| 2008 Web Sites of the Month |
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| Web Site of the Month - January 2008 |
| by Lothar Janetzko |
| “Evolution is the central organizing principle of modern biology” |
This month’s web site review looks at a page on Wired.com under the section Wired Science. Since the 2008 presidential election is now fully underway, it did not take too long for the creation versus evolution debate to become an issue in the campaign. On this web page you will find a YouTube video of an interview between Mike Huckabee and Bill Maher. From the video you learn that three of ten Republicans during a debate raised their hands when asked if they did not believe in evolution. From the video you can immediately sense the bias of the media regarding questions about evolution. The web site article also reveals its bias by referring to a report of the National Academy of Sciences titled Science, Evolution and Creationism.
The web page wants you to believe that if you know anything about science you will know that the age of the earth is 4.5 billion years old. The really interesting part of this web page is the comments posted by various people regarding creation and evolution. Here you will find a wide range of ideas. Some comments evoke thoughtful responses and others just result in name calling.
I believe this web page shows just how important the Internet has become in allowing the exchange of ideas regarding creation and evolution. You can take an active part in the discussion or you can just read comments and decide for yourself what makes sense.
| Web Site of the Month - February 2008 |
| by Lothar Janetzko |
| “A Fellowship of Christians in Science” |
This month’s web site review looks at the web site of the American Scientific Affiliation (ASA). On the home page you learn that ASA is “a fellowship of men and women in science and disciplines that relate to science who share a common fidelity to the Word of God and a commitment to integrity in the practice of science. In matters of science and Christian faith, we offer Christian scholarship, education, fellowship and service to ASA members, churches, educational institutions, the scientific community, and society”.
The home page is organized by providing links to
Each one of these links is actually a drop down menu where you can select more related information. For example, the Resources link drop down menu contains links to
The home page also contains an area entitled Learn More which provides links to About Science, Apologetics, Archaeology-Anthropology, Astronomy-Cosmology, Bible & Science, Book Reviews, Teaching & Research, Creation-Evolution, Education, Environment, Ethics, Historical Studies, Mathematics, Origin of Life, Philosophy, Physical Science, Psychology-Neuroscience, Science & Technology Ministry, Worldview, Youth Page and Whole-Person Education.
There is a wealth of information to explore on this web site and I am sure the reader of this site will find topics of interest regarding the creation versus evolution debate.
| Web Site of the Month - March 2008 |
| by Lothar Janetzko |
| A Cal State Fullerton Course |
This month’s web site review looks at the course materials from the web made available for a course on Evolution and Creation taught at Cal State Fullerton. The course will be taught in the Spring 2008.
The home page of the site is just a Table of Contents of web links for the course material. The material is organized as follows:
As you can tell from the above list, a course on evolution and creation covers many different areas of science and religion. Just click on a topic of interest and you will find many links that will provide more details. Links have a brief description that makes it easy to determine additional interest topics.
| Web Site of the Month - April 2008 |
| by Lothar Janetzko |
| The Museum of Hoaxes |
This month’s web site review looks at the web site of the Museum of Hoaxes. This museum is dedicated to promoting knowledge about hoaxes. Since April is the month when many hoaxes are found on the Internet, I think it is appropriate to see what this site has to say. Also many hoaxes are directly related to discussions regarding creation and evolution. The home page of the site contains a ribbon with links to the following topics:
The Top 100 April Fools link particularly points out that you should be very careful in believing what you read in the April issue of many major magazines. It seems that many people are easily fooled by what they read in magazines, view on television, or read and view on the Internet.
The Gullibility Tests link allows you to test your own gullibility by pretending to be an editor at a major newspaper and deciding whether or not ten claims made by a reporter are true or false. You are asked to use common sense and whatever you know about the subject to help you in your decision. You can score your answers and also obtain the correct answers. Have fun in determining how gullible you are!
The Tall-Tale Creatures link provides descriptions of fauna and flora possessing fantastic and remarkable features. There is a lot of information to explore on this web site so have fun and be careful not to be fooled into believing everything you read in magazines or on the web especially in April.
| Web Site of the Month - May 2008 |
| by Lothar Janetzko |
| From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia |
This month’s web site review looks at an article in WIKIPEDIA, The Free Encyclopedia, about the “controversial 2008 independent documentary film” Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed. From the tone of the article you get the impression that the contributors tried very hard to place this film in a negative light.
