Cripes, now the "miracle of birth" - "No atheists in birthing centers"

[Synnical]

http://www.onenewsnow.com/Perspectives/Default.aspx?id=674028

It's amazing, it's astounding, but it happens innumerable times every day - hardly a miracle.

And Sagan said, what??? No, I don't think so . . . I'm thinking Sagan said or wrote something more along the lines of "Intelligent creatures look for patterns" or "looking for patterns that can be considered intelligent . . . "

And for the record, Sagan was an agnostic atheist.

-Cindy in Fort Lauderdale

No atheists in birthing centers
Peter Heck - Guest Columnist - 9/8/2009 9:45:00

It has often been said that there are no atheists in foxholes. Having never been in combat, I can't speak to that. But having just been present for the birth of my first child, I feel quite comfortable saying without equivocation there are no atheists in birthing centers...at least not ones with a lick of sense.

To call the birth of a human baby a miracle is the understatement of the millennia. It is either the height of arrogance or ignorance (perhaps both) to believe that such an event could have ever happened spontaneously and without intentional design.

Please understand that I mean no deliberate disrespect to those who have made the decision to live in rebellion to that which is patently obvious. I truly believe that many professing atheists are some of the most educated people on the planet. But an old boss I used to work for ingrained a phrase in my head that finds perfect application with these very nonbelievers: "Educated don't mean smart."

. . .

One of the famous atheist minds of our time, Carl Sagan, agreed. For decades, Sagan was involved in the Search for Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence (SETI) project out in the American southwest. His team of scientists beamed powerful satellite dishes into the sky and listened intently to the furthest reaches of space to see if they could detect any sign of intelligent life. When Sagan was asked what exactly they were listening for, he responded by stating that if in the noise of space they could find a pattern of any sort, they would conclude life must exist somewhere else in the cosmos. Why? Because, Sagan said, a pattern always indicates intelligent design.

How then men like Sagan, Richard Dawkins, Stephen Hawking, Sam Harris, and others – truly gifted intellects – can look at the DNA code and maintain their arrogant disbelief is mind boggling. Further, one must wonder if they have ever set foot in a birthing center.

. . .

As I held my little Addison that first night, I couldn't help but think back to walking around those Air Force bases as a child. And in the stillness of the hospital room, I found myself speaking the same words all over again: "I'd love to meet the one who built this masterpiece."


Peter Heck ([e-mail]) hosts a two-hour, daily call-in radio program on WIOU (1350 AM) in Kokomo, Indiana. "The Peter Heck Show" comments on social and political issues -- and doesn't shy away from recognizing how faith influences politics. This column is printed with permission.



Opinions expressed in 'Perspectives' columns published by OneNewsNow.com are the sole responsibility of the article's author(s), or of the person(s) or organization(s) quoted therein, and do not necessarily represent those of the staff or management of, or advertisers who support the American Family News Network, OneNewsNow.com, our parent organization or its other affiliates.

[enlightenment]

1. ouch. It really hurts my brain to read stuff like that.

And it hurts to think that poor little Addison is stuck with that maroon for a parent.

[laconicsax]

2. Poor little Addison is named Addison.

Tryndee names are sometimes indicative of stunted intelligence.

[enlightenment]

3. Hey! You just taught me a new word.

Had to look up 'tryndee'. Thanks, I always like learning new words.

Silly names, not so much, but it is pervasive . . . and I have to admit, when I named my daughter (29 years ago) I dropped one 'n' from Jennifer, just to make it a little different (this was after my mother told me it would be cruel to name her Siobhan - Gaelic names were not fashionable in 1980).

[laconicsax]

6. Dropping a letter hardly qualifies as tryndee

'Ghoti' instead of 'fish' is more the style.

[enlightenment]

7. Actually, I'm glad to hear that.

Now, when my daughter became my son (FtM) - he chose to call himself Octavian and let me choose his middle name (St John). Is that tryndee?

:7

[Synnical]

9. I love the name Octavian St. John!

It's poetic and ironic and sublime and just lovely. Thanks for sharing!

-Cindy in Fort Lauderdale

[enlightenment]

10. Aww - thanks, Cyndi - I'll pass that along to him.

He'll be chuffed!

I usually just call him Tavian (unless I'm mad at him in which case, as his mom, I get to call him by his full name: Octavian St. John (pronounced Sinjin, of course) Starr)!

He chose the last name, too - when he's being whiny I call him "Brenda" (and then he hangs up on me, but he's usually laughing . . .)

[Synnical]

11. Now you've taught me a new word "chuffed"

Glad to learn it's complimentary! :-)

I like Tavain, too! I think that should definitely be tryndee. :-)

-Cindy in Fort Lauderdale

[enlightenment]

12. Chuffed is one of my favorite words -

it's almost onomatopoetic . . . you know that little sound we all sometimes make when someone compliments us or we're just feeling really pleased? That tiny 'chuff' noise that's not quite a giggle?

That's what I think of with that word - maybe that's why it became common . . .!

I think both Tavian and Octavian are gaining in popularity, so perhaps they will become tryndee - though I think they'd have to change up the spelling to something mostly indecipherable to qualify.

