| 2007 Web Sites of the Month |
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| Web Site of the Month - January 2007 |
| by Lothar Janetzko |
This month’s web site review looks at the Creation-Evolution Headlines site. The main page of the site is organized as a calendar that allows the reader to select the month or year of interest. You can select headlines going back to 2001.
Also on the main page you will find a short quote related to creation and evolution, and links to
Below the links you will find a Feedback section where you can read what various readers have to say about the site. There is a link to Write Us! which allows you to add your own feedback.
The Creation-Evolution headlines which make up most of the web site are dated and contain links to the original material under discussion. The headlines are also linked via a chain of links to topics such as
A search box is also provided on the site that you can use to find headlines related to topics of interest.
| Web Site of the Month - February 2007 |
| by Lothar Janetzko |
| “Restoring Faith in the Bible and Science” |
This month’s web site review looks at the site of the Creation Science Movement. On the home page of the site you learn that “The Creation Science Movement is the oldest creationist movement in the world; founded in 1932 as the Evolution Protest Movement by prominent members of the Victoria Institute who were concerned at the scientific, ethical and theological consequences that belief in Evolution brings to society.” CSM is located in Portsmouth, United Kingdom.
The home page provides links to
The page also contains Creation News – News Archive and web log that can be accessed as an RSS Newsfeed. By reading the various news articles you can gain insight into how the Creation versus Evolution debate is progressing in the United Kingdom.
From the Journals link, you learn that members of CSM receive quarterly copies of “CREATION The Journal of the CREATION SCIENCE MOVEMENT” as well as copies of their latest pamphlets. As a web reader you can view PDF files for the last four years of the Journal.
The FAQs link leads to some interesting questions regarding creation and evolution. Answers to the questions are often linked to pamphlets that CSM has published in the past and made available for purchase from the Shop link.
| Web Site of the Month - March 2007 |
| by Lothar Janetzko |
| “A scientific exploration of how we come to believe in God” |
This month’s web site review looks at an article published in the March 4, 2007, The New York Times Magazine. The article is based on an interview the writer, Robin Marantz Henig, had with Scott Atran, who is an anthropologist at the National Center for Scientific Research in Paris.
In the introduction, Henig states that Atran, “has been struggling with questions about religion – why he himself no longer believes in God and why so many other people, everywhere in the world, apparently do”. Atran has spent a career studying why humans might have evolved to be religious. He is one of a number of scientists searching for an evolutionary explanation for why belief in God exists.
The article points out that the study regarding why belief in God exists is different from the scientific assault on religion being conducted by people like Richard Dawkins, Sam Harris and Daniel Dennet.
There is debate over why belief evolved. Is belief in God an evolutionary adaptation or neurological accident? The article goes into great detail explaining the different views of various scientists.
The article concludes with the statement that “No matter how much science can explain, it seems, God fills an emptiness that our big-brained mental architecture interprets as a yearning for the supernatural. The drive to satisfy that yearning might be an inevitable and eternal part of what Atran calls the tragedy of human cognition”.
| Web Site of the Month - April 2007 |
| by Lothar Janetzko |
| “Did cars evolve into aeroplanes?” |
This month’s web site review looks at a site I discovered that provides an interesting allegory regarding the creation versus evolution debate. The story begins “500 years in the future, there was a major argument. World disasters had taken their toll on the human race and only a million people lived on the planet, mostly in the USA. Man was just starting to use petrol driven transport again - cars were on the roads and planes were in the air. The big debate was about cars and aeroplanes”.
The debate was whether cars had evolved into aeroplanes over millions of years, or whether they were both the brilliant creation of an intelligent creator.
The actual debate takes place on television between two scientists. Zak Smith proposes that cars evolved into aeroplanes. Bob Williams II believes the controversial ‘intelligent design’ theory.
From the spelling of aeroplanes you can guess that this story comes from the United Kingdom.
In the debate, Smith discusses transitional forms of cars discovered in the shallow seas of the beaches of Brighton and Williams provides quotes from the sacred book, the 1994 Rolls Royce driver’s manual.
