Darwin

education-and-school-concept-little-student-girl-studying-at-school-stockpack-adobe-stock
education and school concept little student girl studying at school
Image licensed via Adobe Stock

Using Religion to Suppress Debate on Evolution

Evolution was back in the headlines this week as the Texas State Board of Education voted 13-2 to require students to “analyze and evaluate” major evolutionary concepts such as common ancestry, natural selection, and mutations, as well as adopting a critical thinking standard calling on students to “critique” and examine “all sides of scientific evidence.” The vote was a loss Read More ›

Happy Darwin Day?

Today marks the bicentennial of two notable birthdays, Abraham Lincoln’s and Charles Darwin’s. Lincoln is a hero to many Americans, but an international campaign is now under way to declare Feb. 12 Darwin Day. According to many of his modern followers, Darwin is the world’s greatest scientist, and his theory is the cornerstone of modern biology – if not the Read More ›

Darwin’s Birth Day

Had Charles Darwin been able to witness his own gestation period, might he have changed his mind about the evolution of mankind? Assuming that he was an honest and keen observer of nature—and the evidence suggests that he was—the answer is a resounding yes. He essentially said so in 1872 when he wrote: “If it could be demonstrated that any Read More ›

Intelligent Design Renews Debate Between Science and Religion

This article, published by The Baptist Standard, is about William Dembski of Discovery Institute: Just ask William Dembski. Educated as a probability theorist, Dembski had a “Eureka!” moment in 1988 when he heard a statistician say at a conference that mathematics can define what randomness is not but not what it is. The rest of the article can be found Read More ›

evolution-of-humans-from-primates-stockpack-adobe-stock
evolution of humans from primates
Image licensed via Adobe Stock

There Is No ‘Politically Correct’ Science

It’s impossible to isolate Darwinian theories from their societal consequences. Darwin’s theory of evolution by natural selection has been one of the most politically and culturally consequential ideas of the past 200 years. Yet many defenders of evolution do their best to downplay the connections between Charles Darwin and what might be called social Darwinism. Darwin, they insist, focused simply Read More ›

The Problem Of Evidence

The present controversy over evolution is often portrayed as the latest battle in a centuries-old war between science and religion. According to this stereotype, Darwin’s theory was a milestone in scientific progress, based on evidence that is now overwhelming, and its principal opponents were—and still are—religious fundamentalists committed to a literal interpretation of Genesis chronology. That stereotype, however, is false. Read More ›

Discovery Institute Honors Charles Darwin With Academic Freedom Day

Discovery Institute today announced the launch of Academic Freedom Day in honor of Charles Darwin’s 200th birthday on February 12, 2009. “We’re celebrating Charles Darwin’s birthday by supporting what he supported: academic freedom,” said Robert Crowther, Director of Communications at Discovery Institute. “Like Darwin, we recognize the importance of having an open and honest debate between evolution and intelligent design.” Read More ›

nathan-dumlao-572047-unsplash
Empty chairs in university lecture hall
Photo by Nathan Dumlao on Unsplash

Professors Show Need for Academic Freedom Bill

Two OU professors who are adamantly opposed to Senate Bill 320 — a Science Education and Academic Freedom bill filed by Sen. Randy Brogdon, R-Owasso — have recently shown why the bill is necessary. Zoology professors Vic Hutchison and Richard Broughton have passed out fliers encouraging opposition to the bill, which would permit high school science educators to teach the strengths and weaknesses of science topics that can cause controversy. The blatant misrepresentation of the bill that Hutchison and Broughton display creates a climate of fear that warrants such academic freedom legislation. Read More ›

Media Backgrounder: Texas Board of Education Actions on Evolution

This morning the Texas State Board of Education unanimously approved the first reading of new science standards for the state. There seems to be a great deal of confusion in the media about what the Board actually accomplished, and so we are putting out this backgrounder summarizing the Board’s key actions relating to evolution. In a nutshell: The Board refused Read More ›