I would much rather be a born again agnostic.

It is not wise to blindly follow any leader especially when they use
religion as their bait.

What religious zealots and autocratic dictators hate most is that the basic
principle behind the scientific method is to always question authority.

The problem is that in common parlance the term "authority" is usually
misused to mean some pompous fool with a Ph.D., a political leader hell bent
on starting a war, a boss misusing his position to make your job miserable
or some crazed cop trying to abuse the law for his own amusement.


mel turner wrote in message
...
In article ,

[Iris Cohen] wrote...

I suspect Roadrunner might also have benefited from a better science
education. BRBR

Doubtless. The interesting thing is that my high school biology teacher
and
lifelong hero, Dr. Brandwein, who drilled the scientific method and much
other
wisdom into us, when we tried to peek behind the Final Curtain, said, "A
scientist must be religious." (Yes, I know he would not be allowed to say
that
today. I hope the young people will get it somewhere.)

I suppose it depends on what he meant by "religious". Perhaps he was
just saying that he believed that a good scientist really ought to
have "religious" feelings of awe and reverence for the universe that
she or he studies. Certainly many great scientists, past and present,
haven't been at all "religious" in any conventional sense.

Nevetheless, the antievolutionists are of course wrong whenever
they try to argue that there is necessarily a conflict between
accepting the findings of science and having religious beliefs.

Despite frequent creationist claims that the science has all been
some sinister atheistic conspiracy, a great many "evolutionists"
will say they are devout members of the usual religions.

cheers