Back in November, a debate with a Christian in another comment thread took a curious turn:
But I have faith in the gospel and what it promises me, just like you have faith in your readings. Your suposed facts and my suposed facts, what makes mine so wrong and your so right. Are facts from the bible so different from the facts you read from magazines, books and websites....nope. It all boils down to faith. Until you can tell me that you were there from the beginning up until now, you dont really have facts of your own do you. Neither do I, I dont proclaim to like you do. Faith boys, we all have faith, faith in what is up to you. I think I will stick with the gospel on this one.
Although this Christian believer didn't notice, what he was actually advocating was postmodernism and relativism. Just like the strawman academics whom conservatives love to hate, he was effectively proclaiming that there's no objective truth and no way to decide between competing worldviews, so we might as well choose whichever one makes us feel best.
But this bizarre position was not our visitor's own invention. I doubt he was aware of it, but he was following in a trail that prominent Christian apologists, especially the creationists, have been laying down for some time.
http://www.daylightatheism.org/2008/01/postmodern-apologists.htmlIt is this post-modernism and relativism that undermines science, and it isn't limited to reactionary christians. I've seen this same line of thought used by religious people who think of themselves as supporters of the scientific enterprise. I just don't see why more people don't value the need to be consistent: either science is the best tool we know of for evaluating empirical claims, or it isn't. If it is, then we should apply it to every empirical claim, and ignore authorities based on empirical claims carefully tailored to be untestable, unprovable, and unfalsifiable. If it isn't, then someone has to explain away the success science has had thus far, and demonstrate a better method without falling into superstition. I would very much like to see someone do that, but I am not holding my breath.