Faith, Beer, and Other Things That Interest Geoff

I Still Don't Believe in Hate Crimes

A friend of mine, in the past, accused me of not supporting hate crimes legislation because of racism. Although I insisted I'm against hate crimes legislation because it creates a crime out of thought (and is likely to be used against Christians at some point when they speak out against homosexual acts, etc.), he insisted I was doing so because of racism.

I have thought that hatred, racism, etc. should be taken into account as mitigating or contributing factors during sentencing.

Well, a bunch of black kids assaulted a white kid. I don't want them to be brought up on hate crimes legislation.

Labels: hate crimes

Vote for What to Do with HR 756 Ball

A. Donate to Hall of Fame.

B. Brand with asterisk; donate to Hall of Fame.

C. Blast ball into space.

I chose B.

Vote or die. Choose or Lose.

Labels: baseball

Can Darwinism Be Falsified?

If you say that there is a biological feature which cannot be explained by Darwinian processes (irreducible complexity, for example), Darwinists will protest. We just haven't discovered the path.

So the question I have is: can a Darwinist please describe a biological feature which would falsify Darwinism?

Someone had a similar thought:

would like Derbyshire to think about this, and suggest such an experiment. It is a question of genuine interest, and even some proponents of evolutionism would like to hear proposals. The question is simply this: Can any new research help us decide whether organisms were either designed, or arose by the purely random collision of material particles?

Possibly, Mr. D will conclude that no such experiment is possible. Darwinism is so loosely structured (to put it politely) that it is capable of "explaining" any and every organism. If an organism exists, it is "fit," and therefore Darwinism accounts for it. But as Derbyshire may also have heard, a theory that explains everything, without any possibility of encountering a falsifying instance, is not really a scientific theory at all. It is philosophy dressed up as science. It is, in fact, pseudoscience -- the kind that gives Mr. D so much idle amusement.

A criticism of intelligent design is that the claim, "God can do anything, therefore this critter was designed by God" gets us nowhere. I agree that it doesn't. But a very similar objection can be raised against Darwinism. Its partisans are at liberty to say of any organism whatever that it arose by mutation and natural selection -- without having to produce any supporting evidence. In the end, it amounts to nothing more than the belief that supernaturalism must be avoided at all cost. Looked at this way, Darwinism is simply a deduction from a philosophy -- the philosophy of materialism (sometimes called naturalism).

Labels: evolution

Michael Jackson Dead at Age 65

Famous beer writer Michael Jackson has passed away. BeerAdvocate has a good roundup of pertinent articles.

His impact on the craft-beer community has been large. Here is a good quote:

Jackson's books and countless newspaper and magazine articles explored the far-reaching world of beer, from classic styles to obscure recipes.

He is primarily credited with establishing the language and identification of beer styles. Before Jackson, all beer was essentially the same; today, beer authorities recognize more than 100 major styles, defined by their cultural and technical characteristics.

Many of those styles – especially obscure varieties from Belgium – would be extinct today if not for Jackson's writing. In 1994, as thanks for almost single-handedly reviving that nation's brewing tradition, Crown Prince Philippe of Belgium gave Jackson its Mercurius Award.

Labels: beer

Our Love/Hate Relationship with Hypocrisy

Since Senator Craig is getting labeled as a hypocrite, I've been pondering a few things.

We hate hypocrites. But only if they are being hypocritical about something we disagree with. If a liberal is preaching environmentalism at me, I love the fact they are a hypocrite and flying in their private jet. If I'm gay, I love it when Republicans get caught in gay sex scandals.

I guess, in this way, we are all hypocrites since we seem to love hypocrisy in others when we don't like their stands against us or our views.

Labels: hypocrisy