Clipmarks | JohnWaterman's 'creationism' clips

ruled that they were trying to slip the Book of Genesis into science classes and came down against them. Three years on from their defeat, and with the Democrats certain to dominate Washington, the hopes of the intelligent design movement appear dead

But ideas do not die,

it is blossoming elsewhere as Richard Dawkins discovered when Turkish readers told him they could no longer access his website. Dawkins's offence was to satirise Harun Yahya

the front man for a wealthy Islamic publishing house. Its lavishly illustrated Atlas of Creation spends 500 pages comparing fossils with present-day species to argue that evolution never took place

Unfortunately, the modern version of the caddis fly Yahya chose to illustrate his point was not a fly at all, but a steel fish-hook with a fake insect on top to lure fish on to the line

Yahya is a joke

Vast sums of probably Saudi money

schools are grateful for Yahya's free books

scientists

frightened

A War On Science: Evolution vs. Intelligent Design -BBC documentary - Part 1-6

Mon, 07 Jul 2008 05:46:22 GMT

clipped by: einbar
clipper's remarks: This documentary looks at the current situation surrounding the evolution vs. creationism/intelligent design in the USA.

Clip Source: ca.youtube.com

A War On Science: Evolution vs. Intelligent Design (1-6)

Some 150 years ago Charles Darwin developed his theory of evolution which went against the belief humans and all life on earth was created by God. After years of controversy surrounding his theory evolution became accepted as the dominant scientific explanation for the creation of life and the world. However, a new challenge is launched against Darwin and his theory of evolution: intelligent design.
This documentary looks at the current situation surrounding the evolution vs. creationism/intelligent design in the USA.

[Video]

Clip Source: ca.youtube.com

A War On Science: Evolution vs. Intelligent Design (2-6)

A War On Science: Evolution vs. Intelligent Design (3-6)

War on Science - intelligent design - Part 4

A War On Science: Evolution vs. Intelligent Design (5-6)

A War On Science: Evolution vs. Intelligent Design (6-6)

Sci-Fi films in one sentence

Mon, 30 Jun 2008 20:24:10 GMT

clipped by: JohnWaterman

Clip Source: www.sciam.com

2001: A Space Odyssey
A slab of onyx and a singing computer get two astronauts in hot water.

Alien
A feisty cat survives tense times onboard a spaceship.

Close Encounters of the Third Kind
Frail aliens visit Earth in search of clothing, music, friends and possibly gym equipment.

Starship Troopers
Valiant insects try to repel totalitarian invaders.

E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial
A nerd from another planet goes bike riding and trick-or-treating.

Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home
Kirk, Spock and McCoy blend right in while visiting late 20th-century San Francisco.

Iron Man
An arms manufacturer finds himself neck-deep but gets a leg up and heads home.

The Matrix
A man discovers his true destiny.

Star Wars
An adolescent discovers his true destiny.

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone
A boy discovers his true destiny.

Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring
A hobbit discovers his true destiny.

Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed
A sad sack seeks a way to turn back time so he can live in the Dark Ages.

Tags: science fiction, films, humour, expelled, creationism

One More Time for the Learning Impaired

Sun, 29 Jun 2008 17:14:20 GMT

clipped by: AtlLiberal
clipper's remarks: It always helps to reiterate for the scientific challanged among us (and in the US that's a majority of the population) the difference between law, theory, guess and wishful thinking. Pay attention people, my patience is running out. And yes, you'll have to read the whole article to reap it's rewards. Learning does have it's costs so ante up! Don't let ignorance keep you sounding like a complete idiot.

Clip Source: atheism.about.com

Mailbag: Creation vs. Evolution

The Theory of Evolution is not a scientific law or a law of biology. A scientific law must be 100% correct. Failure to meet only one challenge proves the law is wrong. This web page will prove that the Theory of Evolution fails many challenges, not simply one. The Theory of Evolution will never become a law of science because it is wrought with errors. This is why it is called a theory, instead of a law.

Sometimes I think that it would be almost an understatement to say that people who are in denial about evolution are also in denial about science generally. It's almost inevitable that someone trying to defend some form of creationism will demonstrate some misunderstandings about science and above we see what are not only some of the most common but also some of the most fundamental misunderstandings. I don't think it would be going too far to say that Cris has no idea how science proceeds or even what science really is.

Tags: evolution, creationism, fundamentalism, religion, education

Inane arguments against evolution.

Fri, 27 Jun 2008 09:49:50 GMT

clipped by: JohnWaterman

Clip Source: scienceblogs.com

Eric Hovind is continuing his father's tradition of utterly inane arguments against evolution. In this case, it's a video of Hovind and two of his bland buddies sitting around talking about…cephalopods. Oh, it is painful to witness.

They show excerpts of some perfectly lovely videos of cuttlefish swimming about, exercising their camouflage, and they talk about its specialized defenses and sophisticated behavior. In classic creationist form, they watch all this beauty and throw up their hands in surrender

and ask, "How does evolution explain that?

"How does creationism explain that?"

"God did it" is not an explanation

We do have explanations of cephalopod evolution.

Hovind

speculates that an evolutionary explanation would be that "…one of them decided while he was sittin' there getting munched on, hey, I need to evolve a defense mechanism to overcome this…".

