Darwin on Trial!
with Biased   “ Definitions.”

Page 123.  “ It is easy to see why scientific naturalism is an attractive philosophy for scientists.  It gives science a virtual monopoly on the production of knowledge,”  “ The important question,  is whether this philosophical viewpoint  is merely an understandable professional prejudice  or whether it is the objectively valid way of  understanding the world.”      “ If scientific naturalism is to occupy a dominant cultural position,  it must do more than provide information about the physical universe.  It must draw out the spiritual and ethical implications of its creation story.  In short,  evolution must become a religion.” Precise Definitions  are crucial! Statements from the book  which describe the Evolution dispute  are quoted above,  to illustrate this difficulty.  The author concludes:  “ In short,  evolution must become  a religion.”      A  “philosophical viewpoint”  is a  World view;  that is  indispensible  to provide an  “ Objectively valid way of  understanding the world.”	Metaphysics is the central issue of  Darwin On Trial.      For example,  the word:  “right”  is a Valid belief:  which corresponds with Existence— True.  Man is capable of error  because human consciousness is Volitional  (Epistemology).      Man Chooses  where to focus attention,  and  how— the perspective,  and premises  which interpret sensory-perceptual awareness of Existence.      “Right”  is Good:  which promotes the goals and values of the person who chooses.  Man is capable of error,  when reasoning to choose  Ends— Goals,  and the “means”  to achieve these Ends.  Life -  is the ability to initiate action.  Man needs a method  to guide the activity of his consciousness:  the Human Action  that directs physical activity.  Logic is the Fundamental Concept of Method.      “Right”  in the context of  Politics,  is the  Concept  which identifies Man’s  Volitional Consciousness — Man’s basic means of survival — “Reason”.
Man has a  “Right”  to exercise this “means”  of  “Reason”  to sustain his Life  in  social relations.  [ The Virtue of Selfishness  ch. 12. ] The choice of  Fundamental Premise  (Metaphysics)  is the foundation  which supports one’s world view of knowledge  (gained by Faith,  or Reason);   of  Values  (Obedience  or Choice);   of Individual Freedom to Choose,  or Slavery and Political tryanny;   and Esthetics,  such as the writings of the Ayatollah Khomeini,  which  “ advocate vigorously converting or murdering all those who do not embrace  Allah’s holy meme.”    “ Any nonreligious power  [i.e.,  non-Islamic (western) nation],  whatever form or shape,  is necessarily an atheistic power,  the tool of Satan;”    “ Such Satanic power can engender nothing but corruption on earth,  the supreme evil  which must be pitilessly fought  and rooted out.”  “ To achieve that end,  we have no recourse  other than to overthrow all governments that do not rest on pure Islamic principles,  and are thus  corrupt  and corrupting,  . . .”  [ pp. 232 - 233.  The Lucifer Principle,  by Howard Bloom.]	Page  Two.      On page 153  of  Darwin on Trial,  Mr. Johnson explains:  “ evolution means so many different things,  almost any example will do.  The trick is  always to prove  one of the modest meanings of the term,  and treat it as  proof of the complete metaphysical system.”   “ When critics appear  and demand empirical confirmation,  Darwinists can avoid the test  by responding that  scientists are discovering …”   “ The fact of evolution  therefore remains unquestioned.”      “ In short,  evolution must become a religion.”   Mr. Johnson clarifies the meaning  of the term:  “religion”  on page 128:  Scientific naturalists -  “ science for them  is the realm of objective knowledge;  ‘ religion is a matter of subjective belief.’ ” “religion”  is used in both statements  to mean  a complete system of philosophy:  Metaphysics,  Epistemology,  Ethics,  Politics,  and  Esthetics.  “religion”  is a  theist based  “philosophical viewpoint”  which  emphasizes knowledge  gained by  Faith.  [ Epistemology ]
Such  “ revealed knowledge”  is not  validated by observation,  or any other empirical means of testing.  Scientists have tested  “beliefs,”  that are claimed to be based on  “Faith,”  which do not correspond with percieved  “ objective knowledge,”.  [ Tertullian. ]      If the author were to use the term:  “ religion”  to mean all complete systems of philosophy,  then  any contrasting non-theist systems  such as Objectivism,  would be an  “ atheist  religion”. What a thigh slapper !!!,   and a rhetorical manœvre  to induct the competition  into the category of  “ Believers.” This error is not deliberate,  considering the careful analysis of the entire book,  (Mr. Johnson,  the author,  is a lawyer).      My bias  to refute the weakness of evolution theory,  blinded me  until I read more of this excellent book!   Detailed illustration  of biases  and blindness  which result from dedication  to preserve a:  “ virtual monopoly on the production of knowledge”, reveal the  Human need for Certainty.  World View  provides this  Bias,  and leads to inevitable world conflict  when some  Fundamental Premises are adopted,  and enforced.	Page  Three.      Mind over matter is   Primacy of Consciousness.  Rene Descartes  stated his  “ Cogito Ergo Sum,”  that we create the universe  we experience,  by Conscious Projection of mental images.  The phrase stated by parents  to children:  “ Because I said so! ”  is an example of this implied power of  ipse dixit,  to direct the order of the universe  by strength of Will.      religion  is a World View,  which is based on the Premise:  Consciousness is Primary.      The  Chicken or Egg puzzle -  illustrates the issue of metaphysical primacy.  Which is the self-sufficient primary:  Consciousness,  or Existence?      The philosopher Plato  accepted the  Form of the Good  as The  Primary ;  and was the first to establish a complete system of philosophy:  with all major branches.  Plato accepted the idea  that the material world  is a manifestation of the Form of the Good,  and is created as a means to achieve “ the good”.      Existence includes  All things  (existents)  and is Primary.  There is no  “Thing”  apart from Existence,  and  no alternative to it.
