Hello there.

We decided that we were long overdue for a Gong Show… so we did one!

We get under the fingernails and discuss the recent posts on the UFaith site. Lots of interesting discussion.

Strong Caution: The post-show content contains a discussion that some may find offensive due to it’s mature nature.

[podcast]http://unbelievablefaith.com/wp-content/audio/UFaithEp028.mp3[/podcast]

We get a bit political in this episode and discuss capitalism in North America.

Please enjoy!

[podcast]http://unbelievablefaith.com/wp-content/audio/UFaithEp027.mp3[/podcast]

We dissect the Joe Pug song that we’ve all come to love. You can listen to Hymn 101 on the MySpace page.

Here are the lyrics:

and i’ve come to know the wishlist of my father
i’ve come to know the shipwrecks where he wished
i’ve come to wish aloud
among the over-dressed crowd
come to witness now the sinking of the ship
throwing pennies from the seatop next to it

and i’ve come to roam the forest past the village
with a dozen lazy horses in my cart
i’ve come here to get high
to do more than just get by
i’ve come to test the timber of my heart
oh i’ve come to test the timber of my heart

and i’ve come
to be untroubled in my seeking
and i’ve come
to see that nothing is for naught
i’ve come to reach out blind
to reach forward and behind
for the more I seek the more I’m sought
yeah the more I seek the more I’m sought

and i’ve come to meet the sherriff and his posse
to offer him the broad side of my jaw
i’ve come here to get broke
then maybe bum a smoke
we’ll go drinking two towns over after all
oh we’ll go drinking two towns over after all

and i’ve come to meet the legendary takers
i’ve only come to ask them for a lot
oh they say i come with less
than i should rightfully possess
i say the more i buy the more i’m bought
and the more i’m bought the less i cost

and i’ve come
to take their servants and their surplus
and i’ve come
to take their raincoats and their speed
i’ve come to get my fill
to ransack and spill
i’ve come to take the harvest for the seed
i’ve come to take the harvest for the seed

and i’ve come to know the manger that you sleep in
i’ve come to be the stranger that you keep
i’ve come from down the road
and my footsteps never slowed
and before we met i knew we’d meet
before we met i knew we’d meet

and i’ve come here to ignore your cries and heartaches
i’ve come to closely listen to you sing
i’ve come here to insist
that i leave here with a kiss
i’ve come to say exactly what i mean
and i mean so many things

and you’ve come
to know me stubborn as a butcher
and you’ve come
to know me thankless as a guest
will you recognize my face
when god’s awful grace
strips me of my jacket and my vest
and reveals all the treasure in my chest

Here is a direct link to the MP3.

If you want to cut right to the Joe Pug discussion, it starts at 14:30

[podcast]http://unbelievablefaith.com/wp-content/audio/UFaithEp026.mp3[/podcast]

This episode is ready for listening.

Where do we come from? Why are there multiple creation myths/stories, and how are they similar/differ?
Does belief in evolution mean you can’t believe in creation?
Is the Earth a test tube created by aliens? If so, what was/is their purpose?
Are we just a simulated world in a videogame?
Why are creation stories so Terra centric?
Why is there such a perceived divide between science and religion?
Is there scientific evidence for both creation and evolution? If so, then who’s right?

We are joined by a special guest, Mike, who added a lot to the conversation especially in the area of Science.

Show Notes:

Babylonian Creation Myth & Genesis Myth — Differences/Similarities — See Lawrence Boadt, Reading the Old Testament: An Introduction – pg. 116-118
Interview with Mary Midgley: http://www.sheilaheti.net/midgley.html
Creationist site: http://www.allaboutcreation.org/creation-vs-evolution-n.htm
Darwin on the right: http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=darwin-on-the-right
Evolution fact/theory: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evolution_as_theory_and_fact
Clarifying Christianity: http://www.clarifyingchristianity.com/creation.shtml

Give it a listen:

[podcast]http://unbelievablefaith.com/wp-content/audio/UFaithEp025.mp3[/podcast]

Hello!

This episode takes a look at the conept of having a soul.

Does it exist? if so how, why?  Is it measurable?  Do aliens have them?  If so how intelligent/self aware do you have to be to get one.  Can an animal have one?

Show Notes:
Dawkins on soul: http://richarddawkins.net/article,1342,Science-of-the-Soul-I-Think-Therefore-I-Am-Is-Losing-Force,Cornelia-Dean
Soul info on Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soul
Rainbow Bridge: http://www.novareinna.com/bridge/index.html
Zombie Ants http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2009/05/photogalleries/zombie-ants/

We had fun making this episode and we hope you enjoy listening to it![podcast]http://unbelievablefaith.com/wp-content/audio/UFaithEp024.mp3[/podcast]

Hello,

We are back this week with a somewhat continuation of our last episode.
Key Questions/Points:
Impetus for thinking about this topic: Dan brown follow-up article (http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/19/opinion/19douthat.html?_r=1). What has happened to religion in a global consumer culture? Has its prominence wained? Has its prominence grown?

We live in a culture that wishes to consume everything from food, to clothes, to transportation, to sex…and of course, it also consumes religion. Not religion as a political force…not religion as that which can actually create things like political forms of life, or contribute to discussions of ethics, but religion as that which can be simply a product for the masses to integrate into their consumer consciousness.
Ridiculous Claim of the Episode:
The funamendalists, whether Muslim or Christian, have got one thing right: Religion, at the end of the day, if not enacted politically is, quite simply, a trend…a product…or in other words, a dis-empowered form of an otherwise powerful, political force. Par example: Muslim’s in Canada (mostly the male population) wish to have the right to have Sharia law in Canada as a formal, accepted law. Of course, many Canadians, and many Muslim women are against such a scenario as it is claimed that Sharia law contains within it statutes that suppress women. Now, this is significant, no doubt. What is more, however, notice how the problem isn’t just that the law is oppressive to women, but that it is another law in general. This is a case in which religion wishes to have political force, and where the state wishes that it wouldn’t. If the muslim’s want their own litte mosques and community centres where they can do their private thing, then that’s fine, but don’t get political — don’t assert yourself in issues of law, etc. Does this meant that the state should always deal with matters of law, which are really matters of community life, family, and ethics? Can religion not also have a say? And when it does have a say, does it have to always bow to the religion of the state?
Show Notes:

Rowan Williams – Sharia Law: http://www.archbishopofcanterbury.org/1575
Grab the episode here:
[podcast]http://unbelievablefaith.com/wp-content/audio/UFaithEp023.mp3[/podcast]

Thanks for your patience while we took a bit of a summer break.

This episode is all abut the controversy of Dan Brown’s novels/movies, Da Vinci Code plus Angels and Demons.

We talk about Dan Brown the person, try to understand his motives, talk about why Christianity may be the focus for this books, work through the challenges of what society determines as a balance between trying to start meaningful conversation and damaging a religious organization through literary writing.

We have a special guest, Meghan, who joins us and brings some added perspective on the discussion. Thanks Meghan!

Here’s some show notes:

Dan Brown info: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dan_Brown
Catholic Church says…: http://www.catholiceducation.org/articles/facts/fm0035.html
Examining Da Vinici Code: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inaccuracies_in_The_Da_Vinci_Code
Satanic Verses: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Satanic_Verses

Here’s the MPig3:

[podcast]http://unbelievablefaith.com/wp-content/audio/UFaithEp022.mp3[/podcast]