speaker we heard.
I agree, religions need to come to grips with science. The way the Bible says that the earth was created, the flood, the evolution of languages at the Tower of Babel, all are myths and factually wrong. That makes the Bible "Wrong" in part or in whole, depending on one's point of view.
I liked the fact that they referenced non-believers, as though they knew my son and I were there. I am sure that others were present who just do not believe the Jesus myths but we love good music, art, and a rational discussion of the realities of physics.
Maybe they were welcoming the "non-religious" because it was a special event lecture that day that they had advertised to the community at large. I doubt "we welcome you into our family" was meant to say anything other then "welcome to our home," it just has more flowery language so as to look very good and caring. I'm sure the normal Sundays aren't spent having "reconciling science and religions" lectures and "having atheists accepted as equal in our family." That kind of throws the reasons to be Christian into the gutter, or the idea of caring about souls that die atheist and go to hell for it, in their believes.
Universal Salvation? Then no reason to be Christian.
Infinite or finite Damnation? No reason not to try to save those non-believer, with arguments and reasons as quickly as possible. Unless they think arguments and reasons don't work and the only way to attract non-believers to believe their stuff is to pamper to non-believers and make them feel like part of the family and so they should convert.
If you could for us, tell them you were "amazed" by them seeming to know you and your child would be there... and see if they blame the magic of god instead of the fact they expected nonbelievers because the event was advertised to the larger community. Might as well gauge for us how honest they might be.
Maybe, but Vermont is a highly atheist state, and judging from how few people were there anyway, I would think that they would be happy to have people there.
I wonder though how many people use the church as a social circle? I do not, but being that the church service was full of 50+ agers, who are going to go out of habit, and not spend the day hiking and biking, then who knows?
The Methodist church is considered liberal and is in decline. Last time I went to another Episcopal church here in Florida, years ago, some rather nasty guy who claimed to a be a member of the vestry was quizzing me as to my beliefs and one of the questions was "Do you believe in evolution?" And when I said yes, it went downhill from there. I never went back either, and like I said, the only way I will go is for a good concert or to see the inside of classic architecture.
Maybe, but Vermont is a highly atheist state, and judging from how few people were there anyway, I would think that they would be happy to have people there.
I wonder though how many people use the church as a social circle? I do not, but being that the church service was full of 50+ agers, who are going to go out of habit, and not spend the day hiking and biking, then who knows?
The Methodist church is considered liberal and is in decline. Last time I went to another Episcopal church here in Florida, years ago, some rather nasty guy who claimed to a be a member of the vestry was quizzing me as to my beliefs and one of the questions was "Do you believe in evolution?" And when I said yes, it went downhill from there. I never went back either, and like I said, the only way I will go is for a good concert or to see the inside of classic architecture.
Ohhhh..that's too bad...the Methodists are pretty mainstream. I always considered Episcopalians to be mainstream as well, I'm surprised that from your experience they are in conflict with evolution. I just did a quick check and according to the internet, whatever that means, they don't appear to be in conflict with evolution.
Ohhhh..that's too bad...the Methodists are pretty mainstream. I always considered Episcopalians to be mainstream as well, I'm surprised that from your experience they are in conflict with evolution. I just did a quick check and according to the internet, whatever that means, they don't appear to be in conflict with evolution.
I don't think that they are as a a whole, but mr XYZ at this church who was a "vestery member" AKA The church leaders, was and did not want anyone in "his" church who had any opinion different than his.
Hence I never went back to that church.
I think a big part of the trip was the fact that the towns and the buildings look so much different than they do here, and I dare say, better, but that is more of a personal preference.
Location: The High Desert of the American Southwest
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I have wondered for years why science and religion need be at odds, or diametrically opposed.
To me, they are simply two differing sides of the same coin. Call it "The Coin of Our Existence & Search for Meaning."
Science helps us understand the origin and the mechanics of the world we live in. It enables us to improve our quality of life through medicine and technology. It has its own special place in my life: if I need to fix my computer or the fuel-injectors in my car engine, I won't be picking up the Gospel of Luke; I'll be accessing science.
Religion, on the other side of the Coin, helps us try and understand how we can become connected to something larger than ourselves and everyday nuts-and-bolts living. It helps me try and find Meaning in life and possible reasons for my existence. When I am in a contemplative, spiritual mood, or sometimes need to slake my spiritual thirst, I don't pick-up my old college Organic Chemistry textbook. Rather, I would pick up my Living Bible or maybe the Tao te Chi.
Even the Catholic church has embraced scientific findings and disavowed some of their age-old dogma (like the 6000 y.o. Earth hoo-ha.)
To read the Bible as a history book--as fundamentalists do--is to miss the point. And also miss out on the beautiful allegory and symbolism. I have always found it ironic that the biblical literalists actually get LESS enjoyment out of their Book than does an Agnostic like myself. They insist on anthropomorphizing, and thus diminishing their God.
I can see God's handiwork in pictures from Hubble, or when I'm immersed in Nature.
I'm science-trained and simply can't believe everything in the Bible actually happened. But I can still enjoy it. And I think more Christians are realizing they too can embrace some of the wonders of the world, like climbing on a rock that is two million years old, without letting that fact impinge upon the validity of their belief in God or the enjoyment they get from practicing their respective Faiths.
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