2. Comment #331683 by Quine on February 1, 2009 at 10:35 am
They fear that science is taking the heart out of the human experience and replacing it with numbers.
3. Comment #331687 by debacles on February 1, 2009 at 10:42 am
"Calling the second law of thermodynamics "a deeply disturbing scientific principle that threatens our children's understanding of God's universe as a benevolent and loving place,"...4. Comment #331691 by mordacious1 on February 1, 2009 at 10:44 am
Comment #331687 by debacles5. Comment #331696 by MatthewL on February 1, 2009 at 10:48 am
They insist that they are too complex to only be made of chemicals, to which I say:6. Comment #331703 by debacles on February 1, 2009 at 10:57 am
Things are bad when you can't tell the satire from the thing being satirized. I really stormed off there. HA7. Comment #331706 by JAMCAM87 on February 1, 2009 at 11:01 am
Calling the second law of thermodynamics "a deeply disturbing scientific principle that threatens our children's understanding of God's universe as a benevolent and loving place," they are spearheading a nationwide grassroots campaign to have the law removed from high-school physics textbooks. The plan has already met with significant support in the state legislatures of Kansas, Oklahoma, Missouri, Tennessee, Georgia, and Mississippi.
8. Comment #331707 by Foxy on February 1, 2009 at 11:03 am
It's a good thing that the Christian Right aren't really trying to repeal the Second Law of Thermodynamics. Thankfully, we can be almost sure that the creationists will never stand against this particular physical law. They mistakenly think that it disproves evolution.9. Comment #331712 by Kit Finn on February 1, 2009 at 11:10 am
With the exception of the last two paragraphs, that was a really great article. Shame it sought to replace one ideology with something verging on another...10. Comment #331713 by Jack Rawlinson on February 1, 2009 at 11:10 am
Well, I suppose the plug for socialism is to be expected in a paper called the Socialist Standard, but it'll probably put a few people off, which is a pity since the article is mostly good sense.11. Comment #331714 by F_A_F on February 1, 2009 at 11:14 am
FFS I get so frustrated with comments like:This is about people who need to have a reason to go on living, which capitalism isn’t giving them. It’s about people’s need to believe in something, which capitalism doesn’t supply or has taken away. And it’s about having some hope for the future, of which capitalism has none. The world really does need some intelligent design, but in its business of living, not in its biology.
12. Comment #331735 by Foxy on February 1, 2009 at 11:42 am
"Things are bad when you can't tell the satire from the thing being satirized. I really stormed off there. HA"13. Comment #331744 by debacles on February 1, 2009 at 11:48 am
Nice. HAHA14. Comment #331747 by devolved on February 1, 2009 at 11:52 am
"Religious fundamentalists who reject evolutionary theory are also rejecting geology, astronomy, Einsteinian and Newtonian physics, in fact the whole body of scientific knowledge going back to first principles..."15. Comment #331751 by debacles on February 1, 2009 at 11:59 am
Devolved...you subtle satirist you...that is satire right?16. Comment #331753 by Bonzai on February 1, 2009 at 12:01 pm
Devolved17. Comment #331764 by MadMonkey on February 1, 2009 at 12:09 pm
"Evolution is perhaps the strongest theory in modern science, but still the most controversial."18. Comment #331766 by JAMCAM87 on February 1, 2009 at 12:13 pm
Devolved,19. Comment #331775 by Mr DArcy on February 1, 2009 at 12:21 pm
Just back from Davos chaps! Jolly good show out there. We were all suitably humble and contrite, and the lobsters and Mersault had to be smuggled in over the pass so as not excite all those pesky reporters. (Bloody pestilence that lot!).20. Comment #331838 by sonnygll on February 1, 2009 at 1:08 pm
That article was good, it brings up a good point about fear (which leads to their anger of course). It does make me feel sorry for them. I always did feel sorry for people enslaved by religion though. Now granted I am a bit of a liberal, but socialism goes too far and it really hasn't worked in the past. Much like what was recently proven by conservatism (it failed). Liberal democracies with a high percentage of non-religious people seem to be the most successful countries in the world. The evidence suggests that's probably the best way to go. So I really think a well regulated form of capitalism is better than full blown socialism.21. Comment #331912 by Foxy on February 1, 2009 at 2:50 pm
I agree with sonnygll. I too would consider myself a moderate liberal, but history has shown capitalism the best way to go. It's a shame some people have to get socialism and atheism mixed up. True, most socialists are probably atheists, but I am not convinced that most atheists are socialists.22. Comment #331936 by Rawhard Dickins on February 1, 2009 at 3:19 pm
Isn't it time to drop the "theory" bit and start using "process of.. ".23. Comment #331939 by Goldy on February 1, 2009 at 3:24 pm
Comment #331936 by Rawhard Dickins24. Comment #331940 by lazlow on February 1, 2009 at 3:26 pm
This is about people who need to have a reason to go on living, which capitalism isn’t giving them.
