Month: August 2007
Guardian Misses the Debate
You cannot fairly pit the educated views of Darwinian scientists against the opinions of students. To be honest, you need to hear from scientists who doubt Darwinian evolution and have the evidence to defend themselves. To merely stigmatize skeptics of Darwinism as “fundamentalist Christians” and “creationists” is to serve the cause of propaganda, not objective discourse.
Scientism’s Forefathers
Have you ever spent time pondering the intellectual pedigree of scientism–say, of the Dawkins variety? It would be nice if folly really were an orphan, but unfortunately he is not. And Herbert Spencer was only one link, though an important one, in a long chain of Western scientism. Consider this Spencerian quote from Steven Shapin’s recent New Yorker article “Man with a Plan: Herbert Spencer’s Theory of Everything“:
Philosophical Objections–Not Science–Guide Origin of Life Research
Michael Egnor recently wrote about the great difficulties faced by origin of life researchers and the great speculation they are willing to undertake to retain natural chemical explanations for origin of life. This reminds of events in the early 1900’s, when some leading scientists had philosophical objections to new ideas in cosmology. In 1931, leading cosmologist Sir Arthur Eddington wrote in response to Big Bang cosmology, “Philosophically, the notion of a beginning of the present order of Nature is repugnant . . . I should like to find a genuine loophole.” Even Einstein was troubled by the fact that his own theories showed “the necessity for a beginning.” In fact, he added a “cosmological constant” to his equations to avoid Read More ›
‘Constructing Our Outlook on the Origin of Life by Embracing Non-Terracentric Astrobiology’
The National Research Council’s report — The Limits of Organic Life in Planetary Systems — is a must read. Not for the science — what there is of it can be summed up simply: we have no clue how life began. No, the report is a must read for the insight it offers into the current state of origin of life research:
Darwinian Evolution Is Atheist Materialism’s Holiest Dogma
Ottawa Citizen columnist David Warren today has an interesting piece titled “The Limits of Darwinism,” an obvious nod to Michael Behe’s recent book, which is subtitled, “The Search for the Limits of Darwinism.”Warren starts with an interesting questions: In this case, we must ask ourselves why so many people get so excited about an area of science that should not concern them. He finds that it is likely because atheist materialism treats Darwinian evolution as a sort of holy writ that cannot be criticized. Much of the “star chamber” atmosphere, that has accompanied the public invigilation of microbiologists such as Michael J. Behe, and other very qualified scientists working on questions of design in natural systems, can only be explained Read More ›