Worth Re: [FoRK] Faith and/or Science - Newton et al

[Dr. Ernie Prabhakar]

Hi Tom,

On Nov 28, 2007, at 1:36 PM, Tom Higgins wrote:
> Or lets put it more simply....is any one person belief system worth
> the life of any other person?

Is anyone's life worth anything? Why did Corrie Ten Boom risk her life  
to save Jews during the Holocaust? Why did so many abolitionists -- in  
America and Britain -- fight against slavery and the slave trade?

Religion is about creating shared meaning, and that cuts both ways.   
Sometimes it leads people to value others *more* than they value  
themselves, and sometimes it makes people demean others who disagree  
with them.

Then again, both those things easily happen without religion.

Why not take a *truly* scientific approach, and try to figure out what  
values and behaviors *truly* create evil, rather than naively lumping  
them under the guise of religion?

-- Ernie P.