A new subscriber

Ed Brayton (cynic@net-link.net)
Fri, 27 Mar 1998 19:38:48 -0500

I have just joined the evolution reflector and thought I would send a
brief message to introduce myself to everyone else. My name is Ed
Brayton. I was referred to this list by John Burgeson, who I know from
the Compuserve Religious Issues Forum. I have been a long time
participant in the creation/evolution debate as an interested amateur. I
have virtually no formal academic background in any relevant field, but
have studied the matter on my own for many years.

A quick and basic introduction to my position on the subject at hand: I
am a staunch advocate of the theory of evolution (I prefer Plantinga's
phrase "Theory of Common Ancestry (TCA)", and a deist. I do not accept
the atheistic interpretation of evolution advocated by Dawkins and
Dennett, nor do I think that evolution has any bearing on the question
of the existence of god (though perhaps God is another matter depending
on your specific conception thereof). I think the TCA is entirely
seperable from abiogenesis theories and would not be a bit surprised to
find out that the first life forms were placed on earth by a creator,
though I personally tend toward an even weaker version of the anthropic
principle that that suggests.

I'm looking forward to interacting with everyone on the list.

Ed Brayton