I do not see that at all.
You said, "
those who value the empirical method" is what makes someone scientifically minded
. And by that definition people that believe in life after death (specifically because they were created that way) are more scientifically minded. They are people that properly use the empirical method make the correct connection between observations and test them against reality to come to a practical conclusion.
They understand science more thoroughly, and recognizes that empiricism leads to vastly more predictability in the biological and physical world than religion ever has.
In that case they understand more thoroughly science in the context of what may or may not have been created by deities, not the deities themselves. And as far as predictions go, depending on the topic, religious scientists have made better predictions based on the understanding that the universe and life were created. "Junk DNA" being a prime example.
Actually that is very weak sauce. An understanding of abstract concepts is the interaction of the regular predictable physical world and our pretty little notions.
Although you might consider it weak, it's still stronger than the explanation against it.
Absolutely Yes! if you are scientifically minded. The earth is relatively young according to real observations.
I learned something when others said the only theocracy they support would be when when Jesus returns. That makes some sense.
Your definition of theocracy is flawed as there are no deities so a theocracy cannot actually exist. A better definition includes a society that believes that the people in charge are divinely informed and thus have authoritym.
That was part of my explanation. You should have learned more.
No, it doesn't. Anything voted on that violates the Constitution is void. You define structure too broadly.
What I meant was that your two sets of people; 'People who simply vote based on personal values that are based on religion ( or conservative in general)' -and- 'People who want to change the structure of government so religious principles automatically reign' overlap to such an extent that one could not tell which was which without some other criteria.
Market and JR live in the United States.
Oh, you got me. I should have made it clear that I was talking about a statistically significant number of religious people that could actually change the US from a republic to some other form.
Consider, even if the US were to split, the breakaway liberal or conservative state would still be a republic. There just aren't enough people like JR or me to make a difference politically.
Maybe.
People are substituting evident truth with what they wish to be true in election results. Trump actively tried to continue his presidency even though he lost.
But there is evidence that voter fraud was rampant, which means it's not a wish but understood by following the empirical method. Therefore your example supports my view.