MetaFilter posts tagged with creationism

"The truth about cave men."

gene_machine — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 15:32:42 -0800

Dr Kent Hovind (seen here previously) claims to hold a doctorate, but both he and its awarding institution (Patriot Bible University) have refused to publish his dissertation in any form. The WikiLeaks site has obtained a scanned copy; highlights include "the truth about cave men", the co-existence of humans and dinosaurs, and a null reference list.

College makes you an atheist!

ericb — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 16:05:10 -0800

Former child actor Kirk Cameron and his friend Ray (The Banana Guy) Comfort [previously] seek to distribute the "correct" (aka altered) version of Charles Darwin's Origin of Species to 50,000 students at the nation's top 50 universities as the book is soon to celebrate its 150^th anniversary. Their version includes a 50-page introduction which "...gives the history of evolution, a timeline of Darwin's life, Adolph Hitler's undeniable connection with the theory, Darwin's racism, his disdain for women, and Darwin's thoughts on the existence of God..." Cameron's promotional video for the project: 'Origin Into Schools.' A video response: "Origin of Stupidity."

"Atheism has been on the rise for years now, and the Bible of the atheists is 'The Origin of Species,' Cameron tells PEOPLE. 'We have a situation in our country where young people are entering college with a belief in God and exiting with that faith being stripped and shredded. What we want to do is have student make an informed, educated decision before they chuck their faith.'" *

Kirk Cameron Monkeys with Darwin.

Since when does Hollywood shy away from controversy?

zarq — Sun, 13 Sep 2009 10:25:39 -0800

The Producer Cites Religious Controversy. The Director points to a recessionary trend against "serious" movies. A new film about Charles Darwin's life ("Creation") is reportedly having difficulty finding a US distributor. ( Creation: IMDB / Official Site / Trailer / Spoiler-laden review from Roger Ebert / LA Times review // Darwin: Previously on MeFi).

The Five Best? Really?

glaucon — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 07:44:03 -0800

PZ Myers takes on the Five Best arguments for creationism. PZ Myers (previously linked) is an apologist and vocal advocate of evolution. Because of his regular discussions about the distortions made by Creationists, he earned his place as one of the 'Top 5 media leftists who distort Americans' views on the Bush and Obama presidencies.' His reaction to joining such top Distortionists as Paul Krugman, Jon Meacham, Ezra Klein and more is pretty entertaining. And if you're interested in learning about the scientific answer to the multitude of creationist arguments, check this out.

3D Mapping

netbros — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 17:44:55 -0800

Durango Bill's Home Page. With topics that include: 3D end-to-end tour of the Grand Canyon, the origin and formation of the Colorado River, and examples of river systems that cut through mountain ranges instead of taking easier routes around them in Ancestral Rivers of the World. But if geology and 3D mapping isn't your thing, Bill also entertains and informs with his evaluations of creationism and religious cultists, an energy/oil analysis, gaming probability analysis, graph and number theories and applied mathematics. Durango Bill is a busy dude.

Genesis Revisited

East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 14:00:41 -0800

Genesis Revisited scientifically summarises the scientific field of Creation Science (warning: science) [transcript]

"Greetings from Idiot America"

zarq — Tue, 12 May 2009 09:20:20 -0800

Charles Pierce, author of the 2005 essay "Greetings from Idiot America" decrying the rise of faith-based anti-intellectualism, has expanded his rant into a full length book: Idiot America: How Stupidity Became a Virtue in the Land of the Free. (via) Previously on MeFi. (link on that post is defunct) Anti-intellectualism has been around for ages, and has not been restricted to the US. But the American cultural divide was thrust further into the national spotlight during the last election cycle. Further reading: Susan Jacoby's book: The Age of American Unreason (interview on left-wing blog Alternet here,) and 1964's Anti-intellectualism in American Life by Richard Hofstadter. Pierce appears regularly on NPR's Wait Wait, Don't Tell Me!, and is a feature writer for Esquire, Slate, The American Prospect and the Boston Globe Sunday Magazine, usually on sports. He's also the author of several books, including Hard to Forget: An Alzheimer's Story.

A Moment in Time

nola — Mon, 11 May 2009 17:53:18 -0800

AronRa has done some really nice YouTube vids on science (previously). In this latest vlog An Archaeological Moment in Time, he take(s) a look at how different societies are advancing at different rates on the same date in the distant past.

(Un)blinding them with science!

