Re: [asa] Miller and Myers on Harris

The appointment of someone who is both a prominet scientists and a Christian who speaks freely about his faith by a liberal administration makes it clear how detached the "new atheists" are from civil discourse in the American public square. I think they realize that - although they'd phrase the matter differently.

Shalom
George
http://home.roadrunner.com/~scitheologyglm

  ----- Original Message -----
  From: Nucacids
  To: Dehler, Bernie ; asa@calvin.edu
  Sent: Wednesday, July 29, 2009 11:28 AM
  Subject: Re: [asa] Miller and Myers on Harris

  He would say no. The type of Christian he could support is one who keeps quiet about his faith (although Harris would not state it so bluntly).
  Remember, this is all politics. As such, Collins represents an existential threat to the NA movement by simply being both an outspoken Christian and a leading scientist. While many on this list enjoy scientific, theological, or philosophical arguments, for most people out in the real world, the mere fact that a leading scientist can be such an outspoken Christian is sufficient to completely discount the NA message. Only by getting people like Collins to keep his faith in the closet can the NAs more effectively equate science with atheism and pseudoscience with religion.

  Mike

  ----- Original Message -----
    From: Dehler, Bernie
    To: asa@calvin.edu
    Sent: Wednesday, July 29, 2009 11:04 AM
    Subject: RE: [asa] Miller and Myers on Harris

    I would like to ask Sam Harris:
    "Do you think a prerequisite for the job is that one must be an atheist?"

    I would truly like to know his answer. And if he says 'no' then I'd ask what kind of Christian could he support, if not Collins?

    .Bernie

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    From: asa-owner@lists.calvin.edu [mailto:asa-owner@lists.calvin.edu] On Behalf Of Nucacids
    Sent: Wednesday, July 29, 2009 7:53 AM
    To: asa@calvin.edu; cmekve@aol.com
    Subject: Re: [asa] Miller and Myers on Harris

    Cue response from the other Myers (PZ) in 5.4.3..

    Seriously, it's good to see people come to the defense of Collins. Harris's piece was purely political and an attempt to advance his Cause. Of course, since it's a NYT piece, Harris held back his more vitriolic opinions about Collins and instead played the role of concern troll. Nevertheless, Collins is the big fish here and he should ignore these NA attacks, which are nothing more than attention-seeking tactics.

    -Mike

      ----- Original Message -----

      From: cmekve@aol.com

      To: asa@calvin.edu

      Sent: Wednesday, July 29, 2009 10:12 AM

      Subject: [asa] Miller and Myers on Harris

      Todays New York Times has a number of letters regarding Sam Harris's op-ed piece on Francis Collins. Two letters very supportive of Collins are from Ken Miller and David Myers (psychology prof at Hope College and I believe an ASA member). See http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/29/opinion/l29collins.html?_r=1&hpw

      Karl (asa member)
      ***********************
      Karl V. Evans
      cmekve@aol.com

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Received on Wed Jul 29 11:38:00 2009