Oops, regarding Wm. Dembski, I meant to write math/philosophy/theology.

No Ben, figuring out how to stop guys from hijacking planes is strategy. That is humanities not science.

Ben W., I don't think anyone would argue with you concerning science and religion. I'm happy there are clever people who test, detect, invent, etc. as much as I'm happy there are theologians and others who read, study, write, instruct about this and that. Sometimes, as in the case of people like John Polkinghorne (physics/theology) or William Dembski (math/philosphy), people hold degrees in a number of fields. (While not officially a scientist, theologian Jonathan Edwards had expert knowledge of spiders...)

However, if you look at the state of affairs regarding movies, etc. you'll see that religion (Christianity in particular) is badly portrayed, and the only people capable of answering any of life's tough questions are scientists.

I think I'll re-read Nancy Pearcey's book *The Soul of Science.*

Cheers, Kim

I don't think anyone's arguing that science will solve *all* our problems. Science doesn't provide solace in the aftermath of a catastrophe.. but then, praying and going to church doesn't do very well for detecting explosives or figuring out how to stop guys from hijacking planes. For that, you need science.

The two areas work on different kinds of problems.

Kim, you wrote, "If something catastrophic happens again...." I think you meant to say, "WHEN something catastrophic happens again...." I believe it surely will. It may be something not so traumatic, or it may be something SO heinous that not even the most gruesome storytellers can imagine it. But, it's coming (and I think we all know it.)

I didn't know anyone in any of the buildings, or on the planes; and still it shook me to my depths. In praying for all those people, it dawned on me that we were supposed to learn something: that we never had been, are not now, and never will be "in control" of our lives. None of those people (with the exceptions of the terrorists) got out of bed intending to die that day, but they did. Were ANY of them prepared? Only God knows.

I'm not suggesting that we all sit around with our hands neatly folded in our laps, waiting to die. That's not life! But all those who arrogantly thumb their nose at God are not living, either! They walk in the valley of the shadow. Did anybody hear anybody mention this in those days and weeks that followed the tragedy, when all those people were in church?

Neither did I.

Jason,

Regarding the crossbow and apple, on MythBusters, they proved that some people have the ability to nail an apple atop a head at quite a distance. I can't remember if they tried it will a crossbow.

Monsters...well, some humans do commit heinous acts against other humans. However, I suspect that those stories play into making sense of mankind's fall.

And yet it's also not to be dismissed that the prevalence of these attitudes has an effect on the culture. It's complicated, I think-- these attitudes both arise from and have an effect on the culture-- but this is why people so often see a decline in the quality and character of the culture.

C.S. Lewis in a way illustrated this in "Perelandra," where the tempter continues to hammer away with stories of heroic women that were misunderstood yet persevered in going their own way. I think that the media are in general a nice instrument of the World (in the biblical sense).

I LOVE Christina Rossetti's poem about this, "The World," with its concluding lines:

Is this a friend indeed; that I should sell
My soul to her, give her my life and youth,
Till my feet, cloven too, take hold on hell?

Storytellers are supposed to reflect reality? You mean there really are swamp monsters that react badly when their arm child's arm is pulled off by a Shirtless Warrior? You mean it is possible to hit an apple on someone's head with a crossbow bolt? You mean all villains have a fascinating personality, all heroes are endowed with all manner of prowess and all heroines are dazzlingly beautiful and the Boy always gets the Girl and vice-versa?

Since when do storytellers go out of their way to reflect reality?

"our storytellers" (hEllywood), do not reflect reality because why? - THEY ARE CREATING IT! All media - from advertising to "entertainment" - and through all vehicles available to them, a select few feed the masses.
Case in point: See the fun movie "The Devil Wears Prada". This moving flat out states that the fictional "Runway" DICTATES the mindset of it's followers. And it's not just the fashion of the world's clothing, it is the entire outlook on, and desire for, their entire life.
The Tail reeeally wags the Dog.
Reality is Christ and Christ alone. Satan runs and owns hEllywood. They will never be our ally.