On Dec 4, 2007 12:47 PM, Charlie Bell <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > If it's true scepticism, and not denialism. The US is a leader of > science in spite of it's religiosity, not because of it.
It seems far more likely to me that the same freedoms that allow wacky religious ideas (which is what we're really talking about, not religion) to grow are the same soil in which scientific growth thrives. Maybe you can't get one without the other. This is not to say that I'm in favor of any of the ways in which some of the religious wackos try to suppress science or replace it with unscientific ideas. However, I think we would be wise to fear that any sort of repression of wacky religious ideas might also stifle the growth and development of less wacky ideas. Legislating what people are allowed to think, in any form, opens a very dangerous door, in my opinion. Fascism intended to suppress wacky religious ideas is no better than any other sort of fascism. Still, I'm entirely comfortable with aggressive criticism of wacky religious ideas, so long as the criticism is logical. Making illogical arguments against the illogic of the wacky ideas is worse than self-defeating, I think. Nick -- Nick Arnett [EMAIL PROTECTED] Messages: 408-904-7198 _______________________________________________ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
