| 2019 Web Sites of the Month |
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| Web Site of the Month - January 2019 |
| by Lothar Janetzko |
| 95 Theses Against Evolution (English translation from German) |
The website review for this first month of 2019 looks at a site recommended by a reader of our website from the Netherlands. I believe this site really provides a great deal of information helpful when searching for material concerning the ongoing debate between creation and evolution.
On the Introduction page of the site you learn why the author of 95 Theses Against Evolution chose to present his arguments against evolution in this manner. “The intransigence among the upper echelons of science, education and the media is strongly reminiscent of the stubbornness with which the Roman Catholic Church of the Middle Ages defended its then worldview. On October 31, 1517, the reformer Martin Luther published his Ninety-Five Theses with which he challenged the practice of selling indulgences, widespread in his time. This started a chain reaction, which finally led to The Reformation. In a similar way, the ninety-five theses presented here are intended to contribute to a rethink in the debate on the origin of life.”
95 Theses Against Evolution is available as a free PDF download. An English book that you can purchase will soon be available.
The PDF version of 95 Theses Against Evolution begins with a short statement of the Back-cover text and then provides a Table of Contents. From this table you learn how the ninety-five theses are presented:
After this listing of the ninety-five theses you will find Ninety-Five One-Sentence Theses against Evolution.
What follows is a detailed description of each of the individual theses and 5eferences to supporting material. The PDF document contains 239 pages, so there really is a great deal of information to study. All this information is also available in seven other languages beside English.
| Web Site of the Month - February 2019 |
| by Lothar Janetzko |
| Association of Critical Scientists |
This month’s website review looks at another website recommended by a reader from the Netherlands. From the Welcome on the home page you learn that this is the “website of Evoskepsis, an association of critical scientists and practitioners who are skeptical over the empirical foundation of the ‘innovation motor’ of the theory of evolution. The objectives of Evoskepsis are the stimulation of the scientific debate over the tenability of the theory of evolution in its current formulation and the defense of science against misunderstanding and misuse.”
The website presents the views of Evoskepsis by the following three topic areas:
The different topic areas can be explored by selecting different tabs on the home page or by just selecting a topic from the bottom of the page and then selecting the Read more > link.
From the Science and religion topic, you learn that Evoskepsis believes “Science is a domain of knowledge containing testable theories, which continue to be open for criticism and falsification. Religion is a domain of knowledge containing theories that need not be testable and mostly aren’t. They need not be open for debate either.” Also, “Both science and religion are based on assumptions that cannot be proved.”
The second topic area, Vision, presents how Evoskepsis believes the scientific debate and criticism over the theory of evolution should be addressed.
The third topic area addresses seven different key problems and twelve secondary problems in the theory of evolution. Each problem discussed makes for interesting reading.
In addition to the three topic areas presented on the website, on the home page of the site you will find a link to Publications of Evoskepsis. Here you can explore in more detail why Evoskepsis is so skeptical of many of the common beliefs held by evolutionists today.
| Web Site of the Month - March 2019 |
| by Lothar Janetzko |
| IN THE BEGINNING: Compelling Evidence for Creation and the Flood |
This month’s website review looks at the website of the Center for Scientific Creation. This site serves as the place on the Internet where you can order a hard copy of the 8th edition of In the Beginning: Compelling Evidence for Creation and the Flood by Dr. Walt Brown. This book can also be read or printed out at this website.
At the top of the home page of the site you will find two short videos which provide a general introduction of the Hydroplate Theory developed by Dr. Brown to explain in detail what happened at the time of Noah’s flood as described in the Bible.
Also, on the home page you will find a short About the Author paragraph which provides a biographical sketch of the life of Dr. Brown. If you are interested and wish to know more about Walt Brown, a link is provided to a chapter of a book that provides more details of his life.
Links to three additional videos can also be found on the site presenting the Hydroplate Theory Overview Part I, Part II and Part III.
