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Subject: 
Re: We're being attacked by the intelligent, educated segment of culture!
Newsgroups: 
lugnet.off-topic.debate
Date: 
Wed, 30 Mar 2005 22:20:27 GMT
Viewed: 
1203 times
  
In lugnet.off-topic.debate, Dave Schuler wrote:

   The culture war, in this context, is a tiny and radical fringe that wishes to impose a primitive, pre-Enlightenment doctrine versus those who wish to embrace scientific progress and increased understanding.

Or, framed another way, an overwhelming minority who wish to impose their elitist, secular beliefs on the unwashed masses.

  
   Heh, what I find hysterical is the thought of “educated” people finding this hysterical. It’s all about the blind men and the elephant.

But Mummert (et al) is feeling the tree trunk and assuming an Infinite and Divine Creator Elephant, while Rehm (et al) is saying “hey, according to one survey this feels like a tree trunk--let’s see if other surveys confirm or contradict this analysis.”

See, here is the crux of the issue for me: science has the temerity to assume that it will ever come close to understanding that which is impossible to understand. Its tools are useless to solve the mystery of creation. It is as impossible as a 2 dimensional person trying to understand a sphere. Sure, he thinks he has it figured out (it’s circle of course!), but he hasn’t even the ability to comprehend the truth.

I love this:

Bruce H. Margon, chairman of the astronomy department at the University of Washington, told the New York Times, “It’s a fairly embarrassing situation to admit that we can’t find 90 percent of the universe”. This problem has scientists scrambling to try and find where and what this dark matter is. “What it is, is any body’s guess,” adds Dr. Margon. “Mother Nature is having a double laugh. She’s hidden most of the matter in the universe, and hidden it in a form that can’t be seen”.

Mother Nature. God. Whatever. And why is it “embarrassing”? It is because, for all we think we know, in reality, we don’t know sh!t from shinola (THIS LINK notwithstanding:)

  
   “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge.”

Why would any good parent would want his children to fear him? Wanting them to respect him, sure. But to fear him? Such a desire strikes me as unworthy of an omnibenevolent entity.

The word “fear” in this context isn’t what we would normally parse it to mean. It is more along the lines of “respect” or “awe” or “acknowledgement”. And it is not an expectation of God, but an attitude of humility from us. I’m sorry I chose that particular translation-- I like the term “wisdom” better than “knowledge”. One can be very knowledgable and yet be very unwise at the same time. That is from Proverbs, BTW, first chapter.

JOHN



Message has 3 Replies:
  Re: We're being attacked by the intelligent, educated segment of culture!
 
(...) So what exactly are you implying here - that God's got a huge mASS? Spencer (20 years ago, 31-Mar-05, to lugnet.off-topic.debate)
  Re: We're being attacked by the intelligent, educated segment of culture!
 
(...) But let's be clear--that so-called elitist minority is arguing in favor of that which can be confirmed by independent observation and experiment, whereas Mummert et al are arguing that we should teach creationism because the bible says it's (...) (20 years ago, 31-Mar-05, to lugnet.off-topic.debate, FTX)
  Re: We're being attacked by the intelligent, educated segment of culture!
 
(...) I'm not sure I agree. If we found a dynamic systems model of the universe which predicted the future (and the past) with ridiculous accuracy, and used it to backtrack in time, I think it could effectively prove evolution to be accurate or not. (...) (20 years ago, 31-Mar-05, to lugnet.off-topic.debate, FTX)

Message is in Reply To:
  Re: We're being attacked by the intelligent, educated segment of culture!
 
(...) I likewise suspect that Mummert was making an attempt at irony, and the fact that he also happened to frame the issue correctly is more ironic still. The culture war, in this context, is a tiny and radical fringe that wishes to impose a (...) (20 years ago, 30-Mar-05, to lugnet.off-topic.debate, FTX)

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