It is not monetzed. I don't make a penny from it.
The blog is not intended to be a formal academic work, but an educational one. Links are provided to the relevant peer reviewed scientific literature for you to investigate further. Also go to the reference sections of any encyclopedia articles I link to. I do not plagiarise. It is clear in every case who is the author of any articles that I quote.
For a handy list of scientific papers, go to
https://web.archive.org/web/20230531193743/http://www.evolutionarymodel.com/ervs.htm
Canterbury, UK.
Evolution has never been a problem for the Church of England. Why, Darwin is buried, with honours, in Westminster Abbey!
Until recently, Darwin appeared on the reverse of the British ten-pound note, which depicted on its front, the then 'Defender of the Faith and Supreme Governor of the Church of England', Lizzie II, the sequel.
Darwin's statue sits in pride of place in the central hall of the British Natural History Museum.
When I retired, I considered the question of what would be the best use of the time I had left to me. I decided on two things, 1) to create free educational content for the internet and 2) to study human nature. Studying human nature led me to the field of evolutionary psychology. It was only when I started discussing evolutionary psychology with American academics that I learned that a substantial proportion of the American population, plus a few other anglophones in other countries and some Jews and Muslims, are evolution skeptics and evolution deniers. I was astonished at this news. I thought that this had petered out in the 19th century. Astonished and dismayed, because what I learned about evolutionary psychology convinced me that it provided an essential perspective if we are ever going to grow up and have a chance of addressing our problems as a species.
The continuing rising tide of irrationality in the world convinces me even more of this - that evolution denial is a menace.
Having spent considerable time researching the "controversy" and discussing it with creationists, I came to the conclusion that the evidence from endogenous retroviruses (ERVs) and other genetic markers constitutes an irrefutable case for common descent, and falsifies literal interpretations of the Biblical account of creation. Recommended book from a recognised expert - who happens to be a Christian. A lay preacher.
I am an atheist, which means that I do not believe in any gods. However, I have no quarrel with believers who also accept mainstream science, which shows that all life forms have evolved from earlier forms. Indeed, "theistic evolutionists" accept this. They believe that God created the world such that it could bring forth life, as Genesis 1 says, and life could and did evolve, and is still evolving.
Creationism is falsified by science, thus it is a false doctrine. False teaching. I don't believe that any good can come from that which is false. To think that God embedded false evidence in creation for the only purpose of deceiving us, strikes me as blasphemous.
Regarding intelligent design, there are two forms of this. The first, conceived as a movement for trying to deceptively get round the U.S. separation principle and overthrow evolutionary science, has been thoroughly debunked and discredited.
The second form of intelligent design is merely the opinion that the world was created according to God's plan. This strikes me as being indistinguishable from theistic evolutionism mentioned above.
I can't see any way of establishing either the existence or the non-existence of any gods. The question does not interest me.
More on the reasons why I think evolutionary science is important can be found here.
My name is Barry Desborough. I'm English. I'm retired, an ex-school teacher and software engineer. I'm a lifelong atheist, but I do have a lot of experience with believers. I went to confirmation classes and was confirmed. I received communion and joined the local church choir. Mind you, that was when I was a pupil at a boarding school, bored out of my head, with very limited opportunities to get out. Confirmation classes were advertised as giving access to arcane knowledge. At the same time, I was being introduced to basic science. Not evolution, just basic chemistry and physics. I concluded, "These religious guys make a lot of claims, but can't back anything up. These science guys demonstrate what they say is true."
I attended a Church of England-founded college of education, Christchurch College, Canterbury, UK, now part of the University of Kent, to qualify as a teacher. It is a Christian-founded college, situated a stone's throw from the offices of the Archbishop of Canterbury and Canterbury Cathedral. They have no problems with evolution, offering courses in 19th century thought, and even taking students to visit Down House, Darwin's home and centre for his scientific work.
I have no quarrel with believers who accept science, but I am fiercely opposed to anti-science creationists, who try to insist that you cannot be a Troo™ Christian, Muslim or Jew, take your pick, if you accept that evolution is true. It is a lie that should not be accepted.
I have no quarrel with believers who accept science, but I am fiercely opposed to anti-science creationists, who try to insist that you cannot be a Troo™ Christian, Muslim or Jew, take your pick, if you accept that evolution is true. It is a lie that should not be accepted.
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| Christcurch College of Education and Canterbury Cathedral, |
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| Darwin's Down House, |
Until recently, Darwin appeared on the reverse of the British ten-pound note, which depicted on its front, the then 'Defender of the Faith and Supreme Governor of the Church of England', Lizzie II, the sequel.
Darwin's statue sits in pride of place in the central hall of the British Natural History Museum.
When I retired, I considered the question of what would be the best use of the time I had left to me. I decided on two things, 1) to create free educational content for the internet and 2) to study human nature. Studying human nature led me to the field of evolutionary psychology. It was only when I started discussing evolutionary psychology with American academics that I learned that a substantial proportion of the American population, plus a few other anglophones in other countries and some Jews and Muslims, are evolution skeptics and evolution deniers. I was astonished at this news. I thought that this had petered out in the 19th century. Astonished and dismayed, because what I learned about evolutionary psychology convinced me that it provided an essential perspective if we are ever going to grow up and have a chance of addressing our problems as a species.
The continuing rising tide of irrationality in the world convinces me even more of this - that evolution denial is a menace.Having spent considerable time researching the "controversy" and discussing it with creationists, I came to the conclusion that the evidence from endogenous retroviruses (ERVs) and other genetic markers constitutes an irrefutable case for common descent, and falsifies literal interpretations of the Biblical account of creation. Recommended book from a recognised expert - who happens to be a Christian. A lay preacher.
I am an atheist, which means that I do not believe in any gods. However, I have no quarrel with believers who also accept mainstream science, which shows that all life forms have evolved from earlier forms. Indeed, "theistic evolutionists" accept this. They believe that God created the world such that it could bring forth life, as Genesis 1 says, and life could and did evolve, and is still evolving.
Creationism is falsified by science, thus it is a false doctrine. False teaching. I don't believe that any good can come from that which is false. To think that God embedded false evidence in creation for the only purpose of deceiving us, strikes me as blasphemous.
Regarding intelligent design, there are two forms of this. The first, conceived as a movement for trying to deceptively get round the U.S. separation principle and overthrow evolutionary science, has been thoroughly debunked and discredited.
The second form of intelligent design is merely the opinion that the world was created according to God's plan. This strikes me as being indistinguishable from theistic evolutionism mentioned above.
I can't see any way of establishing either the existence or the non-existence of any gods. The question does not interest me.
More on the reasons why I think evolutionary science is important can be found here.
//They believe that God created the world such that it could bring forth life, and life could and did evolve, and is still evolving.//
ReplyDeleteThey believe that BlueBunny created the world such that it could bring forth life, and life could and did evolve, and is still evolving.
The only difference between these two sentences is the spelling between two words. Neither the BlueBunny or God has been show to be possible, let alone actually exist. So if you reject God as unproven, you have to also reject the BlueBunny on the same grounds. And that means whatever is claimed for the BlueBunny also must be rejected for the same reasons.
I don't care what they believe, as long as they don't try to undermine science as creationist/ID enthusiasts do.
DeleteBetter put... there is NO evidence for the existence of a supernatural domain. I BELIEVE that "all that exists, exists within a natural universe" one with still many amazing forces to discover, the biggest, why the universe (we) exist(s) and is/are conscious. We are the eyes through which the universe see itself. (supernaturalists have the same problem, why does God exist and also, why is he a he?)
Delete