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To: Celtjew Libertarian
I was just reading this thread again noticed and appreciated the thoughtful tone of your posts. It's too bad that a similarly thoughtful article like this one can't be discussed by all in that tone. Just as there are many variations in the theories of evolution, there are many variations in religious thought, and, with respect to debates in the U.S., more specifically many variations of Christianity and Darwin's theory of natural selection.

The two camps often overlap, and there are supporters of each who are quite fair-minded and reasonable as well as some others are considerably less so. I also agree that Christian Fundamentalists deserve credit for being open about their fundamentalism, and I would give that same respect to a Daniel Dennett, who is equally open about his. Those who would dispute that there are fundamentalists in science as well as religion should take note of Dennett's words about himself and his close friend and associate, Richard Dawkins:

And I also thought, on rereading the book, that the late Steve Gould was really right when he called Richard and me Darwinian fundamentalists. And I want to say what a Darwinian fundamentalist is. A Darwinian fundamentalist is one who recognizes that either you shun Darwinian evolution altogether, or you turn the traditional universe upside down and you accept that mind, meaning, and purpose are not the cause but the fairly recent effects of the mechanistic mill of Darwinian algorithms. It is the unexceptioned view that mind, meaning, and purpose are not the original driving engines, but recent effects that marks, I think, the true Darwinian fundamentalist.

And Dawkins insists, and I agree wholeheartedly, that there aren't any good compromise positions. Many have tried to find a compromise position, which salvages something of the traditional right-side-up view, where meaning and purpose rain down from on high. It cannot be done. And the recognition that it cannot be done is I would say, the mark of sane Darwinian fundamentalism.

178 posted on 05/29/2006 7:07:28 AM PDT by mjolnir ("All great change in America begins at the dinner table.")
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To: mjolnir
Thank you for your comments.

I exchanged E-mail with Dennett a year or so ago, as I had a question about something in a column he had written. He gave me a partial answer, then referred me to several of his books for the full one. 8>)

In any case, I found his tone, both in the article, as well as his E-mail, to be reasonable. He seemed more interesting in teaching than preaching (though I thought a touch more interested in selling his books than either -- which I find understandable and amusing, rather than annoying, BTW). I disagree with him, but I find him more than tolerable.
196 posted on 05/29/2006 9:43:13 AM PDT by Celtjew Libertarian (Give a choice of things to believe in, I tend to choose the most interesting.)
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