I find this very disturbing.
#61
Re: I find this very disturbing.
HAven't seen it BUT reg Vardy man funds at least one school, something to to with emmanuel in sunderland and it does have creastionist leanings , in as much as it could in Britian. I think they do teach what is called intelligent design alongside creationism, (from what I have read).
Gryph
Gryph
#65
Re: I find this very disturbing.
Sir Peter Vardy, chief exec of Reg Vardy (a nationwide chain of car dealerships based in Sunderland) before it was sold, funds a number of City Academies, mainly in the North East of England. There was significant controversy a while ago because the head of science at one of them was on the board of a creationist/intelligent design organization. If memory serves, he subsequently resigned from the ID organization but remained in post at the school.
Some of the views on here are interesting. As a Christmas-and-Easter,-christenings-weddings-and-funerals Anglican I would consider myself reasonably well grounded in both Christian theology and scientific method. I have no truck with creationism - fundamentalist Bible-literalists are rather missing the bigger picture of Genesis (indeed the whole Pentateuch and much of the rest of the OT) as allegory rather than factual record. The evidence against the 6-day creation myth is overwhelming, and it makes more sense to me as just that: a myth that was a convenient way of explaining the world and our existence in it until empirically-gained knowledge came up with a better answer. As has been pointed out, all three Abrahamic religions share the same creation myth, but its literal interpretation seems to bother fundamentalist Christians much more than Jews or Muslims.
I don't mean to be insulting to Rete or Alvic, but it strikes me as indicative of a narrow world view that you cannot reconcile Darwinian evolution with the existence of God or your Christian faith. To me, the picture is not as black-and-white as either Dawkins' mob on one hand or creationism on the other would have us see it.
Here's a snippet that puts it better than I can:
Some of the views on here are interesting. As a Christmas-and-Easter,-christenings-weddings-and-funerals Anglican I would consider myself reasonably well grounded in both Christian theology and scientific method. I have no truck with creationism - fundamentalist Bible-literalists are rather missing the bigger picture of Genesis (indeed the whole Pentateuch and much of the rest of the OT) as allegory rather than factual record. The evidence against the 6-day creation myth is overwhelming, and it makes more sense to me as just that: a myth that was a convenient way of explaining the world and our existence in it until empirically-gained knowledge came up with a better answer. As has been pointed out, all three Abrahamic religions share the same creation myth, but its literal interpretation seems to bother fundamentalist Christians much more than Jews or Muslims.
I don't mean to be insulting to Rete or Alvic, but it strikes me as indicative of a narrow world view that you cannot reconcile Darwinian evolution with the existence of God or your Christian faith. To me, the picture is not as black-and-white as either Dawkins' mob on one hand or creationism on the other would have us see it.
Here's a snippet that puts it better than I can:
Simon Barrow, co-director of the UK Christian think tank Ekklesia outlined his critique of intelligent design creationism, and pseudo-scientific explanations for the universe: "Creationism and ID are in no way comparable to scientific theories of origins and have no place in the modern science classroom. They also distort mature Christian understandings of the universe as coming into being through the whole world process, not through reversals or denials of that process. The roots of creationism, whether in its ‘hard’ form, or in attenuated ID ideas, lie not in science but in misinterpretations of the Bible. Claims that such notions can be justified from a ‘literal’ reading of Genesis are nonsensensical. This book has not one, but two ‘creation stories’. They differ widely in detail, are highly figurative, and were written to combat fatalistic Ancient Near East cosmogonies by stressing the underlying goodness of the world as a gift of God, not to comment on modern scientific matters" -- Ekklesia, 25 September 2006.
<lights blue touch-paper and retires>
Last edited by Oakvillian; Apr 2nd 2008 at 3:15 pm.
#66
Re: I find this very disturbing.
What is this all about???? how will these poor kids be able to function normal in society with thier heads filled with nonsense!!!
#68
Re: I find this very disturbing.
