Caterina.net: Frans de Waal on Creationism and the Anti-religious movement

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{ Thursday, February 25, 2010 }

Frans de Waal on Creationism and the Anti-religious movement

When I came to this country, over twenty-five years ago, I was amazed that creationism was still taken seriously, and assumed that it would blow over. It never did, of course. I can't help but look at it as a left-over of a medieval mind-set unresponsive to overwhelming counter-evidence.

At the same time, I must say that I don't think the recent wave of God-questioning rants have helped much. They have polarized the issue, whereas in my mind it is eminently possible to look at religion as a collective value system and at science as telling us how the physical world operates. Even though I am not religious myself, I think the conflict between science and religion is unnecessary and overblown.

This seems very sensible. Recently a good friend of mine was arguing on behalf of religious abolitionists such as Sam Harris and Richard Dawkins and I felt similarly ill at ease. I've always thought within every religion lies the true, original religion, its pure and holy impulse -- no matter how corrupted by human failure, malignity and malevolence it persists. I'm a twice-annual unconfirmed and unchurched Catholic -- Easter and Christmas -- and I love the rituals.

The rest of the interview, which has nothing to do with religion, is great.

LINK | 10:31 PM | TB

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{ COMMENTS }

i think this overstates the influence actual atheists have on the conversation among the strongly faithful. evidence of materialistic vanity stretches far FAR beyond oxford debates.

also not sure a species w/ thousands of languages ever had or needed a "true, original religion."

hapa | February 26, 2010 11:43 AM

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