Tayvyn, maybe? *snork*

My colleague won last semester's 'student with the most unusual name' contest (held informally after class rosters come out) with this prize winner:

Quartni

pronounced "Courtney"

:eyes:

[laconicsax]

15. No.

It's really only tryndee if the parent picks the name/spelling to make the child stand out. I feel bad for elementary school teachers in the next few years who are going to have a bunch of students with bizarre names, spellings, or both.

[moggie]

4. This arrogant prick should study embryology

Then he could explain to us idiots why the human embryo develops an ape-like covering of fur at one point, only to lose it again before birth. Or why the same embryo had fish-like gill arches earlier. As someone promoting intelligent design, he should be asked to explain why his "intelligent designer" made so many odd or downright poor design choices. He could observe one right there at the birth, as his wife struggled to pass the large head of the baby through the small opening in her pelvis, a highly unpleasant process which used to (and, in a lot of the world, still does) kill large numbers of babies and women. (Punishment for Eve eating the apple? Try telling your wife that). The more you look at human (or other) biology, the more it looks like a patchwork of kludges, rather than the result of a conscious design process. As I sit here wearing glasses, with bad knees and a bad back, I laugh at his faith in a designer.

Science has worked long and hard to come up with explanations of how we got here, examining masses of evidence, developing and discarding theories, always humbly ready to adapt to new evidence. Meanwhile, the insipid Heck (even his name is a euphemism!) waves all this away and declares "goddidit": and somehow we're the arrogant and ignorant ones? Heck, no!

[laconicsax]

14. Correction.

Birth isn't inherently unsafe. Even in sub-Saharan Africa, the lifetime maternal mortality rate is about 6% and the infant mortality rate rarely gets above 20%.

The worst country for both maternal mortality is Sierra Leone which has a rate of about 20% from all causes (only half of which are directly related to pregnancy). The worst country for infant mortality is Angola, which has a rate of around 18% (including deaths from malnutrition, congenital defects, infection, and stillbirths).

Natural selection would (and does) favor traits that reduce deaths directly related to pregnancy--the meme that pregnancy is a serious condition that often leads to death is inaccurate.

[moggie]

19. Nevertheless, it's lousy design

I hope Heck's partner had an easy birth, but he must know that, for many women, it's a lengthy and painful process. How can anyone contemplate their partner crying in pain, during a process which can take many hours, and think "yep, this is good evidence for an omnipotent and benevolent designer"? A designer could have made the whole thing much easier, as in many other species.

[laconicsax]

20. Well, that's only because there's no designer.

Which I believe was your original point.

[Warpy]

25. A competent intelligent designer would have used a zipper

instead of partially crushing the baby's head as it passes through the too-narrow pelvic opening. Or it would have made that head a lot smaller, the rapid growth of the brain and skull happening after birth the way it does in kittens and puppies.

In fact, human childbirth is one of the greatest arguments against intelligent design.

[moggie]

26. That's why creationists have evolved smaller brains n/t

[FiveGoodMen]

27. You may be on to something, there!

:rofl:

[Ignis]

5. "Educated don't mean smart."

:eyes:

Maybe not, buddy, but all that "book-lernin'" helps scientists understand underlying biological processes, rather than simply being awed by them and attributing them to an anthropomorphic Creator.

Poor Dr. Sagan's probably rolling in his grave over this moron's misuse of his work.

[Synnical]

8. Hey - What is a "birthing center"?

Since I chose to never have children, I was just wondering.

-Cindy in Fort Lauderale

[laconicsax]

13. Just what it sounds like.

Birth centers typically employ birthing professionals and are places where women can go to deliver. Depending on the area, they can be a lower cost alternative to hospitals. I believe they are typically run by midwives rather than OBs.

[Manifestor_of_Light]

16. I've had one baby at a hospital.

And I DO NOT GIVE A DAMN what the wallpaper looks like.

I wanted professionals; I got them.

I wanted drugs; I got them.

I wanted a safe delivery and a healthy baby; I got them through a C-section.

I could have gotten NONE of that at a "birthing center".

Excuse me, but I have a bad attitude about people who think ALL women can have a vaginal delivery.

I'm one of the casualties of that not-intelligent design mentioned above - a baby that's too big and a pelvis that's too small. And I thank medical science, not Gawd, that I am here to have seen my child grow up.

[laconicsax]

17. Good for you.

Not everyone shares your opinions and for many women, a birthing center is just fine.

[moggie]

18. Sounds rather Stalinist, doesn't it?

Or perhaps very Handmaid's Tale.

[Synnical]

23. Funny, I just loaned "Handmaid's Tale" to a 20 something at the office

I haven't kept many fiction books, but that one, yeah, definitely a keeper, and still relevant.

-Cindy in Fort Lauderdale

[LeftyMom]

21. BTDT.

The only thing I find "miraculous" about it is that any woman ever willingly does it twice. ;)

[and-justice-for-all]

22. I can look an the birth of a human animal the same way

I see all births, an act of nature and the means by which DNA chooses to carry on.

Sorry Heck, your being used by DNA when you fornicate and produce offspring. It is not a miracle, miracles indicate magic and we all know Harry Potter is not real. Grow up Heck and stop believing in Santa clause and other nonsense fairy tales.

[Book Lover]

24. "I'd love to meet the one who built this masterpiece."

Look at your wife, then look in the mirror. Idiot!