in appreciation of martin rees

Martin Rees is a very interesting character. An eminent British cosmologist (a scientist who studies the universe and its expansion from the initial big bang), he is the Astronomer Royal (a largely honorary title) and president of the Royal Society, Britain's most elite scientific organisation. Along with Stephen Hawking, he was instrumental in proving that the universe had not existed forever, but began with the big bang, about 14 billion years ago.

there is absolutely no evidence for God?

Richard Dawkins is a well known and influential spokesman for atheism and a harsh critic of religion and belief in God. As a well respected scientist, the facts he presents and the opinions he draws from them are taken notice of. But are his facts always well-based?

was Jesus a capitalist?

It is an interesting, strange, and somewhat disappointing fact that christianity today often tends to be associated with right wing politics - the Republican party in the US and the Liberal-National coalition in Australia. Strange, because I have long thought that Jesus' teachings on money and wealth seem much closer to communism than capitalism.

life and death

I have trouble putting these two news items together.

• This news report of a sad event where an eight months pregnant woman was hit by a car and lost the child she was carrying. The driver of the car, allegedly affected by drugs at the time, was responsible for the accident, but could not be charged with manslaughter because the baby was not yet born. There has been some public concern over the lack of protection for the unborn child in this case.
• At the same time, the Herald Sun reports that late term abortions (after 6 months) are increasing in the state of Victoria, with 345 performed in 2007 and 54 babies surviving the procedure and dying some time after birth.

Not sure what this says about what life we regard as human and worthy of protection, and what is disposable, but it seems our society is somewhat confused.