Free Republic

A New Video Documentary Reveals the Hidden Ideological and Scientific Roots of World War I Evolution News & Views August 18, 2014 5:55 AM | Permalink This month marks the hundredth anniversary of the start of the First World War. Between 1914 and 1918, the conflict took 16 million lives in brutal combat yet its causes remain strangely cloudy to most of us. One historian titled his recent book about the origins of the war The Sleepwalkers, as if nations and leaders stumbled into the global catastrophe almost by accident, unmotivated by any particular philosophy or ideology.World War II is...

Hmm, what's this? We noticed that overnight eight 5-star reviews for Stephen Meyer's book Darwin's Doubt were mysteriously erased. Just vanished. Since these were positive reviews, it is unlikely they were "abusive" which is the normal criterion that Amazon has for removing reviews. Interesting. These kinds of shenanigans always seem to happen when our critics are feeling maximally pressed because they can't answer our arguments on the merits. They thus see the need to resort to schemes and tricks. It's an admission of intellectual defeat. We've also heard claims about people trying to reshelf Meyer's book in the religion section...

When people joyously discover on Ancestry.com that they're related to, say, a medieval archduke or a notorious Victorian criminal, evolutionary biologists may be permitted to snicker. Because in actuality, we are all related: Humans all share at least one common ancestor if you go far enough back. You are related to every king and criminal who ever lived, to Gandhi and Paris Hilton and Carrot Top. You are even related to me. But buckle up — that's only the beginning. Humanity, after all, is but one ugly branch on the big tree of life. Go back far enough, and you'll...

When Charles Darwin introduced the theory of evolution through natural selection 143 years ago, the scientists of the day argued over it fiercely, but the massing evidence from paleontology, genetics, zoology, molecular biology and other fields gradually established evolution's truth beyond reasonable doubt. Today that battle has been won everywhere--except in the public imagination. Embarrassingly, in the 21st century, in the most scientifically advanced nation the world has ever known, creationists can still persuade politicians, judges and ordinary citizens that evolution is a flawed, poorly supported fantasy. They lobby for creationist ideas such as "intelligent design" to be taught as...

The info which follows dates to 2009 AD and may be the most recent stats.Indeed, as reported by the UK’s Guardian; Half of Britons do not believe in evolution, survey finds (Riazat Butt, February 1, 2009 AD) and Teach both evolution and creationism say 54% of Britons (Jessica Shepherd, October 25, 2009 AD). Thus half do not believe in it and more than half believe that both views should be taught.Keep in mind that while the UK does have RE (religious education) in public schools; it is a very, very, very secular society which is saturated with Darwinism. Logically,...

A young-Earth creationist microscope technician formerly at California State University-Northridge is suing his former employer for religious discrimination, wrongful termination, and the violation of free speech. Who's the plaintiff? Mark H. Armitage. Mr. Armitage is a microscopist; he's worked with microscope sales and services since at least 1984. When not involved in commercial microscopy, he is interested in scientific microscopy. He did undergraduate work without a degree in Biology at the University of Florida, he acquired a B.S. in Education at Liberty University, an M.S. in Biology (emphasis in parasitology) at the Institute for Creation Research, an Ed.S. in...

LOS ANGELES – A legal defense organization filed a lawsuit this week against California State University, alleging that the school fired a biologist for discovering scientific evidence that contradicted evolutionary theory. Mark Armitage was a scientist at California State University—Northridge (CSUN), where he worked as a researcher and supervised the school’s electron microscope laboratory. He was also a member of several scientific organizations, including the Microscopy Society of America, the American Society of Parasitologists, and the Southern California Academy of Sciences. However, CSUN suddenly terminated Armitage’s employment two years ago after he discovered soft tissue on a Triceratops fossil. Evolutionists...

“The Christian religion is the religion of our country. From it are derived our prevalent notions of the character of God, the great moral governor of the universe. On its doctrines are founded the peculiarities of our free institutions.” (William McGuffey, d. May 4, 1873, professor at the University of Virginia, president of Ohio University, and author of McGuffey’s Readers; earstohear.net) Andre Comte-Sponville, one of France's preeminent atheist philosophers agrees. In his New York Times bestseller, "The Little Book of Atheist Spirituality," Sponville observes that even though Western and American civilization has become nonreligious it is nevertheless profoundly rooted in...

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (BP) -- Two New Mexico scientists have alleged that a government-owned museum used tax money to denigrate religion and promote atheism at its annual Darwin Day celebration without giving believers in God an opportunity to present their case. A flier promoting "Darwin Day" at the New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science in Albuquerque -- a division of the New Mexico state government's Department of Cultural Affairs -- listed New Mexicans for Science & Reason, the Humanist Society of New Mexico and Freedom From Religion, Albuquerque as cosponsors of the Darwin celebration in February, provoking to action...

