Re: Human evolution and religious beliefs.

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• Next message: Shawn Roske: "Re: Fossil evidence"

: The destruction of religious theories that give meaning to people's life
: is not a trivial matter. The pain felt by people who are led to question
: beliefs that touch on the foundation of their existence should be taken
: seriously.

Will you feel pain and lash out angrily if I attack your science?

: Just as Christians strive to hate sin but love the sinner, I suggest that
: academics learn to hate intellectual drivel without feeling contempt for
: those who consume it. Neither should we assume stupidity on their part.
: Mental patients with elaborate systems of delusion often score
: exceptionally high on IQ tests. One should expect the same from people
: whose defense mechanisms operate within normal parameters.

Condenscending little bastard, aincha?

Have you ever considerred that yours is the delusion? How would
you prove it is not? If you make absolute statements such as
observation and experiment are the only valid ways to determine
the truth, why is that intellectually superior to people who
make absolute statements the revelation and miracle are
the only valid ways to determine the truth?

: It is the duty of informed people, such as anthropologists, to expose the
: counterfeit nature of models such as "scientific" creationism despite
: whatever pain it causes. Growing up is painful for individuals, nations,
: and for the entire human race.

It is the duty of mathmaticians to expose that unless you have
absolute truths, any logical system is based on unprovable
assumptions. Do you claim that you alone are able to determine
absolute truth? Isn't that exactly your dispute with
creationists?

If you're not claiming absolute truths, merely those assumptions
which seem self-evident to yourself, why should you denigrate
those who choose different assumptions?

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Cultural relativity is really good for describing _those_
people, but we're in priviledged position.

-- 

In fearless youth when fervour leapt,      | smryan@netcom.com  PO Box 1563

he sought the treasures silence kept       |          Cupertino, California

in chambers chilled where chanting stilled,| (xxx)xxx-xxxx            95015

where bleaching bones were bleakly kept.   |         I don't use no smileys

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