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Re: [Phys-l] Richard Dawkins Answers Reddit Questions



While "fucking hell" sounds very entertaining as an alternative to harp
playing heaven, I think that the letter writer displays a lack of education
and/or Christian values.

Science educators need to steer clear of being confrontational about
religion. We teach science, not religion. When science educators claim
that science invalidates religion, they immediately activate paradigms which
will turn students off to what they say about science. If students ask for
your religious position, you can give it in a matter of fact fashion with a
tolerant attitude. People will distrust your scientific message if you are
activist about your anti or pro religious message. That is what is going on
in Republican circles. Science is being mislabeled as "liberal" despite the
fact that there are socially and/or economically conservative individuals in
science. Actually I suspect the socially liberal, economically conservative
person is quite common in science.

Anyone who wishes to see hard data on religion in American public life
should go the Pew Foundation.
<http://www.pewtrusts.org/our_work_category.aspx?id=318>
They show the results of many surveys. I suspect they would be called
liberal because they do not make value judgments, but rather report the
facts. Unfortunately newspapers that try to keep value judgments confined
to the editorial pages are often called liberal.

I don't think any of us condone nasty letters, but scientists should not put
forth their religious opinions as being hard scientific fact. When they do
that they harden the opposition. There are many scientists who do have
religious convictions. I would mention John Leonhardt who has a program on
many NPR stations and is both a scientist and an Episcopalian. We create
models of the world, not "truth".

John M. Clement
Houston, TX


The hate mail is great. It is laughable when he reads these, "You
fucking
atheist ... . I hope you burn in fucking hell ... ." Gotta love that
shit.