Promote, as a scientific theory, the idea that life was designed by an
intelligent designer,
Educate people about scientific problems with purely natural
explanations for the origins and evolution of life,
Challenge the philosophical assumptions of Darwinism, naturalism, and
materialism,
Facilitate discussion, debate, and dialogue in a warm, friendly, and
open atmosphere where individuals feel free to speak their personal
views.
The
IDEA Club is an affiliated chapter of the Intelligent Design and
Evolution Awareness (IDEA) Center
www.ideacenter.org
General Overview
Darwinian
evolutionary theory has come to assume an aura of invincibility,
especially within the academic community. Yet recent years have seen the
rise to prominence of ever more sophisticated critiques of the ideas
marketed under the name of Darwinism. Dissatisfaction with Darwinian
theory seems to be reaching critical mass, as growing numbers of
educated people, including biologists, biochemists, philosophers, and
theologians identify serious problems with the dominant orthodoxy.
Have you ever considered the theory of evolution with an
open and critical mind?
"A fair result can only be obtained by
balancing the facts and arguments on both sides of each question."
--Charles Darwin
From the
EXPELLED Movie Website: "In a scientific world gone mad, EXPELLED: No Intelligence Allowed is the
controversial documentary that will chronicle Ben Stein's confrontation
with the Neo-Darwinian machine, exposing widespread suppression and
entrenched discrimination in his heroic quest to bring back freedom in
our institutions, laboratories and most importantly, in our classrooms,
with the help of the world's top scientists, educators and thinkers."
IDEA's Summary: As reported in a front-page New York Times article on
Sept. 27, 2007,
the EXPELLED Documentary exposes the widespread pattern of
discrimination against scientists that challenge Darwin. It will come
out in mainstream theaters nationwide in April, 2008. Visit the website
to see more information, including
trailers,
The Big Science Academy, and
Ben Stein's Blog, or watch the trailer below:
In the movie “Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed” Ben
Stein asks Michael Ruse how life got started in light of the need for
large complex biological molecules to form spontaneously. Michael
responds with a conjecture which states that biopolymers were
synthesized "on the backs of crystals”. The movie then flashed to a
short, humorous glimpse of a wizard fawning over his “magic crystal”.
This is a well publicized materialist claim. In essence, it
states that mineral surfaces somehow provided the complex template
required to allow information-rich biological polymers to form.
Presented below is a detailed scientific answer demonstrating
why this materialistic approach is not viable.
It’s ironically interesting that the neo-Darwinists like to
discredit ID work by saying it’s pseudo science.
This is one data point to keep in mind concerning who is
using science and who is making rhetorical claims that aren’t well
founded in scientific evidence.
In short, here is scientific information that counters the
metaphysical claims of a prominent neo-Darwinist and critic of ID.
(Many thanks to Dr. Scott Chambers for his presentation and
Mario Lopez for producing the flash video)
Dr.
Chambers is a Laboratory Fellow and Technical Lead for the Oxide Epitaxy
Group in the Chemical and Materials Sciences Division of Pacific
Northwest National Laboratory in Richland, WA. He is also Affiliate
Professor of Chemistry and Affiliate Professor of Materials Science and
Engineering at the University of Washington in Seattle, WA. He holds an
A.B. degree in chemistry/chemical physics from the University of
California at San Diego and a Ph.D. in physical chemistry from Oregon
State University. His research interests include the epitaxial growth
of metal oxide crystalline films and multilayers, as well as the
electronic, magnetic, and photochemical properties of oxide surfaces,
and oxide/oxide, oxide/metal and oxide/ semiconductor interfaces. He
has authored or coauthored ~200 refereed research articles, invited
review articles, and book chapters, and has given ~160 invited lectures
at conferences, universities and research laboratories worldwide. He
holds three U.S. patents. He was the 2004 recipient of the E.W. Mueller
Award for outstanding achievements in surface science from the
Laboratory for Surface Studies at the University of Wisconsin at
Milwaukee.
