Hi
On Thu, 17 Jun 1999, Bill Barton wrote:
> I think this conversation is typical of most conversations in academia.
> There has been, and continues to be, a huge bias against religion in
> most departments of psychology, and by most psychologist, in which
> religion is seen as a primitive belief system that is clearly inferior
> to science.
It is true that psychologists as a group tend to be irreligious,
even more so than natural scientists. Whether this reflects a
bias is perhaps a debatable point. I think it is a natural (not
universal) consequence of studying human behavior in a scientific
way, learning about all of the ways that people can deceive
themselves about the truth, learning scientific methods and
criteria, and, in some cases, even studying religion and related
phenomena directly.
> The one exception to this is that many psychologists are able
> to tolerate and accept "new age" ideas regarding spirituality,
> yet are generally intolerant and unaccepting of other religious
> belief systems such as fundamental or evangelical Christianity
> or Judaism.
An empirical question, but I think that you would find that those
people who are accepting of "new age" ideas would be more open to
traditional religions than would psychologists who have rejected
the supernatural completely. My own view is that the rise in
"new age" religions is just one more manifestation of the rise
in an anti-scientific worldview.
> And I should point out, that this sort of bias and the
> resulting behavior clearly does not meet the letter or spirit
> of the APA ethical code's mandate to respect and be supportive
> of diversity.
I agree entirely, but have a quite different take than you do. I
think it illustrates one possible danger of an _uncritical_
promotion of and acceptance for diversity. If we include within
the mandate of diversity, cultural and other differences in
epistemological beliefs, then we are not only opening the door
for anti-scientific thinking, we might actually be promoting it.
> All people b believe in some sort of "truth." Even when people
> adopt a relativistic view of things (e.g., all religions are
> equally valid and useful, etc.), they are still adopting an
> absolute belief that things are indeed relative. In that
> sense, they are absolutist in their belief in relativism.
Yes all people do believe in some sort of "truth." But should we
therefore teach that these diverse truths are all equally valid
(i.e., equally good at generating ideas that correspond to
reality)? Your last observation simply illustrates how
unsupportable the idea of total relativism is. That is, being
absolutist in their belief in relativism means that there is some
means by which absolute knowledge can be acquired, which means
(to me) that those same means could be used to acquire other
absolute knowledge, which completely undermines relativism.
> In sum, I agree with the previous poster who stated that these
> recent posts have sounded quite intolerant of those who are
> religious and consider their faith important to them.
As I mentioned in another post, my sole purpose is to defend
science as a preferred way of learning truths about the natural
world. It is only when others promote alternatives to science as
equally legitimate for that purpose that conflict arises. When
the conflict does emerge, there is no "tolerant" position
possible for those committed to science because not advocating
for the superiority of science for that purpose would be granting
the legitimacy of the competing view ... it would not be some
middle ground position. Some might view that as intolerance on
our part, but I do not. I view it as being principled and
standing up for one's convictions (something I admire correctly
in people, religious or not).
> We all strive to find a sense of meaning in our lives. Some
> use science. Some use faith.
And which should we promote in our classes?
> Me? I would sure hate to be in a position where I would have
> to explain to my maker why I spent a lifetime "worshiping"
> science and denigrating faith.
Obviously, I don't expect to find myself in that situation ...
although if some people's faith has led them to correct
conclusions, I might find myself facing that situation or even
something far more terrible.
Best wishes
Jim
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James M. Clark (204) 786-9313
Department of Psychology (204) 774-4134 Fax
University of Winnipeg 4L02A
Winnipeg, Manitoba R3B 2E9 [EMAIL PROTECTED]
CANADA http://www.uwinnipeg.ca/~clark
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