[no subject]

[Hugh Haskell <hhaskell@MINDSPRING.COM>]

David ward wrote:

[snip]

> I do know people of faith who believe in a Creator who have
> advanced degrees- some in physics even!- and posperous scientific
> careers. One is even a very prosperous biophysicist doing important
> cancer research at one of the top 5 research institutions in the
> country. However, this biophysicist has a very fundamental
> faith in the Scriptures. Let's not demean folks of faith in a
> Creator anymore than we would demean the atheist or the agnostic.

I have no intention of demeaning creationists as people. As you point
out, some of them are very intelligent. However, having read a good
bit if their screed, I don't believe that, as a group, they are
intellectually honest, since they continually misrepresent science
and scientific ideas and claim it as "evidence" for their beliefs.

Creationists are free to believe whatever they want, no matter what I
think of it. They are even free to publish whatever they want to
about the creation/evolution controversy, no matter what I think of
it. They are free to run for public office on a plank of promoting
creationism in the education system, and if they and enough of their
co-believers win, even change our constitution to make creationism
the law of the land, although I would fight that with every bone in
my body.

But, until they manage to convert our government from a
constitutional democracy to an autocratic theocracy, they do not have
the right to force our schools to teach creationism and call it
science. That has been made quite clear by the supreme court on a
number of occasions.

In my experience, "folks of faith," as you so quaintly characterize
them, do a lot more demeaning of agnostics and atheists than the
other way around, and if you don't believe that just count the number
of atheists who have been elected to public office in this country
where, according to the constitution there can be "no religious test
for holding public office."

BTW, I am all in favor of religious diversity in this country,
because as long as the diversely religious are at each other's
throats, arguing over who has the most direct line to god, they will
be way too busy to bother with the atheists and agnostics.

And before we get out the flame throwers, I agree that this topic is
not germain to this list, and I have said my last on it, and on
creationism.

Hugh
--

Hugh Haskell
<mailto://hhaskell@mindspring.com>

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