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Suicide in the West

WHEN EUTHANASIA ENTHUSIASTS urged Oregon voters to legalize assisted suicide, they promised an open, rational, and carefully regulated system in which physician-hastened death would be a “last resort.” Voters were also assured that life termination would be conducted under the watchful and protective eye of the state, with rigorous guidelines strictly enforced to prevent abuse. Assisted suicide was to be Read More ›

Our Way of Life is Endangering the Salmon

To keep every cog and wheel,” Aldo Leopold wrote in Round River, “is the first precaution of intelligent tinkering.” Over the next year, the people of the Pacific Northwest have an opportunity to test that wisdom. On March 9, the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) declared its intent to place several populations of chinook salmon on the endangered species list. Read More ›

Let’s Get It Straight: The Empire Was Evil

LET'S be blunt: It is necessary to make it clear who was right about the Cold War. The reason is not to glorify the aging Republicans and Henry Jackson Democrats who were derided as "Cold Warriors" during the four decades between Stalin and Gorbachev, nor to kick those on the left who led peace marches and befriended Havana, Hanoi and Managua. The purposes, rather, are, first, to get the history straight, before the regnant revisionists in academia succeed in distorting it, and, secondly, to reflect on the lessons for our current foreign policy. Under the revisionist interpretation, American sacrifices of blood and treasure during the Cold War were largely a waste of both. The West's actions in the Cold War are seen as more or less morally equivalent to those of the Soviets. These remarkable programs should attract heightened interest in Washington state, home of the late Sen. Henry Jackson, a leader of Cold War "hawks," and also home to some of the most militant opponents of U.S. policy during the Cold War. But of greatest immediate interest, Seattle is home to the chief consultant and inspiration of the project, Dr. Herbert Ellison of the University of Washington. (The series was written and directed by an Englishman, Daniel Wolf, with project management provided by the National Bureau of Asian Research in Seattle.) Read More ›

Let Schools Provide Full Disclosure

The recent news from Post Falls has an all too familiar ring. A group of religiously motivated parents is pressing for the teaching of creationism alongside Darwinian evolution. If they succeed, many fear the A.C.L.U. will sue the school district. On the surface, the Post Falls controversy appears to be yet another dreary and unproductive chapter in the American culture Read More ›

Bell Street Pier Project A Jewel In Seattle Port Crown

The Port of Seattle's tax rates over the last five years have declined by 33 percent, while its revenues have increased by 34 percent. Incorrect numbers were published in Bruce Chapman's column last Friday on the port's new Bell Street project. Somehow, the Bell Street Pier, a multipurpose, $88 million creation of the Port of Seattle, has managed to go through the whole development process, right up to the interior work now under way, without raising the ire of any economic interest, environmental body or taxpayer watchdog group. But already little bands of potential users are lining up to get a hard-hat tour of a civic facility that is sure to attract international attention. Ordinary folks are beginning to ask about it, too. When a class of fifth graders from the "TOPS" program at Seward School on Capitol Hill walked down to a parking lot above the site recently, they were given a description of the project that left them reporting back like the legendary blind man who encountered an elephant. Each one had a different impression of the beast. Read More ›

Kilnswatch: Later History of the Kilns Property

With Mrs. Moore contributing, the Lewises’ 1930 dream came true. Through the years that followed, the brothers made occasional changes in the house and grounds but left the two kilns where they had stood since before 1880. Perhaps those large conical kilns gave Lewis the image of the large, conical tombs where Shasta spent the night in The Horse and Read More ›

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Photo by Bradley Ziffer on Unsplash

The Intelligent Design Movement

The Intelligent Design movement begins with the work of Charles Thaxton, Walter Bradley, Michael Denton, Dean Kenyon, and Phillip Johnson. Without employing the Bible as a scientific text, these scholars critiqued Darwinism on scientific and philosophical grounds. On scientific grounds they found Darwinism an inadequate framework for biology. On philosophical grounds they found Darwinism hopelessly entangled with naturalism, the view that nature is self-sufficient and thus without need of God or any guiding intelligence. More recently, scholars like Michael Behe, Stephen Meyer, Paul Nelson, Jonathan Wells, and myself have taken the next step, proposing a positive research program wherein intelligent causes become the key for understanding the diversity and complexity of life. Read More ›
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Child dressed in cardboard astronaut costume and rocket

Molecular Machines

This article presents an overview of the key ideas in biochemist Michael Behe's book Darwin's Black Box: The Biochemical Challenge to Evolution. A more detailed discussion of these ideas can be found in the book itself. Those interested in the debate over intelligent design in biology should also check out Michael Behe's extensive responses to various critics. Read More ›

How a theologian, two biologists see Darwin

In this trio of books on science, evolution, and God, John Polkinghorne best fits his self-described category of “scientist- theologian.” He is a world-class physicist, member of the British Royal Society and an Anglican priest. His Faith, Science and Understanding (Yale University Press, $19.95, 224 pages) strikes at the heart of the theology and science debate. Is theology a real Read More ›

In the Footsteps of Judge Ware

As if the September and October 1997 revelations about Cusack and Selbourne chicanery were not enough, another scandal came to light in November. That is when news broke about the highly respected U. S. district court judge James Ware, who has an appointment for life and looked like a future Supreme Court nominee. In 1963 his brother was gunned down Read More ›