> -----Original Message----- > From: Loathe [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] > Sent: Wednesday, September 03, 2008 9:44 AM > To: CF-Community > Subject: Re: McCain's VP want's Creationism taught in Science Class > > I personally think that we can't explain the beginning, that evolution > theory could very well just be the method that whatever creator used to > get us to our current state. You know, know one can know the mind of > god type deal? Don't follow any religion, just think something started > it.
For (the little) that it's worth I see absolutely nothing with this... I would call it a strong sense of the sacred. In other words whether you feel "that there must be something" or are simply in awe of the many unknowns in the universe (like I am) a sense of humility and respect before the cosmos can't be a bad thing. This was very much the God of Einstein: the clock-maker, the rule-maker. This sense of the sacred more and more common and, I think, completely compatible with science. Essentially if one is willing to accept the Bible as fallible and metaphor and willing to accept the evidence presented by the universe as proof, rather than rejection, of "God's" intent then it's easy to resolve the issue. > When I see the way the planets revolve around the sun, and the way that > mimics the nucleus and electrons in an atom, it seems to be more than a > coincidence. The veins in a leaf, things like that. Well... electrons don't move anything like the planets. ;^) The orbital model of the atom was (and is) incredibly useful and simple to understand but it just didn't stand up to continued study. This is a great example tho' of science and education. The orbital model IS incredibly useful to teaching the basic concepts of the atom: so it's still found in many middle- and high-school textbooks. The theory is _wrong_ but the model is illuminating! The actual behavior of electrons was (and is) still being investigated to explain quantum effects and observed behaviors. There is actual scientific controversy here - but for the most part it's not part of high-school curricula. The truth of the matter is vastly interesting, but doesn't really add all that much to the main thrust of high-school education: primarily to introduce major topics and understand the mechanisms of the discipline. This is, for me, the main reason I rail so heavily against ID. They ignore scientific discipline in the creation of their ideas, ignore scientific inquiry in the promotion of them and ignore scientific standards in the demand that they be respected. They've flown in the face of science, shat over all of its principles and goals and yet still demand respect and equality from it. If we've got time in the curriculum then there are ACTUAL controversies in science that could be added. There's more information in the little that we do know than could ever be taught in a million years of high-school and these people want to waste precious time on a selfish, disrespectful invention. > I don't think I'm a cultist. Of course not. Just as my being an atheist doesn't make me immune to wonder. This is actually one of the biggest problems we have. I still believe that the beliefs of many evangelicals simply cannot be rectified with the way science works - with these people I don't believe that we can EVER come to a compromise. However the problem is deeper than that. There's a fundamental misunderstanding of PEOPLE here. Some humanists are absolutely convinced that these people are unable to reason. That they are, fundamentally, unintelligent. This is, of course, wrong (and something I have sometimes been guilty of). For their part some of these people are absolutely convinced that a lack of religion results in a lack of morals. That people who don't believe in God are, for lack of a better word, evil. This is also wrong. While I do think that the ideological questions cannot ultimately be compromised on the vitriol of the debate, I think, comes from this misconception that the PEOPLE involved are fundamentally different from each other. Jim Davis ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~| Adobe® ColdFusion® 8 software 8 is the most important and dramatic release to date Get the Free Trial http://ad.doubleclick.net/clk;203748912;27390454;j Archive: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/CF-Community/message.cfm/messageid:267664 Subscription: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/CF-Community/subscribe.cfm Unsubscribe: http://www.houseoffusion.com/cf_lists/unsubscribe.cfm?user=89.70.5
