Re: Pope and Evolution...

Damian Hammontree (damian@welchlink.welch.jhu.edu)
1 Nov 1996 18:36:55 GMT

in <55bmgp$5gq@wpg-01.escape.ca>, Robin Hood (rhood@escape.ca) writes:
>damian@welchlink.welch.jhu.edu (Damian Hammontree) wrote:
>>Wow - I had no idea Christ was so ... politically active these days. When
>>you talked to him last, who did he mention he was voting for in the november
>>elections? Or is he a Canadian citizen instead of an American one?

>Is this what this newsgroup is about? If so, please inform me now so
>that I can stop wasting time on it.
>If I want an Ad Hominum argument I can discuss philosophy with a two
>year old.
>(Of course, I've yet to see philosophy discussed on this ng)

Setting aside for the moment that you obviously don't know what the term
"ad hominem" means... The point I was trying to make is that a statement
like "jesus is a creationist" is so silly that by making it, you are
forfeiting all pretense at serious discussion.

It's the cartoon-ish extension of the "well, God agrees with me" appeal
to authority that many literalists use in an attempt to bolster their
arguments if and when their reasoning and/or evidence are lacking. Jesus,
I'm sorry to inform you, is not currently involved with any socio-political
movement, and that was what I stated above, even if you can't appreciate
sarcasm.

Now, _your_ understanding of the teachings of Jesus may lead _you_ to
creationism, but that is a vastly different thing. If you disagree, then
by all means, please demonstrate that he has made any statement whatever
on the current evolution/creation debate - considering that the theory
of evolution didn't exist until about 1800 years after anyone's heard
from him, I consider this a tall order. But you seem to know what you're
talking about. So? How about it?

D

--
Damian Hammontree damian@groucho.med.jhu.edu
"A spokesman for the Lyon Group, producers of _Barney and Friends_, denied
that Barney is an instrument of Satan." --the Advocate, spring 1994
...forever in debt to your priceless advice...