Re: [asa] New at the Post-Darwinist: Fr. Coyne's star setting/purely "scientific" Darwinism?

Pat Hayes on Red State Rabble shows how journalists go about finding the 'rest of the story'.
http://redstaterabble.blogspot.com/2006/08/coyne-undergoing-chemotherapy.html

Hard work does pay off. And it also would undermine the rumor mill formerly known as the ID movement.

What will be next? A gossip rag called the "ID Inquirer" which will release a shocking article about how Devil Worshippers use Darwin's Origins as their 'Bible'. Also it seems that Elvis has been sighted...

Okay enough of this silliness, we all understand by now how vacuous ID truly has become in the hands of the present ID activists.
 Coyne Undergoing Chemotherapy As many readers know, RSR has been suspicious that the replacement of Rev. George Coyne as director of the Vatican Observatory was due to his outspoken criticisms of creationism and intelligent design.

Now, in the comments to one of our posts, Wolfwalker has alerted us to an article in an Italian newspaper that clears up the mystery. Since the issue has received a lot of attention in the blogosphere, we wanted to pull it out of the comments section and post it where everyone might have a chance to read it:
Coyne, who is undergoing chemotherapy for colon cancer, has been forced to quit because of the pressures of work at a prestigious astronomy lab that has offshoots all over the world, including Arizona in the US .

Shortly before filing his retirement request this month, the stargazer penned an article for the authoritative science monthly Newton in which he said "God isn't a designer and life is the fruit of billions of attempts."
"People who want to see designers...should go to Milan or, if they're looking for engineers, to Dubai where they're building a whole new city," Coyne wrote.
The Vatican has denied a report in the London-based Daily Mail that the ailing prelate was "removed" because he had "irritated" the pope.
Unfortunately, the article also reports that the Pope is scheduled to "brainstorm on evolution with a top theologian [Schoenborn] accused of championing controversial theories that rubbish Darwin."

Or http://www.corriere.it/english/articoli/2006/08_Agosto/25/vati.shtml

In contrast, Fr Coyne had no qualms about going into the entire debate on evolution.Nevertheless, both the Vatican and the Specola deny that the new director’s appointment represents Fr Coyne’s “removal”.Fr Coyne’s assistant, and the man who is likely to carry out the same function with Fr Funes, was Sabino Maffeo, another Jesuit (all the Specola’s executives are Jesuits). He told the Corriere della Sera that the Daily Mail’s interpretation is “arbitrary”, noting that “for the past several years” Fr Coyne had been asking to be relieved because he had held the post for almost thirty years and the task was a “demanding” one.Fr Maffeo went on to say that Fr Coyne asked to be replaced because of his physical weakness, brought on by the chemotherapy that followed his operation for cancer of the colon, and suggested his collaborator Fr Funes as the person best equipped to take over as director of the Specola.

Another ID myth bites the dust.

----- Original Message ----
From: Robert Schneider <rjschn39@bellsouth.net>
To: Denyse O'Leary <oleary@sympatico.ca>; asa@calvin.edu
Sent: Monday, August 28, 2006 5:32:21 PM
Subject: Re: [asa] New at the Post-Darwinist: Fr. Coyne's star setting/purely "scientific" Darwinism?

Denyse quotes from "Post-Darwinist" (rather pre-mature, don't you think?):

> "The last thing the Darwinists want is to see Darwinism evaluated on its
> own
> merits as a strictly defined theory of the origin of species (with such
> issues as origin of life and human consciousness off the table because
> Darwinism is probably inapplicable to them). "

Oh, dear, more ID-speak. Does the blogger equate "Darwinism" with
"biological evolution"? Does he not, but means by "Darwinism" the
materialistic, naturalistic philosophy that is called "evolutionism"? More
confusion. No biologist objects to anyone competently putting the biological
theory to the test. Scientists do that all the time: Since those who hold to
an evolutionistic philosophy base it on biological evolution, why should
they also object?

