Il creazionismo è (quasi) scienza

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by Massimo Gaggi
Corriere della Sera (Italy), page 28
December 21, 2007

In pochi giorni le autorità scolastiche del Texas hanno costretto alle dimissioni la direttrice dell’agenzia per l’istruzione scientifica, accusata di «tifare» per l’evoluzionismo anziché assumere un atteggiamento neutrale tra darwinismo e teorie creazioniste, e hanno autorizzato l’Istituto di ricerca sul creazionismo a tenere corsi post-laurea e a distribuire «master» in educazione scientifica. Se il 24 gennaio il «board» dei provveditori ratificherà – come è assai probabile – questa decisione, nel grande Stato americano l’abilitazione necessaria per insegnare verrà concessa a docenti che considerano scienza anche la teoria del «disegno intelligente». Che è basata su convinzioni religiose e non su evidenze scientifiche.

Dopo l’offensiva in Kansas e Pennsylvania, i tentativi di inserire l’intelligent design nei testi scolastici di scienze e l’apertura, in Kentucky, di un grande museo nel quale si cerca di dimostrare che il contenuto del libro della Genesi è pura scienza e che l’universo è stato creato, in sei giorni, solo poche migliaia di anni fa, la battaglia del creazionismo riesplode ora nel Texas: il secondo Stato più popolato degli Usa (dopo la California), nel quale perfino il governatore Rick Perry lo considera una «valida teoria scientifica».

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Washington Post Op-Ed Offers Wishy-Washy Crevo Theology

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Michael Gerson (see Wikipedia entry), offers us a confusing opinion piece about how to think of creation, evolution, and science. He’s portrayed as an evangelical Christian (attended Westminister Christian Academy in a St Louis suburb and Wheaton College) who was President Bush’s speechwriter for about 5 years. Most likely his confused views of science and theology were learned at neo-evangelical Wheaton College, long known within creationist circles as a bastion of old-earth compromise.

CP

Divine Evolution
by Michael Gerson
Washington Post (DC). page A35 (Op-Ed)
December 21, 2007

In the beginning, God created the heavens and the Earth. Or not. And so the debate on origins continues.

This spring, west of Cincinnati, a $27 million Creation Museum opened its doors, complete with a display showing dinosaurs entering Noah’s Ark. Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee is pressed repeatedly on his views of evolutionary biology, rather than health-care policy or Iran. According to the Pew Research Center, about 70 percent of evangelicals believe that living things have always existed in their current form.

I have little knowledge of, or interest in, the science behind this debate. Can gradual evolutionary changes account for the complex structures of cells and the eye? Why is the fossil record so weak when it comes to major mutations? I have no idea. There are unsolved mysteries in Darwinian evolution. There is also no credible scientific alternative.

But whatever the scientific objections, it is the theological objections to evolution that are weakest. Critics seem to argue that the laws of nature are somehow less miraculous than their divine suspension. But the elegant formulas of physics, and the complex mechanisms of evolution, strike me as an equal tribute to the Creator.

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Time Names Creation Museum To 2007 Religious Story List

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Time Names AiG Museum

Not to be outdone by Mad magazine Time placed the Answers in Genesis Creation Museum number 9 on their “10 Biggest Religion Stories for 2007.” Time even borrowed a page from the Mad magazine parody by calling the Creation Museum a “multimillion-dollar momument to the Flintstone (Young Earth) principle…”

It’s reassuring to know that Time magazine, in spite of declining circulation, is still maintaining the highest standards of journalistic excellence.

The online version (see link above) is a bit more informative than the printed version, but just as snarky:

“The Creation Museum, which opened in Petersburg, Ky., in May is a multimillion-dollar extravaganza that reaffirms the scientific validity of the Flintstones. The museum illustrates so-called “young earth” creationism, which takes the Bible’s description of God’s six-day schedule literally. The attraction exceeded its one-year attendance expectations within five months. The museum will be attended mostly by fly-over citizens, but it is a valuable reminder to folks on the coasts that more than 70% of Americans (and at least one current Presidential candidate) believe in some sort of Creationism.”

