Megachurches : Think big sti !
«In these modern megacathedrals (or, in some cases, dihedrals, since some of them look as swept as jet wings), where are the arcades, the columns, the clerestory windows, the pendentives holding up the dome, all the fine details that furnish you with eye candy. If you’re in one of these football stadiums like the one in Houston, the stage-altar has been reduced to the level of a detail: you can only see the pastor on the Jumbo-Tron…Will wealthy supporters be able to view the service from skyboxes, where they can sit outside in a private loge or retire indoors to view the service on HDTV while noshing on the full buffet?
…The skybox thought brings up another point. What these megachurches do preserve of the cathedral tradition is the notion of class hierarchy. In the old system, the apportionment of seating reflected the notion of a structured society: God was at the top, the clergy were next to God, the wealthy nobility were next to the clergy in the pews (but just across the altar rail), and the common folk milled about in the nave (presumably with a few hogs or sheep running around). It’s hard to see how the rear seats of the new megachurches are any different from the old-fashioned nave, except that there’s probably less livestock (on second thought, you probably can’t even make that statement with any certainty if you’re more than a hundred rows away). It would be interesting to know whether seating is on a first-come, first-served basis, or there are reserved sections as there are in Anglican churches in New England. Too bad the article is only about the architecture, not the sociology.»
Source
Bush confond la guerre au terrorisme et le communisme..
In a major speech on terrorism Thursday, Bush said three of the planned attacks were against the U.S.
“We’ve stopped at least five more al-Qaeda efforts to case targets in the U.S. or infiltrate operatives in our country.”
Bush drew parallels between the war on terrorism and the earlier fight against communism.
“Evil men obsessed with ambition and unburdened by conscience must be taken very seriously, and we must stop them before their crimes multiply.
“Defeating a militant network is difficult because it thrives like a parasite on the suffering and frustration of others.”
Source
La théorie de l’évolution n’existe plus grâce au lobby religieux
The federal court trial over teaching theories of human origins in U.S. schools pits Christian conservatives, who say nature is so complex it must have been the work of a God-like creator, against teachers and scientists who back Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution.
In Dover schools, ninth-grade biology students are given a four-paragraph statement suggesting intelligent design as an alternative to evolution and steering them to a book explaining the theory. The district says the policy does not amount to teaching.
The 11 parents bringing the federal lawsuit say the policy is religiously based and illegal because it violates the U.S. Constitution’s separation of church and state. Alters testified the statement amounted to teaching because it was part of the learning process and that teaching the theory may force students to choose between God and science.
“Evolution does not deny the existence of God,” he said. “It’s not about God. You can play the game of science and still have your religious beliefs.”
Alters warned that high school students who were taught intelligent design may suffer a loss of credibility in college academics by mixing theology and science.
“It engenders misconceptions not only about evolution but also about the whole process of science,” he said. WTF.
Source
