Science and Culture Today | Page 1323 | Discovering Design in Nature

Much to my surprise, when I opened my email this morning, I found this letter, obviously not intended for me. It was intended for Larry Moran, from one ‘C.D.’ (a pseudonym no doubt). I guess it’s about the latest kerfuffle among Darwinists.

I decided to pass it on.

To: Larry Moran, PhD.
Professor of Biochemistry
University of Toronto
From: The Central Committee
Office of Framing

Dearest Larry,
It’s hard for me to write this, given my affection for you and my admiration for all of your work for our cause. But the Central Committee is not pleased. Brayton and Myers aren’t talking to each other. Mooney keeps shouting ‘framing…framing’ at our meetings, and Nisbet, in particular, is beside himself. It’s fratricide. You really must do something to rectify this.

‘Rectify what?’, you ask.

[Note: For a more comprehensive defense of Ben Stein’s documentary Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed, please see: NCSE Exposed at NCSEExposed.org] Richard Dawkins has been ranting that he’s outraged (I’ll just bet he is) that Expelled exposes for all to clearly see the connection between Darwinism and Nazi ideology.According to Dawkins: The alleged association between Darwinism and Nazism is harped on for what seems like hours, and it is quite simply an outrage. We are supposed to believe that Hitler was influenced by Darwin. Actually the discussion of the influence of Darwinism on the Nazis in Expelled lasts only about ten minutes, and outside that segment of the film there’s no references at all to the Nazis. Dawkins of course has Read More ›

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: