DOES GOD EXIST? TODAY

April 28, 2023April 28, 2023

Darwin’s Racism and Sexism

Evolutionists and critics of Christianity are fond of attacking the Christian faith as the source of every evil in our culture today. They pay little attention to the fact that Charles Darwin’s education and culture indoctrinated him with sexist and racist narratives. Darwin’s racism and sexism show up in his writings.

Darwin presented his erroneous views as scientific facts. Here are some of Darwin’s beliefs as clearly expressed in his 1871 book The Descent of Man:

* Men are evolutionarily superior to women.

* Europeans are evolutionarily superior to non-Europeans.

* Hierarchical civilizations are evolutionarily superior to small egalitarian societies.

* “The hideous ornaments and equally hideous music admired by most savages are not so highly developed as in certain animals, for instance, in birds.”

* The appearance of Africans is comparable to the New World monkey Pithecia satanas.

* The subjugation of the poor, non-Europeans, and women was the natural result of evolutionary progress.

It is not difficult to understand how Darwin justified racism from an evolutionary standpoint. Darwin received a state funeral in Westminister Abbey and was publicly commemorated as a symbol of “English success in conquering nature and civilizing the globe during Victoria’s long reign.” To this day, we have skeptics using Darwin’s work as a club against Christians and belief in God while attacking Christianity as the source of evil. Even as he described evolution by natural selection (which we have pointed out has been recently challenged by new research), Darwin’s racism and sexism remained part of his scientific writing.

In today’s world, educated people can be heavily influenced by their peers and culture. They can still be captive to cultural bias, as Darwin was. The Christian system is unique in opposing all distinctions of race, sex, and culture, loving all people, and treating everyone as created in God’s image. (See Matthew 5:43-48 and Galatians 3:27-28.)

Reference: “Racist and sexist depictions of human evolution still permeate science, education and popular culture today” by Dr. Rui Diogo in “The Conversation”

April 27, 2023April 24, 2023

Waste of Food and Resources

One of the great tragedies of American culture today is the incredible waste of food and resources. People in many places around the world are surviving on less than 1000 calories per day, and starvation is killing vast numbers. Over a third of the food produced in the United States is never eaten. On average, Americans throw away a pound of food per person daily. The Environmental Protection Agency says the water and energy wasted in the United States in a year would supply more than 50 million homes.

The problem is not just the waste of food and resources but also how we use the land to produce food. The University of Oxford and Global Change Data Lab tell us that 50% of the world’s habitable land and 70% of freshwater goes to growing food and raising livestock. So when we throw away food, we also waste land and water resources. Three-fourths of the global ocean and freshwater pollution comes from agriculture. Greenhouse gas emissions from one year of food waste in the United States alone are equivalent to the emissions from 42 coal-fired power plants.

God has provided us with all the resources we need to feed the world’s population, but corporate greed, selfishness, ignorance, and a lack of concern for others cause the problem of world hunger. In Matthew 25:31-46, Jesus described judgment based on how we conduct ourselves in meeting the needs of others. The first thing Jesus mentions is that providing food for others is a responsibility of His followers (verses 35 and 42). One way we can do that is by avoiding the waste of food and resources God has given us and becoming leaders in the war against hunger. By living in obedience to Christ, we witness the reality of God to the world.

Reference: The Tufts University Health and Nutrition Letter for February 2023 has several tips for reducing food waste, including “the truth about date stamps” on food that cause people to throw away food that could be eaten.

April 26, 2023April 27, 2023

Eliminating Pigments in Paint

What if we could reduce environmental problems by eliminating pigments in paint? Creating colorful paint without pigments is possible by copying something found in the natural world. For example, butterflies, birds, fish, and cephalopods use structural color to create their dazzling beauty. Light, rather than pigments, creates structural color.

Debashis Chanda and colleagues at the University of Central Florida have researched eliminating pigments in paint by using structural color. Pigment colors are artificially synthesized molecules, requiring different chemicals for each color. Structural color involves producing a geometrical arrangement of two colorless materials to make any color of the rainbow.

Chandra’s work produces a plasmonic paint using nanoscale structural arrangements of aluminum and aluminum oxide, both of which are colorless. Structural color controls the reflection, scattering, or absorption of light based on the geometrical configuration of the nanostructures. The research has placed these structural color flakes in a commercial binder to produce all the colors visible to the human eye.

Unlike pigment color, structural color never fades. Another advantage is that it reflects infrared radiation, so the material under the paint can stay 25 to 30 degrees F cooler than with chemical paint. Also, plasmonic paint is lighter weight because it can produce saturated colors with a thinner paint layer. In addition, since the colors will not fade, there may not be a need to repaint as often. Finally, eliminating pigments in paint reduces chemical substances that can cause environmental impacts.

