1
blackshadowcouk
Welcome
20/02/2005 01:59:00
Welcome to the Black Shadow forum; this has been set up to
compliment the two anti-creationism websites, Black Shadow &
Creationism, whose description is outlined on the home page.
BLACK SHADOW is essentially an anti-creationism website that deals
specifically with the issues relating to the spread of creationism
in British schools.
CREATIONISM describes more of the general background & history of
the subject & because a lot of this is American in origin, this
website therefore has an American slant to it. However, all
creationism has common roots with creationists everywhere using
similar tactics & pursuing similar aims. Therefore, the information
found here is relevant worldwide.
Membership of this forum is by approval only & is open to anyone
wishing to contribute ideas, links, articles, expertise, files and
photos or discuss specific issues. Membership is only open to those
who support the aims of the forum & who would like to see
creationist ideology removed from all schools & the creationist
political movement stopped in its tracks.
The controversy surrounding this issue has generated a large amount
of information that is proving hard to keep track of. Therefore, one
of the primary aims of this forum is try to rectify this situation.
Any information placed into messages, will be categorised into an
evolving database, which will keep track of it & ensure its ready
access. This may be by means of the forums, files, links, photos or
database facilities or by allocating dedicated web space. This could
take the form of an expanding index of subjects linking off to a
given message where the information was originally left (Messages
will be kept public for easy access).
For example if the Vardy Foundation take over another school, say in
Sunderland (which they are planning on doing) & someone posts a link
& some comments on this at message 473, then that would be found
under:
(Main Heading) Vardy Foundation (Sub Heading) Sunderland
link to message 473. Therefore this forum will also be of use to
those who mainly want to help build up a basic database of
information & are not too interested in chit chat.
This is not the place to debate these issues; however, creationists
wishing to explain why creationism or intelligent design should be
taught in schools as science, are welcome to do this at the Debunk
Creation forum. See:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/DebunkCreation/
2
blackshadowcouk
Dembski
20/02/2005 21:00:00
Here is an example: Have received this update from Talk Reason
http://www.talkreason.org/articles/unsupported.cfm
discussing amongst other things, Dembski, irreducible complexity,
shoddy scholarship & the Axe paper. All of these things are
indexable.
4
Peter Foster
Vardy junior?
20/02/2005 22:48:00
Take a look at the BBC origins board, one of the YEC troll posters
(six day sam) has said that he is a relative of Peter Vardy.
Sam is not only a YEC, he also thinks that the Sun orbits the earth!
Upney or what?
http://www.bbc.co.uk/cgi-perl/h2/h2.cgi?thread=%3C1108755343-5340.140%
40forum0.thdo.bbc.co.uk%3E&find=%3C1108755343-5340.140%
40forum0.thdo.bbc.co.uk%3E&board=science.created&sort=Te
http://www.bbc.co.uk/cgi-perl/h2/h2.cgi?thread=%3C1108662005-13358.4%
40forum1.thdo.bbc.co.uk%3E&find=%3C1108662005-13358.4%
40forum1.thdo.bbc.co.uk%3E&board=science.created&sort=Te
6
blackshadowcouk
Re: Vardy junior?
20/02/2005 23:58:00
--- In BlackShadow@yahoogroups.com, "Peter Foster"
<peterfoster@t...> wrote:
>
> Take a look at the BBC origins board, one of the YEC troll posters
> (six day sam) has said that he is a relative of Peter Vardy.
>
> Sam is not only a YEC, he also thinks that the Sun orbits the
earth!
> Upney or what?
Thanks for those Peter, unfortunately the links got broken so I have
used Tinyurl at www.tinyurl.com to make them more manageable.
Alan.
http://tinyurl.com/5y3k6
Are you referring to the Vardy Foundation? I will have you know that
Sir Peter is actually a relative of mine, and I will not have his
good name defamed in this way on public messageboards
http://tinyurl.com/4uf8a
When I raised the hypothetical possibility that in the future an un-
named creationist organisation might slip money to OFSTED to fail
schools that it was interested in taking over, Six Day Sam got all
defensive about Sir Peter Vardy. I never mentioned him
7
blackshadowcouk
TES
22/02/2005 01:16:00
One very good source of information on the Vardy Foundation is the
Times Education Supplement at:
http://www.tes.co.uk/
For instance: Entering, "Mcquoid" into search box (set to
website) returned 17 good results.
NOTE: Entering, mcquoid returned none! So search case sensitive &
surnames should have initial letter capitalized.
Alan.
8
blackshadowcouk
Database
23/02/2005 00:59:00
The Database - Viewing or adding information.
As anyone who owns a website will know, the process of adding
information to it can be time consuming & tedious. For instance,
text has to be formatted to site requirements, incorporated into the
web page & then published. Sometimes adding an extra category can
require replacing all the main html pages to ensure they reference
it.
This can result in a backlog of information that requires uploading
onto the website. It can be hard to keep organised, which then adds
to the difficulties of retrieval when required.
This situation could be improved by adding an extra step &
organising the information in a database before anything else. Now
you can do this anyway by simply putting things into folders.
However, there are no cross-referencing & search abilities & the
whole process is slow & limited in other ways.
If everything is going to be placed into a database, then this could
also be made available online. It would obviously not have the
finish of a website, but it would be a lot quicker to build & could
be far more extensive. Therefore, one of the aims of the forum is
going to be to complement the Black Shadow & Creationism websites by
making available an online database of extra information.
Obviously, the database will grow faster if more than one person is
contributing information to it. Therefore, another aim of the forum
is to provide a means for individuals interested in opposing
creationism to participate in the information gathering process.
Participants can post information to the forum message section where
it will be transferred to Yahoo Files (See index on left of home
page) where it can then be retrieved if required.
Although Yahoo Files will store data, it expects the reading program
to reside on the computer of whoever is viewing it. This is a
problem, as not everyone is going to have the required software or
version.
The solution is use available free software that they can download
to any Windows based machine, ideally in a file format that makes it
easy to move between different programs (for instance, if a better
the database program becomes available). One program that seems okay
is called, "Table" & is available to download from
www.nonags.com at:
http://download-ecke.de/nonags/orgmisc.html
This will be needed to access the Black Shadow database under Yahoo
Files.
Anyone wanting to contribute information to this or the Black Shadow
& Creationism websites should sign up & simply post links &
articles, etc as new messages. It is not necessary to include a lot
superfluous time wasting chitchat (unless you want to) & simple link
details with maybe a clipping (a segment, say a paragraph, of copied
& pasted text from the article to give an idea of what it is about)
will be suffice. This will then be incorporated into the database.
Program download is a bit hap hazardous but does work. Try from
various server locations.
Have loaded a test file into the file area, will explain details
shortly.
Thanks Alan.
9
blackshadowcouk
File on 4 Transcript
23/02/2005 14:43:00
For those interested in the British Academies/Creationism issue,
this BBC, File on 4 transcript will prove very interesting.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/nol/shared/bsp/hi/pdfs/fileon4_20041123_academi
es.pdf
http://tinyurl.com/4z869
"CARR: They do deal with children from disadvantaged areas.
It's not good enough if they then say, `Well the ones who are
difficult we will simply get rid of.' That becomes a process of
selection post factor. If they are dealing with difficult and
disadvantaged children, it's their responsibility to do that, and
not palm off the most difficult children or the most disadvantaged
children to other schools, because it seems to me that they're
not following their remit in that case."
PDF file. To save, Select Right click & select, Save Target as.
10
blackshadowcouk
National Curriculum & Evolution Controversy
23/02/2005 14:48:00
Recently, someone in another forum asked the following question:
Can anyone throw any more light on this direct quotation from
the Layfield article?
"it is heartening to read in the latest revision of the National
Curriculum that Scientific Enquiry should, at Key Stage 4, include
reference to the controversial character of the Darwinian Theory of
Evolution and the limitations of scientific knowledge in certain
inaccessible contexts."
