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Introduction In his recent book The God Delusion, noted biologist Richard Dawkins attacks a wide range of religious beliefs as “delusions,” and further claims that religion is responsible for many historical conflicts and modern-day social ills [Dawkins2006]. Dawkins asks us to imagine “a world with no religion … no suicide bombers, no 9/11 no 7/7, Continue reading How do other scholars view Dawkins’ The God Delusion? A MORE COMPLETE AND UP-TO-DATE VERSION OF THIS ARTICLE IS AVAILABLE HERE. Recently there have been several reports of political candidates and officials expressing views on creationism, and of creationism being mixed with other political issues: Gabi Avital, chief scientist of Israel’s Education Ministry, was fired in October 2010 after reiterating his position that evolution is “just a theory” and should be taught alongside creationism: “[T]he conditions Continue reading Creationism and politics don’t mix Stephen Hawking and Leonard Mlodinow, in their 2010 book The Grand Design [Hawking2010], present a highly readable and even somewhat entertaining summary of recent research trying to uncover the long-sought “theory of everything,” together with efforts to understand the implications of these theories on modern cosmology (i.e., the study of the origin and evolution of Continue reading Hawking and Mlodinow take on philosophy and God A MORE COMPLETE AND UP-TO-DATE VERSION OF THIS ARTICLE IS AVAILABLE HERE. George Santayana’s quote (often misquoted and mis-ascribed) in the title of this post is as relevant today as when the great philosopher first wrote it more than a century ago. In an illuminating and eloquently-written commentary in the Huffington Post, Southern Louisiana University Professor Matt Rossano highlights the folly of today’s anti-intellectual approach to religious Continue reading Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it One of the issues most frequently raised by both creationist and and intelligent design writers is the question of gaps in the fossil record. These writers assert that there are large, significant gaps, and that in general the conventional scientific picture of a smooth sequence of species through the ages is a myth. It is Continue reading Scientists discover 2.1 billion-year-old pre-Cambrian fossils Both creationist and intelligent design writers argue that science has yet to understand the origin of life, and that this is a fatal flaw in evolutionary theory [Behe1996; Dembski1998]. It is true that scientists don’t yet understand the origin of life, in particular the origin of the first self-replicating biomolecules. What’s more, unlike bony Continue reading Scientists announce creation of synthetic bacteria A MORE COMPLETE AND UP-TO-DATE VERSION OF THIS ARTICLE IS AVAILABLE HERE. Most of us have watched at least one episode of the “Who Wants to be a Millionaire?” show. The rules of the show specify that the subject be allowed to take as much time as he/she wishes to ponder his answer, may consult one of his/her “lifelines” if desired, and may even think out loud Continue reading Is That Your Final Answer? Creationism and Atheism Confront the End of Life |
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