He who places his hope on thee, O Virgin all-glorious, will prosper in all he does.

Inscription on Byzantine coin during reign of Romanus III



Friday, September 21, 2007

Sympathizing with the secularists

The Ochlophobist opened up the evolutionism/creationism can of worms, and I couldn't resist voicing my meager opinion. I further made my sympathies known over at Gabriel's site.

I congratulate Gabriel on his new employment.

I'm sorry to hear that the Ochlophobist is becoming anti-science. You know, I think a lot of confusion about science and Orthodoxy would be solved if we were able, through some simple technique, to erase the unwholesome influence that the Western heresies have had in framing the religion/science issue. The solution, of course, is more Orthodoxy, but that isn't implemented simply.


My view is that the evolutionism/creationism controversy is simple, rather than grandiose. It only seems grandiose because of the disingenuousness of some folks involved in the controversy.

Let me be plain about this: my sympathies lie with Truth and with particular truths. Scientists who endorse evolutionism are merely picking the best explanation out of a sorry lot, and man's life in the created world often involves such tradeoffs. Man is endowed with reason, not omniscience. Scientists necessarily hold a truncated view of reality--that is, a view of reality that includes only the created world--because they are doing science, not theology.

The creationism and ID folks aren't grappling with issues like intellectual honesty, but rather foisting their perversely nominal Christianity on every endeavor, including science.

Give me the sparkling prose of an anguished soul like Christopher Hitchens. For that matter, I like Camille Paglia, too.

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