Saturday, December 27, 2008

Man & Dinosaur: Together Back Then?


Quoth, Pastor Rick ("Reverend Dick") Warren of Brokeback Cathedral:
...(Once) I believed that evolution and the account of the Bible about creation could exist along side of each other very well. I just didn't see what the big argument was all about. I had some friends who had been studying the Bible much longer than I had who saw it differently...Eventually, I came to the conclusion, through my study of the Bible and science, that the two positions of evolution and creation just could not fit together. There are some real problems with the idea that God created through evolution... My prayer is that you will have this same experience!
(...)
The Bible's picture is that dinosaurs and man lived together on the earth, an earth that was filled with vegetation and beauty...man and dinosaurs lived at the same time...From the very beginning of creation, God gave man dominion over all that was made, even over the dinosaurs.
Forgive me if such speculation seems intolerant, or narrow-minded, or jejune, but please explain to me what important national, or international, goals are achieved by granting the MOST public forum of the political season--and the implicit imprimatur of the new President--to someone who has made, and never repudiated, such a statement? What has such a person--one so deeply immersed in delusion, so blind to reason and truth, and so proudly misguided--to contribute to the national dialogue?

Would Obama have invited a spokesperson for the Hale-Bopp-frenzied Heaven's Gate cult to make he benediction for his new regime? A Scientologist?

The only qualification seems to be that the delusion be jointly held by sufficient number of 'believers' in order to qualify it for inclusion in the national discourse.

How is what Warren asserts in that passage any LESS ridiculous than the Heaven's Gate "believers"? (DOTOF™: PZMyers' Pharyngula.)

One more question:

If as the Evangie/Fundies also believe, the Bible is the inerrant and inviolate "word of God," why do they have to keep reading and studying it? If it is what they say it is, then by definition it admits no interpretation, so reading it once--slowly, if you're home-schooled or a Liberty U grad--ought to be enough, nest paw?

1 comment:

ignorant redneck said...

Well, If you don't mind input from a Phreakishly Olde Skool right winger, I think I know why this guy was picked:

Because there are about 48 out of every 100 folks who don't like Obama, and who think that the administration will be hostile to them, take no notice of their concerns and ideals.

by picking this pastor to give the prayer at the Inauguration, he is sending a signal that he is at least awar of us, and wants to be our president, as well as a president for the progressive elements in american society.

BTW--Just for the Record: I believe in evolution!