太蔟如是说

【太蔟按：卡尔·萨根生前因毫无保留地强力传播科学，被反科学人士（如此文作者）冠以“科学主义”的大帽子。此文的作者曾从布朗大学获得细胞生物学博士学位，是个臭名昭著的反进化论人士。从此人和国内一些理科出身的反科学文化人可以看出，科学训练并不是令人摆脱愚昧的充分条件。】

Carl Sagan: Prophet of Scientism
by David N. Menton, Ph.D.

http://www.gennet.org/facts/sagan.html

Carl Sagan gained international attention through his popular
writings on science and especially through his thirteen part
television series Cosmos. In all of these, Sagan has insisted that
he presents only scientific facts or scientific theories supported
by scientific evidence. What has often emerged in his popular
writings and television appearances, however, is only a tissue of
empirical science covering a great bulk of unprovable speculation
liberally laced with Sagan’s own philosophical and religious views
of life. Sagan’s religion is not so much one of science as it is of
scientism.

Scientism is the belief that the assumptions, methods and even the
speculations of science are equally appropriate, if not essential,
for the proper understanding of all knowledge including religion.
Scientism explicitly denies both the special revelation of truth
and the existence of a sovereign, supernatural and eternal being.
In the religion of Scientism, the Cosmos (matter, energy, time and
space) is believed to be eternal and the only ultimate reality.
Scientism teaches that all things have their being and origin in
the intrinsic properties of nature. It follows that if gods were to
exist, they too would only be a part and product of nature. The
social and philosophical implications of Scientism for man are
embodied in the religion of Secular Humanism. Sagan’s scientistic
religious beliefs and pronouncements are well documented in his own
books:

Broca’s Brain, New York: Random House, 1979
The Cosmic Connection, New York: Anchor Press, 1973
Cosmos, New York: Random House, 1980
Life in the Universe, San Francisco: Holden-Day Inc., 1966
Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors: A Search for Who We Are, New York:
Ballantine Books, 1993
The Demon-Haunted World: Science As a Candle in the Dark, New York:
Random House, 1996
Billions and Billions: Thoughts on Life and Death at the Brink of
the Millennium, New York: Random House, 1997

Sagan, who insists that evolution is a fact not a theory, maintains
that “we (humans) are the products of a long series of biological
accidents” and thus concludes that “…in the cosmic perspective
there is no reason to think that we are the first or the last or
the best” (The Cosmic Connection p. 52). Carl Sagan was a student
of the evolutionist astronomer Harlow Shapley who once said
“…some piously record ‘In the beginning God’, but I say in the
beginning hydrogen.” Shapley appears to believe that hydrogen is a
colorless and odorless gas which, given enough time, turns into
people! Shapley’s most famous student reflects this same atheistic
materialism when in his book Cosmos, Sagan confidently asserts that
“the world was not made by the gods, but instead was the work of
material forces interacting in nature” (p. 177). Naturally, such
beliefs have profound implications for the nature of man, and so it
is not surprising when Sagan says of himself “I am a collection of
water, calcium and organic molecules called Carl Sagan” (p. 127).
In a logical extension of his crass materialism, Sagan insists that
all of our human traits - loves and hates, passions and despairs,
tenderness and aggression are simply the result of “minor accidents
in our immensely long evolutionary history” (p. 282). In a lame
attempt to find some sense of purpose and meaning in a human
consciousness born of “minor accidents” Sagan proposes that “We
make our world significant by the courage of our questions and by
the depth of our answers” (p. 193). As a further extension of this
“boot strap” theology Sagan maintains that man has evolved by mere
chance to the point where he can now take over and direct his own
evolution (p. 320). With this, the ultimate goal of Scientism and
Secular Humanism is finally achieved; man becomes his own creator
and thus “god”.

In a recent syndicated interview, Joan Sannders Wixen asked Carl
Sagan about his views on the future of man. Sagan replied “I feel
in order to survive we someday must be able to give up our
allegiance to our nation, our religion, our race and economic group
and think of ourselves more as just a temporary form of life under
the creation of a power beyond our comprehension” (St. Louis
Globe-Democrat, Oct. 6, 1980). Sagan concludes that if man is to
worship anything greater than man himself, it should be something
which amounts to the pagan worship of nature. In his book Cosmos,
Sagan proposes the stars and the Sun as being a more worthy object
of worship than Jehovah. “Our ancestors worshiped the Sun, and they
were far from foolish. And yet the Sun is an ordinary, even a
mediocre star. If we must worship a power greater than ourselves,
does it not make sense to revere the Sun and stars?” (p. 243).
Neither does Sagan overlook “mother earth” in his proffered
religion and urges us to listen to her voice as well. “The ocean
calls. Some part of our being knows this is from where we came. We
long to return. These aspirations are not, I think, irreverent,
although they may trouble whatever gods may be” (p. 5). In any
event, Sagan appears to think it most unlikely that “the gods” will
be troubled since he reminds us that “it is said that men may not
be the dreams of the gods, but rather that the gods are the dreams
of men” (p. 257). In his book UFO’s–A Scientific Debate, Sagan
freely admits that “science has itself become a kind of religion.” In fairness to legitimate science it should be emphasized that it
is Sagan’s Scientism that has become a religion. Empirical science
must depend on observability, repeatablility and testability of all
phenomena it would seek to explain. True science of this kind has
never been found to be in conflict with the Bible.

Why is it then that so many public schools in our country manage to
get away with teaching the religions of Scientism and Secular
Humanism even in the face of widespread efforts to erect a “wall of
separation” between church and state? Where is the indignation and
litigation of the American Civil Liberties Union who seem to fancy
themselves as the “watch dog” against the inroads of religion in
our public schools? Has the ACLU decided that there are acceptable
and unacceptable religions for our public schools? Can, indeed, any
teacher discuss the origin of the universe, and particularly the
origin of man and his “values”, with out teaching or discussing
religion? It seems unlikely that there can be such a thing as
“value free” or “religion free” education on many of those subjects
that most intrigue man. We are led to conclude that all schools are
to at least some degree “religious schools”, it is only a question
of which religion is being taught.

Finally, we might ask why Carl Sagan, of all people, was invited,
at considerable expense, to address a conference of Catholic
educators and librarians here in St. Louis? Are these educators
unaware of Sagan’s openly professed beliefs? Could it actually be
that some of these Catholic educators share these
beliefs?