In the “evolution is more creative than we are” department, Carl Zimmer has written an account in terms comprehensible by us non-scientists, of an article published in Cell. He titled it A Dead Dog Lives On (Inside New Dogs). I heartily recommend his article, especially for those who think that the paths taken by evolution…
This article on MSNBC.com talks about some interesting gene splicing that illustrates some of the value of evolutionary theory and also shows in a simple way how information could be added to DNA. Genes are snippets of DNA that carry instructions for building a protein. The splitting of one gene into many genes has occurred…
Newsweek has a good article on Billy Graham in its current issue, titled Pilgrim’s Progress. It’s a fairly long article that presents some interesting points. While Graham is certainly not abandoning any essentials of his faith, he does admit to softening on some things. I believe that the things he indicates Christians can appropriately disagree…
In this wonderful little book (God After Darwin [ISBN: 0813338786]), theologian John Haught looks at our concepts of God in the light of evolutionary theory, and in relation to intelligent design. My notes are more of a response than a review. This book is not an examination of each movement in great detail, but rather…
Courtesy of the Florida Citizens for Science blog, I found this article on Francis S. Collins, an evangelical Christian who sees no incompatibility between religion and science, including acceptance of evolution. The article can be found at Relgion Today (HeraldToday.com). I could add little to what Dr. Collins had to say. I came at the…
It’s looking good for the teaching of evolution in Kansas public schools, as reported by MSNBC, Evolution’s foes lose ground in Kansas. The balance of power shifted from 6-4 in favor of the ID standards to 6-4 against. The general election could change things slightly, but that looks like the worst case scenario for science…
A $25 million creation museum is under construction in rural Kentucky, with the intention of challenging the scientific consensus view of origins. MSNBC tells us about it in a story titled High-tech museum brings creationism to life. They quote Ken Ham, of Answers in Genesis saying, If the Bible is the word of God, and…
With a hat tip to Dispatches from the Culture Wars, I’d like to call attention to the text of a speech given by Howard J. Van Till (The Fourth Day) to the Freethought Association of West Michigan. Van Till’s work on evolution in general and intelligent design in particular is amongst my favorite reading, and…
Summer camps to indoctrinate children on creationism? Look at this article: Beliefwatch: Camping. I certainly have no objection to churches teaching their beliefs at summer camp, and I congratulate the Unitarian-Universalist church on having a camp on discoveries in science. What I sincerely wish we would see would be a Christian camp that would teach…
Jason Rosenhouse (EvolutionBlog) has blogged about the authority (or lack of it) of mathematicians commenting on evolutionary theory in a series of two posts. Start reading with the first one, Are Mathematicians Qualified to Discuss Evolution, Part One, and follow along from there. The reason I’m calling attention to this particular entry is that many…
