A fellow MD scores a takedown!
RangelMD is on a roll. First, he gave Bill Frist the major thrashing that he deserved for his behavior with respect to the Terri Schiavo case, as I mentioned last week.
Now he's joined the fight against the antiscience known as "intelligent design" creationism. It's not often that you see a more dedicated medblogger like RangelMD take on "intelligent design" creationism, but I find it quite heartening to see. (I only say "more dedicated medblogger mainly in comparison to me, because Respectful Insolence is rather like a Frankenblog; it's the medical/science/history/skepticism/silly rants blog, whereas RangelMD tends to stick more closely to medicine and medical science.) A choice excerpt:
Nice takedown, and welcome to the fight, Chris. I might have to add an appropriately rephrased version of this paragraph to my Reply to a 14-year-old creationist.
Now he's joined the fight against the antiscience known as "intelligent design" creationism. It's not often that you see a more dedicated medblogger like RangelMD take on "intelligent design" creationism, but I find it quite heartening to see. (I only say "more dedicated medblogger mainly in comparison to me, because Respectful Insolence is rather like a Frankenblog; it's the medical/science/history/skepticism/silly rants blog, whereas RangelMD tends to stick more closely to medicine and medical science.) A choice excerpt:
Not only are they stuck without any direct evidence of intelligent design (ID) but also proponents of ID don't have a viable theory on exactly how God implemented her design into the universe. Any proposed mechanism paints them into a corner. If the universe was designed at the start and put into motion then God is a metaphysical being and thus beyond our ability to prove or disprove her existence beyond that of a concept. If God directly manipulates her creation on the go then where is the evidence for supernatural activity (i.e. a corporeal event completely unexplainable by conventional science)? If any supernatural manipulation of nature is beyond the ability of science to detect then we are back to square one in which ID is just another philosophy. If we can't directly prove anything about the activities of God then ID proponents must accept the fact that their theory has exactly as much weight as Flying Spaghetti Monsterism!
I'm glad that we're fighting back. If we want to build strong communities, we need sound education. Kids need to be able to think for themselves, and to distinguish science from religion.
ReplyDeleteReligion is important, and children should learn their faith from their parents and their church. Almost all mainstream faiths encourage their members to think for themselves, to explore their world and become productive members of society. It is a shrill minority who are trying to supress science, to keep everyone's kids from advancing because they reject the modern world.
I'm campaigning against efforts in Ohio to mandate the teaching of Creationism in our public schools. Schools with good funding, strong local and state support, and free from imposed ideology, are key to a prosperous future.
Thanks for your efforts, Orac. We need more professionals like yourself and RangelMD talking about the importance of sound education.
Jimmy Stewart
Candidate for State Rep., Ohio District 22
I just try to find peace by moveing "Darwin's Black Box" to the Christian Fiction section whenever I go to any bookstore. Very therapudic. The only down side is that it might increase its sales.
ReplyDeleteDo American book shops really have Christian fiction sections? Now that is a scary notion and a bit of a tautology. What's next Fiction Fiction?
ReplyDeleteI do love the suggestion though about moving non-science books to more appropriate sections - I get very cross when I see junk topics such as the Holy Grail, UFO's and New Age in the Science section of book shops.
ps love your blog