In the News
Archives for: November 2007
11/29/07
Behe on C-SPAN 2
Case Western Reserve University Professor Patricia Princehouse and Michael Behe recently taped an episode of the program "Close Up at the Newseum", where we discussed intelligent design, Darwinism, The Edge of Evolution, and other topics with an audience of about 40 high school students. The purpose of Close Up is to get students interested in issues of the day, and to become active participants in our democracy. The show will air this Friday, November 30th, at 7:00 p.m. Eastern time, on C-SPAN 2.
Texas state science curriculum director resigns
Laura Heinauer, of the American-Statesman, reports that the state's director of science curriculum has resigned after being accused of creating the appearance of bias against teaching intelligent design.
Chris Comer, who has been the Texas Education Agency's director of science curriculum for more than nine years, offered her resignation this month.
Chris Comer is accused of misconduct, insubordination.
In documents obtained Wednesday through the Texas Public Information Act, agency officials said they recommended firing Comer for repeated acts of misconduct and insubordination. But Comer said she thinks political concerns about the teaching of creationism in schools were behind what she describes as a forced resignation.
11/28/07
Backers battle ISU professor's tenure denial
Lisa Rossi of the Des Moines Register reports that the fight will rage on over Iowa State University astronomy professor Guillermo Gonzalez, who advocated for intelligent design, and lost a bid for tenure.
Advocates for Gonzalez said in a release distributed Tuesday that they will hold a news conference at 11 a.m. Monday in Des Moines. There, they said, they will discuss documents they contend will prove that Gonzalez "lost his job" because he supports intelligent design, not because he was deficient as a scholar. Gonzalez's backers say an appeal to the Iowa Board of Regents and possibly a lawsuit would be the next steps.
11/27/07
Faith in science, but...faith in Darwinism???
Nemo says, "Paul Davies is an important bulwark against the abuses of design thinking current: take the question slowly but surely without theological obsessions."
"...the reductionist regime can, so far, go no further than the threshold of life. That is by no means a rejection of science. Merely that something really revolutionary would be required, as with the transition from Newtonian to Quantum methodologies."
Seems nemo has FAITH that science is going to find something really revolutionary...perhaps a blind faith.
Another new resource for public educators
We thought you would like to know...
New journal Evolution: Education and Outreach debuts Nov. 28
The world-renowned evolutionary scientist Niles Eldredge and his son Greg Eldredge, a high school science teacher, believe it's time to help science educators fight back against the strong pressure creationists exert on public education. So they joined forces with the scientific publisher Springer and, on Darwin's birthday in February this year, announced plans to publish a new journal, Evolution: Education and Outreach.
11/26/07
A New Resource for Educators
As part of Discovery Institute's response to the PBS-NOVA documentary "Judgment Day: Intelligent Design," it recently released "The Theory of Intelligent Design: A Briefing Packet for Educators" (available free for download). The packet contains numerous resources for educators trying to effectively teach about biological origins in public schools.
Taking Science on Faith
Paul Davies, director of Beyond, a research center at Arizona State University, states his opinion in the New York Times.
Davies is a pantheist who sees God as the intrinsic guiding rules that are essential and wholly within the multiverse. This is clearly a faith position that he holds by personal preference.
In his opinion he says, "Clearly, then, both religion and science are founded on faith - namely, on belief in the existence of something outside the universe, like an unexplained God or an unexplained set of physical laws, maybe even a huge ensemble of unseen universes, too. For that reason, both monotheistic religion and orthodox science fail to provide a complete account of physical existence."
This is a statement which is obvious to anyone who knows logic, and thinks about the issue for five minutes. However, the debate is always cast as one between science and faith. Go figure...
When Night Falls at School, Should Darwin Go Home?
Robin Finn, of the New York Times, writes on an adult evening class in a public school on Long Island. Seems he is teaching a course which says negative things about Darwinism. For that the NYCLU is up in arms.
Rio Rancho schools could eliminate intelligent design
The Rio Rancho School Board, in New Mexico, is expected to take up the issue of evolution and intelligent design at a Monday evening meeting.
The board is expected to vote on whether to eliminate a policy that allows alternatives to evolution to be taught in science class. Currently, the district does allow the teaching of intelligent design.
11/20/07
Polk School Board Leans Toward Inclusion of Intelligent Design
John Chambliss, of the Lakeland (FL) Ledger, reports that a majority of Polk County School Board members say they support teaching intelligent design in addition to evolution in public schools.
