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Showing posts with the label Discovery Institute

Charles Darwin and the Methods of God

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by Cowboy Bob Sorensen  This here article was written with some reluctance, first because the linked article is a book excerpt. Second, it is from the Discovery Institute, the main site of the Intelligent Design people. Regular readers may have noticed that I am using material from that site a bit more, but I tend to include biblical creationist material in my write-ups. This one is worth doing because other biblical creationists and I want people to learn how  to think, while atheists and secularists tell them what  to think. Some things about Darwin's logic need to be addressed. Charles Darwin dancing with the devil in the pale moonlight via Bing AI, which made the devil resemble  Homo habilis There are disagreements about whether or not Charles Darwin was an atheist, especially since he claimed agnosticism. Part of his dancing with the devil in the pale moonlight was his determination to put down creationism, viewing it as unscientific. His way of dealing with it was through met

The Origins Controversy and Religious Motivation

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by Cowboy Bob Sorensen  Evolution News and Science Today  is run by the Discovery Institute, the leading proponents of Intelligent Design. Despite what propagandists for universal common descent evolution claim, ID is not  creation science in disguise. An article on that site, " Are Proponents of ID Religiously Motivated, and Does It Matter? " inspired this one. The author, Dr. Jonathan McLatchie, made some excellent points in his response to a critic, especially noting that logical fallacies were utilized — which is typical of advocates of evolutionism. Image by Cowboy Bob Sorensen, modified with FotoSketcher Dr. McLatchie pointed out that when the critic of ID claimed that they were religiously motivated, it was a genetic fallacy (also, it poisons the well) . What is too often ignored is the fact that secularists are religiously motivated themselves, as many have religions without deities. This screenshot from X (formerly Twitter) shows a religious attitude toward Dragon Ba

Evolutionists Cannot Explain Carnivorous Plants

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Bugs for lunch, what a marvelous idea! No, this is not about nutty leftist environmentalists , but rather, something that is in the environment: carnivorous plants. Although not envying their diets, creationists have been discussing pitcher plants and Venus fly traps for years. Pitcher plants are slippery and flytraps snap shut, but there are several other kinds of these plants. While it is true that questions are raised about the existence of carnivorous plants in a very good  creation, biblical creationists take on those challenges . Venus flytraps, morgueFile / xianstudio Carnivory in the plant world is not explainable by evolutionary speculations. One way to evosplain them is to say that various types of these plants "evolved independently" multiple times, but that is sometimes annoying even to Darwin's disciples. In addition, there are disparate mechanisms in place in each kind of plant, each contributing to irreducible complexity: Every part must be in place and w

The Fading of the Alleged Fact of Evolution

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As discussed here several times before, a movement, revolution, or other large effect on a society seldom spontaneously generates. Mayhaps you have heard how something was "ahead of its time" or the world was not ready for it. Conditions were not right for that thing. Other sweeping changes occur, leaving people wondering how they took root. Slowly. Charles Darwin is treated like a brilliant scientist for creating evolution, but that is the opposite of the truth . The conditions in Victorian England were right for his conjectures, and the prominent Huxleys helped him out . Darwin caricature, 1871, Vanity Fair , modified at remove.bg At the time of Darwin and even before, people were becoming more blatantly rebellious to God and disrespectful to the Bible. (Interestingly, the only degree that Charlie earned was in theology, which lends credence to the suggestion that he lifted the biblical creation narrative and was making a naturalistic religious text!) Many factors came toge

Surprisingly Christian Material on Intelligent Design Site

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by Cowboy Bob Sorensen  When perusing Evolution News , the primary website of the Discovery Institute, there seems to be a great deal of self promotion. There is also quite a bit of science and philosophy. There are scientists involved, and it is reasonable to think that they publish in secular scientific journals just like creationists. My problems with the ID movement are that while they show unguided  evolutionary processes are not possible, it has a big tent. That is, there are agnostics, biblical creationists, what appear to be theistic evolutionists, and others involved. Sometimes Christians there seemed to be reluctant to mention the Creator. Also, I am a biblical creationist and presuppositionalist. Neon question mark, Unsplash / Emily Morter Everyone has presuppositions, things we assume to be true, that comprise our worldviews . Biblical presuppositionalists presuppose that the Bible is true  and the final standard of truth. "Ya think, Cowboy Bob?" Yes, I had to be

