[asa] Letter to thinking Christians (and other theists)

At UcD, Denyse O'Leary presents a bleak picture of how ID activists
see the world. While I can understand her failures to properly
understand the scientific aspects of evolutionary science, I find here
theological position even more deplorable.

http://www.uncommondescent.com/intelligent-design/letter-to-thinking-christians-and-other-theists/

She mentions George Murphy

<quote>
 In the present day, a prolific contributor to the American Scientific
Affiliation's discussion site on these issues, who is a Lutheran,
writes,

    I long ago made peace with the idea that God could use evolution
to form our physical bodies. What was new to me, from the atheists'
perspective, was the
    idea that the intangible aspects of us, like feelings, emotions,
consciousness, etc. (which I had equated with the God-given, eternal
soul) could also arise (ala emergent properties) naturally. Thus, I've
acquired a new-found interest in the fields of pyschology, neurology,
and computer science as I try to reconceptualize the idea of a "soul".

    At least in the vast majority of cases God works "in, with &
under" the activities of creatures so that we don't see God at work
directly. Luther called the created things through which God acts "the
masks of our Lord God, behind which He wants to remain concealed and
do all things." This means, I think, that we shouldn't be surprised
if, among other things, human beings don't contain any special
"supernatural" component.

The question is not whether such beliefs - or persons - are good or
bad, or sincere or otherwise. What you need to ask is a much simpler
and entirely determinable question: Is this stuff compatible with your
spiritual tradition? If not, recognize the situation for what it is:
undermining from within.</quote>

She ends with a worry that

<quote>Anyway, materialist undermining at your worship centre can be
detected by careful listening and observation. Be ready to ask the
right questions at the right times. If you wait too long, it may be
far advanced and therefore harder to stop.</quote>

I hope that the faithful realize that much more damage is being
inflicted to worship centres by Intelligent Design, which not only
proposes scientifically vacuous arguments but also exposes faith to
scientific scrutiny and disproof.

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Received on Sun Apr 15 19:04:55 2007