From time to time, some of the more thoughtful skeptics who contribute to Uncommon Descent have asked what assumptions the fine-tuning argument makes about the nature, mind and objectives of the Intelligent Designer of the universe. In this post, I have endeavored to answer their questions to the best of my ability. The views expressed below are my own. As far as I can make out, the fine-tuning argument makes five assumptions about the Designer and about the universe He designed. Here they are. (Note: Although I frequently use the term “He” to refer to the Designer, no inference should be drawn that the Designer belongs to the male sex or the masculine gender. And although I regularly refer to Read More ›

When Darwin’s Dilemma, a film that examines evolution in light of the scientific evidence, was booked at the California Science Center’s IMAX theater two years ago, evolutionists from around the country were furious. They made sure the booking was cancelled. So while the CSC censored the film, their censorship was by no means an independent action. The CSC was at the tip of the spear, but evolutionists near and far drove that spear home. And those evolutionists were by no means limited to life scientists. For evolutionary thought is about much more than merely the origin of species. Consider, for example, Hilary Schor, Professor of English, Comparative Literature, Gender Studies and Law at the University of Southern California.  Read more

In “Antibiotic resistance found in ancient bacteria” (CBC News, Aug 31, 2011), Emily Chung reports, The same genes that make disease-causing bacteria resistant to today’s antibiotics have been found in soil bacteria that have remained frozen since woolly mammoths roamed the Earth. “We’ve shown for the first time that drug resistance is a really old phenomenon and it’s part of the natural ecology of the planet,” said Gerard Wright, a biochemist at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ont. Five years ago, Wright had discovered harmless soil bacteria, Actinobacteria, that showed resistance to antibiotics (not, presumably, directed at them). He then sought bacteria that had never been exposed to human efforts against microbes. Geologist Duane Forese suggested taking soil samples from under Read More ›

Two years ago a group booked the California Science Center’s IMAX theater, in downtown Los Angeles, for a screening of Darwin’s Dilemma, a film that questions evolutionary theory. Furious evolutionists quickly censored the showing and canceled the event.  Read more

After a fruitful discussion with StephenB, I have updated my recent post —What was the alleged “Dominionist” theologian, Francis Schaeffer, doing back in the 1950′s – 80′s?  — especially in light of evidence he has brought to bear from Aquinas’ corpus.

Note especially how I have adjusted Sawyer’s summary to highlight the points of correction, and how I have added a diagram that adjusts Schaeffer’s famous Line of Despair Diagram in a way that illustrates, extends and adjusts Schaeffer’s vision of the key worldview shaping trends that have framed our civilisation over the past millennium. Read More ›