Friday, May 23, 2008

Scientists sitting on the religious fence

Many scientists continue to affirm that they believe in God. For example, there's a reunion of such folk every two years in the precincts of my native Anglican cathedral in Grafton, but they've made such a minor impact upon mainstream thinking that I've never received the slightest inkling of what they have to say... which, I feel, is probably so much the better. Let sleeping gods lie.

Richard Dawkins informs us, with a certain dose of his typical humor, that a giant US thing called the Templeton Foundation is using its vast financial resources to waylay scientific personalities by offering them incentives for claiming that there might indeed be a bit of godly stuff in their research conclusions persuading us that "He" (the fabulous Man in the Sky) has not yet said His Final Word. In other words, the Templeton Foundation is tempting prominent scientists to declare publicly that they've forsaken neither God nor, above all, the idea that He might in fact exist. All of this inoffensive stuff is most folkloric, like Druidic get-togethers at Stonehenge.

I try to avoid science books that attempt to shove Old-World magic down my throat. If I'm looking for a book on modern genetics, for example, I don't want to be waylaid into purchasing a document with religious overtones. Pollution zero! No religion!

3 comments:

  1. I am not religious, but I found this post short-sighted and nauseating. Reading it was quite a waste of two minutes. Please stick to writing about things that you know - mediocre computer jobs, farming, mountains and your dog. The "beauties of Creation" you claim to admire are far beyond the reach of someone so close-minded as to need to put down others to make themselves feel better.

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  2. The harsh comments of my anonymous correspondent are perfectly justified, because the initial version of my post was too hastily written and excessively aggressive. Consequently, I've removed all offensive sections, including my remarks concerning the book Signs of Life by Robert Pollack.

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  3. I would also remove my harsh comments, but since I posted as anonymous I am unable to do so. We all write things too hastily and aggressively sometimes - perhaps I did the same with my reaction to your original post.

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