Skeptics, But Only When It Suits

Skeptical atheists proclaim that they "believe in science," faulting others for not doing so. That proclamation is misleading, although it helps to shut down debate with qualified dissenters from a official position, if you value that sort of thing. (I don't.) What self-identified skeptics really believe in -- unskeptically, you'll note -- is not science itself but the pronouncements only of certain approved scientists and not others who are often equally credentialed. Why do the skeptics take the word of one group of reputable scientists "on faith" rather than others? (I say on faith because I doubt most of the skeptics have verified their favorite scientific claims.) Criteria, if you please.

I'll take the skeptics more seriously when they question the word of government-anointed scientists as much as they do the qualified mavericks, who also believe in science. Science isn't about consensus or head counting; its about truth-seeking through dissent, open debate, and transparency. 

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