The Creation vs Evolution Controversy

Lawrence “It’s a lie!” Krauss and Chris Mooney, a Seed magazine correspondent and blogger, are publicly promoting a litmus test for the 2008 presidential candidates. [See also Krauss's Wall Street Journal opinion piece.] We’re quite sure a candidate’s view of evolution, creationism, and intelligent design will be one of the prime qualifying tests Krauss and the gang at Science Debate 2008 will be applying. If there’s any doubt one need only peruse the list of some of the supporters on the Science Debate 2008 website:

Niles Eldredge - Curator, Division of Paleontology, The American Museum of Natural History

John F. Haught - Senior Fellow, Science & Religion, Woodstock Theological Center, Georgetown University

Paul Kurtz - Emeritus Professor of Philosophy, State University of New York at Buffalo; Chairman, Center for Inquiry

Lawrence M. Krauss - Ambrose Swasey Professor of Physics and Astronomy and Director, Center for Education and Research in Cosmology and Astrophysics, Case Western Reserve

Kenneth R. Miller - Professor of Biology, Brown University; co-author of “Biology”

Randy Olson - Marine Ecologist, Filmmaker, “Flock of Dodos”

Kevin Padian - Professor and Curator Department of Integrative Biology and Museum of Paleontology University of California, Berkeley

John Rennie - Editor-In-Chief, Scientific American

Eugenie C. Scott - Executive Director, National Center for Science Education

All the above are well-known evolutionists with a long history of fighting creationists and intelligent design proponents.

CP

Make science part of the debate
by Lawrence Krauss and Chris Mooney
Los Angeles Times (California), page A31
December 12, 2007

Whether the issue is global warming, embryonic stem cell research, ballistic missile defense or the future of the world’s oceans, the same bass line thumps in the background: Sound political decision-making relies, more than ever before, on accurate scientific information.

As advances in science and technology continually transform our world, policymaking will inevitably depend more and more on accurate scientific and technical information. Which means that in order to be a successful world leader today, a politician must have an effective means of accessing and applying the latest science.

This fact — combined with the undisputed importance of scientific research and innovation to national prosperity and competitiveness — explains the recent emergence of a group called ScienceDebate2008. Under its auspices, scientists, university presidents, industry leaders, elected representatives and others have endorsed a call for the current U.S. presidential candidates to participate in a debate, or a series of debates, dedicated to issues in science and technology. More specifically, the candidates should answer questions about the environment, medicine and health, and science and technology policy.

read more…

Considering some of the outrageous comments from local and national atheists about the Creation Museum, which they have not yet seen, it’s perhaps fitting to give Martha Heil, Media Coordinator for the American Institute of Physics, a new job title: Martha Heil, Chief Propaganda Officer for the National Atheist Party. You see, Martha claims to have been at the Creation Museum ribbon-cutting ceremony. But, was Martha really at the Creation Museum on Saturday, May 27? Or did she just leave her glasses in the car?

The Panda’s Thumb posted a cleaned up version of Martha’s report. Like much of what Panda’s Thumbers write, they couldn’t even get Martha’s employer correct: it’s the American Institute of Physics, not the American Physical Society. (Martha recently corrected the PD’ers.) Red State Rabble is also happy to perpetuate the error in addition to gushing over her report. The Obligatory Readings of the Day blog claims this is “…the only (so far) on-the-scene report by Martha Heil.” He links to the sillier version posted on Martha’s blog, Intelligent Design Watch. And somehow, Coturnix can’t spell “Ken Ham” correctly even though he claims to follow Ken’s blog…

Let’s take a look at some of the claims about what she ’saw’ at the ribbon-cutting ceremony…

(more…)

The Skeptic Society is sponsoring a debate between Dr. Frank Tipler and Dr. Lawrence Krauss at Caltech’s Baxter Lecture Hall:

In his book, The Physics of Christianity, Dr. Tipler argues that the God depicted by Jews and Christians, the Uncaused First Cause, is completely consistent with the Cosmological Singularity, an entity whose existence is required by physical law. He makes the case for the scientific possibility of miracles, including the Virgin Birth (Jesus was a rare XX male), the Resurrection (a baryon-annihilation process converting flesh into neutrinos), and the Incarnation (reversing the dematerialization process). Tipler outlines practical experiments that can help prove the validity of the “miracles” at the heart of Christianity.

Dr. Krauss, an expert on cosmology, quantum mechanics, and general relativity, is quite familiar with Tipler’s arguments and will provide a cogent response and argue that the scientific evidence from these fields, upon which Tipler rests his case, do not confirm the central tenets of Christianity or any other religion, and that attempts to employ science in the service of religion are doomed to failure. Science and religion, Krauss believes, are best kept separate, and that the tools of science that search for naturalistic explanations cannot be used to prove the supernatural.

We can assume that this debate is partly inspired by the upcoming May 2007 publication of Tipler’s newest book, The Physics of Christianity. Tipler’s opponent, Dr. Krauss, has a long history as a debunker of religion, creation, and now, intelligent design.