Tentative Thoughts that I Wanted to Write Down

I hate to make a violent jump between computer science and religion, but I'm going to have to.  I'm not going to speak religiously in computer science terms nor computer science religiously.  Right.

Let me back up.  Humans innately are forced to deal with the endless complexities that bombard their minds in day to day living.  Autistic sevants apparently lack a specific section of the brain that allows them to disregard details, leaving most of them able to do insane computations or draw amazing artwork or memorize music from one hearing, but little else.  They are generally socially and pragmatically (word?) inept.  This complexity management flows into our vision.  Aside from the scientific complexities of focusing on multiple objects, our eyes disregard the things in the peripheral (word?) in order to concentrate on something in the foreground.  This complexity management even goes to computer science (the connections!).  A fundamental concept of object oriented (and probably procedural programming, though to a lesser degree) computer science is abstraction, a difficult to define term that basically implies taking larger processes and concepts, breaking them down into the most important aspects (such as the inputs, outputs, etc) and using those large yet easy to understand blocks to build complex systems.  You ignore the details of the implementation in favor of simplicity.  It's kinda like lego, though we don't deal with individual atoms.  Instead of writing the huge programs we use today in binary (which would be simply rediculous) we write it in higher level languages using libraries, functions, classes, etc.  Awesome.

This complexity management comes full swing.  Laughter has once been described as a means of dealing with absurdities.  When you laugh, you basically rob the idea of its serious merits.  By doing so, you can avoid fruitless thinking on the topic, it simply does not make sense, no sense in trying to make any out of it. 

Here's a biggie.  Science is an abstraction of reality.  We have little building blocks of forces like gravitation and electical.  We define atoms and molecules.  Everything is made in a little block that, for the most part, successfully describes its real counterpart.  But in our abstraction, the blocks are predictable and act according to our own rules.  Using these blocks we can describe and predict reality, though it's important to note that reality does not run on our rules, our rules simply are accurate for most (if not all) of our current observations.  We trust these blocks to be accurate until they prove themselves not so, and funny thing is that there are always exceptions.  The normal force (physics) seems like a crap solution to the problem of objects running through walls.  The vector force model simply does not work well without it, so we add it and say it exists because it must using this model.  Circular reasoning to me?

That's not the entire point though.  My point in effect is that religion and theology are abstractions of God.  The mother of all abstractions.  We define God in terms of inputs and outputs, goals and requirements, prerequisites and solutions.  By doing so, we can predict God, handle Him in our minds.  Without this abstraction, he's incomprehensible, and that is unacceptable in our modern minds when everything else can be broken down into simple terms.  1:50AM.  You know it's late when compsci starts merging with God.  Or when I use the word abstraction and don't hate it.

Sorry UT

 Not a huge fan of Ohio State, but this picture cracks me up.  A&M's first five games or so are just rediculous doosies, for the record.  (UT #2 lost to Ohio State #1)

(I honestly don't hate Texas, I just think the picture is classic, very lucky shot to catch all the people like that)

Currently Listening Peregrine By The Appleseed Cast see related

A Life Sacrificed

I'm sitting here after my shower in my towel on the computer with a heavy heart.  This is not an aberration by any means, I do this quite a bit, but the heavy heart is new.  The feeling, this time, goes a lot deeper than trivial circumstances surrounding me.  It doesn't have to do with the sugar blues, or something someone said, it has to do with the way things are in this world.  Let me recount the relevant parts of my weekend.

Planning

The Jehovah's Witnesses are a relatively well-known "denomination" (I'll explain later why that is not entirely accurate) of Christianity due to their door-to-door evangelism, something almost entirely unique to them (aside from a few Mormom missionaries) in the United States.  They take great pride in being the ones to bring their good news to your door, and the world really despises it.  Many people also recognize the Jehovah's Witnesses as a cult, using brainwashing, shunning, and other recognized techniques to keep people within their ranks.  I myself had no experience with them up to this point, but either Borden or Sean pointed out that in the Katy Sun, the Witnesses were going to be having a convention in the Merell Center (a smaller sized arena for sporting events in Katy).  Excited to be able to learn something about this almost entirely unknown faith, to see something new and interesting, and if possible to share the love of Christ we all set about to learn whatever we could about the Witnesses before we got to the convention.

