Free Republic

Whew, what a week it’s been for higher ed!The Claudine Gay debacle at Harvard has raised some fundamental questions about academia in general. She was president of the university, traditionally seen as the pinnacle of American academia.But a careful look at her extremely thin academic publishing record was packed with unattributed borrowings from other authors in her own field.Once all of this became public, and in light of her Congressional testimony in which she found a new love for the free speech that has been heretofore nearly banned at Harvard, it became impossible for her to continue as president and...

Many of the greatest horrors of the history of humanity owe their occurrence solely to the establishment and social enforcement of a false reality. With gratitude to the Catholic philosopher Josef Pieper and his important 1970 essay “Abuse of Language, Abuse of Power” for the term and idea, we can refer to these alternative realities as ideological pseudo-realities. Pseudo-realities, being false and unreal, will always generate tragedy and evil on a scale that is at least proportional to the reach of their grip on power—which is their chief interest—whether social, cultural, economic, political, or (particularly) a combination of several or...

In the book 40 Questions About Creation and Evolution (40 Questions Series) by Kenneth D. Keathley and Mark F. Rooker, Kregal Publications, 2014, include a chapter called “Why are Some Evolutionists Opposed to Evolution.” In this chapter, the authors mention the work of James Shapiro (author of Evolution: A View from the 21st century), Jerry Folder and Massimo Piatelli-Palamarini, (authors of What Darwin Got Wrong), and Thomas Nagel (author of Mind and Cosmos: Why the Materialist Neo- Darwinist Conception of Nature Is Almost Certainly False). These authors have written about the shortcomings of the Neo-Darwinian paradigm that has dominated academia...

A separation of science and politics might be called for. Once upon a time, science evoked enthusiasm. Yes, cinematic mad scientists went overboard with body parts and lightning, but real-life researchers brought us innovations, insights, and improved standards of living. But, like many institutions, science got political and cult-y. Thin-skinned narcissists with government jobs hijacked the systematic pursuit of knowledge and rebranded it as an unassailable body of Truth with a capital T. They cast out as heretics well-informed critics who interpreted evidence differently. In the process, they lost the trust of a public which saw insights replaced by bossy...

The masters of the universe, the self-appointed globalist elites, will control the digital world and in turn control people, Schwab boasted. He predicts a coming merger of humans’ physical, biological and digital identities into some type of hybrid being.

As the week draws to a close, I can’t help but realize that the meeting at Davos is in fact the new gathering for a bastardized transhuman religion that certainly is attempting to replace the old-school religions with scientism. Of course, this scientism is created and will be forced on us with great hostility. Scientism, the secular belief system of the modern world, sawed off the Old Time Religion quite some time ago. Many people believe there’s a scientific solution to every problem. And like all new religions, the secular religion of our times also incorporates some of the rituals...

It’s easy to roll one’s eyes at the sheer idiocy of academics, but it would be a mistake to dismiss their cultural power. The academia to established practice pipeline isn’t 50 or 100 years now, but a decade or less. Niche academic theories such as critical race theory have become standard fare in elementary schools, and every corporation has a DEI department. The society we live in was first designed in obscure academic departments and became reality once it filtered through the MSM, Hollywood, corporate America, public schools. The insanity we see everywhere today has been born out of academic...

I’ve been meaning to do a post about the self-destruction of the STEM fields (actually many, many posts), but I haven’t gotten around to it because there is just so darn much other idiocy to write about. As Ferris Bueller says, “life moves pretty fast, if you don’t stop and look around for a minute you could miss it.” I didn’t miss this tidbit, via the invaluable College Fix. ‘We advocate for speech that empowers the next generation of scientists to create a more just and equitable ─ and hence more excellent ─ scientific community’ Ten scientists holding faculty positions...

Science is supposed to be objective, an undeniable source for truth not subject to fads or fashion. The phrases “scientists say” or “the science is settled” is supposed to inspire hushed awe and open ears. Scientists are supposed to serve as arbiters of truth, at least on questions within their fields of expertise, able to settle disputes and sort fact from fiction. Many progressives, especially, employ the phrase “the science says” to silence disagreement about everything from climate policy to gender ideology. “The science,” at least in certain circles, is an authority appealed to in order to end debate and...

Does science owe reparations to God? Consider: God gave science everything to investigate, to supposedly prove or disprove. God gave humans faith and belief and the chance at everlasting life. Yet many scientists have done all they can to supersede God, banish Him, and disprove His existence. And, in doing so, their clinical virtue signaling has robbed hope and meaning from the lives of countless millions, and, sadly, too often made a mockery of science itself. Someone once said, “They blinded me with science.” Those words ring especially true in this (almost?) post-pandemic time of hoaxes. God is the way,...

