> Re: Darwinism is an edifice of faith
> On Thu, 11 Dec 1997, Eduardo G. Moros wrote:
>
> > Darwinism is, in fact, an edifice of faith. And people love to throw rocks at
> > it while others try to catch the rocks before more windows are broken. This
> > is parallel to how people love to throw rocks at religion beliefs while other
> > feel compelled to "defend their faith".
>
> The implication here (and in an earlier post today) is that if Darwinism
> was *only* a scientific theory, people wouldn't be so protective of it.
> If people are so eager to rush around catching rocks thrown at the
> Darwinian edifice, it must be an edifice of faith. Right?
>
> Wrong. Oh, sure, Darwinism is an edifice of religious faith for some
> rock-catchers (and an edifice of evil heresy to some rock-throwers).
> But I can think of a reason why someone might rush around defending
> something which -- for them -- is not an edifice of faith but merely a
> scientific theory. The reason is this:
>
> Their intelligence and moral integrity has been repeatedly attacked
> because they believed that scientific theory to be true. If attacked
> often enough, it's hard not to "rush to the defense" of the theory even if
> that theory holds no particular religious value (one way or another).
> If attacked often enough, someone might even "rush to the defense"
> inappropriately, responding to a well-reasoned and sensibly cautious
> scientific critique as if it were yet another round of rhetorical mortar
> fire.
>
> Perfectly understandable human reaction.
>
> Loren Haarsma