(Reuters) - A new mammal discovered in the remote desert of western Africa resembles a long-nosed mouse in appearance but is more closely related genetically to elephants, a California scientist who helped identify the tiny creature said on Thursday. The new species of elephant shrew, given the scientific name Macroscelides micus, inhabits an ancient volcanic formation in Namibia and sports red fur that helps it blend in with the color of its rocky surroundings, said John Dumbacher, one of a team of biologists behind the discovery. Genetic testing of the creature – which weighs up to an ounce (28 grams)...

Is Every Fossil in Its (Evolutionary) Place? by Vernon R. Cupps, Ph.D., and Brian Thomas, M.S.* During a recent televised debate between Bill Nye and Ken Ham, Mr. Nye claimed that fossils are never found “out of place.”1 If by this he means they are never found outside of the rock strata that define the supposed age in which the fossilized creatures lived, he’s wrong. He then challenged viewers to find one single contrary instance anywhere in the world. That’s easy. The fossil record is not nearly as evolutionary as Mr. Nye would have us believe. It features fossils mixed...

It's no longer easy to be a faithful Christian in America, says Dr. Robert P. George, chairman of the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom. Our culture increasingly condemns Christian beliefs as bigoted and hateful: “They despise us if we refuse to call good evil and evil good.” (American Christians Should Prepare to Be Despised, Official Tells National Prayer Breakfast, Rob Kerby, ChristianHeadlines.com, May 15, 2014) The Princeton University professor and author told Washington, D.C.’s 10th annual National Catholic Prayer Breakfast that American culture no longer favors faithful Christians. For example, he asked attendees to consider, “....the derision that comes...

Click on the link to watch the video.

Full headline: Treasure trove of skulls reveal missing link in human evolution: Facial bones suggest early Neanderthals used their teeth as a 'third hand' The 17 skulls belong to a single population of a fossil hominin species This is the biggest collection of human fossils ever found on one site They shed light on pre-human evolution from around 400,000 years ago Skulls showed Neanderthal features in face and teeth but not elsewhere These features evolved due to eating and perhaps for use as a 'third hand' Study adds to theories that the Neanderthals developed their characteristic looks slowly, and intermittently,...

Whenever I engage in conversation with people I meet for the first time I try to avoid being asked the question, “What do you do for a living?” But if I am asked I say, “I am a minister.” Generally, the one who asks then inquires, “What denomination?” or “What kind of church?” Here is where I always have to clarify, depending on the most recent news headline involving Christian leaders: “I am a Baptist minister, but I am not a science-denying Baptist minister who thinks that dinosaurs lived alongside humans a few thousand years ago.” What a strange irony...

LONG before evolution on Earth kicked in with a vengeance, it seemed to stall completely. From 1.7 billion years ago, for a billion boring years, Earth remained a slimy, near-static world of algae and microbes. The pace picked up 750 million years ago: glaciers spread, complex animals appeared, and by 520 million years ago the Cambrian revolution – an explosion of varied life – was under way. The reason for that long stasis has been a mystery. We may now have the answer: the gradual cooling of the planet's interior. Just as turning down a stove burner slows the boiling...

What has Darwinism got in common with Modernism? Everything! They are two edges of the same blade. A century ago, how could any Catholic dare question the Church’s dogmatic teaching and not be excommunicated as a heretic? The answer is that natural science has allegedly shown that nothing in the realm of the created world is immutable. It has proved thereby that the Church was wrong in dogmatically declaring that fully operating living beings with stable natures were produced from nothing. The knowledge now amassed from biology, physics, and chemistry is already sufficient to render the notion of creation ex...

After two mystical encounters with the evil spirit Zarathustra, the dark prophet Nietzsche announced the "death of the Christian God." Dubbing himself the Antichrist, Nietzsche proclaimed: "The greatest recent event – that 'God is dead,' that the belief in the Christian God has ceased to be believable – is even now beginning to cast its first shadows over Europe; however, few really understood " what has really happened here, "and what must collapse now that this belief has been undermined – all that was built upon it, leaned on it, grew into it; for example, our whole European morality." (False...

Brainwashing Children to 'Suppress' Design Intuition by Randy J. Guliuzza, P.E., M.D. * The Wall Street Journal praised psychological research on kindergarteners that demonstrates how a picture-rich storybook could replace children’s intuitive inferences of design with Darwinian natural selection.1 Is this a good way to apply child psychology? Boston University psychologist Deborah Kelemen has led the latest National Science Foundation funded research to help teach evolution. Her technical report appears in the journal Psychological Science. The aim of her research was to intentionally “suppress” children’s “commonsense ways,” and to “explain why animals have functional traits and show signs of apparent...

The Creation Museum in Kentucky is a treat for the whole family.Answer in Genesis (AIG) built its Creation Museum in 2007 and has now counted its two millionth visitor. Not far from the Cincinnati airport, and within a day’s drive of almost 2/3 the US population, the 70,000 square foot facility is located on spacious grounds that offer enough opportunities to keep children, teens, college students and adults occupied for a good two days. Now, AIG is embarking on an even more ambitious project: Ark Encounter, on a separate property, that will feature a full-size Ark, a Tower of...