Tripoli 6 Sentenced to Death

(HT: The Panda’s Thumb)

The way this case is being handled illustrates why religious and traditional beliefs about the physical world should be subject to scientific testing. I don’t mean that one’s beliefs about spiritual matters need to be so tested, but when your beliefs or mine say something about the physical world, then they are testable by scientific means, and the scientific method is not merely the best method we’ve discovered to acquire accurate data about the physical world; it’s the only adequate method.

Traditional prejudices, however acquired, often blind people to facts. Who a person is, where they came from, or what their religious beliefs become more important than any factual data. I like religion, but if I allow the way I think things should be according to my theology, then I will get into the habit of denying objective evidence. Subjectivity is often good in spiritual matters, but it is bad in discovering physical reality.

These six people have been sentenced to death because they are working in a country in which people have been repeatedly schooled to deny reality in any case in which it conflicts with religious dogma or tradition. We need to save them, but we also need to correct the culpable stupidity that makes such an obviously wrong verdict possible.

Visit the Amnesty International web site for updates. Donate if you can. (Thanks to Andrea Bottaro at The Panda’s Thumb for the links.)