Reason in the Balance and why Fundamentalists are Beyond Reason

sullivan-county.com ^ | Unknown | Lewis Loflin

[Kerberos]

"I majored in psychology and can tell you that the same rules apply as do other scientific endeavors."

I had a problem with that part also, but if I only posted articles that I agreed with every point on, I would probably never post anything.

[TalBlack]

Back it up, please!

That is, show me!

How is that possible? It is basically prophecy.

Rest assured if it turns out to be true you'll have a front row seat at the demonstration!

[RobRoy]

>>"Christian fundamentalists see it as undermining their understanding of God"
Huh? I'm a pretty foundational Christian, and I see good science as only increasing my understanding and appreciation of God. This author has a chip on his shoulder against Christianity.<<

Exactly what I was thinking...

[Lurking Libertarian]

Evolution ping.

[Lurking Libertarian]

Modern science is the product of a Christian worldview. It originated from Chrisitans who believed that because God designed the world, the truths about nature and its functions were knowable.

Science began with the pagan Greeks.

[Restorer]

Numerous inaccuracies involving history.

Basically God, for some unexplained reason (sin as usual?), killed two-thirds of the European population in a plague for reasons unknown.

Estimates vary, due to the absence of precise census data, but most put the drop in population at somewhere between 1/4 and 1/3. 2/3 may possibly have died in some cities, but since 95%+ of the European were peasants, this was not very significant.

Even the church itself and the Pope were accused of starting the plague. Jan Hus of Bohemia (1372-1415) openly accused the church of conspiracy and gets burned at the stake for his trouble.

I've read quite a bit of history of this period and never ran across this accusation. The Hussites had lots of perfectly good reasons, nationalistic and religious, for rebelling against the Church and Empire.

To the Christians of Medieval Europe the long promised Apocalypse had arrived, and Jesus would surely return soon to claim the faithful and punish the sinners. The Church had taught for ten centuries that all events, natural, political, and social must follow the Bible and all knowledge is revealed there. All events are the work of God for His ultimate purpose. So millions stopped planting crops, stopped planning for the future, and awaited salvation as Christian leaders promised.

I believe this is a myth. Agricultural production was drastically affected, for perfectly obvious reasons, but this sitting down and waiting for God didn't happen on a large scale, as far as I know.

This article is much on a par with the ridiculous and easily disproven claim that more people have died in religious wars than in all others. It's a "let's bash those stupid religious people" funfest.

I don't have time to catalog all his errors.

[tiamat]

I don't think I'll be at the demonstration... I have plane tickets for that day and you know how customs is....

[TalBlack]

"Modern science is the product of a Christian worldview. It originated from Chrisitans who believed that because God designed the world, the truths about nature and its functions were knowable."


"Science began with the pagan Greeks"

There is a modifier in there that you are ignoring "modern".

[AreaMan]

"I doubt whether the author understands that Christians believe in reason too," He is talking about fundamentalist, which reason is a concept that is foreign to them.

I think the basic misunderstanding arises from the what "fundamentalist" means to each party.

The author of this piece thinks fundamentalist means this:

Most Christians think it means this:

or this: BTW that second guy is:

Dr. "Fritz" Schaefer is the Graham Perdue Professor of Chemistry and the director of the Center for Computational Quantum Chemistry at the University of Georgia. He has been nominated for the Nobel Prize and was recently named the third-most cited chemist in the world.

[taxesareforever]

The earth is not 6000 years old, evolution is accepted scientific fact.

Sorry, but that is not the Christian belief. If you start by denying creation what other facts in the Bible are suspect? It is a slippery slope and will lead people to doubt their own faith.

[Kerberos]

"There was a time in history when the statement," I am a Christian," meant something"

Oh no it still means something to a lot of people these days. And what it means deeply concerns them.

[tiamat]

Actually the Chinese and the Egyptians had some things...

[Restorer]

The Chinese had general scientific theories but generally developed a medieval science that accepted Aristotle as the ultimate authority.

Uhh, you might want to modify this some way.

I don't think Aristotle's philosophy ever made it to the Middle Kingdon.

[unspun]

"This author has a chip on his shoulder against Christianity."
I beleive he states in the article that he is a Christian.

Fundamentalist Christians are merely people who believe the Scriptures have been inspired by the Holy Spirit. Are you (gasp) a fundamentalist?

I sure am.

So, are we fundamentalists "the problem?" Fundamentalists, like most of the folks who founded America? --the pariahs of the world?

Very poor philosophy, attacking "fundamentalism." With such off-center group-think, its a wonder that the world can keep spinning with us. The problem is clearly not whether someone observes the fundamentals of a set of beliefs. The problem lies in whether or not one has accurately understood beliefs as their fundamentals (for we all have them, whether or not we admit).

We're all fundamentalists, Lord love us. May we all be fundamentalists of the truth, rather than any of the host of alternatives.

[AreaMan]

The point I was trying to make is that anybody can throw out the claim of being a Christian and then proceed to state how fundamentalists are anti-itellectual troglodytes.

[TalBlack]

I don't think I'll be at the demonstration... I have plane tickets for that day and you know how customs is....


You may not have any choice.

Of course "customs" could screw up the best laid plans.

Since 911 I avoid customs like the plague.

[Chuckster]

Note to the Author: "Plaques" carried by "flees" did not kill millions in medieval Europe. Your word processor's spell checker is a poor substitute for a real proofreader.

.......not that anyone cares.

[tiamat]

S'okay!

So long as I have a book, I can wait!

[Kerberos]

" think the basic misunderstanding arises from the what "fundamentalist" means to each party."

I draw a lot of my conception of fundamentalism from what I read on this site, that and being subjected to it in my youth for many years.

And what I draw from here is deeply concerning. It demonstrates many parallels between Islam and itself.

[King Black Robe]

I am talking about MODERN science, not medieval science. Plenty could be called science before the rise of modern science.