This was my reply (With a few clarifications):
I can have a quick go, but it gets a bit convoluted.
Creationism as we know it (in contrast to straight biblical
creationism) has been imported lock, stock & barrel from the States;
where it evolved from the original biblical version to Scientific
Creationism (SC), to Intelligent Design & the Wedge Strategy.
It evolved in the face of opposition and will continue to evolve.
Biblical Creationism failed because people laughed at it, SC,
because the science is untenable & the American courts decided the
religious element of the theory broke State/Church separation rules.
ID/wedge is now failing because although it presents as something
that has no reference to religion, it is obvious that this is just a
front for those who do (Ex, Cobb). All individual &
organisations are clearly religious & all individuals have made
statements outlining there true motives. (Ex, W. Dembski). In
addition, some of their strategies & terminology can be linked to
the earlier creationist movements. For example, redefining the
word "theory" so as to make it look like a guess or a hunch,
to undermine the publics perception of the Theory of Evolution. The
terminology they use is commonly referred to as, Teach the
Controversy (TTC) and Critical Thinking (CT). Whenever you hear
these terms, you can be just about 100% sure that they are
the words of a creationist.
What is it about these terms that are so significant? It is this; as
the creationists have met opposition, they have responded by
cloaking (rebranding) their true religious intentions. When SC was
defeated, they started on ID. ID has failed to produce any
scientific work of any value, so stripped of all its religious
overtones & other rhetoric (For example, its Argument from
Incredulity & unsubstantiated claims about Irreducible Complexity)
ID is nothing more than a lot of very negative assertions about
modern science (Ex, claims it is only a theory, TTC & CT) with the
emphasis evolution. In America at present, many of controversies in
schools certainly centre very much on these issues & it is hard to
see much left of ID besides this.
Coming back to what you were on about B, Layfield is actually
referring to the following part of the NC & then twisting the
meaning to try to undermine the theory of evolution as described
above. See
http://www.christian.org.uk/emmanuel11march02.htm
I have used the quote from the relevant piece of the NC (scroll
down, it's in bold) from the Christian Institute website to show
how they & the Vardy Foundation have twisted its meaning as well.
Now this is the important bit, although both Layfield, CI & VF have
misused the wording of the NC document, the simple fact is that they
do not have to try very much, because it is already erroneous. It is
obvious to me that although they have tried to camouflage it a bit,
this quote of the NC look likes the work of someone with creationist
views.
Although there is disagreement between scientists over various
issues within the Theory of Evolution (ToE), there is absolutely no
disagreement over the core principle of the theory itself (That
evolution is such a well established idea, it is considered to be a
fact). And to imply there is, is either the result of extreme
stupidity, extreme dishonesty or both. In my opinion, whoever wrote
the quoted section of the NC, knew what they were doing & although
the statement, "pupils should be taught, how scientific
controversies can arise from different ways of interpreting
empirical evidence" is correct, it is the next bit in the
brackets, i.e. "(for example, Darwin's theory of evolution)",
that is the real killer. Firstly, it is not even grammatically
correct; surely, to make sense and be scientifically correct, it
should have read,"(for example, within Darwin's ToE)".
Note the problem here revolves around the omission of one word
WITHIN.
But that is not all, why of all the theories that could have been
chosen as an example, have they chosen the ToE? There are probably
dozens of theories where the example could have much better applied.
For instance, there is little doubt that the earth is getting
warmer that is the empirical evidence. Whether or not this is
due to human activity or a natural cycle is the scientific
controversy. Therefore, despite having a range of example to choose
from, they chose Evolution.
All of this is very suspicious & the omission of "within",
has allowed the Vardy Foundation, the CI, Layfield & other
creationists the excuse of claiming that they are only doing what
the NC requires! (& to crow about "scientific evidences in
the Creation/Evolution debate").
Hope that is of some help.
11
blackshadowcouk
Dawkins
24/02/2005 13:35:00
Just finished reading, "how things are", which is a
collection of essays from well known scientists. One is from Richard
Dawkins with the title, "good & bad reasons for believing".
As it is only five pages long it occurred to me that it might be on
the internet somewhere. And a quick search has uncovered it at:
http://www.fortunecity.com/emachines/e11/86/dawkins2.html
Quote:
The way scientists use evidence to learn about the world is much
cleverer and more complicated than I can say in a short letter. But
now I want to move on from evidence, which is a good reason for
believing something , and warn you against three bad reasons for
believing anything. They are called "tradition," "authority,"
and "revelation."
12
blackshadowmeuk
Re: Dawkins
24/02/2005 14:07:00
Beyond subotimality: Why irreducible complexity does not imply
intelligent design
http://www.talkreason.org/articles/Suboptimal.cfm
By Mark Perakh
Michael Behe's concept of the irreducible complexity (IC) of
molecular assemblies in biological cells has been touted by
intelligent design (ID) advocates as allegedly strong evidence for
ID. In fact, a concept identical in all but name with Behe's IC has
been around for a long time before Behe. Professional biologists
have overwhelmingly rejected Behe's notion as contrary to the
evidence, showing that irreducibly complex molecular systems could
have evolved via "Darwinian" evolutionary path with a high
likelihood. In this essay Mark Perakh approaches the problem from an
angle different from that utilized by biologists. He argues that the
notion according to which IC implies ID is contrary to logic. IC
systems, by definition, are unreliable, so if they are designed,
this points to an inept designer. Perakh further argues that in this
case we deal not just with the problem of suboptimal design but with
a case where the putative designer delberately designed systems in a
way making them easily vulnerable to accidental damage. Perakh
concludes that if biological systems are indeed IC this more
reasonably can be construed as an argument against inteligent
design.
Uploaded February 24, 2005
13
MB
Re: Dawkins
24/02/2005 15:46:00
Ooho. That's nice.
I'm reading Ernst Mayr's "What Evolution Is" and since I'm not a
scientist, the material is, much of it, new to me. Heck, I never even
studied Biology in HighSchool. :/
Regards,
MB
On Thu, 24 Feb 2005, blackshadowcouk wrote:
> http://www.fortunecity.com/emachines/e11/86/dawkins2.html
14
blackshadowmeuk
Members Area
24/02/2005 20:45:00
In the interest of privacy, the access to the members profile area
has been removed (As suggested).
Thanks Alan.
15
blackshadowcouk
Nutters
26/02/2005 01:21:00
Here is an example of what we are up against in the UK at the
moment; this is the website of a Christian organisation based in
Wales - Bible Theology Ministries.
http://www.christiandoctrine.net/
According to them ( http://tinyurl.com/5nlem in what is clearly a
reference to Northcliffe School) parents who object to their
children being taught creationism, "should simply shut up and not
send them". Such belligerent & intolerant comments in relation to
a state run school would have been inconceivable 5 years ago. And
the only reason that these organisations feel emboldened enough to
make them now, is because they have been encouraged by the
irrational educational policies of the Blair Government.
16
germainsjy@localdial.com
re: Nutters
27/02/2005 00:20:00
A touch of the BNP ?
John G
> ** Original Subject: [BlackShadow] Nutters
> ** Original Sender: "blackshadowcouk" <alan@blackshadow.me.uk>
> ** Original Date: Sat, 26 Feb 2005 01:25:07 +0000
> ** Original Message follows...
>
> Here is an example of what we are up against in the UK at the
> moment; this is the website of a Christian organisation based in
> Wales - Bible Theology Ministries.
>
> http://www.christiandoctrine.net/
>
> According to them ( http://tinyurl.com/5nlem in what is clearly a
> reference to Northcliffe School) parents who object to their
> children being taught creationism, "should simply shut up and not
> send them". Such belligerent & intolerant comments in relation to
> a state run school would have been inconceivable 5 years ago. And
> the only reason that these organisations feel emboldened enough to
> make them now, is because they have been encouraged by the
> irrational educational policies of the Blair Government.
