Hello John,
>Tim wrote: "Well, as we know I'm not a Christian, and if
> I were one to overgeneralize, that comment would might
> lead me to suspect that being Christian can be a serious
> impediment to one's ability to appreciate science. But
> as Ernst Mayr notes, this is a chauvinism not uncommonly
> found in physicists (religious and otherwise), so one's
> religion can't necessarily be blamed."
>
>At the NTSE conference in Austin, Stephen Schafersman made that very
>claim, both in his paper (which was still available at Rob Koon's web
>site last time I looked) and in private conversation. He even said he
>would not engage a Christian plumber if another option were available
>because, he said, the Christian plumber would necessarily have to
>consider the supernatural as a possible cause of the toilet backing up
>and that, alone, would make him less efficient a worker and an inferior
>plumber.
>
>Stephen and I had two or three very gentlemanly conversations on this
>during the conference and I subsequently mentioned the topic in my NTSE
>review for the ARN journal a year later. Copy on my web site somewhere.
>Burgy (John Burgeson)
Hello John.
I looked and found the NTSE conference review. Did you post that
a few years ago on the ASA or Evolution list? Or maybe I'm confusing
that with some other reviews I've read.
Anyhow, rest assured that I wouldn't hesitate to hire a Christian
plumber to work on my sink. On second thought, maybe I would hesitate.
I think I can pretty much manage any repairs on my sinks. But I'd
certainly hire one for working on a connection to the city sewer.
Likewise, I don't care what religion a person embraces when I read
their papers. But my tolerance has limits. For example, if I had to
fill a position for an evolutionary biologist, I doubt that I would
seriously consider an application from a Christian physicist*.
BTW - I liked seeing that you included a link to the religioustolerance
site on your web page. I think that's an excellent site.
Regards,
Tim Ikeda
tikeda@sprintmail.com
*unless they were also trained as a biologist...
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