- Evolution: The Creation Myth of Our Culture -- TrueOrigin Archive

Home | Feedback | Links | Books

Evolution: The Creation Myth of Our Culture

David Buckna
© 2024 David Buckna. All Rights Reserved.

Part 4 of 4

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3

I wonder how many students in schools, colleges and universities would say they have the academic freedom to critique evolution in their science classes? There should be school district and state polls of high-school and college/university students studying evolution, asking two questions:
In this class:
a) Is evolution taught as fact, theory, or both fact and theory?
b) Do you have the academic freedom to critique evolution?
[Students should answer anonymously.] The same questions should be asked of their instructors.

The article, "Valley of the Whales", in the August 2010 issue of National Geographic, is a good example of an evolutionary article:

http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/print/2010/08/whale-evolution/mueller-text

Teachers should be encouraged to distribute such articles and three different colored markers to each student, then ask them to mark the verified facts with one color, the opinions with another, and the suppositions with another. Students should be taught to weigh the factual evidence, evaluate statements, and recognize the writer's purpose and point of view.

For counter arguments to "Valley of the Whales":

http://www.trueorigin.org/whales.php
http://www.trueorigin.org/ng_whales01.php

Evolutionists say, "We continually revise our theories and welcome critical examination and evaluation." They may revise aspects of their theories, but because evolution is so incredibly malleable, no amount of contrary evidence will convince them otherwise. But how much contrary evidence must accumulate before a theory is discarded?

Today evolution survives, not so much as a theory of science, but as a philosophical necessity. Good science is always tentative and self-correcting, but this never really happens in the case of evolution. Regardless of the scientific data, the idea of evolution as a valid concept is not open to debate. Students are allowed to ask "HOW did evolution occur?", but never "DID evolution occur?".

Which is a more objective question: "What were the ape-like creatures that led to man?" or "Did man evolve from ape-like creatures?"

Jonathan Sarfati's newest book is "The Greatest Hoax on Earth? Refuting Dawkins on Evolution" (2010)

http://creation.com/the-greatest-hoax-on-earth/introduction.php

Cornell University professor Dr. John Sanford, pioneer of plant genetic engineering and inventor of the gene gun has commented: "In my opinion Sarfati's book beats Dawkins' book ["The Greatest Show on Earth"] point by point, on all issues."

To view a two-part TV interview with Jonathan Sarfati, go to:

http://100huntley.com/video.php?id=NxJMMpTgDDo
and
http://100huntley.com/video.php?id=Qq-jFb-MIGw

If Sarfati's book has been totally ignored by the mainstream media, why is that unusual? Interviews with evolutionists appear regularly in newspapers, and on televison and radio (eg. NPR's "Talk of the Nation: Science Friday"; CBC's "Quirks & Quarks"). How often have you read or heard an interview with a creationary scientist, such as D. Russell Humphreys, Kurt Wise, Sigrid Hartwig-Scherer, Werner Gitt, or John Baumgardner?

http://www.usnews.com/usnews/culture/articles/970616/archive_007221.htm

If you never have, is this because creationary scientists don't conduct scientific research, or is it because of other reasons? On the PBS documentary In the Beginning: The Creationist Controversy, Phillip Johnson commented: "Darwinian theory is the creation myth of our culture. It’s the officially sponsored, government financed creation myth that the public is supposed to believe in, and that creates the evolutionary scientists as the priesthood…So we have the priesthood of naturalism, which has great cultural authority, and of course has to protect its mystery that gives it that authority. That’s why they’re so vicious towards critics."

The following suggested Origins of Life policy is a realistic, practical and legal way for local and state school boards to achieve a win-win with regard to evolution teaching. Even the ACLU, the NCSE, and Americans United for the Separation of Church and State should find the policy acceptable:

"As no theory in science is immune from critical examination and evaluation, and recognizing that evolutionary theory is the only approved theory of origins that can be taught in the [school district/state] science curriculum: whenever evolutionary theory is taught, students and teachers are encouraged to discuss the scientific information that supports and questions evolution and its underlying assumptions, in order to promote the development of critical thinking skills. This discussion would include only the scientific evidence/information for and against evolutionary theory, as it seeks to explain the origin of the universe and the diversity of life on our planet."

Never discussing scientific information that questions evolution is to teach evolution as dogma.

http://www.arn.org/docs/johnson/pjdogma1.htm

Francis Crick and James Watson are the co-discoverers of the thread-like DNA molecule. Crick described himself as agnostic, with a "strong inclination towards atheism". In 2003, Watson spoke at Youngstown State University and was asked by one student, "So you don't believe in God?" The scientist answered, "Oh no, absolutely not. The biggest advantage to believing in God is you don't have to understand anything, no physics, no biology. I wanted to understand."

Yet thousands of years ago the psalmist wrote: "For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb...your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be." (Psalm 139: 13;16). The phrase "you knit me together" anticipates that we are literally knitted or woven together at the molecular level.

