"Mormon Student, Justice, ACLU Join Up"

[Conkle, Daniel O.]

With apologies for the self-serving plug, I've written in some sympathy
with what I take to be David's position, suggesting that, indeed, there
are important similarities between certain types of closed-minded
religious believers and certain types of closed-minded secularists.
Under the framework I suggest, the most important difference between the
two competing perspectives is what falls within the zone of permissible
argument/discourse/source of truth and what falls outside it:
 
Daniel O. Conkle, "Secular Fundamentalism, Religious Fundamentalism, and
the Search for Truth in Contemporary America," 12 Journal of Law and
Religion 337-70 (1995-96) (also available in Law and Religion: A
Critical Anthology (Stephen M. Feldman, ed.; NYU Press 2000) and at
http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=911647) 
 
Daniel O. Conkle 
******************************************* 
Daniel O. Conkle 
Robert H. McKinney Professor of Law 
Indiana University School of Law 
Bloomington, Indiana  47405 
(812) 855-4331 
fax (812) 855-0555 
e-mail conkle at indiana.edu 
******************************************* 

 

________________________________

From: religionlaw-bounces at lists.ucla.edu
[mailto:religionlaw-bounces at lists.ucla.edu] On Behalf Of David E. Guinn
Sent: Friday, September 07, 2007 9:32 AM
To: Law & Religion issues for Law Academics
Subject: RE: "Mormon Student, Justice, ACLU Join Up"


I believe this distinction to be incorrect.  Both atheists and
evangelicals adhere to particular ideological perspectives.  The
atheist, as you posit him or her, does not believe in god because god
cannot be proven by empirical means (i.e. "sufficient evidence.")  True.
But that assumes that science can either prove or disprove god.  That is
like saying science (in the hard, empirical, lab-experimental sense) can
prove or disprove love or morality or some other complex social
phenomena.  It is not enough to say that the default in the absence of
proof must be disbelief.  At best it should be agnosticism at something
that is posited to exist outside of the materialist paradigm.  That is
not the position atheists like Dawkins take.
 
I should add, my posts are not directed at an abstract, theoretical
atheist, but rather at the public discourse surounding the neo-atheists
(Harris, Dawkins, etc.)
 
David





________________________________

	From: RJLipkin at aol.com
	Date: Fri, 7 Sep 2007 07:57:10 -0400
	Subject: Re: "Mormon Student, Justice, ACLU Join Up"
	To: religionlaw at lists.ucla.edu
	
	
	
	David E. Guinn wrote:
	 
	Third, to say atheists are not evangelical ignores the passion
and furor around Harris, Dawkins, Hutchens et. al. and the best selling
books they have written.
	 
	 
	        The distinction between evangelism and atheism should
not be collapsed because both exhibit "passion" or that there is "furor"
surrounding the work of some atheists.  The distinction is that the
former eschews the kind of evidence that everyone, including
evangelicals, rely upon in everyday dealings, personal and professional
relationships, business, politics, and of course science. A principled,
thoughtful atheist will renounce his or her position when confronted
with sufficient evidence.  Evangelicals relying upon faith will not, or
at least they claim that they will not because nothing for them can
constitute sufficient evidence.
	 
	Bobby
	      
	Robert Justin Lipkin
	Professor of Law
	Widener University School of Law
	Delaware
	
	Ratio Juris, Contributor:  http://ratiojuris.blogspot.com/
<http://ratiojuris.blogspot.com/> 
	Essentially Contested America, Editor-In-Chief
http://www.essentiallycontestedamerica.org/
<http://www.essentiallycontestedamerica.org/> 



	
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