Wednesday, May 10, 2006
Living the Moral Life
Not long ago, we linked to a letter published in the Manhattan Mercury by the Rev. Richard Smith which said that teaching of evolution -- that human beings are a part of the natural world -- was the cause of school violence.
Now, there's been an eloquent reply to that ludicrous argument from Dick Beeman:
Now, there's been an eloquent reply to that ludicrous argument from Dick Beeman:
I'm very sorry to learn that the only thing keeping Mr. Smith from an orgy of thievery and murder is his fear of God's punishment. I'm disappointed to learn that Mr. Smith's good behavior is motivated only by the expectation of an eternal reward. My atheist friends have no such fear and no such expectation. Their reward is the knowledge that they have lived good and useful lives and that their good examples will live on in their friends and loved ones, and that is reward enough. Atheists believe that the power for good comes from within each person, whereas Mr. Smith seems to believe that human beings are by nature depraved and selfish. Mr. Smith's anti-science and anti-intellectual outlook is misguided. He does not understand that scientific truths and moral codes of behavior are not linked.