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Mad Magazine Parodies AiG’s Creation Museum

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MadMagMad Magazine’s January 2008 has a ‘feature’ item on the 20 Dumbest People, Events & Things of 2007.

The Answers in Genesis Creation Museum made the number 14 spot.

As Irish author Brendan Behan once said: “There is no such thing as bad publicity except your own obituary.”

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Intelligent design: Adam en Eva in de klas

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Het Belang Van Limburg (Belgium), page 95
15 December 15, 2007

Texas, de thuisbasis van president Bush, staat een stap dichter bij de invoering van ‘intelligent design’ op het leerplan biologie van de scholen. ‘Intelligent design’ zou lijnrecht ingaan tegen de alomgekende evolutietheorie. En dan is er ook nog creationisme.

“Adam en Eva in de klas biologie”, aldus een artikel in deze krant. Hoe zit dat nu eigenlijk? Theoloog Jurgen Mettepenningen (KU Leuven): “Men zou kunnen zeggen dat de intelligent designtheorie uitgaat van beneden, van de zogenaamde grote orde die we hier op deze planeet en bij onszelf vaststellen. Van daaruit doen zij de overstap naar de stelling dat er allicht iéts moet zijn dat al dit moois heeft ontworpen. Het kan er gewoon niet vanzelf zijn gekomen, dat is niet mogelijk. Kortom: de intelligent design-theorie vertrekt vanuit de orde en concludeert daaruit dat er wel degelijk een superieur verstand is en dat wij, mensen, niet alles wetenschappelijk kunnen verklaren, zoals Darwin wél stelt.

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Creationists plan British theme park

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by Jamie Doward
The Observer (UK), page 11
December 16, 2007

THE LATEST salvo in creationism’s increasingly ferocious battle with evolution is about to be fired in Lancashire. Not in a fiery sermon preached from the pulpit, but in the form of a giant Christian theme park that will champion the book of Genesis and make a multimedia case that God created the world in seven days.

The AH Trust, a charity set up last year by a group of businessmen alarmed by the direction in which they see society heading, has identified a number of potential sites in the north west of England to build the £3.5m Christian theme park.

The trust claims it already has a number of rich backers who are keen to invest in the project, which will boast two interactive cinemas, a cafeteria, six shops and a television recording studio, allowing it to produce its own Christian themed films and documentaries.

The 5,000-capacity park will be the first of its kind in Britain, but not in the world…

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Evolutionists Demand Litmus Test of Presidential Candidates

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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.

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Christian’s Dispute Over Research Evolves Into Lawsuit

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by Jason Szep
The Vancouver Sun (Canada), page C8
December 8, 2007

BOSTON — A Christian biologist is suing the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution in Massachusetts, claiming he was fired for refusing to accept evolution, lawyers involved in the case said Friday.

Nathaniel Abraham, an Indian national who describes him self as a “Bible- believing Christian,” said in the suit filed Monday in U. S. District Court in Boston that he was fired in 2004 because he would not accept evolution as scientific fact.

The latest academic spat over science and religion was first reported in The Boston Globe newspaper Friday. Gibbs Law Firm in Florida, which is representing Abraham, said he was seeking $500,000 in compensation.

The zebrafish specialist said his civil rights were violated when he was dismissed shortly after telling his superior he did not accept evolution because he believed the Bible presented a true account of human creation.

Creationists such as Abraham believe God made the world in six days, as the Bible’s Book of Genesis says.

Woods Hole, a U. S. government funded non-profit research centre on Cape Cod, said in a statement it firmly believed its actions and those of its employees in the case were “entirely lawful” and that it does not discriminate.

Abraham, who was dismissed eight months after he was hired, said he was willing to do research using evolutionary concepts but that he had been required to accept Darwin’s theory of evolution as scientific fact or lose his job.

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