Month: June 2006

How ID perceives real science

Access Research Network, an intelligent design organization, is selling T-shirts etc with the following cartoon: (Click to see full size) They also provide an explanation of their imagery. What’s interesting to me is their self-perception: people with science and other intellectual disciplines on their side, attacking a bunch of liberal organizations, academia in particular. The How ID perceives real science

Weinberg Transcript

The transcript of PBS’s Faith and Reason‘s interview with Steven Weinberg is well worth reading. Probably because he’s a physicist, Weinberg’s views come closest to mine among the interviewees. I don’t agree with everything he says, but for once I’ll suppress my urge to nitpick and recommend that you read Weinberg directly… Your name Your Weinberg Transcript

A Parallel “Reality”

One interesting thing about conservative Christianity in the US is the parallel social and cultural reality it has been able to sustain. There are Christian books, music acts, movies — a whole cultural world Christians try to keep pure of contamination by a corrupt secular environment. There are directories of Christian businesses for those who A Parallel “Reality”

Noah’s Ark, discovered yet again

Evangelical Christian “Arkeologists” have again claimed to have discovered Noah’s Ark, this time in Iran. On a recent (second) trip to the site, the explorers included “some of America’s leading businessmen, an attorney who has argued several cases before the U.S. Supreme Court, and two leading apologists,” including Josh McDowell. The main explorer is “international Noah’s Ark, discovered yet again

“Godless”

Quite a few creationists, conservatives, and religious-right-types appear to be enthusiastic about Ann Coulter’s latest rant, Godless. So I stopped by at a bookstore and hastily read about half of it. (I’m not buying the thing. Being a bibliomaniac, I spend enough on books that I don’t feel guilty stting down in Borders occasionally and “Godless”

Collins defends God

Francis Collins, director of the US National Human Genome Research Institute, is known to be a fairly traditional sort of religious believer. Apparently he’s been working on a book to make the case for God, which will appear in the fall. If this news story is any indication, though, the book is going to be Collins defends God

Catholics on evolution; Left-wing bible-thumping

I’ve run across a couple of interesting articles in right-wing journals. First there’s “Darwin’s Divisions,” by Martin Hilbert, in this month’s Touchstone. It comes out against Darwinian (naturalistic) evolution, though it accepts common descent; it has strong intelligent design sympathies. Though Hilbert is a bit clueless about the science, and clearly has no concept of Catholics on evolution; Left-wing bible-thumping

Islam and the political Left

I’m more interested in criticizing supernatural fact claims than in social and ethical opposition to religion. Still, as your basic secular humanist-type, I’d like to keep religion out of my life as much as possible. These are times of resurgent fundamentalisms all over the world, where religion is very political. So I try and follow Islam and the political Left