Here Are Some Things
Comments
Re: Albertsons thoughfulness for pulling Seventeen.
Huh. Very interesting. Apparently whoever made the command decision to pull it doesn't realize teenagers get anatomy lessons of this type (or perhaps a tad better) in Junior/Senior High.
God bless you. Not for the onebee linkage (gracious as that is considering its currently dreary state of affairs). But for the bullet-pointed post, a beauty of succinctness and to-the-point-osity.
Furia's piece is interesting, although I take issue with the term "stealth." Can a cudgel blow to the forehead really be considered stealthy? In a similar vein, I'm interested to hear the reaction of actual writers like yourself to the Random House Films deal. I think it's a terrible idea.
In a similar vein, I'm interested to hear the reaction of actual writers like yourself to the Random House Films deal.
Thank goodness someone's finally made a business deal that will cut though all the red tape that's been preventing books from being made into movies! I mean, you hardly see any books getting made into movies!
Some comments as to why I believe that a poll result showing 51% of Americans believe that God created humans in their present form does not show that America is at war with either facts or reason.
As to facts: If one asks "were humans created or did they evolve?", it seems to me that the facts are unclear. There is evidence to support evolution. But, there is also very much that we do not know about the past and origins of humans.
As to reason: Based on the facts, it seems to me that one could conclude that humans were created. It does seem likely that we can disprove the strictest literal interpretations of some religions. But, disproving a strict interpretation does not prove the theory of evolution.
Briefly stated: If evolution is true, the gaps in our knowledge are just missing information. If creation is true, the gaps in our knowledge were never there. Either statement could be true.
Thus, I believe that people looking at the facts and attempting to reason from them could believe any of the answers offered in the poll - creation, guided evolution, or evolution.
I believe Jeff's point, Steve, is that if one is one of the 51% of thos that believe God created humans as they currently exist, then pulling Seventeen magazine for a piece exploring the glory of part of God's creation (the vagina) is a bit hypocritical.
Thus, I believe that people looking at the facts and attempting to reason from them could believe any of the answers offered in the poll - creation, guided evolution, or evolution.
I think that one must do a fair bit of intellectual contortion in order to get from facts and reason (your "there is a lot we do not know") to "God created humans in their present form." I would, however, like to see the results of a better worded poll that more accurately segregated those with reasoned opinions from those with opinions based on a narrow reading of Genesis.
"Ask, and it will be given you..." Matthew 7:7. (I can't resist the urge to quote this here.)
A comprehensive polling report is available from The Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life. See http://pewforum.org/docs/index.php?DocID=115 for the summary of an August 30, 2005, survey report and http://pewforum.org/publications/surveys/religion-politics-05.pdf for the detailed report.
Page 22 of the detailed report contains two charts, one by religious affiliation and one by opinions on the Bible, which break out the range of opinions on the issue.
There is a wealth of other information in the survey report.
Monday's Wall Street Journal ran a page one article on teaching intelligent design at colleges.
In the article, there is some information on Jeff's question. The article reports an informal Iowa State University survey finding that one-third of ISU freshmen planning biology majors agree that God created humans pretty much in the present form within the last 10,000 years.