On debating the worthwhile 7 Aug 2009 Sean at Cosmic Variance has a really good essay on what we should do as part of normalising non-belief is engage serious people, rather than the creationists. He has a nice matrix, and suggests that we should engage worthy opponents, not the (which is not what Sean says) batshit crazies. Philosophy Politics Religion Science
Cognition Evolution Quotes: Quine on evolving similarity 16 Aug 2012 A sense of comparative similarity, I remarked earlier, is one of man’s animal endowments. Insofar as it fits in with regularities of nature, so as to afford us reasonable success in our primitive inductions and expectations, it is presumably an evolutionary product of natural selection. Secondly, as remarked, one’s sense… Read More
Accommodationism Undefining religion 15 Feb 201429 Jun 2024 [This will be a series of posts based on a book I am writing – see last post] When anthropologists began to study religions in cultures other than the European context, which itself was based upon Roman jurisprudence, they encountered a difficulty. Until this time, in the mid-nineteenth century, “religion”… Read More
Evolution A final note on Expelled 24 Mar 2008 This is a nice review in New Scientist, obviously “framed” more in sorrow and confusion than in anger, which ends with Throughout the entire experience, Maggie and I couldn’t help feeling that the polarised audience in the theater was a sort of microcosm of America, and let me tell you… Read More
I agree wholeheartedly with Sean on this one. But it should be noted that recently, when Jerry Coyne did just what Sean is suggesting–wrote a well-argued, thoughtful negative review of books by Ken Miller and Carl Giberson–he was immediately attacked by Barbara Forrest and Chris Mooney for his lack of “civility”. According to some mindsets, it’s always wrong to make a case for unbelief. And I do think there’s also a place for ridicule and mockery. Even the craziest ideas can take on a false appearance of legitimacy and slip into the mainstream if people aren’t wary of them. A lot of it just has to do with how these ideas are perceived. Ridiculing truly insane beliefs–birthers, creationists, holocaust deniers, etc.–ensures that these people won’t be able to adopt a false mantel of legitimacy without actually earning it.
An excellent post, and I think Sean is right on the money. I couldn’t have said it better so I’ll just second that.
I don’t know if you need to engage the creationist movement per se, but the natural theology that underlies it is one of the, if not thee most popular reasons for belief that people will offer when attempting to explain why their theism is justified. You have to engage that if you want to challenge their views. But the case is even more problematic here. Creationism oft acts as a microcosm for what goes on in apologetics in general. Indeed, virtually every attempt at theistic justification can be viewed as a “creationism” of its true native field. The moral argument is just as ridiculous to ethics as the biological design argument is to biology.
For what it is worth, I don’t think Hugh Ross is making less sophisticated arguments than St. Augustine. Hey, he has the benefit of time on his side. They’re both crackpots in modern terms. I don’t see why one should be treated as a serious, worthy (if dead) opponent and the other as a joke. Well, I think I do see the difference. St. Augustine has the benefit of developing a reputation as an important figure in the history of thought. That air of seriousness is what’s carrying the day here. But that’s ultimately superficial.