Giant's Causeway III - A New Hope

This is the third e-mail I've sent to the National Trust and the Caleban on the subject of Young Earth Creationism at the Giant's Causeway. Read part 1 and part 2 first if you like. Mervyn and Wallace are chair and vice chair of the Creationist Caleb Foundation, David works for the National Trust.

Dear David, Mervyn and Wallace,

Can it be true? Should we kill the fatted calf? I see that the National Trust has "decided to review the interpretive materials in this section [Giant's Causeway]." I cannot express the joy these words inspired in me - my Fian will be so happy to see that you're taking our constructive criticism seriously and considering adding our views with equal prominence to our fellow giant believers in the Caleb Foundation.

We've already discussed with you the examples of extreme strength displayed in the Old Testament, and in an earlier e-mail we went over some of the many mentions of giants in the text Mervyn and Wallace consider inerrant, so I think there's definite room for collaboration.

Giant's Causeway II - The Druids Strike Back

The National Trust took the time to send a standard form letter in response to Rígfénnid Geoff's inquiry. (Best to read this first for background.) WhyEvolutionIsTrue received the same, and their thoughts on the matter are worth reading. Below is  Rígfénnid Geoff's response.

Dear David,

Many thanks for taking the time to e-mail me. I suspect you've been rather inundated with mail and may not have had the chance to read mine fully. Your response suggests I am opposed to the National Trust including material favoured by Young Earth Creationists. Far from it! My fian and I were overjoyed to see such an open-minded approach taken, and we celebrated late into the night, knowing that this bold move on your part could be used by us as well as the Caleb Foundation as a foot in the door for our beliefs.

As I mentioned in my earlier e-mail I represent the Dublin branch of Na Fianna, an organisation devoted to maintaining the traditional ways of the poets, warriors, Druids and kings of old Ireland. We recognise and respect the valuable contributions made to society by those who take a purely scientific worldview, and fully agree that their understanding of the Giant's Causeway's formation should be given prominence at your site, even though we do not consider it the only valid view.

One Giant's Leap for Creationists

I read with some disappointment that the Caleb foundation have persuaded the UK National Trust to include a Young Earth Creationist interpretation of the formation of the Giant's Causeway in Antrim. I decided to ask for equal time for a Druidic interpretation. I'll let you know if either group get back to me. (Side note - people tend to not reply to my e-mails.)

Dear friends at the National Trust and Caleb Foundation,

I write to congratulate you on your recent collaboration to ensure a Young Earth Creationist viewpoint is given prominence at the Giant's Causeway interpretive centre in Antrim. I'm sure you share my view that science has brought us many wonderful benefits and would not seek to stand against it. I feel you likely share my view that science is a useful tool, but that too often the blinkers of the majority opinion mean we see only one possible interpretation of the evidence.

I, too, represent a group that seeks to understand scientific discoveries with proper respect and in the context of my beliefs. Although not a Young Earth Creationist, or indeed a Christian, I have been impressed with the Caleb Foundation's ability to make a case against overwhelming scientific consensus, and the National Trust's willingness to be open to other viewpoints.

My group has experienced much the same discrimination and, dare I say it, mockery as the Caleb Foundation. I represent the Dublin branch of Na Fianna, an organisation devoted to maintaining the traditional ways of the poets, warriors, Druids and kings of old Ireland.

Hare Krishna Impersonator!

Sometimes I can be helpful. Take the below, where I alert the Hare Krishnas here to an impostor in their midst. Or is he for real? Links in this post do not appear in the e-mail I've sent. Contact details taken from here. 

Dear Mayesvara and Syamananda, 

I'm writing to alert you to an impersonator in Dublin who is attempting to bring the good name of your organisation into disrepute.

He stopped me last Thursday on Henry Street and introduced himself as a travelling Yoga teacher asking for donations for Dublin's Hare Krishna temple.

He had no identification, and while his distinctive haircut suggested a monk I felt this was not enough to ensure authenticity. I recalled that your parent organisation had declared bankruptcy to avoid paying compensation to child sex abuse victims, and I asked him if he could explain this approach to me. This may have seemed a mite harsh but I was sure anyone authorised by your temple to collect money would have been appropriately briefed to discuss this matter with tact and compassion.

