* *
( man on PA ) Now Laughton to the neutral zone.
Avoids a hit along the boards !
( man on PA ) Now in the net, shoots...
And that one is knocked away by Patrick.
The puck is driven behind the Panther net.
Going after it is Stayner for the Monarchs.
And a solid hit by Van Fleet in the corner,
as Temple now controls the puck
and breaks out of the zone.
Here comes Teller along the boards.
He fires one top circle, just wide.
And here he comes again,
the Monarchs' young sensation, Blake Truman.
You can feel the electricity in the crowd when Blake
gets in his zone.
It's Truman, in alone on the net.
Panther goalie Tony Patrick hasn't had much success.
Now it's Little Pistachio,
heading into the Panther board.
And a thunderous hit by Walhart
sends him tumbling onto the ice.
He's spun around by the Panther defense.
Jumping on the loose puck is Truman,
and Patrick covers up.
Gets himself to the net.
He shoots, he scores !
Nice shot by Blake Truman.
There's a scramble in front of the Monarch net.
And Monarch goalie Tyler Ross comes up with a glove save,
and he's joined by a host of players from both teams.
There's Laughton building up head steam
through the neutral zone.
Avoids a monstrous hit by Green.
And he's finally upended by Bradford
with a vicious hip check.
Truman over to Shane Thomas.
Breaking in all alone.
He shoots.
He scores !
Time is winding down now in the third period,
which has 15 seconds left.
The crowd on their feet, cheering on their Monarchs !
And here they come, their final rush of the game !
It's Truman slicing the puck to Laughton !
Now Laughton back to Truman as he's taken out of the play !
Truman with the puck !
( buzzer ringing )
That's it !
It is over !
A one-sided affair by the score,
but Temple fought all the way.
That was insane !
Woo !
Yeah !
Hi, Blake Truman ?
And who wants to know ?
I'm Kerry Wells.
Hope you don't mind if I sit down for a minute.
So I see you're a classic-lit major.
What, are you writing a book ?
No, actually, I'm with the school paper
and I'm doing a story on Madison College's
new hockey super jock.
Aren't you the lucky one ?
So, Blake, tell me about yourself.
This isn't gonna be one of those
he-was-born-in-a-log-cabin, walked-to-school-every-day-
six-miles-uphill-both-ways epics, is it ?
I have to start somewhere, I'm sorry.
Let's just skip the trivia
and get right to the important part.
You know, the "how'd you get to be so great" part.
Okay.
So where were you born ?
You know, in order for this to be a really good story,
there needs to be some serious empathy
between the writer and subject.
Here, I'll show you.
Kerry, wasn't it ?
Classic lit and a steel-trap memory.
So tell me, Kerry.
How's your love life ? Excuse me ?
You heard me.
You hooking up with anyone special right now ?
I don't think that that's any of your business.
But it is-- You know, the empathy thing.
Creating that link between the interviewer
and the interviewee.
So are you ?
I was, if you must know.
Was, huh ? Was it serious ?
Well, I thought so.
And who broke it off ? I did.
Why ?
Because he wanted something I don't plan to share
until I'm married.
What ?
Classic lit, staggering intellect, but very bad hearing.
No, I just-- I thought I heard you say you were--
"Chaste" is the word I believe you're stumbling over.
Close enough.
It's just, I've never met a chaste girl before.
Really ?
Well, this must be your lucky day.
Let me guess, I bet you're a believer.
And you figured that out with only one question.
You're so smart. ( man ) There he is.
What's going on, man ? Hey.
Don't forget about the chalk talk this afternoon, all right ?
Yeah, man.
We know, we know, we just wanted to get a closer look
at your new friend over here.
Kerry Wells, this is Shane Thomas,
Tyler Ross and Chase Laughton.
Pistachio ?
I'm good, thank you.
Guys, I'm gonna be famous. All right.
Front-page news, "Madison Guardian."
Nice.
Hey, you know, I got some pictures of this superstar
lying naked on a bearskin rug when he was just a cub.
Can I get some copies of those ?
I will sell them to you. Come on, guys.
All right, it was nice to meet you.
Bye, you guys.
We'll see you at the rink, yeah ?
Take it easy. All right.
Pound it, pound it. Bye.
I gotta get to the rink. See you tonight.
Are you coming to the game later ?
I wasn't planning on it.
Change your plans.
I'll score a goal for your story
and then later we can go to Gatsby's and have a drink.
I'll tell you all about the long walk to school.
I'll think about it.
Hey, just sit close to the ice.
I'll look for you.
What's going on, buddy, how you doing, man ?
You got some stuff on your...
Oh, oh, no. Feels good.
How's it going, guys ?
What's going on fellas, man ?
How you doing ? Glad you made it, glad you made it.
Yo, Blake, who's the new squeeze ?
That's your girl ?
Seriously, dude, she's really cute.
She's got those big baby-deer eyes.
No, no...
Like I told you guys, man,
she's just writing a story on me for the "Guardian."
Uh-huh. Oh, right.
Dude, you score more off the ice than you do on, I swear.
That's a quote for the article, dude, take that down.
No, no, no, not this one.
She's a Christian, Bible thumper.
Pure as the driven snow. Whoa.
All right, everybody, settle down.
Gather round, listen up.
Pay attention, guys.
You all played a great game last night,
but Temple's a team that
bounces back strong after a loss.
Tonight's gonna determine whether or not we deserve
our number-one ranking.
Ross. What's that ?
Enough.
Now, this has been a team effort and we all know that.
But I'd be disingenuous
if I didn't point out the obvious fact here that Blake
has brought an extra dimension to the club this year.
What's up ?
Is there anything you'd like to say to the guys, Blake ?
No, Coach, just that I really--
really glad to be skating with you guys this year.
Really glad, man.
Now, look, I want you guys to get an early dinner,
be back at the rink by 5:30.
5:30, Shane.
First, we're gonna go over a few plays for tonight's game.
( woman ) Becky, you're late
with the first part of that anthology.
That story is due next Thursday.
The ad file.
I need that want-ad file.
Hello ?
Anytime now, kids.
Thank you.
Becky.
( cell phone ringing )
Hello ?
No.
I swear, nobody knows how to handle deadlines anymore.
Hey, come here.
What are you guys doing tonight ?
Well, we thought about flying to Paris,
but the airport's snowed in.
So why don't you come to the game with me then ?
What game ? The hockey game.
I don't know anything about hockey.
I know the players are kind of cute.
Why ? I'm doing a story.
( man on PA ) Good evening, everyone,
and welcome to Madison College's Sportsplex
for tonight's game between the Temple Panthers
and your Madison Monarchs.
( man on PA ) If last night's game is any indication,
we should be in for a fast-paced affair this evening.
For those of you who are on another planet
or simply missed it, last night the Monarchs sailed
to a six-one impassioned attempt.
Look for the Panthers to be in a foul mood tonight.
They're looking for some revenge.
And you can bet your skates that Coach Edwards
isn't gonna let his Monarchs go complacent
after last night's big win.
You gotta remember three weeks ago when Temple
took a similar trouncing at Baldwin Friday night.
And reversed the upset the very next night.
Oh, I remember well.
Let's go sit down here.
Tonight's clash will be the final game
before the Christmas break as the Monarchs seek
to hold onto first place in the Western Conference.
All right, Kerry, which one is Blake ?
Oh, he's right there, number three.
How come you get all the good stories, Kerry ?
You know what I'm working on ? What ?
Where kids are going for Christmas.
Beats my assignment.
I'm writing about the computer upgrade in the admin office.
Who's that guy in front of the net ?
Oh, that's Tyler, he's the goalie.
He's cute.
You think all hockey players are cute.
Yeah, well, he's more cute.
We're all set to go as referee Tom Oliver
gets ready to drop the puck and signals both goalies
that this game is about to get underway.
Madison in their home red uniforms
and Temple once again donning their ominous black sweaters
for tonight's game.
And here we go !
The opening face-off controlled by Temple.
And they failed to clear the puck,
it's intercepted by Greg Shift wearing #11 for the Monarchs
and driven into the Panther zone.
Again, the action is end-to-end as both teams
have had scoring chances here in the early...
... as Laughton goes back to retrieve the puck
and circles around the back of the net.
... Laughton is driven into the far boards
along the goal line...
And here come the Monarchs back up the ice
as this capacity crowd is back on their feet again.
He shoots, he scores !
And he's hit by two men
just as he releases the pass...
Here comes Bradford breaking the hook out as only he can.
And a big save by Tyler Ross !
Here comes Laughton,
regrouping with the puck at center ice.
Entering the Panther zone along the far boards
over to Thomas.
Now here's Thomas, trying to shove the puck
through the path of Wysocki.
As it trickles just wide of the net.
Now Truman from the top of the circle.
He shoots.
He scores !
What a move by Truman,
dipping his shoulder to trick Wysocki
and flipping the puck over his shoulder and into the net !
Monarchs win, Monarchs win !
And Madison will head to the Christmas break in first place
with this big weekend sweep over Temple.
Good night and Merry Christmas, everybody.
Thank you very much.
Bull, Bull, Bull, Bull, Bull, Bull, Bull, Bull !
Bull, Bull, Bull !
Yeah, Bull, yeah !
Bull, Bull, Bull, Bull, Bull, Bull !
A wellspring of talent, this place called Gatsby's.
Oh, Bull just might be that missing link
you paleontologists are always talking about.
Oh, wait, you gotta watch this.
Bull, Bull, Bull !
Yeah !
Bull !
Is that a trick ? No, no, that's for real.
I gotta go take a leak.
( man ) Hey, Bull, Bull baby, Bull, Bull, Bull, Bull,
when you go in the bathroom
and you eat that little white mint in the urinal,
it's gonna taste like bad cottage cheese,
just a warning, bro.
I got your... back, in the...
Oh, hey, yeah.
Yeah, good tip.
Oh, Blake !
Good game.
Thanks, Bull, yeah. Yeah !
Ladies, ladies.
These puck smackers, they're not doing it for you,
I know it's true.
How about you come over here
and have a beer with some real men ?
Why don't you just take Tiny and get out of here, all right ?
Blake, funny one.
You know, hockey, that's a game for fairies.
This is so educational.
You know, you guys almost make me a believer.
Believer in what ? Darwin.
I mean, you guys actually make me think that some men
did devolve from apes.
We're monkeys. Like from the zoo.
( screeching )
Nice.
Very, very nice.
( Chase ) I don't-- We don't even know these ladies.
Oh, yeah. Rita.
Rita, Chase, nice to meet you.
I'm Shane, I'm Shane.
Nice to meet you.
You should ask him to eat a chip.
Oh, do you want something to drink ?
Hi, yeah, I'll have a Diet Sprite, please.
You guys want something to drink ? I'll take a Coke.
I'll have what he's having.
Actually, Kerry's going to change her order to wine,
because that's what Jesus drank.
Thank you.
Thank you, Tyler, I am actually aware of this fact,
but I happen to like the taste of Sprite better.
Can I touch your hand then ?
'Cause I've never touched purity before.
I see I've been critiqued.
I'm just calling it the way I see it, that's all.
Seriously, Kerry, you seem like an intelligent girl.
