Quinn > Recent Status Updates

Only those who risk going too far can possibly find out how far they can go

"It is important to realize that the distinction between science and religion is not a matter of excluding our ethical intuitions and spiritual experiences from our conversation about the world; it is a matter of our being honest about what we can reasonably conclude on their basis."

If we ever do transcend our religious bewilderment, we will look back upon this period in human history with horror and amazement. How could it have been possible for people to believe such things in the 21st century? How could it be that they allowed their societies to become so dangerously fragmented by empty notions about God and Paradise?"

Over 99 percent of the species that ever walked, flew, or slithered upon earth are now extinct. This fact alone appears to rule out intelligent design. When we look at the natural world, we see extraordinary complexity, but we do not see optimal design. We see redundancy, regressions, and unnecessary complications; we see bewildering inefficiencies that result in suffering and death..

..in response to ID argument..."Who is to say that the only thing that could give rise to space and time is a supreme being? Even if we accepted that our universe simply had to be designed by a designer, this would not suggest that this designer is the biblical God, or that He approves of Christianity. If intelligently designed, our universe could be running as a simulation on an alien supercomputer."

"survey was conducted in 34 countries measuring the percentage of adults who accept evolution. US ranked 33, just above Turkey. HS students in the US test below those of every European and Asian nation in their understanding of science and math. These data are unequivocal; we are building a civilization of ignorance."

Christians who doubt the truth of evolution are apt to say things like "Evolution is just a theory." Such statements betray a serious misunderstanding of the way the term "theory" is used in scientific discourse. In science, facts must be explained with reference to other facts. These larger explanatory models are "theories. Theories make prediction and can, in principle, be tested. It doesn't suggest it is not fact.

While believing strongly, without evidence, is considered a mark of madness or stupidity in any other area of our lives, faith in God still holds immense prestige in our society. Religion is the one area of our discourse where it is considered noble to pretend to be certain about things no human being could possibly be certain about.

The conflict between science and religion is reducible to a simple fact of human cognition and discourse: either a person has good reason for what he believes, or he does not. If there were good reasons to believe that Jesus was born of a virgin, these beliefs would form part of our rational description of the universe.

"The truth is, you know exactly what it is like to be an atheist with respect to the beliefs of Muslims.....Understand that the way you view Islam is precisely the way devout Muslims view Christianity. And it is the way I view all religions"

"while you believe that bringing an end to religion is an impossible goal, it is important to realize that much of the developed world has accomplished it. Norway, Iceland...etc. etc are among the least religious societies on earth. ... they are also the healthiest, as indicated by life expectancy, adult literacy, per capita income, educational attainment, gender equality, homicide rate, and infant mortality."

"A 3 day old human embryo is a collection of 150 cells (a blastocyst). There are more than 100,000 cells in the brain of a fly. The human embryos that are destroyed in stem-cell research do not have brains, or even neurons. Consequently, there is no reason to believe they can suffer their destruction in any way at all. ... killing a fly should present you with greater moral difficulties than killing a human blastocys

"44 percent ofthe American population is convinced that Jesus will return to judge the living and the dead sometime in the next fifty years"

"53 percent of Americans are actually creationists. This means that despite a full century of scientific insights attesting to the antiquity of life and the greater antiquity of the earth, more than half of our neighbors believe that the entire cosmos was created six thousand years ago. This is incidentally, about a thousand years after the Sumerians invented glue.