Pew Forum Interviews Francis Collins

For some, there is an inherent conflict between science and religious belief. Indeed, some scientists, including famed evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins, argue that an understanding of the natural world logically leads to atheism. But for Francis Collins, head of the Human Genome Project and an evangelical Christian, scientific knowledge complements rather than contradicts belief in God. In his 2006 bestselling book, The Language of God: A Scientist Presents Evidence for Belief, Collins argues that advances in science present “an opportunity for worship,” rather than a catalyst for doubt. Recently, the Pew Forum interviewed Dr. Collins about his views on science and religion.

Collins touches on such issues as biblical literalism, evolution, and the “conflict” between science and religion. Follow this link for the article.

Mainstream Baptist Interviews Barbara Forrest on Creationism’s Trojan Horse

Bruce Prescott at the Mainstream Baptist blog has posted a podcast of his interview with Dr. Barbara Forrest, author of Creationism’s Trojan Horse. Forrest is Professor of Philosophy at Southeast Louisiana College. The title of her book refers to Intelligent Design.

From Prescott:

We talk about her book “Creationism’s Trojan Horse,” her testimony in the Intelligent Design trial at Dover, Pa. We pay special attention to the relation of Southern Baptists to the wedge strategy.

I hope my friends on both the conservative and moderate sides of the Baptist spectrum will take the time to listen to the interview. My position is that Intelligent Design should not be taught in our Sunday Schools, much less our public schools. It’s bad theology and worse science. God created and sustains the universe, but not in the manner imagined by Intelligent Design (or Creationism).

Al Gore: The “We” Campaign

At EthicsDaily.com, Bob Allen writes about Al Gore’s “We” campaign, a $300 million public advocacy campaign designed to develop grassroots interest in addressing global warming.  (Follow this link for the AP story, at CNN.com.)

Al Gore, Global Warming, and Two Questions for the Skeptics

Robert Parham at EthicsDaily.com has posted an article about Al Gore’s interview on “60 Minutes” last night (Sunday), discussing the “toxic partnership” between religious fundamentalists, who deny global warming in an effort to protect a hyper-literal reading of the Bible, and free-market ideologues, who deny it to protect their financial interests.

Gore compared global warming skeptics to those who deny that Apollo 11 actually reached the moon, or ever left the Earth.

Ben Stein’s Expelled

Andy Guess at Inside HigherEd writes about Stein’s upcoming documentary on the teaching of Intelligent Design at American universities and colleges.

Putting “Intelligent Design” in its Place

From EthicsDaily.com:

An international group of scientists and theologians has issued a strong rebuke of “intelligent design,” a theory that has gained ground with conservative Christians, especially in the United States.

“We believe that intelligent design is neither sound science nor good theology,” the International Society for Science and Religion said in a statement last week.

I don’t find it surprising that trained scientists and theologians reject intelligent design. It’s difficult not to reject it once you become educated about the underlying ideas, although I have respect for a few of its proponents.

As I’ve said for years: Not only should intelligent design not be taught in our schools, it should not be taught in our Sunday Schools. It’s a compelling idea: that science may uncover some type of independent verification for Christian truth-claims, but the universe functions in a manner starkly different from what’s imagined by intelligent design. Yes, God created/creates the Universe, but not in the manner suggested by ID, and certainly not in the manner suggested by Creationists such as Ken Ham.

O’Reilly Factor: Fully Functioning Human Brains in Mice

I swear I am not making this up. On the “Culture War” segment of tonight’s (Fri.) episode of the O’Reilly Factor, Republican strategist Christine O’Donnell uttered the most fantastic claim I’ve heard in many a moon:

Thinking About Aliens, part 3: How Many Are There?

Note: this is the third and final part in a three-part series.

How many intelligent alien civilizations might exist in the galaxy? We estimate the answer with the Drake equation. This is a somewhat unusual equation. Instead of possessing an unknown quantity for which we might solve, it contains several estimated probabilities, multiplied together to predict the number of intelligent alien civilizations in the Milky Way:

Thinking About Aliens, part 2: What Aliens Might Look Like

Note: This is the second in a three-part series.

The typical alien creature in a science fiction film or television program is best described as a grotesque humanoid. This is likely due to the limitations on the producers, viz., time, money, special effects technology, and imagination. From a cost perspective, it’s easier to dress an actor in a suit than to design and somehow animate a creature whose body bears little resemblance to a human. It’s also much easier to imagine an alien as looking essentially like a human being. And so the great majority of alien creatures in sci-fi productions have a head with sense organs, especially eyes and mouth, in the “right” places, two arms, a torso, and two legs, and possibly a tail. Prominent examples include the peaceful though somewhat mischievous visitors in Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977), the unnamed, lethal stowaway in Ridley Scott’s original Alien (1979), and the aggressive, well-camouflaged hunter in Predator (1987).

Evolution vs. Christian Faith

At Quintessence of Dust, Stephen Matheson has posted an interesting article about biological evolution (i.e., common descent) and whether it poses a “threat” to Christian faith. I’m not a biologist, which is why I won’t go beyond what is common knowledge to professional scientists when writing about evolution. With that caveat, I’ll make my position clear for anyone who’s interested: