Getting a bit off my current discussions, I want to remark on the "excluded middle."
On another blog I ask a women if there was anything in Catholicism that she might disagree with of even have a question about. She answered with a firm "NO." She then ask me to name a catholic teaching I agreed with. I named several, and could have named many. Never heard from her again on this issue.
Let's take atheism (total materialism) as one extreme and move across to the other extreme, total acceptance of everything the church says. To me a false dichotomy. Most of us are someplace on that continuum. Catholic blogs seem to be dominated by those who have no questions:If the Church says it, it has to be true. The only argument they offer is :The Church says it and you are not catholic if you do not fully accept what they think it says. Very primitive to me.
As any who has been here know, I think the church is way off balance on matters of human sexuality. Its position is exactly what you would expect from the thinking of a body of celibate males who are protecting their position. I see no other explanation.
But I'm off-point. There are shades of opinion on most issues, and that is a strength of the Church. Mindless sheep do not a Church make. Jack
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Hi, Jack. Scott Hatfield here. You left a comment on my blog wondering about the connection to 'Exposed', which is an NCSE-sponsored web site that takes the Ben Stein-hosted documentary 'Expelled' to task for its weird, ideologically-driven attempt to link evolutionary biology with political correctness, Nazis and Lord knows what else. While they won't tell you so, almost everyone involved with the production of this film (which was a bit of a box office flop) was an evangelical Christian with ties to a conservative think tank called the Discovery Institute, which promotes a version of creationism called 'intelligent design.'
ReplyDeleteI happen to be a member of NCSE (National Center for Science Education), which is the main organization involved in promoting and defending the teaching of evolution in the public schools. As such, NCSE and its members are opposed to creationism in general, and specifically to attempts to get ID or other versions of creationism in the science classroom. It just isn't appropriate.
In general, the courts have supported NCSE and the scientific community on this point. As a result, the advocates for ID have shifted tactics: rather than attempt to make their case on the basis of the science (which is at the present time nonexistent) or through the courts (who have shot them down repeatedly), they are now appealing to popular misconceptions and (frankly) prejudice.
As a high school science teacher, I'm glad NCSE exists, obviously. As a serious Christian who is also an evolutionary biologist, I'm the kind of guy who ends up in the crossfire and stirring up those who hold creationist views. If you search the key words on my site, you'll find that from time to time I've been involved in these controversies. In particular, where 'Expelled' was concerned I provided a trail of sources that showed that its creators were evangelicals with deep ties to the Discovery Institute, and some posts of mine on that point were widely linked-to during March, when the film was premiered to select audiences. This, above all, is probably why I am still drawing hits on 'Expelled'.
Scott, thanks for the information. I have been battling the Discovery Institute types for years.
ReplyDeleteI taught for several years before I became involved as a public employee union organizer.
I have a suggestion. I don't believe students can learn enough science to really be definitive on evolution or other matters. I always took the "authority" approach. In other words, what do people qualified in the area believe? Evolution, for example, is a "slam dunk." Over 99 percent of those, like you, with credentials support the basic concept of evolution. If I am ill and go to 100 doctors and 99 per cent say I have cancer and 1 doctor says flatulence I would be a fool to try and cure myself with "Tums." I know "authority" is a bad word, but it is what most of our decisions are based on in areas where we are not "experts." I have 'won' several blog arguments on this basis. Thanks again. I hope none of my rather 'liberal' views on sex and the Church are offensive to you. Jack