The New Yorker recently published an article by Oliver Sacks, the famous neurologist and author, with an update on an equally famous patient: Clive Wearing, a British musician who suffered an attack of viral encephalitis in 1985. Although Wearing recovered, the infection destroyed the areas of his brain associated with…
Contrary to the way it is portrayed by Creationists, the theory of evolution wasn’t handed down from the Goddess Athe to her true prophet Darwin, to whose faith all subsequent researchers have to slavishly adhere. From the day each of Darwin’s books were published, and for the century and a half since, serious and powerful researchers (as well as semi-educated and/or pseudo-scientific dabblers) have busily been trying (and mostly failing) to make a name for themselves by finding a flaw — any flaw — in the overall Theory of Evolution. Darwin’s singular contribution, the principle that those members of a population best adapted to an environment will survive, is rarely challenged.
I was inspired to write this post after reading Can God be scientific? Consider the evidence, Part II by Daniel Jarvis. His post makes it clear that Creationists believe that all fields of science that are cited in support of this basic principle of modern biology have to meet criteria set by Darwin. These include astronomy, geology, genetics, tectonics, crystallography, quantum theory, and many other fields of study.
Let’s look at one supporting pillar of biological evolution: Things take time. The best Creationist argument (IMHO) is that all the species could not possibly have evolved in the short time since the beginning of the universe (or just of the world, for those who accept astronomical science) a few thousand years ago.
One of the things that sends me straight up a wall to paw helplessly and violently at ceilings comprised of crushed glass, old nails, and asbestos fibers is when I hear a young woman blithely claim that she isn’t a Feminist and, in fact, “wouldn’t want to be one.” They…
National Geographic's Genographic Project offers all of us an extraordinary opportunity: a method of tracing each of our family trees back to our African roots. Yes, each of us is African. An ever-growing collection of DNA studies unambiguously demonstrate that each of us had ancestors who lived in Africa more…
In Osama Bin Laden’s latest screed, one of the things he exhorts people to do is give up interest. The charging and paying of interest is forbidden in strict Islam. Known as riba (increase), it was the subject of some of Mohammed’s most vehement condemnations. One can see why with only a cursory look at history. Namely, moneylending was largely an uncontrolled practice that guaranteed a class structure that could not be broken, incurred debts that led to involuntary servitude, and was an all around nasty way to keep the serfs in the fields. Mohammed, rather than suggesting some form of regulation, vented spleen and condemned it outright. Christians, of course, had their own attitude toward it, which led to out-groups being the only ones allowed to lend money (Jews, famously, but not exclusively). The prohibition was based mainly on two Biblical passages (both Old Testament): Leviticus 25:36–37 (“Take thou no usury…”) and Ezekiel 18:13 (“He that have give forth usury, and hath taken increase: shall he live? He shall not live…”).
The Catholic Church used to excommunicate moneylenders. The law said: Quidquid sorti accedit, usura est “what exceeds the principal is usury.” (The Italian Renaissance, aside from great art and a few geniuses, also revolutionized banking. The bankers noted that this applied only to loans, not contracts, so they erected a facade behind which they could do exactly what they wanted. They made no loans. They traded in Bills of Exchange. Technically, it was a sale of one …