The Florida Academic Freedom bill has moved forward today past Florida’s Senate Judiciary Committee. It has now been approved by both Senate committees and will soon get a vote on the floor of the Florida Senate. Unfortunately, the Florida newsmedia continues to misrepresent the bill, as the Orlando Sentinel wrongly claimed that, under the bill, “Florida teachers could mention religious theories about human origins.” The Florida newsmedia seems to be taking their talking points directly from Florida Citizens for Science. If one reads the text of the bill, it’s clear that it only protects the teaching of “scientific information” and does not cover the teaching of religion. Darwinist groups have attacked the academic freedom bill as being “smelly crap” or Read More ›
C-Span has already posted video of Dr. Berlinski’s recent talk in Washington, DC on his new book, The Devil’s Delusion: Atheism and Its Scientific Pretensions.David Berlinski’s response to the new atheists and their scientific pretensions is engagingly literate and thoughtful — if you missed it when it aired this weekend, watch it online during your lunch break.Go to this page and click on “Watch.”
Darwinist Steven Novella asks and answers a question central to the intelligent design/Darwinism debate: is intelligent design falsifiable? Dr. Novella predictably answers in the negative, and concludes that because ID cannot be falsified it is not science. I’ve long thought that the claim of unfalsifiablility of ID is one of the most bizarre claims of Darwinists. But, as we’ll see, there is method to the claim. Let’s take a look at Dr. Novella’s arguments. I’ve condensed them, because he characteristically rambles. He first makes the bizarre claim that design in nature isn’t necessarily intelligent. So the ID proponents are asking the wrong question – always a fatal problem in science. The question is not whether or not there is design Read More ›
Here’s another one for my “you can’t make this stuff up” file. I kid you not, this is a news story about a new peer-reviewed paper in PLoS Biology by Brian Paegel and Gerald Joyce of The Scripps Research Institute which explains that (all emphasis from here on is mine) they have produced a computer-controlled system that can drive the evolution of improved RNA enzymes. I couldn’t write a funnier script if I tried. Sadly, these guys just don’t get the joke. The evolution of molecules via scientific experiment is not new. The first RNA enzymes to be “evolved” in the lab were generated in the 1990s. But what is exciting about this work is that the process has been Read More ›
[Editor’s Note: This is crossposted at Discovery Blog] Schools are in recess this time of year, so busloads of girls using “like” as a verbal crutch and wise cracking, baggy pants boys are wending their way through the cherry blossoms of America’s capital. In these security-conscious times it is harder than ever to get a tour of the White House or Capitol, so parents and chaperones are quick to steer the young to the Mall. A traditional favorite is the National Museum of Natural History, where for several years now Darwinian fairytales have been presented in an exhibit on mammals that encourages our offspring to have a family reunion with their “relatives”, including chimps, dogs, and mice. Here are strange Read More ›
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Marvin Olasky has a great review of Expelled in the new issue of World magazine. Ben Stein takes on the debate-phobic Darwinian establishment“The shot heard round the world” that started the American Revolution came on April 19, 1775. On April 18 this year, a seriously funny documentary is scheduled to hit 1,000 theaters across America and fire a shot that will go unheard if debate-phobic Darwinists get their way.The 100-minute documentary, Expelled, is perfect for adults and children of middle-school age or above: It should be rated R not for sex or violence but for being reasonable, radical, risible, and right. (It is rated PG for thematic material, some disturbing images, and brief smoking.) The expelling of Intelligent Design (ID) Read More ›
Last week CSC senior fellow David Berlinski gave a presentation based on his new book The Devil’s Delusion in the Discovery Institute Washington DC offices. C-SPAN’s Booknotes was there and will broadcast the event at least twice this weekend, so set your DVRs for Saturday at 11pm EDT / 8PM PDT.From C-SPANs website:
Commenting on the recommendations by Matt Nesbit and Chris Mooney that Darwinists tone down the venality of their attacks against religious faith and against scientists who support intelligent design, atheist “evolutionist” Dr. Larry Moran, professor of biochemistry at the University of Toronto, replied:
I’m opposed to censorship of any kind but I really wish Matt Nisbet and Chris Mooney would voluntarily decide to keep their stupid mouths shut for a few years.
Is Dr. Moran genuinely “opposed to censorship of any kind”? Consider his statement a few months ago on the moral dilemma that Darwinists face regarding students who are Christians:
Of course, we all recognize the problem here. How do you distinguish between a good Christian who is lying for Jesus and one who has actually come to understand science? It seems really unfair to flunk the honest students who admit that they still reject science and pass the dishonest ones who hide their true beliefs…As we’ve seen time and time again on the blogs (and elsewhere), the Christian fundamentalists have erected very strong barriers against learning. It really doesn’t matter how much they are exposed to rational thinking and basic scientific evidence. They still refuse to listen…This is one of the reasons why I would flunk them if they took biology and still rejected the core scientific principles. It’s not good enough to just be able to mouth the “acceptable” version of the truth that the Professor wants. You actually have to open your mind to the possibility that science is correct and get an education. That’s what university is all about. [empahsis mine]
Dr. Moran insists that professors investigate students’ religious beliefs in order to ascertain whether or not Christians who “mouth the acceptable version” (i.e., who pass their exams) genuinely believe “science,” which Dr. Moran defines as materialist metaphysics. If they don’t accept Dr. Moran’s personal atheist ideology, he “would flunk them,” regardless of their grades.
Expelled continues to generate buzz. Earlier today, Ben Stein spoke in support of the Academic Freedom Act introduced this week in the Missouri state legislature, and both he and the film were praised by Governor Blunt. With all the academic freedom issues coming to a boil the film is receiving more attention than ever.
We get a lot of e-mail asking how people can find out if Expelled will be showing in their local theater. Well, here’s where to check. The Expelled website features a theater locator which will tell you the theater closest to you that will be screening the film when it opens on April 18th.
If you don’t find a theater near you in the list generated from the locator, or you know of a particular theater that you’d like to see carry the film but currently isn’t on that list, here’s what to do.
