Because people of faith don't appreciate having any part of their religion called a "myth."

People of faith need to tell us what to call it then, because "origin myth" pretty well indicates what we are talking about, and is consistently applied to belief systems both living and dead. I mean, we call it a myth because it can't be proved, right? Can you think of a better term that you wouldn't consider insulting?

(Bob bob, if you're reading, now is not the time to invoke that nonsense-philosopher from last week!)

But, but, irreducible complexity-- which is what ID is based on-- has been pretty soundly refuted, as here [link]. If people "believe" in it, it's not because of the unimpeachable science of it. It does seem like various self-serving and unproven theories to me.

First I think Jessica's distinction between Discovery's ID and "lower-case" id is a good one. My ID (or id) is not based on irreducible complexity, it's based on faith. All faith is self-serving in that it cannot be proved. But that doesn't mean it cannot be questioned.

And second, I think dw's point on myth is also spot-on. Myth is an unfortunate word because it carries with it the specter of untruth even if that's not how it's intended.

Because people of faith don't appreciate having any part of their religion called a "myth."

Myth, in Merriam-Webster:

1 a : a usually traditional story of ostensibly historical events that serves to unfold part of the world view of a people or explain a practice, belief, or natural phenomenon

There may be religions that don't fit this definition, but I can't think of any.

Because people of faith don't appreciate having any part of their religion called a "myth."

This is a ridiculously large generalization.

Among pagans, the word myth is pretty par for the course. I see no reason to assume that it's a derogatory term, rather than a descriptive one.

Because people of faith don't appreciate having any part of their religion called a "myth."

People of faith need to tell us what to call it then, because "origin myth" pretty well indicates what we are talking about, and is consistently applied to belief systems both living and dead. I mean, we call it a myth because it can't be proved, right? Can you think of a better term that you wouldn't consider insulting?

As one, and I can only speak for myself, I don't mind the term. I think a "many" may have been left out of the first post.

And as for post the second, surely you don't expect a woide and varied group of people to all be in agreement.

Because people of faith don't appreciate having any part of their religion called a "myth."

...is a bit of a sweeping generalization (those just never go over well around here, and boy howdy, do I mean almost never because otherwise I'd be making one).

Myth is not an offensive term to me, and, frankly, I consider many things in the Bible to be metaphor, myth, whatever, and I'm not offending myself by saying that. But, clearly, I'm not a strict interpreter, so... I can see where the possibility that people who interpret strictly might be offended. But that's quite different from the general tag "people of faith."

Unless I'm forgetting one....

"Sweet Zombie Jesus!"

The streets were underwater, and in fairness, no one could know the scope of the disaster it has become; no one knew how many people stayed. The desperation and the widespread anarchy seems to have arisen within the last 24 hours.

Well, yeah, because as Terry Ebbert, head of the city's emergency operations, said: "This is a national emergency. This is a national disgrace," he said. "FEMA has been here three days, yet there is no command and control."

The anarchy is arising because they haven't set up a command and gotten troops in. Now you've got the situation at the Convention Center where:

About 15,000 to 20,000 people who had taken shelter at the convention center to await buses grew increasingly hostile. Police Chief Eddie Compass said he sent in 88 officers to quell the situation at the building, but they were quickly beaten back by an angry mob.

A military heliocpter tried to land at the convention center several times to drop off food and water. But the rushing crowd forced the choppers to back off. Troopers then tossed the supplies to the crowd from 10 feet off the ground and flew away.

I don't think my expectations are way out of line. I know it takes time to mobilize but the situation has deteriorated exactly because the response has been inadequate and poorly coordinated.

But that's quite different from the big pot of "people of faith."

Isn't "people of faith" more of a pie?

No keymaster, obviously.

I just changed it to "general tag". Pot was really just not working at all, was it? But, you know, THANKS FOR POINTING THAT OUT.

Ahem.