From: John W Burgeson (jwburgeson@juno.com)
Date: Mon Oct 27 2003 - 01:17:40 EST
Wayne wrote, in part: "My main concern is the rapidly diminishing
ways to even engage the people who don't want "E" taught to their kids,
and cling tightly to a YEC model. I fear we may have already lost any way
to
engage any of these people."
I'm reading a book right now called THE FRACTURE OF GOOD ORDER, by Jason
Bivins, which, among other things, addresses just that point. The
subtitle of the book is "Christian Antiliberalism and the Challenge to
American Politics." (The word in the subtitle, "Antiliberalism" does not
refer to left/right or conservative/liberal, by the way, but to the
rebellion against the political tradition of Locke, Smith, Mill, etc.)
Bivins analyses three antiliberal groups, the Sojourners, the New
Christian Right and the Berrigan brothers. While not in agreement with
any of them, he does address the extent to which their members are
relatively marginalized in modern society, and how, because of that
marginalization, they cling ever more tightly to their models and refuse
engagement with those with whom they disagree.
Perhaps that is what we are doing wrong. We fight hard against letting
YEC creationism, and ID creationism, be taught in our schools, and by
making martyrs make the problem worse, not better. Perhaps we need to let
the YECers and IDers engage fully in the public forums. If there is
anything of value there, it will come out. More likely, the nonsense will
be revealed publicly.
Yes -- I am a fan of Mill's "On Liberty."
Burgy
www.burgy.50megs.com
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