Researchers in Oxford University have found that there is a significant link between the month babies are born and their career of choice. For example, the article suggests that babies born in December are more likely to become dentists, and babies born in January tend to become debt collectors. The month of birth may have even further reaching implications than job choice alone. The month of birth could indicate a higher likelihood of certain deseases such as Autism, Schizophrenia, Alzheimer's Disease, and Asthma. The birth time could affect height, preferences of time of day, and even intelligence. The reasons behind the findings are not conclusive, but researchers are attributing these findings to the effects of the amount of sunlight that the mother is exposed to while pregnant. What this article tries to make clear is not that astrology and the Zodiac have scientific grounds. This article shows how great the number of variables are that go into making a person.
In class, Dr.Corsini discussed the importance of understanding that all things that are real may not be true. When the mentioned article is first read, one's mind cannot help but think of astrology and the Zodiac. The Zodiac is thought to have been created by the Babylonians around 500 BC, and many people still believe that aspects of their characters are rooted in their astrological sign. These findings help illustrate the realness of the Zodiac, yet at the same time, they help understand the truth of the assumptions behind the Zodiac. Benjamin Franklin is credited with saying, "Half a truth is often a great lie", and so many times the Father of Lies will utilize the fallen nature of man's rationality with a truth that is not fully understood to create a lie.
Learning that reality can still be reality when it is devoid of truth is a good lesson to remember. This allows me as a Christian to acknowledge that I should approach differing beliefs with an understanding that they may have valid reasons to exist. There are spiritual truths that are God-given and can be used to define what is true, and there are also scientific truths that are God-given and can be used to understand the world around us. Maybe we should look differently at why a mother decides to abort a child or when a person enters into a homosexual lifestyle. Instead of looking at them through our personal "Christian glasses", we may benefit from asking, "What is real to this person?" Understanding another person's reality does not excuse the action, but certainly helps us relate to it.
I feel I must add, that while the secular scientific community would have us believe that all of reality can be explained in a naturalistic manner, the Christian does not deny that some phenomena are intrinsically evil and have no such purely scientific explanation behind them. Even if the Zodiac were debunked as a phenomena of the effects of nature on the unborn child, I would tread carefully on a topic that has emanated out of a source that dabbled so heavily in idolatry as the Babylonians.
I appreciate the way you handled this article. You did not attack the idea of Zodiac's or condemn those who subscribe to them, but instead asked for empathy and properly attributed the lie to a half truth. It is easy to see these biological changes that exist as a sum of millions of variables and assume there is some root there. Another way to say this is "Correlation does not imply Causation" which was drilled into my head during a research class I had during my under grad studies. Just because there is a correlation between the location of the stars and the characteristics of a person, does not mean the stars cause these characteristics. Instead of judging these individuals, it is important to ask ourselves what brought them to their conclusions and to understand what their perception of reality is. I like the path you took in coming to your conclusion and I think its crucial that we draw this out further. For instance, what other idols in our lives do we unknowingly subscribe to because we don't realize the implications of our adherence? This could apply to the occult and this could apply to the news. What we take in shapes who we are and if we constantly take in half-truths, we will be lost in the lies.
ReplyDeleteAfter reading your article the statement that you made about looking at people through the lense of their reality, really stuck with me. I think many times we easily condemn people for their choice of life, but we don't take the time to understand their reality, and how to them this is "real life" and there is no other way to live it. They do live on a half truth type of world, because they are not exposing themselves to the full truth, but in order to open their eyes, we must first be able to see through their eyes. Also, I agree with the fact that understnading their reality does not excuse their action, but merely helps us relate to them.
ReplyDeleteReading this article really made me think about how I myself view things I don't agree with. You make a good point when you say that we should take into account what a certain persons reality is. I think that to be a good christian and a good counselor that we should view our clients in this way, and realize that they have a different view on reality than we do. If we can learn to do that then we can truly help them!
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