{"id":101192,"date":"2023-07-31T22:17:17","date_gmt":"2023-08-01T04:17:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/?p=101192"},"modified":"2023-07-31T22:18:24","modified_gmt":"2023-08-01T04:18:24","slug":"dont-miss-out","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2023\/07\/dont-miss-out.html","title":{"rendered":"Don’t miss out!"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>
\u00a0<\/p>\n
<\/a>
A view of the ancient Israelite tabernacle
(Wikimedia Commons public domain image)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
If you\u2019re in Utah or planning<\/em> to be in Utah between now and sometime in October, you really should stop by the free, full-scale, outdoor \u201cTabernacle of the Old Testament\u201d exhibit that is running in various locations here.\u00a0 Currently, in fact, and continuing on through 15 August, the Tabernacle stands on the park area immediately adjacent to my own Orem stake center.\u00a0 Another reproduction of the Tabernacle is in South Jordan through this Wednesday, 2 August, and will then be moving to Bluffdale\/Riverton 5-27 August.<\/p>\n
You shouldn\u2019t miss it:\u00a0 \u201cTabernacle of the Old Testament\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n
And then there\u2019s this, which you also<\/em> shouldn\u2019t miss:<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
<\/a>
It starts on Wednesday morning!\u00a0 Unfortunately, though, it begins with an entirely forgettable first speaker.\u00a0 But things will pick up thereafter.\u00a0 I promise.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n*
**
\u00a0<\/p>\n
**
*I want to share a passage from Roger Trigg, Does science undermine faith? <\/em>(London: Society for the Promotion of Christian Knowledge, 1918), 1-11.\u00a0 As I mentioned in my immediately previous blog entry, Roger Trigg is Emeritus Professor of Philosophy at the University of Warwick and Senior Research Fellow at the Ian Ramsey Centre of the University of Oxford, as well as a Fellow of the International Society for Science and Religion.\u00a0 Here, he is talking roughly about the question of \u201cobjectivity\u201d and \u201cneutrality\u201d in science and scholarship, on which I\u2019ve commented from time to time over many years now.\u00a0 And I\u2019m pleased that, for his illustration, he uses the discovery, by Arno Penzias and Robert Woodrow Wilson, of the cosmic microwave background radiation, which helped to establish the Big Bang theory of cosmology and hasten the demise of its rival, the Steady-State theory, and which earned them the Nobel Prize in Physics for 1978:<\/p>\n
"
Some think that the calm rationality of science might provide humans with the way through their quarrels and disagreements.\u00a0 \u2018Facts\u2019 and \u2018evidence\u2019 will force us all to agree.<\/p>\n*
**
Yet what are the scientific facts?\u00a0 One of the developments in the history and philosophy of science over the last 50 years has been the growing realization that data do not come labelled as \u2018facts\u2019.\u00a0 Consider Sherlock Holmes looking in a garden for clues about an intruder.\u00a0 He will not find labels on a dropped piece of paper or a footprint saying \u2018clue\u2019.\u00a0 What he regards as significant and enlightening will depend on what he regards as relevant to his investigation.\u00a0 It all depends on his theory.\u00a0 Anyone else looking at the same garden would not notice the same things.\u00a0 It is the same in science.\u00a0 One idea about science was that it consisted of the mind passively collecting data like a sponge.\u00a0 Musty old museums, with ranks of cabinets containing curiosities seemingly unrelated by any theme, exemplified this.\u00a0 Sir Karl Popper, the noted philosopher of science, ridiculed the idea as \u2018the bucket theory of the mind\u2019.\u00a0 Human beings in general, and scientists in particular, have to be active agents in the world.\u00a0 They cannot pick out what is relevant for their purposes, without a theory tying things together.\u00a0 What once appeared literally as mere background noise to physicists studying the universe became recognized as background radiation from the Big Bang at the beginning of our universe.\u00a0 All that was needed was a theory to demonstrate its significance.\u00a0 The cosmic microwave radiation picked up by instruments in 1963 was first thought to be interference caused by pigeon droppings on the antennae of the equipment.\u00a0 Facts have to be identified as such by scientific theory, which can take note of them and make sense of them.\u00a0 (7-8)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
**
*And that, in turn, puts me in mind, yet again, of a statement from Arno Penzias \u2014 who was, as mentioned above, the co-discoverer with Robert Woodrow Wilson, his fellow Nobel laureate, of the cosmic background radiation that seems to be a distant and dim but discernible echo of the Big Bang:<\/p>\n
"\n*
**
\u201cThe best data we have (concerning the Big Bang) are exactly what I would have predicted, had I nothing to go on but the five books of Moses, the Psalms, the Bible as a whole.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n
**
\u201cIf there are a bunch of fruit trees, one can say that whoever created these fruit trees wanted some apples. In other words, by looking at the order in the world, we can infer purpose and from purpose we begin to get some knowledge of the Creator, the Planner of all this. This is, then, how I look at God. I look at God through the works of God\u2019s hands and from those works imply intentions. From these intentions, I receive an impression of the Almighty.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n
**
*\u00a0<\/p>\n
<\/a>
Are we Latter-day Saints missing out on the health benefits of alcohol?\u00a0 For several years, some insisted that we were.\u00a0 Now, though, that is being called very much into question.\u00a0 \u00a0(Wikimedia Commons public domain image)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n*
**
*\u00a0<\/p>\n
It\u2019s not altogether clear to me that this item, found on CNN, came from the Christopher Hitchens Memorial \u201cHow Religion Poisons Everything\u201d File<\/em>\u2122, although there can be no question \u2014 given the teachings of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saint on the consumption of alcoholic beverages \u2014 that it comes from the near proximity<\/em> of the Hitchens File<\/em>:\u00a0 \u201cResearchers looked into how just one drink a day can affect blood pressure. Here\u2019s what they found\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n
Dr. Marco Vinceti, the senior author of the study in question and a professor of epidemiology and public health at the University of Modena and Reggio Emilia in Italy who is also an adjunct professor in the department of epidemiology at Boston University\u2019s School of Public Health said, in a statement, that \u201cLimiting alcohol intake is advised, and avoiding it is even better.\u201d<\/p>\n
Dr. Andrew Freeman, director of cardiovascular prevention and wellness at National Jewish Health in Denver, who was not involved with the research, commented:\u00a0 \u201cSo, to me, this is yet another study showing there may not be any safe amount of alcohol.\u201d\u00a0 \u201cFrom a blood pressure perspective,\u201d said study coauthor Dr. Paul Whelton, \u201cI think most people would agree that there\u2019s no level in which alcohol is safe,\u201d\u00a0 Dr. Whelton holds a chair in global public health at Tulane University\u2019s School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine in New Orleans and is the president of the World Hypertension League.<\/p>\n
