{"id":523,"date":"2008-09-28T21:36:00","date_gmt":"2008-09-28T20:36:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/epiphenom\/2008\/09\/more-on-the-reiss-resignation.html"},"modified":"2014-11-13T23:13:30","modified_gmt":"2014-11-13T22:13:30","slug":"more-on-reiss-resignation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/epiphenom\/2008\/09\/more-on-reiss-resignation.html","title":{"rendered":"More on the Reiss resignation"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

This week\u2019s Science Magazine carries a summary<\/a> of the \u2018Reiss resignation\u2019 controversy by BHA Science Group member Dan Clery \u2013 head over to our Yahoo group<\/a> for a discussion on that one.<\/p>\n

Harry Kroto, one of the authors of a letter<\/a> to the Royal Society demanding that Reiss resign as Director of Education, has explained his reasoning today in a commentary in The Guardian<\/a>. Basically, he is fundamentally against the idea of a religious individual having an influential position in the Royal Society (or other scientific bodies), because anybody who holds religious beliefs must necessarily hold a world view that conflicts at some level with the scientific world view:<\/p>\n

Unfortunately Reiss, who is, apparently, a very nice guy, was in the wrong job. He, together with all religious people \u2013 whether they like it or not, whether they accept it or not \u2013 fall at the first hurdle of the main requirement for honest scientific discussion because they accept unfound dogma as having fundamental significance \u2013 note that I did not say value (positive or negative).<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

It is, he says, an issue of intellectual integrity. Now, of course he is right on that level. If you hold a religious belief then you have a belief that is fundamentally in contradiction to the scientific method. But the problem is this: why stop with religious beliefs? We all of us \u2013 including atheists \u2013 hold beliefs that are outside the scientific world view. Although holding nothing but rational beliefs that can be justified by dispassionate review of the evidence is a great aspiration, nobody actually achieves that in practice.<\/p>\n

In practice, scientists often behave irrationally. In practice, religious believers often do great science, and have as good an understanding of the scientific method as many atheists. It\u2019s true that religion is one of the greatest enemies of science, but that does not mean that all individuals who happen to be religious are. Reiss\u2019 views on creationism and science education<\/a> are balanced and sensible. You don\u2019t have to be an atheist to be an exponent of the scientific method.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This week\u2019s Science Magazine carries a summary of the \u2018Reiss resignation\u2019 controversy by BHA Science Group member Dan Clery \u2013 head over to our Yahoo group for a discussion on that one. Harry Kroto, one of the authors of a letter to the Royal Society demanding that Reiss resign as Director of Education, has explained […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2091,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-523","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nMore on the Reiss resignation<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"This week's Science Magazine carries a summary of the 'Reiss resignation' controversy by BHA Science Group member Dan Clery - head over to our Yahoo group\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/epiphenom\/2008\/09\/more-on-reiss-resignation.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"More on the Reiss resignation\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"This week's Science Magazine carries a summary of the 'Reiss resignation' controversy by BHA Science Group member Dan Clery - head over to our Yahoo group\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/epiphenom\/2008\/09\/more-on-reiss-resignation.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Epiphenom\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2008-09-28T20:36:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2014-11-13T22:13:30+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Epiphenom\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Epiphenom\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/epiphenom\/2008\/09\/more-on-reiss-resignation.html\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/epiphenom\/2008\/09\/more-on-reiss-resignation.html\",\"name\":\"More on the Reiss resignation\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/epiphenom\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2008-09-28T20:36:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2014-11-13T22:13:30+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/epiphenom\/#\/schema\/person\/98b4bf21daa886d9eb1d5f0e99643ad1\"},\"description\":\"This week's Science Magazine carries a summary of the 'Reiss resignation' controversy by BHA Science Group member Dan Clery - head over to our Yahoo group\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/epiphenom\/2008\/09\/more-on-reiss-resignation.html#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/epiphenom\/2008\/09\/more-on-reiss-resignation.html\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/epiphenom\/2008\/09\/more-on-reiss-resignation.html#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/epiphenom\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"More on the Reiss resignation\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/epiphenom\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/epiphenom\/\",\"name\":\"Epiphenom\",\"description\":\"The science of religion and non-belief\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/epiphenom\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/epiphenom\/#\/schema\/person\/98b4bf21daa886d9eb1d5f0e99643ad1\",\"name\":\"Epiphenom\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/epiphenom\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/a9abb71dca9f11ec59b77b1fffa487fa?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/a9abb71dca9f11ec59b77b1fffa487fa?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Epiphenom\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/epiphenom\/author\/trees\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"More on the Reiss resignation","description":"This week's Science Magazine carries a summary of the 'Reiss resignation' controversy by BHA Science Group member Dan Clery - head over to our Yahoo group","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/epiphenom\/2008\/09\/more-on-reiss-resignation.html","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"More on the Reiss resignation","og_description":"This week's Science Magazine carries a summary of the 'Reiss resignation' controversy by BHA Science Group member Dan Clery - head over to our Yahoo group","og_url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/epiphenom\/2008\/09\/more-on-reiss-resignation.html","og_site_name":"Epiphenom","article_published_time":"2008-09-28T20:36:00+00:00","article_modified_time":"2014-11-13T22:13:30+00:00","author":"Epiphenom","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Epiphenom","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/epiphenom\/2008\/09\/more-on-reiss-resignation.html","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/epiphenom\/2008\/09\/more-on-reiss-resignation.html","name":"More on the Reiss resignation","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/epiphenom\/#website"},"datePublished":"2008-09-28T20:36:00+00:00","dateModified":"2014-11-13T22:13:30+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/epiphenom\/#\/schema\/person\/98b4bf21daa886d9eb1d5f0e99643ad1"},"description":"This week's Science Magazine carries a summary of the 'Reiss resignation' controversy by BHA Science Group member Dan Clery - head over to our Yahoo group","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/epiphenom\/2008\/09\/more-on-reiss-resignation.html#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/epiphenom\/2008\/09\/more-on-reiss-resignation.html"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/epiphenom\/2008\/09\/more-on-reiss-resignation.html#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/epiphenom"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"More on the Reiss resignation"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/epiphenom\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/epiphenom\/","name":"Epiphenom","description":"The science of religion and non-belief","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/epiphenom\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/epiphenom\/#\/schema\/person\/98b4bf21daa886d9eb1d5f0e99643ad1","name":"Epiphenom","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/epiphenom\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/a9abb71dca9f11ec59b77b1fffa487fa?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/a9abb71dca9f11ec59b77b1fffa487fa?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Epiphenom"},"url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/epiphenom\/author\/trees"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/epiphenom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/523","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/epiphenom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/epiphenom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/epiphenom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2091"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/epiphenom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=523"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/epiphenom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/523\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/epiphenom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=523"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/epiphenom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=523"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/epiphenom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=523"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}