Craig Marsh's Response: More Than I Can Stomach

*Edit: I've been asked to state that I do not work for Premier Christian Radio, do not represent their views and am not acting on behalf of their company or agents. I'm happy to do so.*

Back in March I discussed modern-day miracles with Doctor Craig Keener on Premier Christian Radio. He'd written a 1,200 page book on the subject, and while he was a pleasant chap with some good points on Hume I disagreed with his endorsement of riot-inciting Evangelist Reinhard Bonnke and Dawit Molalegn, mega rich megapastor of the FBI miracle church.

In addition the host played two recorded messages and asked for my response. One was from a woman who said her leg felt improved some days after being prayed for. The other was from a Pastor Craig Marsh. His - let's be polite initially - story was that his stomach had been largely amputated for medical reasons, he was terminally ill, and then during a group prayer event his stomach spontaneously regrew, allowing him to both live a normal life and perplex his medical staff.

Lennox, Scherer, and the giant floating forest hypothesis

While first reading "God's Undertaker" I noticed a reference to "Evolution - ein kritisches Lehrbuch" by Professor Siegfried Scherer. I'll admit I didn't pay it much heed at the time - the review was already unwieldy in length, my German was rusty, and tracing down every last error would have been something of a time sink.

But a couple of months later I amused myself with a dictionary and skimmed a few pages of the book Lennox had used to justify the following quote:

"Siegfried Scherer of the Technical University in Munich suggests that living things can be classified in certain basic types – a classification slightly broader than that of species. A ‘basic type’ is defined to be a collection of living things connected either directly or indirectly through hybridization, without regard for whether the hybrids are sterile or not. This definition incorporates both genetic and morphological concepts of species, and, according to Scherer, research so far indicates that ‘in the whole experimentally accessible domain of microevolution (including research in artificial breeding and in species formation), all variations have certainly remained within the confines of basic types’." -God's Undertaker, Page 109

I'd thought that the 'basic type' sounded suspiciously like the Biblical 'kind', used by Creationists to mean something between species and clade, meandering between both possible definitions depending which chapter of Genesis was at stake.

Episode V: The Moonies Strike Back

For strike, read e-mail. At the start of this month I contacted the Moonies to ask a few questions around the logistics of their Messiah's prophecy of a God-mandated purge, ridding the world of homosexuals. I wrote in the style of someone concerned for staffing levels, and wondering if the proposed burnings would affect those in close proximity, or those who had merely experimented. You can read it here.

Their response was underwhelming. Despite their Messiah proclaiming that gays are dung eating dogs Patricia was unable to help me with a proposed tax refund claim for canine employees, or suggest dung recipes.

I'll reproduce it in full:

Circumcision and Yaweh's Changing Morality

Imagine, if you will, that you've created this universe. That you've watched it expand and boil, then cool, collide and mature. That you've seen stars form and grow and die, then cast their contents to the cosmos, scattering the building blocks of molecules required for life. Imagine you look at just one of the hundreds of billions of galaxies that you have made, and from it select one of the hundreds of billions of stars,  and give your focus to one of its planets.

From there, give your attention to first life. Watch it stutter and start, nearly obliterate itself in the oxygen catastrophe, watch it grow larger and expand in variety only to gaze on dispassionately while it is mostly annihilated some sixty five million years ago. Then see how life recovers, and watch how the mammals begin their ascendancy to fill a void left by the death of dinosaurs. Now wait millions of years, until you see the first apes straighten to two legs and stagger blinking into the light, afraid, alone, dying mostly of their teeth or in childbirth.

