jlynch | December 20, 2005Pat Robertson on the Cobb County sticker case (700 Club, December 15th):
ROBERTSON: You know, what we have got to recognize just there in this case is that the evolutionists worship atheism. I mean, that's their religion. And evolution becomes their religion. It is a matter of religion. So this is an establishment of religion contrary to the First Amendment of the United States Constitution. And the fact that somebody comes along and says, "We are not sure that it's accurate, it's a theory and not a fact" -- how can you say it's a fact? You are talking about 10 to 15 billion years ago. Who…
jlynch | December 20, 2005With all the posting about the Dover decision, it is always good to remember that scientific problems are solved by scientists and aired in scientific journals, not in the legal arena. Investigators at Arizona State and Penn State Universities have placed the time of the human/chimp split between 5 and 7 million years ago -- a sharper focus than that given by the previous collection of molecular and fossil studies, which have placed the divergence anywhere from 3 to 13 million years ago.
From the press release:
The scientists analyzed the largest data set yet of genes that code for proteins…
jlynch | December 20, 2005Quick post as I have to head out for the day but will post again later...
Judge Jones has found for the plaintiffs in Kitzmiller v Dover, holding that ID is not science and that the ID policy violates both the purpose and effect prongs of the Lemon test. See here, here, and here.
Legal buffs can read the 139 page decision here (pdf). From the conclusion:
In making this determination, we have addressed the seminal question of whether ID is science. We have concluded that it is not, and moreover that ID cannot uncouple itself from its creationist, and thus religious, antecedents.
Both…
jlynch | December 11, 2005Relaxing at the moment, listening to Charles Mingus' Dynasty [amaz] and was reminded of a quote that is attributed to him: "Making the simple complicated is commonplace; making the complicated simple, awesomely simple, that's creativity." In many ways, Darwin made the complicated awesomely simple.
jlynch | December 10, 2005It’s the end of the semester here. Classes ended last week and that leaves me with some final exams and papers to get graded before the end of this week. I’ve also got a talk (on ID) to prepare for Friday. All good.
Via PZ, I give you the Beatitudes for Teachers:
Then Jesus took his disciples up on the mountain and gathered them around Him. And then He taught them, saying:
"Blessed are the poor in spirit,Blessed are the meek,Blessed are the merciful,Blessed are you who thirst for justice,Blessed are you who are persecuted,Blessed are the peacemakers."
And Simon Peter said, "Do we have to…
jlynch | December 6, 2005Via Red State Rabble:
"These evolutionists are saying that Jesus was half-chimpanzee, so was Mohammed and Buddha," said Alan Detrich, a 58-year-old Lawrence Republican who takes classes at Kansas University. "I dont think thats right."
In this story, Detrich gives us the minimalist version of Paley’s watchmaker argument:
The question is the story of the rock and the clock. If you find a rock in a field, no big deal. If you find a clock in a field, you look around for who created it. Did we just appear like the rock? Or did it take intelligent design to make us? I think it took intelligent…
jlynch | December 6, 2005Michael Rose has been working on the problem of senescence (why organisms age) since the 1970’s. Today’s NYT Science Times carries an interview with him.
Q. You are an evolutionary biologist by profession. As a researcher trained mostly in Canada and England, are you astonished by the American battles over Darwinism?
A. Not since coming to California. In 1987, the first day I ever gave a class at Irvine, there was a riot in my classroom. I was introducing the basic principles of evolution, and pandemonium broke out - yelling, students pounding the tables. That was the day I learned about…