Mr. Anthropomorphism — Tue, 13 Jan 2009 18:24:24 -0800

In a breathless, passionate, yet level-headed 15 part series, YouTube user, paleontologist, ex-Christian, and potential Space Coyote impersonator AronRa presents an uncommonly well-written and presented argument against what he identifies as the 14 "Fundamental Falsehoods of Creationism." All your favorites are addressed: 1. "Evolution = Atheism" (transcript) 2. "Scriptures are the 'Word of God'" (transcript) 3. "Human Interpretation = Absolute Truth" (transcript) 4. "Belief = knowledge" (transcript) 5. “Evolution = the religion of atheism” (transcript) 6. “Evolution must explain the origin of life, the universe, and everything.” (transcript) 7. “Evolution is random.”(transcript) 8. “Mutations are rare, harmful decreases in genetic information.” (transcript) 9. “No transitional species have ever been found.” (transcript) 10. “The evolutionary ‘tree of life’ is nowhere implied either in the fossil record, nor in any aspect of biology.” (transcript) 11. “Macroevolution has never been observed.” (transcript) 12. “Creation science” (transcript) 13. “Evolution is a fraud!” (transcript) 14. “Creation is evident” Part I (transcript) 15. “Creation is evident” Part II (transcript)

Islam and Evolution

homunculus — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 09:31:23 -0800

Bracing for Islamic Creationism (PDF). "To avoid a vast rejection of evolution in the Muslim world, scientists can present the theory as the bedrock of biology and can stress its practical applications." [Via]

What Good Is Half A Machine?

DU — Tue, 09 Dec 2008 05:24:37 -0800

One of the classic arguments against evolution by natural selection is "what good is half an X?" where X is an eye, a wing or some other complex body part or system. Directly responding to the implicit challenge some researchers have been not just figuring out how X could have evolved, but actually evolving new complex machines (previously). The basic ideas are so simple that web versions (explanation and discussion) have been popping up.

Reports of the Demise of Materialism Are Premature

Marisa Stole the Precious Thing — Thu, 30 Oct 2008 03:42:00 -0800

"You cannot overestimate how threatened the scientific establishment is by the fact that it now looks like the materialist paradigm is genuinely breaking down.", argues psychiatrist Jeffrey Schwartz, part of a growing "non-material neuroscience" movement, an approach that evokes Cartesian dualism - the belief that the mind is not linked to the body, taking on the qualities of a soul. However growing the movement might be, others argue that the end of materialism is far from nigh. (via)

3 to 10 classroom hours

Artw — Mon, 19 May 2008 21:09:59 -0800

16% of US science teachers believe human beings have been created by God within the last 10,000 years. 25% of science teachers spend some time teaching about creationism or intelligent design. 12.5% teach it as a "valid, scientific alternative to Darwinian explanations for the origin of species". 2% say they do not cover evolution at all. Teachers who have taken more science courses themselves devote more time to evolution - "This may be because better-prepared teachers are more confident in dealing with students' questions about a sensitive subject."

No Intelligence Allowed, indeed.

Pope Guilty — Sun, 20 Apr 2008 13:57:11 -0800

Ben Stein's Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed, a pro-Intelligent Design, anti-evolution polemic, arrived in theaters Friday to overwhelmingly negative reviews and anemic ticket sales. In response to the claims made in the film comes Expelled Exposed, a website which seeks to "show you why this movie is not a documentary at all, but anti-science propaganda aimed at creating the appearance of controversy where there is none."

New peer-reviewed Creationist Research Journal

Rumple — Sat, 02 Feb 2008 14:07:48 -0800

Answers Research Journal is a new "professional peer-reviewed technical journal for the publication of interdisciplinary scientific and other relevant research from the perspective of the recent Creation and the global Flood within a biblical framework." Current Volume. Call for Papers.

Science, Evolution, and Creationism

grouse — Fri, 04 Jan 2008 09:24:54 -0800

The National Academies release their new book Science, Evolution, and Creationism, targeted at the public, which summarizes the "scientific understanding of evolution and its importance in the science classroom." Download the 89-page book free in PDF format (you will be asked for your e-mail address, location, and employment sector first). Other resources on evolution from the National Academies, including other free online books (previously on MetaFilter). There's a brief NYT story about it as well.

Clock Evolution Model

Stunt — Wed, 26 Dec 2007 00:01:03 -0800

Natural selection and evolution in clocks(youtube) - Video of the details and results of a program written to model the evolution of clocks (if they were alive). It seems that it was done to disprove a strawman argument used to argue in favor of creationism by some (an argument I hadn't personally heard used before). Found here, and explained in more detail than I can offer.

