The Human Question

Somewhere in an earlier blogpost I give a list of explanations offered by scientists that were motivated by materialism and failed in one way or another...this post was not anti-science but rather a suggestion that theories so motivated may be taken cum grano salis. Add to that list: B F Skinner, steady state theory.

Has science been invoked in an unsound manner in the past in order to beat theism or go against theistic morals and ontology? It would be good to make an historical survey and then relate it to modern day fads. Some of Freud's claims qualify: the Oedipus complex, for example, is not common to all cultures. The best example might be the steady state theory, which asserted that matter comes into existence out of nowhere in order to avoid admitting that the universe has a beginning. The positing of the multiverse seems to be motivated by the same reluctance to grant that divine providence is evidenced by the fine tuning of our universe. Margaret Mead's weak but well publicized work in .... Samoa? might be another good example. Perhaps the Miller-Yuri experiment?