With these advantages, structural color plasmonic paint may be the paint of the future. Interestingly, structural color is another thing we learn from studying the natural world. Often the colors we see in living things come from structural color rather than pigments. This is one more example of the intelligence God built into the world. We continue to learn exciting new ways to improve people’s lives by mimicking what God has already done. Like velcro, penicillin, bird wings, and lizard lungs, we are blessed by copying God’s design.

References: National Science Foundation Reports and the journal Science Advances

April 25, 2023April 24, 2023

Meeting Human Needs

Yesterday the mail brought an appeal from the 100th organization asking us for money for a cause somewhere in the world. Some are organizations dealing with politics, and others are trying to protect animal life or solve environmental issues. Seventy-four were organizations meeting human needs, including blindness, disease, poverty, birth defects, mental illness, and victims of war. Many organizations meeting human needs have budgets well under a million dollars. They get their money from people like me, who are not wealthy but give what we can. Yet, because there are so many of us, these organizations continue to accomplish their work.

A news item that arrived yesterday was a list of the dollar value of contracts between major league baseball players and their teams. Aaron Judge topped the list with a 360 million-dollar contract. The total for the top three players reached a billion dollars. The top fifteen major league baseball players signed for over sixty million dollars each. We could find similar data for NFL football players or NBA basketball players. The wealth of politicians, the amount paid to movie stars, and the salaries of CEOs in the business world are staggering for those of us who get by on less annual income than some of these people make in an hour.

So how much do the world’s wealthiest people give to organizations meeting human needs? Of course, there are a few cases where the rich support good causes. But considering the lifestyles of most of the rich, we understand why Jesus told His followers, “Truly I tell you, it will be hard for a rich person to enter the kingdom of heaven. Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God” (Matthew 19:23-24 CSB).

The Bible tells about rich people who made a positive difference, but overall the message is that the love of money crowds out everything else. “But those who want to be rich fall into temptation, a trap, and many foolish and harmful desires, which plunge people into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, and by craving it, some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs” (1 Timothy 6:9-10 CSB).

The track record of the very rich is not good. Suicide, alcohol and drug addiction, broken marriages, lost children, and the lack of genuine companionship abound. Meanwhile, the flow of misery from undeveloped countries is accelerating, and the followers of Christ are shipping the food, drilling the water wells, and providing medical help to meet human needs. Our thanks to all who follow the teachings of Jesus and give sacrificially to meet the needs of others.

Reference: USA Today in South Bend Tribune for 3/12/23.

April 24, 2023April 23, 2023

Tool Use Discoveries in Anthropology

Scientific articles about tool use as an indicator of pre-human activity in the distant past may have to be rewritten. New discoveries show that the “tools” some anthropologists claimed were used by ancient hominids may be stone flakes accidentally created by monkeys.

Researchers have observed long-tailed macaques in Thailand using rocks to pound open palm nuts. When they use rocks containing flint or quartz, they create flakes or shards. Those fragments are very similar to some sharp-edge stone fragments researchers previously thought were created by ancient humans in East Africa.

Scientists have used what they call intentionally produced sharp-edged stones as proof of the evolutionary development of emerging humans. They used the “flake technology” to infer the degree of cognitive ability, including knowing how to select the types of rocks to give specific properties for making tools. Despite this “new” research, experienced field workers had previously observed monkeys inadvertently producing stone flakes and sometimes even using them as grooming tools.

Today’s anthropologists have moved beyond tool use to determine whether a specimen was human. They can sometimes use DNA found in the remains of the individuals. DNA studies have led to the understanding that all humans are related and that the gene pool has been thoroughly mixed over the ages.

The biblical reference is very simple. The name “Eve” means the mother of all living humans (Genesis 3:20). “Adam” means “of the ground,” referring to the fact that our physical bodies consist of elements found in the earth. “In the sweat of your face shall you eat bread until you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken. For dust you are, and to dust you shall return” (Genesis 3:19).

What sets humans apart is not tool use but our spiritual makeup. All humans are made in the image of God. We are all one physically, and the Bible calls us to become one spiritually. (See Galatians 3:28 and Ephesians 2:14.)

References: Science News April 8, 2023, page 13, and the journal Science Advances.

April 21, 2023April 19, 2023

What Are the Chances?

Advocates of unguided naturalistic evolution say that evolution could have gone in many directions, and we are lucky to be here. But what are the chances of evolution producing you and me as we are today? Evolutionists would say the changes are 100% since we are already here. But, if we go back to the cosmic creation event, or “big bang,” the chances that we would have evolved are nil. On the other hand, if God planned and guided the creation because He had us in mind, the chances are 100%.