Board members Tim Harris, Margaret Lofton and Hazel Sellers said they oppose proposed science standards for Florida schools that lists evolution and biological diversity as one of the "big ideas" that students need to know for a well-grounded science education.
Antony Flew is not Senile
An article in Publisher's Weekly is on a Nov. 4 article in the New York Times Magazine, "The Turning of an Atheist" by Mark Oppenheimer. That article has generated lots of chatter in the blogosphere and a passionate response from the publisher. In the piece, Oppenheimer characterizes Flew as a senile old man being manipulated and exploited by evangelical Christians for their own ends.
HarperOne released a statement from Flew: "My name is on the book and it represents exactly my opinions. I would not have a book issued in my name that I do not 100 percent agree with. I needed someone to do the actual writing because I'm 84 and that was Roy Varghese's role. The idea that someone manipulated me because I'm old is exactly wrong. I may be old but it is hard to manipulate me. This is my book and it represents my thinking."
PBS teacher packet biased
Here is the biased packet issued in conjunction with the PBS Dover Trial "documentary" for public school use...
Here is the Discovery Institute's briefing packet for educators in response...
Essential Reading: Law, Darwinism, and Public Education
While this book has been out for awhile, ENV rightly praises Dr. Frank Beckwith's work.
Legal scholar Francis J. Beckwith recounts the legal history of court battles over the teaching of biological origins. Though many thought that the landmark Supreme Court case Edwards v. Aguillard would permanently settle these questions by ruling creationism unconstitutional, Beckwith observes that intelligent design poses a new challenge to legal scholars. Beckwith provides a thorough treatment of the subject.
"The Design of Life" is out
The Design of Life, written by leading ID theorists William Dembski and Jonathan Wells, brings readers up to speed on the numerous advancements of ID over the past 20 years. Design of Life recounts many of the peer-reviewed scientific papers, scientific books, and laboratory studies completed by ID theorists. It offers an excellent up-to-date account of ID for any reader.
For the newcomer to ID, Design of Life offers clearly written and well-illustrated chapters explicating ID's basic scientific concepts, such as irreducible complexity and specified complexity.
11/14/07
PBS Airs False Facts in its "Inherit the Wind" Version of the Kitzmiller Trial
ENV's Casey Luskin shows some of the misinformation in its "Judgment Day: Intelligent Design" documentary, which promotes propaganda about the 2005 Kitzmiller trial and intelligent design (ID). Most of the misinformation in the program was corrected by ID proponents long ago. To help readers sift the fact from the fiction, this article provides links to articles rebutting some of PBS's most blatant misrepresentations.
11/13/07
3 Myths About the Dover Intelligent Design Trial
ENV reports that tonight PBS will air NOVA's piece reenacting some parts of the Dover trial, "Judgment Day: Intelligent Design on Trial." PBS claims the program will tell the true story behind the Dover trial. But will it?
11/12/07
"Judgement Day: Intelligent Design on Trial"
From the York Daily Record...
A documentary about Dover Area School District's intelligent design trial will air on public television Tuesday. The two-hour special, titled "Judgement Day: Intelligent Design on Trial," will run on NOVA, a science program on PBS.
The program will include a reenactment of the trial and interviews with experts who tackle questions about evolution. U.S. District Court Judge John E. Jones III will read excerpts from his 2005 federal court ruling against the school district.
11/09/07
NOVA Program on Intelligent Design Biased
ENV reports that Paula Apsell, senior producer for NOVA's propaganda piece on intelligent design, Judgment Day, felt "compelled" to make the docudrama. Journalists are usually only "compelled" to report on events by their editors, or by the newsiness (timeliness, proximity, impact, conflict, etc) of a specific issue/event.
So, why were Apsell and NOVA compelled to make this program?
Apsell...If the decision had gone the other way, it could have had dire consequences for science education in this country. Clearly, Apsell has an agenda.
"The Spiritual Brain" on the Dennis Prager Show
Dennis talks to Mario D. Beauregard, Associate Professor in the Departments of Radiology and Psychology, University of Montreal(Canada) and Denyse O'Leary award-winning Canadian science writer/journalist.
Michael Behe on "Point of Inquiry"
In this conversation with D.J. Grothe, Behe discusses his prominent role in the ID movement, and how he first got involved. He explores the differences between creationism and Intelligent Design theory, and details some of his experiences as a key witness for the defense in the Dover, Pennsylvania Intelligent Design trial. He also explains the thesis of his new book, and talks about what he considers the biases of mainstream science.
