I've been reading A. C. Grayling's most excellent book titled The GOD Argument -- after all, I don't have to agree with the man's opinions to admire his talent as a writer -- and a realization suddenly struck me, sort of like a bolt of lightning. Another article I've been working on and will publish soon discusses the some of the more interesting topics in Grayling's book, in much greater detail. For the remainder of this article, I'd like to focus attention on just one particular thing Grayling said in his book that I found to be very questionable. Then I plan to connect my observations on this comment to my own personal moment of revelation, that "lightning bolt" moment I mentioned in the first paragraph. Beginning on page 108, Professor Grayling wrote: Since the humiliating defeat of the literal six-day creationist lobby in the Scopes Monkey Trial of 1925 in Tennessee, religious groups have become increasingly sophisticated in their efforts to promote the idea that the universe and life in it were made by an intelligent agency, just as a carpenter makes a table; except that whereas a carpenter has his planks and nails to hand when he starts, the mega-carpenter did not have any materials ready beforehand, but made them too, from nothing. When I first read the passage above, I thought, huh? That paragraph is clearly giving the reader the distinct impression that the Scopes Monkey trial was an overwhelming victory for the Darwinian theory of evolution, and nothing less than a crushing defeat for young earth creationism. The problem with the impression … [Read more...]
The Happy Atheist
What makes an atheist happy? In the case of biology professor P. Z. Myers, the answer to that question shouldn't be all that difficult to discern, especially considering the fact he wrote a book titled The Happy Atheist. Though I don't know Professor Myers, should we ever meet, I suspect it is possible we could consider each other a friend, in spite of our vast difference in opinion about certain mutual topics of interest. One reason I think it's possible is because it seems that we share a few things in common. Also, I respect his honesty. For example, I agreed with him completely when he wrote that saying "abiogenesis is not evolution" is a cop-out and commend Professor Myers for his intellectual courage to admit it. After all, more than once I have asserted that life cannot evolve until it exists myself. The logical foundation for making the connection between life and its origin would seem to be inarguable -- but that doesn't keep some people from wanting to argue about it. Several of my atheist friends have tried to rebut the "Big Picture" argument presented in my book Counterargument for God by saying the ability for a living organism to change and the origin of life are two completely separate processes as unrelated as gravity and germ theories, which is just plain silly to even suggest. The hypothesis called abiogenesis might be an issue for chemistry and the theory of evolution a philosophical interest in biology, but biological organisms are created by chemical reactions forming complex structures. That little fact is undeniable. Going … [Read more...]
Narcissist nurse Kaci Hickox and the Ebola quarantine
Kaci Hickox has done her good deed. She went to Africa and helped people suffering from Ebola. Now she just wants her life to get back to normal. Immediately. You can forget about a three week quarantine for this modern day Florence Nightingale. The Clara Barton of the Sierra Leone made it crystal clear that no mere politician is going to tell her what to do. She lawyer-ed up to avoid spending three weeks in isolation out of concerns for public safety because, as she put it, Governor Chris Christie isn't a doctor. Neither is she, but that's beside the point. She knows what's best for her. Screw the general public. We're completely irrational to be afraid that a contagious disease with a high mortality rate and for which there is no known cure has come inside our borders for the first time in American history. Right? I know what my problem must be -- obviously, I'm just jealous. After all, Kaci figured out a way to experience her 15 minutes of fame. The New York Times. Meet the Press. The Huffington Post. Fox News, CNN, ABC, NBC. The BBC. Even Saturday Night Live got into the act, adding to her claim to fame. In stark contrast, I've written five books that have been published. Three of them even won an award, and still almost nobody knows who I am. The best I've managed to do thus far was a brief interview by the American Thinker people on the Dennis Miller Radio Show and a few one-hour long interviews with Dr. Robert Rose on his web blog radio show. Pathetic, by comparison. I haven't even been asked to write an op-ed for the Dallas … [Read more...]
The University of Georgia, Todd Gurley, and the NCAA’s growing credibility problem
[FULL DISCLOSURE: I am an alumnus of the University of Georgia, but not affiliated with the university in any official capacity. These comments merely represent my personal opinion and nothing more.] I need to vent my frustrations, before my head explodes. I need to express my anger, even though I have no idea how demanding the right thing be done will actually help or accomplish anything, except it might make me feel a little bit better. We can save the argument for another day about whether the NCAA should allow players to be paid. Though I think that players should be allowed to have some sort of income, it's irrelevant to the point that I intend to focus upon today. Likewise, for the time being, we can also ignore that the NCAA earns nearly $1 billion dollars per year in revenue, in spite of the fact the organization is treated as a non-profit by the IRS. Right now I don't even want to bring up the relevance of the Ed O'Bannon court decision to this suspension, even though the ruling would seem to be quite pertinent. It's also helpful and important to note that the NCAA lost that case. However at the moment, I only want to figure out the answer to one question: what is the NCAA going to do about its very serious and growing credibility problem? And what message did Mark Emmert and the NCAA think they sent the college football world by increasing Todd Gurley's suspension from two to four games? I agree with Bill King of the AJC, when he says their message is "honesty doesn't pay." While I believe most Georgia fans are proud of their school, their … [Read more...]
The REAL war on women — Domestic Minor Sex Trafficking
Whenever I hear one politician accuse another of participating in some "war on women" by somehow threatening to infringe upon their "reproductive rights", it makes me want to vomit. Anyone who says something that stupid obviously does't have a clue about the real war being waged on women by terrorist thugs like ISIS or Boko Haram, who kidnap, rape, and enslave young children. Unfortunately, dangerous predators who prey on young girls also lurk within our midst, right here at home in America. But instead of kidnapping their victims, these domestic predators usually prey on young teens who have run away from home. So yesterday, my son and I went to see The Equalizer in the plush, gorgeous and brand new AMC Theaters at North Point Mall and it became one of the best experiences in a theater that I've had in years. The chairs were very comfortable leather recliners, and the theaters and lobby were impeccably clean. The bar was even open for business, though it was a little too early for alcohol. The very best part of my experience was watching the movie itself, though -- I really needed to see Denzel Washington wipe out a gang of Russian mobsters getting obscenely rich selling young girls into prostitution. I will concede that I probably enjoyed the film more than I should have. I'm quite sure that I've seen better movies. However, I chose that particular movie specifically because I anticipated the plot would prove to be cathartic, given the nature of my experience the previous evening, and I wasn't disappointed. The night before I attended a … [Read more...]
