chris and becka warner

I read The God Delusion by Richard Dawkins while flying back to the States. I haven’t read a book like this for a while and I’ve been hearing a lot about this one, so I thought I’d give it a read. Dawkins is a leading evolutionary biologist, atheist, and outspoken critic of religion, especially Christianity. Dawkins has written a number of books on evolution and popular science, but The God Delusion is a more deliberate effort by Dawkins to layout exactly why God “almost certainly does not exist” and the harm that results as a consequence of all religious beliefs. Lately I’ve been interested in the connection between faith and science, which is another reason why the book piqued my interest. I thought Dawkins, being a world-class scientist, might give me some new perspectives on why science and faith just can’t seem to get along. Ever since the Enlightenment, the dialogue between science and faith has gone something like this:

Science: I can’t see you, so you don’t exist.

Faith: You threaten me, so I’d rather be ignorant. Besides, you’re going to hell.

While I can’t say Dawkins improves much on this dialogue, the book did give me some new perspectives. A few years ago I probably would have felt really threatened by this book and instead of seriously thinking about what Dawkins has to say; maybe I would have just dismissed it and attacked in return. Sadly, I suspect that many Christians will do this with The God Delusion. Given that roughly 85% of the world’s population adheres to a religion, and of the 15% of the “nonreligious” population left, only 2.5% consider themselves to be atheists (those stats are from World Christian Trends and Adherents.com), I don’t think there’s much reason for religion to feel threatened; it’s not going away anytime soon. Besides that, there is sometimes a prophetic voice behind a critical voice, if we have ears to hear it. I’ll let you draw your own conclusions if you read the book, but here are my thoughts: A lot of what Dawkins says in this book is fairly weak in terms of its ability to prove that God does not exist and all religion is destructive (in my opinion). Some of what he says is just blatantly wrong. But some of it American Christians need to take to heart and grapple with. I say “American Christians” because Dawkins mainly uses Christianity for negative examples of religion, and most of his examples come from America. Dawkins reflects on his experience with American Christianity, and what results is a very interesting, very sad picture. Instead of seeing Jesus, he sees a judgmental, morally proud, gay-hating, scientifically ignorant, greedy, war-mongering, intolerant group of people. Now, obviously I don’t think that is a fair assessment of Christians in America. But after reading The God Delusion, it’s plain to see that Dawkins’ sincere perception of Christianity is deeply skewed. As easy as it is to say that if only he could see Jesus for who he really is he would think differently, the point is that he doesn’t see Jesus. He sees something totally different, and I think it’s worth asking why. Maybe Dawkins is just interacting with a few crazy fundamentalists, and we’re off the hook. Or maybe there is some truth in it all that we need to consider; an attitude to guard against or correct. Either way, criticisms like Dawkins’ should cause us to humbly return to the teachings of Jesus and to see if maybe we have missed His heart at some point. At the very least it is a good reminder that we are Christ’s representatives, and as such we are the first point of contact for those desiring to encounter the Christian God. If a homosexual, an Iraqi, a Muslim, someone with a different skin color, a different political party, a different financial bracket, an evolutionist, or an addict walked through the doors of an American church, would they encounter Jesus? Or would they even make it to the door?

We’ve officially moved to a new host. If all goes well, you shouldn’t notice anything different, except that the site is much faster now and hopefully more reliable. Thanks for being such loyal readers (whoever you are…), and sorry for any inconvenience over the past few months. I wish I could take credit for this technological feat, but the truth is I wouldn’t have a clue how to do it. Thanks again to Brock Angelo for doing a professional job.

Also, I’ve finally updated the photo gallery. It now has pictures from our last few weeks in Tanzania, my time in Burundi, and our trip to Montana. Check it out if you get a chance…

We’ve both really enjoyed our brief time in Montana, and I wish we had more time to explore this amazing area. We made it up to Glacier National Park for a few days (it’s quite close to the ywam base where Becka did her course and we’ve been staying); even with the rain and smoke obscuring the views it very well may be the most beautiful place I’ve been to. We did a few short day hikes on Monday, and a 14 mile hike on Tuesday! We were both pretty proud of ourselves, though I suppose Becka has more reason to be, being almost six months along now. However, all the pride disappeared this morning when we woke up sore and stiff. As a consolation for our pain, the fires seem to finally have died down and today was beautiful and clear; for the first time I was able to see across Flathead Lake and the surrounding valley. Tonight we visited some fellow ywamers that we met in Tanzania; they work on an Indian reservation about 45 minutes down the road. It was really interesting and encouraging to hear their story, and I think I learned a lot from what they had to say. More on that later if I get a chance.

