Monthly Archives: September 2008
Presidential Politics on Uncommon Descent
| September 23, 2008 | Posted by Dave S. under Adminstrative |
Many of you are wondering why the UD adminstration decided to take an aggressive stand promoting the McCain/Palin presidential ticket. There are two reasons. The first is that both Senator McCain and Governor Palin are on record supporting “teach the controversy”. Senator Obama is on the record against it. Our goal is not to vanquish… more
Mathematics and Darwinism — Plus a Math Problem to Solve
| September 21, 2008 | Posted by GilDodgen under Biology, Comp. Sci. / Eng., Intelligent Design |
Over at Telic Thoughts Bradford resurrected a discussion based on my UD essay, Writing Computer Programs by Random Mutation and Natural Selection. In reference to the quote, “The set of truly functional novel situations is so small in comparison with the total possible number of situations that they will never occur, which is the point… more
Failed Brit Darwinist Michael Reiss – Sinner in the Hands of an Angry God
| September 21, 2008 | Posted by O'Leary under Intelligent Design |
(A synopsis of a play in three acts) If we go by the recent Michael Reiss drama, Brit Darwin fans seem to be going round the bend on hockey skates … Act One: Well-meaning Brit clergyman wants kids to know “Darwin loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life … “ On September… more
November Apologetics Conference — We need more than good arguments
| September 21, 2008 | Posted by William Dembski under Intelligent Design |
Announcement immediately below plus my commentary afterward: The Nation’s Leading Christian Apologists to Speak at The National Conference on Christian Apologetics, November 7th and 8th in North Carolina Contact: Deborah Hamilton, 215-815-7716 CHARLOTTE, North Carolina, Sept. 10 /Christian Newswire/ — The nation’s leading Christian apologists will speak at Hickory Baptist Church in Charlotte, NC on… more
More Evidence for Front Loading
| September 20, 2008 | Posted by Dave S. under Intelligent Design |
Once one overcomes their prejudice and admits intelligent design as a live option for science to consider then you start to look at “evolution” as an engineering project instead of a big accident. Everything in macroevolution makes sense from this perspective. One of the predictions of front loading is that we may find genomic building… more
Sarah Palin Unlikely to Push Evolution Issue was ‘Creation Science Enters the Race’
| September 20, 2008 | Posted by leebowman under Intelligent Design |
No sooner was Sarah Palin’s candidacy announced, than the Anchorage Daily republished an October 2006 article giving highlights of the then gubernatorial race between three candidates, Palin being one. Almost immediately, the paper has been deluged with request for comments, interviews, and transcripts to feed the frenzy, keeping their editors and writers quite busy. more
Dawkins undermines the Royal Society statement
| September 19, 2008 | Posted by Steno under Intelligent Design |
Why was Richard Dawkins battering away at his keyboard before breakfast on Tuesday morning (16 Sept. 08), before his toast, marmalade and English tea were cold? The statement later published on the New Scientist website, apparently received just before the formal announcement from the Royal Society, contradicts the official reason Reiss was removed. Richard Dawkins… more
Darwin Denied – The Cost of Liberal Social Engineering
| September 19, 2008 | Posted by Dave S. under Intelligent Design |
Democrats in congress are trying to deny any blame in the credit crisis. The fact of the matter is they are wholly culpable and if they hadn’t succeeded in subverting what I’m going to term “lending to the financially fittest” none of this would have happened. Watch the video below the fold which I had… more
microRNA role larger than thought
| September 19, 2008 | Posted by Dave S. under Intelligent Design |
Well, not larger than I thought, but larger than most biologists thought. If biologists were engineers and knew something of designed systems they wouldn’t find their thinking was wrong so often. And sparc, please make a note, microRNAs don’t just target the 3′ UTR. RNA Interference Plays Bigger Role Than Previously Thought ScienceDaily (Sep. 18,… more
Subscribing to TOUCHSTONE
| September 18, 2008 | Posted by William Dembski under Culture, Intelligent Design |
TOUCHSTONE, with its special ID double issue back in 1999, was one of the first periodicals to openly support the ID movement. That double issue became a book, coedited by Jim Kushiner and me, titled SIGNS OF INTELLIGENCE: UNDERSTANDING INTELLIGENT DESIGN (for the Amazon.com listing, click here). Now’s a good time to subscribe to TOUCHSTONE:… more
Battle of Ideas — Debating Darwin
| September 18, 2008 | Posted by William Dembski under Darwinism, Evolution, Intelligent Design |
Simon Conway Morris and Steve Fuller start this debate (more). < ![endif]--> more
“The Return of Goodness” by Edward Skidelsky
| September 18, 2008 | Posted by William Dembski under Intelligent Design |
I expect it won’t be long before ID is explicitly used to justify virtue ethics/natural law just as Darwin is used to justify EvoPsycho and EvoEthics. The Return of Goodness by Edward Skidelsky Contemporary liberalism’s insistence that morality is a mere matter of rights and obligations empties life of its ethical meaning. We need a… more
Professor Reiss ‘Expelled.’
