Reply #138: I'm going to throw something else in the stew...

[hunter]

James "the amazing" Randi often notes that professional magicians are much better at uncovering various sorts of frauduant "spiritualism" than scientists are.

A scientist is trained to look for very small signals in the noise of everyday life. A magician is trained to hide things in the noise of everyday life by taking advantage of the various flaws in human perception.

The faith of a scientist is that Nature isn't delibrately trying to hide anything from mankind. But the trade of the magician is deception. Thus the magician is much better equipped to recognize the deceptions of others.

It has been my experience that the precise tools of science are not useful in arguing matters of faith. If I want to pound some point home, a big rock or the leg bone of a large animal works much better than any expensive laboratory tool.



Usually I don't go picking fights over issues of faith, especially since I find many sorts of human spirituality to be quite beautiful. But there are some lines I draw in the sand. There are many situations where various religions reach out to hurt and oppress people who do not share their faith. Witnessing such abuses is an understandable reason to abandon all religion, to become an agnostic or an atheist of some sort, but this cannot become a footing for attacking all faith. I think every one of us, within and outside of the various faiths, needs to focus our attentions on those situations where people get hurt.

Since college I have been very concerned with the issue of homosexuality. My first serious girlfriend was a lesbian, but within the religious framework of her upbringing such a thing was impossible to admit to oneself, or to others. Our relationship ended quite horribly. My girlfriend's family religion had directly harmed her, but beyond that, it had reached out to harm me. My ex-girlfriend was not truly happy until she stepped far outside the boundaries of her own upbringing and married another woman.

I am also an amateur evolutionary biologist. It's a hobby of mine, and much as some people are interested in model trains, I am interested in genetics, fossils, and geology. I am very quick to defend my science. I will not tolerate the teaching of Intelligent Design or Creationism as science, especially in public schools. Intelligent Design and Creationism are not science.

Nevertheless, there are appropriate places to fight, and inappropriate places to fight. There are those in the political party of George W. Bush (I refuse to call them Republicans!) who are quite pleased to see the fragmentation of their opposition over such issues as the Death Penalty, Abortion, gay marriage, and the teacching of "Intelligent Design" in public schools.

A certain amount of civility is called for in such debates here on DU.

As Benjamin Franklin said, "We must all hang together, or, most assuredly, we shall all hang separately."

Peace.