Re: [asa] Nothing_in_Biology_Makes_Sense_Except_in_the_Light_of_Evolution

>> But in the past few years, what I've started to find odd is the insistence that evolution is the single most
>> important scientific claim in town...

Obviously, there's the fact that it is the about the most vigorously
contested (in the popular arena) scientific claim that is generally
accepted in the scientific community (though global warming is
similar). There's also the fact that many are trying to push
evolution as part of a more or less atheistic agenda.

On the other hand, Wile's YEC middle school science textbook tries to
attack the credibility of science (except YEC claims) across the
board, and more generally a lot of other scientific errors generally
are promoted as a part of antievolutionism.

However, public grasp of other issues is probably about as bad if not
worse. Science News several years back had a comparison of views on
science from a survey taken at a fairly conservative Christian
gathering and at a neopagan-type gathering; the latter overall were
further from scientific reality (even often on age of the earth).

> Because the NAs need evolution to be true with only natural causes so that they can be intellectually fulfilled atheists.<

Many "new atheists" try vigorously to give the impression that their
intellect is weak enough to be fulfilled by evolution, such as when
they claim that evolution allowed one to be intellectually fulfilled
atheists. On the one hand, I doubt that Dawkins really wants to claim
that all the pre-evolution atheists were idiots who should have been
theists instead. On the other hand, biological evolution fails to
provide intellectual fulfillment for atheists on two counts. First,
NA's are assuming scientism. Evolution provides a good explanation of
how biology works. But in claiming that evolution provides
intellectual fulfillment, they are assuming that a scientific
explanation of origins is all that they need for intellectual
fulfillment. Second, even if you grant that, evolution was not the
last missing link in providing a scientific explanation of origins.
20th century developments in physics and cosmology (e.g., fusion as a
stellar energy source) are necessary to provide a reasonably complete
scientific model of origins.

-- 
Dr. David Campbell
425 Scientific Collections
University of Alabama
"I think of my happy condition, surrounded by acres of clams"
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