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Showing posts with the label ApologetiX

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

Giving a Listen

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Listen up! Although several posts about the human ear have been posted here, it is helpful to be reminded of the amazing and complex design involved. Those flaps of skin on the side of the head effectively scoop sounds traveling in the air (there is no sound in space, despite presentations in science fiction movies). Not just sounds on either side, but also above, below, and behind. The brain has been designed to sort out all of that information and make it useful for us, from danger to pleasure and everything between. Ear diagram credit: National Science Foundation / Zina Deretsky (usage does not imply endorsement) Although the bones in the ear have more formal names, eardrum, hammer, stirrup,  and eardrum  are commonly used. Like so many products of the Master Engineer, there is no room for piece-by-piece evolution because everything has to be in place at the same time. Otherwise, nothing would work or even make sense if some parts "appeared" and others came later. Most pe

Continental Erosion and the Young Earth

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As creation science develops, conjectures about the past come and go. The Genesis Flood  by Whitcomb and Morris in 1961 put forward some ideas about science while maintaining adherence to biblical truth. Some of its ideas have been discarded, others have had further development. There are some evidences for the young earth that have been offered are still valid today, and believers in deep time as well as universal common descent evolution cannot refute them. One of these evidences is continental erosion. Limestone and mountain, Unsplash / Cowboy Bob Sorensen Signs of erosion are obvious practically everywhere. A mountain has pieces of rock in many sizes because of erosion from wind and water, rivers erode their banks, oceans do their share of erosion. Wind is everywhere, doing its part as well. Uniformitarian beliefs have rates remaining essentially the same today as well as the thrilling days of yesteryear. Using their own material against them, the continents should not even exist a

Tyrannosaurini from out of Time

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Not too long ago, I finished loading supplies into my buckboard and was ready to head on out of town. Of a sudden, I saw Stevia Dolce, the lead baker at the Darwin Ranch. With her was Lotta Lyez who was promoted as an assistant to the cook. Feeling a mite playful, I asked Lotta if she was going to pick up some Tyrannosaurini, it was between the fettuccine and linguine. She stared a moment, then gave a bit of an "Oh, you!" hand flip as Stevia smiled. The wordplay may not have happened if I had not been reading about the sudden appearance of T. Rex  and family. Tyrannosaurus rex , RGBStock / Kevin Tuck Some fossil parts were examined again and the critter was renamed because of subtle differences that were found. (I wonder if that's a bit drastic since people, animals, and so on have variations without having to be branded as a different species.) In the report, homage was given to the puny god of evolution, but with a difference. It is known that dinosaurs have no evoluti

Biblical Knowledge and Creation Science

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At one time, Christians were the main people doing science. (It was called natural philosophy  until the name was changed to science .) Christians and creationists were right at home here. Science operates by laws, and those were given by the Creator. They provide consistency. See how that works out? Eventually, Christians yielded to materialists. Much of that was through compromise on the authority of the Bible. Secular scientists reject the Bible in favor of naturalism. Both kinds of scientists have worldviews based on their presuppositions. Universe and Bible, Pixabay / Alex Myers and Maicon Fonseca Zanco What follows is going to be difficult for some people to accept, even creationists. Bible-believing Christians actually have an advantage in doing science. Indeed, Psalm 119:130 tells us that God's Word brings understanding. Not only does the biblical worldview rule out time, chance, errors as explanations for observed data, but Christians also have a basis for logic and scie

The Crisis Continues for Big Bang Cosmology

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Big Bang supporters have always struggled to find incontrovertible evidence for their beliefs. Something gets run up the flag pole and while some folks are saluting it, others are pointing at problems. Over the decades, the Big Bang has been Frankensteined by having numerous parts stitched in. In the 1976 Columbo  episode " Old-Fashioned Murder ," the Ruth Lytton character asked, "If the hypothesis doesn't fit the premise, isn't it more reasonable to question the hypothesis?" The same thing could be asked of secular cosmologists and cosmogonists. Love the Big Bang, JWST image ( NASA et al ) modified at PhotoFunia New discoveries keep presenting difficulties to the Big Bang and cosmic evolution, with rescuing devices and excuses conjured (including things like this at an Intelligent Design site). If the universe is as old as secularists claim, certain objects out there, thataway, should look far different — or even not exist. Instead, observed evidence and

