1. Tower of Babel: The Evidence
against the New Creationism by
Robert T. Pennock
A Must Read!
The face of creationism has been through some major plastic surgery in
the past decade or so. The leading proponents of intelligent design theory
have left the ranting flat-earth types behind and found respected positions
in the academic world from which to launch attacks on mainstream
science. Philosopher of science Robert T. Pennock has explored all sides
of the ongoing debate, which remains (despite the prote stations of many
creationists) more about biblical inerrancy than scientific evidence. His
book Tower of Babel examines the new directions antievolutionists have
taken lately, but goes beyond a mere recounting of recent history by
proposing a new avenue of counterattack: linguistics. The parallels are
striking once we look closely: Genesis proclaims that God created all
human languages at one stroke, while modern scientific thought proposes
linguistic evolution similar in form to genetics. Best of all for scientists,
though, linguistic change is much more rapid than biological change, and

2. we have actually observed what might be called speciation events to have
occurred historically in languages. While not meant to supplant traditional
arguments against creationism, Pennocks ideas certainly supplement them
and will be useful to educators and researchers alike. His sense of urgency
is compelling; he sees the future of scientific education and freedom at
stake and argues strongly for a separation between private beliefs and
public knowledge. --Rob Lightner
Features:
* ISBN13: 9780262661652
* Condition: NEW
* Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
Personal Review: Tower of Babel: The Evidence against the
New Creationism by Robert T. Pennock
"Tower of Babel: The Evidence against the New Creationism" is a cogent
history of creationism and its sophistic spawn "creation science" - and a
devastating refutation of the inane bibliolatrous arguments utilized by anti -
Darwinists as the gaps available for polemics become increasingly
circumscribed by the explanatory power of science. Pennock refutes
creationist babble through a novel discussion of linguistic evolution and
pays special attention to Paleyesque fallacies embedded in the "Intelligent
Design" movement.
Pennock's bestiary classifies all anti-evolution Christians as creationists -
kinds include Young Earth Creationists, Old Earth Creationists,
Evolutionary Creationists, Progressive Creationists, and Intelligent Design
Creationists - squabbling schisms whose theologically impelled
supernaturalism places all variants well outside a scientific mainstream
united in support of methodological naturalism.
Internecine creationist spats receive a useful historical, theological, and
social context treatment, and the preponderance of crank creationist
websites is ruefully noted - along with their intellectual and ethical squalor.
Pennock debunks the most egregious examples, including the infamous
"Lady Hope" hoax (Darwin's fraudulent deathbed conversion and
recantation).
After lampooning creationist comedy websites (Google AiG for a slick but
sick example), Pennock discusses the Genesis myth meme echoed in the
title - the Tower of Babel. Scholars realized that languages were shaped
by evolutionary processes and common descent before Darwin burst on
the scene. Biological and linguistic evolution contradicts special revelation
hallucination, and both have been obdurately attacked by bloviating biblical
literalists. Like species and higher biological taxa, languages blur at
boundaries and form sub-taxon variants known as dialects. Pennock
utilizes these facts to illustrate creationist misinformation about evolution,
including the spurious missing link objection, and epistemological issues
encountered when science deals with past events - particularly the lack of

3. direct observation and the status of evolution as both factual and
theoretical.
Utilizing language illustrates evolutionary taxonomy (classification) and
phylogeny (development) and "descent over time with modification" as
spoken languages developed from precursors (e.g. Romance languages
from Indo-European and Proto-Indo European). This approach exhibits
the same quirks as biological evolution including loss through extinction,
incomplete preservation, convergence, and horizontal transfer.
Neo-medieval creationists crib from postmodernist rivals by asserting that
Darwinism is "a secular religion." Both also deny that human cognitive
enterprises can approach the truth. Pennock skewers figures such as
Alvin Plantinga, Paul Nelson, William Dembski, Michael Behe, and Philip
Johnson who proffer ostensibly 'scientific' lines of reasoning that devolve
into theological hand waving and philosophical special pleading upon close
examination. Johnson's implicit conflation of ontological naturalism
(materialism) with methodological naturalism is artfully deconstructed and
Pennock shows that if science were to embrace miracles it would become
useless as a way of knowing; an omnipotent and capricious deity wou ld
pull seemingly empirical strings. Pennock's characterization of Intelligent
Design as a 'science of the gaps' that hamstrings what science could in
principle explain is devastating - and portends rampant intellectual sloth
"God said/did it, that settles it" - along with endemic theological or political
meddling.
Pennock utilizes one of Behe's own examples to shred 'irreducibly
complex' systems. Behe lays out the probability that a groundhog could
mate across an eight-lane freeway to rebut speciation and adaptation.
Pennock's version substitutes a population of groundhogs with survivors
who make it to the center divider and reproduce before tackling the next
lane, succinctly illustrating Darwinian processes. Behe's claims are then
related to Dembski's opaque notion of 'complex specified information' (CSI)
an arcane reimagining of Aquinas's argument from design and a
mathematically absurd attempt to turn information theory against Darwin.
Pennock lucidly explains what is wrong with CSI without overwhelming the
reader with mathematical equations or technical terms - unlike Dembski
who deliberately uses both to camouflage vacuous arguments.
Creationism and politics go together in America like bibles and thumping.
The tortuous maneuvers creationists use to cross-dress theologically
motivated political and educational agendas as science are exposed in
detail. Creationists incessantly beaver away at court rulings prohibiting
state funded public schools from promoting a religious viewpoint with
bunko biblical hermeneutics and revelation repackaged as research.
Pennock's defense of reason and science in the face of rampant
superstition and magical thinking is passionate and compelling - and
should be read into the minutes of every local school board or curri culum
standards committee meeting.

4. Highly recommended on all counts - this is an erudite and necessary book.
For More 5 Star Customer Reviews and Lowest Price:
Tower of Babel: The Evidence against the New Creationism by Robert T. Pennock 5 Star
Customer Reviews and Lowest Price!