New terror warnings have been issued for the U.S. - focusing on apartment buildings and the water supply.

The following is from a computer "tech" forum. I am responding to the views of two posters ....

>>Requiring proof is a feature of science. Faith requires no proof.<<

Yes. However, that, IMO, holds true as long as religion focuses on issues of ethics and spirituality. As soon as religion turns to empirical questions (e.g., human origins), its assertions become susceptible to scientific evaluation.

>>Evolution and religion aren't necessarily mutually exclusive. Even if we were created in God's image, who's to say what that image was?<<

When you speak of being created in God's image, you are referring to a view held by many Jews, Christians, and Muslims. However, Buddhists, Taoists, Confucianists, and Ethical Culturists have no concept of God or a creator. The Buddhist texts, for instance, actually appear to support evolution.

The only countries in the world where a significant proportion of their populations are "creationists" are the U.S. and Australia. Globally, the vast majority of Jews, Christians, and Muslims have no problem with evolution. In the U.S. and Australia, creationism and so-called "intelligent design" are primarily issues for fundamentalist and, to a lesser extent, neo-evangelical Christians. (Fundamentalist Christians, on average, tend to be less educated than the average American.)

In the U.S., where I am, 41% of residents are creationists. IMO, that statistic alone should raise serious concerns about the quality of the educational system in this country. We know, for example, that secondary education in most European countries, in many respects, meets considerably higher standards than in the U.S. A recent study found that the average Russian high school graduate knew more about American history than the average American college graduate!

>>I prefer to keep an open mind about our origins.<<

I agree that it is important to keep an open mind. However, there is a difference between having an open mind and an uncritical one. Evolution is, to scientists, both a theory and a fact. Creationists frequently dispute the "fact" aspect. However, to scientists, a fact means that something is accepted by virtually all experts. Evolution is, therefore, a fact by simple definition.

Likewise, many creationists use the term "theory" in a non-technical fashion. To scientists, a theory is a scientific explanation. Conversely, to many non-scientists, it is "just someone's opinion." That notwithstanding, the views of creationists, not being based on legitimate empirical research, are of little concern to scientists. Creationism is theology (bad theology, IMO). However, it is neither a fact nor a theory.

>>I think you're misdefining the word "fact". Oxford's American dictionary defines it as, "something known to have happened or to be true or to exist". Since no one was at the start of everything you can't really prove it. However based on current evidence evolution appears to be the best explaination.<<

I have the OED (and use it frequently). However, the OED, as great a dictionary as it is, does not typically include highly technical and scientific usages.

The following definitions are better:

"The definition of a scientific fact is: the close agreement of a series of observations of the same phenomena." (Link)

"Scientific fact = an observation that is so consistently replicated that little doubt exists as to its truth." (Link)

"Well, evolution is a theory. It is also a fact. And facts and theories are different things, not rungs in a hierarchy of increasing certainty. Facts are the world's data. Theories are structures of ideas that explain and interpret facts. Facts do not go away when scientists debate rival theories to explain them." (Link)

>>*NOTE A few hundred years ago all the "experts" knew that the earth was flat and it was the center of the universe. Having something accepted by "experts" doesn't make something a fact.<<

That is correct. However, "fact" does not mean "truth." Metaphysics is the search for truth. Science is the search for facts and the attempt to explain them (i.e., theory).

Copyright © 2002 Mark A. Foster, Ph.D. All rights reserved.