Re: [asa] Re: (Santa?) [christians_in_science] Brilliant article by Dawkins

Heya Mike,

I'm reminded of an old joke about a general objecting to Abraham Lincoln's
promotion of Ulysses S. Grant on account of the man being known to drink
heavily. With Lincoln's response being to look at Grant's battlefield
record, then telling the general to find out what Grant is drinking and give
it to the rest of the commanding officers.

On Wed, Aug 26, 2009 at 9:48 PM, Nucacids <nucacids@wowway.com> wrote:

> "So- in the case of Dawkins, I think Dawkins should be more understanding
> since Christianity is believed by so many. But if the NIH appointee did
> really believe/promote the Easter Bunny, then I think we all would/should
> oppose him, regardless of his awesome scientific beliefs, because he is
> looney."
>
> Huh? For this example to have any meaning or relevance, you must also
> assume the appointee has the same CV as Collins. And if so, you have a huge
> problem. If he is "looney", how is it that he is such an outstanding
> scientist?
>
> Mike
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> ----- Original Message ----- From: "Dehler, Bernie" <
> bernie.dehler@intel.com>
> To: <asa@calvin.edu>
> Sent: Wednesday, August 26, 2009 11:38 AM
> Subject: RE: [asa] Re: (Santa?) [christians_in_science] Brilliant article
> by Dawkins
>
>
>
> Ted said:
>> "God and Santa Claus are not close equivalents. Period."
>>
>> I think you are missing the point. Obviously you believe in God, so for
>> you, they are totally different. But IF you were convinced like Dawkins
>> that God is non-existent, then God is on the same exact level as the Easter
>> Bunny (I didn't say Santa because before someone said they believed in a
>> Santa, St. Nick- so I had to go more extreme with the E.B.).
>>
>> So Ted and others- if a prominent scientist, who was outstanding in his
>> field, and also believed in the Easter Bunny and had a website promoting
>> this belief in the E.B., would you object to his NIH appointment? It is a
>> great question.
>>
>> 1. On one hand, who cares if the person believes in the E.B. because he is
>> an outstanding scientist. (Pastor Murray wrote along these lines.)
>>
>> 2. On the other hand, is this person nuts or what???
>>
>> Where the analogy breaks down is that many people really do believe in
>> God. But no adult really believes in the E.B. If instead of E.B. I said
>> Zeus, that's not as controversial, as it is just another religion (and our
>> society is traditionally very tolerant of other religious viewpoints). The
>> E.B. stands for pure fantasy/myth, as Dawkins is convinced that Yahweh is
>> pure fantasy/myth.
>>
>> So- in the case of Dawkins, I think Dawkins should be more understanding
>> since Christianity is believed by so many. But if the NIH appointee did
>> really believe/promote the Easter Bunny, then I think we all would/should
>> oppose him, regardless of his awesome scientific beliefs, because he is
>> looney.
>>
>> ...Bernie
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: asa-owner@lists.calvin.edu [mailto:asa-owner@lists.calvin.edu] On
>> Behalf Of Ted Davis
>> Sent: Tuesday, August 25, 2009 2:26 PM
>> To: asa@calvin.edu; schwarzwald@gmail.com
>> Subject: Re: [asa] Re: (Santa?) [christians_in_science] Brilliant article
>> by Dawkins
>>
>> This garbage about an approximate equivalence between believing in God and
>> believing in Santa Claus or the Easter Bunny is hardly original to Dawkins
>> -- who, apart from his idea of religion being a "meme" that we "catch" like
>> a virus, hasn't had an original thought about religion in his life.
>>
>> I could show examples of this from early in the 20th century, though I'd
>> have to dig through a bunch of notes to find them and I won't bother. Around
>> 1998, I had an exchange with Phil Johnson about methodological naturalism,
>> in which he also implicitly equated my belief in God with belief in Santa
>> Claus, since I wasn't persuaded by his assault on naturalism.
>>
>> God and Santa Claus are not close equivalents. Period. That's what I
>> said to Johnson, and what I'd tell Dawkins -- as if he would be listening.
>>
>> On the other hand, I think we can be confident that God is left-handed
>> (the fact that I am also is, I assure you, independent of this conclusion)
>> and is almost certainly a fan of the Boston Red Sox and the Chicago Cubs.
>> (That's one reason why the Cubs didn't get to the World Series in one of the
>> recent years when the Saux did -- God wouldn't have known what to do. Thus,
>> in one memorable instance, God intervened through the glove of a fan near
>> the foul line in Wrigley Field. This relates to theodicy as well, but I'll
>> leave that out for now.)
>>
>> Ted
>>
>>
>>
>> To unsubscribe, send a message to majordomo@calvin.edu with
>> "unsubscribe asa" (no quotes) as the body of the message.
>>
>>
>> To unsubscribe, send a message to majordomo@calvin.edu with
>> "unsubscribe asa" (no quotes) as the body of the message.
>>
>
>
>
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
>
>
> No virus found in this incoming message.
> Checked by AVG - www.avg.com
> Version: 8.5.408 / Virus Database: 270.13.65/2322 - Release Date: 08/23/09
> 18:03:00
>
>
> To unsubscribe, send a message to majordomo@calvin.edu with
> "unsubscribe asa" (no quotes) as the body of the message.
>

To unsubscribe, send a message to majordomo@calvin.edu with
"unsubscribe asa" (no quotes) as the body of the message.
Received on Wed Aug 26 22:10:18 2009