Thomas Merton, an American Catholic monk, has been described as “arguably the most influential American Catholic author of the twentieth century”.

A quotation attributed to him is, “Truth: know it, love it, live by it.”

This saying has always bothered me.

For all his respect as a mystic and an intellectual, Thomas Merton seems to have got it back to front.

* * *

In real life, surely must seek truth by first living by it — then loving it and, eventually, hopefully, coming to know it.

Who says so?

Jesus Christ himself said so, and he said so more than once.

Gospel of Matthew: “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter into the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven, he shall enter into the kingdom of heaven. Every one therefore who hears these words of mine and does them, he shall be likened to a wise man that built his house upon a rock.”

Gospel of John: “If any man does the will of God; he shall know of the doctrine . . . Did not Moses give you the law, and yet none of you keeps the law?”

Yes he meant the Ten Commandments of Moses: Love God, obey your parents, do not kill, do not steal, do not commit adultery, do not covet anybody else’s things. And so on.

* * *

The purpose of human life, if it has a purpose, is to love God, and to enter into union with him.

This has to involve giving God one’s will — obeying him, in other words.

That has to come first.

God’s laws are not fashionable at present. They have never been easy.

But there is no other way.

The 2010 Global Atheist Convention starts in Melbourne next Friday.

Tickets to the three day event have been sold out for months.

It will feature well known public atheists including Professor Richard Dawkins, Phillip Adams and Peter Singer.

* * *

24 Melbourne buses currently display the words, “Atheism – celebrate reason”, and will do so until March 29.

In Britain and Europe, both religions and non-religions have been buying up space on public vehicles for a while. British double-deckers have carried the slogan, “There is probably no God. Now stop worrying and enjoy your life”.

But don’t atheists spend just as much time, probably more, worrying about it all, than believers? Look at their countless books, countless websites — and now countless expensive public hoardings.

* * *

Atheism, no less than religion, is a kind of a faith. It goes beyond what can be scientifically demonstrated.

It gleefully mocks the rest of us for our inability to “prove” God’s existence.

Can they prove God’s non-existence?

Oh, no, they say, the onus of proof lies with believers, not with us.

* * *

Let people who pray, pray for those who have no faith — that they may discover the joy of knowing that God exists, and of knowing God himself.

Let us pray, also, for believers — that they may live faithfully by the Faith they profess.

Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now, and at the hour of our death.  Amen.

Professor Richard Dawkins is in Australia again.

He’s promoting his new book, “The Greatest Show on Earth”, which, he says, sums up the evidence for the fact of evolution.

His previous book, “The God Delusion”, sold well and the new one will doubtless be a clone of it.

Professor Dawkins will be addressing whoever turns up at Sydney Opera House next Sunday, 2pm.

* * *

Most Australians aren’t enthusiastic about evolution. They doubt whether intelligent human beings emerged from the mud of prehistoric swamps without some kind of a “guiding hand”.

Most Australians aren’t very enthusiastic about organised religion, either.

In this latter fact Dr Dawkins sees his chance of marketing yet another “pro-evolution, anti-God” book.

* * *

But both Dr Dawkins and the Aussie punter are making the same fundamental error of logic which renders any conversation between them worthless, logic-wise.

 *  the average evolution-skeptic probably doesn’t know that his/her thoughts are illogical

 *  Dr Dawkins probably does know – but he doesn’t care. He’s on a mission to stigmatise God and everybody who believes in God. He intends to succeed, no matter what tactics he must stoop to.

So what is this logical boo-boo that both sides of the debate (non-debate) have fallen into?

* * *

Both parties assume that if the evidence shows that we developed from the same ancestors as other animals (apes etc.) then there cannot be a God.

Once you put this down in simple words like that, it’s clearly nonsense.

* * *

A few days after the destruction of the New York World Trade Centre, this Professor Dawkins blamed the disaster on “religion” — calling religion “a ready-made system of mind control which teaches the dangerous nonsense that death is not the end”.

He was referring to how young persons can be persuaded to blow themselves up if convinced it is a certain way to enter heaven.

Another dishonest argument:

What he says may or may not be true about the “religion” of Islam.

It is NOT true about the religion of Jesus Christ.

Last weekend, Sydney streets were occupied by people “celebrating” their  involvement in homosexual practices.

The media gave them un-critical coverage, with headlines like “Police praise Mardi Gras behaviour”. (Bigpondnews.com)

The Police, in fact, attended 140 incidents, arresting 35 people for drug possession, assault, offensive behaviour etc. One man was reportedly “seriously” assaulted, two others stabbed. One police officer fell during a brawl and suffered head injuries.