For further reference:

Creation Evolution Headlines

http://crev.info/
http://creationsafaris.com/crevnews.htm

ICR Daily Science Updates
http://www.icr.org/articles/type/9/

Uncommon Descent
http://www.uncommondescent.com/

ID The Future (podcast)
http://www.idthefuture.com/

Louisiana Preserves Science Education Act That Encourages Academic Freedom to Discuss Criticisms of Darwinism [May 27, 2011] by Casey Luskin

http://www.evolutionnews.org/2011/05/science_law_and_economics_come046871.html

If Discussing Criticisms of Darwin's Theory Amounts to Promoting Intelligent Design... [April 18, 2011] by Robert Crowther

http://www.evolutionnews.org/2011/04/post_20045991.html

Scientists Urge Censorship of Terms Implying Design and Purpose when Describing Life by Jerry Bergman

http://www.answersingenesis.org/articles/aid/v6/n1/scientists-censorship-design

How to Sink a Battleship: A call to separate materialist philosophy by Phillip Johnson

http://www.leaderu.com/real/ri9602/johnson.html

Teaching Evolution - Is There a Better Way? by Ian Taylor

http://www.creationmoments.com/content/teaching-evolution-there-better-way

Teaching Origins in Public Schools by David N. Menton

http://web.archive.org/web/20071009011002/http://mall.turnpike.net/C/cs/teach.htm

Icons of Evolution (2000) by Jonathan Wells

Go to: http://books.google.ca/bkshp?hl=en&tab=wp
and type in: "Wells and Icons of Evolution"

Ten questions to ask your biology teacher about evolution by Jonathan Wells

http://www.iconsofevolution.com/tools/questions.php3

The Myth of Junk DNA (2011) by Jonathan Wells

http://www.mythofjunkdna.com/

The Biggest Problems for Evolution by John Morris

http://www.icr.org/article/biggest-problems-for-evolution/

Refuting Evolution by Jonathan Sarfati

http://creation.com/refuting-evolution-index

Refuting Evolution 2 by Jonathan Sarfati, with Michael Matthews

http://creation.com/refuting-evolution-2-index

The Scientific Case against Evolution by Henry Morris

http://www.icr.org/article/scientific-case-against-evolution-summary-part-1/
http://www.icr.org/article/scientific-case-against-evolution-summary-part-2/

The Case for a Creator by Lee Strobel

http://thecaseforacreator-dvd.com/

Chapter 1 of 10

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tYLHxcqJmoM&

Chapter 2 of 10

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6raodW5Ypt0&

Chapter 3 of 10

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WKoiivfe_mo&

Chapter 4 of 10

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TUC9drrEAVU&

Chapter 5 of 10

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5pP8ENlWfRk&

Chapter 6 of 10

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1iwzzR0lUKw&

Chapter 7 of 10

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0MVDiNl7bBM&

Chapter 8 of 10

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fs5wGFbkb40&

Chapter 9 of 10

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CamNoA6Cfjc&

Chapter 10 of 10

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=idxRxIrybBs&

***

How Biology 101 is typically taught: "Kids, welcome to Biology 101. We're gonna learn lots of fun things in this class. We're gonna learn how...we're gonna cut up frogs, and we're gonna pick flowers, and we're gonna learn about pistils and stamens and all kinds of fun things, but the first thing you need to know, boys and girls, above all else, is that 'You are an accident!'. You have absolutely no reason for being here! There is no meaning, no purpose to your life! You're nothing but a meaningless conglomeration of molecules that came together purely by chance billions and billions of years ago! All the dust and the gas and the galaxy floated around for who knows how long, and they bumped into each other and they said, 'I know. Let's be organic!' So they became organic. And they became little, little gooey, slimey things, you know, swimming around in the primordial soup, and they finally grew little feet, and they crawled up on the land, and they grew fur and feathers and became higher forms of life, and finally became, you know, a monkey, then the monkey developed into an ape, then the ape decided to shave, so he shaved, and became what you are today! It's, you know, from goo to you by way of the zoo! As such we really don't have any reason for being here. Your existence is pointless. The universe won't mind a bit when you die. And when you die, you just become so much compost [Riiiiiing!] Oh, okay, class dismissed. Head on down the hall now, kids, down to that new class we're starting this week on self-esteem!" --an excerpt from "What We Believe", a presentation Frank Peretti gave at the Steeling the Mind of America conference (Vale, Colorado, 1997.)

***

"Nothing in biology makes sense except in the light of evolution."
--Theodosius Dobzhansky, in The American Biology Teacher (March 1973)

"A true scientist would say that nothing in biology makes sense except in the light of evidence."
--Jonathan Wells, in "Icons of Evolution: Science or Myth?" (2000)

"The first step for a 21st century science of origins is to separate materialist philosophy from empirical science."
--Phillip Johnson, in "How to Sink a Battleship" (1996)

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3

Home | Feedback | Links | Books | Donate | Back to Top

© 2024 TrueOrigin Archive. All Rights Reserved.
powered by Webhandlung