Intelligent Design Theory, George W. Bush & the Question of God by Michael Shermer Intelligent Design (ID) creationism has resurfaced in the news again after President George W. Bush’s remarks were (mis)taken by IDers to be a solid endorsement by the president and his administration for the teaching of ID in public school science classrooms. There was considerable media hype over the story, and I did a number of interviews, including a live debate on CNN with lead Intelligent Design theorist William Dembski. As this story unfolded, however, I discovered (to no great surprise) that IDers, along with many in the media, and pundits on both the right and the left, greatly exaggerated Bush’s remarks. On Monday, August 1, Bush gave an interview at the White House to a group of Texas newspaper reporters in which he said that when he was governor of Texas “I felt like both sides ought to be properly taught.” When a reporter asked for his position today on whether ID should be taught alongs...

Larry Gasch, an acquaintance of mine, recently wrote a couple of "letters to the editor" on "Intelligent Design" (ID) that appeared in "OPINE," the opinion section of the Star Beacon -- the largest (and only) daily newspaper in Ashtabula County, Ohio. Both letters, in my opinion, were exceptionally well written and pierced straight to the heart of the controversy surrounding this issue. I called Larry and he agreed to let me post his letters here. This first letter was published in the August 13 issue of the Star Beacon in response to a "pro-ID" article that appeared earlier in the week. Since this newspaper does not archive its stories or opinion pieces on its website, I cannot provide a corroborating link. -- WM Sir: Kathleen Parker’s “Conservative View” column of Monday, August 8, addressed President George W. Bush’s comments about allowing “intelligent design” (ID) to be discussed in schools. She correctly observes that Pres. Bush did not ...

The Associated Press Sunday, August 14, 2005; 9:33 PM CAMBRIDGE, Mass. -- Harvard University is joining the long-running debate over the theory of evolution by launching a research project to study how life began. The team of researchers will receive $1 million in funding annually from Harvard over the next few years. The project begins with an admission that some mysteries about life's origins cannot be explained. "My expectation is that we will be able to reduce this to a very simple series of logical events that could have taken place with no divine intervention," said David R. Liu, a professor of chemistry and chemical biology at Harvard. The "Origins of Life in the Universe Initiative" is still in its early stages, scientists told the Boston Sunday Globe. Harvard has told the research team to make plans for adding faculty members and a collection of multimillion-dollar facilities. Evolution is a fundamental scientific theory that species evolved over mill...

By Brad A. Greenberg Staff Writer Thursday, August 11, 2005 - A defrocked Catholic priest who served in Loma Linda and Ontario claims church leaders protected his pedophilic behavior by passing him among parishes. Edward Anthony Rodrigue, an admitted serial molester, claims in court papers that he was allowed to continue working at churches despite numerous complaints of sexual abuse. His statements were filed by plaintiffs’ lawyers Tuesday in U.S. District Court in San Diego. Another declaration by a former police officer claimed the Rev. John Daly was moved to San Bernardino County in exchange for prosecutor’s keeping secret his sexual indiscretion. Both statements, and those made by countless people who claim they were sexually abused, support lawyers’ claims that, for decades, Catholic bishops have protected deviant priests, further endangering children. J. Michael Hennigan, lawyer for the San Diego diocese, said Rodrigue’s statements were disturbing and cast a pall over former Bi...

The handyman at a Berks County church was sentenced Thursday to five years' probation in connection with the city's "pay to play" corruption case. Following prosecutors' recommendation for a reduced sentence, U.S. District Judge Michael M. Baylson sentenced Jose Mendoza, 46, to probation and ordered him to pay restitution of $57,000. Mendoza had cooperated with investigators. Mendoza pleaded guilty in August 2004 to falsely telling Commerce Bank that he was general manager of a company that had done repairs to St. James Chapel Church of God in Christ _ a church in Reading where former Philadelphia Treasurer Corey Kemp worshipped. The company existed only on paper, and tens of thousands of dollars loaned for a church renovation project ended up in the pockets of its pastor, the Rev. Francis D. McCracken, and Kemp, investigators said. Mendoza allowed himself to be used by McCracken and Kemp in their dealings with the bank but made no money from the scheme, officials...

BY JOSH FUNK The Wichita Eagle School board member arrested The arrest of Wichita school board member Kevin Graham surprised those who know him. His fellow board members and others say they want to hear Graham's explanation for the two personal checks police say he tried to cash Thursday from a long-closed account before passing judgment. Graham, who is pastor of St. Matthew CME Church , did not offer an explanation Friday. He did not return several calls to his home, church and cell phone, and did not answer the door late Thursday or Friday. Leonard Wesley, the finance chairman at Graham's church, learned about his pastor's arrest from a reporter Friday morning. "I didn't know anything about it," Wesley said, but he expressed confidence that Graham and the church would be OK. "I'm sure we'll work through it," Wesley said. Graham could face two felony check fraud charges, and state law says he could be removed from office if he's convicte...

