Hi all,
Just passing the following along as an example of the opposition Johnson is
encountering from those indignantly opposed to ID. Sounds like some of the
arguments I hear on this board.
Bertvan
This is a letter of complaint received by the Berkeley Chancellor's office,
together with a response drafted by staff for their own amusement but not
sent. Probably the real response thanked him for his insightful comments
and promised to have his complaints reviewed by the Committee to
Investigate Things of this Sort. This document was carried into my office
window by a carrier pigeon, which refused to answer any questions about how
it was obtained.
Dear Sir,
I am 39 years old. I live in Pennsylvania. I am an alumnus of Penn State
University (B.S. Elec. Engr./M.Eng. Computer Design). I like to think I am
a logical thinker. When I was a child I had a deep fascination with all
things "metaphysical". I read incessantly about UFOs, telekinetics, ancient
astronauts who built the pyramids, ESP, Uri Gellar, spirits, etc. I
believed in all of it. But as I got older (i.e. junior high school) my mind
changed and I started reading more scientific explanations for things. I
realized that there is another- logical/scientific- explanation for
apparently unexplained phenomena (no the Egyptians didn't understand the
concept of pi 3,000 years before Euclidean geometry, they did however
measure long distances with a round stone which makes pi magically appear
if you divide the height/base of the pyramid). When I reached senior high
school I was blessed with a great physics teacher who taught us the
scientific method and how much more fascinating/magical real science is.
I was not brought up in a religious family. However, as an adolescent, I
wanted to fit in, so at age 15 I joined the United Church of Christ and
took their religious studies courses. I was later confirmed/baptized. I
enjoyed the friends I met and the social activities. However, something
kept gnawing at me. The whole thing reminded me of my childhood fascination
with the metaphysical. There was never a logical explanation. My questions
were never answered (How can the actual blood of Christ be present in the
chalice? How can 5 loaves of bread feed thousands?). The explanations
always came down to "faith" (i.e. just believe it don't think about it).
Needless to say I later left the church and now consider myself an atheist.
Most people don't think about such things- its too much work.
Anyway, my point about all this is related to last night's "Nightline" ABC
television show. The topic was the apparent increase in disbelief in
evolution and the effort to have creationism taught on an equal footing
with evolution in schools. To my disgust the person representing the
creationism side- a man named Phillip Johnson- had the subtitle "University
of California/Berkeley" under his name, which automatically endows him with
legitimacy. Wow, if we can't even count on a great institution like the
University of California to think logically what hope is there for this
society? If it is not the job of our great universities to teach logical
thinking whose job is it? High schools/churches/government/civic
organizations- they all have a specific agenda. A university is supposed
to allow free/open thought, challenge doctrine, give voice to those who are
normally not heard. But I submit that the most important job of a
university- the foundation on which modern society exists- the one aspect
of a democracy which cannot waiver- is the process of logical thought.
Without this we are doomed. It is one thing to express you're rational
ideas- even if they are unpopular and in the minority. It is another to try
to force people to believe what you believe based on your faith.
On the way to work this morning I was listening- as usual- to talk radio. A
woman called and said her father died recently. Her mother told her she
recently walked into the kitchen and smelled the odor of "Old Spice"
cologne- a cologne her husband had used for the 35 years they were married.
The daughter concluded from this that her father had returned from "beyond"
to reassure her mother that he was okay. Another person might have
concluded that her mother simply had an "odor dejavu" (a common
occurrence). I really don't care if this woman wants to think irrationally-
except that this woman votes! On a NASA chat room a year or so ago we were
talking about a near earth asteroid which has a miniscule but finite chance
of colliding with earth in the year 2078. There were actually people who
believed we need not study it further because God would not allow an
asteroid to collide with the earth (or if it did than God had willed it).
We are already starting to see religious ideas creeping into law. The
abortion issue is essentially a religious debate. Prayer in school is
growing in popularity. The new human genome science is going to ultimately
become a religious debate.
Who speaks for the other side? The Bible doesn't need any more
spokespersons. Whose fault is it for the rise of right wing religion and
mysticism in this country? It's your fault (Univ of Cal). It's Penn State
University's fault, it's the local community colleges fault. It's the
institutions of higher learning throughout this country. I'm tired of it.
Where is the reverence for logical thought that universities are supposed
to endear? Is all thought equal? Are all values equal? When people see a
representative from the University of California on a respected show like
"Nightline" espousing his creationism "science" is there any wonder why
people are confused? People are not getting dumber they just no longer
discern a difference between the ideas of Darwin and Pat Robertson. Our
universities are failing us. I learned a vocation at Penn State. I learned
to think logically on my own. It's Penn State who should have taught me/all
students to think logically- whether they are EE majors or Art History
majors. Stop fooling around worrying about minority studies and gay rights-
you're shuffling deck chairs on the Titanic. Unless we get back to the
concept that evidence/science counts- that rational thought is not equal to
faith based thought- the religious right is going to win. And our children
will be living in the Christian equivalent of Iran- studying how humankind
is made in the image of God and praying at the Shroud of Teran- until that
asteroid hits.
Regards,
[name deleted]
**************************
Dear Mr. xxxxx:
Thank you for your letter. Stop watching Nightline, turn off your
radio, and everything will be okay. You've raised a lot of questions
here and it's going to take us some time to get to the bottom of all
this. We're doing the math on the five loaves thing right now, and
we'll let you know how it comes out. The guys from chemistry are
coming right over to explain how that kid's dad returned in the Old
Spice bottle; we're sure there's an explanation for it, but we'll
just have to see what they say. Until then, we're taking away that
woman's right to vote, so at least we're able to do that much for the
situation.
I don't know about these other questions. "Are all thoughts
equal?" I've searched high and low for the correct answer to that.
For now we've shipped that question over to the folks in Sports
Information and if anyone can answer that, I know they'll be able to.
Your letter raises some very useful points about the asteroid. We
have told the folks in Physical Plant repeatedly that praying will do
no good and they've got to be ready for that thing when it hits, and
maybe your letter will help convince them. We have a plan we call
SAFER (Stop the Asteroid From Engendering Religion) -- kind of a
12-step program -- that we're trying out this year. I'll let you know
if it's successful and it might be something you'll want to recommend
to Penn State.
There's one point you make that I'd like follow up on with you before
we get too far into our research. You say that "people are not
getting dumber." Interesting point. Do you have any proof of that,
anything to back it up? We've been looking for evidence of that
ourselves.
Like you, I have always believed that the University of California,
Berkeley, is responsible for the rise of right wing religion in this
country, and I'm tired of it, too -- I'm God damn tired of it!
I'm going to have to get back to you later...gotta go, I'm late
for a meeting with Pat Robertson to discuss where we're going to hang
the Shroud of Teran (the real thing...not that cheap "Shroud of
Turin" deal that gets all the attention).
Sincerely,
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