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> Yahoo! Groups Links
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>** --------- End Original Message ----------- **
>
Jersey
British Channel Islands
49Ί11'30"N
02Ί06'12"W
17
blackshadowcouk
Re: Nutters
27/02/2005 14:24:00
--- In BlackShadow@yahoogroups.com, germainsjy@l... wrote:
> A touch of the BNP ?
I would not put it past them!
18
blackshadowcouk
FURL
27/02/2005 14:49:00
One of my aims is to build a comprehensive database of information
on creationism. This will be an integral part of the forum, allowing
members not only to access its contents but also to contribute
information. Furthermore, it will also be accessible by non-members
who wish to find information.
After some thought I have decided to use FURL, a free program that
allows users to store URLs & webpage details. These are stored on a
remote server that can be viewed, searched & sorted by anyone. In
addition users can add their own comments & even select a clipping
(a segment of text or a quote from the webpage) which can be viewed
in the displayed search results.
Members wishing to contribute information can do so by posting
material to the forum where I will add it into FURL.
There is a data limit of 5 GB, which should be sufficient.
On of the most useful features is the ability to add keywords. These
can be sorted & can be an excellent way of extracting information.
For instance if you are looking for articles by Dawkins, then this
could be found by entering the keyword, bydawkins (Caps ignored
see keywords List) & would ignore articles, "about Dawkins"
(which are likely to be far more numerous)
Of course, the usefulness of this facility very much depends on how
extensively & intelligently the keywords are used in the first place
(requiring the added webpage being scanned for likely keywords) but
with a bit of effort the results could be worth while.
ACCESSING & USING FURL.
Go to: www.furl.net/members/bsgroup
The database can be searched using normal search engine procedures
or set to search keywords.
To Search Keywords Set search to keywords in the search
box enter "keywords: <keyword>" (without quotation marks) for
single word or "keywords:(keyword A keyword B) for A & B.
Example. Keywords:dawkins returns all matches to articles containing
significant information about or by Dawkins.
Keywords:(BYdawkins Q) returns articles that are by
Dawkins & contains quotes (which he probably made about someone
else).
Keywords:(dawkins Q) returns articles etc containing
significant information about or by Dawkins & contains decent
quotes. These quotes may not necessarily by Dawkins but they well
could be.
Keyword search can also employ other logical operations to enhance
search See FURL help file for details.
Sample Keywords List: Please check Keywords List For
latest update.
* * = Returns information on
Emmanuel Vardy Foundation
Emm " "
Vardy " "
Book Books or book reviews.
Q (For quote) Page contains quotes made by a person.
OC Article containing Out of Context quote(s) made by
creationist.
<Name> Articles or books significantly about or by named
person.
<BYName> Articles, books or websites by named person.
Creationist Articles, books about or containing significant
information on ANY creationist. (or their websites).
Anti as above but on ANY anti-creationist.
CD Creation Debunk message.
BS Black Shadow message.
ID Books or articles significantly about Intelligent Design.
IC Article significantly about Irreducible Complexity.
< Name of school > article significantly about named school.
Debate articles containing debates between Cs & anti-Cs.
Debunk Article & books significantly debunking creationist
claims.
BTTC - Articles specifically referring to British TTC.
Note: Keywords Byname & Name may seem a bit arbitrary; however, it
is extremely useful to be able to locate information written by a
person without having to wade through vast numbers of search results
about them. Name is catch-all.
Furl categories:
Bsgroup Main files.
Keywords A link to the latest keywords.
Interesting Articles that I have viewed at sometime of general
interest.
19
blackshadowcouk
KEYWORD LIST
27/02/2005 14:57:00
KEYWORD LIST (27 Jan 05)
* * = Returns information on
Emmanuel Vardy Foundation
Emm " "
Vardy " "
Book Books or book reviews.
Q (For quote) Page contains quotes made by a person.
OC Article containing Out of Context quote(s) made by
creationist.
<Name> Articles or books significantly about or by named person.
<BYName> Articles, books or websites by named person.
Creationist Articles, books about or containing significant
information on ANY creationist. (or their websites).
Anti as above but on ANY anti-creationist.
CD Creation Debunk message.
BS Black Shadow message.
ID Books or articles significantly about Intelligent Design.
IC Article significantly about Irreducible Complexity.
< Name of school > article significantly about named school.
Debate articles containing debates between Cs & anti-Cs.
Debunk Article & books significantly debunking creationist
claims.
BTTC - Articles specifically referring to British TTC.
20
Peter Foster
A couple of links for you
01/03/2005 19:09:00
http://www.the-scientist.com/2005/2/28/6/1
http://www.guardian.co.uk/international/story/0,,1407171,00.html
21
Mikey Brass
[Fwd: CSICOP Online: Polling Opinion about Evolution]
01/03/2005 20:15:00
-------- Original Message --------
Subject: CSICOP Online: Polling Opinion about Evolution
Date: Tue, 1 Mar 2005 11:11:31 EST
From: Barry Karr
Reply-To: CSICOP Announcement <CSICOP-ANNOUNCE@LISTSERV.AOL.COM>
To: CSICOP-ANNOUNCE@LISTSERV.AOL.COM
Science and the Media logo <http://www.csicop.org/scienceandmedia/>
Polling Opinion about Evolution:
Low Information Public Underscores Importance of Communication Strategy
Matthew Nisbet
March 1, 2005
Tensions in American society over religious and scientific accounts of
human origins are centuries old, and the divide between the two
contending worldviews continues today as part of a growing political
conflict over science education standards. At the local, state, and
national level, religiously-motivated activists are working to change
curriculum standards to allow for divine accounts of human origins,
while teachers, parents, lawyers, and scientists labor to defend
existing science-based standards.
The ongoing political struggle has been catapulted sporadically by the
media into the wider public eye, usually in reaction to proposed changes
that have reached some kind of institutional agenda, such as the
decision in 1999 by the Kansas State Board of Education to eliminate
Darwinian evolution from the state curriculum. More recently, the Kansas
controversy has been followed with efforts in Georgia, Ohio,
Pennsylvania, Texas, and other states to include evolution βdisclaimersβ�
in textbooks, or mandate that so-called alternative theories to
evolution be discussed by teachers. (For more, see the newly launched
CreationWatch <http://www.csicop.org/creationwatch/> site).
These efforts are spearheaded by the intelligent design (ID) movement, a
well-coordinated coalition of lawyers, theologians, philosophers,
elected officials, and maverick scientists who contend that evolutionary
theory is riddled with holes, and that in order to explain the
complexity of life and the universe, some type of supernatural force
must be at work. More savvy and politically sophisticated than
traditional young earth creationists, the key target of the ID movement
is the public. Via books, magazine articles, videos, public speeches,
direct mail campaigns, Web sites, and media appearances, the ID movement
seeks to mold public opinion, building political pressure on elected
officials to amend science education standards to include ID as an
alternative to Darwinian evolution (For more on the ID movement, see
here <http://www.csicop.org/doubtandabout/>).
To Read More of This Column
Visit: http://www.csicop.org/scienceandmedia/evolution/
Please do not respond to the listserv. Comments on the column should be
address to Matt Nisbet at nisbetmc@gmail.com <nisbetmc@gmail.com>
<nisbetmc@yahoo.com>
Other comments should be addressed to: skeptinq@aol.com
<skeptinq@aol.com>
22
blackshadowcouk
Re: A couple of links for you
02/03/2005 23:54:00
--- In BlackShadow@yahoogroups.com, "Peter Foster"
<peterfoster@t...> wrote:
>
> http://www.the-scientist.com/2005/2/28/6/1
>
> http://www.guardian.co.uk/international/story/0,,1407171,00.html
Thanks Peter,
I have added the Guardian article to FURL, but I will not be adding,
The Scientist, URL (but by all means post them if you think they are
going to be of interest to members) as I have found when I go back
to check on articles, I often get a subscription page come up. I
think they are only free to view for a certain length of time.
Alan.