You don't really believe in that religious hokey-pokey, do you ?
That hokey-pokey was out the door,
like bajillions of years ago, right ?
Like, the first stuff in the beginning of the Bible.
The Genesis part. The Genesis part, yeah.
The heaven and the earth created in six days ?
Six days ?
It was a "quadrubillion" at least.
They have, like, a pile of dead dinosaur bones to prove that.
You believe whatever you want to believe, but--
Religion is only for people on death row
or little old ladies with lots of cats.
Whoa, present company excluded.
Thank you.
The Bible's a fantasy, like a really old Harry Potter.
'Arry Potter !
Well, I happen to see things a little bit differently.
That being what ?
Well, I believe that science will catch up with the truth
of the Bible one day.
Doesn't really seem like we're gonna get
much interviewing done tonight,
so can I talk to you over there ?
( Tyler ) Well, I guess that puts us in our place
about all we know about science.
Excuse me. Right, Little Pistachio ?
( Chase ) I have a present for you, Michaele.
Yes ? It's a pistachio.
( Shane ) Nobody wants your pistachios, Chase.
He always carries them. I always do, don't I ?
It's his thing.
It's the-- It's my thing.
We even call him Little Pistachio.
Why ? Because he's nuts.
Not as big as full-grown pistachio.
Come to church with me tomorrow.
I don't think so. Why not ?
What harm could it do ?
I don't know, I just-- I don't want to.
It's the church at the corner of Lafayette and Third.
Starts at 10:00 a.m. and I'll meet you outside.
I gotta go, but I'll think about it.
Guys, I gotta go.
I gotta go. Dude, oh, whoa.
What, what, no.
I gotta meet somebody. All right, man.
All right. What's her name ?
Just tell me her name.
Have fun on your date.
Blake's got more girls than a dog's got fleas,
and you can go to the Humane Society and count that.
That's a promise. Charming.
All right, bro.
( door opening )
Are you gonna be staying tonight, Blake ?
No-- no, not tonight.
Are there any changes ? No, nothing.
Thanks.
( choir singing )
I almost gave up on you.
Yeah, well, I almost didn't come.
We don't bite.
Really.
* This is our Father's world *
* Oh let us not forget *
* Although the wrong is great and strong *
* God is the ruler yet ***
In the beginning, God created the heavens and the Earth,
and the Earth was without form and void.
And darkness was on the face of the deep,
and the spirit of God hovered over the face of the Earth.
Genesis is a book that answers most,
if not all of the basic questions of human life.
Genesis, in some ways, is almost philosophical.
It is the Jewish and the Christian answer
to the origins of human life.
Almost every thinking person in virtually every culture
around this planet has, at some point in their lives,
asked themselves this question,
"Where did the world come from ?"
Now, if you are attentive to your surroundings,
if you notice how the world changes and develops,
then at some point, you must have wondered about this.
The sheer size of the universe compared to the minute detail
of a DNA strand amazes me.
Think about that for a minute.
Some night, drive out of this city, away from the lights,
and look up at the night sky.
Millions of stars.
Too many even to take in.
Lights in the sky so far away that their distances
are almost incomprehensible to us.
And then the amazing detail,
the microscopic detail of a strand of DNA
that forms the basic structure of a human being.
All the strands and parts in place
and each contributing to the formation
of an individual human person.
Genesis is not an easy book to understand,
and that is a problem for you and I.
We are post-Enlightenment people.
We've been trained, whether we realize it or not,
to think scientifically...
Mom, is Dad coming with us to church today ?
No, sweetheart, not today.
Daddy's going to Alaska.
He's gonna help some people try to put together a mining deal.
He's gonna help them raise the money.
We want to know the dates and the weights.
We want to know the distances and the times.
But the author of Genesis is much more interested
in the big picture of life.
In the Book of Genesis,
we're gonna see the basics of human life
lived in relationship to God.
We're going to see that God created the universe.
We're going to ask ourselves,
did God create our planet and everything in it ?
We're going to be looking at such questions
in the coming weeks and see how Genesis answers them.
For today, though, let us close in prayer.
Lord, we pray that you bless us and keep us.
Lord, make your face to shine upon us
and be gracious unto us.
Turn your face toward us and give us peace.
Amen.
Have you eaten breakfast yet ?
No.
There's a cafÃ© a little bit down the way
that I usually go to.
We can grab something to eat and continue my interview ?
Okay.
You know, I thought we'd see your parents in church
this morning. No, they-- they were there.
You know, you would actually like my dad.
He's all into, like, guns and weightlifting
and all that manly stuff.
So, you have any plans for Christmas ?
It's still a week away.
Haven't really given it much thought.
You know, I was wondering about the group prayer
at the end of the service.
Does it work better if more people do it ?
What do you mean ?
I mean, does God pay more attention to a lot of people
asking for something rather than just one ?
God hears everyone's prayers.
It's kind of like a pack of K Street lobbyists
converging on a congressman.
I didn't know you were political.
Yeah, well, I'm not.
It's just this image I've conjured up
of all these people bombarding God,
trying to get 'em to do what they want.
I don't think it works that way.
I don't think it works at all.
So what's your major ?
I'm a double major, actually.
Journalism and paleontology.
Christian paleontologist.
That's somewhat of an oxymoron, isn't it ?
I don't think so.
Believe it or not,
you can actually believe in the Bible and science.
If you say so.
I really, really like paleontology a lot,
I just don't really know what I'm gonna do with it
once I graduate.
So you got a second fallback major,
something practical like journalism.
Exactly.
You know, someone like you with an engineer's mind
would really like paleontology.
You should monitor my class.
That's Tyler who's into the dinosaur bones.
That reminds me.
Last night at Gatsby's,
you were the one who said I was a paleontology major.
How'd you know that ?
I looked you up on the school online directory.
I had to make sure you were legit.
I see.
Charles Dickens Coffee Shop.
That's an appropriate place for a reporter to hang out.
Been here before ? No.
No, but I assume it's named after the same place in London
that Charles Dickens kept offices in in the late 1860s.
Impressive.
A knowledge of literature other than popular comic books.
See, if you're not gonna listen, then I'm not--
No, I'm not gonna help you, 'cause you're not listening.
No, done, whatever.
Oh, hey, high-five. Hey.
Blake, I'd like you to meet my brother Marc
and his fellow physics whizzes Lin Chen and J.T. Bochner.
A real honor to meet you, Mr. Truman.
Just Blake, Blake.
Not much of a hockey fan until this year.
You brought a real spark to the team.
We were at the game last night-- congratulations.
It locks up first place, doesn't it ?
For the time being.
I mean, there's a lot of season left, so...
Please, sit down. We don't want to intrude.
No, don't be silly, this will be fun, sit down.
So I was hoping I would see you in church this morning, Marc.
Oh...
She bugs me about this every week.
I leave religion to Kerry and my dad.
For me, science answers all the big questions.
Except for what happened
before one to the minus-43rd second.
It's one times ten to the minus,
and religion doesn't have an answer for that, either.
Actually, it does, but you don't want to listen.
It's not something you can prove through empirical analysis.
Marc is one of those people that doesn't believe anything is real
unless you can put it in a test tube and shake it around.
Whatever.
Marc is a good physicist,
but he's a real genius in movie history.
Go on, Blake, ask him anything.
All right, Marc, 1940s sports movie, Gary Cooper.
"Pride of the Yankees," good choice.
Starring Cooper, Teresa Wright, Walter Brennan,
and... and ? Dan Duryea.
Yes, produced by Samuel Goldwyn directed by Sam Wood,
distributed by RKO Pictures with a cameo by Babe Ruth,
and it opened in New York, July 14, 1942.
How much popcorn did it sell in Biloxi
in its third week of play there ?
I don't-- I don't know.
See, he's not really as smart as he thinks.
Hey, Shane. Hey.
How are you ? I'm good, what's going on ?
You guys, this is Shane, Blake's friend.
Shane, I'd like you to meet my brother Marc
and his fellow housemates, Lin and J.T.
Hey, it's nice to meet you.
A friend of Blake's and also a pretty darn good right winger
on the ice-- great game last night, Shane.
Thanks.
( Kerry ) Would you care to join us for some breakfast ?
Thanks-- thanks, but no.
I just came here to get a cup of coffee.
I'm helping Tyler with his math assignments.
He's into fractions now and he's a bit stumped.
Well, I'll catch you at the house in a couple hours.
Okay.
All right. Bye.
See you.
Are you guys roommates ?
Yeah, yeah, he rents a room at my mom's house.
Cool.
Marc, what kind of physics do you study ?
Astrophysics, minor in quantum field theory.
J.T. is primarily molecular and atomic physics,
and Lin is specializing in general relativity
and gravity theory. Wow.
Three pretty exciting companions
for a New Year's Eve party, right ?
Oh, hi. Hey, Pops.
Oh, hey. How are you ?
Blake, I'd like to introduce you to my dad.
You're--
I wanted to introduce you at the church,
but you were late.
Meet the Reverend Jerry Wells.
You look a little different without the robes on.
You look a little different without your uniform on.
That was an interesting sermon today, Reverend.
Oh, Jerry, please.
And, Blake, I'm a huge fan.
Kerry tells me that she's writing a story about you.
She's trying, I haven't been very cooperative.
Speaking of my story, why don't we move over there
so I can actually get to work ?
Actually, I wanted to ask Marc about quantum entanglement
and Schrodinger's cat. Come, please.
Kerry, you gonna be home for dinner tonight ?
Yeah, I'll be there at 6:00. It was nice meeting you all.
Good to meet you.
How did you know about quantum entanglement
and Schrodinger's cat ?
I didn't, I saw it on TV last week.
Oh, clever you.
Okay, so let's see what we've got so far.
You were born in a log cabin,
you walked six miles to school and back every day,
uphill both ways.
Then you went on to become a nude model
and Chase has some pictures coming,
and then you become a super hockey player
for Madison College.
Sounds pretty good so far.
So I know you're an engineering major,
which I found out from the online directory,
but I'm sure my publisher
would like a few more details here and there,
so why don't you tell me a little bit more
about that log cabin ?
( Marc ) It's all based in Einstein's theory of relativity
and time dilation.
There's two brothers and one of them is 23 years old
and he's an astronaut,
and there's a younger brother and he's 16.
And his older brother is always watching out for him,
and the older brother is put on the first mission to the star
Proxima Centauri, 4.2 light years away.
Now, this mission takes 20 years, Earth time.
Marc, please, I can't see through you here.
Okay, fine, but for the astronaut,
when he returns to Earth, only four years have passed.
So he's like, what, 27 now ?
But the younger brother who stayed on Earth,
20 years have passed for him
and he's now 36,
so now the younger brother is now nine years older
than his older brother, and--
How can he be nine years older than--
And, I'll just tell you why.
He's a police detective and he's turned into one of those
tough-guy, streetwise, kinda seen-it-all kind of cops,
and he has to shepherd his now younger older brother
who has returned to this world that is so far different
than what he knew.
What do you think, huh ? Make a good TV show or not ?
Younger older brother ?
Couldn't it just be that he goes back in time and then he--
I don't know, he knows things that other people don't know.
They did that already.
