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Showing posts from October, 2022

A New Reformation Using Creation

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Years ago, I was in an Untied Methodist Church (misspelling intentional) and my father was the pastor. The theology was liberal (but far worse now). There was a program where laypeople came in and gave some talks to spark the congregation into a closer walk with Jesus. We got wound up and started our own programs, but the excitement eventually faded and the church was essentially the same as it was before. One problem was that it had a weak foundation. Another was that church leadership did not uphold the authority of the Word of God. Something similar happened with the Reformation. Wittenburg church door, Wikimedia Commons / AlterVista ( CC BY-SA 3.0 ) Martin Luther was not trying to overthrow the Roman Catholic Church, he just had some issues that needed to be addressed. Catholicism needed to be reformed, but the Reformation resulted in Protestantism and people believing what the Bible said. Scripture, not Pope or priest, was the final authority. Science was growing and thriving bec...

Rational Thinking — Now More than Ever!

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by Cowboy Bob Sorensen  Other biblical creationists and I emphasize rational (critical) thinking, and to use it plus healthy skepticism. Such thinking is not just for sciences or academic purposes, but is helpful every day. We use it daily to some degree or another, often without realizing it. If you will mount up and ride the trail with me, I will provide a fun piece, some examples from feral atheists, a bit of strange pseudoscience, then move onto more specific ways that we use logic every day — and why such thinking is extremely important right now. Woman thinking by water, Pexels / Engin Akyurt Something I'd like to give you to put in your pocket right now. You can take it out every now to look at: Undue haste is a tool of Satan. Yeah, it's a mite overstated, but memorable. When being pressured to make a decision right now , with no time to stop and think, you are probably better off not making any changes. I remember times of being hurried that were disastrous. On occasion...

Reports of Something from Nothing are Fake News

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People may rightly recollect seeing discussions on this here weblog about atheists claiming that everything came from nothing, then becoming furious when this fact is mentioned. They even deny it, even when given evidence that high-profile misotheists believe it . Quantum physics is a valid and rather mysterious science , and can even have temporary violations of the Law of Conservation of Mass-Energy. This law does not apply to God, because the Creator is above creation, upholds all things, and not confined to it. The Big Bang, however, is a naturalistic violation of laws of physics. Graphene, Flickr /  U.S. Army Materiel Command ( CC BY 2.0 ) (Usage does not imply endorsement) Virtual subatomic particles pairs, matter and antimatter, can pop into existence for a fraction of a second before canceling each other out. Julian Schwinger proposed a theoretical way that they could last longer. An experiment to validate the Schwinger effect was conducted using graphene. An article ...

So-Called Stone-Age People Performed Surgery

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It was a nice surprise to have both Stevia Dolce and Lisa Myworries from the Darwin Ranch stop by my place. Stevia is the baker, and brought some fabulous  croissants. Lisa supervises the Winkie Guards. It seems that some of our creation discussions, albeit brief, were making an impression on them. They know (but keep quiet about it) that the idea of humanity's progress suddenly taking off in comparatively recent years after doing nothing for tens of thousands is ridiculous. Lisa was sharing material on Out-of-Place Artifacts with Stevia, and they commenced to thinking. "Caveman" dreams of scalpel, image assembled from images found at  openclipart In addition to objects that "should not" exist because they are too advanced for evolutionary paradigms, there are structures and achievements by ancient people. Also, Neanderthals art was far more advanced that evolutionists want to believe. Now stone age (actually, an essentially meaningless term only useful for e...

Rejecting the Dinosaur Extinction Consensus

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While the prevailing view is that a big rock from space smashed into Earth, causing dinosaur extinction and the rise of the mammals, it was never accepted by all secular scientists in those fields. There are reasons to doubt that it happened . For a spell there, volcanoes were thought to play a big part in dinosaur extinction. It was suggested that an asteroid hit and then volcanic activity took over. Volcanoes were put on the back burner (heh!), but now someone wants to bring them back. Yucatán asteroid impact illustration, WikiComm / Donald E. Davis (NASA, public domain) Evolutionists have not been honest about the facts. Even in their scheme, dinosaurs coexisted with birds and mammals — which causes serious problems for them to promptly ignore. (Also, the possibility of one or more asteroid strikes at the time of the Genesis Flood has been proposed by some biblical creationists, and volcanic activity is also involved!) Secular scientists thought that the impact caused the volcanism...