HOUSTON A longtime pastor of a Pentecostal church in Aldine has been convicted of sexually abusing a teenage girl in his congregation ten years ago. The Reverend Curtis Bass of the International Pentecostal Church was sentenced yesterday to ten years in prison on two charges of indecency with a child. A woman, now 26 years old, testified that he touched her breasts when she was 16 years old in 1994. The 53-year-old Bass said -- quote -- "God is still in control," to dozens of church members seated in the courtroom after his sentencing. Deputy investigator Russell Ackley of the Harris County Sheriff's Department says three women have lodged sexual abuse complaints against Bass. Bass testified Wednesday and adamantly denied molesting the girl, but offered no reason for the repeated allegations. link

He is accused in security-selling fraud. By Iza Montalvo The Ledger FORT MEADE -- The pastor of the First Church of God here has been indicted in Kentucky for selling an unregistered security that cost a small church there about $90,000. Forrest R. Robinson, 69, of 214 S. Orange Ave., was released from the Boyle County Jail on Wednesday on $10,000 bail, Boyle County Jail Sgt. Ricky Gipson said. A court date for his arraignment had not been set as of Thursday, according to the Boyle County Clerk of Courts office. Robinson didn't return telephone calls made to his home in Fort Meade or to the church. Members of the church declined to comment. Court documents show Robinson was indicted on two felony counts in the Boyle Circuit Court of the Commonwealth of Kentucky on July 6. The first count of the indictment alleges that in May 2002 Robinson "offered and/or sold an unregistered security" to the Alum Springs First Church of God. The second count says that as "a continuin...

BY NATASHA KORECKI Federal Courts Reporter for the Chicago Sun Times Residents of a Westmont public housing complex for seniors said in a federal lawsuit filed Monday that they were coerced and harassed by management into practicing Christianity and pressured to attend Bible study classes. Five former and current residents of the complex, along with housing advocate Hope Fair Housing, are suing the complex and its property manager, saying they used "coercive, harassing and restrictive rules and regulations to impose their 'Christian' beliefs upon current residents." Hope Fair Housing, based in Wheaton, also alleges the complex only invites low-income Chinese tenants and discriminates against any other potential residents. The defendants in the case include the Illinois Chinese American Residence for the Elderly, 501 N. Cass Ave. in Westmont, Angela Yuan, president of the board of directors, and Providence Management and Development Company Inc. Hid in bathrooms, resid...

by Brother Jeff You need to be slaved, and I praze GAWD that the Spook of Kryasst who is also somehow magically Him has magically convinced you of that fact! Glory! Here's how to get slaved! Let's walk the Romans Road together, shall we? You'll notice that all of the following verses are from the glorious Book of Romans, which is why our journey is said to be on the metaphorical Romans Road! The first verse on the Romans Road to slavation is Romans 3:23, "For all have done shit that pisses Jesus off, and come short of the glory of Gawd." We have all done shit that pisses Jesus off. We have all done things that are displeasing to the Holy Farter. There is no one who is innocent. Romans 3:10-18 gives a detailed picture of what the shit we do that pisses Him off looks like in our lives. The second Scripture on the Romans Road to slavation, Romans 6:23, teaches us about the consequences of doing shit that pisses Jesus off - "For the wages of doing shit that pis...

By Noelle Knox, USA TODAY DUBLIN, Ireland — "I don't go to church, and I don't know one person who does," says Brian Kenny, 39, who is studying psychotherapy and counseling at Dublin Business School. "Fifteen years ago, I didn't know one person who didn't." Church attendance in Ireland, though still among the highest in Western Europe, has fallen from about 85% to 60% from 1975 to 2004, according to the Dublin Archdiocese. While it is still illegal for a woman to have an abortion in this mostly Roman Catholic country, Health Minister Mary Harney made front-page news in July when she said birth control pills should be available for girls as young as 11 in some circumstances. And for the first time, according to church records, not one priest will be ordained this year in Dublin. Mary Haugh, who has gone to Mass here seven days a week for almost all of her 79 years, is saddened by these changes. "It's a Godless society," she says. Irelan...