"Quantum Leap," Scott Bakula.
He played Samuel Beckett.
It was created by Don Bellisario,
and it was on NBC from March '89 to May '93.
Besides, you can't travel back in time,
but in the starship headed to Proxima Centauri
traveling near the speed of light,
time actually moves much slower than it does on Earth
during the same time period, and that is time dilation.
It's not that time seems to pass more slowly in the starship,
it actually does.
Four years pass in the starship, 20 years pass on Earth.
That is proven science and it is true.
Mm-hmm.
Come on, guys, dinner's ready.
Can we just wait until I see how this call turns out ?
No, now.
I made baked ziti and sausage casserole,
and I don't want it to get cold.
Just put it on the TiVo and record it, Dad.
All right.
If it were anything other than your mom's casserole,
we'd watch the rest of the game.
Yeah, right.
Random verse time, Kerry.
Okay.
"Before the mountains were brought forth,
"or ever thou hadst formed the Earth and the world,
"even from everlasting to everlasting, thou art God.
"Thou turnest man to destruction;
"and sayest, 'Return, ye children of men
"'for a thousand years in thy sight are but as yesterday
when it is past and as a watch in the night.'"
Psalm 90, thank you.
Let's pray.
For these gifts we are about to receive, we give you thanks.
Amen.
Pass the casserole.
Let's tell the doctor what we want to do.
Go ahead, you tell him.
( man ) Put the time on it. ( man ) It's already been signed.
( man ) So as we've seen,
life first developed here on Earth
much earlier than previously thought.
In fact, right after the first water appeared
3.5 billion years ago,
as attested to by the fossils of stromatolites
at Warrawoona, Australia.
Now, this little fact creates something of a problem
for the most simplistic of the evolutionary interpretations,
which rely on billions of years
for the first single-celled animal forms to evolve,
and that is purely by chance.
I'm gonna leave you on that note,
and that completes our review of the Ediacaran Era,
so we will move right on to the Cambrian, or Cambrian Era.
This era is often referred to as the Cambrian explosion,
reflecting a rapid, sudden appearance of
most major complex animals
around 530 million years ago
and the accompanying wide diversification
of other organisms such as phytoplankton,
calcimicrobes and so forth.
Now, Charles Darwin, you remember him.
Parenthetically,
he considered this sudden proliferation of animal life
with little or no antecedent to be the single greatest threat
to his theory of evolution,
to the point that he included an entire chapter
in "The Origin of the Species" to this problem.
Now, why am I not surprised Kerry
would have something to add to this ?
( laughing )
Well, it seems to me that this sudden expansion of life
gives a clear example of order emerging from chaos,
and left to nature itself, this never happens.
Order does not emerge from chaos.
Chaos devolves into greater chaos.
Okay, I'd agree with that assessment.
And doesn't this lend credence to the argument
for a watchmaker ?
A creator guiding the process ?
Well, I'm a scientist, Kerry, so I have to remind you
that there is no scientific evidence
to support the idea of a creator.
And back to the issue of order emerging from chaos,
Darwin addresses this, using the eye as an example
when he says,
"To suppose that the eye, with all its inimitable contrivances,
"could have been formed by natural selection seems,
I freely confess, absurd in the highest possible degree."
That's very good.
Kerry, why don't you just give science a chance for awhile ?
You might be surprised by some of its answers.
Well, I love surprises.
If we may.
Back to the Cambrian era.
Oh, and a little heads-up, in the coming weeks,
we're going to be reviewing the contributions
of a number of men and women,
going back to the British geologists like William Buckland
and his detailed writings concerning--
( Blake ) Well, that was fun.
"Aldinian," "Tabotian," "Atibanian," "Tomin"...
I had no idea what he was talking about.
Well, then how about we talk about something
more interesting ?
Like some more information for my story, please ?
Why not ?
I want to apologize for Chase and Tyler Saturday night.
They were out of bounds.
You have every right to believe whatever you want.
No matter how stupid that might be.
I didn't say that.
That's okay, I'm used to it.
Most people think that Christians are dim or naive
or just need a crutch to get past the fear of death.
I didn't say that, either.
I happen to know that a lot of what's in the Bible is true.
Oh, do you ?
Things like the Bronze Age
and the Battle of Jericho and the Dead Sea Scrolls.
I've even seen possible scientific explanations
for the ten plagues and the parting of the Red Sea,
but it's really just the opening verses.
Genesis ?
Yeah.
Yeah, Genesis.
God created the heavens and the Earth in six days ?
I mean, it just isn't true.
I mean, science has clearly proven,
it took 14, 16 billion years.
I mean, you open up a book and the first thing you read
is untrue, it's kind of hard
to take the rest of the book seriously.
So you believe that the Bible is true post-Adam ?
With a lot of parables and aphorisms tossed in.
But Genesis is fiction.
Look, I think Genesis is a fable constructed by men
who lived in a pre-science era trying to explain something
they could have no way of understanding.
So then if I could prove to you the truth of Genesis,
you would take a fresh look at the Bible ?
Yeah...
yeah.
Yeah, you prove that science and Genesis are not in conflict
and I'll reconsider.
Fair enough.
All right, back to my interview.
Shoot.
What is your favorite color ?
Are you serious ?
I have to have some foundation, okay ?
Blue, what's yours ?
I'm doing the interview.
No, but like I said Saturday,
there needs to be some serious empathy between
the writer and the subject and I just--
I don't feel the connection. It's green.
What's your favorite food ?
Meat loaf, mashed potatoes and gravy with green beans.
Mine's huevos rancheros.
I had them one time on a trip to California.
What's your favorite book ?
And comics don't count.
Anything by John Jakes.
And you ?
And the Bible doesn't count.
"Jane Eyre" for the old
and any mystery by Sarah Andrews for the new.
Favorite actor ?
Gary Cooper.
For the woman, Vivien Leigh.
Mine would be Denzel Washington and Janine Turner.
Favorite movie ?
Old or new ? Old.
"Sergeant York."
New ?
"Open Range."
You ?
All time, "Ten North Frederick."
No way.
Yes, starring Vivien Leigh,
Suzy Parker, Geraldine Fitzgerald and--
Gary Cooper. Very nice.
Maybe we have a little bit more in common than I thought.
That's a scary notion, isn't it ?
Okay.
Moving in a new direction...
what do you want to be when you grow up ?
World chess champion.
That's an interesting...
goal for a hockey superstar. And that's off the record.
I think you're supposed to tell me that before you say it.
Don't worry, it's off the record.
Why ?
Are you good at chess ?
I played a couple of times.
So...
Look, I gotta get to class.
Well, do you think we could pick this up again later ?
Deadline, you know.
Yeah.
I'll get ahold of you tomorrow.
You wanted to see me, Tanna ?
How's the story on Blake Truman coming ?
Little by little, but it's coming.
Did he give you anything on his mother yet ?
Like what ?
Her name is Beverly.
I shouldn't have to do your work for you.
Sorry.
"45, mother of Madison College's hockey superstar..."
Hey.
Oh, sorry.
Let's get some lunch.
You, tell Billy that I need the pictures
from that Florida thing, now.
Mm-hmm. Now !
Okay. Chop, chop !
Have you ever noticed that Tanna's clock
runs at a different speed than everyone else ?
You okay, Kerry ?
Blake's mom is really sick.
What's wrong with her ? She has pancreatic cancer.
She's in the hospital in a coma.
That's awful.
I'd like to suggest to Blake that a little faith
might give him some comfort,
but he's convinced that science has proven the Bible
to be a fantasy.
The only comfort guys like Blake get is from
smacking someone around on the ice.
Don't get caught making this guy
into some type of a cause, Kerry.
You're probably right.
What's he like ?
He's very cynical,
and he's built sort of this wall around himself.
He's strong and he tries to act tough,
but underneath all that, I think he's a decent person.
Kerry, girl, wake up, he's a jock.
Every jock thinks the sun rises and sets in their shadow.
Anything exciting with the computer upgrade in admin ?
I don't know why Tanna didn't give this story
to someone who knows something about computers.
All this giga this, RAM that.
I have no idea what's going on.
You prove to me that science and Genesis are not in conflict...
( Rita ) You ever noticed that Tanna's clock
runs at a different speed than everyone else ?
Chop, chop !
Hello ?
No !
It's not that time seems to pass more slowly in a starship,
it actually does.
Four years pass on the starship, 20 years pass on Earth.
That is proven science and it is true.
"Return, ye children of men
"for a thousand years in thy sight
"are but as yesterday when it is past
and as a watch in the night."
( Jerry ) Psalm 90, Psalm 90, Psalm 90...
Oh my...
( dialing )
( Marc ) Greetings, sis.
Marc, I need you to figure something out for me.
( Chase ) You hit me one more time
and I'm gonna slap you again, dude.
I will-- What, do you live in a barn ?
Who's gonna clean these up ? It's not gonna be me.
You can dive in, dude.
What are you studying so hard, Tyler ?
No, he's shopping. Shopping for what ?
A girlfriend in the school directory.
( Tyler ) You guys can laugh all you want.
Check this chick out.
Bink !
Lisa Bonner.
Why you laughing, man ?
Look, we got a lot in common, dude.
Like what ?
Like she's from Springfield, Illinois, and I'm from Wheaton,
which is, like, right there on a map.
Yeah, dude, it also says that she's majoring
in artificial intelligence and robotics
and she's a member of Mensa, so forget about it.
There might be something to that
artificial- intelligence thing, man.
Wait, what's Mensa ?
It's a society of really smart people, so.
Yeah, they can handle fractions
without drawing circles on paper.
No.
Maybe you should keep shopping.
Hey, what happened to that girl Rita
on Saturday, Kerry's friend ?
I thought you hit it off.
I'll see you guys later, I'm out.
Yeah, I saw her looking at you, man.
I don't know, man, she was looking at everybody.
She was the look machine that night.
Blake, I'm so sorry.
What ?
I mean, about... about...
About what ?
Nothing, no, I mean--
Betty, what is it ?
I thought you knew.
Blake.
I just came from the hospital.
I heard what you guys are planning on doing.
We wanted to tell you, we just couldn't find the way.
You can't do this. We can and we must.
It's what your mother wanted.
No, you don't have the right, she's my mother !
She's our daughter and we do have the right.
Listen, when she found out that she had almost
no chance to live,
she wanted to avoid putting you in the position
of having to decide what to do.
I want to decide !
It's not what we want to do, son.
It's what she wanted.
It is !
No, I won't let you do this.
Blake !
Hey, man.
What's wrong ?
Is it your mom ?
They say they can take her off life support.
Who ?
My grandparents.
Can they do that ?
They say they can.
You need a lawyer.
I'm gonna call my brother.
Hey, Dalton, it's me, Shane.
Yeah, I'm fine, it's Blake.
He's got a real problem, we need to see you.
Okay.
All right.
Thanks.
All right, he's out of town,
but he said to be in his office tomorrow morning at 9:00.
All right ?
Thanks, man.
( Marc ) Kerry !
Kerry, wake up !
( woman ) That's Marc, right ? Who else ?
( Marc ) Kerry, wake up ! I gotta talk to you right now !
What in the world, Marc ?
