But, Louis. You ignore the religious *contribution* in each step that you state. The French also used religion as did the Nazi's the British, etc., etc. And what seems patently obvious is that the religious doctrines and beliefs pre-existed the Darwinian perspective in every case. Thus you are correct that evolution was used as justification. But that is the point, is it not. It was used as justification for those who already believed and most believe would have acted irrespective of the particular mis-use of science. The folks on the list are not objecting to the idea that science has been misused. What they are objecting to is any attempt to say that science is the cause of these horrors- when, of course, history clearly shows that the prejudice etc. would likely have existed without the scientific justification- What Ben, and your posts seem to ignore is the role that religion (the organized/institutionalized church in various forms) played in each of those situations. Ben called for, and you have either ignored or simply not dealt with, a rejection of science as evil. I don't see how that can be ignored in a discussion of "Ben Stein on Science". Tim _______________________________ Timothy O. Shearon, PhD Professor and Chair Department of Psychology The College of Idaho Caldwell, ID 83605 email: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
teaching: intro to neuropsychology; psychopharmacology; general; history and systems "You can't teach an old dogma new tricks." Dorothy Parker -----Original Message----- From: Louis Schmier [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Sun 5/4/2008 8:52 PM To: Teaching in the Psychological Sciences (TIPS) Subject: RE: [tips] Ben Stein on Science Mike, Darwin was not the cause of the Holocaust. What I am saying, in the history of science, is that the science of Darwin, particularly Natural Selection, was there and later used by others as justification, as Nature's laws, for their existing prejudices and predispositions. (Just as Jefferson has used Voltaire who had used Newton who had used Galileo who had used Kepler who had used Tycho Braehe who had used Copernicus who had used....--not that simple, but you get the point I hope). It was used by Herbert Spencer and his followers to justify class stratification and colonialism. It was used by the American robber barons in their lassiez faire doctrine. It was used by the Europeans as they jostled with each other over Africa and Asia. It was used before the appearance of the Nazis in this country to advance a national purity. In society, almost everything was reduced to a biological, nationalistic racism. For example, when immigrants enter the United States, they were asked to what race they belong. The example given was that if they were from France they were of the French race. Given existing anti-semitism, the Jews were not accorded the right to be part of the French race (Dreyfus?) or the German race or the British race, etc. To call this pseudo-science is Monday quarter backing judgmentalism, as well as a lack of understanding of the times, because. like it or not, it was one of the most widely and acknowledged and accepted sciences of the day. And, I dare say that Darwin was doing pinwheels in his grave at every step of this progression. Make it a good day. --Louis-- Louis Schmier http://therandomthoughts.edublogs.org/ Department of History http://www.newforums.com/Auth_L_Schmier.asp Valdosta State University Valdosta, Georgia 31698 /\ /\ /\ /\ (229-333-5947) /^\\/ \/ \ /\/\____/\ \/\ / \ \__ \/ / \ /\/ \ \ /\ //\/\/ /\ \_ / /___\/\ \ \ \/ \ /\"If you want to climb mountains \ /\ _/ \ don't practice on mole hills" -/ \ --- To make changes to your subscription contact: Bill Southerly ([EMAIL PROTECTED]) --- To make changes to your subscription contact: Bill Southerly ([EMAIL PROTECTED])
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