[MD] Debate on Science_ReligionToday

[David M]

>
> dmb says:
> Recently, I read a piece by Terry Eagleton (Oddly, a Marxist and a devout
> Catholic) in which he takes Dawkins to task. In it he said, yes of course 
> we
> should reject those fundamentalist, literalist types, but also went on the
> defend theism. Sort of. He's says stuff like, "God is the condition of
> possibility for all entities".

DM: Yes this is something Roy Bhaskar talks about, he says we can
call the ground of all possibilities god or nothing or whatever we want to,
Bhaskar likes to take a pop at Rorty too, by the way.



I guess that's supposed to be a theological
> idea worthy of a postmodern literary critic like Eagleton, but I really 
> have
> no idea what it means.

DM: You need to get out more.

I suppose this is the sort of thing Critchley finds
> "a little disgusting".Anyway, it seems that theists that want to
> distinquish themselves from the fundamentalist mob like to point out that
> Dawkins and that type of scientific atheist have a good case against the
> anthropomorphic god of Sunday school fame, but that they don't understand
> this other type of sophisticated sort. This usually means that the 
> scientist
> hasn't specifically engaged theology. Eagleton even condemned his for
> probably not knowing about the epistemology of a 13th century theologian 
> or
> some such thing. Its especially fun to watch him use postmodern thought in
> order to assert premodern beliefs against modern scientific beleifs. Its a
> little bit like watching someone make animals out of balloons, except
> without the balloons. Instead of inflated rubber, they contort themselves
> and their beliefs until a facsimile is achieved.

DM: Or maybe they know more than you and have a broader perspective.
you may find this embarrassing in five years time if you keep your studies 
up.
Try John Cottingham's On The Meaning Of Life.

>
> I saw Dawkins (taped TV) speaking from a college near Liberty University,
> the one so famous for being a giant bible college. I think its Jerry
> Falwell's institution and remains unaccredited. Anyway, Dawkins was only
> near the place, but students and teachers from the Baptist "university" 
> were
> there to ask challenging questions - or what they took to be serious
> challenges. But the secular students who were hosting Dawkins (I think it
> was a women's college) were vocal enough to make it clear whose side they
> were on. The Liberty kids pretty much got laughed out of the place. At one
> point, as part of his answer, Dawkins told one of the Liberty students 
> that
> he really ought to think about attending "a proper University". The 
> students
> hosting the event thought that was pretty funny and right on, as if they 
> had
> some stored up feeling about the low intellectual quality of the 
> neighboring
> institution. Yes, the "regular" students scored a lot of points and if it
> were a game, you'd have to say they won. But behind that rivalry there is 
> a
> real difference. And the sad thing about the kids who were getting the
> religious "education" is that they're perfectly earnest and sincere about
> complete nonsense. They have a fossilized dinosaur bone in a display case
> there and they tell their students that its 5,000 years old. If a 
> scientist
> wants to complain about that and expose the fraud or ignorance or the
> intellectual dishonest behind such nonsense, its perfectly fine with me. 
> To
> that extent, we all agree with Dawkins, right?

DM: Sure, that's pretty funny.


>
> _________________________________________________________________
> All-in-one security and maintenance for your PC. Get a free 90-day trial!
> http://clk.atdmt.com/MSN/go/msnnkwlo0050000002msn/direct/01/?href=http://clk.atdmt.com/MSN/go/msnnkwlo0050000001msn/direct/01/?href=http://www.windowsonecare.com/?sc_cid=msn_hotmail
>
>


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


> moq_discuss mailing list
> Listinfo, Unsubscribing etc.
> http://lists.moqtalk.org/listinfo.cgi/moq_discuss-moqtalk.org
> Archives:
> http://lists.moqtalk.org/pipermail/moq_discuss-moqtalk.org/
> http://moq.org.uk/pipermail/moq_discuss_archive/