Ann Coulter and a local liberal theologian

In today's print version of The Selma News, there is the usual weekly column by Robert Price. Mr. Price is a liberal theologian who resides here in Selma. He owns the web site Mindvendor.com. Mr. Price is certainly an intelligent individual who seems very articulate, at least in his writing. Unfortunately, I also theologically disagree with him often and find his writing to be condescending towards his intended audience.

In late March or so, Mr. Price was taken to task by a local pastor for his liberal beliefs on subjects such as evolution and homosexuality. There was a back and forth letter to the editor/column debate for several weeks. I found this squabbling to be unproductive for either side. I had my beliefs and still do in that debate. I don't have sufficient faith to be an evolutionist. I also find evolutionist thinking incompatible with the very foundation of Judaism or Christianity, not to mention good science.

In today's column, Mr. Price complained about Ann Coulter's latest writings. Apparently, he disagrees with her poignant writing about evolutionists. Considering that she is secular in her approach to life rather than theological, it is interesting to see. A secularist is writing a damning piece on evolutionists' creed and a theologian is bashing her for it, defending the human secularist views of evolution.

Here is my reply, for those who have read the column. If not, pick up your own copy of "The Selma News" in print form.

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For quite some time, I have read your columns in The Selma News. I have remained silent regarding your evolutionist views. You have accused Ann Coulter of being on an "ignorant tirade" in her anti-Darwinian view. I found your comment "There is no one, not one single person, who has ever come to be a anti-Darwinist Creationist by inductively evaluating the scientific evidence." Basically, you are saying that a fundamentalist paradigm interferes with scientific objectivity and that anyone who believes in opposition to Darwinianism is intellectually dishonest.

That, sir, is an ignorant tirade just as much as you accuse Miss Coulter of performing. It is nowhere near a truthful statement that there is no one, not a single person who has evaluated the evidence and become an anti-Darwinist Creationist. That is patently false. To (in my own words of evaluation) call others stupid for disagreeing with your pet doctrine is indeed the very thing you railed against others about.

The one thing that I have found difficult with evolutionists over the years (and I used to be one) is that they tend to believe that they have "cornered the market" on intellectual honesty and prowess; all others points of view are held by idiots. That is the very attitude conveyed by your column this week. Oddly enough, I find the same prevalent attitude amongst those who criticize "fundamentalists" for their theological perspectives.

I have already read your "debate" with a local pastor in past issues of The Selma News, and was already a bit disgusted by both sides. I do not intend to debate the issue with you. I have already been down that road with others who claim the "intellectual high ground" in this long standing debated topic. I shall not do so again. This is not because of a lack of evidentiary support or because of being on the losing end of any argument. I just find that the very impaired judgment you claim is possessed by I.D., creationists, whatever you want to call them, is likewise incorrigibly embedded in Darwinists.

Either way, your aforementioned quote is just plain erroneous and rather hypocritical.

I am not wanting to be contrarian or adversarial, but I do want to give my opinion and response. I choose not to waste the print space in Rick's paper or subject the rest of the readers to the same old debate. Personally, though you have an opinion column, I do wish that you would not bore most readers with your continued liberal theology, views on issues that really have no direct impact on Selmites but are usually on a national level, or the condescension towards differing opinions.

I am critical of opinions in my own public forum or two, but I certainly don't claim that all others are dishonestly manipulating data for the benefit of their own argument or perspective.

If you wish to continue to engage in the debate of creation versus evolution, you are welcome to invite people to discuss issues in the forum I have created specifically for this purpose. After your last debate on this topic in the newspaper, I created a forum for discussion on www.i9570.com just for the topic. I did drop an email both to Rick Stewart and to you about this. Personally, I find the use of an internet forum much better than the slow method of unitlaterally wasting newsprint space in my local paper.