This Shall Not Pass

I really like Coco's cartoons. I think he/she hits the spot precisely with these images. Below is something that I have contemplated and perhaps feared for some time. But I had faith that at least during John Paul II's papacy this would not come to pass. For though I am not a Catholic, nor a Christian, I do believe John Paul was a godly man, and he did intend to do good for the world. I do not know enough of Benedict to say anything.

The Vatican is one of the few sovereign states that have full diplomatic ties with Taiwan. Obviously, since their existence could be considered more religious and faith based than political (though it is also true from years of history how politically influential the Vatican is) or economical, one would think that the Vatican should maintain ties with all nations. If their "greed" to Christianize China allows them to sacrifice their friendship with Taiwan, I think it will be quite clear that the Vatican no longer has a direct line to God. I hope that Benedict's and future pope's better Christian conscience will lead the Catholic Church to never allow this to pass.

There are other ways to spread the Gospel to China without cutting ties with Taiwan, for example, through Taiwanese businesses and connections..just a thought of course.

Comments

Goodbyes

It's hard saying goodbye. A good friend of mine is leaving Duke to return to Paris. He was fed up with the physics program here, and after securing a position in France, decided to return home. It's unfortunate that the department here could not do more to help, as he was genuinely bright; unfortunately he was suffering from depression, probably induced by the stresses of the PhD program as well as the dull boring city of Durham. In general how does one say goodbye? You don't really, especially if you're good friends. You just end up saying hello less often. At least that's my take. Unfortunately, more on goodbyes, it's goodbye to Duke's NCAA hopes for this year. We were outplayed by LSU. Sure the refs were really not entirely fair (from our point of view of course), but they closed our top scorer down. It was a fun run, and I enjoyed watching them play, especially since I thought they played such great team basketball, but it's over. Such a somber posti...

FAO Schwarz!

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John Bardeen

I'm reading the biography of John Bardeen, co-inventor of the transistor and co-author of the BCS theory of superconductivity. He won a Nobel Prize in Physics for each of these discoveries, making him the only person ever to win two Nobels in the same category. The book is "True Genius---The Life and Science of John Bardeen" by Hoddeson and Daitch. He's not as well known to the public as Einstein or Feynman, but his contributions to science are up there with the greats. Here's a quote that I find very wise, from a man not known for saying much. People have said about Bardeen, "he doesn't say much, but when he does say something, you pay attention." "I feel that science cannot provide an answer to the ultimate questions about the meaning and purpose of life. With religion, one can get answers on faith. Most scientists leave them open and perhaps unanswerable, but do abide by a code of moral values. For civilized society to succeed, there must be ...

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