Materialists Beware: The First Gene Defends a Strictly Scientific, Non-Materialist Conception of Biological Origins

Can a book that is essentially devoid of the term “intelligent design,” doesn’t talk about “specified complexity,” and makes only scant mention of “irreducible complexity,” offer an argument that is friendly to teleology in biology? A new technical book, The First Gene, edited by Gene Emergence Project director David L. Abel, shows that the answer to that question is “yes.” Materialists will not like this book because its arguments are 100% scientific, devoid of religious, political, or cultural concerns, and most importantly, compelling. The arguments in The First Gene are rooted in what Abel calls “ProtoBioSemiotics” or “ProtoBioCybernetics,” which according to Abel answers questions like: How did a prebiotic natural environment of mere mass/energy interactions generate meaningful, functional messages? How Read More ›

Jerry Coyne Recycles: Why Darwinism Is False, Part I

On Earth Day 2009, we are reminded of the ecological importance of recycling. As a professor in the Department of Ecology and Evolution at The University of Chicago, Jerry A. Coyne must be keen on recycling: He even recycles worn-out arguments for Darwinism. If “evolution” meant simply that existing species can undergo minor changes over time, or that many species alive today did not exist in the past, then evolution would undeniably be true. But “evolution” for Coyne means Darwinism — the theory that all living things are descendants of a common ancestor, modified by unguided natural processes such as DNA mutations and natural selection. Coyne discusses the fossil record, embryos, vestigial structures, the geographic distribution of species, artificial and Read More ›

Save the Privileged Planet!

Today is Earth Day. And it is worth pondering once again how marvelous Earth really is. Yet I find my mind today asking why anyone should care for Earth. From the materialist perspective, we are not really “supposed” to be here. And, we’re the late-comers to the party! So it always amazes me that many materialists are such avid environmentalists. But maybe this should not be surprising; after all, if one is a materialist, the earth is all there is, so we better keep it going! This response, however pragmatic, doesn’t satisfy me, though. For why should we keep anything going? For if the materialist is saying that the Earth is of intrinsic value, we can (indeed we must!) ask, Read More ›

Intelligent Design Scientist Michael Behe on TV Tonight

Michael Behe will be on C-SPAN 2’s “Close Up at the Newseum” program airing today at 7 pm EST. From his Amazon blog: Case Western Reserve University Professor Patricia Princehouse and I recently taped an episode of the program “Close Up at the Newseum”, where we discussed intelligent design, Darwinism, The Edge of Evolution, and other topics with an audience of about 40 high school students. The purpose of Close Up is to get students interested in issues of the day, and to become active participants in our democracy. The show will air this Friday, November 30th, at 7:00 p.m. Eastern time, on C-SPAN 2. Also be sure to visit his Amazon Author’s page to read his responses to his Read More ›