You will never guess what I figured out.
( phone ringing )
I called Dr. Hoffer.
He said my grandparents have a patient-advocate form
that my mother signed.
I'll prepare a petition requesting an injunction.
Get us into probate court as quickly as possible,
see if we can get Judge Hardin.
Dalton, I don't have much money.
Don't worry about that, man. No, I want to pay my way.
We'll work all that out, Blake.
Right now, we need to try to block this.
Now I need you to think back.
Think about anything your mother has ever said
that would indicate that being taken off life support
would not be what she would want.
( Lin ) This idea of the Big Bang all came about
as a result of Einstein's theories of relativity.
( Marc ) One day to the next the same, here, on the moon,
across the universe, today.
It's a concept in physics we call time dilation.
A mass of pure plasma expanding at the speed of light.
( J.T. ) And at lower normal speeds,
the difference is imperceptible.
The universe does not exist.
And gravity has the same effect on time as does...
This idea of two different frames...
For an object that has zero or low gravity--
( man ) It cooled and expanded to a point where...
The idea of the Big Bang all came about as a result
of Einstein's theories--
( Marc ) The temperature was in the trillions of degrees.
This total image, the cosmos...
Any change in the wavelength or cycle
or frequency of light...
The trees and buildings and everything along the highway,
appear to be moving.
So I found out his cousin is on Jeff Gordon's pit crew,
and I asked him to get us a couple of pit passes
for you and me.
Of course, I told him you'll be happy
to drag the car around the track
by your teeth a few times, sort of a promotional thing.
What do you think ?
Blake !
You haven't heard a word I said, man.
Sure I have.
Okay, so you're going to do the thing with the teeth then ?
What ? Man.
We can't do anything 'til we hear back from Dalton.
Just try to relax.
You're right, man, you're right, but--
I know.
So I need you to do something for me.
Anything.
I need you to call Kerry up
and invite her to the karaoke bar tonight.
Why ?
Well, you know how Tyler and Chase
have been kind of hard on her, right ?
Well, I got something for her to make amends.
What ? It's a surprise, man.
Come on, do me this favor.
( cell phone ringing )
Hello ?
Okay.
Good.
Thanks.
That was Dalton.
He's got you on the docket to present your petition
at 10:00 tomorrow morning
Thank you, man.
Now, the karaoke thing.
So this sets up the relative positions of the parent starship
and the survey craft in respect to the event horizon.
( cell phone ringing )
( Marc ) Uh-huh, but...
Hello ?
Hi, Blake.
Yeah, yeah, I know where it is.
Okay.
Can I bring Michaele and Rita ?
Cool, well, we'll meet you there.
Okay, bye.
Oh, no.
I have to go, I have a meeting with my academic advisor.
See ya ! Adios.
Come on in, Kerry.
I've been reviewing your transcript.
GPA 3.9, "A"s in all your science classes.
Double major.
Very impressive. Thank you.
Still planning on grad school ?
Yes, Professor Allitt, I am.
You know you're gonna need three letters of recommendation ?
Yeah.
Well, these grades will certainly help
get those letters, mine included.
And as your academic advisor, mine is especially important.
But I must tell you that I have some reservations.
Reservations ?
Well, I notice in here
that you're not very active on campus.
The only extracurricular organization you belong to
is Young Life College,
that's a religious group, a Christian group.
It's a nondenominational group, yes.
And that you live at home with your parents,
your father's a minister in the local church
and you are quite outspoken
in support of your Christian beliefs
and your notion of absolute biblical truth.
Kerry, we live in the postmodern world.
You have the right to believe anything you want.
You know, there is no conflict between science and God.
There is no issue between is there a God or isn't there,
or be it a Christian god or a god of any other religion,
it is simply irrelevant.
You know the only reality
is the reality that each of us perceives.
That's what's great about living now,
you know, in this era ?
There are no absolutes,
there are no restraints, there are no restrictions.
The only truth is subjective,
a truth that each of us believes
and that works for each of us
as individuals.
Now, I have no issue with your father being a minister, mm-mm.
I think that, really, he serves a very important function.
By giving the common folk, you know, something to fear
and some sort of hope of salvation to cling to,
sort of keeps the masses under control;
as Voltaire said,
"If God did not exist, it would be necessary to invent him."
This absolute biblical truth that you speak of
with such a passion,
I sort of see as an insult to those of other beliefs
or to those who don't believe at all.
It's also insulting to the very intelligent men and women
who have come to understand that life evolves
through random mutation, not through some, you know,
divine transcending intervention.
This absolute biblical truth of yours, Kerry,
simply does not exist.
All right, well, let's talk about college.
Now, you really must understand
that more important than a college
teaching some sort of specific craft,
it's more important that it teaches young men and women
to serve as leaders in the new world order.
Leaders who understand postmodern thinking.
Yes, exactly.
Kerry, I mean, you have a chance
to become part of something really important here.
I mean, your time on campus can open doors to--
to the ranks of the cultural elite
and the leaders of the country.
All you have to do is become a little more active
in college affairs, you know,
and mix, accept the views of others and, you know,
put aside this notion of absolute biblical truth.
"When I was a child, I thought like a child,
"I talked like a child, I reasoned like a child,
"and when I became a man,
I put aside my childish ways."
I didn't know you were religious, Professor Allitt.
What do you mean ?
Quoting first Corinthians, 13:11.
I'm not religious.
You don't have to be religious to know the Bible.
Then it's Sun Tzu...
"Know your enemy."
Oh, my gosh.
You think that-- That we're your enemy ?
We are trying to help you.
You believe that, don't you, Kerry ?
We are trying to help you.
Of course.
Kerry, you have such a passion, it's a wonderful thing,
it just needs to be redirected.
You must accept the reality of the postmodern world,
there is no truth.
Truth is relative.
Reason and rationality are social biases.
All lifestyles, religions and worldviews
are equally valid
and the only real sin is that of criticizing
someone else's views or moral choices.
Think about what I'm saying, Kerry,
and put aside the childish ways.
Kerry, don't let this adherence
to something your parents might have believed
stand between you and a wonderful life.
Between you and a career.
Between you and an opportunity to serve
as a member of an elite group
and to help shape a brave new future.
We'll plan to talk about this a bit more next week, okay ?
( Dr. Allitt ) I have some reservations...
Put aside this notion of absolute biblical truth...
... something your parents might have believed
stand between you and a career.
( men ) * Rudolph the red-nosed reindeer *
* Had a very shiny nose *
* And if you ever saw it you would even say it glows *
* All of the other reindeer *
* Used to laugh and call him names *
* They never let poor Rudolph *
* Join in any reindeer games *
* Then one foggy Christmas Eve *
* Santa came to say *
* Rudolph with your nose so bright *
* Won't you guide my sleigh tonight ? *
* Then all the reindeer loved him *
* And danced around with glee *
Oh, come on, man.
Hi, how are you ?
Oh, you remember my friends Rita and Michaele.
Hi. What's going on ?
Shane, what is the surprise ?
Just be patient, be patient.
I'm so anxious.
You're not gonna sing, are you ?
That I am.
* You'll go down in history ***
( man ) Great job.
* No one seems to notice *
* The man beside the road *
* He was just a ragged soldier out there in the cold *
* But he seemed to have a purpose *
* Only known to him *
* As he walked along the streets that night *
* To the town of Bethlehem *
* In his head he held a memory of all the wars he'd known *
* In his hand he clutched a medal *
* For the bravery he's shown *
* But the weight of every battle he carried in his heart *
* But his eyes were clear *
* Searching for a manger in the dark *
* Some are born for greatness *
* Some are born to fall *
* Some are bound to be forgotten *
* Like they never lived at all *
* But we're all born to know him *
* Stand before his light *
* Like a soldier who found the king tonight *
* He had marched for politicians *
* Served under their command *
* He had fought for all the causes he did not understand *
* But something deep inside him now led him on his way *
* With a single star to guide him to where the baby lay *
* He stood before the son of God *
* To come to pay our debt *
* He smiled up at the soldier that the world *
* Will soon forget *
* He held up his medal and said, "This for you I bring" *
* Then he swore allegiance to the newborn baby king *
* Some are born for greatness *
* Some are born to fall *
* Some are bound to be forgotten *
* Like they never lived at all *
* But we're all born to know him *
* And stand before his light *
* Like a soldier who found the king tonight *
* Oh yeah *
* Like a soldier who found the king *
* Tonight ***
( cheers and applause )
Oh, man, that was good, dude.
Aw, thanks, man.
It means a lot, I appreciate it, bro.
Thanks, man.
Shane, that was so beautiful.
Thank you, thank you.
Did you know he could sing like that ?
You know, I've known him ten years
and I've never even heard him sing.
So I had a few more questions
I'd like to ask you for my story.
Do you think I could see you tomorrow ?
I've got something in the morning, some personal stuff.
Is it with your mom ?
Why didn't you tell me ?
Because it's a personal matter and it's not something
I want in your story.
I wouldn't put it in my story
if you didn't want it there, Blake.
There's more.
What ?
My grandparents are trying to take her off life support.
I'm going to the court in the morning
to try to get an injunction to stop them.
I'll come with you.
Part of your story ?
No, as your friend.
( Dalton ) We're meeting Judge Hardin's court clerk
in the conference room "A."
Relax, don't say anything, just follow my lead.
( phone ringing )
( Dalton ) We're here to see the clerk.
You two stay right there.
Mr. Thomas ? Yes.
Please, have a seat.
Judge Hardin will be joining you in just a few moments.
( man ) Thank you, thank you.
Keep your seat, keep your seat.
All right, we have a petition here brought by Mr. Blake Truman
to adjoin his grandparents
from removing life support from his mother,
Beverly Truman.
Mr. Thomas, you may make your argument.
Your Honor, I represent Blake Truman,
who opposes both the rights of his grandparents
to order this life-ending action as an action not permitted
under their patient-advocate agreement.
He also contends this is not a decision
with which his mother would concur.
Are you represented by counsel ?
No, Your Honor, I'm not.
Are you comfortable proceeding pro se,
representing yourself without an attorney ?
For what it's worth, Your Honor,
I was the head of my company for 35 years.
Well, let's see what you have to say.
We have here the patient-advocate form
signed by our daughter giving us the right to--
Giving us the...
Giving us the right to take her off life support, Your Honor.
She came to us after she was first diagnosed
and she knew that there was very little chance of her recovery,
and she didn't want to be a burden to her--
to her parents and to her son.
Mr. Truman, do you have anything to add ?
Your Honor-- Your Honor.
My mother would not have wanted this.
She was always a fighter and would never give up like this.
The idea of her being a burden, it's just--
It's just not true.
When did you plan to remove life support ?
After Christmas, on the 28th.
Well, I'll look over this
and let you know my decision tomorrow.
That's all for now.
Look, I don't want to sound like
the caricature Christian girl here,
but prayer might give you some peace of mind, Blake.
You know, I tried that before.
My dad was in Alaska on another one of his
get-rich schemes.
He disappeared, my mom and I, we prayed every night.
Turns out he fell into a crevasse
and they didn't pull his body out until next spring.
Now tell me, what good did praying do ?
Marc has something he wants to show you later today.
