The world is full of wonders

[pecunium]

The Film, "Expelled" which alleges that Intelligent Design is a "scientific theory" and distorts the interviews done with scientist and evolutionary biologists to make it seem they agree with this; ignoring that science doesn't address issues of abiogenesis, came out last week.

So the internets are abuzz with people trying to score points against those of us who happen to undestand; and therefore agree with, evolution.

Over at Making Light a two year old thread got a couple of non-drive-by posters; who managed to not only be the usual run of tired half-truths and misrepresentations, but actually offensive. One of them got personally offensive to me to the point I was viscious in response, and abi told them to take a hike.

So, in the way that only Divinity can make the world amusing, 1: The Darwin Online Project went live with Darwin's papers, and got hammered. The servers were crashed with 7 milions hits on the first day of that. Something like a quarter of a million downloads of Origin of Species in three days.

2: A new lizard was proven to have evolved on an island off Croatia.

The lizard was introduced 39 years ago, five pairs. Then a minor little war got in the way of monitoring them.

They have increased to 5,000+, have larger heads, a different social pattern; and eat plants instead of insects. They've modified thier guts to slow passage of the vegetable matter and make it a useful food source.

Irony, where is thy sting?

Comments

[commodorified.livejournal.com]

*pokes*

[sharon-masters.livejournal.com]

i lost my Owner to a fundie church.... and their lack of serious brain power scares me.
Sorry you got mad at the nutters that can type... hopefully in their zeal to 'become' they will evolve and be unable to do that soon:)

Did the Darwin project get flooded with folks interested in the papers, or with those seeking to down the servers?

[slave2tehtink.livejournal.com]

I'd noticed the Darwin Online Project because Darwin's papers kept popping up amid my Civil War date searches.

Also, you always post nifty links. :) I have forwarded the lizard article on to my Dad, who likes lizards.

[matociquala.livejournal.com]

It's still evolving one...

[huladavid.livejournal.com]

You know, I can never get my mind wrapped around why evolution is such a threat to some people. I mean, I don't recall seeing any passages in the New Testament where Jesus, as he hung on the cross, said, "Evolution Is Only A Theory!"

[elf]

The concept of "God made proto-critters, which God then guided into more advanced forms," is not a threat. (Or rather, would not be, if their brains didn't turn off the moment the concept /evolution/ entered the conversation.)

The "threat" of evolution is the message that creation isn't finished. That God did not create the world in six "days" (however long one allows divine days to be), and then "rest," because it was good and DONE.

The theology that evolution clashes with isn't the existence of God; as a [Feri Discordian] pagan, I believe in the existence of many gods, and have no problem also believing in evolution, some divinely-directed, some working like machinery with divinely-created rules.

It clashes with the notion that the universe is STATIC. That the "creation" part of existence is over and done and complete; that we are playing out the "end game" section of God's Plan.

[vanmojo.livejournal.com]

Rats... beat me to it...

I would only add that in terms of fundamentalist theology, the idea of an independent evolutionary biology also runs contrary to the idea that "God's Plan™" is transparent and that humanity is some sort of ultimate creation of the Creator.

Just don't ask them about the problems with "free will." That really makes 'em twitch...

mojo sends