Heresy Against the Church of Darwin Must be Stamped Out!

_{Barry Arrington

March 12, 2013

Intelligent Design}

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Tomás de Torquemada (1420 – 1498) was the first Grand Inquisitor of the Spanish Inquisition. Steven Pinker has appointed himself as the Grand Inquisitor of the Church of Saint Charles the Bearded.

As reported in these pages (see here and here), atheist philosopher Thomas Nagel’s book Mind and Cosmos: Why the Materialist Neo-Darwinian Conception of Nature is Almost Certainly False has caused quite a stir. The New Republic reports that Pinker has taken to cyberspace to stir up the Darwinist mob against Nagel. Every whiff of heresy against the true faith must be ruthlessly stamped out. Torquemada had his Auto-da-fé. Pinker has his Twitter account.

Irony alert. We can be certain that Pinker is horrified by and wholly condemns Torquemada’s efforts to persecute and silence perceived heretics from the Christian faith. Yet he does not hesitate to strike at the slightest whiff of heresy against his secular faith.

Comments

Nick, I didn’t mean to give you palpitations. Sorry. Calm down. Take a few deep breaths. Read my response to Lar at 17.Barry Arrington_{March 12, 2013
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You're equating Twitter comments to Torquemada? Really????? Listen to yourselves! I facebook posts = Hitler!NickMatzke_UD_{March 12, 2013
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LarTanner: “Heresy is uniquely religious phenomenon” Nonsense. Every dictionary I consulted disagrees with you. Random House Dictionary:“any belief or theory that is strongly at variance with established beliefs, customs, etc” World English Dictionary: “any opinion or belief that is or is thought to be contrary to official or established theory; belief in or adherence to unorthodox opinion” You seem to have a case of the hyper-literal bug today, Lar. Let me spell it out for you. The point of the OP is not that anyone is going to burn at the stake for questioning the Darwinist party line. The point is that Darwinism is a species of orthodoxy, and people like Pinker are analogous to people like Torquemada in the sense that they enforce the orthodoxy and persecute in varying degrees those who transgress by deviating from the orthodoxy. “Analogous” is the key word there. I made a kind of analogy you see. I did not mean to suggest that Pinker is exactly like Torquemada. Sorry to throw you off. In case you (and Nick) are struggling with other aspects of the analogy, let me clear them up too. I do not think that Charles Darwin is really a saint or that he started a church or that Origin of Species is literally a sacred text. Again, sorry.Barry Arrington_{March 12, 2013
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Kantian Naturalist: If Darwinism entailed atheism, then that would be a problem for teaching Darwinism in public schools — but it doesn’t, so it’s not. This is nonsense. Of course, Darwinism entails atheism. Who are you kidding? That was the goal from the beginning. Despite their vehement denials, evolutionists are hellbent on imposing their religion (a system of beliefs) that does away with a creator God. Pointing to a handful of brain-dead Darwinian theists as proof that Darwinism does not deny God is not going to cut it. And insisting that evolution is not about the origin of life is a gutless excuse. Any theory of life that has no beginning is not a theory. It is a religion. And a very superstitious one at that.Mapou_{March 12, 2013
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Barry,
being dissed on Twitter is not as physically calamitous to the victim as being subjected to a medieval auto-da-fé
I admire your gift for understatement. Really. The question remains as to what exactly is inquisition-like about what Pinker did. Is it that he publicly criticized another atheist? If so, since when were atheists prohibited from doing this? Is it that he used a snarky tone? If so, when were atheists prohibited from certain tonal expressions? Heresy is uniquely religious phenomenon, and Christianity was especially concerned with it. Early episcopal and papal inquisitions targeted the Cathars and Waldensians, mass movements which themselves arose in response to earlier failures in church reform. So, just as I wonder how inquisition applies to Pinker, so too do I wonder how heresy applies to modern atheism. I don't mean to be conspicuously absent from any post. I honestly had no idea my presence was expected or desired. The fact is that I'm busy with my business, my dissertation, my wife and children, and several other activities besides--such as taxes. It doesn't seem to me like UD is generating much new content, so my interest here has waned. Maybe I've missed the latest refinements in ID theory (or whatever it is). I'd find them more interesting, in any case.LarTanner_{March 12, 2013
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Let me add that it is not up to the courts or the politicians to decide what is and what is not religion. It is up to us, the people. This should be decided at the ballot box, not the courtroom. We live in a democracy, after all. Anything else is dictatorship. Just saying.Mapou_{March 12, 2013
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The dirt-did-it religion must defend itself against all attacks by the non-believers, just like like any other religion. But why is their religion being taught in our schools, which is against our laws? Should we sit on our rear ends and allow the government to indoctrinate our children and impose their state religion on all of us? I propose that we choose a week of the year for widespread civil disobedience on this issue. All parents who object to the Darwinian creed being taught in schools should keep their children at home during that entire week. The message should simply be: "No religion in our schools." Let us reverse the table on the Church of Darwin.Mapou_{March 12, 2013
