Defend Science

[Quark]

Hi All,

Did anyone watch the documentary last night on SBS regarding the court case in America bought against supporters of Intelligent Design, who were seeking to have it taught in schools.

Many of these supporters, while under oath committed purgery. Much of their case involved quoting, completely out of context, certain mainstream professionals and experts in their fields.

The judge in his final ruling found that Intelligent Design had no basis in science, that it was entirely based on certain religious dogma. He ruled that it should not be taught in schools. He also recommended further proceeding against some of the Intelligent Design supporters for purgery.

I consider myself a man of science but I am also a Christian. When I see elements such as in this case, twist the facts to suite their own ends it really sickens me. The judge in this case had to be put under 24 hr protection due to the death threats he received following his ruling. This would seem to be a sad statement on the state of mind of some Americans.

I would hope that most of the people on this forum would defend science at every opportunity against such blatant disregard of truth and reason.

Regards
Trevor

[Omaroo]

It was interesting viewing. Get over it guys - we came from apes and that's really OK by me. :) Good to see that sense prevailed. Not good to see that the ID set resort to tricks to push their case. Sad in this day and age - especially to see that it is even gaining credibility as a "theory" in some corners. :screwy:

[matt]

Indeed.

Let's clone this fella...and bring a few dozen of him over here!:lol:

I think it says a lot when a group has to resort to tricks and hocus pokery.

It screams loud and clear (to me, anyway) that their belief system is founded on pretty much nothing.

Just my 2c worth.

[Dennis]

I found the irreducible complexity argument centred on the bacteria flagella motor quite fascinating, and was bowled over by how that scientist then discovered a “much reduced” and “less complex” analogue in the form of the viral injector!

Cheers

Dennis

[avandonk]

I don't know how many times I have said this. Science is not in the business of refuting any God. Science is about understanding the observable Universe and finding out what makes it tick. Any theory should be testable by experiment. If after many experiments the theory holds so far so good.

Darwins theory does not prove or disprove the existance of any God. It is the fundamentalists that believe the old testament written more than 3000 years ago by many diverse humans is the word of their God. Even worse it can only be interpreted at face value and is all you need to know.

The problem as I see it is that religion has been used for millenia to attempt to control the populace by the self annointed leaders who claim their power comes from some God. They get very annoyed when science shows how ignorant these leaders are. Ask Galileo if the Pope ignored what he saw in Galileos telescope because it was wrong or that it conflicted with the simple dogma that the Earth was the center of the Universe.


It is all about POWER folks not rationality. We can't have you pesky peasants doubting our God given power!

Remember the old adage 'look at not what they do but why they do it!'

Faith is exactly what it says it is, an irrational belief in the supernatural. There is no scientific test for this. So people of faith should not see science as a threat!

I am not denigrating the many people of good faith who spend their lives making things better for others.

I am only against power mad nutters that hide behind the so called word of God as a rationalisation for their delusions. You only have to see what is happening in many places to see that nothing has changed. People killing other people on the so called word of an imaginary friend.

Bert

By the way that Pope refused to look through Galileo's telescope as he thought that it was all an artefact or his mind could be polluted. This same Pope arranged to show Galileo Galilee the instruments of torture to convince him of his folly. Sound familiar?

[bojan]

:thumbsup:
Bert, your words express and describe exactly what I think and feel about the issue.
I have nothing more to add to your post, since you were here first (and your English is much better than mine :).. )
Bojan

[astroron]

Birt, I wish I had the skill with words to express what you said so eloquently:thumbsup:
Ron

[h0ughy]

Everyone has opinions and there is no need to force one opinion onto others because their opinion differs, that’s just my opinion. Of course the opinion of the first mentioned opinion is entirely my opinion, whilst the first opinion still stands. JMO, oh and BTW any personal denigration of people will be dealt with by others with a bigger opinion......whatever their opinion – keep this thread clean, no punching below the opinion line and be courteous to others, or you will have done unto you what you don’t want to believe…………..

[Ric]

If it wasn't for science and observing our surroundings to learn we would still be banging the rocks together and trying to create fire.