Near the bottom of the home page you will find a description of the contents of the book Dr. Brown has written which presents the results of his more than 35 years of study regarding creation and the flood. The current book is the 8th edition published in December 2008. The online version is updated from time to time.
Following the ONLINE BOOK link on the main page of the site, you arrive at the Table of Contents of the book. After a Preface, the book is divided into three parts:
The Table of Contents is presented as links so the reader can easily jump to information that may be of interest. Part II presents the details about the Hydroplate Theory and Part III seeks to answer the most frequently asked questions the author has received in his seminars and public presentations.
In the Preface of the book, Dr. Brown asks the question “Where is the creation-evolution controversy headed? I believe the battle will be won – not in courts, legislatures, boards of education, or church councils – but by grassroots science education.” This is what he seeks to provide in his book.
| Web Site of the Month - April 2019 |
| by Lothar Janetzko |
| How Religion Drives Science and why it Matters |
The website review for this month looks at a blog post from Thursday, May 3, 2012, which has the title, “You Won’t Believe What Evolutionists Believe.”
The post begins with the observation that “Evolutionists argue about many things but one thing they agree on is that their idea is a scientific fact. It is the one, definite, consensus position within evolutionary thought. Evolutionists say their idea is as much a fact as is gravity, the roundness of the Earth and heliocentricity.”
What follows in the post are quotes from various individuals, a professor and numerous evolutionists, and even the National Academy of Sciences, which state that evolution is a fact.
It is interesting to learn that about 30 years after Darwin’s book was published, evolution professor Joseph Le Conte wrote this: “Evolution is certainly a legitimate induction from the facts of biology. But we are prepared to go much further. We are confident that evolution is absolutely certain.”
The quotes from numerous evolutionists all really want you to believe that evolution is an absolute fact that should not be questioned.
Evolutionist R. C. Lewontin wrote this in a scientific journal: “It is a fact that all living forms come from previous living forms. Therefore, all present forms of life arose from ancestral forms that were different. Birds arose from nonbirds and humans from nonhumans. No person who pretends to any understanding of the natural world can deny these facts any more than she or he can deny that the earth is round, rotates on its axis, and revolves around the sun.”
It is the blog author’s belief that “we do not know evolution to be a fact. Not even close. If anything, we know that the idea is greatly challenged by science. It certainly is not a scientific fact. And so, the evolutionist’s certainty that evolution is fact is a sign of underlying metaphysics. When people believe in things that they don’t understand and, furthermore, insist they are right and everyone is wrong, and anyone who dares to question must be blackballed, then there is a problem.”
Typical of blog posts, you will find links to the Blog Archive on the main page of the site which provide links to posts from 2009 to 2019. By selecting a particular year, you can select a month and then be provided by a one- or two-line abbreviated title for past posts. Also, you will find comments provided by readers of the post and suggested Links provided by Cornelius Hunter, the author of the post.
| Web Site of the Month - May 2019 |
| by Lothar Janetzko |
| “Show Me the Chemistry” of Abiogenesis. “It’s Not There” |
This month’s website review looks at the YouTube video of Dr. James Tour’s Presentation at Discovery Institute’s 2019 Dallas Conference on Science and Faith, produced by Evolution News & Science Today.
According to their website, “Evolution News & Science Today (EN) provides original reporting and analysis about evolution, neuroscience, bioethics, intelligent design and other science-related issues, including breaking news about scientific research. It also covers the impact of science on culture and conflicts over free speech and academic freedom in science. Finally, it fact-checks and critiques media coverage of scientific issues.” On the main page of the EN website you will find links to TRENDING and RECOMMENDED. The video of the James Tour presentation, which he entitles “The Mystery of the Origin of Life”, can be found as one of the links listed under RECOMMENDED.
Dr. Tour’s video presentation is about 58 minutes long. He begins his talk by discussing his work in nanotechnology, which is “the branch of technology that deals with dimensions and tolerances of less than 100 nanometers, especially the manipulation of individual atoms and molecules.”
