Russell
Posts: 1082
Joined: April 2005
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| Quote | | Russell-- Just a guess, but my guess is that you want to believe that Evolution is true and that Genesis 1 & 2 are merely nice, religious myths. How close did I get? |
Not very.
Do I believe that massive objects attract other massive objects - a phenomenon known as "gravity" - because I want to believe it? Or because I find the evidence pretty persuasive?
Do I believe "Evolution is true", or that the development of life was an extremely complex and almost unimaginably long process, and that the description of it by mainstream science is considerably more accurate and informative than deductions tortured out of ancient religious documents?
Now, when I go to school board meetings, believe it or not, no actually elected members are rushing to embrace the YEC position. They understand that to actually endorse, out loud, the nonsense you endorse would be to political suicide. No, what they're trying to do is to what politicians do: have it both ways. They're trying to straddle the gulf between reality and religious fundamentalism with the imaginary bridge called "intelligent design". They're trying to say "sure, we support science, and technology, and medicine, all the cool toys and drugs and all, but there's this complicated dodge - way too complicated for me to explain right now (heck, I barely understand it myself! - but these distinguished gentlemen from the Discovery Institute assure me it's legit) - whereby up can simultaneously be down, negative is actually positive, and saying otherwise is the rankest form of viewpoint discrimination".
What would I like to believe? That's kind of a foreign concept to me. I want my perceptions and understanding of the universe to be as accurate and complete as possible, and not to be clouded by unwarranted assumptions, wishful thinking, and superstition. I suppose if I could arrange my "fantasy reality", I might entertain notions of being immortal, of getting having loved ones who have died resurrected and we could hang out indefinitely together enjoying good food and good times... oh, and can I keep my cat? I might want an all-knowing Big Daddy in the Sky to intervene at key moments to save me and my fellow Homo sapiens from our short-sightedness, and to assure me that even though I am appalled at some of my own deviations from my idea of proper conduct over the years, that all is forgiven, no need to worry about it.
I might like to believe there's no need to challenge ignorance and backwardness, because knowledge and understanding, being inherently more powerful, will always prevail with or without my input.
What I actually believe is that a new round of Dark Ages is entirely possible, and it's advent would look a whole lot like this morning's newspaper.
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Must... not... scratch... mosquito bite.
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could make a "bone-headed mistake" regarding chromosomal fusion. But back then, you at least checked the claim and accepted the weight of evidence that a credentialed writer just simply got it wrong. (By the way, I see that artcle is still posted in its entirety, glaring mistakes and all. Didn't have any luck pointing that out to AIG, eh?) Anyhow, Deadman referenced one example of the resounding "what the fuck?!" from the scientific community regarding Denton's gaffe.
I'm sure somebody on craiglist would help out for $$!
