A great article on web design. However, I’ve never been able to bring myself to obsess about projects the way the author suggests.
BTW,the author’s work is excellent. I almost prefer his print work over the interactive stuff.
This video was done by the same group that did Neon Bible. Is the style innovative?
Several months ago, an atheist friend and I were having a conversation about Christianity. My friend (who I will call Lars) enjoys challenging me on matters of religion, and on that day, he asked me to explain the traditional Christian dogma of original sin. Once I finished an incredibly profound monologue on the finer theological points, he blinked once or twice then said: “Nick, I mean no offense, but that’s the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever heard.” Lars then embarked on his own profound monologue in the hopes that he could talk some sense into me. Of course, he appealed to reason and was completely bemused that I could believe something so illogical. At times he was quite passionate, and a thought occurred to me during the conversation: He’s actually proselytizing atheism.
Let me be clear, there’s nothing wrong with arguing a position if you believe you’re right. I don’t fault Lars for trying to convince me that I believe a “fairy-tail.” His mistake was assuming that I’d never been intellectually critical of my faith.
It’s true that most Christians in America fall into one of two categories: People who were born into a Christian home and inherit their family’s beliefs, or people who endure a crisis and turn to religious faith. Like many articles that decry theism, Lars assumed that anyone who falls into one of those two categories is, at the very least, intellectually weak. It’s difficult for him to understand that for many of us, the choice to believe was difficult (even though we fall into one of those categories). Personally, my faith came in spite of my own best attempts at reasoning my way out of it, and it took a long time to completely shed my agnosticism. I’m not exactly sure when I began to understand that we have a built in desire to search for truths that are bigger than our closed little world. However, once I got to that point, the “evidence” that made faith prohibitive, was not so compelling anymore. Looking back on the journey I took, it’s impossible not to see how the Holy Spirit engineered (and continues to engineer) the entire process. Only recently have I arrived at the point where I feel as though I don’t need to prove the narrative of Christianity using the same kind of logic that my friend uses to disprove it.
It was interesting listening to Lars plead to my intellect in the hopes that he could get through to me. I admired his evangelistic enthusiasm. Unfortunately for him, I guess I’m just a lost soul… I mean… mind.
Tessa Katherine Krueger, born September 9th. 2007, 2:13 a.m.
Well, my baby’s momma had another baby! And once again, I am humbled by the enormity of it all.
Stephanie told me it was time to go to the hospital at about 11:00 this past Saturday night, and about three hours later… TESSA!
There was a cluster of emotions that I felt the instant my son Benjamin was born in 2005. A combination of overwhelming joy and wonder that I can’t really describe. Those same emotions surfaced again this week. Looking at Tessa now, I can’t help thinking that there was a part of me reserved for my children. A mix of maturity and happiness that only a parent can experience.
What a blessing.
“Just as Christianity must destroy reason before it can introduce faith, so it must destroy happiness before it can introduce salvation.”
– George H Smith, Atheism: The Case Against God
Unreasonable and miserable wretches, us Christians.
Faith is not the opposite of reason. And I think Smith’s logic is based on anything other than an informed understanding of what the Bible says about salvation. Of course, I’m commenting on one line from his book out of context.
I came across this article by David Stairs in the Design Observer, critiquing the current exhibition at the Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum in New York. The show is called Design for the other 90%. The article is not flattering, but it does makes some interesting observations. I kind of had to look past the author’s progressive guilt. It also seemed at times that Stairs wanted to climb up to the pulpit and tell us that everyone (but him) is part of the problem. Maybe that’s just my progressive guilt.
Another annoyance was how Stairs claimed that the design industry is lagging in the effort to help impoverished nations. However, he belittles the efforts of designers and inventors who have contributed so far. I guess we need to get it right the first time.
What I liked about the article was how it transcended a simple critique of the Cooper-Hewitt design show. If it’s true that Design for the other 90% failed “to open peoples’ eyes to the disparities of the world,” Stairs’ article achieves just that with examples that emphasize the need to understand the problems before we try to fix them.
To most of us, the struggles of the rest of the world seem far away and relegated to documentaries. The David Stairs piece is an example of what we need more of. Not because of his righteously astute criticisms, but because of how he makes his point. It’s the real-world examples that tend to wash away my complacency. Even if it returns next week.