Watch the rise of the Neanderthals, with their hopes, rituals and protoreligious burials unanswered, then watch as they decline, dwindle and die. We mere mortals know that Homo florensiencsis discovered fire and likely made hunting tools but you will be able to see with clarity how closely these long dead cousins mirrored our intelligence. Enjoy the discoveries, waiting, watching, until some two hundred thousand years ago the first anatomical humans rise to enjoy a life of fear and early death. Wait further still, until some five thousand years ago you decide to reveal yourself to a man called Abram, and reveal to him the concern that has been most keenly pressing for this immense chasm of time:

April Fools Questions for the Moonies

Given the day that's in it I thought I'd ask the Moonies for some more information on their Messiah. I'll let you know if they get back to me. In the meantime, here's the e-mail I sent:




Dear Patricia,

I found a copy of your flier on O'Connell Street outside the GPO. Well, some of it was missing, but I had the bottom half and it looked interesting. Reading about how Rev Moon was anointed by Jesus and sent to find a bride livened up an otherwise dull bus ride.

I did some searching on my mobile (again, uninteresting bus ride, so plenty of time for looking into these things) and found that quite a number of Rev Moon's speeches are available on www.tparents.org and www.unification.net - but you probably knew that already! The link may even be on the top half of your flier. I enjoy talking with friends about different world beliefs so I found lots of information for discussion.

One of my friends was quite interested. She works in a large call centre just outside London. She's in HR, and as you can imagine, with high staff turnover scheduling things like hiring campaigns and holiday leave can be a bit of a nightmare. She was most interested to read where your Messiah said that soon

"There will be a purge on God's orders, and evil will be eliminated like shadows. Gays will be eliminated ... If not then they will be burned. We do not know what kind of world God will bring but this is what happens. It will be greater than the communist purge but at God's orders." (http://www.tparents.org/moon-talks/sunmyungmoon04/SM040101-Service-b.htm)

Gunning for God (John Lennox) - Hitler and the atheist baptisms

You may be aware that Mohandas Gandhi was posthumously baptised into the Mormon faith. The same industrious folk also converted the parents of famed Nazi hunter Simon Wiesenthal. The noteworthy are not their sole targets; their net is cast so wide that a performer in this proxy baptism charade sued the church for back injuries sustained while performing two hundred immersions.

When first I heard of these tales I pictured two fresh-faced elders of the Mormon church, dressed in trademark black slacks and short sleeve shirts, knocking at the doors of hell and asking politely if they could take the insipid word of Joe Smith to the complex's residents. I dismissed it as an oddity, peculiar to the Latter Day Saints.

Until I found John Lennox trying a similar trick.

Considering the multitudes in his ambitious plan I hope he has opted not to perform proxy immersions. Rather than attempting to swell the ranks of Christianity his goal is to deplete them. Throughout Gunning for God he strives to separate the wheat from the chaff. The True Christians^TM are kept and celebrated, those he discards as failing his almighty judgement are assigned to the atheist pile.

Gunning for God (John Lennox) - Chapter 2 Part B. Pilate, Prophecies and Lost in Translation

 
Chapter 2: Is Religion Poisonous? - Part B Pilate, Prophecies and Lost in Translation

<-- Previous Chapter

I ended my last blog post halfway through chapter 2. I did this partially because there is much to discuss, but also because I was rather happy with the closing line and did not wish to see it wasted on a midway point.

In the previous section Lennox went to great lengths to refute himself and then failed to seriously engage with what we Irish euphemistically call "the troubles". There followed a clean division whereafter he returned to Biblical interpretation. Lennox plays a game of association, often enlisting atheists to his cause to confirm the existence of a historical Jesus who was crucified in first century Judea, then making reasonable arguments for an empty tomb. But then he'll glide on to a discussion that presumes the accuracy of all New Testament texts, often with his own interpolations or additions, as seen by his modification of the Ten Commandments and unsubstantiated discussion of Peter's swordfighting ability discussed in previous posts.

The Unusual Suspects - a guide to street preachers in Dublin

The fine folks at Atheist Ireland were kind enough to mention me in their latest newsletter. This had the advantage of sending some more readers to my blog and in the absence of an 'About' page I decided to recap my intent.


I talk to street preachers.


I'm glad I had this opportunity to recap. The remainder of this post will trace an imaginary walking tour of Dublin and detail some of the highlights. Is there a street preacher I've missed? Do let me know in the comments section.

Hare Krishnas
Our tour starts on Grafton Street where, if you're lucky, we'll spot one or more Hare Krishnas. Normally dressed in distinctive orange or white flowing robes with incomplete headshaves, they can be hard to spot when they work the streets. Their activities are of dubious legality. Look for casual dress, wolly hats, hoodies, or other devices to cover their heads, and an armful of books.