Reading on the internet about the Witnesses seems to be a battle of objectivity.  Either they were the only truth in this world, or they were a legalistic cult which was governed by an organization.  One of my primary concerns was their denial of the deity of Christ.  Christ is God is almost fundamental to every other Christian faith (besides the Unitarians and the Mormons) and no one really takes the time to explain why.  It's not a simple issue, to say the least especially from the standpoint of the Witnesses.  Not only was I surprised to find out how little scripture I knew concerning this fact, but how many of the obvious "...to our God and Saviour, Jesus Christ" and "the Word was God" are translated differently in the JW Bible.  I'll give credit to the Mormons though, they use KJV (though they still miss it, sadly). 

Saturday Convention

After getting off work around 1:00, I went home, took a shower, prettied myself up (undershirt and khakis, maybe shaved I don't recall) and drove over there.  The lot was amazingly packed, which made it hard to get parking, a triviality.  But the biggest thing I noticed when I walked toward the doors was that everyone there was wearing suits and ties or dresses.  I was clearly out of place with my raggedy clothes and a backpack.  There was also a majority of minorities (no racism here, the number were just disproportionate considering the term "minority") and a lot of lame people and disabled or wheelchaired people.  One of the theories on this is that door to door evangelism is good for reaching people who otherwise could not leave their homes.  This struck me as sad, not that no one else had reached them, but that they didn't have the opportunity to really see the world for themselves and come to a conclusion.  I walked nearly two circles around the entire arena looking for a seat before I came upon some up at the 2nd to top row.

I sat down, looked lost and got a few comments from the friendly people.  One of them offered me a New World Translation Bible since the "talks" were "Bible based" (though in reality, while they quoted a verse or two a Bible was really unnecessary), another "Sing Songs of Praise to Jehovah" during their song time.  Note the songs were less praise songs than they were oaths of allegiance.  Something to the effect of (sans sarcasm of course) "We will follow Jehovah, live moral lives, and listen to the faithful and discreet slave which is the Watchtower."  The talks were altogether interesting...

These are the talks I heard:

Saturday:

Keep a Scriptural View of Health Care: What I thought would be a politically dominated talk actually spoke against the use of spiritism etc in our attempts to become well.  Jehovah comes first, then our health.  Apparently resorting to some sort of cure that would result in an unapproved standing before God is actually self-defeating.  Traditionally (and in their literature), Jehovah's Witnesses are forbidden from taking part in blood transfusions, organ transplants, and a number of other procedures.  There were a lot of lame and handicapped people present at the convention.

What Spirit Dominates Your Life: Essentially a filler, the two spirits presented were Jehovah and Satan.  Obviously the key was to make Jehovah central to our lives.  Funny enough they brough a man up to demonstrate a point about taking a raise that would take away some of his time.  The man resolved that it was more important to have family time and to attend witness meetings than the extra money.  Jehovah, Family, Work is the order of priorities.  About this point I'm actually used to them using the word Jehovah in place of God.  Brainwashing just needs time...

Foresee the Calamity, and Conceal Yourself: We can't foresee calamity, but Jehovah offers us privisions to keep up safe spiritually through the Mosaic law.  This is nonsense according to Galatians, but the Jehovah's Witnesses see very little difference between the Old and New Testament, and where for the rest of Christendom (their term, not mine) sees God dying and being resurrected as sort of monumental, they keep on living somewhat Jewish lives under the law.  The underlying tone of the entire convention is legalism with a twist.

Manifest Christian Dignity at All Times: This was just nonsense.  Dressing right and having a respectable manner of speech etc was put on a sort of pedastal.  We're supposed to do this everywhere so people will listen to us when we have something to say.  And when the Jehovah's Witnesses claim to be the embodiment of what 1st century Christianity was all about, they completely disprove themselves here.  1st Century Christians (even Christ) were beaten and shamed, naked, and poor and had absolutely no earthly dignity.  Too bad we've lost this.

Maintain "a Threefold Cord" in Marriage: Jehovah should be central in your marriage.  Do not be unequally yoked.