23
blackshadowcouk
Latest Keywords
03/03/2005 00:08:00
The latest keyword list (2 Mar 05) is this:
<Name> Articles or books significantly about named person.
<BYName> Articles, books or websites by named person.
<School> Article or books significantly about a named school
Q (For quote) Page contains quotes made by a person.
CD Creation Debunk message.
BS Black Shadow message.
Above is a revised keyword list. This has taken longer to sort out
than first thought because I keep thinking of alterations. The
method used may seem a bit arbitrary, but this simply reflects the
fact that there is no one perfect solution. There are probably
better ones, but also many more worse ones (I hope!).
For locating entries, I have decided to settle on a method that uses
a combination of keywords & topics.
I was hoping to avoid using topics on the basis that the topics list
would quickly become unwieldy as the number of entries grew.
However, it is such a useful feature that it would be silly not to
use it. It is even possible to assign multiple topic entries to a
URL, thus a newspaper report about The Vardy Foundation could be
filed under topics, "press report" & "Vardy
Foundation".
Also by using some topics (which are displayed), the number of
keywords required & which have to be memorised is reduced. This
leaves a much more compact set of keywords that deal with things
that would quickly bloat out a topic list, such as people's names.
It is important to get this right before adding content to FURL as
the experiment with the 40 odd entries presently uploaded clearly
shows. This is because the keywords/topics are added with the entry
& any changes then have to be applied by individually examining
every last one, which as there is going to be thousands of them, is
clearly impractical.
There is no need for a list of topics as these can be found on the
FURL page.
This is stored in files as a WordPad document.
FURL topic Keywords contains a link to the latest keywords.
24
blackshadowcouk
The Great "I AM" vs. Darwin''s Theory of Evolution
03/03/2005 00:57:00
http://www.opinioneditorials.com/freedomwriters/balba_20050226.html
Today's so-called evolutionary scientists believe humans are
evolving into something better. This is contrary to the Second Law
of Thermodynamics which states "everything moves from a state of
order to chaos." No exceptions.
25
blackshadowcouk
Dover - BBC Radio 4
03/03/2005 13:54:00
Crossing Continents |BBC R4
(After a minute or so of news)
The town of Dover in rural Pennsylvania, and its population
of 1800, has never been the sort of place to attract attention.
But the eyes of the world are now firmly on this small town
after its High School became the first in America for several
generations to introduce creationism into its science curriculum
as an alternative to evolution.
The move is part of a radical new agenda being promoted by an
increasingly confident Christian Right, buoyed by its crucial
role in re-electing President Bush on the dominant issue of
"moral values".
In this week's Crossing Continents, Marvin Rees travels to
Pennsylvania and Virginia to look at how state education has
become a focal point in the battle for the heart and soul of
Middle America.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/crossing_continents/4292303.stm
http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/news/ram/crossing.ram
"In history whenever state and religion become one, there is a
problem."
With thanks from Adam over at the NSS group.
26
Mikey Brass
Scott to be honored by OSU, the latest in Cobb County, bills die in MS and
MT, Nisbet on polling about evolution
04/03/2005 21:21:00
-------- Original Message --------
Subject: [ncse-news] Evolution education update: Scott to be honored by
OSU, the latest in Cobb County, bills die in MS and MT, Nisbet on
polling about evolution
Date: Fri, 04 Mar 2005 11:24:48 -0800
From: Glenn Branch <branch@ncseweb.org>
Reply-To: owner-ncse-news@ncseweb.org
To: ncse-news@ncseweb2.org
Dear Friends of NCSE,
Honors are in store for Eugenie C. Scott in the Buckeye State, while in
Cobb County, Georgia, Judge Cooper orders the removal of the evolution
warning labels and the prospects of mediation are bleak. In Mississippi,
the "equal time" for creation science bill dies in committee, and in
Montana, the dueling evolution bills quietly disappear. Finally, Matthew
Nisbet contemplates polls about the creationism/evolution controversy.
SCOTT TO BE HONORED BY OSU
On March 2, 2005, The Ohio State University announced that NCSE's executive
director Eugenie C. Scott will receive an honorary Doctor of Science degree
at the university's winter quarter commencement on March 20, where she
will also deliver the commencement address. OSU's press release describes
Scott as "considered one of the most active and articulate proponents for
scientific literacy in the country ... nationally recognized as a proponent
of the separation of church and state ... [and an] internationally
recognized expert on the creation/evolution controversy." Scott comments,
"I am proud to be so honored by one of the leading universities in the
country, and I hope, in my address, to inspire Ohioans to continue fighting
for quality science education in their state." The honorary degree will be
Scott's second; she received an honorary Doctor of Science degree from
McGill University in 2003.
To read OSU's press release, visit:
http://www.osu.edu/news/lvl2_news_story.php?id=1040
THE LATEST IN COBB COUNTY
Two developments in Cobb County, Georgia, where the evolution warning
labels mandated by the board of education were ruled unconstitutional in
January 2005. First, despite the fact that the board of education is
appealing the ruling, U.S. District Court Judge Clarence Cooper refused to
stay his order that the labels be removed until the 11th Circuit Court of
Appeals hears the case. He agreed, however, to allow the labels to be
removed during the summer, rather than immediately, because of the amount
of time and staff needed to process the large number of books
involved. Second, on March 1, 2005, attorneys for the opposing parties met
for a mediation session ordered by the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals to try
to settle the case. None of the attorneys involved would comment, citing
the confidentiality of the mediation process, but no further sessions are
scheduled. Michael Manely, the Marietta, Georgia, lawyer who represented
the plaintiffs at trial, was skeptical that mediation would succeed: "I
really think it's a terrible waste of time unless one or both sides cave,
and we've been fighting too long to stop fighting now."
To read a story on these developments in the Marietta Daily Journal, visit:
http://www.mdjonline.com/articles/2005/03/02/89/10174995.txt
MS BILL DIES
According to the Mississippi legislature's web site, Senate Bill 2886 died
in committee on February 1, 2005. Introduced by Senator Gary Jackson, who
represents the 15th Senate District, SB 2286 defined "scientific
creationism" as "the belief, based on scientific principles, that there was
a time in the past when all matter, energy and life, and their processes
and relationships, were created ex nihilo and fixed by creative and
intelligent design," and would have, if enacted, required "instruction in
scientific theories of both evolution and scientific creationism if public
schools choose to teach either." Only K-12 instruction would have been
affected by the bill. In both its title and in particular choices of
phrasing, SB 2286 seems to have been modeled on Louisiana's "Balanced
Treatment for Creation-Science and Evolution-Science in Public School
Instruction," which was held to be unconstitutional in the Supreme Court's
1987 decision in Edwards v. Aguillard.
To view SB 2286 and its status, visit:
http://billstatus.ls.state.ms.us/2005/html/history/SB/SB2286.htm
MT BILLS DIE
The two dueling bills in the Montana legislature -- SJ 8, which would have
expressed the legislature's support for local science curricula based on
sound science and its opposition to the imposition of "religious
interpretations of events and phenomena on local schools under the guise of
science curricula, and LC 1199, which was described as giving "schools more
leeway to teach 'intelligent design' in science classrooms" -- are now
effectively dead, since the deadline for bills to pass in their house of
origin was March 1. SJ 8 was introduced by Senator Ken Toole (D-Helena) on
January 7, 2005, and referred to the Education and Cultural Resources
Committee, which never took a vote on it. LC 1199 was never formally
introduced: on November 11, 2004, Representative Roger Koopman (R-Bozeman)
submitted a request for a bill to be drafted with the title "Allow teaching
competing theories of origin," but the bill never reached the floor of the
House of Representatives.
