CNN on religion

This week, a guy on CNN, Anderson Cooper, is doing feature stories on religion and specifically Christianity. CNN is probably my favorite news network, but even this is treading on dangerous ground, for them.

The first story I saw in the series, yesterday, I appreciated. Dr. Francis Collins, the leader of the Human Genome Project explains Why this scientist believes in God. Much of what he said brought him to belief in God is what solidified my belief, when I was researching apologetics like crazy. I discovered I could have a rational belief in God, just as this highly-respected scientist did, after reading the logical arguments of CS Lewis and seeing God's general revelation in teh complexities of science. It looks like I ought to add one more to my list of ways to worship- I love the last line of the essay: "By investigating God's majestic and awesome creation, science can actually be a means of worship."

The story I saw today that appears to be in the same series also focuses on science and religion. Apparently there's a new field called "neurotheology" trying to explain how our brain processes religious experiences like worship, prayer, and meditation. Some say that this field of study will 'explain away' God as just emotional response. I say, it is a good field of study, discovering more and more how God " has set eternity in the hearts of men" and given them a way to know him by wiring our brains as he has. I could go on about this for a while, but I'll stop here.

The latest story is the one that worries me most, probably because I think it will be a source of ridicule rather than objective reporting. Apparently, a $27 million dollar Creation Museum is opening up near Cincinnati (See the Answers In Genesis site). Christian tourist sites have failed miserably in the past, and I fear for this one's fate. I also hate that the park will present young-earth Creationism as the only view that is acceptable for Bible-believing Christians, while there are (Christian!) scholars and scientists who subscribe to other interpretations. Speaking of ridicule, it will be hard not to, with the museum's fundraiser called "Missing Links Golf Classic". That made me smile.

-----EDIT-----
OK, couldn't resist. Another story came across the wire and I had to add it to the post. This one is a ministry I've heard about before, called XXXChurch.com. The group is edgy, to put it lightly. They minister to and educate men about how pornography negatively affects their lives, including relationships with their families and with God. It's something that needs to be said, especially with so much smut at any internet users' fingertips, but the issue is seriously uncomfortable to talk about. XXXChurch lays it all out on the table, unafraid to bring up hard questions. They're also not afraid to reach out to those producing the pornography, offering bibles and love to those who are in the midst of the industry. This, like the last story, could also be ridiculed by the world as an overreaction, or criticized by other Christians as inappropriate, but I see it as necessary and right-on, even if it is uncomfortable. Sometimes Uncomfortable is OK. Sometimes we need Uncomfortable to shake us from our Comfortable, wrong-living.