The Universe and the Intelligent Designer

You may be one of those hard-core naturalist types who still refuses to accept the Discovery Institute’s “theory” of intelligent design. Well, all is not lost. Their latest post may save you. It’s titled Richards: “Designed for Life, Designed for Discovery”, written by Klinghoffer. Here are some excerpts, with bold font added by us for emphasis, and occasional Curmudgeonly interjections that look [like this]:

Discovery Institute Senior Fellow and Privileged Planet co-author Jay Richards was among the speakers at our Science and Faith Conference in Dallas. His presentation is now online for you: [Link at the Discoveroids’ post.]

Ooooooooooooh! It’s a rare treat to hear Richards speak. As you probably know, not only is Jay W. Richards a Discoveroid senior fellow, but he, along with Guillermo Gonzalez (or “Gonzo” as we call him) co-authored the classic creationist book, The Privileged Planet, a “fine tuning” argument applied to Earth. Richards was a former faculty member at Biola University, a bible college, where he taught apologetics. Klinghoffer says:

Richards spectacularly develops a theme that materialists shy from confronting: in cosmology, it is the eerie overlap between the ultra-precisely defined parameters needed for life, and the precisely defined requirements for scientific discovery. In other words, as Dr. Richards summarizes, “If the universe is set up and fine-tuned not only for complex life, but to make discovery possible — so those rare places where life exists are also the best places for doing science, for discovering the universe around us — that suggests the universe is not just fine-tuned for life.” Instead, “The universe is fine-tuned so that environments habitable to observers will provide the best overall conditions for observation and discovery.”

That’s a powerful concept — probably too powerful for your Darwinist brain to absorb. It may help you to know that we posted about Richards’ thesis before — see Solar Eclipses Prove Intelligent Design. Okay, back to Klinghoffer. After babbling a bit, he tells us:

As you know, everything the leading book authors on intelligent design [Hee hee!] have to say about the age of the universe presumes an age in the billions not thousands of years. Yet imagine a scenario where you don’t know the ancient age of the cosmos, but rather, only that it is has an age, whatever that might be. In other words, you know that the universe is finite, it has a beginning.

What’s he getting at? We’ll soon find out. He continues:

Before that there was no universe, no physical existence at all. Unless the universe generated itself from nonexistence, an impossibility, it must have a cause outside nature.

Ooooooooooooh! The mere existence of the universe proclaims Oogity Boogity! You weren’t expecting that, were you? It’s probably because, like most of us, you don’t think that before the so-called Big Bang there was literally nothing.

Klinghoffer’s post ends strangely, by letting us know that something big is in the works:

Many scientists fought that conclusion, bitterly, because of its theistic implications. Now, having conceded a start to the cosmos, they are forced back on self-defeating speculations (that form one part of the subject of Stephen Meyer’s next book [Link omitted]). The best science marches on and sweeps materialism before it.

Yes, the best science marches on — while you, dear reader, are slipping and sliding into the Lake of Fire.

Copyright © 2019. The Sensuous Curmudgeon. All rights reserved.

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Volcanoes or the Flood? Hambo Knows!

A recent article at PhysOrg reports on some research that is certain to upset creationists. Their headline is New evidence suggests volcanoes caused biggest mass extinction ever. Here are some excerpts, with bold font added by us for emphasis:

Researchers say mercury buried in ancient rock provides the strongest evidence yet that volcanoes caused the biggest mass extinction in the history of the Earth. The extinction 252 million years ago was so dramatic and widespread that scientists call it “the Great Dying.” The catastrophe killed off more than 95 percent of life on Earth over the course of hundreds of thousands of years.

Paleontologists with the University of Cincinnati and the China University of Geosciences said they found a spike in mercury in the geologic record at nearly a dozen sites around the world, which provides persuasive evidence that volcanic eruptions were to blame for this global cataclysm. The study was published this month in the journal Nature Communications.