Parasites and the Very Good Creation

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Another fair question that is asked by both unbelievers and Christians is how, if creation was very good (Gen. 1:31), did parasites come into being? Most of the time, those things are harmful and give nothing back to their hosts. Misotheists do not worry overmuch about hearing explanations from a creationist perspective, since they are locked into naturalistic beliefs and "know" we are wrong. They also seek to justify their rebellion against God, and one way is to use parasites to judge God . Large roundworms, WikiComm / Alaa ( CC BY-SA 3.0 ) A huge number of people have large roundworms living inside them and many do not even realize it. People ( children are most at risk ) in unsanitary conditions with fecal matter are most likely to be infected. But how and why do these and other parasites exist, unlike organisms that have give-and-take (symbiotic) relationships? Yes, they were created. The answer lies in the Fall of man. This revolting nematode lives in human intestines ...

Antarctic, Greenland Ice Sheets and the Genesis Flood

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While I get along most of the time with Rusty Swingset, Cliff Swallows, and their workers at the Darwin Ranch, their vexatious antics get tiresome. It seems that atheists and other evolutionists get overwrought about biblical creation science, so they refuse to consider our answers to what they are attacking. In this case, the ice sheets of Antarctica and Greenland. There are several and all are given huge ages in Darwin years. That is considered proof that the biblical timescale is wrong and should be discarded. Not hardly! Greenland ice sheet, Flickr / Bernt Rostad ( CC BY 2.0 ) The main problem with deep time is that facts are first filtered through...wait for it...the narrative. Secularists take interpretation-laden "facts" and use them to support their views. Scientific material that does not support the narrative is ignored, waved away, or adjusted so it fits. Meanwhile, biblical creationists do  have an explanation for the Ice Age, ice sheets, and other cool stuff usi...

Evosplaining Links Between Land Plants and Algae

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Once again, the narrative is more important than empirical science. We learn that some of Darwin's disciples evosplain (and make a false assertion) that they have observed  the evolution of single-celled algae into multicellular organisms. That is the opposite of the truth. Like everything else, organisms split from their ancestors early on. The differences between land plants and Zygnematophyceae (a class of green algae) are extensive, and land plants have cells and tissues. There is inference instead actual evidence for their common ancestor. Spirogyra green algae, Wikimedia Commons / Bogdan ( CC BY-SA 3.0 ) Sure, they can build a plan of likely evolution, but again, these researcher are presuming evolution in the first place. (Indeed, we saw similar self-serving logic just recently involving fish hearts and our hearts .) There are also assumptions made about " selection pressure " (that occur over millions of Darwin years and cause things to evolve). It is taken by fa...

The Number of Israelites in the Exodus

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As mentioned before, unbelievers try to undermine the historicity of the Bible in their efforts to negate it. Genesis is maligned by atheists with their materialistic paradigm (there is no God and miracles are impossible). Unbelievers take that kind of approach to other parts of the Bible as well. You probably know the account of how the Israelites left Egypt, and Exodus 12:37 mentions 600,000 men, plus their families . Laypeople tend to forget that the Bible and other ancient texts do not conform to modern approaches regarding minute details and strict sequences of events. Moses and Aaron before Pharaoh / Benjamin West There is something that I want to say here. Thoughtful Christians and creationists do not simply appeal to miracles as a matter of course. When the text indicates a miracle occurred, yes. But to use it as a reflexive explanation, no. That is not the manner of serious researchers and scholars. To first seek a natural explanation before using one that is supernatural is ...

Fake News of Heart Evolution

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Believers in universal common ancestor evolution are locked into their presuppositions, and those contaminate the science. They believe that evolutionary ancestors of humans included fish, and recent research shows just how interpretations of evidence are treated as if they were facts. Also, no possibilities apart from evolutionary dogma are considered. The narrative states that jawless fish evolved into jawed fish, and this research alleges that a fossil containing a well-preserved (note, not soft tissues) heart in the Gogo formation is 380 million years old. It resembles our hearts, therefore, evolution. Reconstruction of Bothriolepis canadensis , Wikimedia Commons / Nobumichi Tamura ( CC BY-SA 4.0 ) The fish under examination is a part of the Bothriolepis  group, and the findings contradicted evolutionary beliefs because many things allegedly happened quickly, in leaps, instead of small steps. Note that they still do not have evidence to back up their story, just assumptions, i...

Diabolical Ironclad Beetles and — Aircraft Design?

