April First Is Creationism Day

Yes, dear reader, once again, the most wonderful day of the year will soon be upon us. April First is the universally recognized day for celebrating the genius of creationists — not only here on Earth, but throughout the whole galaxy.

To add to your holiday joy, take a look at a column we found in The Northern Virginia Daily, titled Beware of fools in April!, written by George Bowers, the Senior Pastor of Antioch Church. Here are some excerpts, with bold font added by us for emphasis, and occasional Curmudgeonly interjections that look [like this]:

A fool is one who believes a lie. We often lump someone who is gullible into this category too for being so undiscerning. In this day of scams and sophisticated thefts, it can be very costly to believe certain lies.

Costly indeed. Then the rev says:

Of course the surest way to determine the truth is by examining the evidence. … This method is most valuable in protecting ourselves from internet scammers and those who try to sell us oceanfront property in Iowa. Do your homework. Check the map. Examine the evidence before committing cash, energy or emotions to someone’s claims.

Good advice. And here’s more:

If a stranger promises you millions from their Kenyan bank account, you’re wise to delete that email or at least check with the Better Business Bureau before replying. And if someone says they really love you, scrutinize their actions before trusting them with your heart. By wanting something to be true that isn’t, many have become fools.

That’s great, but what about creationism? Here it comes:

Even more costly is to believe lies that could have eternal consequences. Some say that science has disproven the existence of a Supreme Being while others deny any possibility of an afterlife. Often these types of claims are marketed in the same package and we would be wise to examine the label before we purchase them. Eternity is a very long time to be a fool.

Good advice indeed! The rev continues:

Although some Christian beliefs must be taken by faith, this becomes much easier once one has carefully researched the many objective facts that are readily available. Consider, for instance the infinitely small possibility that our universe could have come into existence by random factors and the even smaller chance that life could have arisen accidentally. Even many non-Christian scientists now realize these claims are false.

Yes, obviously false. Let’s read on:

Attempting to disprove the Creator, researchers have actually proven His necessity whether or not they believe in the Biblical One. [How did that happen?] So many processes and ratios have to be precisely tuned to very tight tolerances that even one of them would be unlikely to have arisen randomly, while all of them together is statistically impossible.

Ah yes, the fine tuning argument. See The Discoveroids’ Proof of Fine Tuning. Skipping a bit, the rev gets really serious:

Most importantly, we must examine the claims of Jesus’ resurrection. If you can disprove that, you can dismiss His statements about both His Heavenly Father (God) and the afterlife, for He mentioned both heaven and hell numerous times. … To deny this event simply because it is uncomfortable or seems impossible or because His teachings condemn our behavior, is to fail to check the most important claim of all time. If it is true, dismissing it without serious research will result in an eternally foolish decision.

Egad — eternally foolish! The rev goes on a bit more, we’ll leave him here. And because tomorrow is April Fool’s Day, we’re declaring another Intellectual Free Fire Zone. Please use the comments for the discussion of pretty much anything — science, politics, economics, whatever — as long as it’s tasteful and interesting. Banter, babble, bicker, bluster, blubber, blather, blab, blurt, burble, boast — say what you will. But avoid flame-wars and beware of the profanity filters.

We now throw open the comments to you, dear reader. Have at it!

Copyright © 2023. The Sensuous Curmudgeon. All rights reserved.

Is This the Discoveroids’ Wildest Post Ever?

This one is amazing, even for creationists. We found it at the creationist blog of the Discovery Institute, and it’s titled Rescuing Evolutionary Theory from Darwinian Mythology. It has no author’s by-line. Here are some excerpts, with bold font added by us for emphasis, and occasional Curmudgeonly interjections that look [like this]:

On a new episode of ID the Future [Ooooooooooooh! A Discoveroid podcast!], historian of science Michael Keas begins a two-part conversation with Robert Shedinger, the Wilford A. Johnson Chair of Biblical Studies and Professor of Religion at Luther College —

Whoa — wait a minute! This podcast thing is a conversation with a religion professor? Okay, that’s how the Discoveroids do things. Let’s get on with it. They’re still describing Shedinger:

— and author most recently of The Mystery of Evolutionary Mechanisms: Darwinian Biology’s Grand Narrative of Triumph and the Subversion of Religion.

Wowie — that is an impressive title! They don’t say any more about the book, but we couldn’t resist looking for it. here it is at Amazon.

After that they tell us:

Shedinger reports on the contrast between Darwin’s private view of his theory of natural selection and the public view as detailed in his published work.

What? Darwin secretly didn’t agree with his published work? We never heard that before. This is big news! The Discoveroid post continues:

Shedinger also notes the deficiency in evidence for Darwin’s proposal, despite claims to the contrary from his followers and evangelizers today.

BWAHAHAHAHAHA! There’s virtually no evidence for evolution! Wowie! Now we’re starting to understand this Discoveroid post. The Discoveroids aren’t even pretending to make sense! Very refreshing!

And now we come to the end:

Download the podcast or listen to it here. [Link omitted!]