But none of that is probably the point . . . .

* * *

Would one be a spoil-sport to mention that everyone knows that homosexual acts cause disease?

We’ve known for ages that oral sex, as practised by over 90% of homosexual males, is a major means of the spread of hepatitis A and hepatitis B. (1)

Anal sex, as practised by over 90% of homosexual males, is a leading cause of gonorrhoea, syphilis and AIDS. (2)

Then there is the question of whether homosexually-active persons are more inclined than others to sexually assault children.

In Victoria, 20% of sexual assault victims are males, 83% being aged under 17. (3)

The proportion of Australian men identifying as homosexual is 1.6%.  The number identifying as “bisexual” is 0.9% (4)

If a category of less than 3% of the male population commits more than 20% of male sex crimes, isn’t that a bit of a worry?

* * *

Homosexual people must be treated respectfully. That’s true.

But that’s no excuse for media (and schools) to misinform children and to condone dangerous behaviours.

Most adolescents experiencing same-sex-attraction will lose the tendency by age 25.

Adolescents that way inclined are sometimes told that “coming out” will solve their problems.

It will not. It puts their lives in danger.

 .

 (1) The Lancet 399:938, (2) Journal of the American Medical Association 251: 237, (3) Victoria Police Crime Statistics 2000-2005. (4)  Aust NZ J. Public Health 27: 138-145

This week is officially “Organ Donation Awareness Week” in Australia.

It was launched last Tuesday by Prime Minister, Mr Kevin Rudd, who said it is“crucial” that  families talk about this touchy issue.

A new program administered by the Federal Organ and Tissue Authority is to offer hospitals up to $11,400 a time for harvesting transplant organs from dying patients.

Mr Rudd lamented the fact that at present only 56 percent of Australian families give consent when approached for permission to remove a dying relative’s organs for transplant purposes.

His government is spending $150 million to try to boost that percentage.

* * *

Why would families refuse to permit having their dying relatives harvested?

 *  do they doubt whether the doctors will wait until their loved one is really dead before starting to take things out?

 *  do they wonder whether “brain-death” is simply a convenient myth?

 *  do they wonder whether a person’s soul has necessarily left the body just because one organ — the brain — doesn’t look like working again?

Good questions.  The exact moment the soul departs cannot be known by scientific means.  Death is only certain when the body starts to decompose – which is why priests are permitted to give the Last Rites up to an hour after patients are certified medically dead.

By which time their organs are useless for transplanting.

Organs good enough to be worth transplanting must come from patients only pretend-dead — not dead-dead.

* * *

The government’s new pro-organ-harvesting website assures us that “most religions, including all major religions, support organ and tissue donation and transplantation as acts of generosity and merit . . . .”

Could that be a fib?

Even on life-support — while heart and lungs function, albeit artificially assisted – does not the body remain one organism, with one being, one soul?

Does that mean that it is removing his/her organs which actually kills the donor-patient?

Is that murder?

To believe that two plus two equals four does not require faith.

It is just something that you notice to be true. It is self-evident.

It is a natural truth and no supernatural input is necessary to see that it is true.

* * *

To know that God exists is another example of the same thing.

The need for a Cause for creation to exist – which exists in its own right and is not itself a part of creation — is also self-evident.

The arguments against God existing are always a little bit more complicated, because they have the disadvantage of being nonsense.

* * *

Yet there are things we need to know about God which are not so obvious.

God wants us to know, not just that he exists, but also that he loves us.

This is something that we do not just notice but must, by an act of free will, choose to believe.

To live as though God is a loving God means, not just a nodding acceptance, but more of a self-giving.

To live as though a loving God has plans for our lives involves taking risks for him.

This is where all true faith is “blind” faith. That is the nature of faith. Not that faith goes against reason. No, it goes beyond reason and gives reason a reason to exist.

As Saint Mary Magdalen de Pazzi wrote:

“Not to believe in you, O my God, requires more ‘faith’ than to believe in you. Your love for me is so great that I no longer need ‘faith’ to believe in it.”

* * *

Human suffering is sometimes quoted as a reason to doubt God. But is not suffering an opportunity, not to abandon belief, but to put it on a deeper level?

Blessed Mary MacKillop wrote to her mother:

“In the trials, annoyances and anxieties we daily experience, may we ever recognise that loving Fatherly Hand that only seeks to draw us closer to himself by giving us opportunities to suffer something for him.”