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Posts tagged evolution

Parsing the Expelled Leader’s Guide, part 7

After summarising the last section, Why Does It Matter?, the Guide finishes its informational portion with a two-column comparison of evolution and intelligent design.

Guide:

Under the heading, “What Is Evolution?”, the Guide offers three variants of the meaning of the word, “evolution.”

1. Evolution is “change over time,” meaning that present-day life forms are different from earlier ones, or that minor changes within species can occur over a short time.
2. Evolution is associated with the theory of common descent, meaning that all organisms existing today have a single common ancestor.
3. Evolution is the “unguided process of DNA randomly mutating with ‘natural selection,’ blindly acting on those changes to gradually produce the variety of all life.”

The Guide then cautions its readers that this multiplicity of definitions can confuse discussions when someone takes evidence for Evolution #1 and tries to make it look like it supports Evolution #2 or Evolution #3. Conversely, someone may discuss issues with Evolution #2 or Evolution #3 but is then falsely accused of also rejecting definition of Evolution #1. This is simply not the case, for most scientists who dissent from Darwinism accept Evolution #1.

Comments:

This bit of sophistry obfuscates the real issue here. There is one theory of evolution, just as there is one atomic theory or one Big Bang theory. The theory of evolution comprises all three “definitions.” You logically cannot accept some parts of the theory and reject other parts, if those parts offend your religious beliefs.

This is a preview of Parsing the Expelled Leader’s Guide, part 7. Read the full post (1531 words, estimated 6:07 mins reading time)

April 11th, 2008 | Tags: evolution, expelled, id, intelligent design, nabt | Category: Commentary, Media, Science, Skepticism, evolution | Leave a comment

A more detailed review of the Minnesota Expelled screening

Well, here’s another review of Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed, but this one highlights the actual preview experience as no other has so far.

The screening was amateur, from the sound of it. Rather than using an actual print of the movie (or a high-res digital version), the producers showed the film using a laptop and a digital projector! This for a movie that is due to be released nationally in less than a month.

Since a laptop was playing the film, the sound was bad. Not exactly the best theater experience, either.

The reviewer hints that perhaps the background music during the private screening was not paid for. The tunes include John Lennon’s “Imagine” and The Killer’s “All These Things That I’ve Done,” the rights to which would cost a pretty penny.

The budget for this film was reportedly $3.5 million, much of it bankrolled by wealthy contributors. One would expect a somewhat slicker preview of it.

Not all reviews of Expelled have been negative, to be fair. Predictably, those who are already disposed to oppose evolution and support Intelligent Design/creationism adore the flick. Here’s some links to positive reviews.

Tom Bethell for The American Spectator
Rush Limbaugh on his talk show (audio)
Tom Cashill (Ingram’s Magazine, Kansas City)

It’s also got some thumbs up from Christian and “family-oriented” review sites, with warnings about some images that might be disturbing for younger kids.

This is a preview of A more detailed review of the Minnesota Expelled screening. Read the full post (266 words, estimated 1:04 mins reading time)

March 26th, 2008 | Tags: evolution, expelled, intelligent design, limbaugh, reviews | Category: Commentary, evolution | Leave a comment

Intelligent Design pops up (briefly) in Bloomfield, Ky.

Bloomfield Middle School officials had to tell a seventh grade science teacher that she could not teach Intelligent Design (ID) after they received a warning from the Kentucky chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU).

The ACLU letter advised them that the teaching of ID was contrary to “the substantial legal authority establishing the illegality of teaching a religious doctrine within a science curriculum.” The Panda’s Thumb reprinted part of that letter yesterday.

The teacher in question, Adonna Florence, confirmed the gist of the report to me today. I am awaiting details from her, the BMS principal and the ACLU.

Technically, Florence’s introduction of ID into her science classes is not contrary to Kentucky state law.

At one point in history, Kentucky law expressly permitted, but did not require, the teaching of the Biblical creation of Earth and the organisms on it. As part of the Kentucky Education Reform Act, that statute, KRS 158.177, was effectively repealed in 1990 and re-enacted with substantially the same language as before:

This is a preview of Intelligent Design pops up (briefly) in Bloomfield, Ky.. Read the full post (1140 words, estimated 4:34 mins reading time)

March 26th, 2008 | Tags: creationism, evolution, id, intelligent design, kentucky, law, Science, teaching | Category: Commentary, Science, Skepticism, evolution | Leave a comment

Academic freedom or academic tomfoolery?

The Ben Stein movie, “Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed,” champions academic freedom, purporting to demonstrate how faculty who believe in Intelligent Design or Creationism are being forced from their jobs by some kind of “evolutionist” hegemony.

The movie, which I have not seen, supports the opinion that someone who does not accept the theory of evolution cannot debate or question the theory in the classroom without fear of reprisal. The rights of anti-evolution faculty and students must be protected, the movie’s creators claim.

It’s another version of the “teach the controversy” canard that IDists and creationists have been passing around for the last few years. First, they create a false controversy (many people doubt evolution is valid). Second, they contend that “evolutionists” are forcing this “controversial” theory down students’ throats. Then, they insist that other theories must be given “equal time” somehow in the classroom to give students a full education.

This strategy to introduce ID and creationism in the public school classrooms failed miserably in Dover, Penn., after a federal judge (a Republican appointee) ruled that ID was just another form of creationism, that is, it was religion. Therefore, he said, ID cannot be taught in a public school without violating the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment.

So now the ID/creationist tactic is to focus on the “academic freedom” to question evolution. The plan is to appeal to the public’s sense of fairness and belief in free speech rather than to concoct a controversy from whole cloth.

This is a preview of Academic freedom or academic tomfoolery?. Read the full post (985 words, estimated 3:56 mins reading time)

March 18th, 2008 | Tags: academic freedom, ben stein, creationism, evolution, expelled, id, intelligent design | Category: Commentary, Science, Skepticism | Comments (1)