You gotta admit, dear reader — that was a lot of fun!

Copyright © 2023. The Sensuous Curmudgeon. All rights reserved.

Uranus Is Visible — Free Fire Zone

The creationists are just babbling away and they’re not even amusing, so we found some news at PhysOrg that you may find interesting. Their article is titled Planets on parade: 5 will be lined up in night sky this week. Here are some excerpts, with bold font added by us for emphasis, and occasional Curmudgeonly interjections that look [like this]:

Keep an eye to the sky this week for a chance to see a planetary hangout. Five planets — Mercury, Jupiter, Venus, Uranus and Mars—will line up near the moon.

Wowie — that doesn’t happen every day. Then they say:

The best day to catch the whole group is Tuesday. You’ll want to look to the western horizon right after sunset, said NASA astronomer Bill Cooke. The planets will stretch from the horizon line to around halfway up the night sky. But don’t be late: Mercury and Jupiter will quickly dip below the horizon around half an hour after sunset.

You don’t need to mark your calendar — this is happening now! After that they tell us:

The five-planet spread can be seen from anywhere on Earth, as long as you have clear skies and a view of the west.

PhysOrg continues:

Jupiter, Venus and Mars will all be pretty easy to see since they shine brightly, Cooke said. Venus will be one of the brightest things in the sky, and Mars will be hanging out near the moon with a reddish glow. Mercury and Uranus could be trickier to spot, since they will be dimmer. You’ll probably need to grab a pair of binoculars. If you’re a “planet collector,” it’s a rare chance to spot Uranus, which usually isn’t visible, Cooke said. Look out for its green glow just above Venus.

One last excerpt:

Different numbers and groups of planets line up in the sky from time to time. There was a five-planet lineup last summer and there’s another one in June, with a slightly different makeup.

That’s all the news we can find, so we’re declaring another Intellectual Free Fire Zone. Use the comments for the discussion of pretty much anything — science, politics, economics, whatever — as long as it’s tasteful and interesting. Banter, babble, bicker, bluster, blubber, blather, blab, blurt, burble, boast — say what you will. But avoid flame-wars and beware of the profanity filters.

We now throw open the comments to you, dear reader. Have at it!

Copyright © 2023. The Sensuous Curmudgeon. All rights reserved.

Discoveroids Say There’s No Science-Faith Warfare

This one is bizarre. We found it at the creationist blog of the Discovery Institute, and it’s titled Puncturing the Science-Faith Warfare Myth. The thing has no author’s by-line.

Their title’s implication declares that there’s no conflict between science and faith. How can anyone make such a claim? Ah well, let’s jump into the thing. Here are some excerpts, with bold font added by us for emphasis, and occasional Curmudgeonly interjections that look [like this]:

On a new episode of ID the Future [Ooooooooooooh! A Discoveroid podcast!], host and geologist Casey Luskin [Hee hee!] talks with historian of science Michael Keas in a lively conversation puncturing a series of anti-Christian myths about the history of science, including …

We’ll list their “anti-Christian myths about the history of science” separately:

the Dark Ages myth,

What’s the “myth”? The ghastly centuries between the fall of the Roman Empire and the Age of Enlightenment were indeed an age of darkness. But it was a great time for religion! Anyway, their next “anti-Christian myth” is:

the flat-earth myth,

That’s no myth — not if you believe what’s in the bible. See The Earth Is Flat! Okay, here comes the next “anti-Christian myth”:

the myth that the discovery of how big the universe is rendered humanity insignificant,

That’s no “myth’ either, when you think about it. The way Genesis tells it, Earth, along with Adam & Eve are pretty much the center of everything. Anyway, here’s the last in their list of “anti-Christian myths”:

and the simplistic revisionist history of Galileo and the Inquisition.

BWAHAHAHAHAHA! Yes, the Discoveroids have a history of trying to dismiss the significance of Galileo affair — see Discoveroids Defend the Galileo Trial, and also Discoveroids Say Galileo Was Well Treated.

That was quite a list of “anti-Christian myths”! But wait — the Discoveroids aren’t done yet. They say:

What about the claim in the Cosmos TV series that in abandoning his traditional Jewish faith, 17th-century philosopher Baruch Spinoza was able to provide an improved framework for doing science?

Here’s the Discoveroid rebuttal to that one:

As Keas argues, the truth is just the opposite. Spinoza, he says, abandoned a key tenet of Judeo-Christian theology that had proven vital to the birth of science.

Oh — something in theology is vital to science — but they don’t tell us what it is. Well, maybe they do, because then they say:

Download the podcast or listen to it here. [Link omitted!]

The amazing Discoveroid post ends with this:

The conversation is occasioned by Dr. Keas’s essay in the newly released Science and Faith in Dialogue, available as a free download. [Link omitted!]

Okay, dear reader — that was a real ark-load of Discoveroid wisdom. What did you think of it?

Copyright © 2023. The Sensuous Curmudgeon. All rights reserved.