He works at the science museum.
You know where that is, right ?
Yeah.
Think you could come by there tonight at 7:30 ?
You too, Shane, and you can bring Chase and Tyler.
It's not really a very good day.
Come on, man.
There's nothing more we can do at court.
He's really excited about this, Blake,
and I honestly think you'll find it very interesting.
Will...
Will Lin be there ?
Yes, Shane, Lin will be there.
She's helping Marc with his story.
Come on, Blake, let's do it.
Don't be sitting around the rec room all day
watching reruns of "Rawhide."
We'll be at the dinosaur exhibit.
It's right when you go in the entrance, just--
Will you please come ?
All right.
( Kerry ) Sorry I'm late, everybody.
( Marc ) Now that everybody's here,
I think we can go ahead and get started.
I think everybody knows my father and my sister,
and these are my housemates and physics pals,
Lin Chen and J.T. Bochner.
I've also invited some others here to join us.
This is Professor Campbell,
he is the Instructor of Paleontology.
And Dr. Tolley, he's the head of
the Department of Astrophysics and Cosmology.
Why are we here right now ?
How do you spell "astrophysics" ?
So a few days ago,
my sister asked me to check something out for her.
I was a bit skeptical at first,
but for the sake of the harmony of my family, I agreed.
Like in most families, we don't see alike on many things.
My father is a man of the cloth and my sister followed him
in that way of thinking.
I myself took a different path and got wrapped up in science,
physics, to be precise.
We still love him, though. Kind of.
Thank you very much.
And everyone generally accepts the fact
that science and the Bible are at odds with most major issues,
especially when it comes to creation of the universe.
Genesis says the Earth and the universe were created
in six days.
Science says it took some 15 or 16 billion years.
The Bible seems to be at complete odds with science.
It's just another religious mythology spun by the ancients
to explain the unknowable.
Dad, what is the biggest doubt most people have
when it comes to believing the Bible ?
It's Genesis.
The idea that the heavens and the Earth
were created in six days
when all of science says otherwise.
Follow me.
( J.T. ) So I think I'm like a lot of people.
I believe in a creator.
But the conflict between the Bible and science
has kept me from a total commitment to my Jewish faith.
Those first six days, the first 31 verses of the Bible,
you just can't get past.
You either accept the Bible or believe science.
What's the answer ?
Is it six days or 16 billion years ?
You can't have it both ways. Until now.
Like I said, Kerry brought me an idea
and Lin and J.T. worked with me on it
and we asked Professor Campbell and Dr. Tolley
to go over what we found.
Something we're now calling the Genesis Code.
I think that now we can show you.
Drumroll, please.
I think the answer to the question of,
is the Bible right or is science right ?
And it's that both are absolutely correct.
This ought to be good. Oh, it is.
So now... Let's play some football !
Yes.
Dad, okay, you be the quarterback, right there.
Dr. Tolley, you be the left end of the offensive line.
Chase, you're the center,
Tyler, you're the right end of the line.
Lin, you be there and be the running back.
And the defensive line,
Professor Campbell, Shane and Kerry, over here.
Kerry, milady.
You'll be the left end of the line here, okay.
Been wanting to get a crack at you, Tyler.
Go for it, Kerry, come on.
Blake, you be the middle linebacker
and J.T., my man, you are the safety.
Okay, this is good, this is good.
Okay, Dad, so this is gonna--
Peyton. Peyton, sorry.
It is going to be a running play to the right,
so you're gonna pitch it or lateral it
over here to Lin, okay ?
Here we go. Hike !
Peyton Manning takes the snap.
Oh, now he's trying to turn the right corner,
and oh, my gosh, what happened ?
Oh, personal foul on number Kerry.
Uh, I will take out the red handkerchief
and I'll review that, please.
Okay, well, while the referees go under the hood,
let's take a look at what happened.
What happened is Kerry punched Tyler in the heart.
I mean the play itself.
Dad !
I'm sorry, Peyton. Thank you.
Describe the play.
Well, I lateraled to my running back
and she tried to make her way around
the right side of the line.
And Blake, you were the defensive linebacker.
What did you see ?
I tried to run around the left end of our line.
You saw it going to the right
and you saw it going to the left.
So who's right ?
We both are, we both described what we saw.
You saw the same events in different ways, why ?
I saw it from my perspective on defense
and Reverend Wells saw it from his on offense.
This is an example of two different frames of reference.
This is an essential part
of what we are discussing here today.
Hey, Marc, I'm gonna need an X-ray, I can't make it--
How about some Gatorade instead, my friend, okay ?
Now...
Boom.
This is Paddington.
The car is Paddington's frame of reference.
From where Paddington sits driving along the road,
trees and buildings,
everything along the highway, all appear to be moving
while he is stationary.
This is Albert.
He is standing along the road.
He is in a different frame of reference than Paddington,
who is in his car.
From Albert's frame of reference,
it is Paddington who is moving.
Is this idea of two different frames of reference,
with one frame accelerating in reference to another,
where all this becomes interesting ?
Time itself is actually different for observers
in different frames of reference
when one frame is in motion relative to another.
Right.
And at lower normal speeds, the difference is imperceptible.
But, as the speed approaches the speed of light,
the impact is overwhelming.
Follow me.
So you're saying the greater the speed within
one frame of reference to another,
the slower time passes in the accelerating frame ?
Yes !
And gravity has the same effect on time as does speed.
See, time passes more slowly in a given frame of reference
where the force of gravity is greater than in another frame
with weaker gravity.
Now, how about the universe ?
Scientists used to believe the universe was "steady state."
Go outside at night and look up at the stars.
There they are.
Right where they were last night and the night before
and the night before that.
Steady state-- the universe had always been here
and always would be, forever.
And time.
We all knew what time was, it was the ticking of the clock,
always the same, one day to the next, the same.
Here, on the moon, across the universe, today,
a thousand years ago.
Let's go !
And time.
Time was a constant that had nothing to do
with anything else.
Time moves forward from today to tomorrow and on and on,
always forward and at the same speed.
Tick, tock, tick, tock...
Then along came Albert Einstein and everything changed.
Ooh...
I knew this was gonna be a physics class.
I knew it, man.
Learning is rough.
( Marc ) Does everyone know The Big Bang Theory ?
Ooh ! Yes, Tyler.
Um, it is a TV show about two really nerdy dudes
who live next door to this really hot chick who--
It's about these two really nice guys
and a really pleasant girl.
It's a great TV show, Tyler, but I'm actually talking about
the other Big Bang.
We have a little computer imagery to show you what it was.
( Marc ) In the beginning, there was nothing.
The universe did not exist.
No planets or stars, not even empty space, nothing.
( J.T. ) Not even time.
And out of this complete nothing was a flash,
and a speck was formed no bigger than a mustard seed.
And in that tiny speck was all of everything
that ever would be.
And that speck expanded
at hundreds of millions of miles per hour.
It was a ball of pure energy, dense and massive
beyond imagination.
And the temperature was in the trillions of degrees.
A mass of pure plasma expanding at the speed of light.
Everything that ever would be, I mean,
the material from which everything exists today,
the planets and the stars, all living things.
Time and space itself was created at that moment.
And this was good news for Bible thumpers like me and Dad
because science was saying that there was a beginning,
just like it says in the Bible.
Of course the bad news was,
is the Bible said this all happened in six days.
This idea of the Big Bang all came about
as a result of Einstein's theories of relativity,
where he established that in the physical sciences,
nothing was absolute.
Everything was relative to everything else.
Even time. Time is relative to speed.
It's a concept in physics we call time dilation.
I'd imagine you've all heard this example.
Imagine Lin and J.T. are twins living here on Earth.
I know, weird, right ?
Lin boards a spaceship and flies off traveling
near the speed of light to some faraway star.
J.T. stays here on Earth.
Now for Lin, the trip takes, oh, about a year.
But when she returns to Earth,
she finds that J.T. has aged nearly 20 years.
Oh, no.
For me, traveling at near the speed of light,
time passed more slowly than it did for J.T.
waiting here on Earth.
Ooh, like that--
Like that one W.C. Fields joke where he's like--
"Philadelphia, it's a wonderful town,
spent a week there one night."
Right ? No.
It's not something that seemed to be,
and it's not that her clock just ran more slowly.
It's that less actual time elapsed for Lin
as she traveled near the speed of light.
( J.T. ) Think of it this way.
For an object at rest, time passes as we are accustomed.
As the object begins to accelerate
and as its speed approaches the speed of light,
the amount of time that passes decreases.
The passage of time is relative to speed--
as Lin said, time dilation.
Um, are we-- Are we done with all the physics stuff ?
You'll like this next part, Tyler.
Yes.
( imitating fanfare )
So this time dilation thing is just like
in "Star Trek," right, is that what he's saying ?
Like when young Spock meets old Spock.
Just like that, yeah, yeah, yeah.
That was weird. That was so weird.
But I didn't think that was a real thing,
that's a movie thing, right ?
No, that happens. Oh.
Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the planetarium.
Please have a seat over here, remain seated !
Permanecen sentados, por favor.
( J.T. ) To gather another visual to show you what we mean
by time dilation.
We took some footage from an old sci-fi movie
and created this little clip.
Please, enjoy yourselves.
Get comfortable and lean your seats back.
Imagine this is the bridge of a starship on a mission
of deep-space exploration.
A mission at the very center of our Milky Way Galaxy
where most scientists now believe
we will find a super massive black hole.
The black hole at the center of our Milky Way
was once a star with a mass estimated to be
some 2.5 million times that of our own sun.
When that star collapsed, all of its mass was condensed
into a tiny spot in space of infinite density.
The size on the scale of a grain of sand.
This is called a singularity,
and the gravitational attraction it exerts is so powerful
that nothing, not even light itself, can escape.
Hence the name, "black hole."
The commander of the starship
has sent one of his smaller survey craft
to explore the black hole.
Let's call the commander of the survey craft Captain Chen.
Can I be the commander of the starship ?
Sure, why not ? Cool.
Commander Chase on the starship is watching Captain Chen
on the bridge of the survey craft
as it approaches the event horizon.
( J.T. ) That's the edge.
The edge of the black hole.
As Commander Chase and his helmsman look across
at the bridge of the survey craft through their monitor--
Looking into one frame of reference from another.
That's right, yes.
Chase and his helmsman see the movements of
Chen and her crew are slowing down.
They now seem to be in slow motion, but for Captain Chen,
everything is normal.
She will log the results of her mission into her ship's computer
and then take her survey craft back to the coordinates
where she expects to find the parent starship,
but it's not there.
( J.T. ) They will hail another passing ship and experience
a startling revelation.
Those to whom Captain Chen will ultimately give the report
of her one-hour survey at the edge of the black hole
will be the distant descendants of her starship mates.
During the one hour described by Captain Chen,
the clocks of these descendants
will have recorded the passage of thousands of years.
During what Captain Chen and her crew experienced
as the passage of one hour at the event horizon,
thousands of years have elapsed in the space
they occupy prior to their trip to the black hole.
As I said earlier, this is time dilation.
The effect of increased gravity slowing the passage of time,
just as does speed.
For an object in a zero- or low-gravity environment,
time passes as we are accustomed.