We do not observe Any  (created) additions to,  or  annihilations,  removed from Existence.  All of these observations are summarized in the Metaphysical conclusion:  Existence is Finite.      The exchange theory of Einstein:  E =MC2  is a re-statement  of the  Law of Identity  which was first stated by Aristotle:   A  ≡  A. Each thing is itself:      It is what it is. It can not be  what it is,      and  what it is not - At the same time,      and in the same respect. Contradictions  do not exist. Common to all different forms of each thing  is its  Identity.    The guide for Human consciousness  (Reasoning)  is the  Law of Identification.      One’s basic premises  filter the reasoning to  conclusions,  and bias the conceptions which result.  The author of  Darwin On Trial  has clearly demonstrated this  “Self-made”  aspect of human identity.	Page  Four. Volitional consciousness  chooses the premises,  which bias the thinking process,  which generates all premises and conclusions.  The ability to direct awareness by choice,  includes the ability to err.  Human awareness is not  automatic,  inevitable,  nor instinctive.  The longing for a perfect  and complete awareness  is only natural  for a being who is capable of  limited knowledge  and possible error. Each thing is itself -  Its Identity.  What each thing does -  Its Nature,  depends on what it is -  Its Identity. Consciousness  is  Identification. The Law  of  Identification  is the  fundamental concept  of  Method:  Logic,  which  rejects  Contradictions  as  errors.  Tertulian was a medieval cleric  who stated that  a  Contradiction  is evidence  of  God’s  divine intervention.      Anthony Flew  wrote a 1950 article:  Theology and Falsification,  about the basis for scientific validity.  “ What good is science? ”  The ability to predict  and test  the consequences,  of a premise.
For decades,  Anthony Flew was the poster child for atheism.  An Associated Press article about his new book,  states that he has recently changed his mind.  He now believes in  “God” -  and concludes that an  Intelligence,  or First Cause of some sort,  must have created the universe.  “ This is the only good explanation for the origin of life  and complexity of nature.” Naturalism  (contrasted with Deism)  is consistent with  Falsifiability Theory.  “ Natural”  behavior  of each thing  is inherent in its existence:  Existence is Identity.   Prediction,  and Repeatability,  is the basis for scientific investigation. Deism is an explanation for the behavior of things.  “ Complexity of nature,”  is explained by  omniscient intelligence of a  “Supreme Designer”.  The supreme commander— God:  “Orders”  the duties to be obeyed.  The Order of the Universe  is  Ipse dixit:  “God’s Will”.  [Ipsi = I myself,  Dixit = say]   Ipse dixit is the ultimate:  “ Because I said so! ”,  control of mind  over matter.  Inherent in the idea of Miracle  is the Contradiction of  changed  nature of being.	Page  Five.      The Premise of a  Fundamental Power  to control the activity of  All things,  is the basis for reasoning to the belief that there is a  “Power” to change the nature of any  thing:  “God’s Will”.  This change is  unusual!     Consider the immunity from Scientific Testing?  By definition,  Miracles are not repeatable.  How is a Miracle  to be verified?  The issue  is not  how to gain  complete knowledge,  but how to integrate all the evidence available;  and reason to a conclusion,  which is general to the things and conditions which interact.  If an error is made in recording an event,  it is not a burden of science  to repeat the error. Objective Metaphysics is a field of consistent generality,  not a field of exceptions,  or subjective hallucination.  The arena of science  is to investigate unusual behavior,  and to discover things which were not previously known.  The pervasive uniformity of all experiences  is summarized by:  LAWS,  or general acknowledgement of repeatable activity. For example:   Gravity is  Always,  and Everywhere.
