Re: Cobb County

On Wed, 19 Jan 2005 20:32:49 -0600 (CST) "Roger G. Olson"
<rogero@saintjoe.edu> writes:
> I'm forwarding this message from Ed with his permission.
>
> Ed Hassertt wrote:
>
> I am gathering this information now, as I have not had access to
> these
> textbooks for about 3 years since I started law school and have had
> my
> time filled with other things. I am in the middle of a case, so
> research takes the free time I have, which isn't much. Give me a
> few
> days and I should be able to produce them as long as the schools are
>
> using the same textbooks I had to examine 3 years ago for my
> Philosophy
> of Science course.
>
> Maybe you could cite a signal textbook that has no philosophical or
> religious claims in its statements concerning evolution and
> cosmology and
> we can compare.
>
> Here are a few examples I have:
>
> This is a book our neighbor's daughter had in her Sociology Class:
>
> Sociology by Beth R. Hess, the quote is from page 400
>
> "Secular humanism "reflects the Enlightenment's emphasis on
> rationality,
> science, and personal effort rather than blind faith in supernatural
>
> powers. Among the tenets of humanist philosophy are:
>
> 1. A faith in human intelligence and abilities.
> 2. A commitment to democracy and civil liberties.
> 3. A belief in the importance of, if not the divine origin, of
> the Ten
> Commandments and of the ideals of social equity, the community of
> humankind, and world peace.
> 4. Opposition to all theories of predestination, divine
> determination, and fatalism.
> 5. Compassionate concern for all human beings."
>
> "These are the beliefs that conservative Christians in the
> United
> States fear being taught to their children"
>
> This book was used at my wife's high school although she didn't take
> the
> course:
>
> Anthropology, by Haviland
>
> "Religion can be defined as: when people are unable to solve their
> problems through knowledge and science, they "turn to the
> manipulation of
> supernatural beings and powers." - 563
>
The first quotation seems to me to be reasonably close to accurate. The
commitment of secular humanists is as presented. There is slanting in the
use of "fear," but that apart, it is true of Christians of all stripes. I
believe that the most antireligious group among faculty are sociologists
and those in related fields.

The second quotation is slanted, but reasonably accurate. Religion occurs
long before there was science, and has been consistently an attempt to
placate deities who may be malevolent or to control deities through
charms and incantations. This is one reason why there is strong objection
to calling Christianity a religion. Whereas religion involves doing
something to achieve merit or benefits, Christianity denies the efficacy
of activity and demands acceptance of God's gift. Only orthodox
Christianity is unconditionally dependent on a historical event that
cannot be explained scientifically, the resurrection.
Dave
Received on Wed Jan 19 23:37:11 2005