The DNA that makes us who we are physically is a highly complex strand of information. What are the chances that it could have written itself by chance? First of all, information comes from intelligence, not chance. Calculating the likelihood of something after it has happened is a statistical fallacy. After all, DNA is here, and so are we, so the chances are 100%. But what are the chances if we go back before the fact? What are the chances that non-living chemicals could come together in a just-right way to form the first living cell? Then what is the statistical evidence for that first cell multiplying and modifying by random chance mutations and natural selection to create humans?

One imagined scenario involves a billion chimpanzees typing on a billion keyboards for a billion years, accidentally typing one line of Shakespeare. What are the chances of that? Well, the short answer is that it will never happen. Computer keyboards have various numbers of keys, but the old-fashioned typewriters had 58, so let’s go with that number.

Forget Shakespeare. Look for the line “I love you more.” without quotation marks. That is a total of 16 letters, spaces, and a period. With 58 keys and 16 letters, what are the chances of accidentally typing that line? To compute that, you would have to multiply 58 X 58 X 58 X 58 X 58 X 58 X 58 X 58 X 58 X 58 X 58 X 58 X 58 X 58 X 58 X 58. That is a total of 16 times. If you want to try it, go ahead, but it will probably exceed the capacity of your calculator. The answer would be 16.4 trillion quadrillion typing attempts.

Typing continuously at a speed equivalent to 45 words per minute, it would take 2,100 trillion years to have a 50/50 chance that one of those chimps would type that phrase. Absolutely nobody thinks that the Earth is anywhere close to 2,100 trillion years old. Nobody even suggests that the universe is that old. For this thought experiment, we are only looking for one short line of text, “I love you more.” That is nothing compared to the complex system of life on this planet.

The bottom line is that we can’t explain life or the fine-tuned physical constants of the universe by chance alone. But we can explain those things if God planned and guided the creation because He had us in mind. With God, our chances of being here were 100% from the beginning. (See Genesis 1:1.)

Reference: “Chances are…” by Bob Berman on Astronomy.com

For more on this topic see “Arranging Books on a Shelf“

April 20, 2023April 20, 2023

Spring Green Testifies of God

I have been admiring the beautiful colors of the blossoms on our fruit trees and the flowering dogwoods. Spring brings new life to the natural world. Everything changes daily as the bulb plants wake up and emerge from the ground. Yet, even with all the beautiful colors, I enjoy spring green.

Green is a very relaxing color. The new leaves on the trees transform them from ghost-like stalks to luxurious, living umbrellas ready to provide shade from the summer heat. But, have you ever noticed that the green of tree leaves seems more vibrant in the spring than in summertime? There is a reason for that. It isn’t just your imagination.

Leaves are green because of the chlorophyll they contain. That amazing chemical makes it possible for plants to take energy from the Sun, moisture from the ground, and carbon dioxide from the air to make sugars that power their growth. We call that extremely complex process photosynthesis, and we have discussed that before on this website. The chlorophyll is contained in chloroplasts in the leaves. The chloroplasts absorb light, but they use more of the higher energy blue and red wavelengths and reflect much of the green. When we see spring green leaves, they contain fewer chloroplasts, so they absorb less light, making the green leaves appear bright and vibrant.

Chloroplasts multiply as the season wears on, so the leaves absorb more light. Also, the cuticles, or outer layer of the leaves, and the cell walls in the leaves become thicker. Those factors, which are part of the leaf’s maturing process, cause it to appear darker. I wonder if we also become less conscious of the green after we have seen it for a few weeks. When the dark tree trunks of winter become hidden by beautiful green leaves, we take notice. Our attention changes when we have seen the spring green and become overwhelmed by the summer.

In autumn, when the chloroplasts fade, the vibrant colors of other chemicals in the leaves catch our attention. Spring green and autumn gold and red can jar us into realizing the beauty of the world. However, we should not need sudden changes to make us conscious of the beauty of God’s wonders all around us. Evidence for God is there if we are willing to look. “For his invisible attributes, that is, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen since the creation of the world, being understood through what he has made. As a result, people are without excuse” (Romans 1:20 CSB).

April 19, 2023April 18, 2023

Elephants Show Design and Purpose

Skeptics have maintained that our planet cannot support animals as big and requiring as much food and water as elephants. Such comments are a product of ignorance and the desire to show that a wise Creator could not have designed life on Earth. However, the more we learn about them, the more we see that elephants show design and purpose.

Elephants eat 200 to 300 pounds of food and drink up to 40 gallons of water every day. They can spend 75% of their day eating, and that fact has fueled the skeptical view. What needs to be better understood is that almost 50% of the plant material they eat leaves their body undigested. This makes the elephant the gardener of the rainforest, providing seeds and water in places that would otherwise be barren.

