Tuesday, February 27. 2007
Conservatives and Science
Have you heard about the new Conservapedia? It's the conservative version of Wikipedia, which has "anti-christian anti-American" bias, according to the founders of Conservapedia. So, like they refuse to allow any anti-christian screeds on their website, like using the term CE instead of AD, and that's just the first rule on the front page. Here's their entry on CACTUS:
I'm not kdding, that's the entry. Although, since it's a user-edited document, it may have changed by the time you read this. But wait, there's more!
. The secularist view of the Cactaceae is that they are roughly two million years old, and that they have evolved exclusively in the new world. This view fails to explain, however, how it is that the Opuntia genus is native to the island of Opus, near Greece. Cacti are known for their high content of alkaloids, and have often been used in the sacramental rights of the Native Americans. Because of this, the early Catholic missionaries in the west thought the plants to be the work of Satan, and this is perhaps a preferable view to that of materialistic evolution since it is difficult to imagine how something like mescaline could have evolved by natural selection. Besides that, the psychoactive content of many cacti have inspired the writings of such ungodly men as Aldous Huxley and Albert Hoffman.
Several species of cactus are now endangered in the west due to "poaching" by collectors and invasive species. But, since Genesis suggests that man has been given dominion over all of the earth, the environmentalist concerns on this note are entirely inappropriate. It may also be that environmentalists, in addition to flauting the Word of God, are merely concerned about the effects that declining cactus populations will have on their supply of mescaline.
Several species of cactus are now endangered in the west due to "poaching" by collectors and invasive species. But, since Genesis suggests that man has been given dominion over all of the earth, the environmentalist concerns on this note are entirely inappropriate. It may also be that environmentalists, in addition to flauting the Word of God, are merely concerned about the effects that declining cactus populations will have on their supply of mescaline.
I'm not kdding, that's the entry. Although, since it's a user-edited document, it may have changed by the time you read this. But wait, there's more!
Although secularists maintain that the cacti have evolved over the last two million years, there is very little biological or genetic research on cacti because such research, if published, would reveal the deep irreducible complexity displayed by these plants. Consider the (allegedly) related Gymnocalycium baldianum and Gymnocalycium bobenbenderianum, pictured below.
A cursory glance suggests that it is very nearly impossible that these two distinct species of cactus share a common ancestor, as so many materialists maintain. What's more, the transition from one of these species to the other by evolutionary forces would require the purchasing of complex specified information without the intervention of intelligence and this, by William Dembski's No Free Lunch Theorem is impossible.
It could also be mentioned that Intelligent Design is possibly demonstrated in the great Saguaro cactus of the Sonoran Desert. These cactus are very slowly maturing and require a great deal of energy, have little cold tolerance, and are prone to destruction by pests. This is hardly the optimal configuration predicted by Darwinism, and presents quite a problem to the materialist point of view. On the other hand, the natives believe that the Saguaro are the incarnations of their ancestors. Because Intelligent Design endows the required designer with no attributes other than intelligence (it need only be an intelligent agent), the view that the giant Saguaro are reincarnated ancestors of the native population is a preferable scientific explanation to that of Darwinian evolution.
One must ask if maybe this is satire. Links: BoingBoing, Erik Emery Hanberg and the Conservapedia entry for Cactus.A cursory glance suggests that it is very nearly impossible that these two distinct species of cactus share a common ancestor, as so many materialists maintain. What's more, the transition from one of these species to the other by evolutionary forces would require the purchasing of complex specified information without the intervention of intelligence and this, by William Dembski's No Free Lunch Theorem is impossible.
It could also be mentioned that Intelligent Design is possibly demonstrated in the great Saguaro cactus of the Sonoran Desert. These cactus are very slowly maturing and require a great deal of energy, have little cold tolerance, and are prone to destruction by pests. This is hardly the optimal configuration predicted by Darwinism, and presents quite a problem to the materialist point of view. On the other hand, the natives believe that the Saguaro are the incarnations of their ancestors. Because Intelligent Design endows the required designer with no attributes other than intelligence (it need only be an intelligent agent), the view that the giant Saguaro are reincarnated ancestors of the native population is a preferable scientific explanation to that of Darwinian evolution.
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