For information on bills in the Montana legislature, visit:
http://laws.leg.state.mt.us/pls/laws05/law0203w$.startup
NISBET ON POLLING ABOUT EVOLUTION
In a March 1, 2005, "Science and the media" column on the CSICOP web site,
Matthew Nisbet provides a thorough and thoughtful review of the results of
public opinion polls concerning issues in the creationism/evolution
controversy. "Not surprisingly," he writes, "poll results indicate a 'low
information' public when it comes to both the science and the politics
involved." As a result, "[f]ew citizens possess both the motivation and
the ability to understand the science and politics behind the
evolution-creation controversy, and to actively deliberate the merits of
proposed policies." Recommending that the scientific community engage in a
full-scale national advertising and media campaign to counter
antievolutionism, he warns that otherwise, "if the scientific community is
silent ..., while the ID movement carries on with its media outreach
efforts and closed door political maneuverings, then the threat to science
education standards is likely to only grow." Nisbet is Assistant Professor
in the School of Journalism and Communication at The Ohio State University.
To read Nisbet's column on the CSICOP web site, visit:
http://www.csicop.org/scienceandmedia/evolution/
Thanks for reading! And as always, be sure to consult NCSE's web site:
http://www.ncseweb.org
where you can always find the latest news on evolution education and
threats to it.
Sincerely,
Glenn Branch
Deputy Director
National Center for Science Education, Inc.
420 40th Street, Suite 2
Oakland, CA 94609-2509
510-601-7203 x305
fax: 510-601-7204
800-290-6006
branch@ncseweb.org
http://www.ncseweb.org
Eugenie C. Scott's Evolution vs. Creationism is now available:
http://www.ncseweb.org/evc
--
Mikey Brass
MA in Archaeology
"The Antiquity of Man" http://www.antiquityofman.com
Book: "The Antiquity of Man: Artifactual, fossil and gene records explored"
- !ke e: /xarra //ke
("Diverse people unite": Motto of the South African Coat of Arms, 2002)
27
blackshadowmeuk
Three essays from R. Dawkins
05/03/2005 21:32:00
3 essays from Richard Dawkins. (from Debunk Creation)
http://tinyurl.com/6zuc9
http://tinyurl.com/4j8tf
http://tinyurl.com/6f9xd
28
Adam Tjaavk
ID: Creationisms Trojan Horse
06/03/2005 00:23:00
Intelligent Design: Creationism's Trojan Horse
A Conversation With Barbara Forrest
Americans United
Barbara Forrest, a professor of philosophy at Southeastern
Louisiana University in Hammond, La., is co-author of the new
book Creationism's Trojan Horse: The Wedge of Intelligent
Design (Oxford University Press). Written with Paul R. Gross,
who holds a Ph.D. in general physiology, the book explains the
Religious Right's strategy for working "intelligent design"
creationism into America's public schools.
http://www.au.org/site/PageServer?pagename=cs_2005_02_special
_____________________________
octoTerpsichorean impetus >8<
purveyor of pointers to the perspicacious and preposterous
29
Adam Tjaavk
Teaching the controversy
06/03/2005 01:20:00
Creationism, pluralism and the compromising of science
The trouble with 'teaching the controversy'.
Joe Kaplinsky |Spiked
The rise of creationism in the USA is taken as
evidence that fundamentalist Christianity has become a
powerful force in society. But scepticism towards science
does not just come from traditional Christianity. Liberal
relativism has been important in creating a climate in
which creationism is tolerated.
Scientific theories have to prove their worth by surviving
the scrutiny of professional scientists. It is only then that
they can be taught as science. Intelligent design doesn't
deserve special treatment.
http://www.spiked-online.com/Articles/0000000CA910.htm
_____________________________
octoTerpsichorean impetus >8<
purveyor of pointers to the perspicacious and preposterous
30
blackshadowcouk
Dover Press Release
07/03/2005 01:35:00
Members here will probably be interested in recent events over at
the Debunk Creation group.
In the middle of last year, Dover Area School Board, Pennsylvania
voted to allow Intelligent Design Creationism into the biology
classes. The case is complicated & protracted, but one of the
central issues revolves around the donation by an unidentified
individual or organisation of 60 copies of the IDC book, Of Pandas &
People that was to be used as, "supplementary material" to
get around the rules banning such books.
Although this dispute is far from resolved, (the creationists can
only lose) I & other members at Debunk Creation decided to send some
books of our own. These were all different books on evolution from
authors such as Miller, Dawkins etc & a couple on cosmology. I sent
my hardback copy of Hawking's, Universe in a Nutshell. The total
number of books collected was 20.
The aim of this exercise is generate some publicity for those
opposing creationism. The creationists always seem to be getting all
the attention & hopefully this action will go a little way to
correcting the imbalance.
The books have come from around the world, America, Canada, Ireland,
England, Africa, & been collected together in America where on
Friday they were packaged up & posted off with the American
equivalent of recorded delivery, guaranteed to arrive at the school
no later than 10.30 AM Monday morning.
There is to be a Press Release coinciding with this.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
International Email List Donates Science Books to Anti-Evolution
School District
An international email group that focuses on opposing the teaching of
intelligent design creationism as science is donating twenty science
books to the Dover High School Library in Dover, Pennsylvania. Dover
became the scene of a legal fight after supporters of "intelligent
design theory" attempted to insert their viewpoint into science
classes. Among the books being donated are "What Evolution Is" by
evolutionary biologist Ernst Mayr, "Intelligent Design Creationism
and Its Critics" by Robert Pennock, and "Finding Darwin's God" by
biologist Kenneth R Miller.
The members of the DebunkCreation email list at Yahoogroups, from the
United States, the United Kingdom, South Africa, Canada, Australia
and Sweden, say they were motivated by reports that an "anonymous
donor" gave fifty copies of the intelligent design textbook "Of
Pandas and People" to the school district. "We wanted students in
Dover to have access to accurate information about science, about
evolutionary biology, and about the real agenda of the intelligent
design movement," says list founder Lenny Flank, a freelance writer
from St Petersburg, Florida.
The battle cry of the intelligent design movement has been to "teach
the controversy", but in reality, say list members, there is no
scientific controversy over evolution. Michael Brass, a professional
archaeologist in London and author of "The Antiquity of Man", one of
the anti-creationist books being donated, points out, "Recent reviews
of the available anatomical and genetic evidence have convincingly
re-
affirmed yet again the theory that apes and anatomically modern
humans share a common ancestry. There is no controversy, amongst
palaeoanthropologists and archaeologists over the validity of
evolutionary processes in human evolution." Rather than being
science, Brass says, intelligent design and creationist advocates
"take their religious text as their starting point and attempt to
force-fit the data into their religious paradigm." Brass concludes,
"Creationist works, and those who support such efforts, have no basis
whatsoever in any scientific procedure and basic plain scientific
reality."
The Discovery Institute, the primary force behind the intelligent
design movement, goes to great lengths to claim that it has no
ulterior religious motives. But Flank points to the 'Wedge
Document', an internal Discovery Institute document that was leaked
onto the Internet a few years ago. Under the heading 'Governing
Goals', the Wedge Document states, "To replace materialistic
explanations with the theistic understanding that nature and human
beings are created by God." The primary financial backer of the
Discovery Institute is California S&L mogul Howard Ahmanson, a
supporter of the "Christian Reconstructionist" movement, which
advocates placing the United States under "Biblical law". "It
certainly sounds to me," Flank concludes, "as if the Discovery
Institute and its financial backers want to do exactly what the
Supreme Court has already ruled they cannot do --- use the public
schools to advance their religious opinions."
List members from Canada, the UK, Australia and elsewhere point out
that they too have a stake in fighting creationism. "It seems almost
unbelievable that the UK Government should be giving religious
extremists control of our schools and then allowing them to corrupt
the teaching of science," says Alan Bellis, an anti-creationist
organizer in Great Britain. "Yet it is actually happening." The
Emmanuel Schools Foundation (Vardy Foundation), which operates three
schools in the north of England and plans to open four more, has made
no secret of its plans to teach creationism. "Fortunately," says
Bellis, "resistance against them is slowly growing and only recently,
a concerted campaign by protesting parents halted the takeover of a
school near Doncaster."
The DebunkCreation email list, formed in 1999 and currently with over
400 members, is found at Yahoogroups.com.