11/07/07
Discovery Institute: PBS Teacher's Guide Injects Religion into the Classroom
In the Republican Valley, a report that a "Briefing Packet for Educators" just issued by PBS in conjunction with the NOVA program Judgment Day: Intelligent Design on Trial inserts religion into the classroom and encourages teaching practices that are likely unconstitutional, says Discovery Institute.
"The NOVA/PBS teaching guide encourages the injection of religion into classroom teaching about evolution in a way that likely would violate current Supreme Court precedents about the First Amendment's Establishment Clause," says Dr. John West, vice president for public policy and legal affairs with Discovery Institute.
Discovery Institute: PBS Teacher's Guide Injects Religion into the Classroom
In the Republican Valley, a report that a "Briefing Packet for Educators" just issued by PBS in conjunction with the NOVA program Judgment Day: Intelligent Design on Trial inserts religion into the classroom and encourages teaching practices that are likely unconstitutional, says Discovery Institute.
"The NOVA/PBS teaching guide encourages the injection of religion into classroom teaching about evolution in a way that likely would violate current Supreme Court precedents about the First Amendment's Establishment Clause," says Dr. John West, vice president for public policy and legal affairs with Discovery Institute.
11/06/07
Call to Atheists
Nigel Williams, the UK's most plangent critic of religion, has set up a new campaign to support atheists. In Current Biology, the call is not to think more clearly, but to seize the moment as the George Bush Presidency nears a end.
11/04/07
More on Antony Flew
Mark Oppenheimer, in the New York Times Magazine, writes about Antony Flew in the article entitled "The Turning of an Atheist".
From the tone of the article, Oppenheimer is doing much to discredit Flew and the book. He describes Flew as a pleasant old man with aphasia. In the Ben Wiker interview, Flew was with it...fresh and witty.
In this day...it is said that intelligent people do not believe in God. Flew's defection is proof that he must no longer be intelligent.
11/01/07
Antony Flew interview
Ben Wiker interviewed one of the most famous atheists of the last half century. Antony Flew now claims to be a deist, and recently published a book entitled "There is a God". The interview is on the Web site
tothesource.
Some atheists and agnostics attribute his change of mind to madness.
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Evolution has become a favorite topic of the news media recently, but for some reason, they never seem to get the story straight. The staff at Discovery Institute's Center for Science and Culture started this Blog to set the record straight and make sure you knew "the rest of the story".
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A blogger from New England offers his intelligent reasoning.
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We are a group of individuals, coming from diverse backgrounds and not speaking for any organization, who have found common ground around teleological concepts, including intelligent design. We think these concepts have real potential to generate insights about our reality that are being drowned out by political advocacy from both sides. We hope this blog will provide a small voice that helps rectify this situation.
- The Design Inference - The Writings of William A. Dembski
- The Intelligent Design and Evolution Awareness Center (IDEA)
- www.themonkeytrial.com
Website dedicated to comparing scenes from the "Inherit the Wind" movie with factual information from actual Scopes Trial. View 37 clips from the movie and decide for yourself if this movie is more fact or fiction.
Links - Of General Interest
- A Brief View of Time and Those That Live There
Don Cicchetti blogs on: Culture, Music, Faith, Intelligent Design, Guitar, Audio
- A Quick Guide to Sequenced Genomes
- ARN Related Web Links
- Creation/Evolution Quotes
Australian biologist Stephen E. Jones maintains one of the best origins "quote" databases around. He is meticulous about accuracy and working from original sources.
- CreationEvolutionDesign
Most guys going through midlife crisis buy a convertible. Austrialian Stephen E. Jones went back to college to get a biology degree and is now a proponent of ID and common ancestry.
- Darwinian Fairytales by David Stove
Complete zipped downloadable pdf copy of David Stove's devastating, and yet hard-to-find, critique of neo-Darwinism entitled "Darwinian Fairytales"
- ID The Future
Intelligent Design The Future is a multiple contributor weblog whose participants include the nation's leading design scientists and theorists: biochemist Michael Behe, mathematician William Dembski, astronomer Guillermo Gonzalez, philosophers of science Stephen Meyer, and Jay Richards, philosopher of biology Paul Nelson, molecular biologist Jonathan Wells, and science writer Jonathan Witt. Posts will focus primarily on the intellectual issues at stake in the debate over intelligent design, rather than its implications for education or public policy.
- John Mark Reynolds Blog
A Philosopher's Journey: Political and cultural reflections of John Mark N. Reynolds. Dr. Reynolds is Director of the Torrey Honors Institute at
Biola University.
- NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day
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