Paladin wrote:
Sorry. Not buying it and neither is the public.
I don't mean to sound harsh, but I don't have a whole lot of faith in tthe general public. The average American's ability to think critically and independently is a sad testament to our education system's inability to teach its students HOW to think instead of teaching them WHAT to think.
Also, using the majority view as a point in any logical syllogism is fallacious (Appeal to Common Practice, I believe).
I'm not sure if this statement is referring to my post above, and if it is, I'm not sure what point you are attempting to make. I'm in support of leaving ID out of the science room as much as anyone.
Paladin wrote:Most have seen what these zealots are all about. We are talking education vs religion.
Incorrect. Education and religion are not mutually exclusive. This would be a logical fallacy known as a 'false dichotomy', for which numerous defeaters can easily be raised.
Paladin wrote:One is based on facts and good scientific evidence,strong probablities and possibilities.
Education is too broad to suggest that it is based on "fact." If you're referring specifically to scientific education, then I would contend that it is
supposed to be based on facts, given certain assumptions, anyway.
Scientific evidence is fantastic, given our blind presupposition that it holds true (to be fair, this is a blind presupposition that I, myself, hold to be accurate), because it allows us to explore our world in terms we can study.
Strong probabilities is honestly where I put macro-evolutionary theory. I think it probably happened. However, based on the evidence presented by scientists (real ones ... not Ken Ham and his ilk) and said evidence's interaction with questions and skeptical issues raise against it (potential defeaters), it is absolutely not beyond doubt that it could be errant.
Paladin wrote:The other is based on a "faith", a belief in the supernatural.
Not really. Intelligent Design, as I mentioned earlier in this thread, can actually be adopted by the nonreligious ... even the Nietzsche-like atheist. I won't rehash that here, but you're welcome to look it up.
It's based on the existence of potential defeaters raised in light of theories of abiogenesis. Intelligent Design is not the antithesis of evolution. It is the antithesis of abiogenesis.
Paladin wrote:We didn't get to the moon & back, wipe out diseases and develope high technology based on "faith".
Not sure what you are attempting to show by stating this. Kinda sounds like you're trying to rally troops. I feel like some Brahms should be playing in the background as I read that.
Paladin wrote:It was done with solid science taught in classrooms in schools & colleges.
Indeed. I don't think any of the scientific processes, studies, or discoveries used in aforementioned breakthroughs are under fire. Am I wrong in that thought?
Paladin wrote:ID belongs in Sunday school. There isn't any good reason for teaching ID in school unless you make it a philosophy class, not along side of science.
I hope this isn't a response to me, because it would be redundant. It's exactly what I said.
Paladin wrote:What is really at work here is the continuing efforts to promote christian religion -- not jewish, muslim, etc, but the christian religion and all its dogma.
Based on what? ID asserts a supreme creative force. That's all. Period. As I said, such a force could have died millions of years ago, after said creation, for all it matters to the theory of ID. You're not just taking assumptive leaps ... you're taking assuptive longjumps.
Paladin wrote:And basing it on biblical text..........
I'll be the first to say that the Bible is not a relevant document in a science classroom. Where on earth would I have said otherwise in my post?
Paladin wrote:notice no one is talking using the koran or torah.
Given that it seems like you're responding to me, I didn't mention ANY texts at all.
Paladin wrote:ID/Young earthers are christian zealots, pure & simple.
You sound like my wife's deceased grandfather: "Those negros are gang bangers, pure and simple."
Regardless of what you're trying to assert as truth, it is FAR from that simple. Hell, I don't even WANT ID in the science classroom (something I THOUGHT I'd made exhaustively clear in my last post), and I can even see that.
Paladin wrote:Its alien to them to discuss the possibility of a god without it being the christian god and all its teachings.
Ad hoc ergo propter hoc fallacy.
Paladin wrote:The rest of us don't care what the zealots teach their kids in Sunday school, where matters of faith belong. But they know that the supernatural fades vs science and that science disproves the bible and its stories.
Not that this is the thread for such a discussion, but you are incorrect. You saying that a Christian "knows that the supernatural fades vs science" is equivalent to a Christian saying you "know that God exists, whether or not you'll admit it."
Paladin wrote:People may have no problem believing in a god and evolution and the tenets of science but the zealots aren't happy with that because its minimizes the christian religion........................
The group to which you are referring is not even the Christian zealot group. Most Christians would consider themselves zealots (that is, that their Christianity is their prime identity, and their loyalty to living a Christian life trumps everything else). I suppose I consider myself such a zealot, or at least, I'd like to. The group you're describing are those with theocratic tendencies.
Paladin wrote:Fundamentalists are especially touchy about this because of the "literal" belief in a bible..... a book written by many men over hundereds of years after "Jesus" and manipulated by the churches to fit their "scheme" of things.
You sound like Dan Brown. Having studied Christian history, I can tell you that Dan took several enormous leaps, and was even flat-out incorrect in many aspects of his story, entertaining though it was.
Also, the term "Fundamentalist" is not synonymous with "Biblical Literalist," though overlap exists.
Paladin wrote:And with the men who wrote the bible coming from the Mid-East hotbed of religious fanatics, its not hard to look at the crazies there now and imagine what it was back then when these "holy men" were writing the books of the bible.
Most of the men that wrote biblical texts post-Persian Empire were actually (a) not considered holy authorities by their contemporaries in Coele-Syria, and (b) were LARGELY influenced by Hellenistic thought ... which placed considerable importance on reason.
Paladin wrote:The public in general gets it.
This might be the scariest sentence I've ever read. I know it's a pop-culture movie from the early 2000s, but I'd suggest the quote is virtually timeless, and probably describes most cultures, and ours in particular:
"A person is smart; people are stupid."
If you want to trust the general public to determine your worldview for you, by all means, it's your choice to do so. I wouldn't stop you.
I, however, will do so for myself through critical thinking and my own observation of the world.