6.19.2007

The Vatican's 10 Commandments for Drivers

Found this story on Yahoo today, courtesy of the Associated Press: "Vatican's 10 commandments for drivers"

"An unusual document from the Vatican's office for migrants and itinerant people also warned that cars can be "an occasion of sin" — particularly when they are used for dangerous passing or for prostitution.

It warned about the effects of road rage, saying driving can bring out "primitive" behavior in motorists, including "impoliteness, rude gestures, cursing, blasphemy, loss of sense of responsibility or deliberate infringement of the highway code."

It urged motorists to obey traffic regulations, drive with a moral sense, and to pray when behind the wheel.
Cardinal Renato Martino, who heads the office, told a news conference that the Vatican felt it necessary to address the pastoral needs of motorists because driving had become such a big part of contemporary life."

6.06.2007

Another small but vital thought

I posted one of these a few days ago, and since then another one has been kicking around in my mind, something I probably should have gotten a long time ago, and I'm not entirely sure why it just appeared.

It isn't that God starts speaking when I start listening.

It's that God's speaking all the time, and when I start listening, I hear Him.

6.04.2007

A message from God...


...courtesy of the P.K.s

In evolution, religious belief found "useful"

The Post-Dispatch, here in St. Louis, ran this story about researchers at Wash. U. who are researching religion as an evolutionary response:

Perhaps since the time of Galileo, science and religion have had a gentleman's agreement: You stay out of my business, and I'll stay out of yours. Not any longer. A cadre of scientists, including Washington University anthropologist Pascal Boyer, are trying to explain why, in almost every human culture, people choose belief in God over unbelief — why, it seems, the human brain is wired for belief.And the scientists are finding something that would please Charles Darwin himself: Religion may have evolved through the same rules that led to big brains and opposable thumbs. From an evolutionary standpoint, they have found, belief can be useful."Supernatural beliefs are, in general, very easy extensions from beliefs that are useful in everyday life," Boyer said...

"Believers say, 'You're showing how God interacts with my brain.' Atheists say, 'That's great because it shows that it's nothing more than activity in the brain,'" he said.But Boyer feels that he has been caught in the middle. Believers have accused him of trying to take the mystery away. And atheists have criticized him for not attacking religion enough. He has received hate mail from both sides.