Darwin on Trial | Phillip E. Johnson | Science has become religion

Darwin on Trial | Phillip E. Johnson | Does Evolution Rest Upon Scientific Evidence or a Philosophy of Naturalism?

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Darwin on Trial

	Darwin on Trial Phillip E. Johnson InterVarsity Press, 1993 - 220 pages average customer review:based on 152 reviews view larger image
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Science has become religion

The fundamental (yes, nice choice of word, eh?) problem with "science" in the modern world is that it has become a religion all its own. I have bad news for everyone who espouses Darwin's theory as fact, then attacks Johnson for saying that "absence of evidence is evidence of absence." In a real scientific world, that is EXACTLY the case.

I couldn't go around declaring, for example, that the laws of gravity as we understand them are going to come to an end on July 7, 2010 and be taken seriously without providing some pretty compelling proof that my statement, if not fact, at least has basis in reality.

For more than 150 years, paleontologists have been searching, thus far in vain, for significant intermediate species to confirm or even support Darwin's evolutionary theories. Still, the best argument that science can give us is "just because we having found a fossil that is halfway between a mouse and a bat doesn't mean that one doesn't exist!" My proof is that you have no proof to disprove me. Imagine a prosceutor in a courtroom telling the jury, "Well, the defendant hasn't proved he DIDN'T do it."

Global warming is the latest chapter in "scientific" religion. In spite of a spate of alternate theories for climatic shifts, including sun spot cycles and even shifts in the earth's magnetic poles, global warming enthusiasts rely religiously on their claims. Whenever evidence is presented to contradict them, it's a lie. Whenever their lack of evidence in challenged, the challenger is an idiot or zealot.

The Catholic Church is a popular enemy in the eyes of most scientists. Modern propaganda has convinced millions of children that the Church opposed both Kepler and Copernicus. In fact, the Church was not a proponent of "flat-earth" theories in the 14th and 15th century. The Church did demand more than theory to overturn accepted scientific orthodoxy, something modern scientists claim to demand. However, modern science has become more a demand that those opposed to unproven theories (like Global Warming and Darwinism) prove those theories categorically wrong, rather than focus on trying to find any real evidence to support them.

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Does Evolution Rest Upon Scientific Evidence or a Philosophy of Naturalism?

Darwin on Trial was responsible for alerting many among the public and in the scientific community to the deficiencies of Darwinism. UC Berkeley law professor Phillip E. Johnson applies his skills as an analyzer of evidence to ask if Darwin's theory holds up to scrutiny.

Johnson begins by recognizing a stark contradiction in the law: creationism has been banned by the courts because it is "religion," yet evolution is permitted despite the fact that evolutionary literature is full of anti-religious arguments. Johnson might be willing to tolerate this hypocrisy if evolution proves correct. But he argues that when natural selection proves to be a tautology, whose empirical power has proven to cause little more than oscillations in the sizes of finch beaks, he has just cause to be skeptical.

When looking at the fossil record, Johnson finds a landscape starkly lacking in evidence of evolutionary transitions but rich in stasis (i.e. no significant change in a given biological form). The few which are allegedly called "transitional" do little to tip the scales in favor of evolution. Molecular evidence for evolution turns out to be based upon assumptions, and molecular evolutionary intermediates are beyond the reach of scientific investigation. Finally, Johnson reveals that the evidence for prebiological evolution is contradicted by geochemistry.

Evolution clearly loses a trial based upon the evidence. Why, then, does the jury of the scientific community overwhelmingly vote in favor of Darwin's theory? Johnson argues that Darwinism is propped up by a question-begging definition of science, one that requires naturalistic causes in keeping with the philosophy of naturalism.

Though many volumes by design proponents have covered similar topics, none summarizes the range of evidence against evolution and its philosophical underpinnings more lucidly or succinctly than Darwin on Trial.

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Johnson vs Darwin is science vs fiction

Phillip Johnson's superb Darwin on Trial has rallied a last ditch stand from Darwin's "Favored Races."

It is simply unfair for this distinguished attorney to scientifically discredit the much reverenced theologian, Charles Darwin. Darwin's theology training had never permitted him to delve into the rigors of this science and math. Darwin created his beloved evolutionary creed solely based on what he called "imaginary examples" and serendipity.

For Johnson to undermine Darwin's theology of sacred fiction with the question of mathematics, science and reason is inapplicable in subject matter. Far more important than Darwin's scientific shortcomings are his contributions to theology and philosophy.

In modern academia, such "imaginary examples" as Darwin gave us are always sanctified and cherished. Above all, Darwin must be exempted from the scientific and mathematical scrutiny posed by Phillip Johnson. As a "Favored Race", I prefer Darwin's fantasies but am grounded in Johnson's facts.

Darwin's reverse entropy lends an ego appeal that Johnson's science lacks.

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Great book for truth seekers!

This book is a great introduction to some of the major scientific challenges to the theory of Darwinian Evolution.

Read this book whether you are a Creationist or a Naturalist. We all want to know the truth but we often don't ask the right questions (Or we ask only questions for which we aren't afraid of the answer). Johnson's book will help you ask questions about Darwinian evolution that need to be answered.

Be warned. This book may leave you with more questions than answers. But that is the place where science and learning start. Good luck.

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