As the force of gravity on an object increases,
the passage of time narrows.
Time slows down.
To sum it up, time is not fixed or constant.
( Lin ) Time or the passage of time
is affected by speed and by gravity.
The greater the speed or the greater the force of gravity,
the slower the passage of time.
There is also one more thing
that affects the passage of time.
That is the stretching of space itself.
Here, I could use your help, Tyler, come here.
Oh, uh...
Come up here, it'll be fun.
Tyler, go.
How's the chest ?
I'm a little dizzy and nauseous.
Blow this up.
Looks like they finally found a way to use
some of your hot air there, Tyler.
Blow it up a little more.
Hold it there, hold it there.
Now, science tells us that in the instant of the Big Bang,
everything that ever would be the universe
and anything in it...
Including time and space itself.
... was compressed to a speck the size of a mustard seed.
Now, as the universe expands, galaxies form,
so think of the black dots on the balloon as galaxies
and the balloon itself as the universe,
and notice as the universe expands,
the distance between the dots, the galaxies, it increases.
( J.T. ) There's no more of anything.
No more matter or space or time.
It's just the distance between what there is is increasing.
Space itself is stretching.
And as space stretches, so does time.
Just as time is affected by speed and by gravity,
it is also affected by the stretching of space.
But the stretching of space affects time
from one moment to another
rather than just from one place to another.
And this brings us back to Genesis
and the quandary of six days or 16 billion years.
Can I keep the balloon ? Sure, Tyler.
Now, in order to understand these first six days,
we need to identify the frame of reference in which they unfold.
How, Dad, is the story of Genesis conveyed to man ?
Well, depending on who you believe,
the first five books of the Bible, including Genesis,
were given directly to Moses by God,
or God inspired certain others to-- to write those books.
So the source of the story of the first six days,
directly or indirectly, is God.
Yes.
So Genesis is told through God's perspective,
from his, scientifically speaking, frame of reference,
like Peyton Manning, or Blake in our football game.
Yeah, that's correct.
So just what was God's frame of reference ?
God's frame of reference when telling the story
has to be somewhere not affected by local distortions.
Like the speed of gravity.
Yes, and that somewhere has to be the universe itself,
the total universe, the cosmos,
not some isolated locality within it.
So the question is, how does time unfold
in this cosmic frame of reference ?
How is it recorded ?
To understand that,
we must first define what a clock really is.
Quite simply, a clock is anything
that repeats itself periodically and where the rhythm of those
repeating cycles can be used to note the passage of time.
That's like straight from the dictionary,
tick, tock, tick, tock, tick, tock.
A clock is not something that creates time,
a clock only records the passage of time.
So the cosmic clock that God uses to relate
his time of creation to man is what ?
The answer is simply light.
Light is the only constant in the universe.
It provides a method of measuring the passage of time
in the cosmos.
Light can be used as a cosmic clock
to measure the passage of time
by any change in the wavelength or cycle or frequency of light.
The distances between the crest of the light wave.
Ding, that's right.
We'll skip all the math involved.
I mean, listen, if you'd like us to,
I'd be happy to go through the details.
No, Mark, that's fine. No, no, no, no.
No, we're good.
Then let's just say that science has proven this
by measuring the stretching of the wavelength
of the light from the sun compared to the wavelength
or frequency of the same light created on Earth.
The results confirm the predictions made by Einstein
and by the theory of time dilation.
In order to compare time today with time at the Big Bang...
And the passage of time between then and now.
... there has to be a source of light which exists today
that also existed at the time of the Big Bang.
( Marc ) This light source was found in 1964 by accident
when two astronomers discovered what's called
cosmic background radiation, or CBR.
( Lin ) This is a residual radiation left over
from the time of the Big Bang.
( J.T. ) It fills all space today as it did then.
The property of the CBR which make it the perfect cosmic clock
is the change that has occurred in the wavelength
of the decaying ash between the moment when matter
first was formed following the Big Bang and now.
At that Big Bang moment,
the temperature in that initial plasma mass
was nearly 11 trillion degrees,
and the frequency of what is now CBR corresponded.
The original frequency of the CBR
was some 3 trillion cycles per second.
As the universe cooled and expanded, space stretched,
and with it, the wavelength of the CBR.
Today, that CBR has cooled to only 2.73Â° Kelvin
and the wavelength to some three cycles per second.
The ticking of this cosmic clock has slowed from
3 trillion cycles per second to three cycles per second.
The stretching of space and time as the universe expanded
in turn stretched the distance
between the wave crests of the CBR.
The passage of time just after the Big Bang
occurred at a rate a trillion times faster than it does today.
So God telling the story of the first six days to Moses,
he was telling it from his frame of reference.
He told it based on the passage of time
reflected by the cosmic clock.
( Lin ) God related to Moses what happened on each of
the six days of Genesis
based on the passage of time as kept by the cosmic clock
as it recorded the passage of time as it occurred.
There's-- There's a simple formula which can be used to
break the rate of change in the passage of cosmic time
down into steps.
But in doing this, this rate of change,
the amount of time passing will be seen from
our local frame of reference.
Our perspective, here on Earth today, in the future.
Yes, we will be looking back in time,
measuring time by our clocks today.
Our clocks that run a trillion times slower
than the cosmic clock just after the Big Bang.
Yeah, exactly !
( J.T. ) With every doubling in the size of the universe
from the instant of the Big Bang
until the time of Adam,
the stretching of the wavelength of the CBR
reflects a slowing of the passage of time by one-half.
Obviously, each doubling in the size of the universe
takes longer than the previous double.
Each doubling expansion has twice as far to go.
Whatever that means.
Now, we are going to break this universe expansion
up into six steps.
We are calling these steps POTs.
It's a term we coined meaning "Passages of Time."
Each POT reflects the passage of time from the Big Bang to now,
with each of the six doublings in the size of the universe
and a trillion times stretching in the size of the universe.
The first of these six POTs,
looking back and based on our time today,
would reflect the passage of 8 billion years.
Let's assume Paddington was there right after the Big Bang
and saw the events of the first POT as they occurred.
All of that information will be wrapped up inside the coils
of this Slinky.
The universe expands, space and time stretch a trillion times,
the extended distance between the coils of this Slinky
indicating that stretch.
And now Paddington comes up and tells Albert
about the events of that first POT.
He describes these events as they took place
in their original time frame, one day.
But as Albert looks back, he sees those events
from the perspective of today's clock,
a clock that runs a trillion times slower
than the original cosmic clock used by Paddington.
He sees these events unfolding with the passage
of 8 billion years,
which reflects the stretching of space and time.
With an adjustment in the logarithmic scale,
the second of the POTs would reflect the passage
of 4 billion years.
And then 2 billion and 1 billion and so on.
Add up the length of time reflected by these six POTs
as seen from our current perspective
and you have 15.75 billion years
as the age of our universe, or...
six days, as measured by the cosmic clock.
And this is a scientific observation
based on proven science
reflecting the same period of time
as it occurred in the two different frames of reference,
the time as it unfolded based on the cosmic clock
and the amount of time as measured by today's clocks,
measured by today's time computation.
What God described to Moses
and what Moses described to the next person
using the passage of time
are from different frames of reference,
different perspective.
God telling Moses the story of the six days of Genesis
is like Captain Chen relating the events
of her one-hour survey at the edge of the black hole
to people whose clocks had marked the passage
of thousands of years during the same one-hour period.
And you might just find this to be an interesting quirk,
except for one thing.
Let's look at what science says actually happened during
each of these POTs and compare them to the six days of Genesis.
Dad, if you could, summarize for us the first day of Genesis.
"In the beginning, God created the heavens and the Earth
"and the Earth was without form, it was void.
"And the darkness was over the face of the deep
"and the spirit of God hovered over the surface of the waters.
And God said, 'Let there be light.'"
Are there some points that need to be clarified ?
Yeah, three, really.
You need to understand something of Hebrew
to understand the Book of Genesis.
First of all, in the ancient Hebrew language,
there is no word for "universe."
Secondly, the waters are really representing
everything that there was,
and darkness is a symbol for a state of chaos.
Dr. Tolley.
Day one would have started 15.75 billion years ago
and ended 7.75 billion years ago.
What does science say happened on Earth
during this time period ?
At the instant of the Big Bang, everything that would ever be,
everything that would constitute the quarks,
protons, neutrons, electrons,
from which everything that now exists
as well as time and space itself were created.
The Earth only existed in the form of stardust
that would later congeal into the planet.
As to the verse, "Let there be light,"
you need to go back to your Big Bang video
and correct something.
The name "Big Bang"
conjures up the impression
of this brilliant explosion and flash of light,
like an atomic bomb.
That's--
That's how this event is generally pictured,
but it's not accurate.
From the initial moment of creation
and as the universe initially expanded,
it was a ball of plasma of such incredible heat and density
and gravitational forces
that no light could have escaped.
Initially, there was no light at all,
just a swirling opaque mass of pure energy.
It was only when this primordial primal mass
had cooled and expanded to a point where
the gravitational forces were reduced enough
to permit electromagnetic radiation to escape
that there would have been light.
So "let there be light" is clearly a separate event
from the initial creation in both the Bible and science ?
Yes.
And during the remainder of that first 8 billion-year period,
the early stars and galaxies formed.
Dad, day two ?
Day two, the heavens as we know them were created
and the chaos that would eventually become the Earth
was separated from the rest of creation.
Dr. Tolley, cosmic clock, day two,
what happened during this time period ?
( Dr. Tolley ) Our own galaxy, the Milky Way, formed,
as did our sun and planet Earth in its earliest incarnation.
Daddy, day three.
( Jerry ) The oceans and the dry land appeared as well
as the first forms of plant life.
Professor Campbell, we're in your arena now.
What does science say happened on Earth
between 3.75 billion years ago and 1.75 billion years ago ?
Well, some 3.8 billion years ago,
the Earth cooled, liquid water formed.
Almost immediately, the first plant and animal life,
photosynthetic algae bacteria appear.
Back to you, Dad, day four.
( Jerry ) Day four, the sun, the moon and the stars appear.
Same time period, Professor,
1.75 billion years ago and 750 million years ago.
Well, initially in the first part of this period,
atmosphere on Earth would have been nearly opaque,
then with the rising concentrations of oxygen,
the atmosphere would have become translucent.
And then the sun, the moon and the stars
would have appeared for the first time
from the surface of the Earth.
Dad, day five.
Day five, life is created in the oceans
and the first reptiles and birds.
Professor, 750 million to 250 million.
Well, initially,
sea life would have been dominant
and then came the Cambrian era.
Cambrian explosion about 530 million years ago
when every species of land animal
literally appeared at the same time.
So instead of a tree of life, it was more like a bush of life.
TouchÃ©, Kerry.
And the Bible on day six.
( Jerry ) Day six, the land animals become dominant...
and God created man in his own image.
250 million years ago and to the appearance of Adam.
250 million years ago, there was a mass extinction.
90% of the life on Earth,
followed by a rapid repopulation,
mammals, land animals predominating.
( Lin ) That was the Permian-Triassic event.
Depending on how you define them,
there have been between five and 20 ELEs,
or extinction-level events.
