Oh, my God!

Nicholas Kristof writes an essay in the Liberal New York Times where he calmly notes that half of Americans believe in creationism and then chides the "educated elite" for what he calls a "sneering tone about conservative Christianity". He thinks it's fine to critique "evangelical-backed policies", but then confuses frustration with the reasoning behind the policies with a contempt for the faithful. That's lazy thinking, and playing to the crowds. Few deny the sincerity or question the motives of the faithful. The issue - at least where evolution/creationism is concerned - is which world view is most consistent with the evidence at hand. Science is empirical, inferential, and deductive. Creationism is not. It's fair to object to any philosophical system that answers questions about nature by reference to sacred writ. But Kristof ducks the issue and presents it as one bigot insulting another. What a shame. And from a Harvard Phi Beta Kappa who should know better. How to explain it? We think we've found the answer:




posted by Quiddity at 3/04/2003 01:51:00 AM