One of Jacob Stein's favorite techniques is quoting out of context. In this post JP misrepresents Charles Darwin as promoting a philosophy of racial supremacy and discrimination. If one simply follows the link in his post and reads a few lines before and after the quotation, it becomes obvious that JP is lying. In many of his post posts and comments he intentionally confuses between a descriptive, scientific theory of natural selection and a political philosophy of racism and "survival of the fittest".
What is even more ludicrous is that this claim comes from a man who believes in and defends the biblical "ethic" of wiping out of Amalek and the seven nations in Canaan.
Stein is a straw man too good to be true...I still wonder if he is a closet atheist and his blog is just a gag.
Let's give Stein a little of his own medicine and include a juicy quote from his post:
Stein says that, "we should probably start investing in companies producing hydrogen cyanide and crematoria."
There it is! Stein thinks we should have another holocaust. Yea! Boy, some Torah morality!
I know it's out of context, its just demonstrates what a dishonest and brainwashed person Stein really is. Stein's little bag of dirty tricks include ad hominem attacks, overgeneralizations, straw man arguments and outright lying. One would assume that in a real, moderated debate in which he was forced to defend his religious beliefs, he would be disqualified or suffer humiliating defeat. I recall some time back a fellow named Avi used to comment on his blog, and offered to debate JP but to no avail.
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Stein's post doubly lies. It lies about the 'death panels.' Just go to PolitiFact.com or FactCheck.org and you can get the real deal on the 'death panels' slur. Then there's lie about the Darwin quote, which is out of context, as you have said.
It's impossible to have serious discussion with someone like Stein if he chooses to be willfully misinformed, to mislead, and to be misleading. Healthcare is a serious issue in America, and certainly the plans coming from Washington all have serious flaws that Amercians need to understand. But for Stein and others to poison the issue with grotesque and untrue phrases like 'death panels' is reprehensible.
Finally, when will the fundies get the message that Darwin didn't found atheism and that atheists don't venerate him? Fundies seem to think that atheists worship Darwin, but it just ain't so. Darwin was a great and important scientist, but his writing is dated and often incorrect.
It's telling how fundies project their need for priests and saints onto others.
The reaction of the fundies, as I have pointed out before, is a consequence of cognitive dissonance. When a person has deeply held beliefs, for which he has sacrificed much and to which he has dedicated his life, he does not easily let them go. CD theory explains that a person does everything to avoid seeing himself as in error, immoral, or stupid. He thus uses mechanisms of rationalization, denial, and aggression to avoid the above feelings. Imagine a friend who buys an expensive car or house, and his reaction as the possibility that he made an error mounts. Same thing in politics. Kind of reminds me of the Muslim reaction to the Danish Muhammad cartoon character, in which they were reminded of the simple fact that the founder of their religion was a violent man. How did they react? With violent protestations that Islam is not violent.
JP is possibly an xian or a 'messianic jew'.
Please note that JP gets his Talmud from http://www.come-and-hear.com, a highly anti-jewish group.
See JP's post: http://jewishphilosopher.blogspot.com/2009/09/unique-gift-of-repentance.html
JP has been asked directly if he is an xian or a messy-anic jew. He evades and does not answer.
I think this tells us the answer.
Anon-- in a previous post I speculated, along with the many comments, on what really motivates Stein. The possibility that he is a closet atheist was raised, along with other possibilities. In the end I deleted the post so as not to make things too personal....
The thing that people who argue in this way never seem to understand is that even if Darwin was a total racist, that still wouldn't be evidence against evolution and/or for the existence of a god or gods.
That's JP's classical ad hominem attack.
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