Your worldview is not what you say you believe about the world, it is what you actually believe about the world. People act on what they believe -- that is why actions are more important than words.
Remember the adage, "your actions are speaking so loudly I cannot hear your words"? Bill Frist provides a clear example of why this rings so true.
I went to Frist's web site to read the words of his speech. I wanted to make sure I didn't rely on sound bite reporting. I was simply amazed by Frist's speech. Ramesh at NRO had the money quote. "The speech is a logical train wreck." He is right. Frist's thinking jumped the rails and exploded into a flaming mess. Ramesh added: "It's as though (at least) two different people were giving two different speeches."
Can you say fact-value split? Frist, like many Christians, successfully demonstrates the two story model of thinking that Francis Schaeffer taught us about (and Nancy Pearcy reminded us of). Scientific knowledge (read fact) lives in the lower story, faith (read values) lives in the upper story. We try to live in both stories at the same time but we can't. At the end of the day, we act on our knowledge because it is real and faith is not. How did I get that out of this speech? Frist gives it away when he said:
"I am pro-life. I believe human life begins at conception. It is at this moment that the organism is complete -- yes, immature -- but complete. An embryo is nascent human life. It’s genetically distinct. And it’s biologically human. It’s living. This position is consistent with my faith. But, to me, it isn’t just a matter of faith. It’s a fact of science."
Just a matter of faith? It's a fact of science? Bingo. Fact-value split. Frist does not seem to have a clue what faith means. And it shows in the divided thinking in his speech.
The second clue.
"As individuals, each of us holds views shaped by factors of intellect, of emotion, of spirit."
So if my mom has diabetes (which she does, btw), then my views will potentially be more bent toward finding cures at any cost. I don't hold that view, btw, but what if I did? Would the fact that I believed in cures-at-any-cost make it right?
No. Unless you were a fact-value split guy. Because the fact-value split folks don't consider moral views to be facts -- ethical views are part of those yucky faith/value thingies.
Fact-value split Christians, like the rest of us, act on what they really believe. They don't really believe that morals-values-faith are part of public truth -- and their actions reflect it. And you end up with Frist-like thinking -- train wrecks.
David, this is why I rant and rail against professing Christians who demote moral truth to a matter of preference or subjective interpretation (i.e. less than knowledge). It results in the two-story view of truth. Fact-value split.
It results in Bill Frist Christians.
Mr. Frist, what happens when that federally funded, human embryo-destroying research results in cures? Then what? Cures at any costs, right? Kind of hard to get the toothpaste back into the tube. Get ready for an industry dedicated to harvesting human embryos for their stem cells -- picture human embryo farms to support a billion dollar industry. All in the name of science and cures.
It is amazing how Francis Schaeffer (and Koop) saw all of this so clearly -- two decades ago. Go pick up a copy of . Was this guy a prophet or what?
Schaeffer got it. He knew something that Frist has not realized yet. Worldviews have consequences. We have a gotten a clearer picture into Frist's worldview. We know what he really believes. Even if Frist is somewhat confused himself.