Date: Thu, 5 Sep 2002 09:14:11 -0700 (PDT) From: "Neal E. Westfall" <nwestfal@directvinternet.com> To: Joshua Lee <yid@softhome.net> Cc: tlambert2@mindspring.com, <dave@jetcafe.org>, <chat@FreeBSD.ORG> Subject: Re: Why did evolution fail? Message-ID: <20020905090556.D41451-100000@Tolstoy.home.lan> In-Reply-To: <20020904234425.669b500a.yid@softhome.net>
next in thread | previous in thread | raw e-mail | index | archive | help
On Wed, 4 Sep 2002, Joshua Lee wrote: > On Wed, 4 Sep 2002 12:14:08 -0700 (PDT) > "Neal E. Westfall" <nwestfal@directvinternet.com> wrote: > > > > > "Neal E. Westfall" wrote: > > > > > You guys are quite amusing to read! The only thing you can > > > > > agree on is your anemic prejudices against theology. > > > > > > Actually, we weren't talking much about theology until you took > > > offense at the subject line. > > > > You misunderstand, sir. No offense taken. Just a friendly little > > conversation. Evolution has certain implied theological committments, > > however, so it seemed appropriate to "seize the moment", if you will. > > Tellihard De Chardin seems to do a good job at being a theist of your > stripe and accepting the theory of evolution at the same time; somewhat > earlier, Chief Rabbi Abraham Isaac Kook seemed to incorporate evolution > and other "heretical" ideas into his unique theological reconcilliation > of modern thought and Orthodoxy. Again, as an Orthodox Jew, I'm not an > "evolutionist", but I think it's somewhat dishonest to label a > scientific theory as a religion. Why is this relevant? Whether or not such and such evolutionist identifies himself as a Christian, Jew, or anything else has little to do with whether or not evolution is true, or philosophically defensible. Moreover, I do not consider Teilhard De Chardin to be a Christian. You have to hold to a certain number of essential beliefs before you have the right to call yourself a Christian. Moreover, a theory evolution may be, but it certainly is not a "scientific" theory. It is a way of looking at things. It could never be proven or disproven, because it is impossible to test empirically. Moreover, those in the scientific community who disagree with it find themselves being classified by those who promote it as "unscientific". It has all the earmarks and dogmatism of a religion, so why not call a spade a spade? Neal To Unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo@FreeBSD.org with "unsubscribe freebsd-chat" in the body of the message
Want to link to this message? Use this URL: <https://mail-archive.FreeBSD.org/cgi/mid.cgi?20020905090556.D41451-100000>