If  God  were  to  perform Miracles,  with  the same  ambitious enthusiasm,  as  Jihad warriors,  Scientists  would lose  their  “ Fundamental Method ”—  Logic.  Their activities would just  “happen,”  as a result of  their  Random choices,  and  they would quickly  become unemployed. Repeatability—  for initiating the complexity of  life  from  simple,  inert matter,  is a challenge  to scientists.  The Premise of  an  “Intelligence,”  or  First Cause  of  some sort,  is appealing.  Consider the  chutzpah  of  a  newly hired,  inexperienced,  fellow worker,  who said:  “ Everything  I do,  is  an  improvement ! ”  How is it possible to know  the results of  activating a  “design”,  before  observing the interaction of  each part of  the design?  Doubt,  of the  Perfection of  the only design,   has yielded theories of  Alternate Universes.  “ God,  as a child,  makes a chicken”  is the title of  a humorous cartoon.  Perhaps these  “other Universes”  are learning experiences of  the:   “Supreme Designer”? Frustration,  motivates many people to  Choose  the Premise:  “ Consciousness  is Primary”,  and engage in  “Circular” Reasoning,  which  is  “Faith”. “ Cogito  Ergo  De-Signum Sum.” [ I  think,  therefore  I  am  designed. ] “ String theorists  treated  nonbelievers  as though  they were  a  little  slow-witted.  Now,  it seems,  at least some  superstring advocates  are ready  to abandon  the essential definition  of  science itself  on the basis  that  string theory  is  too important  to be  hampered  by  old-fashioned  notions  of  experimental proof.” [ Unraveling  of  String Theory,  Time:  Aug. 14,  2006. ] DARWINISM  under the  microscope, How  Recent  Scientific Evidence  Points to  Divine Design, by  James P. Gills,  M.D.  &  Tom Woodward,  PH. D. “ Evolutionary  naturalists ”  use  “ the  intimidation factor  of  pseudo-academia,  they  ‘win’  their arguments,  not  by  persuasion  and  good science,  but  by  stifling  dissent.” “ (T)his  book  offers  strong  credible  scientific reasons  for  faith.”  [ Foreward,  p. xv.] “ The  best  of  scientists  are  men  at  best, . . .”    “ Many  of  them  have  simply  chosen  to  believe  in  evolution.”    “ And  yet  this  book  also  shows that  the  idea  of  Intelligent design  of  the  universe  generally,  and  the  human person  particularly,  is  based on  physical,  empirical evidence  rather  than  a  religious idea.” “ (T)he  writer  of  the  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews  said,  ‘ Through  faith  we  understand  that . . .  things  which  are seen  were  not made  of  things  which  do appear.’  (Heb. 11:3,  KGV) . . .” “ Never  will . . .  we  be  able  to  say,  ‘ By  science  we  now  believe  that  the worlds  were  framed  by  the  word  of  God ’— . . .” [ Prologue,  p. xii-xiii.] Page Four  above: “ By  science ”—  the  SCIENTIFIC  METHOD  is  specified;  except,  when  used  by  pseudo-academia,  as  an  intimidation factor.    Existence  is  Identity. “ The  best  of  scientists . . .”    “ have  simply  chosen  to  believe . . .”    Consciousness  is  Identification. The  conscious activity  of  Identification  is  unique  to  Human  beings.   Volition—  is  the  unique—  Human  ability:  The  Choice  of  directing  awareness.   Volition  is  the  Human  Soul.   FAITH—  is  the  conscious ability  to  avoid  sensations  and  perceptions  of  existing,  material reality;  and  imagine—  or  create  fantasies.   The  Possum  in  the road  has  no Soul,  and  cannot  disconnect  attention  from  the  mesmerizing headlights.   The  conscious process  of  each  “ Scientist ”  must  be  guided  by  a  Method,  to  anchor attention  to  the  Objects  that  are  studied.   This  is  Objectivity.  The  Fundamental  Concept  of  Method  is  LOGIC:  the  art  of  non-contradictory Identification.   This  method  of  exercising  human  (conceptual)  awareness  is  made possible  by  Consistent,  repeatable,  observations  of  Cause—Effect  relations. The  METAPHYSICAL  conclusion  of  this  Method  is  specified:          Contradictions  do Not Exist.          Existence  is  Identity.          Design  is  Identity,  apart  from  Existence.          Identity  is  the  “Cause ”  of  all  “ Effects.”          A  Miracle —  is  a  Contradiction. Metaphysics Home