Life and meaning are the deepest of questions, and we all seek true answers from the bottom of our hearts. In these fragile states of mind and strong emotions, we must carry an extra burden of skepticism against those who might take advantage of us.
Last Thursday, the Mustang Daily published an article on the Veritas forum. The story’s unmatched, misleading advertisement under the guise of journalism is dishonest. We readers deserve full journalistic disclosure of the reporter’s Christianity and former involvement with Campus Crusade for Christ (SLO Crusade). Veritas is not an open discussion of life’s big questions — it is a funnel of directed lectures promoting the Christian worldview. I have attended every forum since 2006. To my knowledge, it is not now, nor has it ever been an equal or open stage for all worldviews.
Veritas, Latin for truth, claims balanced inquiry into the historical evidence and contemporary relevance of Jesus Christ and the Christian faith. It is sponsored by SLO Crusade and our Associated Students, Inc.
Which definition of “truth” are we using?
(1)the property of being in accord with fact or reality, verified
(2)ideal or fundamental reality apart from and transcending perceived experience
The testable, verifiable, naturalistic, scientific method-refined reality of the first definition is symbolized by our empirical instruments, like microscopes. Veritas uses a microscope as a logo. This false advertising is troublesome. These misdirections and evasions are made at the expense of us students. When Veritas wants credibility, it reaches for the empirical knowledge gained without gods by using the instruments of science, but Veritas is not bound by science’s methods and rules of evidence. The credibility of science is a consequence of the methods.
Debates are excellent for policy, but obtaining good evidence puts limits on our options. Evolution and the origin of life cannot be debated. The evidence is presented and the best models are tentatively drawn up. Predictions are made on possible future evidence to search for. Chelsea Morrell encourages discussion over a spread spectrum from creationist to evolutionist. A spectrum must be continuously comparable, but creation is to evolution as homeopathy is to modern, clinical, peer-reviewed medicine. One is placebo and the other has evidence and usefulness in spades.
Evolution is the backbone of biology. It is used in fields as far as computer science for its proven usefulness in genetic algorithm searches. Veritas is harming our intellectual community by undermining the early education of university students in fundamental matters like evolution. America is slowing down its technological ability to compete — and economical ability follows. It needs more scientists and engineers educated in reality. Veritas is sowing weeds among our future food crops under the guise of equality for ideas. We will pay a high future cost for our gullibility.
I love having Veritas on campus. I want as many ideas as possible in our population. This diversity gives us strength and flexibility. I do not want any one idea to become so dominant that it kills off this diversity. I want better ideas to be selected for and acted on. One good idea we act on is Cal Poly’s learn by doing philosophy. It encourages empirical knowledge — ideas derived by experiment and observation to be useful. Theory, modeling and analysis equally strengthen our knowledge.
We must wear our skeptical hats when people offer us that which is too good to be true. It takes self-reflection and courage to honestly approach life and the meanings we project on it. Critical thinking and skeptical inquiry have served as our best sources of knowledge for centuries. Veritas makes a parody of this honest inquiry. Curiosity on our spectrum of cultures allows a question more noble than “Is there God?”; ask instead “Why are there gods, what is the purpose of religions, and how do they exist over time?”
Nicholas Utschig is a computer engineering senior and Mustang Daily guest columnist.
this literally makes no sense.
Read it slowly, I’ll help you through the tough spots. Try starting in the middle.
We should be really careful when we are emotionally vulnerable.
A recently published article never mentioned that Veritas is a Christian forum promoting Campus Crusade’s for Christ’s brand of Christianity. It called Veritas an open forum – but topics and speakers are limited to Christian worldviews.
Truth has many meanings, and Veritas is abusing the term. Their logo is a microscope, an instrument of god-free science, in order to share in the credibility of science. Science is based on methods which use evidence – but Veritas must go beyond evidence in its arguments.
One topic Veritas always harps on is evolution. Evolution is the backbone of biology, and is useful in many fields. Heredity, variation and selection is a beautiful search. When Veritas teaches that evolution is on a spectrum of belief, and not the principal theory supported by all evidence, they are harming the future teachers, engineers, scientists and citizens of our world.
If a religion taught that everything is continuous and there are no atoms – our technological progress would be crippled. Rejecting evolution has the same consequences for the same reasons.
I want Veritas to come each year. I want many ideas spread around. Diversity gives us strength and flexibility – the same as having many genes in a population. No one idea should be so dominant it kills this diversity. We must to act on the ideas which work, and not waste time on the ideas which don’t work.
Science – critical thinking, skeptical inquiry, experiments, building models, and much more – has been our most trusted source of knowledge for centuries. It is a self-refining method that resolves approximate truths. Veritas is a fake front of this honest inquiry – because facts can’t be debated, only reasoned from evidence.
“Is their God?” is a question for high school students. Adults should ask why humanity has gods, and religions, and ponder how they have existed over time.
Ugh, did I really type “Is their God?”….. Is there God. Wow. Goodnight.
Nick,
At the risk of sounding like a fan I have to say that I am in awe of your ability to effectively and intelligently communicate the matter at hand. Every paragraph I read I thought “Yes! Exactly!”. I’ve read many of your comments and editorials, and its the same in each case.
As for Veritas forum, I have never been to a meeting, and perhaps I should before critiquing them. However what I can relate is the feeling I had when I discovered what Veritas really is. Before I thought that Veritas was a debate forum where people with different views on a subject meet on equal ground and discuss their “truths”. I associated Veritas not with religion but with the concept of TRUTH. When I found out that Veritas is really another (though more subtle) attempt to push the Christian agenda, I felt angry and betrayed. No matter how I say it, or the evidence behind it, the issue I side on will be wrong simply because I am not a Christian.
we must wear our skeptical hats