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Web Site of the Month - January 2008
by Lothar Janetzko

Evolution Not ‘Just a Theory’, and Yes, Huckabee It Does Matter
http://blog.wired.com/wiredscience/2008/01/evolution-is-no.html

“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.

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Web Site of the Month - February 2008
by Lothar Janetzko

American Scientific Affiliation
http://www.asa3.org/

“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

  1. FAQ
  2. Faith-Science News
  3. Bible & Science
  4. Creation/Evolution
  5. Whole Person Education
  6. Audio/Video
  7. Email List Archives
  8. ASA Related Groups

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.

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Web Site of the Month - March 2008
by Lothar Janetzko

Philosophy/Liberal Studies 333: Evolution and Creation
http://nsmserver2.fullerton.edu/departments/chemistry/evolution_creation/web/

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:

  1. Introduction
  2. General References on the Relationship of Religion and Theology to Science
  3. General References for Philosophy of Science
  4. Genesis
  5. General References for Evolutionary Theory
  6. Evolution as Fact and Theory
  7. Introduction to Evolutionary Theory
  8. Natural Selection
  9. Genetics and Mutation
  10. The Fossil Record
  11. Punctuated Equilibrium
  12. Anatomy and Physiology
  13. Molecular Evidence
  14. Evolutionary Developmental Biology
  15. Biochemical Complexity
  16. Biogeography
  17. Origin of Life, Information and Complexity
  18. Stephen Jay Gould and Richard Dawkins
  19. Legal and Educational Issues
  20. Intelligent Design
  21. General References for Geology and Radiometric Dating
  22. General References for Young Earth Creationism
  23. Young Earth Creationist Arguments for a Young Earth
  24. Young Earth Creationist Arguments for the Coexistence of Humans and Dinosaurs
  25. The Noachian Flood
  26. Progressive (Old Earth) Creationism
  27. Theistic Evolution
  28. Sociobiology
  29. Thermodynamics
  30. Human Evolution
  31. Evolution and Creation in the Popular Press

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.

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Web Site of the Month - April 2008
by Lothar Janetzko

Top 100 April Fool’s Day Hoaxes
http://www.museumofhoaxes.com/hoax/aprilfool/index

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:

  1. Forum
  2. Register
  3. Login
  4. Hoaxipedia
  5. Top 100 April Fools
  6. College Pranks
  7. About the Curator
  8. Contact
  9. A History of Hoaxes
  10. Hoax Websites
  11. Hoax Photos
  12. Hoax Photo Tests
  13. Gullibility Tests
  14. Tall-Tale Creatures

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.

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Web Site of the Month - May 2008
by Lothar Janetzko

Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Expelled:_No_Intelligence_Allowed

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:

  1. Overview
  2. People presented in the film
  3. Claims that film producers misled interviewees
  4. Charles Darwin quotation issue
  5. Legal issues
  6. Academic Freedom Statue on Evolution
  7. Reaction
  8. Promotion
  9. Pre-release screenings
  10. See also
  11. References
  12. External links

The Overview section of the article is divided into the following topics:

  1. Promotion of intelligent design as an alternative to evolution
  2. Claims that intelligent design advocates are persecuted
  3. Portrayal of science as atheistic
  4. Claims that Nazism was inspired by acceptance of evolution

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.

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Web Site of the Month - June 2008
by Lothar Janetzko

Theory of evolution
http://www.conservapedia.com/Theory_of_evolution

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:

  1. Theory of Evolution – Mutations and the Life Sciences in General
  2. Theory of Evolution and Little Consensus
  3. Genetic Code, Processing of Biological Data, and Biological Information
  4. Theory of Evolution and Cases of Fraud, Hoaxes and Speculation
  5. Theory of Evolution and Lack of Any Clear Transitional Forms
  6. The Fossil Record and the Evolutionary Position
  7. Paleoanthropology
  8. Theory of Punctuated Equilibrium
  9. The Issue of Whether the Evolutionary Position Qualifies as a Scientific Theory
  10. Implausible Explanations and the Evolutionary Position
  11. Statements of Design
  12. Theory of Evolution and the Scientific Journals
  13. Effect on Scientific Endeavors Outside the Specific Field of Biology
  14. Age of the Earth and Universe and the Theory of Evolution
  15. Scientific Community Consensus and the Macroevolution Position
  16. Social Effects of the Theory of Evolution
  17. Creation Scientists Tend to Win Creation-Evolution Debates
  18. Theory of Evolution and Liberalism
  19. Online Videos on the Theory of Evolution
  20. Further Reading (including free on-line versions)
  21. See also
  22. External Links
  23. References

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.

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Web Site of the Month - July 2008
by Lothar Janetzko

Seeing Creation and Evolution in Grand Canyon
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/10/06/science/sciencespecial2/06canyon.html

“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:

  1. Origins of Two Journeys
  2. Worship in a Glorious Cathedral
  3. Questions and More Questions
  4. Faith in Science
  5. Same Object, Different Views

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.

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