Lee Silver, der er professor i biologi ved Princeton, har et særdeles interessant blogindlæg på Scientific Blogging.com. I sit indlæg har han genoptrykt en e-mailkorrespondence han selv og et religiøst menneske har haft om, hvordan livet er opstået osv.
Silvers egen introduktion til samtalen:
Many scientists have expressed the belief that if they only had a chance to explain the facts, they could convince intelligent educated people (at least) of the validity of a neo-Darwinian approach to understanding life. As the following email exchange suggests, this conventional assumption is wrong. Not all people – even intelligent ones – have minds that operate according to the same principles of rationality.
Den kristne starter bl.a. ud med at sige:
I am not attempting to argue the existence of God or the theory of evolution. What I am concerned about is the integrity of the statements you made. I have no way of proving or disproving any of the research, accomplishments, or potential of the genetic research you wrote about. However, statements such as those made in the first paragraph force me to question your reliability.
WTF?!? “Jeg har ingen mulighed for at verififere eller falsificere hvad du har skrevet. Meeennn jeg synes ikke du er troværdig?” Hvad pokker bilder han sig da ind?
Og Einstein får også en med på vejen — hvilket ikke er unormalt, når kristne forsøger at debattere:
I am a believer in God, as was Einstein.
Som om, at det skulle gøre nogen som helst forskel.
Et uddrag af den kristnes sidste e-mail vidner om, og bekræfter mig endnu mere i, at religion er fordummende og menneskefjendsk:
I am more than willing to consider the possibility that I am wrong about many things. I am generally very open-minded about the world. However, I will not be swayed in my belief in God or the accuracy of the Bible – having those doubts would defeat the purpose of faith. However, I firmly believe science and religion can exist in harmony with each other. The Bible is not explicit on the age of the universe, so that is a subject I am open to explore. However, the Bible is explicit in its claim that man was uniquely created; therefore, I cannot buy in to a macroevolutionary world. I do feel it is important, though, to understand all sides of a subject and be able to come to an educated conclusion. Hence, my curiosity and determination to understand your world.
Som mine forældre altid har sagt til mig: “Nikolaj, du skal ikke tro, du skal vide.”
