Monday, November 30, 2015

Science and Belief and Planned Parenthood


When a homicidal lunatic opens fire, whether he is an ISIS maniac or a Bible thumping Christian, he usually says things, once apprehended, or in some pre recorded video justifying his actions with assertions of belief.

I've not heard the ISIS AK-47 wielding wacko yet, justifying chopping down women sitting at an outside Parisian cafe, but the wacko who opened fire in Colorado Springs reportedly talked about selling fetal body parts as a justification for shooting two patients and a number of others, including a campus policeman, who he killed.

Of course, Donald Trump opined that this is only to be expected because it's inflammatory when you hear Planned Parenthood doctors talking about buying and selling baby body parts from abortions as if they were automobile parts at a junkyard.

Listening to the Donald, you would conclude 1: Planned Parenthood doctors are in the business of selling body parts, which implies they may be avid to do abortions so they can secure a supply of baby brains, lungs, hearts to sell on the hot market for these items  2. This is so disgusting and reprehensible, it's understandable someone with a gun might react by killing baby brain kingpins engaged in this trade.

Of course, there are truths and truths. If the videos showed anything, they, at most showed some doctors who may or may not have received a salary or an office from Planned Parenthood discussed providing, (but not selling) body parts over lunch, wine and mouthfuls of Chinese dumplings--disturbing, but not exactly organ black marketeers. 

The guy with the gun, more likely, was looking for  an excuse to use it.

People believe what they want to believe, what they have need to believe.

The same people who are appalled by the idea of abortion are often just as determined to prevent contraception, which is something of a paradox because if there were more contraception, there would be fewer abortions, but they want to believe that the people who provide contraception at Planned Parenthood are guilty of the crime of abortion, although these two practices are ordinarily quite separate and provided by entirely different physicians.

And this crowd is often the crowd which argues for teaching intelligent design, i.e., the Biblical creation story in the same science class where evolution is taught. What they miss is that there is a difference between science and belief, i.e. religious faith.  Which is not to say science has a monopoly on the "truth" or the "Truth."  Science is simply a process, and is always a work in progress. The "scientific method" requires hypothesis, experimental testing and measurement.  Accepting the Biblical story of creation neither requires nor allows any of this, so it is not science.

Personally, I would have no problem discussing Biblical creation in school as a separate class, but it should be clear this is as different from science class as poetry is different.  

The other problem, of course, is teaching religion in school as received Truth.  In our democracy, we decided, I like to think, long ago we would have a society in which everyone can believe in whatever religion he or she wants to believe in, but that means we cannot teach any of these religions in public schools, which as public institutions are an arm of the government and the government cannot choose sides among religions.  So, no, Biblical creation cannot be part of a government school curriculum, although it ought not be disparaged in that public forum. 

If you want your kid to believe in Biblical creation, and the six days and resting on the 7th, then send him to Sunday school. Just don't ask the government to nod and say, "Yes, that's correct."

But for some, belief admits no dissent.  And that is when the ISIS boys start grabbing their guns and suicide vests. Nobody else's opinion matters or should even be tolerated for these guys.  The same, apparently, is true here in the USA, where differences of opinion get some people reaching for their guns and Presidential candidates shrugging, saying this is an understandable, if not commendable response.


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