Similar to all articles in the WIKIPEDIA, after a brief description of the film, which is very negative, you find the Contents pane on the web page. You can hide this pane while reading the article. The Contents of this article is organized as follows:
The Overview section of the article is divided into the following topics:
Numerous links, which are typical of all WIKIPEDIA articles, are found in all of these topics. This is really the major benefit of reading articles in the WIKIPEDIA, as it makes finding related information just a mouse click away. For this article, a total of 183 references are made.
If you are interested in looking behind the scene and learning more about how content is added or changed to an article in WIKIPEDIA look at the discussion tab on the main page. The history tab also provides insight into how article content has changed.
| Web Site of the Month - June 2008 |
| by Lothar Janetzko |
| Conservapedia: The Trustworthy Encyclopedia |
This month’s web site review looks at an article in Conservapedia about the theory of evolution. You may not have heard anything about this particular encyclopedia, but it is very similar in structure to Wikipedia – the free encyclopedia. The main page of Conservapedia states that “it has had over 63,500,000 page views and over 457,000 page edits. The truth shall set you free.”
Typical of articles in both Wikipedia and Conservapedia, an article begins with a brief description of the topic under discussion and then is followed by a Contents pane that can be hidden if desired. For this article on the Theory of evolution the Contents are organized as follows:
On the talk page tab you learn that “after much debate, the Conservapedia Panel has finished reviewing the Theory of Evolution page. We have determined that the article will remain protected indefinitely, to protect it from inevitable vandalism.” Improvements to the article should be submitted to the panel.
| Web Site of the Month - July 2008 |
| by Lothar Janetzko |
| “Two rafting trips through the Grand Canyon reached different destinations in the debate over creationism and evolution”. |
This month’s web site review looks at a site that describes two rafting trips through the Grand Canyon. Since it is summer and most of us are thinking about going on a vacation I think this site provides some interesting insights into what we may see in the great out-doors.
The web site is an article from the Science page of The New York Times from October 2005. The two rafting trips described in the article are 1) Tom Vail, with his 29 guests on his Canyon Ministries trip and 2) Eugenie C. Scott, with her 24 rafters sponsored by the National Center for Science Education. You may remember that Mr. Vail wrote a book on the Grand Canyon that evolutionists tried to ban from park stores. We did a web site review about this in the May 2004 issue of Disclosure. In the August 2001 issue of Disclosure we did a review of the National Center for Science Education.
It makes for interesting reading to see how the two different groups relate to what they see by rafting through the Grand Canyon for eight days and 280 miles. A reporter accompanied each group for half of each journey.
The reporter breaks her report into the following sections:
By reading this article you come to the conclusion that it appears that creation and evolution like beauty are indeed in the eye of the beholder.
| Web Site of the Month - August 2008 |
| by Lothar Janetzko |
| “Believing it. Defending it. Proclaiming it.” |
This month’s web site review looks at an article from the Creation Archive of the answersingenesis.org website. The article is from Volume 22 Issue 1 and was first published in December 1999. The title of the article is “Creation: ‘Where’s the proof?’ When the person you talk to on creation insists that you ‘leave the Bible out of it’, they are really saying the deck should be stacked one way.”
The author of the article, Ken Ham, points out that “Creationists and evolutionists, Christians and non-Christians all have the same evidence—the same facts.” The difference is in the way we interpret the facts. He points out that this is due to starting out with different presuppositions.
In the section of the article with the title “Past and present,” he describes what he believes are the presuppositions of Christians and non-Christians. He comes to the conclusion that a person will not interpret evidence differently until he or she realizes what the presuppositions are and be willing to change them.
In the article, Ham also points out that he is a teacher and has learned “to teach the students how to think rather than just what to think.”
On the home page of the article you will find a link to Answers Magazine. This magazine is issued quarterly and features “fascinating content and stunning photographs that present creation and worldview articles along with relevant cultural topics from different authors”.
You can use this article as a launching point for exploring the whole answersingenesis.org website.
| Web Site of the Month - September 2008 |
| by Lothar Janetzko |
| “Evolutionary belief is a remarkable and largely unexplained phenomenon.” |
This month’s web site review looks at an article from the Institute for Creation Research. From the home page of this article you will find links to Home, Get the Evidence, Resources, Departments and Search. Each of these links provides access to more links to guide you on your visit to this site. You can also click on a link to receive free publications from ICR.
In the introduction to the article, the author Henry Morris, states that “Evolutionary belief is a remarkable and largely unexplained phenomenon. It is a belief held by most intellectuals all over the world, despite the fact that there is no real scientific evidence for it at all. Evolutionists allege that evolution is a proved scientific fact, based on a multitude of scientific proofs, but they are unable to document even one of these supposed proofs! This curious situation is illustrated below in quotations from several leading evolutionary scientists.”
