First of all, let me start this with the fact that I do not care what you believe. Your choice to believe or not will not change what I think of you. I am going to have this conversation as I saw it unfold on TV last night. Ben Stein is a very smart and funny guy. I admire his tenacity and whit. I wouldn't mind having his money and his ability to make more.
Ben Stein reported that the Scientific Community has in effect censored the discussion between scientists as to the facts about God. He has a video that talks about the problem. http://www.expelledthemovie.com/ It seems that the Schools have been shutting down anyone that tries to prove if god is real. I think it is still OK to ask the question in the Philosophy Departments but god help you if you are in one of the physical science departments.
I don't get it. If there is a way to prove or disprove if God exists, why is it wrong to look? Shouldn't we examine every rock if there is a possibility of a superior or supreme being existing? With all the scientists out there, surely there is one or two that could be allowed to look without our world shutting down.
On to the Philosophy Department. I would think that anything that could be done to prove or disprove a theory would be welcomed. I am not sure that how to think is more or less important than what you believe. I think you can understand political systems without being a communist, a socialist or a Republican. I do have trouble understanding how failed systems get replicated and why people don't see how bad some types of Governments are.
One of the things Ben Stein said was that an underpinning of our country was Freedom. We were a country started with the intent let you believe what you want to believe. I don't think there was any idea that we would almost split into two camps with many people not wanting to allow there to be a difference of opinion. Who died and made you god? Oh, that's where this little discussion started. Oh well.
MUD
The problem is not so much that people believe differently as that people on both sides can't stand that there is a whole group of people who believe differently. It's okay to trample their beliefs and mock them because, duh, they're wrong. It isn't a creation vs. evolution thing, it's an idiot vs. idiot thing. It crops up as homeschool vs. public school, stay at home mom vs. working mom, Christian vs. atheist, straight vs. gay, Democrap vs. Repuklican, etc., etc., ad nauseum. Everyone is so damned narcissistic these days that they think what they think is more important and more correct than what anyone else thinks. Be decent and civil to someone who doesn't agree with everything you hold true, much less be friends with them? You've got to be kidding! No, they're wrong, so just stick with the premise that they must be stupid and/or assholes. And the worst offenders are often those who like to talk about how everyone else is so intolerant and how they, in comparison, are so very tolerant. Nice.
ReplyDeleteHmmm...I think there may have been something I needed to get off my chest. No, it wasn't on account of your blog, in case you were wondering, but thanks for the vent space;o)
Jenni's got her head on straight. :)
ReplyDeleteI am really curious why this is all coming up now. I have been bombarded with Darwinist troll e-mails for the past four days. I really do not see the connection between religion and science, but Darwinism, as a religion, is simply laughable.
ReplyDeleteDo you think the exposure of those fraudulent scientists that got busted on the AGW data has anything to do with this?
Do you think that the lefties, since Global Warming has been disproven, are afraid that Darwinism will be tossed out of schools, too? Dang, it should have been tossed out in 1925 when the hoax was first discovered.
And in Mississippi, no Biblical philosophy may be taught in any public school at all, no matter what the mainstream media says about our Bible thumping ways.
Great points Jenni and Paul. People have long wanted to control content and have let it slip over into how to think. Why would anyone be afraid to let children see both creationism and Darwinism. Show them how to use their brains and then give them information to self evaluate. Your freedom to believe should not limit what I get to see and believe. I see that Mississippi and kansas are both wrestling with this question. MUD
ReplyDeleteMUD, when I took Biology II in High School (1976), our teacher did an entire 6 weeks unit on the major theories Evolution...Creationism...Cosmic whatevertheycallit. It was enlightening, and that's the way it should be.
ReplyDeleteI believe in God, the creator. But, it does not trouble me if someone is an atheist. It makes me sad for them, but it doesn't mean I can't stand 'em.
I have only known two or three true atheists in my life. Most all "atheists" I've known are really just God-haters. Deep inside they know that He exists, but they MUST wipe Him from the public square, and they go out to convince everyone else in the world that they are right.
The true atheists that I know take the attitude, "If someone wants to believe in God, fine! It's no skin off my nose." And they live, and let live...