Hi James M. Clark Professor of Psychology 204-786-9757 204-774-4134 Fax [EMAIL PROTECTED]
>>> "Jim Guinee" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> 07-Apr-07 6:27:07 PM >>> I've never understood what the big deal is...now of course when someone tells me they don't believe in God (example) I do find myself twitching a little, but I certainly don't think being negative is going to "win" them over, nor would I want them to disparage me when they find out what I do believe. Rodney King said it right: can't we all just get along? Do differences in beliefs HAVE to translate into treating each other so differently? JC: But surely some differences in beliefs are virtually impossible to ignore/accept in some contexts. Can a scientist, for example, just ignore creationists wanting to espouse their beliefs in schools? And in the present context (i.e., a list devoted to teaching about psychology), is it irrelevant what standards we use in determining whether to believe something or not? Or in deciding the scope of the commitment to science and reason that we want to instill in students? I could care less about individual people's religious beliefs (some of my best friends and colleagues are highly religious ... I can already imagine the comments to that statement!). But I do care about how justifiable different worldviews are, including the scientific worldview that I try to instill in the classroom, and the nature of conflicts between different worldviews and how that furthers or (more typically) impedes our job. And that was in fact the spirit of Jim G's original query to the list on this topic. In that context, agreeing to "get along" does little, except to imply perhaps some desire for people to back off to avoid conflict (the "respectful" work environment taken to extreme). Take care Jim --- To make changes to your subscription go to: http://acsun.frostburg.edu/cgi-bin/lyris.pl?enter=tips&text_mode=0&lang=english
