Re: [Phys-l] The attack on science is political, not philosophical

["John Clement" <clement@hal-pc.org>]

The constitution, or rather the bill of rights, does guarantee freedom of
press, and no establishment of religion, which are fairly strong guarantees
of intellectual freedom.

While there is certainly the element of control and power in some religious
leaders and parents, there is also often a determining paradigm that there
is an absolute truth.  This absolute truth says that you must do the correct
things to achieve a good afterlife.  My brother who switched from atheist to
evangelical fundamentalist complained that the schools did not teach
absolute truth.  Actually he switched from one absolutist position to
another.  So if you want to be reunited with your family in the afterlife,
you will want to make sure that they obey the strictures.  This type of
thinking becomes very extreme in the Wahabai sect where non Moslems are
often treated like non people.  This is despite the Koran, which I
understand actually does not promote this attitude.  There are also
fundamentalist who would claim that Catholics are non Christian.  Actually
this used to be prevalent US protestant mentality.

Most mainline churches in the US no longer place great emphasis on absolute
truth.  The school system can not have claims about absolute truth when a
school might have Christians, Hindus, Buddists, Moslems, Wiccans, seekers,
and atheists.  Even in most states, you will find mixtures of Christian
groups who have very different ideas, so the school can not teach absolute
truth.  Also most mainline churches do not oppose the evolutionary model of
the origin of the species.

BTW young parents are more controlling than older parents.  Since the age of
parenting has gone up, students may actually be under less pressure to
conform.

John M. Clement
Houston, TX

> Do children have rights? Do parents have the right to deny their children
> needed medical care? Do they have the right to prevent their children from
> learning knowledge, especially that taught by noted scholars? This is
> basically about rights. It is unfortunate that the constitution guarantees
> us the right to physical life, but says nothing about intellectual life.
> The former is of little use without the latter.
>
> Fred Bucheit       ~I think is the antidote to I believe~
>
> > Date: Sun, 13 Jan 2008 08:09:08 -0700> From: louro.alfredo@gmail.com>
> To: phys-l@carnot.physics.buffalo.edu> Subject: [Phys-l] The attack on
> science is political, not philosophical> > The current obsession with the
> theory of evolution, which seems to> have afflicted the United States
> particularly strongly, originates> with some religious people who feel
> that their authority is threatened> by the possibility that the universe
> can run itself without the need> for supernatural beings of any kind. It's
> not about science or faith,> it's not about what the meaning of "theory"
> is, and it's not about> whether new species can arise without the
> intervention of God. It's> about power, and the ability to control other
> people's minds. Someone> wrote about children who had been taught by their
> parents that only> God creates life going to college and learning about
> evolution, and> how those parents are upset because their children are
> still their> children. The problem is crystal clear: These parents cannot
> stand the> thought that they no longer control the minds of their
> children, as> those children become adults. They cannot stand losing
> control. On a> larger scale, religious leaders abhor the idea of losing
> control over> their (very appropriately named) flocks. If God turns out to
> be an> illusion, where does their authority go? How do they justify their>
> position of power in society? This is the real conflict.>
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