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Re: creationism wars



At 10:46 -0400 8/26/02, John S. Denker wrote:

There have been attempts to derail our discussion of evolution
by mixing in questions about the origin of the first living
thing.

Often this is a tactic of the creationists, who want to equate
evolution with origins. Since most people are pretty ignorant of what
evolution is, or how it works (just look at the popularity of the
teeny-bopper fad Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles to see just how
ignorant of evolution they are, Spiderman and the Incredible Hulk are
also examples of evolution ignorance) this is not hard to achieve, at
least in the public mind.

1) This is not helpful. It is possible to discuss evolution,
as it occurs now and has been occurring for billions of years,
without needing to discuss what at earlier times.

Absolutely. All evolution is, and all Darwin claimed it to be is
"descent with modification." It makes no moral claims, nor does it
attack any moral principles. To argue otherwise is a distortion of
the truth, but that's what the creationists are about.

2) The tactics of the anti-scientific contingent in this case
fit their usual pattern. They point out that science doesn't
have all the answers. They then commit the black/white fallacy,
implying that anyone who doesn't have all the answers has none
of the answers.

What is ironic, is their willing and free use of technology that is
based on the very scientific principles that they decry
daily--scientific principles that even include the underpinnings of
their favorite whipping boy, evolution.

By admitting that we don't have all the answers, scientists
exhibit humility and open-mindedness. The anti-scientific
contingent mistakes this for weakness. But it is not weakness.
It is our strength.

In particular, while we don't have _all_ the answers, we do know
a thing or two. In particular, we have enough evidence to know
that the creationists, who claim to be right about everything,
are in fact wrong about almost everything.

Actually we know quite a lot, and one of the most important things
that we know is that we don't know everything. As you say, this is
our strength.

3) As others have pointed out, these people are numerous, well
organized, and very dangerous. If you have trouble imagining what
happens when arrogant, intolerant, self-righteous fundamentalists
take control, remember what Afghanistan was like a year ago.
Picture setting back the spiritual as well as material culture
by hundreds of years, vicious militarism, degradation of women,
et cetera. It _could_ happen here.

There is at least one organization whose name I can think of, James
Dobson's Focus on the Family, based in Colorado Springs, which is
actively and overtly campaigning to turn the US into a theocracy.
Many of the leaders of these fundamentalist organizations are openly
anti-democratic and are working as hard as they can to make us into
their version of a Christian Afghanistan. Their attack on the public
schools is just one prong of their offensive. I don't think they can
succeed, but if we get complacent, or misunderstand their motives,
they could do a lot of damage (and already have).

It would be one thing if they were willing to engage in civilized
discourse on these issues, but they are not. Instead, they resort to
distortion and falsification of scientific results, and intimidation
of their opponents in an effort to achieve their ends. I believe such
actions to be morally reprehensible, and I wish that the
spokespersons for the scientific community were more forthright in
pointing this out. They claim to hold the moral high ground in the
debate, but in fact they are wallowing in the moral gutter. It is
high time that we made this clear to the public.

Unfortunately, they have an advantage in that much of the public, in
their scientific ignorance, is unable to appreciate the moral depths
to which the creationists and their ilk have sunk. Only vastly
improved science education, both in the schools and in the public
arena can change this sorry situation.

Hugh
--

Hugh Haskell
<mailto:haskell@ncssm.edu>
<mailto:hhaskell@mindspring.com>

(919) 467-7610

Let's face it. People use a Mac because they want to, Windows because they
have to..
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