Newborn Children Testify of the Creator

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Even people who are not religious have been known to say that the arrival of a new baby into the world is a miracle. It could be rightly said that the birth event is a culmination of a whole suite of awesome circumstances. Conception itself is amazing, usually only one sperm cell reaches the egg. Many aspects of the development of the child in the womb have been documented, but we still cannot understand the ways of the Creator (Ecclesiastes 11:5).  Portrait of an Infant , Pierre-Auguste Renoir, 1881 Parents are responsible to bring them up "discipline and instruction of the Lord" (Ephesians 6:4). Many new parents look upon the new arrival and wonder what this new person will achieve in life. Of course, they may not seem "destined for greatness" and their greatest achievements may appear later in life. From conception through birth, a child testifies of the creator.  The phenomenal layers of design manifested in the biochemistry of the cell and the physiological an

James Tour and Lee Cronin on the Origin of Life

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Darwin skeptic Dr. James Tour has been in the news related to Intelligent Design lately, quite probably because he is a brilliant scientist and outspoken Christian. He issued a challenge to ten origin-of-life researchers , but not one rose to accept it. A few months back, he had a debate with atheopath Dave Farina. It did not go well. Farina is abusive and irrational, and Dr. Tour also got excited but was not offensive . Something similar happened with Drs. Tour and Cronin. My Pond-Full-o-Algae photo modified at PhotoFunia In a pair of articles by Casey Luskin, we learn that Dr. Lee Cronin agreed to have a public discussion with Dr. Tour. Apparently Cronin was civil, he still managed to say things that were untrue about Tour, and he spent a quite a bit of time focusing on his opponent rather than dealing with the science. James talked about origin-of-life science and its tremendous problems, but Lee seems to have avoided the subject for the most part. There was a recent exchange at The

Assumed Atheism Harming Religious Students

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by Cowboy Bob Sorensen  Internet atheists express their hatred of God and bigotry toward Christians quite freely from the safety of their keyboards, and they insist on asserting false facts. One of these is that creationists believe "God did it" is a sufficient scientific explanation for something. They are unable to meet the challenge to produce a creation scientist who uses that idea. Another false fact is that if someone is not an atheist, he or she is not a real scientist. Although ridiculous, it shows their bigotry. It is also a way to control science itself to fit their own naturalistic beliefs. Train waiting on tracks, Unsplash / Cowboy Bob Sorensen Something I read long ago in a UFO publication is that they first seek natural and rational explanations before appealing to UFOs. I have seen a similar view used by paranormal researchers (never mind whether or not experiences were genuine). In simple terms, science uses methodological naturalism . While Christians presupp

The Beneficent Mystery of Sleep

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Sleep is something we may take for granted or even resent its intrusion. Others find it a way to escape from the troubles of daily life for a while. Sometimes it simply feels good. While it is considered a restful state, there is a great deal of unconscious activity happening. There are many studies of what happens during sleep and that it or something similar is vital to most creatures. One evolutionist said that sleep is our default state, and that we evolved wakefulness. No science there, just narrative-friendly speculation. Sleeping jaguar, Pixabay / edmondlafoto Getting the proper amount of sleep on a regular basis is essential, and we feel the effects when deprived. Sluggishness, dull thinking, irritability, and so on. My experience is pertinent here. Since my beloved Charlene was stricken and died shortly afterward, I have one of many results of acute grief: poor sleep. This affects decision making, coherence, writing, and so much more. A good night's sleep is rare for me. F

Alfred Russel Wallace, the Victorian Outsider

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Over at Evolution News and Science Today , an Intelligent Design site operated by the Discovery Institute, Alfred Russel Wallace is receiving a great deal of attention in his bicentennial year. Professor Michael A. Flannery has written a book and several articles about Wallace. A spell back, I wrote about whether or not we would have evolutionary theory if Charles Darwin had never been born . Since evolution is ancient, it would have been assembled and popularized in a "scientific" format. Alfie almost did that, but Charlie got to the publisher first. Alfred Russel Wallace, ca. 1865 A.F. Wallace did quite a bit of science, but he was eclipsed by Darwin . A problem for him both then and now is that he dabbled in many areas, some of which seemed frivolous. Wallace seemed like an interesting individual. But the Bearded Buddha focused on his own specific areas, which was apparently applauded instead of the multi-faceted aspects of Alfred. Also, Wallace was a kind of forerunner of

Epigenetics is the Performer of the Genome?

