News to Note, December 22, 2007

1. River-Slosher—Missing Link?

A team of paleontologists publishing in Nature has “identified” a fossil that is being hailed as the missing link connecting land mammals to our supposed (and closely related) evolutionary kin of whales, dolphins, and porpoises.

2. TIME: “The 10 Biggest Religion Stories”

Considering the media attention the Creation Museum garnered when it opened this past May (see the June 2 News to Note), it’s no surprise that TIME magazine has included the museum in its list of the top ten “biggest religion stories” of the year.

Joining such news as the passing of Rev. Jerry Falwell (which we noted a week before the museum’s opening), “the roar of atheist books” (which we’ve discussed in various articles), TIME unsurprisingly comments only sardonically on the museum’s opening, which came in at ninth on the list:

A few months after opening its doors, the Petersburg, Ky., multimillion-dollar monument to the Flintstone (Young Earth) principle doubles projected attendance. Of Americans, 77% think God at least guided our development.

Of course, to a degree, we accept the popular dictum that “any press is good press,” etc.; the Holy Spirit is free to use even skeptical commentary about the Creation Museum to raise questions in readers’ minds. And while AiG is not seeking controversy for the sake of controversy, we relish every opportunity to interact with the media and help spread our message, whether the world laughs or not.

3. Slow Deposition vs. Rapid Flow

A longstanding understanding of how the “sedimentary geological record” was formed is apparently in error, according to research by geologists at Indiana University–Bloomington and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

4. “Expelled Team Invited to Visit Answers in Genesis and the Creation Museum”

Answers in Genesis–U.S. president Ken Ham has extended an open invitation for the Expelled bus tour—which will be driving the country to promote a new movie that attacks evolutionary indoctrination—to stop by the Creation Museum.

Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed, hosted by columnist, actor, and former presidential speechwriter Ben Stein, chronicles the academic ostracization faced by scientists who endorse anything other than the Darwinist orthodoxy (specifically, by accepting Intelligent Design). Writing in his blog earlier this week, Ham said:

“I don’t know where the Expelled tour intends to stop along their route, but I’d like to offer an open invitation right here to Mr. Stein and those traveling on the bus. Stop by as our guests for a few hours and tour the Creation Museum. (In addition to giving them an education unlike any other, just think how much publicity for both the film and AiG Creation Museum that could elicit!)”

AiG's Georgia Purdom, who has studied the Intelligent Design Movement in depth, offers an informative preview of the film in “Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed”. For more information from the mouths of the film producers themselves (including a trailer), visit the film website, www.expelledthemovie.com.

While AiG doesn’t march in complete lockstep with the Intelligent Design Movement (primarily because of its allowing for a long age of the earth and not identifying the “Intelligent Designer”), we share common ground with them in opposition of the unchallengeable indoctrination of Darwinism in schools and academia. Whether or not the Expelled team stops by, we hope their film raises questions in viewers’ minds about whether a theory as “indisputable” as evolution would really need to be protected through what amounts to academic blacklisting.

5. A Peek at Watson’s Family Tree

In one of the most ironic science stories in recent memory (if not of all time!), the Caucasian scientist who lamented what he implied as lower African intelligence may himself actually be, at least partly, black!

6. Lastly, make note of a major national TV special that will profile AiG’s new Creation Museum on the FOX News Channel, Monday and Tuesday (Christmas Day).

The FOX Christmas special is called “Miracles: Facts, Fiction & Faith.” Correspondent Lauren Green has told us that the program will take viewers “from the creation of the world to the healing power of prayer.” The museum is in the first 12 minutes of this special—a huge amount of time for a national program.

The FOX special will air on Christmas Eve (Monday) at 1pm and Christmas Day at 3pm (eastern times) on the FOX News Channel (not the FOX network). Check your local television listings (e.g., http://www.foxnews.com/fnctv/) to verify the broadcast times in your area. Note that times can change with little or no notice.

Idea: if you’re with family on Monday and Tuesday for Christmas, and they don’t know much about AiG’s evangelistic, high-tech museum near Cincinnati, have them watch the first 12 minutes of the program with you.

Remember, if you see a news story that might merit some attention, let us know about it! And thanks to all of our readers who have submitted great news tips to us. If you didn’t catch last week’s News to Note, why not take a look at it now? See you next week!

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