The theory that the universe was crafted intentionally explains many essential realities that theories based on spontaneous chance do not.The scientific establishment is slowly beginning to allow scientists who believe in intelligent design to have a platform. Why? It may be because the theory that the universe was crafted intentionally explains many essential realities that theories based on spontaneous chance do not. Perhaps the simplest and best argument for intelligent design is to clearly state what you have to believe to not believe in intelligent design, as I did in my book, “In the Beginning and Other Essays on Intelligent...

A growing number of scientists seem finally ready to at least include intelligent design within the ‘range of views’ allowed to be heard.At first glance, the Potential and Limitations of Evolutionary Processes conference in Israel last week, which I attended, looked like any other scientific meeting on evolution, with talks by highly-credentialed scientists from institutions such as the Technical University of Munich, Cambridge, and the Weizmann Institute. But a closer look at the list of speakers shows that this one was different; it gave a platform to numerous notable proponents of intelligent design. The conference included chemistry Nobel prize winners...

Each time there has been either an imposition or a renewal of COVID-19 mitigation measures, we are offered the same reflexive justification for these decisions. We are told we must "follow the science." This ubiquitous refrain has become the latest iteration of that most convenient of debate surrogates: the unassailable maxim. Merely invoking it places one firmly on the side of all sensible people and against the "anti-science" hordes. At least, that's what we tell ourselves. The truth is, science is a counselor, not a leader. Science is simply information. One cannot "follow the science" any more than one can...

Of course, during the last century liberal theology had no use for the historical resurrection of Jesus. But a remarkable change has come about during the second half of the 20th century. A new quest of the historical Jesus had begun. By 1968 the old skepticism was a spent force and began dramatically to recede. So complete has been the turnabout during the second half of this century concerning the resurrection of Jesus that it is no exaggeration to speak of a reversal of scholarship on this issue. What are the facts that underlie this remarkable reversal of opinion concerning...

Science should be a profession, not a priesthood.In March 2020, the iconoclastic French microbiologist Didier Raoult announced that the anti-malaria drug hydroxychloroquine had cured all 36 COVID-19 patients enrolled in his clinical trial. Many of Raoult's colleagues rejected his conclusions, arguing that the trial was too small and noting that it was not randomized and controlled. But as the deadly coronavirus spread rapidly throughout the world and governments responded with draconian lockdowns, public attention was quickly drawn to the chance that a common and inexpensive drug might rid the world of the danger. President Donald Trump promoted hydroxychloroquine as a...

A US Navy warship was shadowed by two car-size balls of light that were unaffected by anti-drone weapons, it is claimed. The USS Kearsarge is the latest vessel to have reportedly had a UFO encounter as the US military begins to open up about the mysterious phenomena. *snip* At least two objects are said to have lurked near the 40,500-ton amphibious assault ship for several nights while it was on a training exercise off the East Coast of the US. The phenomena — described by sources familiar with the encounter as odd and menacing “balls of light” — are said...

VIDEOWhat a difference a day makes! On Monday he had to wear a mask outdoors despite nobody being within 50 yards of him. On Tuesday it was mask off indoors surrounded by people and lots of hugging and handshaking. Amazing how things change in just ONE day!

I teach Sunday school at my Church. For our next study we will be doing a class on the Trinity - which I see the world and false Christians attacking more and more in contemporary society. The primary text I will be using is “The Forgotten Trinity” by Dr. James White. It is aimed at the layman and should be an excellent resource. But whenever I teach a subject I like to get immersed in it so I can respond to the inevitable tough questions the class always ends up throwing at me. Accordingly, I am looking for some other...

Unbelief, the Opiate of the MassesReligion is the opiate of the masses.” In a single, swift turn of phrase, Marx had created a credo for the secular left. Opium, of course, is the drug of addicts; addicts cannot see beyond their chemical dependency. But if they were to lock themselves in a room and face the cold sweat withdrawals of truth, the addicts could be freed from their affliction. The veil of ignorance blinding their judgment would be torn away. Rationalist sobriety saves.But what if irreligion is the true opiate of the masses—what if unbelief is the valium of the...

Individual scientists are often well meaning and honest. But they are caught up in a system where conformity is enforced. There are many shady methids of making money. There are frauds like Ponzi schemes or pump and dump stock schemes. A more subtle scheme is convincing naïve students to take out large loans to pay inflated tuition so that colleges can milk the taxpayer. The consequences of the student loan fraud are far reaching such as delaying family formation and childbearing. Another academic scheme is to posit a future catastrophe based on “scientific” research. What follows is a vast flow...