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Politics : Evolution -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Solon who wrote (13663)	2/12/2011 7:26:50 PM
From: Jacques Chitte	1 Recommendation Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 69300

Some of the difficulty that I see with this discussion is that Dawkins' example is over the top. The stork theory is trivially falsifiable. While neither you nor I believe in the Judeo-Christian deity, belief in such, as held by Gaskell (i.e. accommodating the core tenets of science as we know it) is neither falsifiable nor over the top. The metaphor breaks down. That is a reason why I view Dawkins' use of the stork example ... that Gaskell doesn't cut it as a rational scientist as relying on bad logic. Strip away the rationale and you have a loyalty test failed because Gaskell subscribes to an unauthorized faith. I won't agree with Gaskell's faith, but I see no indication that it would hamper his work, research or teaching, as an optical astronomer. (Visual astronomy is one of my more passionate hobbies.) But I will stand in his corner when I perceive him as the focus of discrimination on grounds that should really be personal. Now if there is a clear indication that Gaskell would use his position to discuss religion, I would retract my defense. But on the principle that guilt needs to be proved, I see Dawkins and colleagues' prejudicial rejection as the more serious breach of professional ethics. That is what has me steamed. Loyalty is a fine thing, but when it comes at the expense of honor, you end up with the slogan etched onto the daggers of the SS. "Meine Ehre heisst Treue" translates as "My honor is called Loyalty." Bad things wait down that road.