Penn, Science and Religion

“If every trace of any single religion were wiped out and nothing were passed on, it would never be created exactly that way again. There might be some other nonsense in its place, but not that exact nonsense. If all of science were wiped out, it would still be true and someone would find a way to figure it all out again.” –Penn Jillette, author of God, No.

I should begin this by stating that I generally have a lot of respect for Mr. Jillette, and I think he’s done a lot of good for the concept of critical thinking, which is sorely lacking in modern America.  That being said, his determination not to believe in things sometimes blinds him to things that actually do work, but are either poorly-understood, or difficult to adequately communicate.  Like most libertarians, he sometimes says things which I find profoundly true, and sometimes…