CONTACTS:
Lenny Flank: lflank@i...
Mikey Brass: mike@a...
Alan Bellis: alan@b...
31
Adam Tjaavk
Review |Paley''s New Clothes
07/03/2005 22:36:00
God, the Devil, and Darwin by Niall Shanks.
Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2004
Sean J. Cunningham, Department of Sociology
University of Washington Seattle
Wa. 98195, USA
Evolutionary Psychology 2: 195-199
http://human-nature.com/ep/printable/ep02195199.html
_____________________________
octoTerpsichorean impetus >8<
purveyor of pointers to the perspicacious and preposterous
32
blackshadowcouk
Some Thoughts on Dover & ID Creationism.
08/03/2005 00:13:00
Lenny Flank talking about Dover & ID creationism earlier
tonight at Debunk Creation.
"The more they say, the more they help us
demonstrate that ID is a religious crusade coupled
with a dishonest evasive attempt to hide that fact --
nothing more, nothing less, nothing else."
Back in 1982, when I was organizing to fight
creationists in Pennsylvania, one of the most
effective tactics that I found was to strip away the
holy mantle of godliness that the creationists always
try to wrap themselves in. While the
creationists/IDers are arrogant and self-righteous
enough to presume to speak on behalf of all
Christians, the fact remains that they are just a tiny
lunatic fringe within Christianity, and most religious
organizations think the IDers are just as nutty as
everyone else does. So I was happy to see, on the
Dover CARES website, this note:
"Warren M. Eshbach, a long time resident and
member of the Dover community, a retired Church of
the Brethren minister, and an adjunct professor at
the Lutheran Theological Seminary, Gettysburg,
serves as the spokesperson for Dover C.A.R.E.S."
The IDers claim, under oath, in court, that they are
all about SCIENCE and have NO religious aims,
purpose, goals or intent. Naturally, we ALL know
they are just lying to us when they claim this. I
learned long ago that fundamentalists are their own
worst enemies. The IDers have a deep-seated need
to "witness", and tell all and sundry how holy they
are and what wonderful warriors for the lord they are
(just take a look at Thompson's speech at
Elizabethtown). I say, let them talk. Encourage
them. The more they say, the more they help us
demonstrate that ID is a religious crusade coupled
with a dishonest evasive attempt to hide that fact --
nothing more, nothing less, nothing else. I've found
that an IDer can't talk for more than ten minutes
without metaphorically shooting himself in the head
by preaching all about his religious opinions.
Thompson couldn't. Johnson can't. My prediction is
that NONE of the ID luminaries will be called to the
witness stand in Dover -- not only can none of them
speak four paragraphs without preaching their
religious opinions, but ALL of them have extensive
written records that detail the fact that they
themselves view intelligent design "theory" as an
apologetic and nothing more. Just as in the 1982
Arkansas case, they will bring unknown minor
minions to the stand instead, who have no such
written record.
This list has existed for six years. During that time,
we have had literally hundreds of creationists/IDers
come in here. Every single one of them is always
asked the same question -- "what is the scientific
theory of creation/ID and how do we test it using the
scientific method". In all those years, none -- not a
single solitary one -- has ever given any intelligible
answer to that simple question. Most don't even
TRY. But ALL of them -- every single solitary one --
have wanted to tell us all about their religious
opinions.
That simple fact makes it crushingly clear what ID is
all about.
In my years of creationist/ID fighting, I have found
that only a handful of questions are enough to upset
their entire apple cart. The first, and most direct, is
simply: "what is the scientific theory of creation or
ID, and how do we test it using the scientific
method?" That one cuts straight to the heart of the
entire matter. IDers keep waving their arms and
telling us all about their wonderful "alternative
scientific theory" that they want taught, but for some
unfathomable reason, none of them wants to tell us
WHAT THE HELL THIS THEORY SAYS. What is it,
specifically, they think the designer did. They don't
know. What mechanisms do they propose the
deisgner used to do whatever the heck it is they
think it did. They don't know that either. Did the
designer produce a bacterial flagellum by
manipulating its DNA? By supergluing it onto a poor
unsuspecting bacterium's butt? By using their Super
Duper Flagellum Gun to zap it into place? They
can't tell us. Where can we see any of these "non-
naturalistic mechanisms", that IDers keep
complaining that science won't pay any attention to,
in operation today. Beats the heck out of them
<shrug>. Did humans, according to ID, evolve from
apelike primates. Yes. Or maybe not. They don't
know. How old, according to ID "theory", is the
earth and the universe. Billions of years. Or, maybe
it's just thousands of years. They, uh, don't know.
Does ID have any scientific research programs to
propose that would be able to answer any of these
questions within the framework of their, uh, "theory"?
Nope.
It seems to me as if ID "theory" consists of nothing
more than "an unknown something did an unknown
thing at an unknown time using unknown methods",
and their entire argument for teaching ID boils down
to (1) we think there is a designer, (2) we don't know
what it is, (3) we don't know what it does, (4) we
don't know how it does it, and (5) we don't know how
to go about answering any of these questions, but
(6) we want you to teach about it anyway.
How the heck do they propose teaching THAT in a
school classroom?
Recently, the Discovery Institute has been
bullshitting us with some patter about how ID is a
"new science" and "can't get funding for its
research". Huh? "New?" Paley's "watchmaker"
was published over ***200 years ago***. In the
space of **two centuries**, IDers have not been able
to come up with ONE testible statement about the
natural world. Not a single solitary one. As for
funding, they take in several million a year. Maybe
they should use some of THAT money for their,
uh,"scientific research", instead of using it for
political campaigns to force their nonexistent, uh,
"theory" into classrooms. But then, they are quite
unable to propose any potential scientific research
program based on "design theory", anyway. It is
indeed rather tough to get funding when one isn't
able to propose any project FOR funding. <shrug>
We need to make clear to people one simple fact ----
there **IS NO** scientific theory of intelligent design.
Period. ID consists, in its entirety, of various
unrelated random (and utterly vacuous) attacks on
various aspects of evolutionary biology -- attacks
about which **even the IDers** can't agree (Behe
says humans evolved from primates, other IDers
disagree; Johnson says the earth is only 6,000 years
old; other IDers disagree).
Want to see the IDers make idiots of themselves?
Get them on a witness stand and ask them the
simple question "What *IS* the scientific theory of
intelligent design, and how do we test it using the
scientific method?" They will be floundering in no
time. They don't HAVE any scientific theory, and
they know it just as well as we do.
And that is enough, right there, to get them tossed
out of court on their holy little asses.
33
blackshadowmeuk
Hand of God.
08/03/2005 23:51:00
This is brilliant!
Idea, Phil Schuster - artwork Brian van der Spuy
34
blackshadowcouk
Hitler''s Religion.
09/03/2005 01:11:00
Hitler's religion.
Although this is from another list, the issue of Hitler's beliefs
sometimes pops up in debates with creationists and is therefore
relevant here.
http://thescotsman.scotsman.com/letters.cfm?id=252472005
Hitler was no Christian
As an undergraduate I had the privilege of studying the Weimar
Republic and Nazi Germany at Edinburgh University. It was,
therefore, something of a surprise to read Dr Stephen Moreton
asserting that Hitler was a Catholic who found Christianity useful
(Letters 4 March). Anyone who is familiar with Hitler's writings
and actions knows that he hated Christianity and despised the
Church.
He did not attend Church, did not profess belief in Jesus and
regarded the Church as a rival to his own position. He was heavily
influenced by the "God is dead" philosophy of Freidrich Nietzsche.
I realise that in this postmodern age the study and use of history
are often reduced to blatant propaganda, but the notion that Hitler
was a practising Christian, or even that he found
Christianity "useful" takes some beating.
It is a case of special and desperate pleading that could be
entertained only by the historically illiterate.
Perhaps Dr Moreton would now like to suggest that some of the other
great atheistic dictators of the 20th century - Stalin, Mao and Pol
Pot - were really closet Christians.
