Materialism Without Excuses — The Worldview Files

An article published earlier this month at TechCentralStation represents something of a new-found boldness among those committed to evolutionary naturalism. Robert McHenry, former Editor in Chief of the Encyclopedia Britannica, takes the gloves off in responding to criticism that evolutionary theory is based in a worldview of materialism.
Materialism, he writes, “is a default position for any rational being who has not been favored with a direct revelation of the divine.” Theism, on the other hand, is a concept that must be learned by some form of revelation and is “a willed step away from materialism.” In other words, he argues that human beings are born materialists, and therefore that materialism represents the ‘default’ position for normal human beings (those humans untainted by strange and irrational ideas of a divine Creator).
Thus, he denies that materialism is anything like a “secular faith” as many Christian apologists claim. According to Mr. McHenry, materialism is just, well, normal. This kind of reasoning, aimed at discrediting any philosophical criticism of evolutionary theory, explains why the field of modern science is dominated by unrepentant materialists.
THE MATERIAL LINK: Robert McHenry, We Are Living in a Material World, TechCentralStation, June 1, 2005.