When to find them: Rush hours, days vary. They're sometimes active on Henry Street and O'Connell Street.
Awkward questions to ask:

• Which is closer, the sun or the moon? (The answer will surprise you.)
• I see you're asking for cash donations. As per section 94 of the Charities Act 2009, may I see your written permit and sealed collection box?
• Do you agree with your founder that women's brains are half the size of men's?

Prabhupada: Hare Krishna's founder on Jews, Africans, Native Americans and Hitler

Earlier this year I enrolled in the National Genographic project. For a reasonable fee they sequenced my Y chromosome and compared the mutations to those found at archaeological digs and isolated tribes worldwide. Using this information they built a map showing my deep genetic ancestry, showing the route taken by a small band of frightened, hairless apes as they left the African savannah, eventually spreading throughout the world and depositing my more recent ancestors in Europe.

It's one of those moments when science can bring you the transcendent, and I still hold dear the bond I share with all my fellow humans so well exemplified by a simple map backed by decades of research. I highly recommend it to all and think it should be compulsory for anyone convicted of racist offences.

But what of Prabhupada? What were the founder of the Hare Krishna's views on racism?

Podcast Interview with a Young Earth Creationist

In an earlier post I mentioned I'd offered my services to a young earth Creationist who bemoaned the absence of debate. We met for coffee a fortnight ago and recorded a short interview. Although not swayed in my belief that the earth is older than 10,000 years I quite enjoyed the experience - Anthony's a likeable chap who let me do most of the talking, paid for the tea and biscuits, let me duck a question on the rotation of galaxies and put the whole interview up unedited. We talked for an hour overall, but kept the recorded section to under 15 minutes to maintain interest.

You may like to visit his blog. Alternatively, you might see him on Temple Bar. He attends on some Saturdays and holds a Jesus sign for identification. Do tell him I said hi.

The podcast is available here. The title is "Does science disprove faith?" (Not my choice of title) and includes a longish intro before the interview. If you don't find it, it may have been moved to his archive.

Yes, that is what I sound like. Some feedback would be great - it's easy to write blog posts with reference materials to hand, but somewhat harder to do these things on the spot.

Prabhupada: Hare Krishna's founder in his own words

In an earlier article I discussed how many Hare Krishnas have a rather unusual view of cosmology. They believe the moon to be larger than the sun and some 800,000 miles more distant. One of the supporting quotes I provided included the line

"I’m sure that devotees who are more erudite than a mere woman can come up with much better citations..."

and I was asked offline if I could elaborate on sexism in the organisation. (Emphasis in the above quote is mine.)

Hare Krishnas and the faked moon landing

I sometimes encounter beliefs that are so outlandish as to be immune to parody. Take Hare Krishnas and the moon landing.

krishna.org has a lengthy pseudoscientific article on why they feel the moon landing was faked, and a shorter example of poor maths directed at the same goal. I've met moon landing deniers. Some of them can make a superficially compelling case by referring to the tension of the cold war and the pressure to outdo the Russians, but ultimately they fall down under the weight of scientific facts. Still, you can have a conversation with them. I've known them to change their views.

But it turns out it is not doubts about moon landing footage or radiation levels that cause their dubiousness. Krishna Consciousness' founding dates all the way back to the mid 1960's when His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada (henceforth Prabhupada, I don't want to get RSI retyping that title) formed the International Society for Krishna Consciousness. He had some interesting views on cosmology which are thoroughly defended by krishna.org here. An excerpt:

"The Vedic account of our planetary system is already researched, concluded, and perfect. TheVedas state that the moon is 800,000 miles farther from the earth than the sun. Therefore, even if we accept the modern calculation of 93 million miles as the distance from the earth to the sun, how could the “astronauts” have traveled to the moon–a distance of almost 94 million miles–in only 91 hours (the alleged elapsed time of the Apollo 11 moon trip)? This would require an average speed of more than one million miles per hour for the spacecraft, a patently impossible feat by even the space scientists’ calculations."