[gobucks]

... scientific assault on age-old questions that are central to the debate over the theory of evolution

Well Duh! - finally, a MSM reporter points out the obvious, plus the bonus of pointing out the lack of 'ambition' for these questions before now - Bravo Zulu Gareth!!!

."...the Harvard project begins with awe at the nature of life, and with an admission that, almost 150 years after Charles Darwin outlined his theory of evolution in the Origin of Species, scientists cannot explain how the process began."

Rush picked this up during the third hour of his show today. I couldn't believe this article made his attention, but during work, I couldn't check to verify he was Freeping to get it. (He even mentioned Freepers today regarding Club Gitmo). But seeing it wasn't posted, here it is...

Now, the REAL million dollar question: what took Harvard so long to get to this point? And if the Discovery Inst. hadn't been doing the work it has been doing, does anyone seriously believe that Harvard would spend money on this? Not a chance. This announcement by Harvard is nothing less than a giant white flag raised above a key fortress of 'intelligent people'. And it is a FLAT OUT VICTORY for the folks who have been promoting ID.

[gobucks]

ping

[RightWhale]

fundraising has not begun, the scientists said.

They can find out how life began after they figure out how fundraising begins.

[BipolarBob]

You can get a good Bible for $50.00 and pocket the $999,950.

[js1138]

Limbaugh ping

[God luvs America]

more proof how much libs care about finding alternative sources of fuel/energy.....

[qam1]

But seeing it wasn't posted, here it is...

ahem..

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1463128/posts

[GSHastings]

"We start with a mutual acknowledgment of the profound complexity of living systems," said David R. Liu, a professor of chemistry and chemical biology at Harvard. But "my expectation is that we will be able to reduce this to a very simple series of logical events that could have taken place with no divine intervention."

My expectation is that Mr. Liu's expectations will not change no matter how utterly they fail in finding such "very simple series of logical events". The power of faith will prefail.

[wallcrawlr]

I saw this earlier and posted on the Live Rush thread...now there is an actual thread on the topic. ping

Revelation 4:11
See my profile for info

[Sola Veritas]

"We start with a mutual acknowledgment of the profound complexity of living systems," said David R. Liu, a professor of chemistry and chemical biology at Harvard. But "my expectation is that we will be able to reduce this to a very simple series of logical events that could have taken place with no divine intervention."

He presupposes that a naturalistic explanation can be found. This is hardly unbiased research. Of course, creationists readily admit they are biased. I cannot and will not speak for the ID groups.

This much I will say. This Harvard group has a clear cut intention to undermine religious beliefs. It is a direct and clear assault. Such research with such an agenda should not receive a single penny of federal or state monies. If private concerns want to finance it, that is, of course, their free choice. However, tax dollars should not go towards funding a clearly "religious" agenda. If any money is funneled towards this, there will be "heaven" to answer to.

Personnally, if they pursue this course, then all federal funding to any project at Harvard should be cut off. There is no way to keep from indirectly funding this by federal or state monies. Tax money to this institution will indirectly finance this "agenda."

[aMorePerfectUnion]

"to understand how life emerged from the chemical soup of early Earth, and how this might have happened on distant planets."

This says it all. Scientists START with a belief. BEFORE the facts. This is not a THEORY for them. It is a core belief. It is religious. It is a tenet of their FAITH. They will now attempt to prove it happened. The fact that they cannot prove it will not change their belief. They will go to their graves believing something that has no evidence because the alternative would rock their world... that God is there and He is not silent. And if there is a Creator, there is a standard of morality. And they are accountable before Him.

No matter what criticisms are thrown at "creationists" - for example, that they start with a belief in a Creator - scientists are no different.

If you are tempted to reply to me that with scientists it is not belief, but a theory. That they will now test that hypothesis. Save your breath. They clearly have a belief not grounded in facts.

...ampu

[dr_lew]

Cf. ORIGINS ( A Skeptic's Guide to the Creation of Life on Earth ) by Richard Shapiro, Chapter 11, for an account of the Seventh International Conference on the Origin of Life held in Mainz, Germany in 1983. My favorite passage:

"I found that the temperature bothered me mostly at night, in my hotel room. There was no air conditioning, so I had to keep the windows wide open. This in turn brougth in traffic noises, and the heat-and-noise combinations often kept me awake. Ironically, I had little difficulty falling asleep in the lecture hall during the day, even though it was also hot and noisy."

[LiteKeeper]

YEC INTREP

[Prodigal Son]

MSM reporter

What is the MSM? I have seen this on FR a lot but can't figure out what it means.

[Bellflower]

ping

[Right Wing Professor]

Limbaugh should be more respectful to the people who created oxycontin. There's no gratitude in the world.

And if the Discovery Inst. hadn't been doing the work it has been doing, does anyone seriously believe that Harvard would spend money on this?

I strongly suspect that the initiators of this project have never even heard of the Discovery institute. One of the kewl things of being at Harvard is that you can, by and large, ignore the maudlin speculations of washed-up Lehigh biochemists and kook pseudomathematicians who couldn't make tenure at Baylor. Harvard just knows there's rumblings out there among the great unwashed, and so wants to throw a tiny amount of money at the problem.

RWP, Graduate School of Arts and Sciences '84.

[Elsie]

Harvard University is launching a broad....

Arrgh!!!

Helen Thomas thoughts so early in the morning!!

[GladesGuru]

Dear GOBucks,

Your posted article is most interesting, but your assumption that academia has "waved a white flag" is, I hope, the result of too many coffees this morning. If not, then it borders on the delusional.

A cursory glance of man's intellectual history shows a steadily decreasing reliance of "the Gods" or "God" as an explanation for the physical universe.

As an example, once people prayed to fertility gods. Now those having trouble conceiving go to specialists and are able to obtain physical help to solve a physical problem.

Religion is about man's relationship to God. It is not about how to explain the physical universe.

Science can, and has, provided explanations for how the universe works. Religion, and philosophy, must try to show us what we should do with our lives and with the ever expanding powers which science is providing.

[<1/1,000,000th%]

Now, the REAL million dollar question: what took Harvard so long to get to this point?

Because this will probably take money away from basic research that will result in saving lives. Maybe some good will come of it, anyway. The Lord works in mysterious ways.

[DoctorMichael]

THIS is a monumental waste of money because their findings will go unread due to the fact that everyone knows Creationists can't read.

[Theophilus]

"We start with a mutual acknowledgment of the profound complexity of living systems, but my expectation is that we will be able to reduce this to a very simple series of logical events that could have taken place with no divine intervention."

My hope, Dr Liu, is that you will come to the realization that every "event" takes place by divine intervention.

Acts 17

²⁴God that made the world and all things therein, seeing that he is Lord of heaven and earth, dwelleth not in temples made with hands;

   ²⁵Neither is worshipped with men's hands, as though he needed any thing, seeing he giveth to all life, and breath, and all things;

   ²⁶And hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth, and hath determined the times before appointed, and the bounds of their habitation;

   ²⁷That they should seek the Lord, if haply they might feel after him, and find him, though he be not far from every one of us:

   ²⁸For in him we live, and move, and have our being; as certain also of your own poets have said, For we are also his offspring.