I recommend that you pair the CNN piece with this New York Times<\/em> article that was published back near the beginning of 2023:\u00a0 \u201cEven a Little Alcohol Can Harm Your Health: Recent research makes it clear that any amount of drinking can be detrimental. Here\u2019s why you may want to cut down on your consumption beyond Dry January.\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
\u00a0 \u00a0 If you\u2019re in Utah or planning to be in Utah between now and sometime in October, you really should stop by the free, full-scale, outdoor \u201cTabernacle of the Old Testament\u201d exhibit that is running in various locations here.\u00a0 Currently, in fact, and continuing on through 15 August, the Tabernacle stands on the park […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1019,"featured_media":38089,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[20709,3790,18131,2770,2147],"class_list":["post-101192","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-arno-penzias","tag-big-bang","tag-cosmic-background-radiation","tag-objectivity","tag-word-of-wisdom"],"yoast_head":"\nDon't miss out!<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\" If you're in Utah or planning to be in Utah between now and sometime in October, you really should stop by the free, full-scale, outdoor\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2023\/07\/dont-miss-out.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Don't miss out!\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\" If you're in Utah or planning to be in Utah between now and sometime in October, you really should stop by the free, full-scale, outdoor\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2023\/07\/dont-miss-out.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Sic et Non\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2023-08-01T04:17:17+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2023-08-01T04:18:24+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/186\/2016\/11\/800px-Holman_The_Tabernacle_in_the_Wilderness.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"768\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"566\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Dan Peterson\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Dan Peterson\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"6 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2023\/07\/dont-miss-out.html\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2023\/07\/dont-miss-out.html\",\"name\":\"Don't miss out!\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2023-08-01T04:17:17+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-08-01T04:18:24+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/#\/schema\/person\/77113e9b09701bd1599fa272c4f65045\"},\"description\":\" If you're in Utah or planning to be in Utah between now and sometime in October, you really should stop by the free, full-scale, outdoor\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2023\/07\/dont-miss-out.html#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2023\/07\/dont-miss-out.html\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2023\/07\/dont-miss-out.html#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Don’t miss out!\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/\",\"name\":\"Sic et Non\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/#\/schema\/person\/77113e9b09701bd1599fa272c4f65045\",\"name\":\"Dan Peterson\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/5ed1a72d26805e35a503e3167599df7c?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/5ed1a72d26805e35a503e3167599df7c?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Dan Peterson\"},\"description\":\"\\\"Life was very unsatisfying until I discovered Dan's blog, which gave me a reason to live.\\\" (gemli, 7 November 2019)\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/author\/danpeterson\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Don't miss out!","description":" If you're in Utah or planning to be in Utah between now and sometime in October, you really should stop by the free, full-scale, outdoor","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2023\/07\/dont-miss-out.html","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Don't miss out!","og_description":" If you're in Utah or planning to be in Utah between now and sometime in October, you really should stop by the free, full-scale, outdoor","og_url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2023\/07\/dont-miss-out.html","og_site_name":"Sic et Non","article_published_time":"2023-08-01T04:17:17+00:00","article_modified_time":"2023-08-01T04:18:24+00:00","og_image":[{"width":768,"height":566,"url":"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/186\/2016\/11\/800px-Holman_The_Tabernacle_in_the_Wilderness.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Dan Peterson","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Dan Peterson","Est. reading time":"6 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2023\/07\/dont-miss-out.html","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2023\/07\/dont-miss-out.html","name":"Don't miss out!","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/#website"},"datePublished":"2023-08-01T04:17:17+00:00","dateModified":"2023-08-01T04:18:24+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/#\/schema\/person\/77113e9b09701bd1599fa272c4f65045"},"description":" If you're in Utah or planning to be in Utah between now and sometime in October, you really should stop by the free, full-scale, outdoor","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2023\/07\/dont-miss-out.html#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2023\/07\/dont-miss-out.html"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2023\/07\/dont-miss-out.html#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Don’t miss out!"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/","name":"Sic et Non","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/#\/schema\/person\/77113e9b09701bd1599fa272c4f65045","name":"Dan Peterson","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/5ed1a72d26805e35a503e3167599df7c?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/5ed1a72d26805e35a503e3167599df7c?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Dan Peterson"},"description":"\"Life was very unsatisfying until I discovered Dan's blog, which gave me a reason to live.\" (gemli, 7 November 2019)","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/author\/danpeterson"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/101192","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1019"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=101192"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/101192\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/38089"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=101192"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=101192"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=101192"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
" "