BH:
><<Before I blather on too much let's see if we can agree on our
>terminology. Do you believe that there is a connection between
>evolution as a science and racism? If so, for what reason?>>
>
JB:
>The "science of evolution" CAN have consequences, and when one of those is
>justification for, e.g., racism, you have a philosophy that may be termed
>evolutionISM--all things assessed through the filter of materialist
>presuppositions. But one is NOT compelled to this if one holds to
>supra-natural view of evolution.
>
I have a hard time making any sense of your argument. Unless you
can show that the justification is reasonable or logical then
you've said very little. As has already been pointed out, one
could use this same argument to hold Christianity accountable
for all manner of evils. Is the justification reasonable? It
seems you've already admitted that it isn't. For example,
here's an excerpt from your May 23 response to Russell:
=============start===============================================
RS:
<It has everything to do with causality. Do racists simply distort
<evolution to support their beliefs, or is the theory of evolution
<directly responsible for the origin of those beliefs? You and
<others claim the latter, and the evidence clearly contradicts you.
JB:
#This is a mischaracterization. I urge you to read my posts more
#carefully, and not distort what I'm saying. If you go back over
#them, you'll clearly see I am NOT claiming the latter, but the
#former, and have from the very start. That is why I use the word
#"justification" and not "causality." If that was not clear
#to you before, it should be now, right?
==========end====================================================
I am curious how a distortion can be considered logically
compelling or consistent, or how the science of evolution
can be held in any way responsible for a connection to
racism which is based on a distortion.
Oh, BTW Jim. In the paragraph above you are complaining about
your ideas being distorted. Perhaps you could explain to me
exactly why you are complaining about this? I mean, your ideas
do have consequences don't they?
Brian Harper
Associate Professor
Applied Mechanics
The Ohio State University
"God forbid that we should give out a dream of
our own imagination for a pattern of the world"
-- Francis Bacon