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Easter Saturday Supplement

We're taking a break from our reflections on the New Creation, just as the Biblical narrative has God resting on the seventh day and Christ's body is pictured as resting in a tomb on the Saturday of Holy Week. Which gives me a chance to do my usual round-up of stuff that caught my eye this week. And I suppose it is appropriate that I start with this piece in the Huffington Post about an attempt by a small group in the United Methodist Church in America affiliated to Answers in Genesis to rewrite that denomination's position on "Creationism" and science.
Currently the United Methodist Church affirms scientific method, seeing nothing in conflict between science and Biblical Faith, and it expressly opposes the teaching of creationism within the public school system. The fact that they had to make such a ruling in the first place speaks of the depth of polarisation in the US on this issue, and should be a salient lesson to us on this side of the Atlantic about the divisive nature of the emerging "culture wars" between conservative Christians and fundamentalist atheists, that I was ranting about last Saturday. But the thought that there is even the remotest possibility that the largest Methodist body on earth, owing its origins to a man who suggested that we need to use reason (together with tradition and experience) to help us understand scripture, fills me with despair. I will watch developments as I used to watch Dr. Who as a child, from behind a cushion...
And while the church pulls itself apart on such matters, the economy of the western world is continuing to tank, affecting the poorer countries much more radically than the richer ones... This piece from the Irish Times (with Ireland one of those countries that has suffered more than most) about a suicide in Greece, which has effectively been bankrupted by the whole episode, demonstrates the real human cost of this crisis.
Mind you, it is a wonder that the Irish Times had any space or time to post anything on this as every news outlet seems to be filled with pieces about the Titanic... I've already given certain hints as to my feelings about the centenary celebrations, and will return to the subject on the anniversary of the sinking with a look at a new film about it, after a week off... But in the meantime, here's a piece brought to my attention by Michael Briggs that points out some of the key myths spread by previous films.
Of course, yesterday was Good Friday and that brought a lot of material onto the blogsphere... But the pick of it, from my perspective, was another piece by Kim Fabricius over on Faith and Theology, looking at something we might profitably learn from the Amish...
I've previously used Kim's material as an "and finally" piece, but this time, having started with matters scientific, and will bring things to a close with this fabulous video, from the Science Museum's Launchpad. It is simply the most complex kinetic sculpture or Heath-Robinson device you could ever hope to encounter.
Maybe over the next week while I'm taking a break from  blogging (and my dayjob) I could try my hand at devising a similar piece... Or maybe not...

Cheers
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