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Yes, LarTanner, being dissed on Twitter is not as physically calamitous to the victim as being subjected to a medieval auto-da-fé. If you have any more stunning nuggets of scintillating perspicuity, by all means drop them on us. I know I’m breathless with anticipation. BTW, you and KN were conspicuous in your absence from the combox attached to my last post.Barry Arrington_{March 12, 2013
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Andre, why you think that "intelligence" is "greater than" "non-intelligence"?Kantian Naturalist_{March 12, 2013
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" Saint Charles the Bearded " :) Did anybody else notice he looks like Santa?Eugen_{March 12, 2013
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I keep saying it, and I'll do so until they answer, how can non-intelligence give rise to intelligence? How can effects be greater than their causes, in a cause and effect universe?Andre_{March 12, 2013
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If Darwinism entailed atheism, then that would be a problem for teaching Darwinism in public schools -- but it doesn't, so it's not.Kantian Naturalist_{March 12, 2013
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My sentiments exactly, LarTanner. Also worth noting: Wieseltier doesn't mention that Pinker's tweet refers to the Leiter and Weisberg review in The Nation, which raises some pretty serious issues with Nagel's book. One is, of course, quite free to engage with the substance of those criticisms on Nagel's behalf -- but Wieseltier is an intellectual lightweight, and he wouldn't presume to try.Kantian Naturalist_{March 12, 2013
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The papal inquisition was really something. The inquisitors would come into town, go to the local priest, and have him announce a special assembly that all should attend. Attendance was not mandatory but you can imagine that not attending might actually bring you to the attention of the inquisitors. The inquisitors would then deliver a sermon and call on all in attendance to confess now to heretical beliefs, noting that it would go easier for folks who confessed earlier rather than later. Many people did take advantage of this, but the inquisitors were interested not only in gaining confession on heretical beliefs, but also in getting names of people who might also be heretics--like not believing that wine transformed into blood during the Christian mass. If one was suspected of heresy, one could be hauled before the inquisition and imprisoned. The inquisition never told the accused what exactly he was accused of having done, or by whom. Imprisonment could last months or even years while one awaited trial. One was most likely tortured: the inquisition could torture one so long as no blood was drawn. A favorite was strappado, where one's hands were bound behind the back and lifted slowly. Often both shoulders would get broken. Before trial, one had to list all the people who might have mortal hatred of them. The inquisition realized that some people might name their enemies as heretics to get rid of them. They also realized that one might say anything under torture. So, if you were able to name a person who mortally hated you and that person had in fact been the accuser, you would be released. In trial, the accused was allowed to have a lawyer, but lawyers were not eager to step up because to represent a heretic meant the end of your career. To be guilty of heresy was to be turned over to secular authorities, who would then burn the condemned at a stake. All this to say that I think Steven Pinker is exactly like an inquisitor, and tweeting opinions is just like the inquisition.LarTanner_{March 12, 2013
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There’s nothing quite so funny as atheists behaving exactly like theists. That they’re completely unaware of it only adds to the irony.
...and comedy.CentralScrutinizer_{March 12, 2013
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I think if I were to design a church of chance-worship, I'd have the altar constructed to display a great arrangement of smoke and mirrors. Illumination would be dim and artificial and would be provided by an arrangement of Bunsen burners to support the scientific aspirations. Behind this altar would be a large closed red curtain embroided with gold lettering “Believe! All through Random Mutation And Natural Selection". And, of course, the man behind the curtain - revealed only on special occasions: a great painting of the Saint of the Galapagos surrounded by fearful symbols of his legacy. Below the painting, an inscription in Roman letters and borrowed from Shakespeare: "Let not sorrow die, though I am dead."steveO_{March 12, 2013
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Related Note: One might wonder how this kind of thing will impact the 'atheism is not a religion' position? http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2013/mar/8/british-church-atheists-preps-go-global/Eric Anderson_{March 12, 2013
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Simon Blackburn:
There is charm to reading a philosopher who confesses to finding things bewildering. But I regret the appearance of this book. It will only bring comfort to creationists and fans of “intelligent design”, who will not be too bothered about the difference between their divine architect and Nagel’s natural providence. It will give ammunition to those triumphalist scientists who pronounce that philosophy is best pensioned off. If there were a philosophical Vatican, the book would be a good candidate for going on to the Index.
Also: an opinion essay by a New Republic columnist is poorly introduced by "New Republic reports __," since "New Republic reports" implies that this is an work of journalism about Nagel's impact -- but it's not, it's Wieseltier's monthly column.Kantian Naturalist_{March 12, 2013
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There's nothing quite so funny as atheists behaving exactly like theists. That they're completely unaware of it only adds to the irony.lpadron_{March 12, 2013
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