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Beetles. Lots of beetles, big ones, small ones, multi-colored ones — a passel of species. One of these makes it home in the southwestern United States, but it is not much to look at. However, it has a tough hide which caught the attention of researchers. This fellow is the diabolical ironclad beetle , so named because it cheats at cards. Okay, I could find no reason for such a dramatic name, but compared to other beetles, it seems ironclad. It is puzzling because its exoskeleton does not have minerals, but it was learned that the toughness was from its structure. Then we have biomimetics. Diabolical Ironclad Beetle, Flickr / Trish Gussler ( CC BY-NC-SA 2.0 ) A support can be stiff, but will crack or break under stress. It needs to give a bit under pressure. That is what happens with our little friend. Researchers mimicked the beetle's design in constructing aircraft joints. As is the case in other cases where designs in nature are copied, praise was given to evolution. In fact, th...

More Tracks Down Paluxy Way

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Those dinosaur footprints way down around the Paluxy River, at  Dinosaur Valley State Park in Glen Rose, Texas (where people can not only see but also put their own feet in them) are back in the news. Secular scientists have been talking about them for a long time, as have biblical creationists (see " The Paluxy River Mystery " from 1986 for one instance). The 2022 drought has brought more of them to light, and they are reminders that the debate is not settled. Dinosaur track at Dinosaur Valley State Park in Glen Rose, TX, Flickr / mcdlttx ( CC BY 2.0 ) These tracks are mysteries wrapped in flour enigma shells and lovingly smothered with riddle sauce. How do footprints form in the first place? Why are the Paluxy tracks only of dinosaurs and no other animals? Fossil bonebeds, with their jumbles of critters from disparate environments, should seriously disrupt evolutionary ideas by themselves. Paluxy only has dinosaur tracks. Secularists can tell stories all they want, but it...

Human Ancestors, Chewing, and — Brain Size?

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Heading out Folly Road past Stinking Lake (which is not as bad as it sounds), then continuing toward Deception Pass. Eventually the road leads to the Darwin Ranch property which is patrolled by the Winkie Guards. The Darwin Ranch purveys evoporn, but even they have some limits. The ranch hands were laughing about some flimsy research involving our so-called evolutionary ancestors and teeth, mastication (chewing), and brain size development. I wonder if vegetarians among them had an advantage... Mastication is actually a complex process. Artist's conception of Neanderthals 60,000 years ago,  NASA  / JPL-Caltech (usage does not imply endorsement of site contents) How did chewing evolve, anyway? (Biblical creationists know that Adam and Eve were fully functional humans, and they probably did not question the Creator's design methods.) Research was conducted involving unflavored gum, soft then stiff, and participants' energy levels were measured. Softer gum required less expend...

Adam, the Genesis Flood, and Ancient Egypt

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Although scoffers will reject history from and about the Bible out of hand, there are some intriguing things for inquiring minds as to whether or not ancient cultures knew about creation, Adam, and the Genesis Flood. Those of us who know and believe the Bible are aware of the dispersion at Babel, but biblical creationists have worked mighty hard to put together details involving people, places, and languages . These include names and large-scale identifiers that can be found even in Egypt. Egyptian hieroglyphs, Pixabay / Michael Baragwanath People after the Flood still tended to have long lives, so they remembered firsthand accounts of the Flood or even read the written account (before Moses edited it into the book of Genesis). Names of Ham's sons are attached to Egypt, as they were involved in settling that area. Yes, ancient Egypt knew of Adam and the Flood, but their degraded versions of the truth need expert help for extraction. While living in Cairo, I became enamoured with Eg...

Schizophrenia, Materialism, and Psychology

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In several posts over the years, we have seen that psychologists are struggling to understand the mind and the brain. (No, the brain is not  the mind — the mind uses  the brain.) There are numerous approaches to psychology, and they are based on evolution and atheistic materialism. There are many reasons to think that psychology is not actually a science at all, especially since it does not follow the same rules that are expected of the "hard" sciences. Psychologists do not understand mental illnesses such as borderline personality disorder , and schizophrenia is under scrutiny. Psychology puzzle, assembled from graphics at Openclipart  and with Paint.Net Schizophrenia is a large category and several other problems are under that umbrella. A very small percentage of the population is diagnosed with it, so that means there are also undiagnosed people trying to live their lives with that condition. Several possibilities for the cause are offered, but no one really knows. Pe...

The Oldest Rocks Before the Flood

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As anyone who has spent even a little bit of time examining biblical creation science knows, we emphasize the Genesis Flood. It explains what is observed in geology far better than uniformitarian (slow and gradual processes over much time) ideas. The Flood also shows that Earth is young, and that God judged the world. What seems to be largely ignored are the oldest rocks that were here before the Flood. You have probably heard of the Cambrian explosion , where fossils of critters appear  fully formed . Before that was the appropriately-named Precambrian. Roaring Brook Falls (NY), Flickr / James St. John ( CC BY 2.0 ) This one is where you can find pre-Flood rocks, and there is a planed (shaved flat) surface that spans the continents. During Creation Week, God made the land on the third day, which probably involved raising it up out of the water. A lot of land, a lot of water, a lot of runoff and erosion. Using biblical chronology, the Flood happened about 1,600 years after creatio...