Like in the Tea Leoni/ Morgan Freeman movie,
"Deep Impact."
( Tyler ) But I didn't think that was a real thing,
that's a movie thing, right ? ( Chase ) No, that happens.
( Lin ) Anyway, about 35 million years later,
around 250 million years ago, the dinosaurs appeared
and dominated life on Earth for about 150 million years.
Then, 65 million years ago, another ELE,
this one known as the KT extinction,
killed off the dinosaurs and opened the way for
mammals and birds to become the dominant land animals.
Then the first hominids.
And finally,
human beings, as we know them today, appeared.
Now, isn't it true that at the time Genesis was written,
there was no awareness of any of the scientific stages
that you and Dr. Tolley described ?
Well, at that time, Kerry,
most people thought the Earth was flat.
Today, the cosmic clock continues to tick
to measure the passage of time at the level of the cosmos.
And as the universe continues to expand,
the rate at which it measures time continues to slow.
But that doesn't mean anything to us now.
From the moment God breathed the neshama of life into Adam,
when God gave man his soul,
we on Earth have denoted the passage of time
by our Earth-based clocks.
Where one second is part of one day
which reflects the rotation of the Earth on its axis
and a year that marks the completion of one Earth circuit
of the sun.
You said God told the story of Genesis to Moses
or that it was written down by others
inspired by the word of God,
but what if there just isn't any God ?
The idea that Moses or anyone else at the time
Genesis was written,
a time that Bob reminded us, just a minute ago,
when most people believed that the world was flat,
could have created a story that so perfectly reflects
what science has now proven to be true,
all on its secular own--
To believe that, for me, anyway,
is harder than to believe in God.
But isn't the same thing as the old day-age argument ?
No, not really.
The day age or concordist interpretation
is an attempt to rationalize the Genesis story
and reinterpret the words that the original authors used
when they presented the six days of creation.
There is no science to back that up.
I mean, what we are talking about here today
is a result of applying proven science to the issue.
This is a scientifically derived answer to the question
with no spin or subjective interpretation.
So you see, science and its 15.75 billion years
and the six days of Genesis are in complete accord.
Science has proven what religious leaders
have been unable to prove for thousands of years.
Spoken like the scientist you are, Marc,
but in reality, science has just caught up
with the truth of the Bible.
Science has simply deciphered the Genesis Code.
I think what I find most amazing about this
is the uncanny brilliance of biblical Genesis,
which is presented to us in such a way that
mankind has to evolve to its current level
before we're able to understand the story
as it was originally written.
Um... question.
Are we gonna have a test on any of this ?
'Cause I don't know if I'm gonna--
No.
No, Tyler, no test.
That's it.
So if you guys have any questions,
we would be happy to try to answer them for you,
but if not, I just thank you for coming
and I bid you a good day.
( applause )
Boom !
Ha !
Okay, okay.
Okay, I haven't the foggiest idea what he's talking about,
but it sure gives me a lot to talk to that Mensa girl about,
you know what I'm saying ?
Time dilation, time dilation, she'll think I'm brilliant.
This was so--
I think I'm gonna go take Albert home.
Do you think you can meet me in the morning
at the rec center ?
Say 9:30 ? Sure.
Thanks for coming, by the way.
See you.
Been here all night ?
Are there any changes ?
No.
Her prognosis is the same.
Her vital signs are deteriorating.
I know it's hard,
if not impossible for you to accept it.
It might be for the best.
( woman ) * Everyone you'll learn someday *
* To get out of their way ***
( Kerry ) So I was actually looking for Blake.
( Shane ) Yeah, so was I, but he's not here.
My story's due tomorrow and I sort of have, like,
a few things I have to wrap up,
so maybe you can help me. I can try, what's up ?
Well, actually, there's probably a few things
I'm not gonna put in the story
'cause I know Blake wouldn't want me to.
Like what ?
He told me that he wanted to be world chess champion,
but he doesn't really play chess.
He told you that, huh ?
I assumed that he was just being facetious,
but he sounded so serious when he said it.
I'm sorry, I'm gonna have to back off that one, Kerry.
If he wants to tell you more, he's gonna have to do it, okay ?
What about his mom ?
What other hope is there ?
I don't think so.
Have you seen her ? In the hospital ?
No, no.
He hasn't taken you to see her ?
He's asked me to, but...
I grew up in a rough part of Detroit.
I had a little brother who was shot
during a drive-by.
He was in the hospital for six months before he died
and I was there every day.
Every single day.
And it felt like the walls were suffocating me.
Hospitals--
Hospitals are just something I can't deal with.
( rock music playing )
The church secretary said you were down here.
She said it would be okay.
Oh, absolutely, glad to have you.
You want to give it a try ?
That's a little above my pay grade.
( grunting )
Jerry, push.
Push, push, push.
That's a lot of weight.
What is that, 400 pounds ?
And it feels every pound of it.
I was actually hoping I could talk to you for a few minutes.
In private ?
No, no, it doesn't have to be.
Well, Bob and I are about to take off.
Would you care to join us ?
I wouldn't want to intrude. Oh, you wouldn't be at all.
You-- you ever done any shooting ?
Some.
Great, you'll join us, then.
You'll have a great time.
Come on.
Not bad.
Yeah, well, my dad taught me .22 and a .410
when I was seven and I kind of worked my way up
to the heavy stuff.
I was thinking about what Marc presented today
and it makes a lot of sense to me.
But ? Not his conclusions.
I mean, to my engineering mind, that makes total sense.
I guess I'm just reappraising my doubts about the Bible.
But somehow that just doesn't feel right.
Yeah, that's it.
I've always thought to find your own faith,
it had to occur from within, something from your heart.
So finding it through some cold scientific analysis
just feels false or phony to you ?
Exactly.
Blake, how somebody finds their faith
is different for each person.
It, um...
It's finding that faith that matters,
not necessarily how it comes about.
I guess I'm just trying to rationalize it all
instead of just believing in it.
Well, if God didn't want us to think,
he wouldn't have given us the power of deductive reasoning.
There are many, many different ways
that people come to faith.
Sometimes it's through their parents or their upbringing.
Sometimes they have some big, traumatic experience
and sometimes it's through the intellectual path.
I know you-- you feel like you should have this big epiphany,
but sometimes it's a lot more mundane than that.
You don't have to feel bad about that.
There are all sorts of different ways to come to this conclusion.
If somebody had to hang a label on my faith,
I guess I would call it a form of theistic evolution.
I mean, I'm a theist.
I believe in one supreme, transcendent God
and as an active, eminent force in the universe.
But I also believe in the dinosaurs
and I believe in the science involved in creation.
I believe in microevolution, evolution within the species.
I don't believe in macroevolution,
one species becoming another.
And as a theist, my one god
is the God of Judeo-Christian tradition.
Jeez, remind me never to argue about dinosaurs with you.
Not bad for an egghead.
I see no problems with my beliefs
or the tortured intellectual path that I have taken
to my faith.
However, there are some that think of me
as somewhat of a pagan for my beliefs.
Try that.
You know what, Bob, anybody that would criticize
the way somebody else comes to their beliefs
presumes to know the mind of God,
which means that either they're arrogant
or I think perhaps blasphemous.
Hey, Dad ? Yeah ?
Your career is your religion,
but what if it wasn't ?
And what if your religion
was going to cost you your career ?
How would you handle that ?
Well, it sounds like I should have an easy answer for that,
Kerry, but I don't.
It's a very real dilemma and I'd have to think
very carefully about it.
Right.
( cell phone ringing )
Hey, what's up, man ? Hey man.
You know, Kerry was looking for you earlier today.
Yeah, no, I-- I forgot.
Well, I'm gonna make myself a sandwich, want one ?
No, no, I'm not hungry.
( cell phone ringing )
Hey, what's up, Dalton ?
Yeah, he's here with me.
Okay.
Thanks.
All right, the judge made a decision.
We gotta be back at the courthouse in 30 minutes.
Mr. Truman, do you have anything more you can give me ?
I mean, anything that would indicate that your mother
would no longer agree with the instructions
she gave her parents under the advocate designation ?
No.
No, nothing specific, nothing...
Well, without any additional factual information
to counter the instructions
she gave to the advocate designees,
I have no choice but to deny your motion for injunction.
I'm sorry, son.
I'm gonna file an appeal.
Blake, honey.
Please let this go.
Your mother does not want to live like this.
If you file an appeal, it'll just prolong things.
It won't change anything and your mother
will just suffer that much longer.
I'm glad you asked, but the most important thing
that you're gonna find on the midterm
is going to be material that you see
in chapters one through seven.
Pay special attention to chapters 11 and 12
because of the content regarding law and possible...
( heart monitor beeping )
... American paleontologists,
including Charles Walcott--
This absolute biblical truth of yours, Kerry,
simply does not exist.
Don't let this adherence to something
your parents might have believed
stand between you and a wonderful life.
Between you and a career.
Between you and the opportunity to serve
as a member of an elite group
and to help shape a brave new future.
And the more recent work of men like Harry Whittington...
( Coach Edwards ) Let's pick up the intensity a little bit.
Good job, Todd.
Come on, keep up the tempo.
You guys are looking good, you're looking good,
way to finish out here, way to finish out.
Stay with the puck.
Good transitions, good transitions here.
Good job, Sam, that's what I like to see.
Blake, come here, son.
I'm really sorry, Coach, it's just I got--
Listen, Shane told me what happened earlier today.
Go home, get some rest, try to pull yourself together.
Godspeed, son.
Thanks, Coach.
Let's go !
Keep it going, guys, let's go !
( Shane ) * No one seems to notice the man beside the road *
* He was just a ragged soldier out there in the cold *
It's what your mother wanted, Blake.
It won't change anything,
and your mother will just suffer that much longer.
( man ) Her prognosis is the same.
Her vital signs are deteriorating.
( woman ) It's what your mother wanted, Blake.
( man ) I know it's hard, but it might be for the best.
( Jerry ) Lord, we pray that you bless us and keep us.
Lord, make your face to shine upon us and be gracious unto us.
Turn your face toward us and give us peace.
Amen.
( Shane ) * Some are born for greatness *
* And some are born to fall *
* Some are bound to be forgotten *
* Like they never lived at all *
* But we're all born to know him *
* And stand before his light *
* Like a soldier who found the king *
* Tonight ***
There's a Professor Allitt here to see you.
Thank you. Oh, please--
Well, send her in, I guess.
Professor Myra Allitt.
So this is what the inside of a church looks like, hmm ?
Yep, pretty much.
Electric lights, indoor plumbing.
Everything except the panes on the ceiling.
You mean like--
Like that church in Rome ?
Yeah, like that church in Rome.
I came here to talk about your daughter, Kerry.
I'm her academic advisor.
Kerry, yes, she's our daughter.
She has a very bright future, do you know that ?
We are very aware of that.
Did she tell you about our meeting ?
She told me that when you met with her,
that actually, you sat down and you
quoted the book of Corinthians to her,
and yet a moment ago,
you couldn't remember the name of that church in Rome,
the one with the painted ceilings, the Sistine Chapel.
Actually, I looked up that quote right before
she walked into the room.
