"Japan is often cited by me as an example against the stupid assertion that you cannot have morality without God. It is a country with one of, if not the, lowest crime rate in the world."
That is true, but I have heard that that statistic is due to public executions and hangings;
Tim, that appears to be unfounded hearsay:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capital_punishment_in_Japanand
http://web.telia.com/~u15509119/ny_sida_11.htm - "executions in Japan are still carried out in silence, and the public and the relatives are informed late."
Tim
From your last paragraph, it appears that the authors fail to distinguish between the modern understanding of evolution and the ancient Egyptian understanding of their pantheon. I find it hard to believe that scientists are confusing science with metaphysics. There's no hypocrisy in making the distinction.
I just read the Introduction of the book (The View from the Center of the Universe):
http://viewfromthecenter.com/excerpts/introduction.html"Prescientific people had believable answers to big questions that became impossible to answer once we started to demand scientific accuracy. Does time run in one direction or is it cyclical? Has the universe always existed, or did it come into being? If it had a beginning, how did it start? What is it made of? How does it work? How do we humans fit in? People hardly even ask such fundamental questions any more..."
People what? Are they kidding?
"Mythic language is not the possession of any specific religion but is a human tool, and we need it today to talk about the meaning of our universe"
So, it looks as though the authors are proposing a new mythology as a substitute for the old (I could be quite wrong, not having read the book). If they are, they have every right to do so; but all I would ask of a scientist is to do the science and avoid confusing it, in the public mind, with metaphysics.
