ISEN-ASTC-L is a service of the Association of Science-Technology Centers
Incorporated, a worldwide network of science museums and related institutions.
*****************************************************************************

At 00:14 06/01/2007, Lisa Jo Rudy wrote:
>So what  do we do? Shall we stand strong and proudly declare: "SCIENCE DOES
>NOT  RECOGNIZE THE EXISTENCE OF ANY SUPERNATURAL AGENTS!"

No public outcry; no suspended grants. All educated theists will 
cheerfully subscribe to your declaration. It is implicit in any true 
definition of the process of science. It is an agnostic statement, 
not an atheist one. In this view, science does not recognise the 
existence of anything 'supernatural' nor can it categorically deny 
the possible existence of God (or unicorns, or fairies, you might 
mutter if, as a theist-baiting disciple of Richard Dawkins, it makes 
you feel better.)

A clear public declaration that science is atheistic would sound more 
like: "Science and every true scientist specifically and 
categorically denies any possibility of the existence of 'God' 
(defined as... ---pick your preferred attempt at defining the word 
and insert it here---)"

Our problem as science communicators attempting to get different 
audiences to listen to us is that a huge, hostile proportion of the 
public believes this is exactly what Darwinism IS saying, if we 
substitute 'Darwinism' for 'science' in the second declaration.

Ironically, in this respect, militant creationists and crusading 
atheists are working against us, preaching exactly the same 
alienating message...


[log in to unmask] * http://www.interactives.co.uk
*
Give people facts and you feed their minds for an hour.
Awaken curiosity and they feed their own minds for a lifetime.
*
Ian Russell 

***********************************************************************
More information about the Informal Science Education Network and the
Association of Science-Technology Centers may be found at http://www.astc.org.
To remove your e-mail address from the ISEN-ASTC-L list, send the
message  SIGNOFF ISEN-ASTC-L in the BODY of a message to
[log in to unmask]