Thu., Nov. 16, 2006, 7:30-9:00 p.m.I’m not quite sure how I’m going to prepare myself to make it through this lecture without screaming, but I’ll think of something. Sedatives come to mind...
Difficult Dialogues at The Commons
Eugenie C. Scott
"Faith, Reason, and Assumption in Understanding the Natural World"
Kansas Union Ballroom
I've mentioned Scott's angle on getting her anti-religious agenda to the public in an earlier post:
First on deck we have Eugenie Scott, from the National Center for Science Education...This is a woman who claims that evolutionary biology says nothing about the existence of God. Who on earth is she trying to kid? Why is it that Richard Dawkins, Sam Harris, Daniel Dennett et. al. are writing books claiming the complete polar opposite? Harris is out on a book tour preaching throughout the country that natural selection is all that is needed to explain our existence. Sounds to me like Scott wants to keep her hands clean, and let others do the dirty work for her.
"NCSE is a nonprofit, tax-exempt membership organization working to defend the teaching of evolution against sectarian attack. We are a nationally-recognized clearinghouse for information and advice to keep evolution in the science classroom and "scientific creationism" out.
Sounds a bit militant, but whatever. Personally, I don’t support biblical creation or any other religious agenda being forced on the science classroom. Separation of church and state is a good thing for many, many reasons. But, for Eugenie, I think there is a bit more going on here.
She's a "Notable Signer" of the Humanist Manifest III, which makes broad theological claims that "humans are...the result of unguided evolutionary change. Humanists recognize nature as self-existing.”
So, she is an atheist and a humanist, which means that Darwinism supports her philosophical position that there is no God, and that “nature is self-existing”. After reading her biography, I see that she has received some interesting awards:
“...the Isaac Asimov Science Award from the American Humanist Association, the First Amendment Award from the Playboy Foundation, the James Randi Award from the Skeptic Society.”
Neato...can’t imagine why they are so fond of her science.
Shoot, she even commented in one interview:
"I have found that the most effective allies for evolution are people of the faith community. One clergyman with a backward collar is worth two biologists at a school board meeting any day!"
Meaning that if she can convert a preacher to accepting darwinian evolution, she can get him to convert his entire flock. Interesting that she used the words “backward collar”. I wonder if those poor clergyman know what she is up to.
Perhaps if Scott were just your run of the mill atheist, I’d consider her supposed personal belief that evolutionary biology doesn’t conflict with religious views. But, the woman is a notable signer of the Human Manifesto III !! She also works within the churches to spread her message of the ~truth~ of Darwinian evolution.
Give me a break....people need to wake up to what is going on here.
