Month: October 2010
God and Evolution at Biola University
Can you believe in God and Darwinian evolution at the same time? Scientists and scholars have an answer that may surprise the audience as they explore this and related questions at the God & Evolution conference on Saturday, October 16, 2010 at Biola University in La Mirada, California. The conference will focus on the conflict between neo-Darwinism and traditional theological views of Protestants, Catholics and Jews. What is “theistic” evolution, and how consistent is it with traditional theism? What challenges does Darwin’s theory pose for Protestants, Catholics, and Jews? Is it “anti-science” to question Darwinian Theory?
MicroRNAs–“Once Dismissed as Junk”–Confirmed To Have Important Gene Regulatory Function
A new paper in Nature magazine again shows that what was “once dismissed as junk” turns out to be another astounding example of complex and specified information in the genome and a crucial part of gene regulation. In 2008 Scientific American noted that microRNAs were “once dismissed as junk” and said the following: Tiny snippets of the genome known as microRNA were long thought to be genomic refuse because they were transcribed from so-called “junk DNA,” sections of the genome that do not carry information for making proteins responsible for various cellular functions. Evidence has been building since 1993, however, that microRNA is anything but genetic bric-a-brac. Quite the contrary, scientists say that it actually plays a crucial role in Read More ›
Responding to John Wise’s Table Pounding at Southern Methodist University
There’s an old saying in the law that goes like this: When the facts are on your side, pound the facts. When the facts are not on your side, pound the table. If the responses to Discovery Institute’s recent conference at Southern Methodist University (SMU) are any indication, the facts are not on the side of anti-ID faculty at SMU. To be more precise, SMU biology lecturer John Wise wrote a letter to the SMU Daily, co-authored with SMU anthropology professor Ronald Wetherington, which made no less than 8 express or implied accusations of “dishonesty” against Discovery Institute.*** In 7 instances they claimed ID is pseudoscience or religion.*** Quite a feat for an under-700 word op-ed. His online response is Read More ›
Codevilla: “Darwinism corrupted Northern and Southern thinkers equally”
Angelo Codevilla’s new book The Ruling Class: How They Corrupted America and What We Can Do About It has been stirring enviable attention since it first appeared as an essay in The American Spectator. “Magnificent,” writes David Goldman at First Things. “I felt like I had just plunged head-first into 50-degree water.” New York Times blogger Tom Kuntz says: Few articles have resonated with conservatives this year as much as Angelo M. Codevilla’s essay…It says America is divided between an elite, government-dependent “ruling class” — Republicans and Democrats alike — and a majority “country class”: families, businesses and institutions not dependent on subsidies and privileges. Excerpt from the book: Human equality made sense to our Founding Fathers, because they believed Read More ›
Response to John Wise
[Note: This response was co-authored by Stephen Meyer, Paul Nelson, Rick Sternberg and Jonathan Wells, who each presented at the “4 Nails in Darwin’s Coffin” event at SMU. Doug Axe, who also presented, responded here.] On Thursday, September 23, 2010, following a showing of the film Darwin’s Dilemma, we presented a program of short talks in the Hughes-Trigg Theatre at Southern Methodist University (SMU). We argued that the neo-Darwinian theory of evolution has not solved these related problems: The origin of novel protein folds (talk by Axe) The origin of anatomical novelties (talk by Sternberg) The origin of animal body plans (talks by Nelson and Wells) SMU biology lecturer John Wise attended the event – or so it appears, because Read More ›