The interaction between Smith and Williams and the audience makes for interesting reading and I believe the debate itself provides insights into our views regarding creation and evolution. The debate ends with Smith stating that his theory is based on solid evidence…it’s called science.
| Web Site of the Month - May 2007 |
| by Lothar Janetzko |
| “In the beginning God created…” |
This month’s web site review looks at the web site of Creation Moments.com. On the home page you will find tabs that will guide you to various parts of the site. The tabs are labeled:
The Home tab provides information about a featured product and articles under the heading of “Today in the News”. Also under a caption of “Where to Go?” you will find links to:
The Products tab guides you to the Creation Moments product inventory. Here you learn that “Creation Moments has an inventory of more than 225 different books and videos on creation issues. Our book and video titles are meant for people of all ages and education levels. They examine subjects like evolution, the flood, dinosaurs, creation-confirming discoveries and an array of other subjects to help build faith and support Biblical truths”.
The Resources tab provides access to over 20 articles about creation/evolution issues. The articles can be read on the web and are also provided in a printable format.
On the Radio tab you learn that the “Creation Moments” daily 2-minute radio broadcast has been on the air since 1987. Here you will also find a link to archives of the daily programs that will allow you to listen to the audio of each broadcast and also view transcripts.
To learn more about Creation Moments just click on the About CMI tab.
| Web Site of the Month - June 2007 |
| by Lothar Janetzko |
| “The misreporting of the evolution issue is one key reason for this site.” |
This month’s web site review looks at a site recommended by a reader of our newsletter. Evolution News & Views is actually a blog produced by the Discovery Institute’s Center for Science & Culture (CSC). The Center was started in 1996 and
On the main page of the blog you will find links to
The Contributors link provides a list of CSC Contributors and links to access articles written by them. A brief bio about the contributor is also included. The Contact Us link provides information on how to send in questions you may have. The Syndicate link is provided to allow you to set up an RSS feed to the blog.
Under the heading About This Site it states that “The misreporting of the evolution issue is one key reason for this site. Unfortunately, much of the news coverage has been sloppy, inaccurate, and in some cases, overtly biased. Evolution News & Views presents analysis of that coverage, as well as original reporting that accurately delivers information about the current state of the debate over Darwinian evolution”.
This site has links to Recent Posts and Archives. The Archives go back to December 2004.
| Web Site of the Month - July 2007 |
| by Lothar Janetzko |
| Prof. John Stackhouse’s Weblog |
This month’s web site review looks at a recent entry in Prof. John Stackhouse’s Weblog. The entry under discussion has the title “Creation vs. Evolution”: Is This a Sensible Question? The date of the entry is June 22, 2007. Typical of weblogs or blogs, the web page is divided into two sections. On the left side of the web page you can read the blog entry and on the right side you will find links that provide the reader access to additional information.
The blog entry provides a good historical background into the creation vs. evolution debate. The author points out that the 1961 book called The Genesis Flood by Henry Morris and John Whitcomb was largely responsible for what he calls the creation science scheme. He points out that there are “four different understandings of creation held by Bible-believing, church-going Christians” and provides a short description of each one.
The main point of the blog is to point out that “creation versus evolution” really means different things depending on how you view creation. The blog author makes the interesting point that “we should teach science as a ‘method’, as an adventure of discovery and debate, not as a dull, fixed set of indubitable facts to be indoctrinated”. The blog makes many interesting observations about creation and evolution and tries to be objective and civil. I am sure the reader will find much of interest by exploring the different categories found on this site.
| Web Site of the Month - August 2007 |
| by Lothar Janetzko |
| “An artistic Dynamation about our Creator!” |
This month’s web site review looks at the Kids 4 Truth web site. The link to The Watchmaker provides access to a Macromedia Flash multimedia presentation of a poem written by Dave Hawkins. The poem’s words are provided in audio and written format and are accompanied by a “dynamation”.
After hearing and watching the message of The Watchmaker the web reader can click on a link and get more information about the subject of the poem. Here you learn that William Paley wrote that the existence of a watch implies the existence of a watchmaker in his book Natural Theology in 1802. Also you learn that “the proper term for the argument purported with ‘The Watchmaker’ is called the Teleological Argument for the existence of God.”
A link is also provided where you can purchase a self running file of the presentation for either a PC or a Mac
By exploring the Kids 4 Truth web site you will find that there many more multimedia dynamations available for viewing on the site. Also there is a lot of content available just for kids. Just explore the site and I am sure you will find something of interest.
| Web Site of the Month - September 2007 |
| by Lothar Janetzko |
| “Baraminology…method of taxonomy based on Biblical ideas” |
This month’s web site review looks at a web log, or blog, that is used to “publicize the research work done by members of the creationist community and the intelligent design community.” Similar to all blogs, the main web page is divided into two sections. The left section allows the reader to access links that provide more general information about the blog and links to archives going back to September 2005. The right section is used to present the links to the dated research work.