The main part of Dr. Tour’s presentation deals with the claims of scientists regarding the origin-of-life. He points out that researchers are not close to creating an artificial cell. He describes in detail the complexity of how cells work and the function of the cell membrane. He believes much that is published in high profile science journals is not based on good science and is just speculation on how life may have evolved. Near the end of his presentation, Dr. Tour presents the following slide:
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Ramifications of calling conjectures facts
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| Web Site of the Month - June 2019 |
| by Lothar Janetzko |
| A Study in Contrasts |
This month’s website review looks at an article found on the website of the Skeptics Society which has been promoting science and reason since 1992. The Skeptics Society publishes the Skeptic magazine, which is available in print & digital editions and on the website. You can also sign up for eSkeptic which will deliver articles, videos, podcasts, reviews, and more to your inbox.
The article about arguments for creationism and evolution is about a study the author and his colleagues have made regarding the specific kinds of persuasive arguments found on the websites they visited related to Scientific Creationism, Intelligent Design (ID), and evolution.
In the study, the authors selected 72 websites (including 34, 15, and 23 websites promoting creationism, ID, and evolution, respectively). They then identified the number of persuasive arguments found on the websites. In a table, they show that creationism websites presented 638 arguments, ID 104, and evolution 184. A total of 926. A systematic method was chosen for dissecting and labeling the arguments. The arguments were then divided into their component parts, which include data and claim.
Table 2 of the article provides a summary of the rubric for argument type. The names of the argument types are as follows:
Table 3 of the article provides a summary of the rubric for argument topic. The argument topics presented are:
Next in the article you will find two figures that present the percent of argument type and topics as a function of document goal.
A discussion section then follows that presents the lessons to be learned from the overall study of the various websites. The authors believe their study shows that “creation ‘scientists’ [notice the bias] do not gather and publish empirical evidence in the same way that mainstream scientists do. Now we see that they don’t generate or use persuasive arguments in the same way that scientists do. Those arguing for creationism differ from those arguing for a scientific position in terms of both types and topics of their arguments.”
Near the end of the discussion section, the article author rightly states that “In terms of the topics of the arguments, scientists narrowly focus on descent with modification. However, creationist websites address a much wider range of topics.”
| Web Site of the Month - July 2019 |
| by Lothar Janetzko |
| The Nature of Theories on Origins and Summary of the Scientific Evidence |
This month’s website review looks at an article I found on the Summit Ministries website, which seeks to explain the nature of the creation vs. evolution controversy.
The article begins with the observation that, “In order for a theory to qualify as a scientific theory it must be supported by observations that are repeatably observable and the theory must, in principle, be falsifiable. That is, there must be some way to demonstrate that the theory is false if indeed it is false. Neither creation nor evolution fulfills the criteria of a scientific theory.”
What follows next is a lengthy discussion of the nature of theories on origins. Both creation and evolution are based on circumstantial evidence, and both are just theories about history. Numerous quotes by various evolutionists are cited that seek to explain why evolutionists claim evolution is based on science and creation is just religion.
It is interesting to learn that Michael Ruse (the evolutionist who was one of the main witnesses for evolution in the 1981 Arkansas federal trial concerning the constitutionality of equal time law for creation and evolution) has changed his view regarding evolution. At the time of the trial, he argued strongly that evolution did not have any religious implications and creation theory was exclusively religious. Ten years later he has admitted that “evolution, akin to religion, involves making certain a priori or metaphysical assumptions, which at some level cannot be proven empirically. I guess we all knew that, but I think that we’re all much more sensitive to these facts now. And I think that the way to deal with creationism, but the way to deal with evolution also, is not to deny these facts, but to recognize them, and see where we can go, as we move on from here.”
In the conclusion to this part of the article, that author makes his case for how creation and evolution should be taught in our public schools.
In the next part of the article, the author presents a summary of the scientific evidence for creation. The topics he covers include:
Another conclusion section follows and an extensive list of footnotes.
