Burnee links for Sunday

Science has vanquished religion, but not its evils | Nick Cohen | Comment is free | The Observer
A forthright take on Templetonian "respect".

Truth isn't reached by a dissembling path : Pharyngula
P. Z. Myers elaborates on his distaste for the corrupting influence of Templeton.

Religious studies: The good god guide | The Economist
This article has a misleading title. It's about research into why religions exist — some of the results may be useful, but much might be thought to be pretty obvious.

My bright idea: Mary Collins | Technology | The Observer
Remarkable stuff (using HIV as a kind of benign carrier) but the article is sloppily written, halfway between reportage and verbatim interview — highly confusing.

A bright spot at The Chronicle and an open letter « Why Evolution Is True
Jerry Coyne laments the NCSE's and BCSE's alienation of the gnu-atheist scientists.

ID will be accepted as valid science when it comes up with peer-reviewed scientific research

Chapter 12 of Dembski & Licona's Evidence for God is an accommodationist's dream. In "What Every High School Student Should Know about Science" Michael Newton Keas puts the case for "teaching the controversy" about evolution and the science of origins. It's a polemic aimed at presenting evolution and intelligent design creationism as equivalent scientific principles. But we know from the preceding chapter that intelligent design is a religious idea, and therefore has no place in school science lessons. Case closed, I think.

I'll readily grant that intelligent design is a valid philosophical idea, but as philosophy it doesn't belong in a science class. Science teaching for schoolchildren should comprise only accepted science, and until ID is accepted by the vast majority of the scientific community it will remain philosophy, not science. If ID proponents want their philosophy taught as science they need to carry out and publish peer-reviewed research to show that it actually is science. They don't get to change the rules by dint of special pleading.

Finally, I note that this chapter provides no evidence whatever for God.

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4truth.net:
http://www.4truth.net/fourtruthpbscience.aspx?pageid=8589952925

A universe so fine-tuned, natural abiogenesis is impossible?

The indecision of chapter 10 of Dembski & Licona's Evidence for God appears to have carried over to chapter 11. Walter Bradley spends most of "The Origin of Life" explaining just how impossible it is for life to get started on Earth by wholly natural means, and thereby nullifies one of theism's favourite arguments, the argument from fine-tuning. My review of chapter 10 applies equally here, even down to the supposed inherent complexity of early cellular life — that is, the first cells would necessarily have been much simpler than the cellular life we can see today.

Bradley appeals to the intelligent designer in his final paragraph (as well as to Michael Behe's irreducible complexity) but at least this is ID in its true colours:

The necessary information, which expresses itself as molecular complexity, simply cannot be developed by chance and necessity but requires an intelligent cause, an intelligent designer, a Creator God. (p 67)

So much for ID not being a religious idea....

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4truth.net:
http://www.4truth.net/fourtruthpbscience.aspx?pageid=8589952963

Burnee links for Thursday

British Centre for Science Education: Creationism in the Deep South (of England)
Don't say it couldn't possibly happen in the UK, because it patently is happening, as this report testifies.

Philosophers and the tone argument : Pharyngula
For Heaven's sake, we mustn't risk offending the creationists....

Adventures in nonsense: FishBarrel: The easy way to report misleading health claims online.
Chromium plated complaints in seconds.

The Human Genome Project was just the starting point | Adam Rutherford | Comment is free | guardian.co.uk
Adam Rutherford on part 2 of his current TV series.

C of E opens school gates to non-believers - News - TES Connect
Odd. Church pushing faith schools towards secularisation?

Bishop admits that church schools succeed because of selection | National Secular Society
The NSS respond to the TES article (see above) about increasing non-faith admissions in faith schools.

Is AV better than FPTP? « Gowers's Weblog
Clearest, most comprehensive explanation I've seen so far.

Did aliens establish a primitive postcode system in ancient Britain? | Matt Parker | Science | guardian.co.uk
Some woo just won't lie down.

Technology and New Media panel — TAM London 2010

The first panel of the second day of TAM London 2010 was a discussion between TV reporter Kate Russell, writer Gia Milinovich, blogger and journalist Martin Robbins (aka the Lay Scientist), and Little Atoms host Neil Denny. The panel was expertly moderated by Skepchick Rebecca Watson.

Technology and new media don't have special relevance exclusive to skepticism — they're relevant to everyone who interacts with others in the modern world, and for that reason they're worth discussing at an event such as TAM London. Subjects covered (in a fairly roundabout manner) included social media, podcasting and interaction with media consumers. If there was a single thread, it was that the new media are much more responsive than old media — instantaneous in some cases. As if to demonstrate this an impromptu competition on Twitter, instigated from the audience, decided the most significant feature of one of the panellists. It may have been frivolous, but its spontaneity perfectly illustrated the main thrust of the discussion.

Denying the evidence of declining UK Christianity

http://youtu.be/zerVCx1Cnbc


Ann Widdecombe is on a mission to persuade us that reports of the demise of Christianity are greatly exaggerated. Her case, however, is severely hampered by the examples she chooses to highlight in this BBC1 documentary, which — contrary to her statements — suggests that congregations are indeed dwindling. She gives two examples of churches that have increased attendance, but these are clearly the result of massive amounts of local immigration. This isn't growing or even maintaining Christianity, it's simply moving it around; it also creates a disturbing tendency towards ghettoisation.

Maybe the Church really does want a congregation to be all but swallowed up by East European immigrants, or even to be completely replaced with immigrant African Pentecostals. Of course, the effect of such immigration could indeed be seen as an increase in Christianity in the UK, but to me it seems more equivalent to claiming that the best answer to the UK's dwindling manufacturing base is to have more stuff imported into the country.

In the interests of balance (one assumes), Johann Hari and Evan Harris are interviewed during the programme, but as dissenting views (dissenting from the Widdecombe views, that is) they are given short shrift. This is frankly not surprising — she's done this before in TV documentaries: if she gets an answer she doesn't agree with she simply ignores it, with little or no comment.

One of the reasons Ann Widdecombe converted to Catholicism was Anglican support for female clergy, so it's ironic to watch her interviewing a female cleric on whether or not Christianity is declining (and agreeing with her). She also interviews Rowan Williams, the Archbishop of Canterbury, and agrees with him despite her "devil's advocate" questions, while presumably at the same time believing he's practising the wrong faith. But cognitive dissonance is no stranger to the blinkered Widdecombe thought-processes; she's quite happy to believe the Exodus really happened (because it's in the Bible), despite the total lack of archeological evidence that would have to be there if such a thing actually occurred.

A brace of podcasts — Skepticule Extra & Skepticule Record

Here's the latest instalment of Skepticule Extra, wherein Paul Baird, Paul ("Sinbad") Thompson and I discuss recently mutating DNA, whether a family of hateful fundamentalists really expects to convert anyone, if book-burning should make a difference, and whether a well known Christian apologist and debater is all he's cracked up to be:

http://www.skepticule.co.uk/2011/04/skepextra-003-20110417.html

Also available is the first episode of Skepticule Record, which though it's currently on the same RSS feed as Skepticule Extra, will be used to archive the audio of live events. The first is a recording of Dr. Tom Williamson's talk, "The Scientific Method: Uses and Abuses", given at Portsmouth Skeptics in the Pub last Thursday:

http://www.skepticule.co.uk/2011/04/skeprec-001-20110417.html

(Despite being recorded in a noisy bar with a football commentary in the background, the talk is listenable. I'm hoping, however, that next time a feed from the PA will be available.)