The Fossil Finders

McLir — Sat, 01 Dec 2007 01:04:12 -0800

Dinosaurs preach Young Earth creationism. "The Fossil Finders are a group of eight homeschooled children on a search for the [Biblical] truth on fossils." (This shorter excerpt cuts to the main argument, involving the discovery of flexible T. Rex tissue. Scientists remain interested in the find.) The video was produced by World's Biggest Dinosaurs, the people who now own the roadside landmark, Cabazon Dinosaurs -- and have turned it into a creation museum. [Previously]

Surrealistic Lilliputian Realm

homunculus — Tue, 20 Nov 2007 17:56:09 -0800

The Inner Life of an Intelligently Designed Cell? Remember The Inner Life of a Cell animation (discussed here)? Apparently the Discovery Institute (recently discussed here) is showing it in presentations with a new title and narration, and without attribution.

Judgment Day on NOVA

McLir — Tue, 13 Nov 2007 11:15:49 -0800

Judgment Day: Intelligent Design on Trial. Tonight on NOVA, a documentary on the six-week trial of Kitzmiller v. Dover. [Full transcripts of trial] The court's decision [PDF] by Judge John E. Jones III, chastised the defense's dishonesty and the "breathtaking inanity" of the Dover School Board's policy. Eugenie Scott of the National Center for Science Education recounts the the trial here. According to Salon, the Discovery Institute is not quitting -- preferring now to "teach the controversy," as part of their ongoing attack on naturalism. [Previously 1 2]

Jesus Rode a T-Rex

Mikey-San — Tue, 13 Nov 2007 07:36:23 -0800

"Imagine, if you will, a load of horseshit." John Scalzi with everything you need to know about the $27 million Creation Museum.

"In the first room of the Creation Museum tour there’s a display of two paleontologists unearthing a raptor skeleton. One of them, a rather avuncular fellow, explains that he and the other paleontologist are both doing the same work, but that they start off from different premises: He starts off from the Bible and the other fellow (who does not get to comment, naturally) starts off from “man’s reason,” and really, that’s the only difference between them: “different starting points, same facts,” is the mantra for the first portion of the museum."

Don't forget the photo tour. [previously]

No dearth of mirth today

Vic Morrow's Personal Vietnam — Tue, 23 Oct 2007 09:14:10 -0800

Happy 6010th birthday, world! Technically, God created the world (or possibly the entire universe?) the night before Sunday, October 23rd, 4004 BCE, but the 23rd is the day that some Young Earth Creationists still hold to be the Earth's birthday. Anglican Archbishop James Ussher arrived at this date in his 1650 magnum opus, Annales veteris testamenti, a prima mundi origine deducti, and while many other dates have been interpolated from the Pentateuch, Ussher's has become the best known, probably because (starting in 1701, at the behest of Anglican Bishop William Lloyd) his chronology was included in copies of the King James Bible (and, centuries later, in editions of the Scofield Reference Bible). This practice has subsided in recent decades, although some publishers apparently continue to include the chronology. And if you believe God created us recently, you're not alone: Gallup reports that as of June 2007, two-thirds of Americans say it's definitely or probably true that "God created human beings pretty much in their present form at one time within the last 10,000 years." A bit of extra Americana: remember that scene from Inherit The Wind where "Matthew Harrison Brady" voices his unyielding support for Ussher's theory, even adding the bit about the creation occurring at 9:00 AM? In reality, Darrow and Bryan did discuss Ussher at some length, but Bryan expressed more ambiguity on the subject than the dramatizations suggest.

Ben Stein's Expelled

electricinca — Fri, 28 Sep 2007 05:58:34 -0800

Ben Stein, actor, game show host, economist and White House speechwriter has embarked upon a heroic and, at times, shocking journey in the new documentary Expelled to confront the world’s top scientists, educators and philosophers, regarding their 'persecution' of the academics who support the non-science that is Intelligent Design. Richard Dawkins and PZ Myers amongst others claim they were duped into appearing in the film believing it to be a film that was to be titled Crossroads (no not that Crossroads, nor this one) that would be a debate about creationism versus Darwinism. No wonder Ferris took a day off from school with this guy as his teacher (NSFW).

"If people do not accept our position on creationism, they do not have to watch."

goodnewsfortheinsane — Tue, 28 Aug 2007 08:42:04 -0800

Guess who's censoring references to evolution out of David Attenborough documentaries? That's right, the Dutch. See the differences; here's a detailed write-up by a Dutch biologist and documentary enthusiast comparing the two versions side-by-side (in Dutch).

Inside the Creation Museum

jonson — Tue, 29 May 2007 07:24:58 -0800

For those of you curious about the newly opened $27 million dollar Creation Museum, but unable or unwilling to travel to Kentucky for a visit, Zachary Lynn has posted a photo essay of his visit (sadly missing is the opening diorama or human babies playing with dinosaurs).