They miss the key insight Darwin had

cephalopods that were not being eaten

propagate, and it would be their genes that would continue on

Texas may sanction creationism "degree"

Thu, 31 Jan 2008 19:07:04 GMT

clipped by: JohnWaterman

Clip Source: blog.newhumanist.org.uk

Buried in the middle of a story about attendances at Kentucky's Creation Museum is something even more shocking – the state of Texas may be about to approve an online master's degree in science education provided by the Texas-based Institute for Creation Research. The "degree", which has already been given preliminary approval by a Texas state advisory group, is now awaiting the final go-ahead from the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board.

Approval of this sort of nonsense as science in Texas will have a significant negative impact on our ability to attract the best minds to the state. How can Texas simultaneously launch a war on cancer and approve educational platforms that submit that the universe is 10,000 years old?

one could certainly present a case for just ignoring these people in future in order to avoid giving them and their nonsensical ideas any free publicity. However, as far as we're concerned we find them far too amusing to stop

Well, fly fishing is a science

Thu, 10 Jan 2008 10:28:11 GMT

clipped by: JohnWaterman

Clip Source: scienceblogs.com

Well, fly fishing is a science

This is hilarious. That wacky Islamic creationist, Harun Yahya, sent all those copies of his great big expensive book, Atlas of Creation, to biologists all around the country, and darned few of us have actually bothered to look at it in any detail. The general pattern of the book is repetitious and predictable: the book shows a picture of a fossil and a photo of a living animal, and declares that they haven't changed a bit, therefore evolution is false. Over and over. It gets old fast, and it's usually wrong (they have changed!) and the photography, while lovely, is entirely stolen.

Here's the latest funny part: someone did scrutinize the photos a little more carefully, and discovered a few of the photos are actually of fishing lures, hook and all. That's the level of competence we're talking about in this book.

Clip Source: forbiddenmusic.wordpress.com

He stole the image from Graham Owen

which he believes is a living spider

look at Graham Owen’s fishing lures, they’re worth it

Tags: creationism, religion, evolution, fraud

Creationist holds fossil to ransom.

Mon, 07 Jan 2008 09:24:51 GMT

clipped by: JohnWaterman

Clip Source: scienceblogs.com

How depressing

Category: Creationism
Posted on: January 6, 2008 9:03 PM, by PZ Myers

Creationist can actively impede science. One of the largest mastodon fossils ever found was discovered on a ranch in Texas owned by a fellow named Joe Taylor — an infamous creationist who runs the Mt. Blanco Fossil "Museum", a wacky little place that peddles fossils while claiming they support a 6,000 year old earth. Now he's putting it up for auction, and you can buy the skull for something north of $60,000.

We can't win this one. Even if it's bought by a reputable museum and studied scientifically, it still means that this creationist is going to get a huge chunk of change to use in promoting more lies.

Tags: creationism, religion, stupid religious fuckwits

Creationists invading the UK - noooo!

Sun, 16 Dec 2007 09:55:00 GMT

clipped by: JohnWaterman

Clip Source: observer.guardian.co.uk

The latest salvo in creationism's increasingly ferocious battle with evolution is about to be fired in Lancashire. Not in a fiery sermon preached from the pulpit, but in the form of a giant Christian theme park that will champion the book of Genesis and make a multi-media case that God created the world in seven days

will boast two interactive cinemas, a cafeteria, six shops and a television recording studio, allowing it to produce its own Christian-themed films and documentaries

in response to what the trustees identify as a sense of drift within the Church of England

church leaders living in Australia, America and Canada have openly proclaimed that God has left the church in England

Evolution has falsely become the foundation of our society and we need the television studio to advocate Genesis across this land

'Wigan council slammed the door in our faces. You mention the C [Christian] word, and people don't want to know,' Jones said.

Tags: creationism, religion, evolution

Dawkins: I'm a cultural Christian

Sat, 15 Dec 2007 07:57:56 GMT

clipped by: JohnWaterman

Clip Source: news.bbc.co.uk

Scientist Richard Dawkins, an atheist known worldwide for arguing against the existence of God, has described himself as a "cultural Christian"

He told the BBC's Have Your Say that he did not want to "purge" the UK of its Christian heritage.

Professor Dawkins, author of the God Delusion, added that he liked "singing Carols along with everybody else".

On Have Your Say, Mr Pritchard told Prof Dawkins there was an "increasing feeling" that "many of the main Christian festivals are being sidelined and marginalised, sometimes by stealth, sometimes openly".

This, he argued, would allow groups such as the British National Party, to utilise Christian imagery for their own ends.

Prof Dawkins, who has frequently spoken out against creationism and religious fundamentalism, replied: "I'm not one of those who wants to stop Christian traditions.

"This is historically a Christian country. I'm a cultural Christian in the same way many of my friends call themselves cultural Jews or cultural Muslims.

Another reason not to debate with creationists

Fri, 14 Dec 2007 16:34:04 GMT

clipped by: JohnWaterman

Clip Source: scienceblogs.com

Another reason to avoid debating creationists

They're violent, murderous bastards. Rudi Boa, a scientist, got into an argument with Alexander York, an ignorant ass, while on a backpacking trip in Australia. Boa was arguing for evolution, while York was arguing for idiocy. Later, under the influence of alcohol, York attacked, stabbed, and killed Boa.

York was just tried and sentenced to five years in jail, eligible for parole in three. The judge apparently thought York was a man of good character.

As Greg Laden put it, "Stabbing an evolutionist to death, in Australia, is not considered a serious offense if you are a person of good character."

Tags: creationism, evolution, crime, murder