Scientists Promoting Atheism?
Ray Grieselhube writes:
Science, for some odd reason, and especially in the United States, has been on the defensive from the Church for centuries. The scientific community has reacted in the way that anybody under constant attack and suspicion would - they got pissed off and they enjoyed pissing off the church. As a result, numerous scientists take their observations in the natural world and extrapolate them into their own cosmologies, and they push these personal religious beliefs (such as atheism) onto their students as if they had the same authority as the scientific observations that they are supposed to be teaching.
I would agree that scientists should not use their scientific findings in order to push personal religious, political, or social beliefs onto students. The question is, just how many actually do that? I've never seen it and I've never even heard of it except in the fevered urban legends of a few fundamentalists. It is, in fact, far more likely to find so-called scientists pushing Christian beliefs, such as creationism, in the guise of science.
It's funny to say "I believe in evolution." A good scientist, when he is wearing his scientist's hat does not say "I believe" or "I don't believe". He states that, based on his observations thus far, his theory has or has not been proven to be wrong. Furthermore, he will say that his theory, in consideration of our best evidence, is a reasonable explanation for the processes behind our observations. That's it - there is nothing more that science can do. It is the occupation of science to postulate, experiment, observe, and finally disprove or fail to disprove. If something cannot be disproven, it is accepted as valid. If nothing else, when properly applied, the scientific method is ruthless and it is honest. This is why it is a shame for Christians to accuse the scientific community of intellectual dishonesty and wild conspiracies.
I may disagree strongly with what I quoted higher above, but this here is a different matter entirely. It is, I think, a very nice summary of what science does, what it is capable of, and what it does not do. It's not a perfect explanation of course, but it's a very good explanation given the space used. This should be sent to every Christian who insists that scientists are engaged in some conspiracy against creationism, Intelligent Design, or whatever else they imagine is being thwarted.
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Comments
***”and they push these personal religious beliefs (such as atheism) onto their students”***
It amuses me to see people write that atheism is a religion. It is in no way nor has ever been a religion. We simply contend that the 90% of people in the US are suffering from a mass delusion, based merely on the fact that their parents believed and their parents told them. Brainwashing by a parent is a powerful force. To call science a religion might be a cute way to say that their view is just as valid, but when they produce scientific papers for peer review then they might have a leg to stand on. Otherwise they are out of sciences league and their god no move valid than Zeus.