NetNews Usenet Archive 1993 #1/NN_1993_1.iso/spool/talk/abortion/54098

Text File | 1993-01-04 | 3.4 KB | 70 lines

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From: [e-mail] (Michael P Noonan)
Subject: Re: Greetings
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>
Sender: noonan@mksol (Michael P Noonan)
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Organization: Texas Instruments
References:  <[e-mail]>
Date: Mon, 4 Jan 1993 18:50:57 GMT
Lines: 57

In article <[e-mail]>,
[e-mail] (Ron Bense) posts for Chris Lyman:

|> Lately, I've been lurking in talk.origins, a newsgroup focused on the
|> evolution/creation debate.  My scientific credentials and expertise are
|> dwarfed by those of many of t.o's participants, so it's unlikely that
|> I'll ever post there.  Imo, the evolution/creation debate is yet another
|> facet of what seems to be a cultural war between the radical and/or
|> religious right and the progressive and/or humanist left.  I am
|> particularly struck by the similarity of mindsets between
|> creationists and anti-abortionists.

Here it is once again assumed that all anti-abortionists are religious
zealots.  I am an atheist, anti-creationist, and anti-abortionist.

You attack a position by maligning its supporters.  This is, IMO, a
poor tactic and detracts from the discussion.  This is slightly ironic,
since your post is directed against such tactics.

|> Creationists pounce on every anomalous phenomenon not predicted by the
|> theory of evolution as 'proof' that the TofE is bogus, yet offer no
|> theory of creation of their own.  They accuse evolutionists of suppressing
|> data, but ignore overwhelming evidence that the earth was formed millions
|> of years ago and that life as we know it now is the result of millions of
|> generations of transformation and natural selection (Forgive my imprecise
|> use of these terms; I told you I wasn't an expert!).  I guess you could
|> sum their position up with the phrase, "Don't confuse me with the facts,
|> my mind is made up!"
|>
|> I will leave my implied analogy to anti-abortionists as an exercise
|> for the reader. :-)

I, for one, fail to see the connection.  I don't disbeleive Creationism
because its supporters are idiots.  I disbelieve Creationism because
there is no evidence for its veracity.  I do, however, welcome the
presentation of new evidence should it become available.  Facts are
welcome in any debate.

|> Imo, the efforts of creationists to gut the sciences of biology, geology,
|> astronomy and others is particularly insidious in light of the fact that
|> academic performance in mathematics and science in the U.S. is falling.
|> Add to that the resistance to effective sex education and birth control
|> (both of which would reduce the demand for abortion, btw), and it seems
|> that the slogan "Ignorance is Strength" could be carved over the entry
|> to the Pantheon of the Religious/Radical Right.

I understand your outrage.  Indeed, I feel much of it myself.  I
think we must refrain from dismissing a certain viewpoint merely
because idiots espouse it, however.  You will find that there are
idiots in every cause.

|> Chris Lyman    /   email: [e-mail]   /    my thoughts, my words
|> "The responsibility for change...lies within us. We must begin with ourselves,
|>  teaching ourselves not to close our minds prematurely to the novel, the
|>  surprising, the seemingly radical." -- Alvin Toeffler

Mike Noonan