creationism
pharyngula | September 2, 2010The Institute for Creation Research had been trying to get approval from the state of Texas to offer graduate degrees in science education — they failed. Now they have actually publicly admitted defeat, which is gratifying to see.
So we won't be seeing a wave of teachers with master's degrees in science ed and absolutely no science training emerging from the state. Instead, though, they'll be offering this:
Replacing it, apparently, is the ICR's School of Biblical Apologetics, which offers a Master of Christian Education degree; Creation Research is one of four minors. The ICR explains, "Due…
pharyngula | September 1, 2010Already, deranged Discovery Institute shill David Klinghoffer is blaming the hostage-taking nut James Lee's actions on Darwinism.
Witness the recent examples of Holocaust Memorial Museum shooter James von Brunn, Columbine High School shooter Eric Harris, Jokela High School shooter Pekka Eric Auvinen. Historical figures who drew inspiration, if indirectly, from Darwinian theory include Charles Manson, Mao Tse-tung, Joseph Stalin, Josef Mengele, and of course Adolf Hitler. I've written about this many times before and received much abuse for it, not least when I took up the theme on the…
gregladen | September 1, 2010When I go to meet the teachers or administrators at my daughter's school, I whisper these words to each of them:
"I just want you to know that I'm involved in a number of organizations that seek to protect the quality of science education in our public schools. If you ever need any support, if you are ever getting any trouble from parents, administrators, whatever, you can rely on me to help, to put you in touch with whom you should speak, to talk to anyone you'd like me to talk to, or anything else you need."
This recieves a nod and a side long glance that I try very hard to interpret but…
gregladen | August 30, 2010Ray M. Davis, Jr., of Alachua also admits that his religious beliefs tell him that creationism is true, but despite this admission he still feels that his local school board should ruin science education for all the children in his local public school by ramming their non scientific beliefs down the throats of the students in science class. Oh, and he must also think his school district has a grove of money trees, because the legal defense when they do follow such nonsensical advice and get snagged ... and yes, we are watching ... will be substantial.
Read this remarkable story from the…
gregladen | August 29, 2010The National Secular Society of Britain has weighed in on the problem of bringing Welsh students to the Noah's Ark Zoo Farm where they can learn about how Jesus rode a Dinosaur.
Noah's Ark Zoo Farm in Wraxall, near Bristol, is regularly used by Welsh schools for trips and its website boasts numerous testimonials from them.
But it has now been strongly criticised by the National Secular Society (NSS), which campaigns against religious influence in public and political life, and has criticised the zoo's "creationist" views.
The group accused the zoo, which has received national recognition for…
pharyngula | August 29, 2010In case you've been wondering what was going to come after Intelligent Design, here's a similar hypothesis I stumbled across, Intelligent Gestation Theory.
Hello fellow Christians and Atheists,
My name is Erik Lumberjack. I'm founder and chief scientist of the
recently formed Intelligent Gestation Institute. Our goal is apply
insights gained from Intelligent Design to combat the current Theory
of Pregnancy, i.e., that humans develop gradually from a sperm and
egg. Our FAQs below provide more details.
Thank you and best regards, Eric Lumberjack
OPEN LETTER TO KANSAS SCHOOL BOARD
Thank you…
pharyngula | August 28, 2010Isn't this sweet? It's a polite invitation from Pastor Dale in Ohio, which was also sent to a lot of other skeptics/atheists. It's so polite and open-minded!
Greetings. I want to let you know about an upcoming project, and I invite any of you or your consumers to participate. I realize your viewpoint is drastically different from ours, but I firmly believe that we all stand to gain from honest open discussion with those who see the world differently from us, and that spending all our time with those of like mind creates intellectual inbreeding. We make no demands of participants except that…
mikethemadbiologist | August 22, 2010Amanda Marcotte makes a very astute observation about the opposition to the non-mosque not-that-close-to-the-former-World-Trade-Center* that has arisen over the last month (italics mine):
Make no mistake---all soft language about how it's just too close to the WTC or how this is an assault on 9/11 victims is just crap to keep this whole controversy going, and to gin up more paranoia about Muslims in America. This is very classic behavior for conspiracy theorists, to roll up what they're really trying to say and put it in softer terms. They feel that most people aren't "ready" for the real…
pharyngula | August 20, 2010Bernadette Barton provides an interesting perspective on Ken Ham's wretched little palace of ignorance. The Creation "Museum" is not a happy place.