In case you have never heard the term “baraminology”, the blog author provides a detailed description of it under the link “Blog Information”. Here you learn that the “strict definition of baraminology is that it is a method of taxonomy based on Biblical ideas.” You also learn that “the goal of Baraminology is to develop a Creationist model of biology”.
The Wednesday, August 29, 2007, link tells you that the blog author is a student who is back at school and is busy learning Hebrew, reading Greek, and learning the history of Christianity. As such he is quite busy and new blog entries may be few. Nevertheless there are lots of past blog entries that a reader can study. When you review past blog entries, you will find that there are many interesting links to YouTube videos. These videos are quite informative and you can learn a lot about many different topics by watching them. One video that I found particularly interesting was the one about “Global Geological Outcrops and Other Implications of the Flood” by Ian Juby.
Just by reviewing the blog archives, I am sure the readers of this blog will find much information of interest regarding current creation research.
| Web Site of the Month - October 2007 |
| by Lothar Janetzko |
| “How Parents Can Teach Them” |
This month’s web site review discusses an article from The Pearcey Report. At the bottom of the article the reader learns that “Nancy Pearcey is editor-at-large of The Pearcey Report and the Francis A. Schaeffer scholar at the World Journalism Institute. This article is adapted from the study guide edition of her book Total Truth: Liberating Christianity from Its Cultural Captivity and first appeared in Home School Enrichment”. By following the link to Home School Enrichment you learn that Nancy is a home-schooling mother and has published two award-winning books on Christian worldview.
The article begins by pointing out that home-schooling families have been ahead of the curve in teaching their children about the debate over Darwin. She believes that naturalistic evolution as taught in science textbooks leads students to accept a naturalistic worldview. She also believes in thoroughly grounding her students with scientific data. Her approach in dealing with the evolution controversy is to focus on the issue of the origin of life.
After the introduction, the article has the following titled subsections:
All of the sections are quite interesting and point out that science really has been redefined as applied naturalistic philosophy.
It is unfortunate that only home-schooling parents and private schools have the opportunity to present the compelling evidence that exists to counter the claims of evolution to their students.
| Web Site of the Month - November 2007 |
| by Lothar Janetzko |
| “Christian Opinions Put to Rest” |
This month’s web site review looks at an article on the web that contains a letter written by Bill Morgan, a Registered Mechanical Engineer, and the response written by Mark Liberator. Due to the length and complexity of the original letter, Mark chose to place his comments throughout the letter rather than writing a separate letter. Mark’s comments are in bold type.
Bill begins his letter by asking the question “What is the Better Explanation?” in regards to Creation vs. Evolution. He makes a pretty strong case in stating that he believes he was indoctrinated in school to believe the Theory of Evolution. Mark’s comments show that clearly he firmly believes that the Theory of Evolution is correct.
Topics discussed in the letter include
It is interesting to read the interchange of ideas expressed by Bill and Mark. Clearly it shows that the Creation vs. Evolution debate will not end soon. It also shows that there is very little common ground in the debate. The tone of Bill’s comments and Mark’s responses also speaks volumes about how creationist views are regarded by those who believe the Theory of Evolution.
| Web Site of the Month - December 2007 |
| by Lothar Janetzko |
| “The battle over beliefs involving ‘how everything came to be’” |
This month we look at a web site that provides an interesting discussion concerning people’s beliefs regarding creation vs. evolution. The web site author, Gene Zimmer, begins this particular web page by providing a brief description of Creationism and the Theory of Evolution. His first observation is that “it is absurd to engage in such a battle of ideologically driven notions. It is equally absurd, and wrong, that the government has been duped into supporting the beliefs of one group (evolution, humanism, the materialistic interpretation of the social sciences) while refusing to support and even attacking the beliefs of the other group (creationism – religion).” Most of the web page explains why he feels this way.
The viewpoint that he expresses on the web page is that, at the most basic level, both creationism and evolution are beliefs. It is his observation that “neither belief corresponds to any actual perceivable, observable, or verifiable tangible thing or occurrence(s) …in the end it’s fundamentally only a matter of personal opinion and what anyone chooses to believe.”
On the web page you will also find he discusses the term “science”. He says “science should refer only to subjects derived from honest and careful application of the scientific method.” He has a lengthy discussion of “Belief and Faith Parading as Science”.
Throughout the web page you will find links to other topics such as modern medicine, ideas and concepts, modern materialism, behaviorism, force and the study of the mind. These links lead to other web pages written by the site author.
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