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Stormie Waters and her fiancé Roland Meadows stopped by my place and invited me to a piano performance in town. I agreed and we rode into town in their wagon. Lisa Myworries was outside the theater, having been stood up by her date, so she joined us. A lackluster performer started out and we could tell that the piano was just adequate. The main performer, however, managed to make the piano sound like a high-quality instrument. (It reminded me of " The Touch of the Master's Hand .") We had an interesting discussion while dining afterward. Playing the piano, Pixabay / Holger Schué (music4life) Stormie had been reading an article about how the epigenome can be likened to playing a piano. Lisa spoke up, "The epigenome is above the genome, that's where the name came from." While the genome is vitally important, it is like a musical instrument. Genomes have faults, so they may not "play" as well as others. Scientists have learned about DNA and the genom

These Jellyfish can Learn

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While box jellyfish are notorious for having painful or even lethal stings from their tentacles, this one is harmless to humans. Mayhaps it is because they are so tiny. These little fellas are north of South America and the Caribbean Sea around mangroves. They swim vigorously near the surface. One would not expect anything interesting out of these brainless creatures, but the Creator shows his design skill in even the tiniest organisms. These box jellies have a complex nerve system. Researchers were amazed that they showed associative learning, not just reflexive responses. Box jellyfish, iNaturalist / snigdhasehgal ( CC BY-NC 4.0 ) Of course, foolish scientists gave praise to Darwin and made up some unsupportable speculations about the "dawn of the evolution of the nervous system," since we're all related. Because evolution. Even with all the evidence of creation and design in extreme details, Darwin's acolytes still refuse to give glory to God for what they discove

Look at all the Smarty Plants

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There is an expensive word we need to define: anthropomorphizing. That means giving human characteristics to non-humans, such as those talking rodents in cartoons or animatronic bears in pizzarias. It seems to be human nature to give human traits to things. It is similar to reification , which is a logical fallacy. F'rinstance, "Science insists..." No. "Evolution gave this creature..." No, again. Those are concepts  that are given human characteristics. The part about reification is a bonus for you, now look at how the smart plants know that autumn has arrived here! Burning Bush changing colors, Unsplash / Cowboy Bob Sorensen , modified at PhotoFunia The vocabulary lesson may seem trivial, but there is something deeper going on that the author of the article linked below wants to present. Regular readers have seen that there are many plants that seem intelligent, even with the ability to communicate with each other . It has been claimed that plants "know&qu

Creatures Underfoot Improving our Lives

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It is easy to forget something or someone when we do not see them — or know that they are affecting us in the first place. American kids sign highschool yearbooks with pledges to always be friends, but those promises were just words. Did they know the names of the janitors? We see robins, the early birds, getting the earthworms but seldom realize that those creatures are marvels of design for their own ecosystems. In fact, earthworms and other organisms under our feet (ofttimes way under) were put here by the Creator to help our lives. Earthworm, Pexels / Karolina Grabowska , modified at PhotoFunia Watch a video of how earthworms move and you'll see that they were designed for their place in this world. They have muscles, and brains that tell the muscles how to work. Interesting that there are fossils of them dated to the Cambrian, but Darwinists can evosplain that away. People talk about "numbers of species" in the world, but soil biodiversity is not exactly understood.

Chicxulub Asteroid Impact Story Unravels

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When discussions turn to dinosaur extinction, those of a secular mindset invariably say that it was caused by the huge rock from the sky that hit  Chicxulub . Although it is the most common claim, there is no consensus. Indeed, this smashing story raises a prairie schooner-full of questions . The Chicxulub impact is a non-answer for dinosaur extinction, and people with any knowledge in this area should be aware of it. Some scientists think it was the big slam and  volcanic activity that did in the dinosaurs . Well, there are still unanswered questions — and more are being asked. Artist's conception of Chicxulub impact,  NASA Goddard Evolution is a death cult, and that is painfully obvious here because death supposedly causes new creatures to spring into life. The asteroid/comet/meteorite/whatever hits and things die such as those big and bad dinosaurs. Delicate things like butterflies and small critters survived, as did flowering plants ( the Bearded Buddha hates those things ). Me