An elephant’s trunk is an incredibly sophisticated piece of equipment with 40,000 muscles that can bend in nearly any direction. An adult elephant’s trunk can pick up a 700-pound weight, but it is sensitive enough to pick up a flower. Elephants can suck up and expel water but do not drink through their trunk – it is not a straw. An elephant’s sense of smell is twice as keen as a dog’s and can detect the scent of food or water 10 miles away.

Elephants use infrasonic sounds to communicate with one another. These are frequencies lower than 20 cycles per second, the lower limit of human hearing. Using low frequencies allows the sounds to be transmitted over very long distances. Studies have shown that elephants can communicate with one another over a span of six miles. Elephant hearing does not just involve its ears. They also hear through nerves in their feet, and their hearing is sensitive enough to distinguish between human voices.

Elephants have the largest brain of any land animal, and the memory section is larger and denser than that of humans. The adage of having a memory like an elephant recognizes this ability, which has shown to be useful in situations such as remembering where water holes were 12 years ago. The design of elephants is so complex that attributing it to blind chance does not seem to be the best explanation. Seeing that elephants show design and purpose, we recognize that life is the product of an intelligent Creator.

Reference: National Geographic animation “Discover the secret superpowers of elephants..”

April 18, 2023April 15, 2023

The Complex Design of Insect Brains

We may see insects as very simple organisms, but scientists see the complex design of insect brains. The human brain has over 80 billion nerve cells, each with about 10,000 connections. To understand the wiring in the human brain, you have to start small. For that reason, scientists mapped the 548,000 connections in the brain of a fruit fly larva. The goal is to learn how to treat disorders in the human brain.

The scientists had to slice the tiny brain into thousands of very thin sections and then use an electron microscope to capture an image of each slice. They could only accomplish the analysis by using powerful computers and specialized analytical tools. Even though they are small, fruitfly brains have regions for decision-making, learning, and navigation. In addition, they have left and right sides, like human brains.

Scientists call the complete brain wiring connections the “connectome,” and this work has practical applications. If we could understand the human brain’s connectome, we might be able to treat learning disorders, schizophrenia, and behavioral issues. Although researchers have been able to map the brain of the fruit fly larva, they are still far from mapping the brain of an adult fruit fly. Mapping the human brain will be even more challenging.

As we read data about the complex design of insect brains, we see how incredible the design of life is. The brain is a vital part of our existence and is far more complex than any computer humans might develop. To think that this complexity could be the product of blind chance processes requires faith beyond the thinking of any reasonable person.

The complex design of insect brains tells us that the “Wisdom” spoken of in Proverbs 8:12 and 22 demonstrates God’s incredible engineering and design. “I wisdom dwell with prudence and find out knowledge of witty inventions … the Lord possessed me in the beginning of His work.”

References: The journal Science, and “The first wiring map of an insect’s brain hints at incredible complexity” on NPR.org

April 17, 2023April 15, 2023

Tectonic Plates and Continental Drift

One of the interesting designs of planet Earth is the fluid nature of the crust and interior of the planet. Looking at a global map suggests that North and South America must have been connected to Europe and Africa in the past. As technology has improved, we have been able to see the connections and identify and measure the slowly moving tectonic plates and continental drift. This movement gives rise to surface features that affect human life and bring resources to supply the needs of all living things.

In 2005, geologists tracked 163 earthquakes as a 35-mile-long chasm opened in Ethiopia’s Afar Desert, where a volcanic eruption occurred. In 2018, a giant fissure 50 feet deep and 65 feet wide opened west of Nairobi, Kenya. These changes are surface expressions of movement in the mantle of magma inside the planet. The movement of tectonic plates happens very slowly, but even at a rate of less than an inch a year, scientists can measure it.

Tectonic plates and continental drift formed the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden. Along the edges of the various plates, material from the surface sinks back into Earth’s interior, while volcanos bring new materials to the surface, creating a colossal recycling system. Planet Earth is active, continuously producing new land with fresh minerals.

Because this process is so slow, its impact on human existence is minimal. However, people continue to build large cities along the fault lines. In California, we have the making of a colossal disaster as cities like Los Angeles straddle a geologically active region. The warnings are there, but they go unheeded.

Understanding the design of our planet with tectonic plates and continental drift should enable us to avoid geologic catastrophes and locate the mineral resources we need. Proverbs 8:22-26 finds “Wisdom” speaking about her presence at the beginning of God’s creation work. We see God’s wisdom and patience as we look at our planet’s design.

References: Wikipedia “Afar Triangle,” “Afar Triple Junction,” and “Great Rift Valley, Kenya”