Moral Absolutes Ping.
I like this article, as far as it goes. Makes his point, and I agree with it. Dawkins also said (as quoted in, IIRC, "Darwin on Trial", unless it was in "Shattering the Myths of Darwinism") that people who believe in God are wicked.
Many people who consider themselves religious or believers in God want to believe in the TOE because they don't want to think of themselves, or have others think of them, as ignorant fanatic flat earthers. Here's my response:
1. To live one's life or hold beliefs in order to curry favor or garner the approval of others is a miserable type of slavery.
2. Truth is is light, and ignorance is darkness. Find the truth, and that is all that is imporant.
3. Look at motives. Look at character. Read the books that criticize the TOE, as many as you can. Then, MAKE UP YOUR OWN MIND.
4. Keep in mind that the TOE is a type of cultural myth that all "better" people are supposed to believe in, or they are cultural misfits. But think of this - if we all lived in the ancient Mayan culture (I think it was the Mayas), they believed that the sun would go out every so often, 50-odd years, if everyone in the kingdom didn't stay wide awake for seven days! So everyone, from babies to grandmas, had to stay away for one solid week, living in the fear that the sun would go dark if they didn't.
Moral of the story: People can and do believe all kinds of nonsensical crap en masse. Large numbers of people believing something doesn't give it any credence or weight.
Freepmail me if you want on/off this pinglist.
(My personal viewpoint is the the TOE is in its death throes. That's why its proponents are so viciously rabid and angry.)
:-)
Good advice. This reminds me of something I heard Bishop Sheen say in a re-broadcast of "Life is Worth Living" the other day.
He noted that the people who attended Christ's birth (the Incarnation) were shepherds and "wise men." The shepherds were humble people, aware of their ignorance, and simply accepted the mystery of the Incarnation. The wise men knew much, but knew that their knowledge was limited, and wisely humbled themselves before Christ.
Bishop Sheen called the people who didn't attend the Incarnation "one-book people;" people who know a little, but think that they know everything.
Such I believe is the case with the bulk of the pro-evo crowd.