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AR 24:34 - Is confidence in Darwin waning?
In this issue:
ORIGINS - serious new blows to Darwinism's credibility
RELIGIOUS FREEDOM - Pew's 10th annual report on global religious restrictions
WILLIAMSON, MARIANNE - the New Age presidential candidate
Apologia Report 24:34 (1,442)
August 20, 2019
ORIGINS
"Mathematical Challenges to Darwin's Theory of Evolution" -- a June 6 video discussion in which the Hoover Institution's Peter Robinson asks authors David Berlinski, David Gelernter, and Stephen Meyer: "Has Darwinism really failed?"
At issue: "Based on new evidence and knowledge that functioning proteins are extremely rare, should Darwin's theory of evolution be dismissed, dissected, developed or replaced with a theory of intelligent design?" These doubts have been raised by the authors in their two books and essay, respectively The Deniable Darwin [1], Darwin's Doubt [2], and "Giving Up Darwin."
Included in the discussion: "Robinson asks them to convince him that the term 'species' has not been defined by the authors to Darwin's disadvantage. Gelernter <www.bit.ly/2KVLeYH> replies to this and explains, as he expressed in his essay, that he sees Darwin's theory as beautiful (which made it difficult for him to give it up): 'Beauty is often a telltale sign of truth. Beauty is our guide to the intellectual universe - walking beside us through the uncharted wilderness, pointing us in the right direction, keeping us on track - most of the time.' ...
"Robinson then asks the panel whether Darwin's theory of gradual evolution is contradicted by the explosion of fossil records in the Cambrian period, when there was a sudden occurrence of many species over the span of approximately seventy million years (Meyer noted that the date range for the Cambrian period is actually narrowing). Meyer <www.bit.ly/2z4k7o> replies that even population genetics, the mathematical branch of Darwinian theory, has not been able to support the explosion of fossil records during the Cambrian period, biologically or geologically.
"Robinson asks about Darwin's main problem, molecular biology ...
"'Intelligent design' is something only Meyer agrees with, but Berlinski <www.bit.ly/2YXqGZr> replies that as a scientific approach, one can agree or disagree with it, but should not reject it. ...
"Robinson quotes Gelernter: 'Darwinism is no longer just a scientific theory but a basis of a worldview, and an [emerging] religion for the many troubled souls who need one.'" <www.bit.ly/31J5Cmt>
Gelernter's May 1, 2019 Claremont Review of Books essay, "Giving Up Darwin," <www.bit.ly/31HaKYc> ends by describing Stephen Meyer's book as "a landmark in the intellectual history of Darwinism [regarding] these most important cases, the ones we see all around us, that Darwin cannot explain. Yet his theory does explain cases of real significance. And Darwin's intellectual daring will always be inspiring. The man will always be admired.
"He now poses a final challenge. Whether biology will rise to this last one as well as it did to the first, when his theory upset every apple cart, remains to be seen. How cleanly and quickly can the field get over Darwin, and move on? - with due allowance for every Darwinist's having to study all the evidence for himself? There is one of the most important questions facing science in the 21st century."
This piece ends with a link <www.bit.ly/2ZawYEw> that serves as a reminder - and is summarized: "The beginning of a new conservatism?" We think that reminder remains important.
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RELIGIOUS FREEDOM
"A Closer Look at How Religious Restrictions Have Risen Around the World" dated July 15, 2019, is the Pew Research Center's tenth annual appraisal. This one "dives deeper into the ways government restrictions on religion and social hostilities involving religion have changed, from 2007 to 2017."
Observations: Consider substituting "state supported harassment" for restriction(s) to gain a more comprehensive sense of what is behind the conflicts described. The report details its results by geographic region. Notably, exclusive favoritism tends to accompany the harassment identified in the Middle East.
The report offers significant detail on inter-religious tension and violence as well as hostilities by organized groups. However, summary findings organized by religion are scarce. <www.pewrsr.ch/31KuYAn>
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WILLIAMSON, MARIANNE
Much has been written about the storied <www.bit.ly/2NbUbjf> New Age celebrity and now contender for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination. Some items stand out:
Writing for GetReligion (July 8, 2019) in "Evil, sin, reality and life as a 'Son of God': What Marianne Williamson is saying isn't new," Terry Mattingly provides a good introduction. <www.bit.ly/33GXQLO>
The July 5th New York Times helps with "The Curious Mystical Text Behind Marianne Williamson's Presidential Bid" by Sam Kestenbaum. The tag lines explain: "The New Age author was drawn to an esoteric bible in the 1970s. It made her a self-help megastar. And now it has gone mainstream." Soon thereafter comes the helpful summary that Williamson was "drawing directly from a homegrown American holy book called 'A Course in Miracles [3],' a curious New York scripture that arose during the heady metaphysical counterculture of the 1960s.