Question Evolution Day and Phylogenetic Logic

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Retail merchandisers in big chain stores often use  planograms , which are basically maps for the placement of items. Those are from the dictates of corporate headquarters, and some of them are very strange. Placement of merchandise is often quite irrational. Believers in universal common descent evolution believer in the evolutionary tree of life , and the secular science industry has naturalistic versions of planograms called cladograms . This is phylogeny, attempting to show relationships between organisms. Enhanced version of Darwin's Tree of Life Sketch Clades can be useful tools showing relationships between living things, but within well-defined limits. Evolutionary planograms — I mean, cladograms — are based on the presupposition that fish-to-fool evolution happened. Although it is considered a theory, evolution is treated like a fact that should not be questioned. No free speech, no free thought. But yes, by all means, indulge in circular logic by assuming evolution to pro

The Peculiar Roadrunner

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 While out riding, I met Rusty Swingset (foreman of the Darwin Ranch near Deception Pass) and his lady friend Jacqueline Hyde heading the other way. We reined in and talked about odds and ends. Suddenly, a bird ran by. Jacqueline giggled and said she always thought roadrunners were funny. This member of the cuckoo family really does like to run, especially since it is not a great flyer. If someone takes a notion to chase after it, they should save their energy because it will outrun them — but not a coyote. The roadrunner has odd traits that suit its appearance. Greater roadrunner, Flickr / Dominic Sherony ( CC BY-SA 2.0 ) This bad boy is clever, waiting to ambush its prey by the watering hole. It is also ruthless. Hey, rattlesnake! Ha, you missed again but now you're mine ! Yep, fast reflexes.  It is not an example of evolution, but shows adaptation and (probably) the result of natural selection within the created kind. The Roadrunners also has x-shaped footprints so one cannot t

DNA Sequence Is More Bad News for Evolutionists

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Once again, the combination of the desire to learn plus advances in technology conspire to thwart the wishes of evolutionists. It happens in a big way with the Webb space telescope . Some secular geologists are echoing some of creation science  because of additional studies. Now this... While a great deal of DNA sequencing has been accomplished, and there is still more work to be done. Y chromosome analysis of humans and great apes did not go well for evolutionists. Genetics never has been helpful to evolution. DNA puzzle, Pixabay / qimono (modified) The old "ninety-eight percent similarity" between human and chimpanzee genome has long been refuted  (but Darwin's Flying Monkeys™ repeat it anyway), and this new research is another major setback for evolution. Comparing chimpanzee and human Y chromosomes shows they are only twenty-six percent similar. Factor in a 2010 study and secularists should cowboy up and admit that there is no evidence for evolution, but a great deal

Evolutionary Thinking Wrecks Modern Medicine

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There have been numerous ways that evolutionary thinking has harmed medical science, but disciples of the Bearded Buddha claim that it is essential. Not hardly! Such thinking gave us harmful thinking about vestigial organs such as the appendix and thymus , and "junk" DNA hindered needed research. If you study on it a spell, the idea of actively integrating a historical belief system that is based on presumptions rather than evidence is risible (see " The Farce of Evolutionary Medicine "). Also, secularists refuse to learn from their colossal errors. Modified from a medical science photograph on Pixnio The materialistic mindset has affected modern medicine. Like in the secular science industry, there are individuals who want to do a good job but are caught up on the money-making machinations of organizations. Talk in company break rooms often turns to lousy treatment by doctors, staff, and especially agencies. When I had my heart surgery, I felt like a piece of mea

