Uncommon Descent Serving The Intelligent Design Community

American Scientific Affiliation: Why does it exist?

Share
Facebook
Twitter
LinkedIn
Flipboard
Print
Email

 Who would have believed these results? First, no particular surprise, nearly 86% agree that the universe is about 14 billion years old, and Earth is about 4.6 billion years old. These are the given figures.

Even if they were wrong, it would make sense to accept them, for calculation purposes.

But … What is a surprise is that six percent believe that there are other universes. I wish ASA had also asked how many of its members believe in astrology or visit Madam Rosa the Psychic. Well, after that, it all goes downhill quickly, like a toboggan on ice:

Over 60% actually believe that “Biologically, Homo Sapiens evolved through natural processes from ancestral forms in common with primates.” Well then, goodby, God. Nice knowing ya.

Even funnier is that nearly 27% believe that “consciousness and self-awareness emerged in hominids through natural processes”. In reality, no one has any idea how consciousness emerged. It is unclear to me why anyone who opts for “natural processes” would claim to be a Christian. What the term means is plain enough to anyone who finished high school.

Now, this next part is not at all funny; it is scandalous: Unbelievably, over 27% of these Christian science luminaries actually believe that “Human behaviors, like kindness, care for children, competition, or desire for revenge, developed through evolutionary processes with natural causes.” So why are they Christians? They are – in effect – saying that God never communicated directly with man – in defiance of all monotheist religion whatever. It is one thing to disagree on the meaning of texts of Scripture, but everyone who accepts Scripture as defining the moral life agrees that it is a communication from God.
Disagreement about the meaning of communications from God or anyone else is nothing very unusual.

My mother and I have strongly disputed the meaning of obscure communications from the firm that supplies the hot water tank. It would be quite another matter for both of us to assume that no one at all had written that letter; that it somehow got composed and written by chance forces. Is tenure at bible colleges worth this much? Who knew? More on ASA later.

My view is that it is a dying organization, but maybe Grecian Formula will help.

*Okay, it is true. I failed snail-ology** a while back, but can’t help wondering whether such similar life forms are really separate species. It sounds too much like a legacy bureaucracy to feel real to me. I’m all for ecology and environmentalism, but have long felt that some of this stuff is due for an overhaul. ** I gave up snail-ology altogether when I accidentally hit someone (who was smoking on my retaining wall) with a large snail I was booting from one of my rose bushes. Of course, I had to go down and apologize. The snail was almost certainly eaten by local birds who waited on the telephone wire for precisely such events – but we keep no record of such matters here.

Comments
nullasalus at 1, I think the ASA crowd are deeply conflicted about what "natural" can mean in such a discussion. Of course, God can work through natural causes. So can I. Remember, I am the person who throws snails into the mutual drive, thinking that the birds will eat them. The claim that Darwinism can - within the lifetime of life on Earth - create the almost unfathomable complexities that we see all by itself is under such legitimate dispute that it is hard to comprehend a Christian or theist maintaining it. johnnyb at 2: The ASA people have conceded far too much to maintain a viable system. I am unclear at this point why they felt they needed to concede so much. There were many good reasons for doubting and refusing to make a disadvantageous truce with materialist atheism a number of decades ago. When famous scientists were reduced to arguing that a person or persons unknown from outer space created life, why wasn't that a clue? Just some thoughts, and thanks for comments.O'Leary
June 6, 2010
June
06
Jun
6
06
2010
01:32 PM
1
01
32
PM
PDT
While it is still problematic, a decent guide to why a Christian might believe that way would be Nancey Murphy's work. The following books provide some insight into this pattern of behavior: * Bodies and Souls or Spirited Bodies? * Whatever happened to the soul? * Did my neurons make me do it? I would say, ultimately, the thinking goes like this - (1) okay, neuroscience has proved that everything can be reduced to a physical mechanism and a physical cause, and so (2) how do we recreate belief and theology in the light of (1)? Obviously, (1) is nonsense, and is the result of materialists ignoring dissenting voices, but the materialists are loud enough that it causes many people - especially those outside science, to believe that (1) is true. However, they still have a basic belief in scripture, so they try to hold both together as well as they can.johnnyb
June 6, 2010
June
06
Jun
6
06
2010
05:20 AM
5
05
20
AM
PDT
Now, this next part is not at all funny; it is scandalous: Unbelievably, over 27% of these Christian science luminaries actually believe that “Human behaviors, like kindness, care for children, competition, or desire for revenge, developed through evolutionary processes with natural causes.” So why are they Christians? They are – in effect – saying that God never communicated directly with man – in defiance of all monotheist religion whatever. To be honest, while I think the ASA certainly has problems, I'm not sure it's fair to read this much into a poll answer. Especially since I've encountered many people who would argue that God works through natural processes. Really, what a "natural" thing is (and therefore, a "supernatural" thing) isn't the clearest definition to come by. Of course, I have no doubt that some people do subscribe to that insanity that is often talked about here - where Christianity is claimed to be true on the one hand, and that God exists, and created man, etc. And then that evolution is not only true, but it's absolutely unguided and random. Something's got to give, there.nullasalus
June 5, 2010
June
06
Jun
5
05
2010
01:32 PM
1
01
32
PM
PDT

Leave a Reply