A Chip Off the Old Blockhead

And the Steinbrenner family seemed to have behaved so well for the past several years.

Now these comments from Hank Steinbrenner, son of George Steinbrenner, managing general partner of the group that owns the New York Yankees. Hank, apparently, is about to take over the reins from his father.

On Alex Rodriguez leaving the Yankees:

"It's clear he didn't want to be a Yankee. He doesn't understand the privilege of being a Yankee on a team where the owners are willing to pay $200 million to put a winning product on the field."

"I don't want anybody on my team that doesn't want to be a Yankee."

NY Daily News October 29, 2007

On Joe Torre:

"Where was Joe's career in '95 when my dad hired him? My dad was crucified for hiring him. Let's not forget what my dad did in giving him that opportunity — and the great team he was handed."

Foxsports.com October 21, 2007

Is God Fair ?

A member of Sam Harris' Forum sent me a private message, asking if I thought God was fair.

His Question:

Do you believe that the Christian God is fair? Yes or no please. Back it up if you want. By the way, I believe in God.

My Answer:

My personal belief is that concepts of "fairness in life" are not God's primary concern.

Other Christians may not agree with this.

My sense is that God has set forth his will through the words of Jesus as recorded in the Bible. I view the rest of the Bible as "prequel" and "sequel" to the teachings of Jesus. When the words and actions of Jesus appear to conflict with other parts of the Bible, the words of Jesus are always to be chosen as the best indication of God's will.

As believing Christians, it is our duty to discern God's will, and then, having discerned it, to do our best to fulfill God's will.

I don't believe that God systematically intervenes in this world to make life "fair" for believers and non-believers, though I think there may be instances where he has done so.

This is my personal belief, and I offer no proof to support it, though I think it is not inconsistent with reason, faith, and logic.

Militant Atheist Comment Displays Lack of Critical Thinking

I received the following comment from a militant atheist. Note that it illustrates the lack of critical thinking skills displayed by most believers of that religious philosophy:

New polls show Sam Harris was right about Christian American's belief in a young earth, and Michael Leahy is wrong. Looks like Leahy owes Harris an apology:

http://www.christiannewswire.com/news/5143890.html

If you look at the "poll" you will see that first it is not a statistically valid poll of the type conducted by Gallup or Harris or Zogby. Instead, it's simply a survey of visitors at a Christian portal. No provision to prevent multiple responses from the same person.

Sorting out the details of the response in the article is muddy, but the "results" when understood claim a higher than 18 percent support of Young Earth Creationism.

The apology, dear critic, that is required, is from you to me !

Climate Expert Ridicules Al Gore and His Nobel Peace Prize

This report comes from the Sydney, Australia Morning Herald:

ONE of the world's foremost meteorologists has called the theory that helped Al Gore share the Nobel Peace Prize "ridiculous" and the product of "people who don't understand how the atmosphere works".

Dr. William Gray, a pioneer in the science of seasonal hurricane forecasts, told a packed lecture hall at the University of North Carolina that humans were not responsible for the warming of the earth. His comments came on the same day that the Nobel committee honoured Mr. Gore for his work in support of the link between humans and global warming.

"We're brainwashing our children," said Dr. Gray, 78, a long-time professor at Colorado State University. "They're going to the Gore movie [An Inconvenient Truth] and being fed all this. It's ridiculous."

At his first appearance since the award was announced in Oslo, Mr. Gore said: "We have to quickly find a way to change the world's consciousness about exactly what we're facing."

Mr Gore shared the Nobel prize with the United Nations climate panel for their work in helping to galvanise international action against global warming.

But Dr Gray, whose annual forecasts of the number of tropical storms and hurricanes are widely publicised, said a natural cycle of ocean water temperatures - related to the amount of salt in ocean water - was responsible for the global warming that he acknowledges has taken place.

However, he said, that same cycle meant a period of cooling would begin soon and last for several years.

"We'll look back on all of this in 10 or 15 years and realise how foolish it was," Dr Gray said.

Check out my article on Doctor Dobson

Check out my new article in the October edition of Christian Faith and Reason Magazine: Doctor Dobson Turns Peevish.

In it, I defend Senator Fred Thompson against Doctor Dobson's recent attacks.