DAVID A ROBERTSON
Shamrock Street
Dundee
This is in response to:
http://thescotsman.scotsman.com/letters.cfm?id=236922005
Hitler and the Church
What makes Fraser Nelson (Opinion, 2 March) think Hitler hated
Christianity? Like most Nazis, he was a Catholic. On coming to power
in 1933, he signed a concordat with the Vatican, and he toed the
Vatican line on most aspects of sexual morality, at least for
Aryans.
Mein Kampf contains many references to God; the Nazi party enjoyed
the support of Catholic and Lutheran churches; and Christianity's
traditional anti-Semitism fuelled his own.
Far from hating Christianity, Hitler found it very useful.
(DR) STEPHEN MORETON
Marina Avenue
Great Sankey, Cheshire
Which was written in reply to this:
http://thescotsman.scotsman.com/opinion.cfm?id=229972005
Which is some puke written by a moron who thinks it is clever to
suffer for the sheer hell of it, rather than doing something about
it. The pope may think Parkinson's disease is cool, but then he
has access to the best medical treatment & all the help he could
possibly want. For most people this is not the case, and for many
people who need to work to support themselves or their families this
is the last thing they need.
Anyway, this was my reply to DAVID A ROBERTSON, e-mailed off tonight:
Sir
In contrast to David A Roberts thinly veiled argument by authority,
anyone with internet access can quickly find many articles on
Hitler's religious beliefs. These clearly show that although he
may not have attended Church regularly & even had occasional
fallouts with the Church, he was nevertheless a Christian & not an
atheist.
There is an old saying that, "people in glasshouses should not
throw stones". This is something David A Roberts would do well to
remember the next time he viciously attacks the reputation of
someone whose opinions he disagrees with. Because if anyone
is, "historically illiterate" or, "reduced to blatant
propaganda" then it is clearly he.
Finally, with reference to, "atheistic dictators of the 20th
Century", it is a thoroughly disreputable tactic to attack a
person by attributing to them arguments they have not made & then
ridiculing those arguments. Perhaps in future he would be well
advised to stick to the facts, rather than just making them up as he
goes along.
Alan B.
35
Peter Foster
Re: Hitler''s Religion.
09/03/2005 18:34:00
You can find more about Hitler and the church, together with lots
more interesting stuff here:
http://www.evilbible.com/hitler_was_christian.htm
Peter.
36
blackshadowcouk
Re: Hitler''s Religion.
09/03/2005 23:00:00
--- In BlackShadow@yahoogroups.com, "Peter Foster"
<peterfoster@t...> wrote:
>
> You can find more about Hitler and the church, together with lots
> more interesting stuff here:
>
> http://www.evilbible.com/hitler_was_christian.htm
Thanks Peter,
Incidentally, this reply also against Dr Stephen Moreton, appeared
in today's, The Scotsman:
http://thescotsman.scotsman.com/letters.cfm?id=258202005
Dr Stephen Moreton states (Letters, 4 March), "like most Nazis
[Hitler] was a Catholic." Hitler gave up Catholicism as a teenager,
and in Hitler's Germany, two-thirds of the population was
Protestant. In the 1933 elections, when the Nazis came to power, it
was in the Catholic provinces that the majority of the electorate
rejected Nazi candidates. In Hitler's Reich, the persecution of
the Christian churches was progressive, systematic and relentless.
Rosenberg's 30-point programme for a "National Reich Church"
states: "The National Church is determined to exterminate
irrevocably the Christian faiths."
Under the Third Reich, thousands of Catholic priests, Protestant
pastors, laymen and women were incarcerated; many were executed.
Catholic schools were closed and the Catholic press was suppressed.
In 1937 Pope Pius XI publicly denounced Nazism.
As for the 1933 Concordat with the Vatican, the Nazis by 1939 had
broken it more than 1,000 times, but were too astute to renounce it.
The Nazi propaganda machine ensured that millions of German
Christians lived under and served the Third Reich without realising
the destiny their Fuhrer held in store for their faith.
(REV) JOSEPH CAIRNS
Carntyne Road,
Glasgow
37
Adam Tjaavk
City Academies |You & Yours |BBC R4
10/03/2005 19:34:00
For the past two years the government has been
experimenting with a new management structure
for failing schools, transforming them into
City Academies. Does the evidence so far
justify the government's faith in this
experiment? We hear from Mike Baker, BBC's
education correspondent, Eddie Brady, former
Head of Unity City Academy in Middlesborough[!sp],
Philip O'Heare, Principle[!sp] of Capital City Academy
in Brent and Paul Holmes, Liberal Democrat MP and member
of the Education Select Committee
start 26:15
http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/youandyours/index_20050310.shtml
_____________________________
octoTerpsichorean impetus >8<
purveyor of pointers to the perspicacious and preposterous
38
Peter Foster
letter from Bruce Alberts
10/03/2005 21:33:00
On the Kiteman blog:
http://www.min-data.co.uk/?page=blog_view&blog=Kiteman
There is a copy of a letter from Bruce Alberts(president, National
Academy of Science), about creationism and ID which is being sent to
science educators round the USA.
There is also a discussion on the topic in the comments on the blog
which may be of interest.
If you wish to add comments you will have to regester with min-data.
39
Adam Tjaavk
The Ancestor''s Tale
12/03/2005 02:15:00
Review |The Ancestor's Tale:
A Pilgrimage to the Dawn of
Evolution. Richard Dawkins.
Susan Lumpkin |ZooGoer
http://nationalzoo.si.edu/Publications/ZooGoer/2005/2/books34_2.cfm
_____________________________
octoTerpsichorean impetus >8<
purveyor of pointers to the perspicacious and preposterous
40
blackshadowcouk
Jobs cut at King''s.
12/03/2005 11:55:00
Teacher jobs are axed at school (9 March 05)
http://icteesside.icnetwork.co.uk/0100news/0001head/tm_objectid=15275
124%26method=full%26siteid=50080-name_page.html
http://tinyurl.com/4x64d
Jobs have been axed at a new Teesside school as it attempts to make
cash savings.
Teachers and support staff at the King's Academy in Coulby Newham
were given a deadline of the end of last week to take voluntary
redundancy and early retirement.
The school is refusing to reveal how many jobs have gone but the
Evening Gazette understands it needed to get rid of nine, including
two from the vice-principal's department.
The school said enough staff have agreed to take packages offered to
avoid the need for compulsory redundancies.
Bosses said the savings were needed because it would lose £125,000
it receives from the Government when the School Leadership Incentive
Grant scheme comes to an end.
Schools in Middlesbrough, Hartlepool, Stockton and Redcar and
Cleveland receive the grant through the Excellence in Cities scheme -
a targeted programme of support for schools in deprived areas.
The money, given over three years, beginning in 2003, is intended to
help strengthen leadership and enhance teaching and learning.
This is the second time this year staff at the school have lost
jobs. Eight lunchtime supervisors were made redundant last month.
Last month it was announced ten jobs would be going at
Middlesbrough's other academy, Unity City Academy, which is trying
to balance its books as a result of a £500,000 year-on-year
overspend.
Unions have been holding discussions with bosses at King's Academy
on behalf of their members.
Sue Percival, Teesside's NASUWT executive member, said the school
had outlined two jobs to go from leadership (the vice-principal's
department); two from modern languages; one from maths; one from
geography; one from the buildings department; one from
administration; and another from a department known as "bite".
She said it was probable another redundancy would be made from the
music and drama department which was being restructured.
Sarah French, spokeswoman for the school, said: "Enough staff have
now come forward to avert any need at this time for compulsory
redundancies.
"Every good school should be looking at how it is going to respond
to the major restructuring going on in 14 to 17 education at the
moment, workforce development and the likely loss of the Leadership
Incentive Grant from the Excellence in Schools next March, which
amounts to £125,000 per school.
