Re: Further Evolution beyond the Human?
Timothy A. Seufert (bwanga@cats.ucsc.edu)
Tue, 08 Oct 1996 13:19:51 -0700
In article <53dit0$ce0@news3.digex.net>, medved@access.digex.com wrote:
>For instance, Darwin's Origin of the Species was published in 1859 or
>thereabouts, while serious industrialism and robber-baron capitalism in America
>began with the arms industry at the time of the civil war and the vast
expansion
>of the railroads after the civil war (65). Hence your claim that robber-baron
>capitalism preceeded Darwinism is idiotic. Likewise the opium wars occurred
>around the turn of the last century. Again, learn some facts and then worry
>about interrupting others with them.
This is nothing more than classic fallacious false cause reasoning. Event
A preceded Event B, so A must have caused B. NOT!
Robber-baron capitalism and opium wars had nothing whatsoever to do with
Darwinian evolution. They had everything to do with plain old greed.
Have you ever considered, Ted, that the Social Darwinism idea didn't
really get cranked up until *after* the turn of the century? At the time
of the Civil War, Darwin's book was making ripples only in the scientific
community. It was still quite controversial and not yet accepted.
Furthermore, Social Darwinism was never espoused by the scientific
community. It was invented by the same sort of people who were
responsible in more modern times for "Chariots of the Gods" and "Worlds in
Collision" -- that is, the partially educated lunatic fringe who misuse
scientific concepts to support their own delusions.
>According to several of the alt.atheists, religion was responsible for
>uncontrolled and uncountable murder and evil all through history;
This is trivially provable. What do you think was going on during the
Inquisition, a nice church picnic? And what of the Crusades? Certainly
no reasonable person claims that all wars are caused by religion, but
there have been a large number of them in which religion was one of the
main causes.
> you would
>logically expect conditions to return to the natural state of the golden age
>once religion was eliminated, at least amongst the intelligensia.
Religion has hardly been eliminated, even among the intelligentsia
(judging by the large number of posters to this group who are evolutionist
and religious).
> Nonetheless,
>as we have seen, the end of religion and the rise of Darwinism has brought
>with it a series of wars and tragedies the likes of which has never been seen
>since the days of Chengis Khan.
This is quite an outrageous claim. You haven't shown that religion has
fallen, you haven't shown that Darwinism has replaced it or is even
capable of replacing it, you haven't shown any causal link between
Darwinism and modern wars, and yet you claim that evolution caused WWI and
II? Yeah, right.
>A recent news scene showed the father of a young girl who had been murdered
>telling the murderer to say hello to Hitler and several other such personages
>when he (the murderer) got to where he was going. I'd have included Charles
>Darwin in the little list.
Before I thought you were just a loon. Now I know that you are totally
sick. Darwin collected evidence and showed an explanation for it. He
murdered nobody.
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|Tim Seufert, bwanga@cats.ucsc.edu | UselessWastedSpace(tm) |
| "I never give them hell. I just tell the truth, and they |
| think it is hell." -Harry S Truman |
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