Of course, the Vatican is going to reject "evolutionism" while it accepts
evolution. Any Christian would. So what? It doesn't have to "evict" it from
any "list." What nonsense!

This business of labeling George Coyne as a Darwinist, as if he is defending
"evolutionism," is balderdash; more than that, it is an insult to a highly
respected scientist. I see no evidence that the "Vatican had to get rid" of
him. The ID crowd are making a mountain out of a molehilll. A member of the
Vatican Observatory Foundation, who is a long-time friend of Coyne, wrote
about his stepping down on one blog (I've lost the reference) that the end
of his tenure has been discussed for some time by the Foundation, and that
at the age of 73 he was ready to step down, go on a sabbatical for a year,
and then return in an assisting capacity to the new Director, Fr. Funes.
People on both sides of the debate are reading an awful lot into this step.
I've come across verbs in news accounts like "sack" and "fire." Polemicists
on both sides are having a field day. Poor George.

Whether this act has anything to do with where the Vatican may come out on
the issues, especially following the forthcoming conference on evolution,
remains to be seen.

Then our blogger writes:

> Behe and Schoenborn accept that evolution happens. But so? That doesn't
> prove that Darwin was right about the power of natural selection or that
> the
> neo-Darwinists are right about anything at all."

The statement contains an illogical nonsequitur. All too typical of the
argumentation of these people. Natural selection is a testable theory and
has been repeatedly tested. This guy needs to learn some science.

Denyse, try to find a blogger that can make a rational argument instead of
resorting to rhetoric.

Bob

----- Original Message -----
From: "Denyse O'Leary" <oleary@sympatico.ca>
To: <asa@calvin.edu>
Sent: Monday, August 28, 2006 7:05 PM
Subject: [asa] New at the Post-Darwinist: Fr. Coyne's star setting/purely
"scientific" Darwinism?

> New at the Post-Darwinist: Fr. Coyne's star setting/purely "scientific"
> Darwinism?
>
> 1. Fr. Coyne's star setting: Why the Vatican had to get rid of Darwinist
> astronomer Fr. Coyne, whether or not it agrees with any one of the ID
> guys):
>
> "From what I can determine from recent pronouncements, the Vatican is not
> backing off the process of evicting Darwinism ("evolutionism") from its
> list
> of approved belief systems.
>
> [ ... ]
>
> Behe and Schoenborn accept that evolution happens. But so? That doesn't
> prove that Darwin was right about the power of natural selection or that
> the
> neo-Darwinists are right about anything at all. And those who revile
> Behe's
> views would be unwise to hope for much better from the Vatican.
>
> [ ... ]
>
> Even that wouldn't have mattered much except that he started getting more
> media attention than the Pope and was treated as an authority by science
> organizations."
>
> For more, go to:
>
> http://makeashorterlink.com/?S527236AD
>
> Or http://post-darwinist.blogspot.com/ (and scroll or use the search box,
> if the item was posted several days ago)
>
> 2. Purely "scientific" Darwinism?:
>
> "The last thing the Darwinists want is to see Darwinism evaluated on its
> own
> merits as a strictly defined theory of the origin of species (with such
> issues as origin of life and human consciousness off the table because
> Darwinism is probably inapplicable to them). You may as well expect
> communists to accept an objective evaluation of the performance of Marxist
> economics!
>
> To anyone who doubts this, I have a three-word suggestion: Google
> "evolutionary psychology."
>
> You could sink a canal barge with all the nonsense that has been talked
> about cave guys and gals, as a speculative explanation for the life around
> us. Guarantee: You will wake up in the morning, and the sun is shining and
> all that is still nonsense."
>
> For more go to http://makeashorterlink.com/?D457216AD
>
> Or http://post-darwinist.blogspot.com/ and scroll or use the search box,
> if
> the item was posted several days ago)
>
> Cheers, Denyse
>
>
> --
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Received on Mon Aug 28 21:08:16 2006