----- Original Message ----- From: "William T Goodall" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: "Killer Bs Discussion" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Saturday, November 01, 2003 2:28 PM Subject: Re: religious/political question
> Unfortunately, as Dan Minette pointed out last year this definition > 'can equally be applied to mountain climbing, biking, etc.' - because > it is not a definition of religion at all, it is a definition of the > figurative usage of the word religion as applied to things that are not > religion at all in a normal sense. And, IIRC, you jumped all over me when I was making that argument. You even alleged that my momma sewed socks that smell. :-) I wouldn't call you any more or less religious than a Marxist. People with theist, non-theist, and atheistic viewpoints can be dogmatic about their metaphysical beliefs. One of the manifestations of dogmatism that I have noticed over the years is the attitude that "error has no rights." Another is the denial of data that contradicts a priori belief. A third is the metaphorical extrapolation that is then taken as literal truth. An interesting aside to this is a conversation I had with an atheist friend of mine during a long drive at the end of a business trip. He pointed out that the conflict between evolution and fundamentalism didn't really start until the 20s. At that time, Social Darwinism was raising its ugly head; and folks took notice. The real fight was between fundamentalists and folks who held a nonsensical extrapolation from a reasonable (albeit rather general at the time) scientific theory. Dan M. _______________________________________________ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
