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On Tue, 24 May 2005 09:28:00 -0400
Anthony Lapinski <anthony_lapinski@PDS.ORG> wrote:
No matter what you believe, the sad truth is that probably moreOne can also make the opposite claim. For example the Jewish dietary
people in
the world
have died because of religion than any other factor. Maybe it's a
self-righteous
thing. Remember Carl Sagan, who said, "Extraordinary claims require
extraordinary
evidence."
laws can have a beneficial effect on health. Despite its shortcomings
Christianity did have a profound influence on health. Unlike the
ancient Romans, Christians have a bias against slavery. This has been
credited by historians for sparking the industrial revolution, which
in turn eventually brought about a revolution in health care. But of
course the Roman Empire may have had a beneficial effect by bringing
peace and prosperity to a large segment of people. BTW the Mormon
church actually reduces poverty by providing a strong safety net to
its members.
Then there is the beneficial aspect of religion on warfare. The
Chinese neatly solved the problem of invasion by converting the
invaders to pacifistic Lamistic Buddism.
Power, greed, sex, ... have been motivators for violence throughout
the ages despite the sometimes moderating influence of religion.
Attributing the ills of society to religion is like blaming the
Columbine tragedy on the teaching of evolution. People of true faith
have done much to help from Mother Teresa to the many religious who
have been healers. Religious institutions have not been immune to
these influences. And then there is the genocide in Cambodia arranged
by "godless communists", or more properly ruthless self serving
dictators.
I know the examples of personal bombers who blow themselves up look
like a religious problems. But if you look at Islamic teachings and
history, this is a recent problem, and this practice is actually
against the theology of Islam. This sort of thing typically happens
when you have a class of people who feel they are powerless.
One should weigh evidence more carefully before making a blanket
statement like religion has caused more ills. How do you know that?
This forum has strayed far from the scientific discussion of the
teaching of ID in schools. Rather than debating the merits of
particular religions, or no religion, perhaps we should be looking
closely at how the injection of religion by non-scientists into the
science curriculum will play out.
John M. Clement
Houston, TX