by Denyse O'Leary
ARN correspondent
Following up on the Brit media story about the Church of England's faux apology to Charles Darwin, I note where Jonathan Petre (Daily Mail, September 13, 2008) quotes
Former Conservative Minister Ann Widdecombe, who left the Church of England to become a Roman Catholic, said: 'It's absolutely ludicrous. Why don't we have the Italians apologising for Pontius Pilate?Yes it does, because as I observed earlier, there is no evidence that the Church of England ever wronged Darwin particularly.'We've already apologised for slavery and for the Crusades. When is it all going to stop? It's insane and makes the Church of England look ridiculous.'
On this phenomenon of "false apology syndrome", psychiatrist and essayist Theodore Dalrymple notes,
Guilt, by its very nature, ought to be connected to responsibility; it ought, moreover, to be in proportion to the wrongdoing that is its occasion. To assume a guilt greater than the responsibility warrants is actually a form of grandiosity or self-aggrandisement. The psychological mechanism seems to be something like this: "I feel very guilty, therefore I must be very important."That diagnosis would certainly apply to the Church of England, which has suffered significant declines in attendance in recent decades.In some case, it is a substitute for importance, or for a loss of importance.
Also just up at The Post-Darwinist:
Darwinism and popular culture: Why so many conservatives won't vote for Darwin
Darwinism and popular culture: Still not clear how mind emerges from mud
Darwinism and popular culture: Fish story evolves in pop science media
Morning coffee: Are you a redneck? A red diaper baby? And does it matter?
Toronto-based Canadian journalist Denyse O'Leary (www.designorchance.com) is the author of the multiple award-winning By Design or by Chance? (Augsburg Fortress 2004), an overview of the intelligent design controversy. She was named CBA Canada's Recommended Author of the Year in 2005 and is co-author, with Montreal neuroscientist Mario Beauregard, of The Spiritual Brain: A neuroscientist's case for the existence of the soul (Harper 2007).
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