[Rockingham]

Krauthammer has misunderstood the evolution issue and Catholic faith and teaching. Evolution, whether in Darwinian or other terms, is not the problem. Rather, the issue is the assertion that evolution in any sense proves scientific materialism and disproves the existence of God or of Christianity as a faith.

When pressed, mainstream scientists necessarily concede that evolution makes no such claims, but atheists commonly do, especially atheists who are scientists. Why should it surprise or alarm anyone that a Catholic prelate should object to the teaching of evolution as scientific proof of materialism and atheism? And especially so when evolution is is taught to Catholic schoolchildren in that fashion?

As a Catholic with great respect for Judaism and Jews, I nevertheless have come to suspect that Krauthammer and many Jews have a profound difficulty in recognizing the full dimensions of evolution as an issue for Christians and the dangers of letting evolution be taught in public schools as if it supports materialism and atheism. When Jews become materialists and atheists, they still remain Jews and tend to remain within the embrace of Judaism's mostly wise and humane culture.

When Christians become atheists, they tend to turn to alternative outlets for the innate human religious impulse: radical leftism; New Age Mysticism; extreme nationalism; and notoriously toxic ideologies, such as Nazism and communism. As the old warning goes: deserted altars do not long remain vacant -- they become occupied by demons.

The sincerity and fervor of Christian fundamentalists can be offputting, their view of evolution is often ill-informed, and their attacks on it tend to be misdirected. But they are utterly correct in the larger strategic sense: evolution as actually taught by an aggressively secular and faith-hostile public school system is a profound danger not just to faith but to our very survival. Genuine science is to the good and poses no conflict with faith, but science perverted through bad teaching into an attack on faith is bad science and offers horrors in its wake.

If one finds fault with or does not follow the above argument, consider the choice in practical terms: even if you agree with evolution in every sense and agree with Krauthammer, if you were in a desperate way and going door to door among strangers for help, would you rather try it among Christian fundamentalists in evolution hostile rural America, or would you prefer to seek help in a tony, faith hostile, evolution friendly urban neighborhood in Blue state America? Ideas have consequences.

[Zeroisanumber]

When Christians become atheists, they tend to turn to alternative outlets for the innate human religious impulse: radical leftism; New Age Mysticism; extreme nationalism; and notoriously toxic ideologies, such as Nazism and communism. As the old warning goes: deserted altars do not long remain vacant -- they become occupied by demons.

Right, so we stop teaching science because kids might become Nazis if they learn too much and question their religious faith.

[Dimensio]

When pressed, mainstream scientists necessarily concede that evolution makes no such claims, but atheists commonly do, especially atheists who are scientists.

Dawkins does this, and it irritates me to no end. Gould might have done it, though I don't recall any quotes from him offhand. Who else has done this?

[jennyp]

If one finds fault with or does not follow the above argument, consider the choice in practical terms: even if you agree with evolution in every sense and agree with Krauthammer, if you were in a desperate way and going door to door among strangers for help, would you rather try it among Christian fundamentalists in evolution hostile rural America, or would you prefer to seek help in a tony, faith hostile, evolution friendly urban neighborhood in Blue state America? Ideas have consequences.

I understand your point, but your example does compare apples to oranges. Would I seek help in a tony, evolution-friendly urban neighborhood or a creationist-friendly urban neighborhood? (Hmmm... Are there such places? And if not, why not? :-)

Anyway, rural communities tend to be much more cohesive, regardless of the dominant religion. I can appreciate the fact that a person who loses their faith finds themselves alone - but we do eventually find each other and build our own relationships.

Now, do we build explicitly atheist (or Objectivist in my case) communities? I.e., support networks that are built around our atheism? No, usually not. Whenever I've asked my fellow athiest friends why there aren't more Fellowships of Reason, or why there aren't more door-to-door evangelical Objectivists, they tend to scoff at the very idea of joining a group for fellowship. Very much like Libertarians, in fact.

[WildHorseCrash]

if you were in a desperate way and going door to door among strangers for help, would you rather try it among Christian fundamentalists in evolution hostile rural America, or would you prefer to seek help in a tony, faith hostile, evolution friendly urban neighborhood in Blue state America? Ideas have consequences.

...and if you needed cutting-edge medical treatment, would you rather go to faith-friendly Guatemala or evolution-friendly Johns Hopkins University???

[Doctor Stochastic]

Rather, the issue is the assertion that evolution in any sense proves scientific materialism and disproves the existence of God or of Christianity as a faith.

The great majority people that I have ever heard make this assertion are Creationists.

[Al Simmons]

You wrote:

"When Jews become materialists and atheists, they still remain Jews and tend to remain within the embrace of Judaism's mostly wise and humane culture."

My initial response - 'WTF'??

Ever hear of Leon Trotsky? Did he remain 'within the embrace of Judaism's mostly wise and humane culture.'?

What the He** does that type of meaningless crap mean? Its a fact that communism was founded by a (lapsed) Jew, Karl Marx, and its initial proponents included a large number of (lapsed) or non-believing Jews.

What kind of CRAP are you peddling here?

Atheist 'Jews' turn EVIL every bit as much as atheist 'Catholics' do, or atheist 'Protestants' do.

They are not excepted from the law of good and evil.

You can serve God, or...there is only one other alternative...