We make our own meaning

The great high priest, Phillip Adams said it all on Sunday night ABC when he spelt out the above doctrine of meaning . Nothing new, of course, This brilliant sounding piece of doctrine means, at least for one thing , that he won't be insisting that other faiths are not able to take science facts and use them in another mix ..... as he does by calling for meaning out of soup.

ABC church, surely, is a mass of contradictions: While there is some consistency in that familiar note of fanaticism poking out awkwardledy from many of the corners the do what you feel like approach of the lead singers is sounding far too passe ; Can't quite work out how Adams epistemology works--: esp especially when he exorts us "to wonder" at what he says is "not wonderful".

What Adams doesn't seem to realise is that to talk of wonder is to talk of worship . His brilliant sounding Claytons remedy for wonder simply doesn't work -as the history and practice of ideas from Dostyevesky through Polpot , Eugenics and Hitler to the presents day medical mind study shows. If man is a mere animal, all he gets to play is mere animal . Its no fun ! There is no room for evil

While Adams would clearly would like to have his stale old anti celebration cake and eat it too with his preferred kind of icing - he only has steps to play with . You can't be "not religious" and "religious" at the same time . Paradox is part of reality mate - it used to be called dialectic - seems such talk in ABCchurch is heretical.
Adams seems to think we would all like to join a camp with boring old stepups all day .ABC church may be in charge of a few agendas but it doesn't mean the parish is not on the move or just plain fat asleep . Its a camp where everyone must focus only on the stairs - just millions of years of walking upstairs. Adams, like others with their blinkers on, would have us focus on the stairs rather than the view.
His insistence on myopia is as helpful, and as predictable, as his view of science ( or should we say science as the tree god of all knowledge)- Sound good till you come to the stairs questions and all you have is a rather wooden worldview. Still, as a agent of many truths its good to hear Phillip reflect that all WV's have their limits -his comment on the commos at age 15 . Pity he doesn't take the idea further at middle age limits. Forever the chamelion ?

When it comes to WV then ---I prefer mine . I find all his talk of the wonder of the stairs in his deterministic monistry deeply depressing. Not that as a scientist I am against recognising the stairs--its just that, unless I am mistaken, there is still some possibility that all the stairs are not the same are still very many missing and most scientists within all the branches , would probably not thank him for building bridge where there aren't any yet. Give me wondering how we could get here to such a wonderful view , over the moronic and meaningless worship of mere stairs. Every stair is , according to him, exactly the same . Some engineer- the bloke who invented that stair- what am i saying ............smack! We are in church!


As a scientist i know there are some stairs but I wouldn't be silly enough to say that each one is all down to a simple legup force. Feedback loops are just as important in the progress of any process of growth . I will reserve my judgement of the mechanics of natural selection till we know a little more about them

Personally I like to focus on 3 aspects of the same thing- I am a kind of trinitarian. My WV involves the stairs , the material the stairs are made of , as well as the view from the stairs. All part of the same unity regarding the world I find myself in - Its simply wonderful if you take enough time and thought to allow the big picture to take over. One wonderful fact, is of course, that HOWever it happened , We are here NOW to WITNESS It!

The personalisation of evil

Dear old Spike M , as Jill called him on fridays's CH 774, needs a good home . The dear old high priest of reactionary medicine needs to go back to where he came from -where his passion for righteousness would find a good home ; Away from all this fear of mere men and worship of tactical materialism to a vision of a way around such profound dilemmas - a doctrine of evil that cuts where it counts . A doctrine that goes straight to the heart of the matter.

Phillip Adams personalisation of evil ( Mr Bush ) just doesn't help . While his advice " 3 more terms of comfort ye comfort ye" was funny at the time, the singing in his beloved church is getting very dirgy -predictable dull and poorly targeted - not enough to inspire us to keep watching or go there for a lift before monday
Knock down the Bush barrier and you will find a barrier just as big and even more devious than the one targeted . ABC church needs a doctrine of evil with a bit more guts to it. One that might have a hope of seeing the beast before you shoot at it - the deeper paradigm of a angel of light might get the growing gulf between ideas and action at abc church "moving on "( another favourite service call - cf " you may be seated " ).