Here’s the paper they’re talking about: Evidence for a prolonged Permian–Triassic extinction interval from global marine mercury records. You can read it online without a subscription.

That sort of thing really upsets Ken Ham (ol’ Hambo) — the ayatollah of Appalachia, the world’s holiest man who knows more about religion and science than everyone else. He just posted this at the website of Answers in Genesis (AIG), his creationist ministry: Did Volcanoes Cause the Biggest Mass Extinction Ever? Here are some excerpts, with bold font added by us for emphasis, and occasional Curmudgeonly interjections that look [like this]:

The fossil record is full of (mostly marine) creatures that are now extinct. In an attempt to explain all this biodiversity that has since vanished, evolutionary scientists [the hell-bound fools!] propose a series of mass extinctions caused by various catastrophes, though they frequently disagree on what those catastrophes were. One supposed extinction event, “the Great Dying,” is the subject of new research that claims volcanoes were responsible for wiping out 95% of life on earth.

Outrageous! There’s nothing like that in the bible. Hambo says:

Now, it’s interesting that secular scientists [Godless idiots!] are willing to accept global catastrophes — as long as it’s not THE global catastrophe: the flood of Noah’s day, as recorded in the Bible! And yet the evidence around the world clearly points to a watery catastrophe! Billions of creatures have been buried in sediments, laid down by water, all over the world. That’s clear evidence for a global flood and yet evolutionary scientists refuse to even consider it because it would wash away the millions of years needed for biological evolution.

Hambo is furious, and rightly so! He tells us:

Yes, there is tremendous evidence for massive volcanism in the past. And this activity was caused by the breaking open of the fountains of the great deep during the global flood (Genesis 7:11).

That explains it! He continues:

You see, the battle between creation and evolution isn’t over the evidence. We can observe that many of the creatures of the past are now extinct. We can see layers of volcanic ash in the rock record. These are observable facts. But how you interpret these facts in relation to the past depends on your starting point of thinking.

Well, what’s the correct starting point? Let’s read on:

Evolutionists start with millions of years of earth’s history, and so they interpret everything through that lens. Creationists start with God’s Word and the history in Genesis, and we interpret the evidence through that lens.

Here’s his powerful conclusion:

We interpret the fossil record as largely a record of the global flood catastrophe as creatures were successively buried as the floodwaters rose and raged about 4,300 years ago. The fossils don’t point to many huge mass extinctions — they point to one judgment by God on the wickedness of man.

So there you are, dear reader. It all depends on your starting point. Fortunately for Hambo, his starting point is the right one. It has all the conclusions built in, so the answers are obvious — and easy. Why don’t you follow his example?

Copyright © 2019. The Sensuous Curmudgeon. All rights reserved.

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Klinghoffer and The Fallacy of Creationism

According to Wikipedia, James Tour is a synthetic organic chemist, specializing in nanotechnology. They also say:

In 2001, Tour signed the Discovery Institute’s “A Scientific Dissent From Darwinism”, a controversial petition which the intelligent design movement uses to promote intelligent design by attempting to cast doubt on evolution

The last time we wrote about Jimmy Tour was Discovery Institute Praises James Tour, and a month before that we wrote James Tour at the Jack Chick Website.

Well, dear reader, he’s back again at the Discovery Institute’s website. This just appeared at their creationist blog: Chemist James Tour Is Scathing, Hilarious: “Show Me the Chemistry” of Abiogensis. “It’s Not There.” It was written by David Klinghoffer, a Discoveroid “senior fellow” (i.e., flaming, full-blown creationist), who eagerly functions as their journalistic slasher and poo flinger. Here are some excerpts, with bold font added by us for emphasis, and occasional Curmudgeonly interjections that look [like this]:

Rice University chemist James Tour almost defies description [We can describe him, no problem.] in a video now up of his amazing presentation at Discovery Institute’s 2019 Dallas Conference on Science and Faith. Watch it here: [Link at the Discoveroids’ post.]

