tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13522238.post112905972239951018..comments2024-03-14T11:50:14.761-04:00Comments on DarwinCatholic: The Creature on the HeathDarwinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08572976822786862149noreply@blogger.comBlogger10125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13522238.post-1129203062995490842005-10-13T07:31:00.000-04:002005-10-13T07:31:00.000-04:00There also seems to be general, dispersed feeling ...<I>There also seems to be general, dispersed feeling that in some sense, if the theory of evolution could be disproved, that this would somehow strengthen Christianity.</I><BR/><BR/>I'll buy that. That dispersed feeling may even be correct, in the same pastoral sense in which if the practice of cremation were to disappear that would strengthen Christianity (since cremation, though not <I>morally</I> or <I>theologically</I> wrong strictly speaking, undermines the doctrine of the resurrection of the body).<BR/><BR/>But of course what really matters is in what senses evolution is <I>true</I>, (granted that it is clearly true in the broad sense of old earth and common descent with modification).Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13522238.post-1129161775018609142005-10-12T20:02:00.000-04:002005-10-12T20:02:00.000-04:00I'm sure high school history classes would be so m...<I>I'm sure high school history classes would be so much less contentious if they would allow my theory of how the holocaust never happened.</I><BR/><BR/>Ummm... Yeah. I'll admit to the necessity of bringing Nazi's into any contentious discussion, but could we just...not?<BR/><BR/><I>Someone whose faith depends on a young earth and rejection of descent with modification doesn't have a friend in ID, though; although I don't doubt that there is a degree of "the enemy of my enemy is my friend" going on. </I><BR/><BR/>Agreed. I think some of it is indeed "enemy of my enemy" and also a dash of "Evolution as a theory is falling apart. Science has no explanation for the history of life. It could just as well be that the earth is only 8000 years old." <BR/><BR/>There also seems to be general, dispersed feeling that in some sense, if the theory of evolution could be disproved, that this would somehow strengthen Christianity.Darwinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08572976822786862149noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13522238.post-1129147005148962482005-10-12T15:56:00.000-04:002005-10-12T15:56:00.000-04:00I'm sure high school history classes would be so m...<I>I'm sure high school history classes would be so much less contentious if they would allow my theory of how the holocaust never happened.</I><BR/><BR/>Part of why discussion of darwinism is so fascinating is because of the level of self-parody on the part of so many of the participants. (I don't include our blog host here).<BR/><BR/><I>...but I'm not sure that the fight would have carried on this long if there were not a certain group of people whose faith in God absolutely depends on evolution being false.</I><BR/><BR/>Someone whose faith depends on a young earth and rejection of descent with modification doesn't have a friend in ID, though; although I don't doubt that there is a degree of "the enemy of my enemy is my friend" going on.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13522238.post-1129144864700736372005-10-12T15:21:00.000-04:002005-10-12T15:21:00.000-04:00Although bio or anthro teachers may not say it, my...Although bio or anthro teachers may not say it, my atheist mother makes this the backbone of her reason for belief in no God. She learned the mutation theory good and well in college and has never looked back.Julie D.https://www.blogger.com/profile/08384291674560438678noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13522238.post-1129143984692784642005-10-12T15:06:00.000-04:002005-10-12T15:06:00.000-04:00"the darwinian philosophy of science universally i..."the darwinian philosophy of science universally in biology classes using the court system and police power. If the political conflict were not there - that is, if darwinists did not insist on using the police and courts to root out heresy - then the philosophical conflict would remain, but would I think be far less controversial."<BR/><BR/>I welcome this day. I'm sure high school history classes would be so much less contentious if they would allow my theory of how the holocaust never happened. It's really only the dominance of Jewish historical philosophy that stands in my way.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13522238.post-1129127369058505432005-10-12T10:29:00.000-04:002005-10-12T10:29:00.000-04:00The education element is certainly part of it, but...The education element is certainly part of it, but I think the other reason the debate has legs is that there is a segment of Protestant theology which demands a school of biblical interpretation that rules out an old earth and common descent. Now, the majority of people who are interested in or support ID are in no sense 'creationists' in the standard sense of the term, but I'm not sure that the fight would have carried on this long if there were not a certain group of people whose faith in God absolutely depends on evolution being false. <BR/><BR/>Maybe part of the reason I have so much trouble seeing why people get so excited about ID is that I missed the primary and high school public education entirely, and although I took Physical Anthropology at a state college from a self professed agnostic (I wanted to leave my Steubenville credits open for other classes, so I took my science core of the summer) there was certainly no pushing of a materialist agenda in class. It was very much a 'this is the best explanation we have for this at this time' and 'we're not sure how this works, but it appears to be something like X' kind of atmosphere. Which isn't to say one never meets bio or anthro teachers who announce "And therefore there is no God" it's jus that I've never met one.Darwinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08572976822786862149noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13522238.post-1129117030860269192005-10-12T07:37:00.000-04:002005-10-12T07:37:00.000-04:00I think the main controversy is over whether we le...I think the main controversy is over whether we let local school boards and parents decide which philosophies of science to apply in teaching biology to children or whether we impose the darwinian philosophy of science universally in biology classes using the court system and police power. If the political conflict were not there - that is, if darwinists did not insist on using the police and courts to root out heresy - then the philosophical conflict would remain, but would I think be far less controversial.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13522238.post-1129086127248035042005-10-11T23:02:00.000-04:002005-10-11T23:02:00.000-04:00a spreading virus is essentially one long executio...<I> a spreading virus is essentially one long execution loop</I><BR/><BR/>Which almost sounds how IDers view creation, hmmmm? :-0<BR/><BR/>I honestly don't see why people get their knickers in a twist over ID as long as one accepts the fact that it is a philosophical view of evolution, just as "mutation" is another philosophical view of the same thing. Both are attributing causes that cannot be proven to scientific facts. (And I got NO problems with evolution, just for the record.)Julie D.https://www.blogger.com/profile/08384291674560438678noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13522238.post-1129074579754944042005-10-11T19:49:00.000-04:002005-10-11T19:49:00.000-04:00Fair point -- I hadn't thought about software as a...Fair point -- I hadn't thought about software as a 'thing' which could be considered to reproduce. (Though depending on how you look at it I suppose you could argue that a spreading virus is essentially one long execution loop, rather than a set of 'things'.)<BR/><BR/>Certainly, from a science fictional point of view, there's the idea of self-reproducing machines and even of machines programmed to make survival improving adaptations to themselves or their 'offspring', but although certainly a SF and technology fan, I have the feeling (may well be wrong) that we're actually rather far off from pulling off anything very close to that level.Darwinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08572976822786862149noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13522238.post-1129070019158599512005-10-11T18:33:00.000-04:002005-10-11T18:33:00.000-04:00This is because you understand that animals reprod...<I>This is because you understand that animals reproduce and manufactured objects do not.</I><BR/><BR/>That is not strictly true even now (the company McAfee exists to destroy manufactured self-reproducing pests, after all); and to the extent it is true that is a very temporary state of affairs.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com