HAPPY EVOLUTION WEEKEND!
I am Agnostic because I accept that the BIGGEST question of this ongoing debate cannot be definitively won or lost based upon our current level of available scientific data.
To many folks this is perceived as fence-sitting. This is how the incomparable Carl Sagan explained his position: "An agnostic is somebody who doesn't believe in something until there is evidence for it, so I'm agnostic. I have some discomfort with both believers and with nonbelievers when their opinions are NOT based on facts ... If we don't know the answer, why are we under so much pressure to make up our minds, to declare our allegiance to one hypothesis or the other?"
I have friends who are anchored along every angstrom of the debate scale. Oh sure sometimes I totally lose it with the Fundies, but I acknowledge that the vast majority of people wish to incorporate both aspects into their lives. So instead of letting the extremists on either end continue to monopolize this discussion, Evolution Weekend looks like a viable alternative that most of us can build upon..without compromising on Evolution because I oppose the ongoing movement to incorporate "Intelligent Design" into the education system.
"Evolution Weekend is a chance to celebrate the intersection of religion and science and to do so in a mature manner. The clergy members of The Clergy Letter Project are deeply religious, every bit as devout as the fundamentalists who oppose them, but they also recognize that practicing their religion should not have to mean turning their backs on the facts of science.
Instead, they understand that a deeper understanding of the natural world will only enhance their faith. And they are not so insecure in their faith that they feel compelled to condemn all other belief as false and demand that everyone else be forced to accept their singular perspective."
Evolution Weekend is an opportunity for religious individuals to practice their faith while appreciating all science has taught us.
Have a nice weekend, Mr Coppens! I'm going to be indulging in extreme slobbing and fundamental laziness.
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ok, sugar! i like this! *looking for the thumbs up* no, seriously, i agree. xoxoxoxo
ReplyDeleteWow, for a while there I was starting to believe that the elusive Homo Escapiens was a myth, something somebody made up on a blog somewhere that was never updated, but apparently there has been a validated sighting (two others so far has witnessed it so it's not simply my imagination), so I can now continue to believe that there really is "Something out there".
ReplyDeleteBut UFO's? Bullshit!
Evolution presupposes a beginning. So does religion. From that point, we diverge. And frankly, you gotta figure the old saying 'happy as a clam' is never going to be overtaken in common usage by 'happy as a six-year-old Catholic girl who has just found out she was born evil and destined for eternal damnation'. Plus, you can make clam chowder with clams. All you can make with a Catholic is another Catholic miserable, and for that you need at least two of them. You can make clam chowder with one clam, if it is a very large clam, like a Pismo clam, or a giant clam. Check for skin divers first though. In the giant clam, not the Catholic. Although if it was a Catholic skin diver that would be pretty ironic, huh.
ReplyDelete...to conclude: any theistic postulate which cites a 'divine' source of life negates itself by virtue of it's acceptance of 'causeless effect'and angers the clams.
ReplyDeleteDonn's DICtum.
ReplyDeleteteehee
Where is the bloody "Like" button on this thing?
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