Inner Workings of DNA Repair

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Believers in molecules-to-mechanic evolution maintain that vertical change happens through natural selection and mutations. However, those mutations need huge amounts of time to accumulate, and a strong argument for a young earth is genetic entropy . That is, at the rate of mutations seen today factored into the assumed age of humans on Earth, we should be extinct. Evolutionists have another problem to contend with, and that is how built-in biological DNA repair mechanisms are working to keep mutations at a minimum. Welder with DNA, original image: Pixabay / Natsan P Matias ; modified with DNA image from Clker clipart From a biblical creation viewpoint, everything was very good immediately after creation (Gen. 1:31). Death and degeneration entered into creation when Adam sinned (Rom. 5:19). Things began to go downhill. Mutations slipped through the repair systems and things are increasingly worse. Even so, those repair mechanisms are extremely effective at slowing down mutations that D

The Battle of Evolution and Climate Change

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As some people know, the secular science industry is flagrantly promoting the political left. Since leftists in general have disdain for God, it is not surprising that secular science and academia have long been indoctrinating people with particles-to-podiatrist evolution. Anthropogenic climate change (that is, human-caused global warming) is frequently discussed nowadays. It is based on evolutionary thinking and deep time, and creation views are rejected out of hand. Like with evolution, scientific evidence against the prevailing viewpoint is usually suppressed. The COP28 conference at the United Nations pushed communist objectives. Further, research showed that  people making decisions have no idea what is actually going on . A new study is putting forward the idea that evolution may prevent humans from stopping climate change, but the author seems as conflicted as the presentations at the COP 28 conference. Also, climate has been changing for a very long time — countless eons accord

New Island Formed from Underwater Volcanic Eruption

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Way out yonder south of Tokyo is an area that is of great interest to geologists. It is where the Ogasawara (or Bonin) Islands are found, which is an archipelago. It is also the area of the island of the Iwo Jima volcano. Its lava flow was sufficient enough to produce a small island in the Pacific. Yes, many islands are the product of volcanic activity. There is no guarantee that it will last very long, but researchers are looking forward to analyzing what develops there. Ogasawara islands , Wikimedia Commons (PD) Volcanic eruptions are often drawn-out events, not just a blast and let the debris settle. This eruption was ongoing as of the date of the short article featured below. A science writer asserted deep time, but that was imagination and pushing the narrative, not empirical science. Also, she apparently she forgot about how rapidly the island of Surtsey formed and was colonized by living things — which fits Genesis Flood models in creation science. Not for the first time, and li

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

Pseudogenes and Dead-End Darwinism

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Stevia Dolce, the lead baker at the Darwin Ranch up yonder near Deception Pass, surprised me with a visit. She brought Dekker Halls, who was visiting for the Christmas season. They heard talk about pseudogenes that did not sit right with them and wanted to ask me. After digging into the fabulous croissants that Stevia brought, we commenced to discussing the problem. Evolutionary thinking is bad for medical science, and even science itself. Scientists studied DNA, but expected everything to code for proteins. Big mistake. Directional street sign generator at RedKid Like when someone receives a delivery that isn't interesting, "Just set it over there" and it gets forgotten. These things called pseudogenes  look like genes, but did not work the way Darwinists expected. "Why do you say Darwinists , Cowboy Bob?" Dekker asked. "Nobody really believes classical Darwinism anymore." I replied, "True, but it has a couple of uses. The first one is for simpli

The Wonder and Why of Christmas

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Some folks get jaded with Christmas, reading or hearing readings of the birth of Jesus, the arrival of the Magi, the census taken while Quirinius was governor, and more. Same old thing every year, right? Some of us terribly miss the "same old" that we will never have again... If we slow down and pay attention, there is a great deal to give us a sense of wonder. Hundreds of years before, Isaiah prophesied that Jesus would be born of a virgin . Micah 5:2 prophesied where. Ironically, some prophesies were fulfilled by unbelievers. Nativity of Jesus figurines, Pexels / Susanne Jutzeler We can also find out that there are many misconceptions surrounding Christmas (especially that "Christmas is pagan and you can't celebrate it" nonsense ). That bad old innkeeper who turned Mary and Joseph away, but his kindhearted wife attended to the delivery — never happened. The Magi were powerful king makers, and there was probably an entourage, not just three (three gifts  are me

