05Dec 2019 by Post

How Butterflies “Evolve” by Design

beauty, butterflies, caterpillar, cortex (gene), Douglas Blackiston, Drosophila, Elena Casey, Evolution, foresight, Georgetown University, Heliconius, helicopter, hotspot gene, Illustra Media, Intelligent Design, larvae, Lepidopterans, light waves, Martha Weiss, Metamorphosis, Model T, Monarch butterflies, moths, New Scientist, odors, Paul Nelson, photonic crystals, pigmentation, PLOS ONE, Royal Society Biology Letters, South America, tobacco hornworm moths, University of Liverpool, wing patterns
Butterflies, those universally loved flying works of art, offer many reasons to celebrate design in nature.  They showcase aesthetic beauty beyond the requirements of survival (see “Beauty, Darwin and Design,” featuring Paul Nelson).  Their migrations show foresight over multiple generations.  The one-gram Monarch butterflies astonish biologists with their exceptional endurance to survive hardships while flying thousands of miles on paper-thin wings (see “2-Minute Wonder: A Monarch’s Journey“). Their navigation systems exhibit stunning accuracy to arrive at locations they have never seen. Their keen senses can find the right host plants from miles away; they can smell very faint pheromones for mating; and they can distinguish precise angles of sunlight for orientation and timing of migration.  Their wing scales, organized into “photonic crystals,” give precision control of light waves to create…
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04Dec 2019 by Post

One Woman’s Quest for Straight Answers from Public Health Organizations

abortion, Apologetics, Breast Cancer, Christianity, Dr. Bennet Omalu, Legislating Morality, Culture & Politics, SalvoMag.Com, Terrell Clemmons, The American Cancer Society
After three years’ research on traumatic brain injuries he’d seen in prematurely deceased football players, Dr. Bennet Omalu wrote a paper in 2005 detailing his findings on the syndrome he named Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE). He was hopeful that NFL doctors would build on his discovery for the well-being of NFL athletes. But instead of welcoming his data, an NFL medical committee called for it to be retracted. A thoroughgoing medical scientist, Omalu would do no such thing, and it took a full four more years of increasing pressure before the NFL publicly acknowledged the link between concussions sustained on the field and CTE. A similar kind of David versus Goliath challenge may be developing between investigative journalist Punam Kumar Gill and the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH). A…
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04Dec 2019 by Post

No Harm, No Foul — What If Darwinism Were Excised from Biology?

Adam C. Soloff, Amir Marcovitz, appendectomy, bacteria, bats, behavior, cephalectomy, Daphne Major island, Darwin Devolves, Darwin's Finches, Darwinism, Darwinspeak, dolphins, echolocation, Evolution, Galápagos Islands, Hippocratic Oath, homeostasis, Illustra Media, Immune System, introgressive hybridization, Jerry Coyne, Marcos Eberlin, Michael Behe, Michael T. Lotze, Peter and Rosemary Grant, pharynx, Philip Skell, phylogeny, PNAS, primum non nocere, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Richard Dawkins, sound generation, tonsillectomy, turtles, whales
Some biologists might shudder at the thought of eliminating Darwinism from their scientific work. A “Darwin-ectomy” sounds more painful than a tonsillectomy or appendectomy. To hard-core evolutionists, it might sound like a cephalectomy (removal of the head)! If Darwinism is as essential to biology as Richard Dawkins or Jerry Coyne argues, then removing evolutionary words and concepts should make research incomprehensible.  If, on the other hand, Darwinism is more of a “narrative gloss” applied to the conclusions after the scientific work is done, as the late Philip Skell observed, then biology would survive the operation just fine. It might even be healthier, slimmed down after disposing of unnecessary philosophical baggage. Here are some recent scientific papers in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) to use as test…
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03Dec 2019 by Post

Berlinski, Robinson on the “Almost Unfathomable Complexity” of Living Systems, and More

conservatives, Darwinism, David Berlinski, deferred success, Evolution, evolutionary theory, female, Human Nature (book), ID The Future, male, natural selection, Peter Robinson, Podcast, Razib Khan, The Deniable Darwin, Uncommon Knowledge
A new episode of ID the Future features the first part of an interview between Uncommon Knowledge host Peter Robinson and Discovery Institute Senior Fellow David Berlinski, author of The Deniable Darwin and the newly released Human Nature. Berlinski begins by noting that living systems possess “a degree of complexity that is almost unfathomable” and explains how this poses an acute problem for Darwinism. Download the episode or listen to it here. The two discuss discontinuities in the fossil record as well as Berlinski’s insistence that “any theory of natural selection must plainly meet what I have called a rule against deferred success.” Berlinski also rebuts Razib Khan’s claim that in rejecting modern evolutionary theory, conservatives sacrifice “the most powerful rejoinder” to the claim “that male and female are merely…
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02Dec 2019 by Post

45 Quotes About Relativism vs. Truth

1. Does Truth Exist?, Apologetics, Christianity, Faithful Thinkers, Luke Nix, Quotes, relativism, Theology and Christian Apologetics, truth
By Luke Nix “When it comes to truth, the outcome affects not only individuals but nations and even civilizations. What starts looking like a small abstract issue ends with titanic, public consequences for all who love freedom and justice.” Os Guinness, Time For Truth: Living Free In A World of Lies, Hype, and Spin “Although someone’s beliefs and assumptions may not be true and do not describe reality, they will still drive their behavior. So if someone doesn’t believe in truth, count on him to lie. If someone says there are no objective facts, expect her to be careless with facts to further her own interests. If someone explains everything by referring to evolution and the ‘selfish gene,’ be sure that at some point, he will be extremely selfish on…
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02Dec 2019 by Post

