Student's perspective

[Fred Rickson]

Jeff,

Santa Clause, the Easter Bunny, the Tooth Fairy, and God are all myths that
many of us grow out of as we mature.  There is nothing malicious here, just
a matter of being intelligent and maturing.

Best,

Fred  Rickson
----------
> From: jeffrey shaw <lccshaw at HOTMAIL.COM>
> To: TAXACOM at USOBI.ORG
> Subject: Student's perspective
> Date: Monday, October 11, 1999 1:39 PM
>
> I have been a member of this listserv for about 18 months and I have
never
> had a reason to post before now. As a student of chemistry and
engineering
> (as well as possessing a deep love of nature and taxonomy), I have
enjoyed
> this forum tremendously. I am, however, dismayed at this recent
creationism
> vs. evolution banter.
>
> As a student. I wish only to deal with FACTS. My first organic chemistry
> professor was a soft-spoken man that shared with his class his deep
respect
> for the perfect order of all living things. In my own life, I have found
> that this perfect order, the unviolatable principles upon which life is
> founded, has been the catalyst for my belief in God. Even chaos itself
has
> order when expressed mathematically.
>
> I am concerned that there are so few of you out there--this generation's
> teachers and mentors--that find the existence of God to be so threatening
to
> the classroom. I do not think that all medical reasearch and your
precious
> grant money would come to a screaching halt if God turns out to be a
> reality.
>
> You are all deeply intelligent men, scientific to the core, and I have a
> great respect for the scientific method and its approach to discerning
the
> world in which we live. But, I find it distracting that there are
professors
> that find it necessary to refer to a potential deity as a "malicious
> creator" and a "myth." These sentiments do not embrace open-minded,
> scientific processes of thought. These sentiments will show your classes
> that you are just as narrow-minded as the clergy that you ridicule.
>
> I hope that there is still room in our society for the unexplained and
the
> undiscovered. I hope that miracles can happen, and while I believe
science
> can solve many of the looming disasters of our time, I also believe that
it
> will only accomplish the impossible if it leaves room for the impossible.
No
> one knows how everything began. Yes, we are getting really good at seeing
> how it evolves, how it changes over time, but the origin of our wonderful
> little predicament may never be known. I hope that you will be able to
deal
> with that knowledge professionally.
>
> ...and, I will keep you in my prayers.
>
> Jeff Shaw
> student
> Lower Columbia College
> Longview, WA 98632
>
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