Sunday

Accept Jehovah's Authority -- Reject an Independent Spirit: Here's where the cult starts to rear it's ugly head, doused in religion to water down the effect.  The idea is we should listen to God and not men, which is good I think.  But when men claim to be directed by God, and they have no reason to say so...there's the problem.  "Reject an Independent Spirit" was overemphasized, and just put a foul taste in my mouth.

DRAMA: To Whose Authority Do You Submit?: Here we have a dramatic recreation of a 2nd Kings story, with the emphasis on listening to God.  The most ironic part of the whole story was when a "prophet" (I guess that was his name) was commanded by God not to return to the place from which he came.  He left not to turn his back only to be overcome by some man claiming to have heard from angels that God had told him that the prophet was indeed allowed to return.  The prophet obliges, returns, eats some bread and water and dies later.  The moral of the story? "Don't listen to the Watchtower when they claim to hear from God, you'll die!"

We talked to a lot of people here and didn't listen to the talks.

"Keep in Expectation" as Jehovah's Day Nears!: This was the worst part of the entire convention.  Here the entire congregation stood and "yay'd" to a declaration that had the following sick provisions:

• Jehovah's Witnesses will keep out of internet chat rooms where apostate members of Christendom might be talking (A lot of Jehovah's witnesses are converted this way.  Matt Slick of CARM.org apparently does this)
• The separation from the world is announced, Witnesses are encouraged to maintain as little contact with secular activities as possible and to cling to their brothers instead.
• The Watchtower Organization (The Faithful and Discreet Slave) is to be the only guide to interpreting the Bible, no independent interpretation is to be done.
• If Witnesses have questions or disagreements, they are to "wait on Jehovah to answer" and not question anything.
• ...other stuff, I wasn't listening.

Talks With People

The primary reason to go to the convention was to talk to some of the Witnesses, ask them what they believed and why (and if possible get them out).  My talks with people were interesting to say the least.  I remember a quote that a "Jehovah's Witness could make a doctrinal pretzel out of the average Christian" and I totally agree, these people know their Bibles inside and out (which sadly, is something I can rarely say of many Christians I know, a fact that MANY unbelievers find unacceptable).

<Many weeks later>

Well, apparently I'm not going to finish this.  It's too long anyways.  Let me just shortly conclude though:

Jehovah's Witnesses are amazing people, anyone who says otherwise is arrogant and blind.  BUT, their doctrine, their founders, and their literature is at least in a small part self-defeating.  I'm sorry, but it is.  It deeply saddens me to see people so misled, so caught up.  I have no opinion on their salvation, but their earthly lives are shot.  Really sucks.  Nonetheless, from a personal standpoint the convention allowed me to really think objectively about my faith.  How am I able to look from the outside at these people and say "surely they are wrong" and suppose truth in my own beliefs?  What basis do I have for the beliefs I do have?  Do these stand up to the tests of experience, rationality, etc?  What role do the psychological influences of big groups, emotional times, etc have on religion?  What determines salvation?  Where do I go from here?

Weird.  I'll have some stuff about college so far later, I've just been saving this one as private for way too long supposing that I'd finish it.  Needless to say, I see this weekend as rather pivotal in my life.

Currently Listening North By Something Corporate Ruthless see related

Quote from Martin Luther in his "Preface to Romans" (From the German Translation of the Bible):

"Faith is a living and unshakeable confidence, a belief in the grace of God so assured that a man would die a thousand deaths for its sake.  This kind of confidence in God's grace, this sort of knowledge of it, makes us joyful, high-spirited, and eager in our relations with God and with all mankind.  That is what the Holy Spirit effects through faith.  Hence, the man of faith, without being driven, willingly and gladly seeks to do good to everyone, serve everyone, suffer all kinds of hardships, for the sake of the love and glory of the God who has shown him such grace.  It is impossible, indeed, to separate works from faith, just as it is impossible to separate heat and light from fire.  Beware, therefore, of wrong conceptions of your own, and of those who tak nonsense while thinking they are pronouncing shrewd judgements on faith and works whereas they are showing themselves the greatest of fools.  Offer up your prayers to God, and ask Him to create faith in you; otherwise, you will always lack faith, no matter how you try to deceieve yourself, or what your efforts and ability."

That kicks the consciousness out of my Calvin quotes!