New Tactics with Greg Koukl

AFR, Apologetics, app, cross examined, cross examined official podcast, CrossExamined, crossexamined podcast, Frank Turek, google play, Greg Koukl, iTunes, Podcast, podcasting, Radio, Radio Show, Spotify, stitcher, Tactis, Weekly Podcast
Podcast: Play in new window There are many places you can learn evidence for Christianity.  There are very few places you can learn easy ways to share that evidence.   Greg Koukl’s classic book Tactics is simply the best place to go to learn how to share the hope you have within you.  Now, ten years after the first edition, Greg has rewritten, updated and expanded Tactics, and it just became available this week. Join Frank as he interviews Greg and they reveal some of the new Tactics that will help you move people closer to Christ in a way that takes all the pressure off of you. Subscribe on iTunes:  rate and review! Thanks!!! Subscribe on Google Play: Subscribe on Spotify: Subscribe on Stitcher: Free CrossExamined.org Resource Get the first chapter of…
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02Dec 2019 by Post

Un caso contra el teísmo (Parte 2)

Apologética, Ateismo, Cristianismo, Escépticos, Español, Existencia de Dios, Filosofia, Jairo Izquierdo, Teísmo
En este artículo abordaré la segunda de cuatro objeciones que nos presentaron hace unos meses. Puedes encontrar la primera parte aquí. Randy afirma que cualquier argumento empírico (kalam, ajuste fino, diseño) no es evidencia de Dios, ya que este aplicaría también como evidencia para una propiedad que no hemos descubierto aún (panteísmo naturalista, magia, Duendes-Crea-Universos, etc.). Si una cosa es evidencia de Dios, pero también es evidencia de panteísmo naturalista o magia, no puede ser evidencia de alguno, la razón es esta: imagínate una caja y dices que hay un conejo en la caja, y que la razón para concluir que hay un conejo en la caja es que la caja pesa 2 libras, pero eso no puede ser evidencia de un conejo porque también puede ser una serpiente o…
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01Dec 2019 by Post

Michael Egnor on Scientific Consensus and Apocalypse Now

civilizational ruin, consensus, Emily Kurlinski, Evolution, ID The Future, materialism, Michael Egnor, overpopulation, scientific experts, starvation, Thomas Malthus
On a new episode of ID the Future, host Emily Kurlinski talks with Michael Egnor, professor of neurosurgery at Stony Brook University, about the dire warnings, stretching back at least to Thomas Malthus near the turn of the 19th century, that overpopulation would lead to starvation and civilizational ruin. Download the podcast of listen to it here. Egnor discusses this and other scientific claims once widely embraced by scientific experts and later shown to be off base. The lesson, he says, is that when someone tells you to believe something simply because it’s “the scientific consensus,” reserve judgment. Consensus, says Egnor, is “a political concept, not a scientific one.” And when much of the scientific community is held captive by a dogmatic adherence to materialism, any claimed consensus is all the…
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30Nov 2019 by Post

Q&A with Michael Behe: What’s Wrong with Theistic Evolution?

DiscoveryU, Evangelical Christians, Evolution, faith, Faith & Science, Francis Collins, Intelligent Design, Michael Behe, science, The Language of God, theistic evolution
We now reluctantly conclude the past week’s series of Q&A sessions with biochemist Michael Behe, highlighting his 41-part video course for DiscoveryU, “Michael Behe Investigates Evolution and Intelligent Design.” Here’s another challenge he often gets: Why doesn’t Professor Behe go along with famed Evangelical Christian scientist Francis Collins, and others, in opting for theistic evolution? Dr. Behe observes that in reading Dr. Collins’s book, The Language of God: A Scientist Presents Evidence for Belief, he found it notable that Collins “does not even try to address the problems for evolution that I and other intelligent design proponents have brought up.” So that is one reason. Behe, like Collins, is a scientist not a theologian. The science of ID, and the scientific problems with Darwinian evolution, are the focus of his video…
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29Nov 2019 by Post

Fact and Fiction: Ohio Bill Stirs Needless Alarm

Christians, Columbus Dispatch, Discovery Institute, Education, Evolution, First Amendment, free speech, homework, House Bill 164, Jews, legislation, Ohio, Ohio House of Representatives, pedagogy, religious expression, Science Education Policy, strengths and weaknesses, Timothy Ginter, U.S. Constitution, Washington Post, WKRC
Lately, media sources have sported provocative headlines about a bill in Ohio. The Washington Post asks: “Does the bill just passed by the Ohio House allow students to be wrong in science class without penalty if they cite religious reasons?” Meanwhile the Columbus Dispatch worries: “Science Deniers Get Boost from Proposed Ohio House Bill.” The actual legislation, I’m afraid, is much less dramatic.  This proposed law largely echoes the U.S. Constitution’s First Amendment on free speech (including on religious matters). Here’s the part that has received the most media attention: Sec. 3320.03. No school district board of education, governing authority of a community school established under Chapter 3314. of the Revised Code, governing body of a STEM school established under Chapter 3326. of the Revised Code, or board of trustees…
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