Isaiah and the Virgin Birth Prophecy

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It may come as a shock to some folks, but biblical prophets did not necessarily  foretell future events. They spoke the words of God and admonished wayward people. However, some prophesied noteworthy events — such as Isaiah and the virgin birth of Jesus. Atheists cannot handle prophecy and try to denigrate it by saying people who came later got creative and fabricated the foretelling. (They assert but never provide evidence.) Isaiah 7:14 reads, ". . .the virgin will conceive and give birth to a son. . ." Disputes exist if she is a virgin or only a young woman. Isaiah , Ernest Meissonier, 1838 There are several problems with this passage. If the girl was just a young woman, the prophecy is no big deal. Also, the word translated as young woman or virgin can legitimately be translated either way. Context is important, as are historical events. We learn, to the dismay of misotheists, that it was indeed a virgin that conceived according to prophecy. Isaiah is a beloved book of the

Eyes, and Evolution Falsified Again

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Believers in universal common descent evolution appear to have cognitive difficulties, or mayhaps it is bravado. I say this because when faced with data they cannot explain, deep-time anomalies, theories shown to be false, they pretend to receive good news and something important about evolution has been learned. Indeed, fundamentalist evolutionists may shuffle the deck and deal again, but they do not question if the deck is valid in the first place — the deck being evolution. They need to cowboy up and question evolution itself. Fighter pilot with nice eyes wearing an oxygen mask, Flickr / Aviatrix (public domain) In their determination to give praise to Papa Darwin, some of his disciples compared the eyes of mammals with those of cephalopods. Interesting that people and critters have two eyes, but many like birds and cuttlefish use each eye independently — but some cuttlefish occasionally use stereoscopic vision. The differences in eyes also means the organisms with them need to hav

Two Living Things that Give Off Salt

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There are words with phile  or similar in them that often mean a love of something, such as philosophy (love or wisdom or learning). The word structure can also make it seem like an organism has a fondness for something, actually meaning that it thrives in a certain environment. A thermophile  lives in extremely hot areas such as the thermal vents on the ocean floor. Want to take a crack at halophyte ? That one is a bit tricky, but it uses the word for salt. There are plants that thrive in saline conditions inhospitable to many other plants. Athel Tamarisk, iNaturalist / Xochitl Zambrano ( CC BY 4.0 ) Athel tamarisk is one of those stubborn plants that lives in deserts and is found in many parts of the world. One of its handels is the Athel pine, and it does resemble pine in some ways. It is also useful as a windbreak, and since it doesn't burn easily, it can be used to hinder fire. When it lives in saline conditions, it actually gives off salt! Athel tamarisk was designed by the

Giant Exoplanet Discredits Secular Theories

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About planet formation, that is. Actually, those secular theories have already been discredited. The nebular hypothesis of planetary formation has accretion: Planets form because the stuff sticks together. Secularists know that this has problems  even in our own solar system. Also,  disk instability  is a failed rescuing device. Believers in the Big Bang and cosmic evolution apply their ideas of star and solar system formation to exoplanets (planets orbiting other stars). Problems with secular theories are seen in our own backyard ( consider axial tilt ), and are extremely apparent with exoplanets like LHS 3154b. Large planet orbiting a small star, AI graphic made at  Img2Go This maverick should not exist, and the secular science industry is in a tizzy. Interestingly, secularists frantically try to shoot down anything that threatens a prevailing viewpoint. LHS 3154b was measured by one method and nobody (including the lapdog science reporters) raised questions or wanted more data. Inte