You trying to develop some kind of
simpatico relationship with her ?
Actually, to help make a point.
Look, Mr. Wells-- Reverend Wells.
Okay, of course, Reverend Wells.
I came here to ask your help with something
that's very important to Kerry's future.
Okay, regarding ?
Kerry's a bit too dogmatic.
I appreciate the passion she has for her faith,
but that kind of passion can stand in the way
of her making full use of her incredible mind
and of getting ahead in that world out there.
Not entirely sure I follow.
Kerry's simply too absorbed in her faith
and she is so absorbed in this notion
of absolute biblical truth. Now, hold on a minute.
That's one of the reasons why her mother and I
are very proud of her,
but that shouldn't have anything to do with the fact
that she's looking at a potential career in science.
Reverend, I know that you're a minister
and you're obviously a very well-educated man,
so you surely don't believe that there are absolute truths
which are always and everywhere true.
Well, of course I do.
Don't you ?
I mean, you must, you're a scientist.
Science, yes, but I'm talking about the realm of
religion and morality.
I believe that each civilization determines
what is right and wrong
based on its local customs and beliefs,
but nobody has the right to impose those beliefs
on anybody else.
Sometimes I'm a little thick, so I want to make sure
I absolutely understand this.
When it comes to science,
you believe that there are absolute truths
that are always and everywhere true,
but when it comes to ethics and morality,
you don't think that there are any,
so in other words,
it's basically every culture for itself
when it comes to ethics.
All I'm saying is that when it comes to morality and beliefs,
it's perfectly acceptable for someone to believe
that something is true for themselves,
but they have no right to impose that
and enforce it on anybody else, ever.
Let me ask you this.
Are you familiar with this practice that occurs
in some cultures around the world today
called female circumcision,
in which young girls are mutilated
so that they never experience any sensation during sex ?
I know about female circumcision.
Actually, for years,
I've been on the international organization
that has been combating this barbaric treatment of women.
How is it that you're part of something
where you impose your belief system,
your understanding of right and wrong on another culture ?
No, no, no, it's plain wrong. Of course you are.
It's just plain wrong, female circumcision,
it's flat-out wrong.
Oh, so if you feel passionately about something,
then that's an absolute truth.
Well, that's not exactly what I'm saying.
Yeah, but isn't that exactly why you came here today
to talk to me about my daughter ?
I don't think we're going to reach an agreement
about this, do you ?
Mmm, probably not.
Walk with me.
We lost the injunction today. Yeah.
I saw Shane.
I think my grandparents might be right.
What they want to do may be the right thing.
Taking your mom off life support ?
Yeah.
Dalton's drafting up an appeal.
I told them I'd let him know what I wanna do with it.
That's only something you can decide.
I want to ask the hockey team to pray for my mother.
There are two kinds of prayers, Blake.
There's the one where you ask God to do something
and then there's the one where you acknowledge his supremacy
and your own limitations.
That just sounds like an excuse where praying doesn't work.
That's not what I meant.
Can it hurt ?
No.
Not at all.
Kerry, what's wrong ?
What's bothering you ?
I've been given an ultimatum by my academics advisor.
On what ?
If I want a career in paleontology,
I have to put my beliefs on the back shelf.
What is it ?
I remember something from the Bible.
Something about the Devil tempting Christ in the desert,
offering him all the kingdoms if he would forsake God
and worship the Devil.
Thank you.
When you do your prayer, can I come with you ?
Yeah, I'd like that.
At the arena ? Yeah.
I'll meet you there.
Hey, Coach Edwards, can I ask you something ?
Sure, what do you need, bud ?
I was wondering if the hockey team could come out
and pray for my mother.
You know, they should-- they should be done getting changed.
I'll bring them out, all right ?
Thanks, Coach.
I asked my dad and Professor Campbell to come.
I hope that's okay. Yeah, thanks.
I need all the support I can get.
I haven't talked to any of you except for Shane about this,
but most of you probably already know,
my mom's in the hospital and she's in a pretty bad way.
I don't like to ask things from people,
but I need to ask something from all of you now.
I want to ask you guys to pray with me.
Lord...
... I know this isn't the way it's supposed to be done.
People aren't supposed to come to you only in a time of crisis
and expect you to help.
I'm sorry if that's what it seems I'm doing.
But I'm not asking for a miracle
or for anything for myself,
or to try to convince you to do anything other than
what you've planned.
There's no way for me to know why you do what you do.
I accept that now.
When kids are young, they do stupid things,
they say stupid things to their parents.
Most of the time, they get a chance to make amends,
to tell their parents they didn't really mean
what they said.
My father.
He was always trying to make that big deal.
He was killed on one of his trips.
I told my mother the reason why he wasn't around,
the reason why I didn't have a dad to play ball with
like the other kids
was because of the way she treated him
and all she wanted was for him to make more money.
I could tell when I said that that it hurt her.
That's what I wanted, I wanted to hurt her.
But what I said just wasn't true.
I never told her that.
She worked two jobs and saved every penny
to put me through school..
and now she's in the hospital
and she probably won't make it out.
What I'm asking, Lord...
is that somehow you let her know that I didn't mean what I said.
And I'm sorry.
And I appreciate everything that she sacrificed for me.
That's all that I ask.
She's been wonderful to me.
And she just doesn't deserve to die
without knowing how much I really loved her.
Thank you, Lord.
Amen. ( all ) Amen.
Thanks, guys.
So where are you going now ?
I thought I'd stop at the hospital before I go home.
The prayer was beautiful, Blake.
I've never done anything like that.
I was real close to asking your dad to do it for me.
No, you did just fine.
You know, you asked me a question a few days ago
and I avoided answering it.
Why you wanted to be the world chess champion.
Yeah.
For a long time now,
I've felt like I've had no control
over anything going on around me,
and I would go down and watch these kids play chess
at the rec center.
And they had so many moves planned ahead,
like their whole world was laid out on the board
and they knew just what to do in response to any move
their opponent would make.
I just want to have that feeling,
that sense of control just once, just--
Even if it's just for a little while.
( cell phone ringing )
Hello ?
All right, I understand, I'll be right there.
It's Dr. Hoffer.
My mother took a turn for the worse.
He doesn't know if she's gonna make it, so I'm gonna go.
I'm going with him. We'll meet you there.
( woman on PA ) Paging Dr. Battaglia,
call extension 1-9-8.
Dr. Battaglia, extension 1-9-8.
Extension 1-9-8 for Dr. Battaglia.
Blake, my dad called.
Is it all right if I go ? Marc, I-- I appreciate it.
Blake, I--
When I called, I--
I don't know how to explain this to you.
We're too late.
( Blake ) And she just doesn't deserve to die
without knowing how much I really loved her.
( Kerry ) A little prayer might give you some peace, Blake.
( Jerry ) Lord, make your face to shine upon us
and be gracious unto us.
Turn your face toward us and give us peace.
Amen, Amen, Amen, Amen...
No, no, no, no, no, that's not what I meant,
I'm sorry if you thought that.
It's just that I don't know how to explain this to you.
When I called you, I was certain that she was slipping away,
but something's happened,
and I don't know if this is a temporary reprieve or--
Blake, your mother is awake and her vital signs are improving.
She's asking for you, Blake.
Can we see her ? Absolutely.
Thank you.
See you in church.
( phone ringing )
Hello ?
Yes, it is.
She's-- She's awake ?
Oh, my God !
She's awake !
Oh my... Hello ?
Thank you.
Blake.
Mom, you okay ?
I think so, I feel okay.
I see you have some new friends.
Mom, I--
Hi, I'm Kerry Wells. Hi.
This is my brother, Marc. Hi.
My dad, the Reverend Jerry Wells, and Professor Campbell.
And yes, we are friends with Blake.
I'm...
Oh, well now, there are three faces I recognize.
Shane, Tyler... Chase.
I haven't seen you boys in quite some time.
Blake.
Don't stay too long.
She needs her rest.
We'll keep an eye on her.
( Tyler ) Oh, you know what this reminds me of ?
This old western movie I saw once.
It was about a town where outlaws like Wild Bill
and Billy the Kid go to die
and see if they're going to heaven,
and then there's a big gunfight
and all the bad guys get whacked,
and at the end, a stagecoach driver comes up and he says,
"The creator might be tough, but he ain't blind."
( Marc ) That was "Purgatory," it was a 1999 TNT movie.
Sam Shepard, Eric Roberts and Randy Quaid.
It was directed by Uli Edel
and the coach driver's name is R.G. Armstrong.
I saw that movie, Tyler.
I liked it, too.
Mom...
I want to explain about that day.
About Dad, I didn't mean-- Oh, no, Blake.
Blake, I know.
I know, son, I've always known.
I think perhaps we owe a word of thanks, Mrs. Truman.
Beverly. Beverly, thank you.
Do you mind ? Not in the slightest.
Let's pray.
Lord, the Earth is yours and everything in it.
You made the heavens and all their starry hosts,
the Earth and all that is in it.
You are our refuge and our strength,
our ever-present help in our trouble.
Therefore we will not be afraid
because we are yours and you are our fortress.
Amen.
( Jerry ) In the beginning,
God created the heavens and the Earth.
The Earth was without form and void
and darkness was on the face of the deep.
The spirit of God hovered over the waters
and God said, "Let there be light."
And there was light.
And there was evening and there was morning the first day.
God said, "Let there be an expanse between the waters
to separate water from water," and it was so.
And God called the expanse heaven,
and the evening and the morning were the second day.
God said, "Let the waters under the heavens be gathered together
into one place and let the dry ground appear."
And the gathering together of the waters he called "seas"
and God saw that it was good.
God said, "Let the land produce vegetation.
"Seed-bearing plants and trees that bear fruit with seed in it
according to their various kinds," and it was so.
And there was evening and morning, the third day.
Then God said, "Let there be lights in heaven."
And God made two great lights,
one to rule the day and the lesser to rule the night
and he made the stars.
And there was evening and then morning the fourth day.
God said, "Let the waters teem with an abundance
"of living creatures and let birds fly above the Earth
and across the expanse of sky."
So God created the great creatures of the sea
and every living thing that moves according to its kind
and God blessed them, saying, "Be fruitful and multiply."
And there was evening and there was morning the fifth day.
Then God said, "Let the land produce living creatures,
"livestock and wild animals and all the creatures
that move along the ground, all according to their kinds."
And then God said, "Let us make man in our image,
"in our likeness,
"and let them rule over the fish of the sea
"and the birds of the air and the cattle,
"let them rule over all the Earth
and over all the creatures that move along the ground."
So God created man in his own image.
In the image of God, he created him.
Male and female, he created them.
And God blessed them and said unto them,
"Be fruitful, increase in number,
"fill and subdue the Earth.
"Rule over the fish of the sea and of the birds of the air
and over every living thing that moves on the ground."
And God said, "I give you every seed-bearing plant
"on the face of all the Earth
"and every tree that has fruit with seed in it,
"they will be yours for food.
"And to all the beasts of the Earth and birds of the air
"and creatures that move on the ground,
"everything that has the breath of life in it,
I give every green plant for food."
And it was so.
And God saw all that he had made
and it was very good.
And there was evening and there was morning
the sixth day.