Re: [asa] An Intelligent Design Riddle

In reply to the tough ice-hockey player or his namesake, I remark that
Dawkins' "The Greatest Show on Earth'" is currently ranked #31 among
books at Amazon.com. . I have browsed through this book in a bookshop
(I am in no hurry to buy it). It appears to be mainly elementary
science and on that subject Dawkins writes very well. I found nothing
objectionable in it -- it is only when Dawkins tries to write about
Christianity (or religion in general) that he makes a fool of himself.
In the present book he has some strong words to say about YECs, but I
too have had on occasion some strong words to say about YECs.
Don

Murray Hogg wrote:
> Hi Schwarzwald,
>
> I don't have a great deal of time to engage with this, but I would
> offer two observations;
>
> First, isn't this merely pushing the question back one step? That is,
> even IF there is some human like intelligence creating multiple
> universes, then how does that solve anything? Surely in order to make
> "sub-universes" they civilization doing so would have to understand
> very much about THEIR universe. And why, then, would THEIR universe be
> understandable.
>
> So, my first run past the post is to ask whether this position isn't
> an "evasion" of the question. Analogous to the "answer" to biogenesis
> offered by theories of panspermia.
>
> Second, on the new atheists - I would be very interested to know what
> the sales figures are for Dawkin's new book "The Greatest Show on
> Earth". I happen to know a number of atheists who were quite put off
> by "The God Delusion" and I wonder if the entire enterprise hasn't
> been similarly coloured by the clear overstatements of the neo-atheist
> brigade.
> I suspect that atheism of Dawkin's sort appeals to two audiences:
> those too young to know better, and ex-fundamentalists who share his
> epistemology. Anybody who has an ounce of philosophical or theological
> sophistication, however, will, I think, eschew his absolutist
> pronouncements.
>
> So, yep, I reckon as sort of quasi-religious scientism with a dash of
> undefined theism will be the preferred option for thinking folk.
>
> I'm gone for the day (again!)
>
> Blessings,
> Murray
>

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Received on Tue Oct 20 21:39:02 2009