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> FYI, an interesting POV to be shared with many, especially conservative > Christians. I would agree with this except it annoys me no end to a fix a gender to the vast, omnipotent, omniscient entity - the Creator or God as it were - re: the last sentence. > http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/living/columnists/leonard_pitts/1277899 > 2.htm > Posted on Fri, Sep. 30, 2005 > IN MY OPINION > Scientists Don't Sue to Gain Access to Pulpits > BY LEONARD PITTS JR. ( [EMAIL PROTECTED] ) > > The Ku Klux Klan is a terrorist group. It was organized in 1865 for the > purpose of controlling and oppressing newly freed slaves through > intimidation, violence and murder. > > Not many people will argue with that. Historians in particular will find the > statement uncontroversial. > > But 10 years ago in Vicksburg, Miss., I learned an alternate view. Vicksburg > was an especially stubborn stronghold of Confederate sentiment during the > Civil War -- refused to celebrate the Fourth of July again until 1944. Small > wonder, then, that a museum there featured an exhibit claiming the Klan was > actually formed to save the South from corrupt black governments and that, > while ''many people suffered, some no doubt innocently,'' the night riders > sought only to "restore some semblance of decency.'' > > It's a lie, of course, but it's a lie some of us believe. So here's the > question: When we teach schoolchildren about the Klan, must we give equal > time to this view? Are we required to treat it as if it has the slightest > credibility? > > Or would that not be an affront to scholarship itself? > > EVOLUTION ON TRIAL > > It's science, not history, that went on trial this week in Harrisburg, Pa., > but the questions still apply. Parents are squaring off in federal court > over a local school board's requirement that before children can be taught > Charles Darwin's theory that humanity evolved from lower animals, teachers > must read a statement acknowledging ''alternate'' theories of human origin. > This would include the so-called theory of intelligent design, which holds > that living things are so fantastically complex, they can only have been > invented by some supernatural creator. > > Proponents of the policy deny they are trying to sneak religion into the > classroom. It is, they say, a matter of free speech: Students should be > exposed to all sides of an issue. > > But for that argument to hold water, you must have more than one side. Where > science and the theory of evolution are concerned, you do not. It is the > overwhelming consensus of the mainstream scientific community that Darwin > had it right. So pretending there is another ''side'' to the question makes > about as much sense as pretending there is another side to the Klan. It > reeks of false equivalence, no-fault scholarship, judgment-free education, > the bogus notion that all points of view are created equal and are equally > deserving of respect. > > FAITH NOT A SCIENCE > > And that just ain't so. > > I believe in God. I believe God is the sovereign author of creation. But > that is a matter of faith, not science. Faith, as it says in the book of > Hebrews, is the evidence of things not seen. Science, by contrast, is > founded upon observable phenomena. They are diametric opposites, but both > seek the same goal: to help man and woman comprehend their lives and their > world. To help them find answers. > > I would argue that faith and science are in some ways more complementary > than contradictory. But it's telling that where they do conflict, as in the > question of human origin, it's always people of faith who beg for > validation. I mean, when has any scientist ever sued for equal time in the > pulpit? There is an unbecoming neediness about these constant schemes to > dress religion up as science. Why are some people of faith so desperate for > approval from a discipline they reject? > > INSECURITY > > It suggests an insecurity that belies the bellicose battle cry of Bible > literalists: ''God said it. I believe it. That settles it.'' Or in the words > of a church sign as related to me last week by a minister in Maine: Reason > is the enemy of faith. > > That's a sad, troubling and even pathetic mind-set. > > We inhabit a universe vaster than human comprehension, older than human > wanderings, more wondrous than human conception. And in the face of that, we > do the natural thing. We ask questions and seek answers. > > That's not a denial of God. It is evidence of Him. > -0- > > > ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~--> Life without art & music? Keep the arts alive today at Network for Good! http://us.click.yahoo.com/FXrMlA/dnQLAA/Zx0JAA/LRMolB/TM --------------------------------------------------------------------~-> Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/scifinoir2/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
