Re: selective citation

In a message dated 2/17/2005 8:22:26 AM Eastern Standard Time, <drsyme@cablespeed.com> writes:

>Here is another interesting quote:

>Darwinism and Terrorism
>
>As we have so far seen, Darwinism is at the root of
>various ideologies of violence that have spelled disaster
>to mankind in the 20th century. The fundamental concept
>behind this understanding and method is "fighting whoever
>is not one of us."

rich:
Keep in mind that whether or not you embrace Darwinism philosophically, the reality of Darwinian selection does not go away.

>We can explain this in the following way: There are
>different beliefs, worldviews and philosophies in the
>world. It is very natural that all these diverse ideas
>have traits opposing one another. However, these different
>stances can look at each other in one of two ways:
>
>1) They can respect the existence of those who are not
>like them and try to establish dialogue with them,
>employing a humane method. Indeed, this method conforms
>with the morality of the Qur'an.
>
>2) They can choose to fight others, and to try to secure
>an advantage by damaging them, in other words, to behave
>like a wild animal. This is a method employed by
>materialism, that is, irreligion.
>
>The horror we call terrorism is nothing other than a
>statement of the second view.
>
>When we consider the difference between these two
>approaches, we can see that the idea of "man as a fighting
>animal" which Darwinism has subconsciously imposed on
>people is particularly influential. Individuals and groups
>who choose the way of conflict may never have heard of
>Darwinism and the principles of that ideology. But at the
>end of the day they agree with a view whose philosophical
>basis rests on Darwinism. What leads them to believe in
>the rightness of this view is such Darwinism-based slogans
>as "In this world, the strong survive", "Big fish swallow
>little ones", "War is a virtue", and "Man advances by
>waging war". Take Darwinism away, and these are nothing
>but empty slogans.
>
>Actually, when Darwinism is taken away, no philosophy of
>'conflict' remains. The three divine religions that most
>people in the world believe in, Islam, Christianity and
>Judaism, all oppose violence. All three religions wish to
>bring peace and harmony to the world, and oppose innocent
>people being killed and suffering cruelty and torture.
>Conflict and violence violate the morality that God has
>set out for man, and are abnormal and unwanted concepts.
>However, Darwinism sees and portrays conflict and violence
>as natural, justified and correct concepts that have to
>exist.
>
>For this reason, if some people commit terrorism using the
>concepts and symbols of Islam, Christianity or Judaism in
>the name of those religions, you can be sure that those
>people are not Muslims, Christians or Jews. They are real
>Social Darwinists. They hide under a cloak of religion,
>but they are not genuine believers. Even if they claim to
>be serving religion, they are actually enemies of religion
>and of believers. That is because they are ruthlessly
>committing a crime that religion forbids, and in such a
>way as to blacken religion in peoples' eyes.

rich:
You are completely ignoring the distinction between ancient tribal religions that evolved to advance the survival of a group, and the modern universalist traditions like Buddhism and Christianity. Judaism is an ancient tribal religion, a distant cousin of Zoroastrianism practiced by present day Parsees, a reproductively isolated group.

>For this reason, the root of the terrorism that plagues
>our planet is not any of the divine religions, but in
>atheism, and the expression of atheism in our times:
>"Darwinism" and "materialism."

rich:
Be careful here. If a tribal religion evolves, it must do so according to Darwinian principles, therefore you cannot separate an evolved religion and Darwinian principles. Note that I say Darwinian principles, not Darwinism, which is a social view derived from the awareness of the ubiquity of Darwinian principles.

>Darwinism and Terrorism
>
>As we have so far seen, Darwinism is at the root of
>various ideologies of violence that have spelled disaster
>to mankind in the 20th century. The fundamental concept
>behind this understanding and method is "fighting whoever
>is not one of us."
>
>We can explain this in the following way: There are
>different beliefs, worldviews and philosophies in the
>world. It is very natural that all these diverse ideas
>have traits opposing one another. However, these different
>stances can look at each other in one of two ways:
>
>1) They can respect the existence of those who are not
>like them and try to establish dialogue with them,
>employing a humane method. Indeed, this method conforms
>with the morality of the Qur'an.
>
>2) They can choose to fight others, and to try to secure
>an advantage by damaging them, in other words, to behave
>like a wild animal. This is a method employed by
>materialism, that is, irreligion.
>
>The horror we call terrorism is nothing other than a
>statement of the second view.
>
>When we consider the difference between these two
>approaches, we can see that the idea of "man as a fighting
>animal" which Darwinism has subconsciously imposed on
>people is particularly influential. Individuals and groups
>who choose the way of conflict may never have heard of
>Darwinism and the principles of that ideology. But at the
>end of the day they agree with a view whose philosophical
>basis rests on Darwinism. What leads them to believe in
>the rightness of this view is such Darwinism-based slogans
>as "In this world, the strong survive", "Big fish swallow
>little ones", "War is a virtue", and "Man advances by
>waging war". Take Darwinism away, and these are nothing
>but empty slogans.

rich:
Darwinian principles form the backbone of the Hebrew Bible, long before there was a Darwin.

>Actually, when Darwinism is taken away, no philosophy of
>'conflict' remains. The three divine religions that most
>people in the world believe in, Islam, Christianity and
>Judaism, all oppose violence. All three religions wish to
>bring peace and harmony to the world, and oppose innocent
>people being killed and suffering cruelty and torture.

rich:
Consider one of the Hebrew Bible's champions, Ezra, who brought the law back from Babylon and read it to the people.
 "The land which you are entering and will possess is a polluted land, polluted by the foreign population with their abominable practices, which have made it unclean from end to end. Therefore do not give your daughters in marriage to their sons, and do not marry your sons to their daughters, and never seek their welfare or prosperity. Thus you will be strong and enjoy the good things of the land, and pass it on to your children as an everlasting possession. Ezra 9:11-13"

What is described is a displacement of one people by another. There is no mercy in the above lines, just a severe pragmatism.

>Conflict and violence violate the morality that God has
>set out for man, and are abnormal and unwanted concepts.
>However, Darwinism sees and portrays conflict and violence
>as natural, justified and correct concepts that have to
>exist.
>
>For this reason, if some people commit terrorism using the
>concepts and symbols of Islam, Christianity or Judaism in
>the name of those religions, you can be sure that those
>people are not Muslims, Christians or Jews. They are real
>Social Darwinists. They hide under a cloak of religion,
>but they are not genuine believers. Even if they claim to
>be serving religion, they are actually enemies of religion
>and of believers. That is because they are ruthlessly
>committing a crime that religion forbids, and in such a
>way as to blacken religion in peoples' eyes.
>
>For this reason, the root of the terrorism that plagues
>our planet is not any of the divine religions, but in
>atheism, and the expression of atheism in our times:
>"Darwinism" and "materialism."

rich:
There are major differences between the "divine" religions that make the above assumption untenable.

rich faussette
Received on Thu Feb 17 12:51:18 2005