This one doesn't seem too bad, though* - his argument is well constructed, moderate and temperate, while still having the balls (unusually for the fence-sitting CofE) to use phraseology like "the roots of creationism ... lie in misrepresentations of the Bible" and "claims [that creationism is justified by reading Genesis literally] are nonsensical." He gets my vote.
Anyway, if you can't have unicorn focus groups, how do you forecast how well your brand message will go down in the mythological creature demographic?
*by "not too bad" I mean, of course, that its view coincides well with my own
Anyway, if you can't have unicorn focus groups, how do you forecast how well your brand message will go down in the mythological creature demographic?
*by "not too bad" I mean, of course, that its view coincides well with my own
Last edited by Oakvillian; Apr 4th 2008 at 9:00 pm.
#69
Joined: Feb 2007
Posts: 3,020
Re: I find this very disturbing.
This one doesn't seem too bad, though* - his argument is well constructed, moderate and temperate, while still having the balls (unusually for the fence-sitting CofE) to use phraseology like "the roots of creationism ... lie in misrepresentations of the Bible" and "claims [that creationism is justified by reading Genesis literally] are nonsensical." He gets my vote.
#70
Re: I find this very disturbing.
It's bollocks though. No-one was saying that the bible was supposed to be figurative until it was proved that it was wrong. In the absence of beardy himself putting in an appearance to say which bits are real and which aren't, who's to say how it's supposed to be interpreted? What else is real? How about heaven and hell, are they real places or are they just metaphors? Does he (or you) really believe in life after death?
You can only have a hell to compliment a heaven, its the same with good and bad - how can you know one without having the other.
Therefore if people believe in heaven there has to be a hell to justify it and thats where the story begins.
#71
BE Enthusiast
Joined: Feb 2008
Location: British Columbia
Posts: 896
Re: I find this very disturbing.
It's bollocks though. No-one was saying that the bible was supposed to be figurative until it was proved that it was wrong. In the absence of beardy himself putting in an appearance to say which bits are real and which aren't, who's to say how it's supposed to be interpreted? What else is real? How about heaven and hell, are they real places or are they just metaphors? Does he (or you) really believe in life after death?
I think it is a sad reflection on a so-called Christian country that the majority of British ex-pats on here are so offensive about the Christian Faith.
Britain truly was Great Britain and part of a great Commonwealth when her leaders ruled by the laws of the Bible and not mans PC crap that guides them today.
#72
Re: I find this very disturbing.
(not that any amount of bad-schooling cou
#73
Re: I find this very disturbing.
(not that any amount of bad-schooling could excuse his actions - or ignorance - since he became president...).
anita
#74
Joined: Feb 2007
Posts: 3,020
Re: I find this very disturbing.
Bazz my dear - it's called Faith.
I think it is a sad reflection on a so-called Christian country that the majority of British ex-pats on here are so offensive about the Christian Faith.
Britain truly was Great Britain and part of a great Commonwealth when her leaders ruled by the laws of the Bible and not mans PC crap that guides them today.
I think it is a sad reflection on a so-called Christian country that the majority of British ex-pats on here are so offensive about the Christian Faith.
Britain truly was Great Britain and part of a great Commonwealth when her leaders ruled by the laws of the Bible and not mans PC crap that guides them today.
I have no idea what you're wittering on about with that stuff about the "laws of the Bible" and "PC crap". Don't forget that Tony Blair is a frothing theist just like Bush.
#75
Re: I find this very disturbing.
Bazz my dear - it's called Faith.
I think it is a sad reflection on a so-called Christian country that the majority of British ex-pats on here are so offensive about the Christian Faith.
Britain truly was Great Britain and part of a great Commonwealth when her leaders ruled by the laws of the Bible and not mans PC crap that guides them today.
I think it is a sad reflection on a so-called Christian country that the majority of British ex-pats on here are so offensive about the Christian Faith.
Britain truly was Great Britain and part of a great Commonwealth when her leaders ruled by the laws of the Bible and not mans PC crap that guides them today.
well said