"This is not some homey book of feel-good bromides. Rather, it is taken by its readers as a genuine gospel, produced by a Manhattan doctor who believed she was channeling new revelations from Jesus Christ himself. And stepping into this unusual book's story, in fact, is the key to understanding Ms. Williamson's latest venture.
"The mystical text has sold millions, been translated into two dozen languages and has attracted fans like Carlos Santana and Beyoncé. Mitch Horowitz [an occult spokesman] called the Course <www.bit.ly/30es4DH> one of the 'largest and most popular alternative spiritual movements in America.'
"'For followers, it holds out a hope that there is a greater world than the one that we are experiencing,' he said, 'that illness, emotional torment, fear, self-doubt, prejudice are all simply illusions.' ...
"The woman responsible for the book, Helen Schucman, was an unlikely mystic. Her parents were nonpracticing Jews, and she trained to become a psychologist at New York University.
"As an adult, though, Ms. Schucman began having strange experiences. She had vivid dreams; in one, she found herself in a dim cave, unfurling a mysterious scroll. And once, while riding the subway, she saw her fellow passengers glow in holy light.
Then, in 1965, while working as a research psychologist at Columbia-Presbyterian Medical Center, a voice addressed her. It urged her to take dictation. 'This is a course in miracles,' it said. 'Please take notes.' ...
"The book drew from older traditions like Christian Science and New Thought, a related 19th-century metaphysical movement. It also incorporated Freudian language. Reality, it taught, was illusory; conflicts dissolve when one realizes the power of love and forgiveness. This change in perception, the book's narrator says, produces miracles.
"It opens cryptically: 'Nothing unreal exists. Nothing real can be threatened. Herein lies the peace of God.' ...
"In 1992, Ms. Williamson published her first book, A Return to Love: Reflections on the Principles of A Course in Miracles [4]. The work landed her on The Oprah Winfrey Show, where, it's said, Ms. Winfrey marveled that she had experienced precisely '157 miracles' in her own life after reading Ms. Williamson's book. Sales accordingly skyrocketed.
"By then, Ms. Williamson was growing into her role as a full-blown celebrity, jumping between New York and the hills of Southern California. In 1991, she officiated Elizabeth Taylor's wedding - a ceremony at Michael Jackson's Neverland Ranch - and offered counsel to Bill and Hillary Clinton at a 1994 Camp David visit. She crossed paths with Donald Trump, who requested her presence at a Mar-a-Lago fund-raiser so that she and Marla Maples might meet. Time magazine called her 'Hollywood's New Age attraction.'
"More books, based on the Course, followed at a regular clip - at least six have climbed the New York Times best-seller list - each offering nostrums on the curative power of thought. ...
"In 1998, Ms. Williamson moved outside Detroit to lead a megachurch. The congregation was not affiliated with A Course in Miracles, but it also preached a blend of Christianity and positive thinking. Ms. Williamson encountered some difficulty here, too. A faction grew uneasy with her political commentary from the pulpit, and when she proposed changing the name and affiliation of the church, they threatened a lawsuit.
"'Being on a pulpit was more different than I even expected,' she said. 'I bristled at the restrictions.'
"In 2002, Ms. Williamson stepped down. She considered her next move. ...
"At first, as she wrote in 2004, she saw the Course as the key to changing one's personal life. 'Today,' she went on, 'I see its guidance as key to changing the world.' ...
"In 2016, Ms. Williamson saw Mr. Trump's win as a deep crisis. 'He is harnessing metaphysical traditions,' she told me, 'but dark ones.' A mysterious feeling washed over her, compelling her to swoop into the political trenches." <www.nyti.ms/2MmlPKR>
Also see (in no particular order): <www.bit.ly/33GYIA4> regarding her unorthodox campaign, <www.bit.ly/2PaZjXI> "I am not a cult leader," <www.bit.ly/2KSqAIY> and <www.bit.ly/2Hc0Giq> on the support she is getting from like-minded New Agers.
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SOURCES: Monographs
1 - The Deniable Darwin and Other Essays, by David Berlinski (Discovery Inst Prs, 2010, paperback, 558 pages) <www.amzn.to/2H6RziT>
2 - Darwin's Doubt: The Explosive Origin of Animal Life and the Case for Intelligent Design by Stephen C. Meyer (HarperOne, 2014, paperback, 560 pages) <www.ow.ly/wHJ6n> (Currently Amazon's #2 creationism-related title)
3 - A Course in Miracles, by Helen Schucman (Foundation for Inner Peace, 2007 [3d edition], hardcover, 1,333 pages) <www.amzn.to/2ZqrCW1>
4 - A Return to Love: Reflections on the Principles of A Course in Miracles, by Marianne Williamson (HarperOne, 1996, paperback, 336 pages) <www.amzn.to/2Ndcvsr>
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