Saturday, August 2, 2008

Response to "More on Religion".

You said
I don't think that it is at all necessarily dependent upon religion. Creationism is simply a model of origins, just like evolution. In fact I like to call evolution "Naturalism's creation story". So creationism is not dependent on a "system of belief that has a form of worship as integral to it". It does appeal to the super-natural for the origin of the natural, but this does not seem to be religious in the sense that I have heard you use the term. Evolution is also an attribute of many religions, so would we then say that evolution is religious? The same is true, of course, of a Christian worldview. Though a super-natural God is integral to its belief it in no way demands a form of worship, though I would agree that the adherents of such a worldview will almost always become religious and worship God as an extension of it. But I again think we could say the same thing about every other worldview, including naturalism.
Naw. Creationism is a model of origins that is dependant on a creator. If you believe in creationism, you believe in a creator. If you believe in a creator you are religious and believe in a religion. Simple as that.

You say "Evolution is also an attribute of many religions, so would we then say that evolution is religious?" Well, I think that we could both find religions that have the attribute of being evil, so does this logic imply that all religion is evil? Evolution is not even remotely religious; it is a description of modification through descent that occurs in many natural systems. Saying "Evolution is religious" is roughly equivalent to making statements like "The sunshine is religious". If you choose to define your terms that loosely, fine I guess, but they lose meaning and significance. You say "But I think we could say the same thing about every other worldview, including naturalism". Naw. You'd say that, and have many times. Saying it doesn't make it either real or applicable, though. I even think your worldview demands this sentiment of you. That doesn't make it real, though.

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