Particularly nerve-wracking were signs warning that guests could be asked to leave the premises at any time. The group's reservation confirmation also noted that museum staff reserved the right to kick the group off the property if they were not honest about the "purpose of [the] visit."
Because of these messages, Barton said, the students felt they might accidentally reveal themselves as nonbelievers and be asked to leave. This pressure is a…
pharyngula | August 19, 2010I knew this was coming. There was an interesting taxonomic consolidation recently: Torosaurus is accused of being simply an older Triceratops, so those two taxa are being lumped into one, Triceratops. Jack Horner is suggesting that Nanotyrannus was simply a juvenile T. rex. These kinds of adjustments of the taxonomy happen all the time, both as more data becomes available, and as lumpers make more noise than splitters (a process that can be reversed, of course). It is not a big deal.
Except to creationists, who are overjoyed that combining two species into one means that "the Ark cargo was…
pharyngula | August 18, 2010Daniel Merlin Goodbrey is on a mission to write a webcomic about visiting 100 planets. In the latest, he visits a planet of intelligent design creationists.
That's harsh, dude, but I sympathize with the attitude.
pharyngula | August 17, 2010Just the other week, Conservapædia made their page on PZ Myers their featured article for the week; now they've made the Pharyngula blog a target of their cranky ire. Here's their description:
Myers' blog is also listed by the science journal Nature, which also embraces evolutionary pseudoscience, as the best blog by a scientist. Pharyngula is known for its sarcastic and often specious criticism of creation science and intelligent design theory,[3][4] as well as regular postings of photos of cephalopods (often with vulgarly sexual connotations both subtle and blatant).
Isn't it charming…
pharyngula | August 17, 2010Via Sandwalk, here is Stephen Meyer explaining the central concepts of his theory: it's all about the origin of information.
It's a ridiculous argument. He constantly repeats this mantra of "digital information": I don't think he knows what he's talking about. He also likes to claim that he's using an accepted scientific argument, of using only known, extant processes and extrapolating to the past; which is fine, except that he pretends ignorance of the fact that we know of natural processes that increase the amount of information in the genome without intervention by any intelligent agent…
mikethemadbiologist | August 17, 2010After l'affaire Heffernan, I was curious to see what, if any, letters to the editor would appear in the NY Times. The Sunday Magazine printed two letters, both critical of Heffernan, which suggests to me, that there were very few, if any, supporters of Heffernan's position (An aside: anyone know if the letters actually make their way to Heffernan? Just wondering).
I like this point:
If some bloggers sound desperate and strident, it's possibly because even into the 21st century, only 39 percent of Americans believe in evolution and one out of five believes the Sun revolves around the Earth…
gregladen | August 16, 2010Therefore, we should teach that as fact in schools, right?
I think this might be old. But still relevant.
gregladen | August 15, 2010Genie Scott at Plymouth Congregational Church in Lawrence, Kansas, delving into the creationism/evolution controversy, how evolution is misunderstood, what evolution really is, and more. Event date: 9/8/1999
gregladen | August 15, 2010Genie Scott's recent talk at an Atheist Alliance International conference. The title: "Who Pulled the Stake Out? The resurgence of young-earth creationism". Event date: 9-28-2007
pharyngula | August 14, 2010I was sent a link to an excerpt from a brand new creationist book, and I expected yet another twisty bit of dishonest weirdness of the sort that the Discovery Institute has conditioned me to see. But then I saw the title, The Death of Evolution, and felt a twinge of deja vu — as Glenn Morton says, the imminent demise of evolution is the longest running lie in creationism. And then there was the blurb: "A growing number of respected scientists are defecting from the evolutionist camp purely on scientific grounds." Wow, that's gotta be like the second oldest lie by creationists. I haven't even…