Evaluating the Claims of Evolution vs Creationism Introduction

I've been discussing Intelligent Design with Jorge Villalobos (aka minusfive) and he does not agree with me that there is a God or that Intelligent Design is a viable worldview. He also disagrees that Michael J. Behe is not a credible scientist and rejects his work. He has agree to a series of blog posts to interact. This is a beginning post to which to explain the parameters of this interaction to which I hope he will agree.

Intelligent Design is more than an alternative explanation opposed to Evolution. Intelligent Design also attempts to explain where everything comes from. Therefore it speaks to physics, chemistry, and biology. Evolution is generally considered to be a part of biology. So I suggest that we keep our discussion to how life has changed on earth and not worry about how it began this time. We can do origins later. Jorge, do you concur?

Here are some of the common assumptions that I think that we agree on.
1. There is a design in life we just disagree on how the design got there.
2. That given enough time questions about the mechanics of how life works will be answered. You, Jorge, just believe that macro evolution will be the ultimate answer.
3. We both agree that life on earth has not been constant, but has changed due lifeforms adapting to changing environments. We disagree that those changes lead to one life form to another such as a fish changing into amphibian.


More ground rules
1. A series of 4 weeks of posts, starting Wednesday September 2, 2009. Each cycle would be a week and you can post as many parts as you want. You can quote anyone and anything you want. You can post audio files and video files. Only rule about content is that it must be reference so that anyone can look up the resource themselves.
2. By September 9, 2009 we could post a positive presentation of our viewpoints without referring to the other side. Just what your conclusions are and the evidence for why you have come to those conclusions.
3. By September 16, 2009, we each post our rebuttals to the first week.
4. By September 23, 2009, we each post our rebuttals to the second week.
5. By September 30, 2009, we each post a concluding post .
6. We write with gentleness and respect for each other.

I suggest the the overall topic should be phrased as follows:
Evolution vs Intelligent Design - Which has the best Evidence?

Jorge, if you sgree to these termd please leave a comment here and the url to your blog or tweet the information.

Atheism is Dead: The Ultimate Anthropocentric Cosmology

Mario has post a great and humorous post about viewing the universe with profound self-centeredness.












Atheism is Dead: The Ultimate Anthropocentric Cosmology

On of the commenters posted a couple of great links to posts showing the immense size and majesty of the universe

Just a quick picture...
Hell Yeah, Hubble!

Disney Buys Marvel Comics

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So far the biggest news that I heard today is the Disney is going to buy Marvel Comics in a deal that will cost $4 Billion. Shock! Awe!

I'm not sure if this going to be good or not. I should have seen it coming considering that almost every single animated series based

Image via CrunchBase

on Marvel Characters can now be seen on Disney XD (Toon Disney). Its been said that Disney wants to maximize its appeal to the 18-35 year-old male demographic. This should do it. I'm not concerned that Disney will "water-down" Marvel. It's important to remember that Disney owns Pixar, ABC, and Miramax and they managed to not mess them up. This could turn out to be good. Of course it also means that Disney will be in even more direct competition with Time-Warner that owns DC Comics.

Of course if the government says "no" this won't happen. I think that if such a merger will cause the lost of single job it should not go through.

Sources
Disney Buys Marvel: What The–?!
Disney Buying Marvel
Disney to Acquire Marvel Entertainment

The Censored Michael Behe Video Interview - Apologetics 315

On his Apologetics 315 blog, Brian has posted a great interview of Michael Behe by John McWhorter. It's real interesting. Behe is a biochemist and world renowned. He has written several book and research. He is on the cutting edge. McHorter admitted to being an atheist but found Behe's books persuasive enough to consider intelligent design. When I consider Behe's findings along with the rest of the evidence of living cells being complex mini machines on orders of magnitude more efficient than anything ever man-made, I've go to ask: "How does macro evolution account of that? It can't.

View on ExposureRoom

The Censored Michael Behe Video Interview - Apologetics 315

Preacher's Wife Warns of Adultery in the Pulpit

I have recently came across the following article talking about the problem in churches of clergy committing adultery with women in their congregation. The article points to the a book by Dr Betty Price called 'Warning to Ministers, Their Wives and Mistresses. I agree that it's a problem in many churches and God does not like it. It as a good article.

Preacher's Wife Warns of Adultery in the Pulpit

Of course such an article would list public examples of high profile clergy who have been caught with their pants down. This is where my problem came up. The article states that Jeremiah Wright cheated on his wife and it came out during the 2008 Presidential Election. I never heard that and I was paying attention. Wright was accused of having an affair with a white woman, Elizabeth Payne, in Dallas. She was a church worker for one of Wright's proteges. She was fired and her husband divorced her.

I'm not sure if this is true. It raises some flags for me.
1. Story does not seem to be mentioned before September 2008. And seem to have been used to try to discredit Wright and Obama.
2. It was not widely reported.
3. Friendship-West Baptist Church in Dallas Texas where Payne apparently worked is a black church (she is supposed to be white).
4. Her picture does not look real. It looks fake to me.



Either that or she's passing for white.

5. Her husband's, Fred Payne, statement: "People wouldn't be happy to know that my wife was sleeping with a black man," seems really loaded. If Jeremiah had have been white would they be more happy? Who would day that?
6. No other major national news organization seems to be carrying the story. One link I found had a link to a page on the Fox News site, but that link is now dead. Nothing on CNN.

I don't think the story is true. It just doesn't add up. I don't agree with Wright's Black Liberation Theology but why lie on the man?

Additional sources
Elizabeth Payne
Rev. Jeremiah Wright & Elizabeth Payne Sex Affair (Photos)
Chickens Roost on Reverend Wright's Penis
Elizabeth Payne Photo: Rev. Jeremiah Wright Sex Scandal Surfaces



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Iron Sharpens Iron: Joel Beeke: The life and Ministry of John Calvin (Encore Presentation)

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This was a great program on Irons Sharpens Irons discussing the life and ministry of John Calvin. You can find a link below.


Iron Sharpens Iron: Joel Beeke: The life and Ministry of John Calvin (Encore Presentation)