Re: [asa] Richard Lewontin quote on Naturalism

>At 11:52 AM 1/12/2007, Lawrence Johnston wrote:
>Hi ASAophiles -
>
>Some of you may like to collect pithy quotes and
>sayings, so here is my choice one for cleearly
>showing the soul driving force behind those who
>cling to Metaphysical Naturalism, AKA Materialism, AKA Scientific Atheism.
>
>QUOTE from Richard Lewontin, Evolutionary Geneticist at Harvard U.
>
>"Our willingness to accept scientific claims
>that are against common sense is the key to an
>understanding of the real struggle between
>science and the supernatural. We take the side
>of science in spite of the patent absurdity
>of some of its constructs, in spite of its
>failure to fulfill many of its extravagant
>promises of health and life, in spite of the
>tolerance of the scientific community for
>unsubstantiated just-so stories, because we have
>a prior commitment, a commitment to materialism.
>It is not that the methods and institutions of
>science somehow compel us to accept a material
>explanation of the phenomenal world, but, on the
>contrary, that we are forced by our *a priori*
>adherence to material causes to create an
>apparatus of investigation and a set of concepts
>that produce material explanations, no matter
>how counter-intuitive, no matter how mystifying
>to the uninitiated. Moreover, that materialism
>is absolute, for we cannot allow a Divine Foot
>in the door." (Lewontin R., "Billions and
>Billions of Demons," Review of "The
>Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark," by Carl Sagan.
>
>What's your favorite quote? ~ Larry Johnston

@ I can think of several favorites off the top of my head:

"The foolishness of God is wiser than men; and
the weakness of God is stronger than men. For ye
see your calling, brethren, how that not many
wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not
many noble, are called: but God hath chosen the
foolish things of the world to confound the wise;
and God hath chosen the weak things of the world
to confound the things which are mighty; and base
things of the world, and things which are
despised, hath God chosen, yea, and things which
are not, to bring to nought things that are: that
no flesh should glory in his presence (1 Cor. 1:25-29).

"It is written, I will destroy the wisdom of the
wise, and will bring to nothing the understanding
of the prudent" (1 Cor. 1:19).

"If any man among you thinks that he is wise in
this age, let him become foolish that he may become wise" (1 Cor. 3:18).

"Your faith should not stand in the wisdom of
men, but in the power of God. Howbeit we speak
wisdom among them that are perfect: yet not the
wisdom of this world, nor of the princes of this
world, that come to nought." 1 Corinthians 2:5-6

"Let no man deceive himself. If any man among you
seems to be wise in this world, let him become a
fool, that he may be wise. For the wisdom of this
world is foolishness with God." 1 Corinthians 3:18-19

And last but not least:

"...a well-educated liberal who is not a
fundamentalist is much more likely to accept
evolution than a conservative fundamentalist with
only a high school education. You can see the
trend fairly clearly: here we see the percent
believing in evolution vs. fundamentalism, amount
of education, and self-reported political views. ..." ~ Pim

"..Only among the highly educated are there still
those who believe that men and women are
basically the same. Going back a generation or
two, support for Josef Stalin, perhaps the
greatest mass murderer in history, was almost
entirely confined in the West to intellectuals.
German Ph.D.s were also among Hitler’s greatest
supporters. The moral record of ..Lenin’s “useful
idiots”­ is the worst of any single group in free
societies in the last hundred
years. .."
http://www.jewcy.com/dialogue/wednesday_why_are_atheists_so_angry_dennis_prager

"..scientists are, across the board, less
religious than
nonscientists..."
http://www.jewcy.com/dialogue/thursday_why_are_atheists_so_angry_sam_harris

~ Janice :)

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Received on Sat Jan 13 18:15:10 2007