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

[Hugh Haskell <hhaskell@mindspring.com>]

At 13:01  -0600 1/18/08, Bill Nettles wrote:
> It has been those who abuse or eliminate religion for the purpose of 
> empowerment and control that have caused the most harm.
>
> I'm sure that some would say that religion is only about the control 
> of the many by the few, but I think that is a false assertion.
While the first statement is probably correct, I "hae me doobts" 
about the second. History is replete with examples of the use of 
religion to control the many by the few, and you have used several in 
your post, but do you have any examples to the contrary which could 
be used as evidence of your conjecture that the assertion is false? I 
know of none myself, but then I haven't made a comprehensive search 
for them.

And what evidence do you have that Hitler wasn't religious? I have 
seen no statement of his that indicates he wasn't religious and many 
that assert his religious convictions. His virulent anti-semitism was 
religiously-based unless someone has come up with a reason for 
anti-semitism that isn't religiously-based. Again, I know of none.

Admittedly, Communism has resulted in a very large number of deaths 
in efforts to suppress its opponents and dissidents. But, as with the 
perversion of many religions for the purpose of power and control, 
the communism practiced by most of its modern cadre of leadership has 
hardly been much related to its roots in the writings of Karl Marx. 
And in contrast to much of modern atheism, it practiced a 
particularly dogmatic variety of atheism, far from the rational 
variety one mostly sees today (rational in the sense that it purports 
to base its tenets on rational argument rather than "faith" in the 
revealed word of a supreme being). I would also add that modern 
Communism has about the same relationship to the writings of Marx as 
modern Christianity has to the (purported) sayings of Jesus of 
Nazareth.

I also think that the number of deaths achieved by the communists in 
the 20th century is mainly a technological phenomenon. It is likely 
that the number would have been much greater in earlier times had 1) 
there been more people around, and 2) had the technology for 
engineering mass exterminations existed. Whether it would have been 
greater than was was achieved recently will remain conjecture. But of 
course Communism is an invention of the 19th century. Other types of 
religions have had millennia to work their magic, so the comparison 
is probably not apt at best.

Most atheists who I know (including myself) did not come to their 
opinions based on a rejection of the use of religion to justify 
various forms of repressive practices, but in the illogic of the 
foundations of religions, based on an acceptance of the claims of 
some individuals or groups of individuals who assert they "have been 
visited by a god or gods (or his or her representative), and been 
given the truth thereby."

Hugh
--

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

(919) 467-7610

Hard work often pays off after time. But Laziness always pays off now.

			February tagline on 2007 Demotivator's Calendar