As always, there is much to learn from this article about the current state of the debate between the creation and evolution theories.
| Web Site of the Month - August 2019 |
| by Lothar Janetzko |
| The Creation Research Society Is A Professional Organization Committed To Scientific Special Creation |
The website review for this month looks at the website of the Creation Research Society. The site provides links to the following topics:
From the About CRS link you learn that “The Creation Research Society is a professional organization of trained scientists and interested laypersons who are firmly committed to scientific special creation. The Society was organized in 1963 by a committee of ten like-minded scientists, and has grown into an organization with worldwide membership.” Here you will also find a listing of the primary functions of the Society, the Mission Statement for the Society, and a More About Us section which provides more information on the CRS.
The Periodicals link provides access to:
All three of these areas provide Read More links which guide the web reader to more information about the various topics.
From the Read More link about the CRS Quarterly Journal, you learn these details about this Journal:
The CRSQ Abstracts and Public Articles links allow you to explore many different topics of interest in the current debate about creation and evolution.
The Research link provides information about the Van Andel Creation Research Center which was established by the Creation Research Society. This Research Center is located five miles north of Chino Valley, Arizona. Its purpose is to aid the Society and other visiting scientists in their research efforts.
If you are interested in applying for membership or subscribing to the various publications provided by the Society, you can find detailed information by following the Membership link.
There is much more to learn about the Creation Research Society, so just follow the additional links you will find on the various pages already described, and other links from the main page, such as Latest From CRS and Upcoming Events.
| Web Site of the Month - September 2019 |
| by Lothar Janetzko |
| This website critically examines the evidence and the underlying assumptions of evolutionism. |
This month’s website review looks at the website of Creation-Evolution Headlines. The main page of the site presents seven beautiful scrolling pictures with the headline caption, topic, and date of the most recent headline, plus an insightful quote.
From the main page, you can select one of the scrolling headlines to learn the details about the headline, or select one of the following topics from the links on the top of the page:
By hovering your mouse on one of the links you can select a subtopic for further exploration. For example, the Space link has subtopics of:
While you can just follow headlines you find of interest, you can also scroll through the website viewing:
Topics that I found to be very interesting include the Scientist Biographies and the Baloney Detector. The Scientist Biographies contain biographies of about 60 scientists from any different fields of study, while the Baloney Detector is presented as being a great tool to “Sharpen your mind, Reduce fear of intimidation, Avoid logical traps that might make you look foolish later, Gain wisdom and increase discernment, Learn how to answer cults, Save money by developing sales resistance, Become a better teacher, preacher, speaker or debater, Improve your conversational skills, Become a wiser voter by learning how to separate the issues from the hype and Gain more respect for truth.”
Creation-Evolution Headlines has been presenting breaking news about the origins debate since August 2000. As a result, a large archive of headlines has been created. To make it easier to track the dates of headlines, you will find links to Post by Date at the bottom of webpage while scrolling through the various recent headlines. Here you also learn that the website presents 387 pages of headline links.
This website has a wealth of information to explore. In a comment from one of the readers of the website he mentions that he has been reading the site every day for the last three years.
| Web Site of the Month - October 2019 |
| by Lothar Janetzko |
| Understanding through Discussion |
This month’s website review provides information about the Creation/Evolution debate as presented by the EvC Forum website.
The main page of the site provides general information about the EvC Forum and how to best navigate the site. Here you learn that the Forum is “Dedicated to helping develop a better understanding of both sides of the issue of the ongoing Creation/Evolution debate.” You can study details about the controversy by selecting a link to the Reference Library found on the site, debate issues by selecting the link to the Discussion Forums, and find a list of topics currently being discussed by selecting the link to Recent Topics List.
