I'd be one of the last people to deny the many mistakes, bad things and so forth that have been done in the name of religion. But today, especially, I really must offer another point of view. I spent last evening in our church, which was packed beyond standing-room-only (some people had to watch the service on video in another room) for a memorial service for Eugene, a 16-year-old who had fought a very rare lymph system disorder for the last two years. Some small miracles happened along the way. When he was first diagnosed, doctors expected him to live a few weeks; he obviously did far better (and managed a 4.0 grade average along the way!). When all medical options here in California were exhausted, his family tried to get him into a clinical trial in Boston, but the hospital there decided he was too ill. A few days after this, one of his classmates visited him in the hospital. As this girl's mother talked with Eugene's mom, they discovered that the classmate's father was the physician in charge of the very clinical trial they'd tried to get him into. A few days later, Eugene was on a flying ambulance, heading for Boston. But those events, and others like them, are not why I'm writing this.
The community gathered in that church, grieving and celebrating Eugene's life, is as much a product of religion as anything bad that people have done in the name of Christianity. The peace that faith brings doesn't make the news or the history books, but it is undeniably present. My closest friend buried a son eight years ago; it is one of the events in our world that feels utterly, deeply wrong. No parent should have to bury a child. This universe seems less than perfect, which certainly is one reason that we hope that it is not the world for which we were created. At its best, religion teaches us to behave as though we were, indeed, created for a better world. And often, I believe, that makes this a better world. Nick -- Nick Arnett Phone/fax: (408) 904-7198 [EMAIL PROTECTED] _______________________________________________ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
