Priest Criticises David Bellamy- and Attenborough Criticises Religion's Dominance.

[Christine Murray]

Is David Bellamy not entitled to his expertise and to his Views?
In the meantime the BBC is reducing budgets to David Attenborough; and
he is receiving hate-mail from Creationists !




Irish Times, Monday, February 2, 2009:

Grasping reality of climate change

"Madam, – Every day The Irish Times calls attention to the perils of
climate change. Two examples in the past week are, “Massive Antarctic
ice shelf hanging by ‘a thread’ ” (January 20th) and “US study dispels
myth that Antarctica is cooling” (January 22nd). This is why I was
surprised that none of your contributors or letter-writers drew
attention to the fact that David Bellamy was allowed cavalierly to
dismiss climate change on the Late Late Show of January 23rd.
At the very least another scientist should have been invited on to the
programme to challenge Bellamy’s position by presenting the overwhelming
scientific evidence that climate change is happening at an extraordinary
rate and that, in the main, it is being caused by humans burning fossil
fuel.
Climate change theory is not just a vague hypothesis which someone put
forward and can be easily dismissed. In science a theory is a coherent
body of principles that makes sense of a whole array of data.
Theories such as evolution and, more recently, plate tectonics are well
established. Neither of these theories explains everything about
evolution or the earth’s crust, but they make sense out of much of the
present data and therefore cannot be facilely discarded.
There are more uncertainties about the greenhouse theory than about
evolution or plate tectonics, especially about the complexity of the
carbon cycle; nevertheless it makes sense of the scientific principles
which establishes our planet’s climate. Some of this has to do with data
on global temperature which can now be traced back 400,000 years.
Other data involve an understanding of the opacity of atmospheric gases
to infrared radiation. Most important of all, we know that if we do not
take drastic action soon, the climate of the planet will become
inhospitable for many species, including humankind. This is potentially
much more serious than the current economic upheaval.
The Nasa scientists James Hansen is so alarmed that there is no time to
waste that he and his wife Anniek wrote a personal plea to President
Obama and his wife Michelle: “We write to you as fellow parents
concerned about the earth that will be inherited by our children,
grandchildren, and those yet to be born. But urgency now dictates a
personal appeal”. He went on: “There is a ‘profound disconnect’ between
public policy on climate change and the magnitude of the problem as
described by the science”.
Pat Kenny’s decision to give a platform to David Bellamy to reject
climate change widens that disconnection and undermines our individual
and national efforts to take serious action to prevent dramatic and
destructive climate change.
– Yours, etc,"

Fr SÉAN MCDONAGH, St Columban’s, Dalgan Park, Navan, Co Meath.



-----------------------------------

This is a C+P from the Irish Times Letter's page on the ongoing Row on Climate change.
On a separate and not unrelated note David Attenborough ,in preparing to mark Darwin's Bicenntenial
has confimed getting hate mail for criticising the Rise of Creationism :

I know both these issues have been covered here onsite, ad nauseaum; but I really want to know why people
are so literal in their interpretations of their holy books?

David Attenborough on Charles Darwin - Times Online


David Bellamy has a perfect right and entitlement to his opinions on contemporary issues, especially in his area of expertise without
consistent criticism from Church leaders, as Indeed does Attenborough.
Yet one of them gets Hate-mail and the other gets " lettersed " dressing down.
I personally would play follow the leader with the experts rather than theologians: btw.

http://archive.timesonline.co.uk/tol...-1887-11-19-07



Institutionalised Religions V Science, Welcome to Darwin Year 2009

[Oppenheimer]

We are living in interesting times when the importance of what really is important is forgotten and the funding of debate seems more asymmetrical than ever before.

As usual, looking at it satirically often uncovers more of the truth than we care to follow up with action to correct these asymmetries......************************ THIS, SAYS ATTENBOROUGH - The Daily Mash

[tmesis2008]

A person is entitled to challenge a scientific view, but I am always wary of the scientist you will challenge this view through the media and hype, rather than producing worthwhile scientific evidence and research to back up his views.

Creationists, in particular, are contemptible.

[Dillinger]

I am always amazed at the amount of grown men and women, who believe the fairytales told every Sunday by Priests, yet they will turn around and question scientific facts, when they presented to them.



"toothfairy for adults"

[Christine Murray]

the national botanic gardens will host a series of lectures and events to commerorate the darwin bicenntenial this summer. unfortunately our kids do not have the benefit of a natural history museum due to collapsed staircases.

[Abacus]

Fr McD........... mention of 'vague hypothesis' somehow caused me to think hard of where you might be coming from on this matter. But shure aren't you and your lot the very essence of 'vague hypotheses'. There is just no accounting for what people believe and never will there be. May not have much to do with fact either.
And consider this. No human group in all of human history has ever existed that did not abide by some system of belief and once you guys had figured that out ye knew how to shape the plan to control humankind. But alas simple explanations will no longer suffice while belief like superstition and fear is what makes us malleable.

Belief, however, does not necessarily equate to either truth or fact despite manipulative and exploitative explanations to make it appear so.

As regards your climate change theory, what explanation do you ascribe to the colossal climate changes known and proved by science to have taken place many centuries even millennia ago ?
The earth has existed for at least 4Billion years according to scientific reasoning and man has been around for about 100,000Million which means that man's time here is a mere drop in the ocean in the overall timescale. I'd just love to know what was going on during the other 98.8% of the time and who or what was bringing the planet to the boil and cooling it again as science can now show was taking place ? And for what purpose ?
I mean, was there a point to all that ?

As regards the time Pat Kenny gave to David Bellamy, well it was good to hear him say what he chose to say without having to cope with batty snipers along the way.

It is very strange, is it not, that people at this remove who know damn little and maybe nothing about climate change can seek to challenge someone who has been kneedeep in the stuff for decade upon decade.