St. Pat's rector accused of trysts with secretary BY BARBARA ROSS, ADAM LISBERG and CORKY SIEMASZKO DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITERS Wednesday, August 10th, 2005 The Archdiocese of New York is looking into explosive allegations that a top priest who publicly railed against our "sex-saturated society" had a long-term affair with his married church secretary. Msgr. Eugene Clark allegedly romanced 46-year-old Laura DeFilippo at his Hamptons home and a Long Island motel, according to police and court records. Questioned yesterday by a Daily News reporter at a Montauk restaurant where Clark and DeFilippo have been seen noshing, the 79-year-old rector of St. Patrick's Cathedral denied he and DeFilippo were lovers. "Not true," Clark said outside the Surfside Inn. The accusations against Clark were brought by DeFilippo's husband, Philip, who had an investigator tail the duo to a Hamptons motel - videotaping them last month arriving together and then checking out severa...

A 58-year-old local pastor is accused of having inappropriate sexual contact with a 5-year-old girl, deputies of the Logan County Sheriff's Office reported this morning. The Rev. James Alan Hazlett, 206 N. Taylor St., West Liberty, was charged Wednesday afternoon with one count of gross sexual imposition, stemming from an incident July 9, while he served as pastor of the West Liberty United Methodist Church, 202 W. Newell St. Detectives said the case was forwarded to them from Delaware County Children Services on Tuesday and the pastor was arrested at about 3 p.m. Wednesday at the sheriff's office. Sgt. Jeff Cooper, lead detective at the sheriff's office, said Mr. Hazlett has cooperated during their investigation. The detective declined to comment on where the victim resides. "Pastors are in a position of trust; they're someone everybody looks up to and goes to with their problems," he said. "I would say he violated that position of trust." The Rev. ...

Ex-cult members say it's time to set the record straight The All Saved Freak Band started in 1968 with (from back left) co-founder Joe Markko on guitar, co-founder Larry Hill, piano; Mike (last name unknown), drums, and Randy Markko on bass. EDITOR’S NOTE: This is the second of a three-part series resulting from former members of an Ashtabula County church coming forward to tell their stories after reading about the reported cult-like activities at the Apostolic Faith Church in Jefferson Township. In 1963, Larry Hill was a street evangelist working in Chicago, when he invited 15-year-old Joe Markko to say "the sinner’s prayer." Five years later, the twosome would start one of the first Christian rock bands in America. In 1971, Hill convinced Ron Taggart to move to his farm/church in Windsor Township. After leaving the church, Taggart began a movement to educate the public about cults. By SHELLEY TERRY starbeacon.com When Joe Markko walked away from the Church of the Risen...

A man who was arrested last weekend on sex charges involving two girls was a youth director at a Kernersville church. Timothy Paul Rowell was charged with a sexual offense in which the defendant is six or more years older than the victim, and with indecent liberties with a child. Main Street Baptist Church pastor Michael Willard said Rowell worked as his church's youth director for a year and a half. He told WXII 12's Damany Lewis that he performed background checks on Rowell and that they came back OK. Willard said he fired Rowell and began counseling him after learning of the allegations. Rowell was placed under a $125,000 bond at the Forsyth County Jail. link

DENVER (AP) -- Critics demanded an apology Thursday from the founder of the Christian ministry Focus on the Family after he compared the ethics of embryonic stem cell research to Nazi experiments on Holocaust victims. James Dobson made the comments Wednesday during his radio show, which reaches an estimated 220 million people worldwide. Dobson was criticizing Sen. Bill Frist and others who support expanded stem cell research in hopes that stem cells one day could be used to replace cells damaged from such conditions as diabetes, spinal cord injury or Parkinson's disease. Dobson and other opponents object to the research because embryos are destroyed to harvest the cells. "We condemn what the Nazis did because there are some things that we always could do but we haven't done, because science always has to be guided by ethics and by morality," Dobson said. "And you remove ethics and morality, and you get what happened in Nazi Germany." Abraham H. Foxman, natio...

Several years ago I was still deeply entrenched in Christianity when a tragedy struck one of the Christian families in town. I knew this family, or more accurately I knew the patriarch of the family whom I’ll call T.H. He was involved in a variety of ministerial pursuits, which to the best of my knowledge was the way he earned his daily bread. A lawyer by education, he held a loose partnership with other Christian lawyers that devoted time and talents to assisting churches and ministries with legal problems. I don't know how the group was actually remunerated for their services, but since the group was always promoting their agency as a ministry, I had the understanding that “love offerings” kept the organization afloat. Beyond the legal-beagling, T.H. had big plans for doing something important for his God. He'd been writing hymns and church music, self-publishing children’s' stories, producing Evangelical tapes aimed at kids, and I don't know what else. His "god-...