Western society has almost achieved religious tolerance. Russia tried,
unsuccessfully, to outlaw all religions except atheism, and some Moslem
countries still try to mandate religious orthodoxy. However in the West,
Buddhism, Christianity of all stripes, Hindu, Moslem and religious beliefs of
indigenous people - all peacefully coexist. On Sunday morning those guys
with bibles sometimes show up at the door, but if you say "no thank you",
they leave. No one has tried to impose a religion upon me for a long time,
except for one - atheists. Now, I've always been tolerant of atheists.
I've even thought they might be closer to agnosticism than other religions.
I no longer consider them tolerant.
Anyone who claims the universe can be completely explained in terms of matter
and impersonal physical forces is making a religious statement. As an
agnostic, I don't know whether it is true or not. Even though design in
nature is obvious to many of us, Darwinists insist design is an illusion
(like free will, I suppose). They insist design implies a designer and they
are confident no designer exists. They repeatedly claim design is
"unnecessary" to explain the universe and diversity of life. Some cultures
have regarded chemistry and physics as "unnecessary" to explain the universe.
If science wants to define itself as a sort of game which makes up
simplistic explanations limited only to those parts of reality it can
presently measure, that's fine. Most religions have done that. I'd prefer
a science that attempted to understand as much of reality as possible,
including design, mind, consciousness, creativity, free will, and other
forces and phenomena we don't presently understand. The scientific facts
will remain the same, whether or not we entertain the possibility of an
underlying design.
I have no objection to people who have managed to integrate their religious
beliefs with the belief that the universe can be completely explained in
terms of matter and known physical forces. It is intolerant to demand that
everyone do so.
Bertvan
http://members.aol.com/bertvan
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