tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7735644144263744003.post5468826064415796353..comments2024-03-13T06:23:10.057-04:00Comments on Of Dice and Pen: Cosmos - Some of the Things that Molecules DoMichael Ray Johnsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15651916698207855060noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7735644144263744003.post-73268190426627248372014-03-31T12:08:03.221-04:002014-03-31T12:08:03.221-04:00I don't think the show is trying to push an at...I don't think the show is trying to push an atheistic standpoint. However, it is trying to push for an acceptance of evidence. The statements about God are brought up in either a historical context (which you agree is fine) or to counter situations where God is used to deny scientific understanding. In such a situation, what else can one do? If all the evidence points to something being true (like evolution) and someone else says it's wrong for no other reason than their religion says it's wrong, the only thing left to do is address the religion. But this doesn't in any way discount the numerous, numerous religious people who accept scientific evidence. Young Earth creationists are a minority amongst religious people, but unfortunately, they continue to very vocally push evolution as something controversial and open to debate.<br /><br />You're also misrepresenting Neil deGrasse Tyson, who is not an atheist and actually gets a bit annoyed when people call him one. He's actually an agnostic. Here are a couple of videos where he discusses his beliefs (unfortunately, I can't embed them in the comments and apparently can't even make a proper hyperlink):<br /><br />On atheist vs. agnostic: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CzSMC5rWvos<br />On science and faith: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JbvDYyoAv9kMichael Ray Johnsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15651916698207855060noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7735644144263744003.post-41067063668583690142014-03-31T11:04:54.144-04:002014-03-31T11:04:54.144-04:00There are a number of statements throughout which ...There are a number of statements throughout which appear to suggest the whole series is based around a purely atheist standpoint. There's nothing wrong with being atheist, mind you, but it gets a bits frustrating - well, not just NDT, but many who take an atheist stand do this - when absolutely no possibility for something beyond our capacity to understand in the context of a creator. No capacity or allowance is made for faith. It's pure, hard evidence.<br /><br />Now, I get this is science - and science IS evidence - based. This is not a show about the supernatural, or metaphysical. So why bring up the statements about god outside of the historical context? (Such as "Galileo's view opposed the view of the church at the time.") <br /><br />I would even think it would be appropriate for NDT to say, at some point, "We are dealing with what we can observe. Our observations and mathematical models indicate that..." None of that is untrue, and none of that fails to allow for something beyond what we can perceive. Steven C. Brittonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02101063346722105382noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7735644144263744003.post-78050766458238855522014-03-30T13:46:04.382-04:002014-03-30T13:46:04.382-04:00Except at no point does the episode rail against G...Except at no point does the episode rail against God. It looks at the scientific basis of evolution and does declare evolution scientific fact (which it is). It denies creationism, but does not deny God.Michael Ray Johnsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15651916698207855060noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7735644144263744003.post-14473560444225896862014-03-29T12:50:06.017-04:002014-03-29T12:50:06.017-04:00I'm certainly no creationist, (and certainly n...I'm certainly no creationist, (and certainly not a young earth creationist), and what little I could stomach from that recording also made me want to bang my head into a brick wall. <br /><br />Fortunately, my aversion to pain -- especially self-inflicted pain --stopped me from doing so. <br /><br />NDT does annoy me a bit when he goes on and on about the lack of any form of God. <br /><br />Evolution, the Big Bang, "intelligent design" and religious faith are not incompatible. God is, by definition, infinite. God, assuming God exists, must exist outside of what we understand as "spacetime". In the sense of God being the "creator", it is quite conceivable that from within the creation, since we can't ever know what goes on beyond our own universe, it would likely (a) appear pretty random and (b) be fully understandable by us who live within it. <br /><br />Railing against God simply alienates a portion of his audience that would otherwise benefit greatly from watching the series. Steven C. Brittonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02101063346722105382noreply@blogger.com