The hills are alive with the sound of cynicism

How about a song for Easter ? Now that the dark part of Easter is upon us,( Maundy Thursday) I thought you stoic types might like to test out the tension between the dark side and the light side .
Maybe such a digging session would help us all lighten up a bit , like that angel chorus at Christmas time - perhaps you could prod and poke the past for the signs and substance of hope in our culture.
The new merriment machines and the old mood inducing chocolates do not seem to manufacture hope for long .
Hope can last for a very long time,according to the old Easter story, if you deal properly and effectively with the dark side.

The preaching of righteousness is a heavy burden

The good that we would have others do
The sermon on Monday's conversation hour caused a predicatable ruccus in the back row from Richard Stubbs . We should , should we???? You want ME to get rid of my stuff. I 'm with you stubbsy - they couldn't convince us about WHY , except to say . Believe us - if we get big business to act - it will stop the sky from falling. Every ones entitled to their own beliefs . More important, where is the gospel in all this -otherwise i think i will listen to CD's next sunday/monday

The same old same old continues every week . We MUST get them/everyone else to " do the right thing" on greenhouse and global warming. Some abc presenters must be getting a bit sick of playing priest and "authorities" on all matters risk , cause all this warning and education stuff ( say on water and fire risk )"is making us sound like our parents" . something we definitely don't ever want to do ! Why don't we just leave it to the experts .good question !
The ABC is getting to be no fun church anymore . How did it get to where it is now? Isn't there a better model for motivation for the audience at least?
How do we get the world to change? Don wants more regulation more law --but is that going to work? Can we make people good or do good ? very one sided worldview!

Where is the post modernists theory of effective action when you really need it ? We've tried selling the inheritance( telstra) , education ( ho hum ) and now they've drummed up the media and film industry into a frenzy- its still not going to work - partly because its not about clear needed action( the stuff that made the west best ) but guilt, denial and reactionary rebellion.You can tell that as a clearly focused ecosyetam risk management agent because they don't really listen to those who would use the money effectively anyway!. The majority of people incl Mr thwaites are throwing mere tokens at the threats .

Good governance in the face of real threats REQUIRES weighing up how big the fire is before you put even one drop of precious antidote on it . If the media and the polys were really together on these things, as they make out they are - There would would have not left so many dead ends in the action pile. WE list them here/.
Maybe richard . like us, smelt a rat . The idea of the rationalists there present that morning ; "that reason and being reasonable works " sort of falls apart when you see all the excuses people make and the tokens they buy instead of taking the medicine . Its a get me generation and preaching is out of fashion with secularists and materailaists in particular . After all materialists have been preaching for decades that time is always about progress. Not only "if it going to happen it was meant to happen" but - it will all be good - like some new psalm "even though i walk by the shadow of global warmng i will not fear because evolution is here".
People are ALSO more irrational than rationalists give them credit for .whose families have they been studying ?
Far more helpful is to go back to the old worldview where men are mostly in 2 minds and living it . We say one thing and do another .We give the impresion we are committed if we think "its the right thing to do at the time" . The woman with nothing gives more than those who give lots because they have to or because they have a lot and or because it looks good . Does anyone ask - will it work?
. we know if you don't--- the answer to that question !
Don had a more "progessive" idea out of the box - more regulation - force people to be good . At least one of mc mullans guests ( on ABCTV that night) was having none of that nonsense either. Progress on this debate comes from where ?

Will the end of all this post modern preaching be just more heaviness?And don't give us the "this is science and jury stuff ' Don't believe either always knows what the big picture truth is . More importantly , the door is so clearly closed on open discussion on these matters that sound risk managers just retire from service - get real.

Huddled around the holy fire

Desperate for news of the latest person to agree with their latest piece of non scientific fanaticsm ABCTV are reduced to quoting a UN resolution as top news on friday night ( 2nd February )Report itself complete with added pictures of falling ice and yet to be seen rising seas levels have been listed in Kohlers column under falling stocks ( those with lowering credibility) .