25. Comment #331962 by kenny756 on February 1, 2009 at 3:46 pm
Comment #331936 by Rawhard Dickins26. Comment #331975 by King of NH on February 1, 2009 at 4:05 pm
Am I truly supposed to feel sorry for the religious? Does this article propose that it makes people sad to think that their petty and vindictive God has not granted them the earth to treat as they wish, and that we should RESPECT that!?!27. Comment #331984 by black wolf on February 1, 2009 at 4:37 pm
Frog Hop - A Frog And His Atheist Spread A Word:28. Comment #331993 by ANTIcarrot on February 1, 2009 at 5:00 pm
331975: "Science is not test tubes. Science is not jet engines."29. Comment #332000 by NMcC on February 1, 2009 at 5:37 pm
Bloody hell! No sooner do I decide to stop posting for a while, and an article from my Party's journal, The Socialist Standard, gets published on RD.net. Nothing to do with me, I should point out.30. Comment #332001 by Eshto on February 1, 2009 at 5:39 pm
What's wrong with capitalism as long as it's regulated?31. Comment #332011 by mmurray on February 1, 2009 at 6:15 pm
NMcC:The SPGB also opposes the idea of leadership (it has no 'leaders' as its members are not followers). .... It has always been against the State on the grounds that it is society as a whole that must be educated, motivated and organised before there can be any talk of genuine Socialism and that the best thing to do with the political state is to get rid of it as soon as possible.
32. Comment #332078 by madcap on February 1, 2009 at 8:59 pm
"Evolution is perhaps the strongest theory in modern science..."33. Comment #332081 by Bonzai on February 1, 2009 at 9:11 pm
This is about people who need to have a reason to go on living, which capitalism isn’t giving them. It’s about people’s need to believe in something, which capitalism doesn’t supply or has taken away..
34. Comment #332102 by DoctorMelkor on February 1, 2009 at 9:52 pm
16. Comment #331753 by BonzaiWhat is a Th.C. and a Th.L.? Looking at the man's bio it proves the point that to reject evolution you have to reject a whole bunch of other sciences.
35. Comment #332104 by aquilacane on February 1, 2009 at 9:54 pm
What these people don't realize is that they've been living a meaningful life without god the whole time. They decided what had meaning in their life, and they decided it was god. They can still decide, but now, there is so much more available to them.36. Comment #332112 by moderndaythomas on February 1, 2009 at 10:16 pm
Comment #331679 by NewEnglandBobNonsense. Medical advances, basic sciences and product development are among many capitalistic endeavors which can bring hope for the future.
37. Comment #332139 by beanson on February 1, 2009 at 11:25 pm
What we need to do, as socialists, is recognise the emotional vacuum this is creating, and strive to fill it, before something infinitely worse does
38. Comment #332142 by Bonzai on February 1, 2009 at 11:42 pm
beanson39. Comment #332145 by beanson on February 1, 2009 at 11:52 pm
I'm not talking about the simple pleasures of everyday life.40. Comment #332148 by Bonzai on February 1, 2009 at 11:56 pm
It is the deeper more philosophical consolation of a universe with a meaning that they fear the loss of.
41. Comment #332155 by beanson on February 2, 2009 at 12:05 am
Bonzai42. Comment #332156 by mmurray on February 2, 2009 at 12:06 am
No, if they need meaning then the 'reverence of the universe' is of no help. Because the truth is bad news, as far as we can tell the whole bloody thing is meaningless. Pascal had a first hand vision of that grand mystery, yet he recoiled in horror and withdrew deeper into religion. It was meaning that he sought and science offered no consolation.
43. Comment #332160 by Bonzai on February 2, 2009 at 12:10 am
beanson44. Comment #332161 by beanson on February 2, 2009 at 12:10 am
Bonzai-Why can't you just live and let live?
"Just because guru Dawkins told you"
However the scientific view of the world isn't going to provide that sort of comfort that the universe somehow cares about us. The exact opposite in fact.
45. Comment #332164 by carbonman on February 2, 2009 at 12:12 am
Nice article but it closes with a false premise:the battle of ideas is not just a battle of the mind, it’s a battle for the heart.
46. Comment #332220 by gos on February 2, 2009 at 1:18 am
Bonzai:Dawkins also advised people to seek imortality in writing books, creating art or music. But how many can do that?
47. Comment #332221 by mmurray on February 2, 2009 at 1:18 am
Nice article but it closes with a false premise:
the battle of ideas is not just a battle of the mind, it’s a battle for the heart.
Er, no. Common sense is perfectly compatible with compassion. They can work together. They are not mutually exclusive
48. Comment #332222 by Bonzai on February 2, 2009 at 1:21 am
gos49. Comment #332239 by NMcC on February 2, 2009 at 1:31 am
carbonman writes:50. Comment #332248 by gos on February 2, 2009 at 1:39 am
Bonzai:
1. Comment #331679 by NewEnglandBob on February 1, 2009 at 10:28 am
Education is the cure for fear.
Nonsense. Medical advances, basic sciences and product development are among many capitalistic endeavors which can bring hope for the future.
Other Comments by NewEnglandBob