Things with Stings Smarter than you Knew

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As I write this in early October, autumn chill and rain are in the upstate New York air. Wasps are more active. Yellowjackets are the most aggressive of wasps, and they will sting more than once just because. Avoid hornets, they are a kind of wasp  but their stings pack a greater punch — especially for people who are allergic to them. If you see a nest in your building, consider calling for professional removal because angering a few thousand can spoil your day. Paper wasp nest (I simplify it to "wassness"), Pixabay / sandid It's impressive that researchers were able to determine that honeybees can recognize human faces, and now there is very interesting research on paper wasps. They were tested in a lab on whether something is the same or different, which is an abstract concept and requires logical reasoning. These wasps took the rules they learned to apply to other stimuli than they received in the lab. Now it needs to be determined if this ability is in other insects a...

Titan is Old, Ignore the Contrary Evidence

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Russell Watchtower, who heads up the Ministry of Truth at the Darwin Ranch, is a mite perturbed. He is contacting planetary scientists to offer his assistance. We have seen numerous times how cosmic evolution stories are constantly being refuted by information sent back by space probes, such as Saturn and its moons . Titan is the largest of Saturn's moons, and it has an atmosphere. The stripped-down explanation is that what is observed is not consistent with an old solar system, but Mr. Watchtower is excited about a new effort to get around the facts and keep Titan appearing ancient. Artist's concept of Cassini and Titan, NASA / JPL-Caltech (usage does not imply endorsement of site contents) The methane in Titan's atmosphere should have periods where it converted into ethane and other things. Over 225 million Darwin years, it would have formed significant ocean. Cassini found a little but not what was expected, since the truth is that the universe was created far more rece...

Evolution and Mind Cloning

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There is a movement called transhumanism  that is essentially an attempt to improve God's design through technology and genetic engineering. There are numerous related concepts, one of which is mind cloning. However, there are several serious problems with the whole thing. First of all, universal common descent evolution is assumed and all approaches stem from that. Another is that they are physicalists , so the mind is simply a manifestation of the brain. Generally speaking, biblical creationists believe that the mind is separate from the brain, but the mind uses it. For that matter, materialists have no idea where the mind originates . Brain graphic by  yodiyim at FreeDigitalPhotos There is not enough technology available to map the brain of a mouse, let alone a human brain. That aside, mind cloning raises a passel of questions and ethical dilemmas. Where is the soul? Is it duplicated? People change, will the clone come to have values and beliefs that are different from the...

Large-Scale Ancient Structures Made by Early Humans

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When searching for kite , there are things people put up into the sky and hold onto with strings, or certain birds of prey. In this case, structures in the desert that aircraft pilots said resembled those string-held kites. Darwinists hold to the dogma that humans were stupid after they finished evolving from an apelike critter, so the timeline involves being hunter-gatherers, hanging around in caves, and doing very little for a few thousand years. As we have seen, evidence consistently shows that they were very intelligent. One of many examples involves those kite-like structures. Safawi Kite 101, Flickr / Aerial Photographic Archive for Archaeology in the Middle East ( CC BY-NC-ND 2.0 ) Such kites have been known for a spell, and serious research has been undertaken with remote sensing. Hundreds of these star-shaped kites have been discovered. (I am using the word star  loosely, as the things had numerous points.) They were intelligently designed and took many people working tog...

Bird Feet and Dinosaur Evolution?

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If you have a close relationship with a bird, maybe even have it perch on your finger, notice that the feet have scales. The hands at the Darwin Ranch, up yonder near Deception Pass, are joining in with other evolutionists to claim that this is evidence that dinosaurs evolved into birds. Unfortunately, too may people are unwilling or unable to use critical thinking. They go along with what "scientists say," and accept evolutionary indoctrination. A search of this site and others by biblical creationists show numerous reasons why dino-to-bird evolution is ridiculous despite recent media portrayals. Rooster feet, RGBStock / Kevin Tuck Birds' feet have scales ( even on ducks ), dinosaurs had scales, therefore, evolution. No, that is absurd, using the fallacies of affirming the consequent as well as insufficient evidence . (Some mammals have scales, but nobody seems to be claiming that they evolved from dinosaurs.) To use expensive words, the  integumentary system involves ...