At 14:30 16/11/2006, Ian Simmons wrote:
>Spiritual beliefs and scientific
>knowledge do fundamentally different things and the trouble only arises
>when someone insists one should negate or supplant the other.
This is where S J Gould's NOMA (Non-Overlapping Magisteria) principle
applies. http://www.stephenjaygould.org/library/gould_noma.html
Science is essentially agnostic and has no authority over concepts of
a Creator. However, science does have total authority over concepts
of the physical processes of evolution.
Religion has no authority over concepts of the physical processes of creation.
Here, science must never concede an inch of ground to militant
creationism. It is here that the ID campaign oversteps the mark.
Here, a concession is required from creationists.
However, personal prejudices have been allowed to misrepresent
science to the public as essentially atheistic, not agnostic. Here, a
concession is required from science communicators driven by a strong
personal commitment to atheism.
Many people are fully committed to both viewpoints, without conflict
and with no compromise to pure Darwinism. They are in the strongest
possible position to communicate a vital area of science to a highly
resistant sector of the public, and many are quietly doing so.
Meanwhile they are marginalised by creationist and evolutionist
fundamentalists on either side who are heard most loudly in this
controversy. Even excluded from opinion polls...
[log in to unmask] * http://www.interactives.co.uk
*
Give people facts and you feed their minds for an hour.
Awaken curiosity and they feed their own minds for a lifetime.
*
Ian Russell
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