DrBob

See also Leon, S.M. (2013) An Image of God: The Catholic struggle with eugenics. University of Chicago Press.

Humans (for the most part) are certainly capable of selecting for themselves with whom they breed

So are you suggesting, as the eugenics movement did, that humans should select breeding partners based on social desirability of…[Read more]

Oh, I agree with you @Mr.Tag. “Religion” is such a broad word it’s not very useful. It doesn’t even require theism.

For my part, I don’t (usually) see anything “meaningful” in ancient scriptures. Instead, I marvel at those who infer or empower phrases or passages as if they were “wisdom” being imparted by the Timeless Creator Of All Things.

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With respect, you’re doing what a lot of apologists do: playing with words. What do you mean “my faith decided how it chooses to…” And “my faith compiled the whole thing…”

It sounds like you’re casting this “Faith” as an entity. Yet, you use “faith” as if it bolsters your particular set of brliefs, too.

Hello, @Mr.Tag. I’m sorry if…[Read more]

Do you have a source to back up your claim that “early Darwinist eugenicists” wrote sterilization laws and not good ole god-fearin’ white guys?

The history of the Eugenics Movement in the United States and elsewhere is one of the best examples of science perpetrating horrific evil on humanity. Over 64,000 people were forcibly sterilized in th…[Read more]

He is a cafeteria Christian. Thanks goodness for that because fundamentalists are scary.

I think the part you don’t understand, @Simon, is that fundamentalist is not the same thing as Christian. Most Christians aren’t fundamentalists and not all fundamentalists are Christians (there are Jewish and Islamic fundamentalists).

So it’s not that…[Read more]

Darwin’s book does not endorse racism and I believe the morality of human eugenics is not exactly clear yet. We sure use selective breeding for crops and livestock.

Um… so if I read that right, @Robert, you think that selective breeding of human beings as though they were crops or livestock may be morally acceptable. I’ll give you this, y…[Read more]

@Strega, poisonous critters are just critters. Some of them are cute, and many are even friendly. 😉

Nope, I don’t “deflect to” fundamentalists, I just take the time to learn and understand different people and different groups, so as to be able to make thoughtful and rational distinctions. I admit that requires intellectual effort, patience,…[Read more]

How is it you believe in magic sky zombies still?

@Mr. Tag, I don’t believe in magic sky zombies. That would be silly. 😉

@Strega has brought up the fear thing before, and I just don’t see it myself. Neither now nor growing up have I ever been afraid of God or religion in the way you suggest. Clowns, now… they can be scary.

As @Matt describes, there’s no such thing as “cold”. However, our perception of cold is dependent on rate of heat loss (particularly to our skin surface). That heat loss is dependent on a number of things, but for the purposes of the question let’s assume we’re standing, our skin’s moisture and the air’s humidity remain constant, the wind is…[Read more]

Huh… are replies not threaded in this new site? That’s too bad. It makes sub-discussions hard.

I was going to say, @_Robert_, that on that basis, we should throw out Darwin’s work as well, since it has been used to justify racism and eugenics and other awful things for generations.

I’m not sure that logic is sound, are you?

It is the flag of treason, aggression, and bigotry, a symbol throughout the world of oppression and one of the worst violations of human rights perpetrated against a people for financial gain. While there are rare circumstances where it’s appropriate to be displayed in a historical context, it is never appropriate to salute it or fly it.

Hullo @MrTag,

Full disclosure. I am/was an occasional visiting theist to the old ThinkAtheist site, and maybe here. I’m a Christian and a Catholic (not a fundamentalist), and a faculty member in the sciences at an R1 university in the U.S.

I know it’s important to be able to vent to friends about how inane other folks can be, and I don’t want…[Read more]