"It is also normal for a new academy to re-evaluate staffing, the
curriculum and so on to be in a strong position moving forward.
It is pleasing that in so doing it looks as though we have been
able to address the necessary changes with voluntary solutions.
"The proposed restructuring has taken place in full consultation
with all the staff and unions.
The education of our students and fulfilling our mandate to raise
standards are paramount and these changes to streamline the academy
will help us to continue to push forward in the pursuit of every
student's personal best."
Ms Percival said: "At the moment we have had one meeting and there
is another one this week.
We've got to discuss the criteria that they've set because when
there is a redundancy it is the job that goes not the person."
42
blackshadowcouk
Index - Emmanuel College list of removed pages.
12/03/2005 20:23:00
Index - Emmanuel College list of removed pages.
The following is a list of subjects from the original Emmanuel
College Curriculum. Following bad publicity, this was removed. It
gives a very good idea of what TVF really believe the whole
curriculum (not just science) is marinated in fundamentalist dogma.
When someone starts this, "I don't see what all the fuss is
about", nonsense, then confront them with this.
This is FURLED under Topic Removed Curriculum
http://www.newlaboursucks.co.uk/html/Introduction.htm
http://www.newlaboursucks.co.uk/html/Art.htm
http://www.newlaboursucks.co.uk/html/English.htm
http://www.newlaboursucks.co.uk/html/History.htm
http://www.newlaboursucks.co.uk/html/Modern Languages.htm
http://tinyurl.com/3nupa
http://www.newlaboursucks.co.uk/html/Religious Education.htm
http://tinyurl.com/4cquj
http://www.newlaboursucks.co.uk/html/Technology.htm
http://www.newlaboursucks.co.uk/html/Business Studies and
Economics.htm
http://tinyurl.com/67tvz
http://www.newlaboursucks.co.uk/html/Geography.htm
http://www.newlaboursucks.co.uk/html/Mathematics.htm
http://www.newlaboursucks.co.uk/html/Music.htm
http://www.newlaboursucks.co.uk/html/Science.htm
http://www.newlaboursucks.co.uk/html/Examination Results.htm
http://tinyurl.com/4mru8
43
blackshadowmeuk
Hitlers Religion revisited
12/03/2005 23:29:00
The continuing saga of Hitler's religion
http://thescotsman.scotsman.com/letters.cfm?id=270322005
Hitler and Christianity
If the Rev David Robertson (Letters, 8 March) knows so much about
Nazi Germany, he should know better than to imply Hitler was an
atheist. He also misrepresents me, as I did not say Hitler was a
regular churchgoer, or even a practising Christian.
Catholic and German Protestant churches were vocal in their support
of the Nazis, and they certainly found Christianity useful. Volume
1, chapter 2 of Hitler's Mein Kampf concludes with: "I believe
that I am acting in accordance with the will of the Almighty
Creator: by defending myself against the Jew, I am fighting for the
work of the Lord."
In a speech on 12 April, 1922, he said: "My feelings as a Christian
point me to my Lord and Saviour as a fighter". And in a speech in
Berlin on 24 October, 1933, he said: "We have therefore undertaken
the fight against the atheistic movement, and ... we have stamped it
out." Strange words for an atheist.
(DR) STEPHEN MORETON
Marina Avenue, Great Sankey
Warrington, Cheshire
The Rev Joseph Cairns is right to point out (Letters, 9 March) the
Nazis' detestation of Christianity. He might also have referred
to the wider opposition to them by devout German Christians,
Protestant and Catholic, and to the faith and bravery of the 11
Knights of St John and the three Knights of the Sovereign Military
Order of Malta who were executed as a consequence of participation
in the July 1944 plot.
DUNCAN McARA
Beresford Gardens
Edinburgh
44
Peter Foster
creationist on The Choice is Yours MB
13/03/2005 17:17:00
There is currently a rather verbose creationist IDiot posting on the
BBC The Choice is Yours message board.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/cgi-perl/h2/h2.cgi?find=%3Cmod.1110568248-
6034.69%40fo rum0.thdo.bbc.co.uk%3E#mid
Any one from here want to come over and join the fun?
45
Max Wurr
Re: The Ancestor''s Tale
13/03/2005 23:19:00
--- In BlackShadow@yahoogroups.com, "Adam Tjaavk" <tjaavk@y...> wrote:
>
>
> Review |The Ancestor's Tale:
> A Pilgrimage to the Dawn of
> Evolution. Richard Dawkins.
> Susan Lumpkin |ZooGoer
Currently half way through this book and enjoying it enormously.
I'll let you know my thoughts when I get to the end!
Cheers
Max
46
blackshadowmeuk
Re: creationist on The Choice is Yours MB
14/03/2005 00:40:00
--- In BlackShadow@yahoogroups.com, "Peter Foster"
<peterfoster@t...> wrote:
>
> There is currently a rather verbose creationist IDiot posting on
the
> BBC The Choice is Yours message board.
>
> http://www.bbc.co.uk/cgi-perl/h2/h2.cgi?find=%3Cmod.1110568248-
> 6034.69%40fo rum0.thdo.bbc.co.uk%3E#mid
>
> Any one from here want to come over and join the fun?
Thanks Peter, if I had time I would. For anyone else interested in
having a look & could not get the broken link to work, it is at:
http://tinyurl.com/6jp8y
One thing he did say in his second post & I could not see anyone
else notice was this example (now being used by other creationists
as well) of misquoting.
He Wrote:
// Let's try and straighten out some old-fashioned and muddled
thinking here. The most famous Darwinist propagandist at present is
Prof. Richard Dawkins (much loved of the BBC) but he was forced to
admit in January that "I believe, but I cannot prove, that all
life ..... is the direct or indirect product of Darwinian natural
selection."
// If it cannot be proved it is not science but conjecture. Why must
this non-science be taught to our children but not another, far more
rational, conjecture? In what way is Dawkins' rigid adherence to a
belief he cannot prove different to a religious belief?
What Dawkins actually said back in January was this:
// I believe, but I cannot prove, that all life, all intelligence,
all creativity and all `design' anywhere in the universe, is
the direct or indirect product of Darwinian natural selection. It
follows that design comes late in the universe, after a period of
Darwinian evolution. Design cannot precede evolution and therefore
cannot underlie the universe.
So by missing out the middle of his statement & sewing the two bits
back together he has completely altered the meaning of the statement
Dawkins originally made. This is the same person who then goes on to
say, "I hate above all the sheer dishonesty of evolutionary
propaganda". Need I say more?
Alan.
47
blackshadowmeuk
Intelligent Design and the New Thought Police
14/03/2005 00:47:00
Interesting article, which I have just added to FURL.
David Holloway is Vicar of Jesmond Parish Church, Newcastle & is a
founding member of the Christian Institute & is/was a governor at
Emmanuel College.
http://www.church.org.uk/resources/csdetailpf.asp?csdate=4/1/2002
Some more of his views can be found here:
http://www.christian.org.uk/html-publications/courts.htm
48
Adam Tjaavk
The battle sharpens
14/03/2005 15:04:00
Battle on Teaching Evolution Sharpens
Peter Slevin & Kari Lydersen
Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A32444-2005Mar13.html
_____________________________
octoTerpsichorean impetus >8<
purveyor of pointers to the perspicacious and preposterous
49
Peter Foster
Re: creationist on The Choice is Yours MB
16/03/2005 18:43:00
Hi Alan
Thanks for pointing out the dishonest misquoting, I posted the
correct quote on the messageboard.
PeterSmith has gone rather quiet after I invited a few friends from
Origins to correct his errors. I expect he will resurface some time.
Peter
50
Peter Foster
Links
17/03/2005 00:35:00
I found this a useful and interesting site:
http://www.ebonmusings.org/
Also take a look at this thread about Vardy on the BBC origins board:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/cgi-perl/h2/h2.cgi?thread=%3C1111004009-5911.17%
40forum2.mh.bbc.co.uk%3E&find=%3C1111004009-5911.17%