Tomorrow we start the long journey back to Illinois. There’s a few places we want to see on the way, but I think we are both ready to be back with family and in a familiar place. As much as I love traveling and just being a tourist for a change, there is definitely no place like home. Over the past few years I’ve learned that “home” can be anywhere, because “home” is about relationships more than geography. But some relationships are deeper and older than others, and these are the relationships that form our understanding of what “home” can and should be. Only in the security of these relationships do we find the grace to move freely across geographical boundaries into the unknown. For myself, I wonder if I would be able to wander as far as I do without some kind of reference to return to. I like what Neil Young says: In my mind, I still need a place to go. The past few months for me have been a blur of airports, highways, immigration lines, and new places. I wouldn’t trade it for anything, but I guess I’m feeling a little travel fatigued. Its times like this that I’m very grateful for “a place to go”, both in my mind and on a map.

One of my favorite books is A River Runs Through It by Norman Maclean. It’s also one of my favorite movies. Both are works of art in their own way and though they are obviously very similar, I find the book to be slightly better. Maclean’s writing is simple and funny, but hauntingly beautiful at parts and profound throughout. Because the story is set in Montana, I decided to bring a copy of the book along and reread it while I am here.

The story centers on the author’s relationship with his brother and his brother-in-law. Both are deeply troubled in different ways, and though he loves one and hates the other, the author reaches out to both in the only way he knows how: by fishing with them. Through the beauty and rhythm of fly fishing on the Big Blackfoot River the author explores and unveils the complexities of the human heart. The reader discovers that the story is not really about Montana or fishing, but it’s about loving those closest to us, even when we don’t understand them, and reaching out to help them, even if we don’t know how.

The book ends with these beautiful words:

It is those we live with and love and should know who elude us.

Now nearly all those I loved and did not understand when I was young are dead, but I still reach out to them.

Of course, now I am too old to be much of a fisherman, and now of course I usually fish the big waters alone, although some friends think I shouldn’t. Like many fly fisherman in western Montana where the summer days are almost arctic in length, I often do not start fishing until the cool of the evening. Then in the arctic half-light of the canyon, all existence fades to a being with my soul and memories and the sounds of the Big Blackfoot River and a four-count rhythm and the hope that a fish will rise.

Eventually, all things merge into one, and a river runs through it. The river was cut by the world’s great flood and runs over rocks from the basement of time. On some of the rocks are timeless raindrops. Under the rocks are the words, and some of the words are theirs.

I am haunted by waters.

…we crowded three English classes of differing levels; another class met upstairs in the sanctuary. For ten days myself and two other teachers became the first connection to the English language for a handful of beginner level-students. It was very stretching for me, especially since we were avoiding translation of any kind. Most of our students were moms who came when they weren’t working and brought their kids. We would take all that we learned in our TESOL class during the day and apply it during our two hour practicum in the evening. We had a lot of fun: we covered shopping, cooking, numbers, colors and other important topics. The students especially enjoyed putting on clothes for a fashion show and learning the kitchen vocabulary as we cooked together. At the end of the short, free English course the students came together for a party with food from their home cultures. Several of the ladies thanked me in their broken English, and told me that though the course was short, they really enjoyed it. A highlight for me was hearing one woman put together sentences for the first time. She moved around the kitchen almost shouting, “I am stirring”…”I am cutting,”…”I am washing the apple.” After living in the US for a couple of years it was a huge breakthrough to finally be able to say those simple sentences in English. Some people describe moving to a new country and learning a new language as moving from being an adult to being seen as a child. For this woman, it was one big step to regaining her dignity as an adult in her new home.

A few days later, we finished up the TESOL course and had a short but meaningful graduation. Our school leader did a dramatization of Peter struggling to get out of the boat to join Jesus on the water, and encouraged us not to be afraid to…”get out of the boat” and use our new skills. This course really confirmed my love for teaching English, and I am looking forward to see how I can use all that I learned in the future!

I’ve taken so many courses in my lifetime, but it’s been a while since I’ve been able to say that one has met my expectations and beyond. It was the most practical, encouraging and inspiring course I’ve ever participated in and I highly recommend it to anyone who would like to teach English in the future.