Re: [asa] Darwin's anti-slavery Sacred Cause

"Until more TEs realize that Christians in general - not just YECs - are attacked by secularists as being fundamentally 'anti-science', their impact will be limited. Denouncing YECs is not enough, and will never be enough. A fight has to be opened against people who insist that evolution is not compatible with God - or better yet, against those who argue that teleology does not and cannot exist in nature, much less evolution."

This analysis is spot on. We only need look to what's happening with Ken Miller to confirm it. Jerry Coyne publicly attacked him as a creationist and likened his faith to adultery and Sam Harris, Dan Dennett, and Stephen Pinker have piled on. TEs around here seem to have responded with little more than a yawn.

Imagine what the average church goer sees. Mainstream scientists attack Christianity in the name of science. TEs respond by attacking YECs.

Mike

  ----- Original Message -----
  From: Schwarzwald
  To: asa@calvin.edu
  Sent: Saturday, February 14, 2009 11:24 AM
  Subject: Re: [asa] Darwin's anti-slavery Sacred Cause

  While I have no sympathy for the YEC view, I think quite a lot of damage has been done by secularists who have happily insisted that one cannot both accept evolution and at the same time believe in God, much less Christianity, in the desire to use evolution and science in general as a stick to beat religion with. Unfortunately, many have shown that if they have to make such a false choice, they won't pick what secularists hoped they would.

  Until more TEs realize that Christians in general - not just YECs - are attacked by secularists as being fundamentally 'anti-science', their impact will be limited. Denouncing YECs is not enough, and will never be enough. A fight has to be opened against people who insist that evolution is not compatible with God - or better yet, against those who argue that teleology does not and cannot exist in nature, much less evolution.

  On Sat, Feb 14, 2009 at 11:10 AM, Dick Fischer <dickfischer@verizon.net> wrote:

    "A recent Pew survey found that fewer than 10 percent of evangelical Christians believe life evolved through natural selection. Secular Americans were the only respondents who voiced majority support for the theory."

    Truly sad. YECs have done there fowl damage while we lack the courage to speak out. If ASA can't take a stand I guess we have to leave it to good old reliable secular Americans. Maybe we can generate more of them.

    Dick Fischer, GPA president

    Genesis Proclaimed Association

    "Finding Harmony in Bible, Science and History"

    www.genesisproclaimed.org

    -----Original Message-----
    From: asa-owner@lists.calvin.edu [mailto:asa-owner@lists.calvin.edu] On Behalf Of Jack Haas
    Sent: Saturday, February 14, 2009 10:21 AM
    To: ASA list
    Subject: [asa] Darwin's anti-slavery Sacred Cause

    This carefully researched work takes a new twist on Darwin. It is one book worth
    reading out of the torrent that is appearing.
    JWH
    ___________________________________________________________________________
    Some Christians Protest Darwin's Birthday. Is Their Antagonism Misplaced?

    Not everyone is celebrating the 200th anniversary of Charles Darwin's birth. Some are protesting. A Christian ministry called Answers in Genesis is holding anti-Darwin conferences on the East and West coasts this month, aimed at helping Americans "understand that Darwinian evolution is wrong and that it has undermined the Christian faith and has fueled social ills like racism and abortion." Faith-based opposition to Darwin is hardly consigned to the religious fringe. A recent Pew survey found that fewer than 10 percent of evangelical Christians believe life evolved through natural selection. Secular Americans were the only respondents who voiced majority support for the theory.

    A new book, Darwin's Sacred Cause, argues that Christian antagonism toward Darwin is misplaced. Acclaimed Darwin biographers Adrian Desmond and James Moore portray a Christian Darwin who was driven by his faith-based opposition to slavery to prove the common origin of the human race. A theory of common human decency, Darwin believed, would undermine a key precept of the slave trade: that blacks comprise an inferior race separate from whites.... (Interview with Moore)

    US News & World Report
    Full Story at <http://www.usnews.com/blogs/god-and-country/2009/02/13/charles-darwin-christian.html>
    _____________________________________________________________________________

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Received on Sat Feb 14 12:00:17 2009