Raising a Child with his Chimpanzee Cousin

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by Cowboy Bob Sorensen There is a line in The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy   that states , "Earthmen are not proud of their ancestors and never invite them round to dinner." Well, I never have my ancestors round to dinner either because they are dead. In context, Douglas Adams was referring to our alleged evolutionary cousins . No, you will not find it in the book. Adams was an atheist and an evolutionist, and he probably wrote the sequence showing a chimpanzee at a formal dinner party for the BBC series . So he probably meant cousins . Formal dining with a chimpanzee, made with Bing AI image generator , modified at PhotoFunia In " When a Child and a Chimp Were Raised Together ," Denyse O'Leary wrote about an experiment in 1931. A couple of married psychologists decided to raise their ten-month-old son and a seven-month-old female chimpanzee together. Whoa there a minute, Pard. Back in 1931, Sigmund Freud was held in high esteem and the field of psycholo

Charles Darwin and the White Supremacists

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Something that many of totalitarian dictators and even mass murderers of the last 150 years or so is holding to belief in Darwinism. Evolution is not just a theory for academics to discuss and for ordinary people to accept because they said so. Instead, it is a worldview used to interpret science and morality. Unfortunately, white supremacy will never go away. Those sidewinders are known for despising people with darker skin, but they have particular venom for Jews. Leftists label many people as "far right" including white nationalists, but leftists as well as alleged Conservatives were joining in with hatred for Jews. People worshiping statue of Darwin, made by AI at Bing Although the Intelligent Design people wrongly want to keep God out of the discussions, an article makes a point — which is often made by presuppositional apologists. That is, if Darwinism is right, nobody  can condemn Hamas for attacking the Jews. When atheists say that something is morally wrong, they are

Animal Companions by Divine Design?

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There is an odd old man who walks his little dog around the apartment complex, and he talks to it as if he is hearing it ask questions and reply to his own. But I do not think this widower of several years is crazy — that is just how the relationship plays out. Evolutionists tell fanciful stories about the domestication of the cat  as well as how we got our canine friends . Unfortunately, an Intelligent Design organization's writer linked below accepts this storytelling as well as deep time, but the rest of his article is interesting. Women with dogs taking in the view, Pexels / Dmitriy Ganin We have a special rapport with our animal friends, and they become family members. They are given a great deal of time and affection, and money is spent on food, upkeep, medical bills, and more. When they die, many of us grieve . We give, but they cannot give back in kind. Sure, some do work, but you can't exactly hitch up a team of bearded dragons to pull a plow. There are folks who have

Irreducible Complexity Refuted by External Reproduction?

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Creationists have been using the concept  of irreducible complexity for years, but the term was coined and defined in Darwin's Black Box  by Michael Behe in 1996. Irreducible complexity is frequently used by the Intelligent Design community, and some biblical creationists have picked up on it as well. One of our favorite examples is the bombardier beetle . It has an amazing defense mechanism that demonstrates the basics of irreducible complexity: Everything must be in place from the beginning or nothing works or makes sense. Indeed, if components existed separately, they might kill the organism. Fish spawn in an anemone (showing developing eyes), Flickr / prilfish ( CC BY 2.0 ) Dr. Jonathan McLatchie is a part of the Discovery Institute, a leading Intelligent Design organization. (Weak-minded atheists say that ID folks and creationists reject evolution because we don't understand it. That's a lie. Two glaring academic examples I can think of are Joel Tay of Creation Minist

The Marvel of Chameleon Vision

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The 1981 remake of the song "Bette Davis Eyes" was a huge hit, but this child failed to see what was special about them. Could she move each one independently? Mayhaps a rewrite about someone who "has chameleon eyes" would be interesting. When discussing alleged facts by evolutionists, likely, probably, scientists think,  and other terms are used to dodge the issues but still promote their faith. In this case, discussing how the eyes and vision of chameleons operate practically require such words — the reptiles are not talking. Chameleon on a branch, Pixabay / Shilona We have examined the most obvious trait of chameleons before, the ability to change color . It seems their vision has been underrated, which presents problems to evolution. No other land animal has the independent eye motion which still makes sense because of the brain's intricacies. What we have here is yet another example of the Master Engineer's work. Most vertebrate animals have their eyes