News to Note, May 4, 2013

1. Which Indoctrination Does Dawkins Support?

Are you abusing your children when you teach them that Jesus created them, loves them, died for them, and has a wonderful plan for their lives?

2. Were Zigzag Legs an Evolutionary Adaptation for Flight?

Computer model uncovers the zigzag evolution of bird bipedality.

3. Brain Convolutions in Mice and Men

Brain convolutions controlled by the same gene in mice and humans.

4. Not to Legitimize “Gay Marriage” But to Destroy Marriage

Startling admissions by gay activist and network commentator highlight the attack on the family.

5. Did Paired Fins Foreshadow Paired Limbs in Terrestrial Animals?

Fish fins appear paired too early in the fossil record.

And Don’t Miss . . .

• Microbiologist and author Alex Berezow took angry atheist P.Z Myers to task in his column “The Very Strange World of PZ Myers.” Berezow—who is not a creationist—bashes Myers for not only his vulgarity but especially for his religious bigotry and blatant errors. Berezow notes, “Dr. Myers’ animosity toward religion also taints his understanding of historical fact.” He quotes an agnostic New Testament scholar who says that Myers’ claims are “amateurish” and “driven by an ideological agenda.” Berezow further describes how PZ Myers’ don’t-confuse-me-with-the-facts-I’ve-already-made-up-my-mind attitude even blinds him to basic medical science: Myers maintains that circumcision is only “ritualized child abuse” despite the well-researched position of the American Academy of Pediatrics that the benefits of the procedure outweigh the risks. Berezow concludes by taking Myers to task ultimately for causing laypeople to avoid science by portraying it as the exclusive purview of “left-wing atheists” like himself.