Academic Freedom
For Record: a note on the significance of the Ben Carson incident at Emory University
On May 16, UD News reported on the Ben Carson speech at Emory, raising some significant issues on the tendency of some Darwinists to toss ad hominem rhetorical stink-bombs at those who question the ethical implications of their views. (And yes, I am pointing to the unanswered problem that evolutionary materialism, ever since at least the days of Plato in The Laws Bk X, has never been able to objectively ground OUGHT in a worldview foundational IS that they accept. And in light of what Hume pointed out with his guillotine argument, if such an objective basis for ought does not lie in the foundation of the worldview, it can never be brought in thereafter. Since we cannot have turtles Read More ›
How to Talk to Your Professors About Your Darwin Doubts
There are two regular tragedies in the Intelligent Design movement. The first tragedy is the student who airs his or her doubts about Darwin, and a faculty member then makes it their life mission to block that student from a degree, or, if they get a degree, prevent them from getting any further. This sometimes happens via a bad letter of recommendation or a notice in their file or sometimes even calling other programs to tell them not to include the student. The second tragedy is the student who plays it safe, presuming that some day in the future they will have the position, stature, or whatever to present their doubts about Darwin. Many people counsel this procedure – keep Read More ›
Kiddie neurosurgeon Ben Carson, evolution, and morality
Petition in support of neurosurgeon Ben Carson
Top Johns Hopkins Surgeon Persecuted for being a Creationist
World-renowned Johns Hopkins neurosurgeon Dr. Ben Carson is under fire from several biology professors at Emory University, where he’s scheduled to give the commencement address. They wrote a letter to the school newspaper after learning Carson does not believe in evolution,….. Dr. Ben Carson’s Beliefs On Evolution Stir Controversy At Emory University About 500 Darwinist alumni, students, and faculty from Emory decided to pile on by signing the letter. Carson is the director of Pediatric Neurosurgery at Johns Hopkins Hospital and was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian award in the United States, by President George W. Bush in 2008. Hopkins boasts 17 Nobel prizes in medicine/physiology and researchers associated with the university were awarded Nobel prizes Read More ›
They said it: Dr Nick Matzke vs Dr John Lennox on the Laws of Nature and Miracles
In the ongoing Methodological Naturalism thread, at no. 66, Dr Matzke is on record: massive observational evidence and the logic of our understanding of natural laws rules say that that miracle thing can’t happen. In short he holds that the laws of nature forbid miracles. (And recall, here, we are speaking about the late publicist for the US-based NCSE, for quite some years.) Oopsie. Double oopise. Triple oopsie. And cf. here, too. In a nutshell, Dr Matzke here seems to make a crude form of the error commonly attributed to Hume (and too often seen as a definitive dismissal of the miraculous). He also reveals that behind methodological naturalism, there may often lurk a prior (and perhaps implicit) commitment to Read More ›
Self-organization theorist James Shapiro on Tennessee academic freedom bill
In “What Is the Best Way to Deal With Supernaturalists in Science and Evolution?”(Huffington Post , April 16, 2012), University of Chicago microbiologist James Shapiro, suggests, Thirty years ago, I was at a conference in Cambridge, England, to celebrate the centennial of Darwin’s death. There, Richard Dawkins began his lecture by saying, “I will not only explain that Darwin had the right answer, but I will show that he had the only possible right answer.” [For a tenure bore, yes. He can go on spouting Darwin until he is carried out feet first, and to heck with facts.] Hearing this (and knowing that alternative explanations inevitably arise in science), I said to myself that the Creationists have a point. They Read More ›
On Tennessee’s Academic Freedom Bill – The Endgame, Part 2
Time to give the answer to my previous post, where I asked UD readers if they could figure out why Tennessee’s academic freedom bill was a brilliant move. To my surprise (I underestimated people!) most commenters were within the ballpark right away, and Barry pretty much nailed it. Let’s take a look at Barry’s response.
On Tennessee’s Academic Freedom Bill – The Endgame, Part 1
By now, news of Tennessee’s Academic Freedom Bill has made the rounds. There’s been all kinds of analysis about it, harsh criticisms as well as defense. But as near as I can tell, just about everyone has missed what this bill has truly accomplished. Call it a cheap tactic, call it a trojan horse. Me? I call it brilliant.
Welcome to academic freedom at Chicago State: Only if you clear it with PR first?
Coppedge case: Hostility to ID is largely information-free
Gil on what’s at stake in the end — the credibility of science
I passed by and noticed Gil’s go-to-the heart-of-the-matter comment on the “a picture is worth . . . “ thread: The worst part is that these clowns are destroying public trust in legitimate science. As usual, Gil has gone straight to the key point. When science and science education as well as popular science and science-related journalism are ideologised and made into little more than agenda talking points, sooner or later, science is going to pay the price for the ideologues we can see dressing themselves up in the holy lab coat and demanding genuflection before their favourite myths. (And of course, predictably, they will try to twist the issue about, and accuse those who challenge them of being “anti Read More ›