Stephen Black wrote:
> First, France, then the US, now India. Is this some new kind of
> virus?
>
> >From the newsletter for the Chronicle of Higher Education 9sept
> 6, 2001):
>
> "THE SUPREME COURT OF INDIA has agreed to hear a petition
> lodged by academics seeking to quash the government's
> decision to allow universities to award degrees in astrology.
> The move comes amid increasing criticism that the
> government's nationalistic Hindu campaign is damaging higher
> education."
There's a major element that everyone seems to be missing in this attitude
toward such degrees--religion!
How many people who think the idea of a degree in "astrology" is stupid
simultaneously support the concept of one in "divinity," "theology," or
"Christian Philosophy?" NONE of those degrees are based on anything other
than pure belief. Why is it acceptable to award a PhD in one "superstitious"
subject but not in another? Because in _our_ nation we don't believe in an
influence from the "stars?" Who decided that Western religious beliefs
should be an acceptable academic discipline but not Eastern?
Sorry, but while I don't happen to personally believe in astrology (I don't
happen to believe in a Supreme Being either) I fail to see why it isn't at
least as valid an area of study as is divinity. NEITHER is scientific, and
EITHER can be debunked (to an objective observer) with equal ease by modern
science. Either both should be valid areas (in their respective cultures)
for the awarding of an academic degree--or NEITHER should be.
Rick Adams
--
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
". . . and the only measure of your worth and your deeds will be the love
you leave behind when you're gone." --Fred Small
