An event that occurred 250 years ago today stands as a singular reminder that the war between faith and science in America did not start in Dover, Pa., where several school board members who promoted the teaching of intelligent design were voted out of office last week, …
IF people are dismayed to find fresh examples of the type of faith that blames victims of natural disasters … for causing their own misery, it is comforting to see that the other kind of faith is also alive and well. For that, we need look no further than Franklin's adopted home state, Pennsylvania. No doubt many of those who voted for science on Election Day in Dover went to church the following Sunday.
For Franklin and his like-minded contemporaries, scientific pursuit was the ultimate act of faith; faith that there was an order to be discovered and faith in our ability to discover it.
If scientific pursuit is the ultimate act of faith that there is an order to be discovered, then who is more rational?
1. A Christian scientist who, believing an orderly, all-powerful God created the word and governs it day by day, looks for order and principled coherence in the world; or
2. An atheist scientist who, believing the world has evolved randomly from chaos by improbable events rarely if ever seen today, looks for order and principled coherence in the world.
Good point Mr. Liell. Thank you for setting it up so nicely. And surprisingly, for a random product of chance mutations, Mr. Liell most likely makes another true point, although I am afraid it reflects very badly on the church. No doubt many of those who voted for irrational science on Election Day in Dover did go to church the following Sunday.
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