Ebert Takes Stein to Task

Posted on December 3, 2008 by Michael

A bit late, but Ebert has a review of the movie Expelled

Idiot

Toward the end of the film, we find that Stein actually did want to title it “From Darwin to Hitler.” He finds a Creationist who informs him, “Darwinism inspired and advanced Nazism.” He refers to advocates of eugenics as liberal. I would not call Hitler liberal. Arbitrary forced sterilization in our country has been promoted mostly by racists, who curiously found many times more blacks than whites suitable for such treatment.

Ben Stein is only getting warmed up. He takes a field trip to visit one “result” of Darwinism: Nazi concentration camps. “As a Jew,” he says, “I wanted to see for myself.” We see footage of gaunt, skeletal prisoners. Pathetic children. A mound of naked Jewish corpses. “It’s difficult to describe how it felt to walk through such a haunting place,” he says. Oh, go ahead, Ben Stein. Describe. It filled you with hatred for Charles Darwin and his followers, who represent the overwhelming majority of educated people in every nation on earth. It is not difficult for me to describe how you made me feel by exploiting the deaths of millions of Jews in support of your argument for a peripheral Christian belief. It fills me with contempt.

I could have sworn Hitler was an evilutionist.

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Slow news day

Posted on December 3, 2008 by Michael

Enjoy this cell video from Harvard.

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Carl Zimmer Article

Posted on December 3, 2008 by Michael

Here is a Carl Zimmer article that pertains to a particular project I have. I thought it was interesting and worth sharing.

One thing the digital organisms do particularly well is evolve.“ Avida is not a simulation of evolution; it is an instance of it,” Pennock says. “All the core parts of the Darwinian process are there. These things replicate, they mutate, they are competing with one another. The very process of natural selection is happening there. If that’s central to the definition of life, then these things count.”

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Atheist Group Sues

Posted on December 2, 2008 by Michael

Following up on Kentucky’s homeland defense by a god, it looks like an atheist group is suing to have the offensive (and unconstitutional) language removed.

“It is one of the most egregiously and breathtakingly unconstitutional actions by a state legislature that I’ve ever seen,” said Edwin F. Kagin, national legal director of Parsippany, N.J.-based American Atheists Inc. The group claims the law violates both the state and U.S. constitutions.

It’s pretty obvious this group is going to win this suit, bar some issue such as legal standing, perhaps.

But Democratic state Rep. Tom Riner, a Baptist minister from Louisville, said he considers it vitally important to acknowledge God’s role in protecting Kentucky and the nation.

“No government by itself can guarantee perfect security,” Riner said. “There will always be this opposition to the acknowledgment of divine providence, but this is a foundational understanding of what America is.”

It’s almost a non-sequitor. Of course no government can guarantee perfect security. The opposition to divine providence has nothing to do with this. No mythical creature is going to guarantee anything other than a deluded populace. Bombs will still blow things up.

State Rep. David Floyd, R-Bardstown, said the preamble to the Kentucky constitution references a people “grateful to almighty God,” so he said he sees no constitutional violation in enlisting God in the state’s homeland security efforts.

This is beyond stupid. David Floyd probably also sees no clouds on a rainy day.

“God help us if we don’t,” he said.

Two hands working do more good than a thousand hands clasped together in prayer.

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Check out this blog

Posted on December 1, 2008 by Michael

I recently came across the blog Obsessed with reality. It’s really quite well written, especially this piece (which is the primary reason I am advocating for it).

Give it a looksie-loo.

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Good job, Cincinnati Zoo

Posted on December 1, 2008 by Michael

Good job, Cincinnati Zoo.

A promotional deal between the Cincinnati Zoo and the Creation Museum was scuttled Monday after the zoo received dozens of angry calls and emails about the partnership.

The promotion was billed as “Two Great Attractions, One Great Deal” and offered a package deal on tickets for the zoo’s annual Festival of Lights and a museum event called Bethlehem’s Blessings.

The deal appeared on web sites for both institutions Friday, but it was pulled by the zoo Monday morning after complaints about the partnership started pouring in.

Most of the protests echoed the same theme: the Creation Museum promotes a religious point of view that conflicts with the zoo’s scientific mission. The museum promotes a strict interpretation of the biblical version of how life began, and it suggests that dinosaurs and man once lived side by side.

“They seem like diametrically opposed institutions,” said Dr. James Leach, a Cincinnati radiologist who emailed zoo officials about his concerns. “The Cincinnati Zoo is one of this city’s treasures. The Creation Museum is an international laughing stock.”

It’s nice that this has been corrected so quickly. If you emailed the zoo to complain, it’d be nice to email them some praise on their swift action.

This surely brings to light (again) the anti-science joke that is the Creation Museum. It’s just unfortunate that it’s for the very reason that it is anti-science that so many people seem to like it. We have the best way of knowing available to us, revealing so much beauty in the world, yet so many reject it as mechanical and bland and heartless. I hope people living in the area will visit the Cincinnati Zoo and maybe experience a little of the figurative magic of science. It’s certainly better than the literal magic peddled by the Creation Museum.

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Cincinnati Zoo aligns with ignorance

Posted on December 1, 2008 by Michael

Apparently, the Cincinnati Zoo is offering some awful deal where people can get into both its attractions and the Creation Museum for the price of one admission.

PZ Myers has a post on his blog on the topic. He has provided contact links for the zoo, along with some encouragement to raise some noise about this anti-science malarkey. The Creation Museum is a joke, but the fact that it has somehow managed to latch its claws into a reputable organization is far from funny.

Filed under: Creationism, News | Tagged: , , , | 5 Comments »

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