Then he says:

At one point he asks for a show of hands of fellow synthetic chemists in the (large) audience. It turns out there are a couple and he demands that they stand up and call him a liar if anything he says isn’t true.

Interesting tactic, but if those two synthetic chemists are too polite to say anything, what does that prove? Anyway, Klinghoffer finally gets around to the reason he’s blogging about Jimmy Tour. He tells us:

His message is an alternatively scathing and hilarious indictment of claims from the origin-of-life studies community. Dr. Tour’s work in nanotechnology, an ulta-ultra-painstaking field, provides the backdrop for his demonstration that origins scientists don’t have the slightest idea [Gasp!] how the first life was somehow naturally synthesized by blind, mindless forces.

Wowie — this is big news! In what follows, Klinghoffer is presumably quoting Jimmy Tour:

The field hasn’t advanced an inch in 60-plus years. “Everyone’s clueless on this but no one wants to admit it.” Great scientists writing in the highest profile science journals are “lying to you” when they assert otherwise. “Show me the chemistry” of abiogenesis, he says. “It’s not there.”

Did you follow that? The message is clear: If it hasn’t yet been done in the lab, then it can’t be done — not ever! — and that proves Oogity Boogity! Or, as we recently expressed it a bit more formally: “You Don’t Know X, Therefore Y.” Putting it even more rigorously, which illustrates the argument’s flaky premise as well as its illogical structure:

1. Premise: If not X, then Y.
2. X is still being worked on.
3. Therefore, Y.

We’re temporarily calling that the Fallacy of Creationism — but there are so many others that we’ll probably need to revise the name. In his conclusion, Klinghoffer issues a bold challenge:

Jim Tour is without parallel. Truly, I’d love to hear from our materialist critics how they would answer any of this.

Well, dear reader — do you have the courage to respond?

Copyright © 2019. The Sensuous Curmudgeon. All rights reserved.

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Discoveroids Say You Don’t Know X, Therefore Y

As our title suggests, today we have an absolutely dazzling example of cutting-edge thinking from the Discovery Institute. It appears at their creationist blog, but there’s no author’s by-line: Inside the Cell: DNA as a Library.

Ooooooooooooh! DNA as a library — that’s a brilliant analogy! Here are some excerpts, with bold font added by us for emphasis, and occasional Curmudgeonly interjections that look [like this]:

On a classic episode of ID the Future [Ooooooooooooh! A Discoveroid podcast!], Discovery Institute biologist Ann Gauger discusses DNA, the library of the cell.

You’re in for a treat, dear reader. Ann Gauger (a/k/a “Annie Green Screen”) is a “senior research scientist” at the Discoveroids’ Biologic Institute. Annie’s work is so sensitive that the interior of her lab must never be seen by outsiders. You can read all about that in Klinghoffer Defends Photo Trickery. The Discoveroids’ brief post about Annie’s podcast then says:

Download the podcast or listen to it here.

There’s a link at the Discoveroids’ post. If you want to experience the intellectual and spiritual thrill of viewing the podcast — and we know you do! — you can click over there and find the link for yourself. The Discoveroids’ post continues:

Dr. Gauger delves into transcription and translation and the speed with which these processes take place. Listen in to learn more about the fantastic workings of the cell!

Ooooooooooooh! To prepare yourself for Annie’s podcast, you might start with the Wikipedia articles on Transcription and then Translation. Wait — don’t do that. It might be better not to begin by consulting a Darwinist source. Just watch the Discoveroid podcast and surrender to Annie’s wisdom.

Their brief post ends with this fascinating zinger:

And just think, it all arose by chance, blind, mindless processes alone, didn’t it?

So there you are, dear reader. How much more proof do you want? If your godless Darwinism can’t explain the library of the cell, then it had to be the work of the intelligent designer — blessed be he! Case closed!

Copyright © 2019. The Sensuous Curmudgeon. All rights reserved.

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