The main page of the site also provides links to:
Under Site Navigation you find links to:
Following the Reference Library link, you learn how the EvC Forum addresses the abundance of information about the Creation/Evolution debate found on the Internet. “The web is rich with information on the Creation/Evolution debate, but it is often disorganized and hard to find. These pages reference and classify webpages from both the creation and evolution perspectives and is organized by both major topics and subtopics. Many of the links include short summaries.” Here you will also find a list of major topics listed alphabetically. Information is provided on how to make the website better by submitting information about websites you’ve visited that are pertinent to the Creation/Evolution debate. You can fill out a template and email it to the website administrator.
The About This Site link provides some history about how the site was first created. “This site’s predecessor was the Yahoo Evolution versus Creationism Club, founded on October 21, 1998, in a hotel room in Cupertino, CA.” You also learn about the software currently used to manage the site.
The Discussion links provide all the details about the EvC Forum including: a list of all topics; a list of all forums; a member list; how to register; getting started; forum rules; and instructions for requesting a new password.
The Forums links serve as a guide to allow the reader to explore topics that are being debated by providing general classifications of the many topics that comprise the Creation/Evolution debate. While reading about a debate topic you can also just use a search box to find other interesting topics.
| Web Site of the Month - November 2019 |
| by Lothar Janetzko |
| Creation and Evolution |
In searching for a website to review for November 2019, I happened upon the JSTOR website. From the ABOUT JSTOR link you learn that “JSTOR is a digital library for scholars, researchers, and students…JSTOR provides access to more than 12 million academic journal articles, books, and primary science sources in 75 disciplines.” In addition, the site will “help you to explore a wide range of scholarly content through a powerful research and teaching platform.”
From the Mission and History you learn “JSTOR collaborates with the academic community to help libraries connect students and faculty to vital content while lowering costs and increasing shelf space, provides independent researchers with free and low-cost access to scholarship, and helps publishers reach new audiences and preserve their content for future generations.”
To find information using JSTOR, you just need to enter search criteria into the Search JSTOR search box. If you enter Creation and Evolution in the search box, the search results will show 1-25 of 329,190 search results. The individual search results show:
Links are provided to:
You can Refine Results of searches by:
You can also search for information by Publication Date.
On the main page of the JSTOR site you will find a section titled Explore JSTOR. Here you will find links covering in detail how to use the site. For example, on the Research Basics link, you will find an open academic research skills course. This course provides: Module 1: Effective searching; Module 2: Establishing credibility; and Module 3: Citing scholarly work.
There is much to explore on this website, so just refine your search criteria and see what the results yield.
| Web Site of the Month - December 2019 |
| by Lothar Janetzko |
| You can use Amazon.com as a Search Engine. |
When searching for articles about creation and evolution, I often just use a web browser and one of various search engines such as Google, Bing or Yahoo. Looking for an article for this month’s website review, I found several search results that provided links to books available on amazon.com. I then decided to just use the amazon.com site to see how this site could be used to find information about the ongoing debate between creation and evolution.
On the main page of the amazon.com website you will find a search bar that allows you to search for books on various topics. By entering “science vs evolution” in the search box, the results are shown by providing 48 results on multiple pages which you can scroll through. Each individual result is shown as an image of the cover of the hardcover, paperback or Kindle book, and the author. Of course, since Amazon is in business to sell you stuff, you will also find the price for purchasing the book. By clicking on the image cover, you receive detailed information about the book. Some books even provide a “Look Inside” link that allows you to view some sample pages of the book.
After entering a search criterion in the search box of the main page of amazon.com, you then will find a list of other categories of books you can search for on the site and from the Kindle Store. The “science vs evolution” search suggests the following book categories:
The Kindle Store list suggests looking for Kindle books from the following categories
It is interesting to see how amazon.com chooses to present results for the “science vs evolution” search. There are indeed many books available that discuss the creation versus evolution controversy. It appears that amazon.com just seeks to provide information about these many books and chooses not to reveal any opinion or bias about which side it believes has the best arguments to support their various positions.
Just scroll through the many search results and explore those you find of interest by using the “science vs evolution” criterion or enter a different search criterion of your own choosing to find books of interest relating to creation and evolution.
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