Country:United States State:North Carolina Metro:Durham Gender:Male
Interests:Christian theology,
philosophy of science,
evolutionary biology,
science/speculative fiction,
strength training,
running,
tai chi,
kendo,
epee fencing,
archery,
Tuvan throat singing,
chant,
bagpipes,
cats and kittens,
great cats,
space travel,
Jedi and Sith lore,
computer gaming,
daydreaming. Expertise:I have learned to be suspicious of the term "expertise" - but barring such caveats, I will say that I have some knowledge of Christian theology, somewhat less knowledge of the philosophy of science, and even less knowledge of the natural sciences.
I know far more about far more trivial matters. Occupation:Student Industry:Education/Research
Come to think of it, I generally like to drink alone as well.
But back to shooting.
If I teach at the Princeton of protestant Christian colleges, than let us say that a neuroscientist from the Yale of protestant Christian colleges came to deliver the last lecture this semester on Christian perspectives in the sciences. Given my dissertation topic, I was interested to hear his thoughts on what Christians can offer the emerging field of neuroethics. I would have gone to his earlier talk describing his research investigating pornography's influence on male neurobiology, but I had to teach a class at that time. The conveners of the seminar invited me to dinner, however, and I was delighted to accept (particularly because we were headed to one of my favorite restaurants in the area).
At dinner, the visiting scholar made the comment that Christians need to think about whether or not what they do deepens their relationship with Christ. Nothing profound there. So I remarked, "I've recently taken up target shooting with a pistol. How might that relate to my relationship with Christ?" He responded by asking, "Does it inhibit your relationship with Christ?" to which I replied, "But your statement wasn't couched in terms of a negative; it was in terms of a positive affirmation: how what one does deepens one's relationship with Christ." His immediate response then was "Do you shoot with other people? Shooting can be an occassion to build social bonds..." at which point I cut him off by saying, "Just like George Thorogood prefers to drink by himself, I like to shoot alone."
So, how does target shooting help deepen my relationship with Christ? If I can't give a definite answer to that should I give it up?
I don't know the answers yet. All I know is that I'm going to have some Southern Comfort (for medicinal purposes) and practice my knife throwing in the basement. I prefer to do that alone, too.
Given how badly critics recevied it, I am somewhat befuddled as to how much I enjoyed Speed Racer, the Warchowski brothers' "live action cartoon" of the cult classic anime. I found it un-ironically charming, depicting a great love for the original series and an uncanny feel for how to translate it into a live-action film. It may also be the only film I know of that works BETTER on the small screen than the large screen. The unrelenting brightness and motion of jewel-tone colors would have utterly overwhelmed me if I had seen the movie in the theater. On 46" TV in high-defintion, with surround sound, however, the film just skimmed below the surface of sensory overload.