| September 16, 2008 | Posted by Steno under Intelligent Design |
Professor Reiss, an Anglican minister, has been forced out of his position at the Royal Society for calling for discussions in the science classroom if children raise questions about intelligent design or creationism. In response some Fellows, including Richard Dawkins, Sir Harry Kroto and Sir Richard Roberts, objected and brought their full weight of authority to bear by… more
The Church of England apologizes to Darwin
| September 15, 2008 | Posted by Lord Ickenham under Darwinism, Evolution, Religion, theistic evolution |
Dear gentle reader, As someone who has had an ongoing struggle with the Anglican Communion his entire adult life, and to whom the current, obvious, and slow-motion destruction of the entire historical Anglican Church brings no joy, I have a few comments on the anticipated apology of the Church of England, led by the Archbishop… more
Joel Isaacson’s “Fantomarks”
| September 13, 2008 | Posted by William Dembski under Intelligent Design |
Have a look at Joel Isaacson’s paper “The Intelligence Nexus in Space Exploration” (click here). I’d like to encourage discussion on this thread concerning what you think about Isaacson’s notion of “fantomarks”? more
Professor Robert Winston Rejects Determinism in Genetics
| September 13, 2008 | Posted by Steno under Intelligent Design |
The Festival of Science in Liverpool, organised by the prestigious British Association, has certainly produced some fireworks this past week. Following Professor Reiss’s comments, Professor Robert Winston has now criticised ‘science delusions’ and a ‘deterministic’ approach to genetics. Winston is well known through the mainstream media in the UK as a leading geneticist. He accuses… more
Teacher gets fired when colleague rats his doubts about Darwinism
| September 12, 2008 | Posted by O'Leary under Intelligent Design |
Here’s a Discovery Institute podcast: On this episode of ID The Future, CSC’s Casey Luskin interviews Rodney LeVake, the plaintiff in the Academic Freedom court case LeVake vs. Independent School District #656. LeVake, a former high school biology teacher, informally expressed doubts about evolution to a colleague who then reported him to the principal. LeVake… more
Are We Alone? Identifying Intelligence with SETI
| September 12, 2008 | Posted by GilDodgen under Intelligent Design, Science |
Eric Anderson of evolutiondebate.info just sent me an interesting essay I’m sure UD readers will enjoy, so I reproduce it below. Eric is a regular commenter at UD, and he is a very insightful fellow who writes extraordinarily well. (Since I design computational algorithms as both a profession and a hobby I particularly enjoyed his… more
Professor Reiss and Intelligent Design in Education
| September 12, 2008 | Posted by Steno under Intelligent Design |
Professor Michael Reiss, director of education at the Royal Society, has argued that science teachers in the UK should allow alternatives to evolution to be discussed in the science classroom such as creationism and intelligent design. Banning such discussions he argues is counterproductive and only serves to alienate school children from science, especially with so… more
Secular humanists lead the way in offering open debate?
| September 11, 2008 | Posted by O'Leary under Intelligent Design |
Steve Fuller, an agnostic sociologist who has chosen for his subject the debate between intelligent design and Darwinism has come under predictable attack from widely publicised Darwinoid trolls and has responded. Kudos to New Humanist for having the good sense to actually ask for a response, instead of sitting, fat and contented, like a toad… more