Wouldn't his argument just be two-fold, namely:
(1) If we can naturally/naturalistically explain everything, God is
therefore superfluous, and so by Occam's razor, should be eliminated from
our thinking. (He may even go for the less plausible, more aggressive,
scientistic version: (1') if it's even -conceivable- that we can
naturally/naturalistically explain everything, ....)
and
(2) An all-good, all-powerful, all-knowing God would never use the crude,
inefficient, natural evil/pain-producing evolutionary means to achieve his
ends. If "a god worth having" were real, something like Creation Science
would indeed be the case. (The old-fashioned but ever-popular problem of
[natural] evil.)
While obviously I find these arguments (or rather, the more-detailed
arguments grossly abbreviated in these statements) very incomplete and
ultimately fallacious, they aren't just bizarre or inexplicable to me.
I haven't read any of Provine's recent stuff, but I'd imagine this is what
he's getting at.
His other assertions (no free will, etc.) follow not at all directly from
evolution, but from naturalism/atheism, and actually need a bunch of other
assumptions too (e.g., something like "scientific reductive materialism"
would help him out).
--John
> -----Original Message-----
> From: evolution-owner@udomo2.calvin.edu
> [mailto:evolution-owner@udomo2.calvin.edu]On Behalf Of Bill Hamilton
> Sent: Wednesday, March 04, 1998 8:41 AM
> To: evolution@calvin.edu
> Subject: Re: Provine Ridicules TE's
>
>
> I wrote
>
> ...My only complaint is that [Provine] (and Dawkins as well) sometimes
give
> >>the impression that they believe that atheism is the only honest
> >>philosophical position for a scientist, or that their atheism is
supported
> >>by the science they do.
> >
> >I think Provine believes that the only honest answer is atheism. Provine
is
> >not being dissembling in his beliefs..
>
> I'm sure he does. I don't see him as dishonest. I just don't understand
> how he supports his position. I hope we can discuss that when he
returns..
>
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------
--> --------> Bill Hamilton> Staff Research Engineer> Chassis and Vehicle Systems> GM R&D Center> Warren, MI>>>