In the body of the article he discusses the “Altogether Missing Evidence”. He outlines the article by discussing
He concludes his article by addressing “The Residual Case for Evolution”. At the end of the article you will find detailed references. The article makes for interesting reading and can be used as a launching point for exploring all the interesting content that ICR provides regarding questions about creation and evolution.
| Web Site of the Month - October 2008 |
| by Lothar Janetzko |
| “Evidence for Supernatural Origin of ... Universe, Life and Species” |
This month's web site review looks at a site that discusses creation and evidence for supernatural origins. On the home page you will find links to the following topics:
Evidence for Supernatural Origins of Universe, Life and Species is presented by three tabs on the right side of the home page. A separate link on the home page entitled “homepage” will guide the reader of the web site to more detailed information about the author of the web site and a mission statement for the site. One final link on the home page presents a link to “Understanding the debate about origins.”
By following the first link to read the discussion about “Presenting the Creation Model,” you learn that the web article author believes that “Physical evidence cannot provide absolute certainty of knowing things. Physical evidence can be used to test the plausibility or error in explanations of physical phenomena. But physical evidence cannot be used to establish absolute knowledge of anything.” He believes that there is much more that we do not know than what we do know. You also learn that it was insights gained in the subject of origins that caused the author to switch positions from being an evolutionist to a creationist.
The web author is excited about creation science and believes “creation models are reasonable and credible models of science. Science is a tool and is not inherently theistic or atheistic. It should be used to discover truth, not to censor unpopular models. Recognizing the important role science plays in verifying and offering credibility to systems of thought, science is the very tool needed to resolve the debate between natural and supernatural models of origins.”
There is much to explore on this site. Just follow some of the links that interest you and I’m sure you will find much food for thought regarding questions about creation and evolution.
| Web Site of the Month - November 2008 |
| by Lothar Janetzko |
| Voters Guide to the 2008 Candidates on Science |
This month’s web site review looks at a site that provides a “Voters Guide to the 2008 Candidates on Science”. Since November 4th was Election Day in the United States, it is appropriate to look at the views of the candidates regarding science. This particular Voters Guide focused on the various candidates’ views regarding the teaching of intelligent design in the science curriculum.
Senator Barak Obama is quoted from the York Daily Record as saying, “I believe in evolution, and I believe there's a difference between science and faith. That doesn't make faith any less important than science. It just means they're two different things. And I think it's a mistake to try to cloud the teaching of science with theories that frankly don't hold up to scientific inquiry.”
Senator Joe Biden is quoted from Fox News as saying, “'I refuse to believe the majority of people believe this malarkey!' the senior senator from Delaware exclaimed [referring to Intelligent Design]".
Senator John McCain is portrayed as having an ambiguous record on whether he supports intelligent design. He is quoted from Parade magazine as saying, “McCain admires Darwin for being ‘steadfast and honest in his pursuit of knowledge,' even in the face of illness and controversy... McCain quoted Darwin ... about the richness and diversity of life on Earth - then said: ‘I don't see why that magnificence excludes religious faith from its interpretation’”.
Governor Sarah Palin is quoted from Framing Science that “she supported teaching alternatives to evolution…Teach both. You know, don’t be afraid of information. Healthy debate is so important, and it’s so valuable in our schools”.
The Voters Guide provides links to the quoted sources that allow the web reader to try to gain a better understanding of the views of the various candidates regarding creation and evolution.
| Web Site of the Month - December 2008 |
| by Lothar Janetzko |
| Why Creation Research? |
This month’s web site review looks at a site where the author, Michael Brown, Ph.D., discusses why he is planning to do research within a Creation/short chronology framework. He believes the weight of evidence does not prove evolution. “We do not have an issue of weight of evidence. Rather, what we have is weight of interpretation!”
On the home page you will find links to
Following the Home page link you learn about the purpose of the Molecular History Research Center. It is a nonprofit organization that conducts research for the purpose of pursuing Molecular theories that have a Biblical Creation perspective.
Following the Topics of Interest link you will find a number of issues that show good promise of allowing the Creation paradigm to give more satisfying answers to problems faced by evolutionists. The topics discussed are
There is much to explore on this site. The author is very open about his research assumptions and his approach to science. He states that “The Evolution paradigm has been a successful tool for producing workable models and interesting theories, but I feel the Creation paradigm will prove to be even more successful in producing greater insights in the workings of reality.”
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