Discovery Institute's Blog, page 100

Opportunistic Vetting for the United Methodist General Conference

Take action now: Contact United Methodist officials and urge them to overturn their ban on Discovery Institute.

Writing at The Stream, our friend and Evolution News contributor Donald McLaughlin makes a great point about the United Methodist Church and its ban on intelligent design. A United Methodist himself, Donald writes:

Certainly the UMC is free to include or exclude whomever they wish from their conference. However, that doesn't mean the decision to bar Discovery Institute was right or...

On Intelligent Design Ban, United Methodist Church Offers a Response

Take action now: Contact United Methodist officials and urge them to overturn their ban on Discovery Institute.

The Christian Post obtained a response from the United Methodist Church on the decision to bar Discovery Institute from participating as an exhibitor at the church's upcoming General Conference:

Diane Degnan, spokeswoman for the UMC, told The Christian Post that this was the first General Conference to allow for "outside exhibitors."

"The Commission on the General Conference determ...

Let's Examine the United Methodist Ban on Intelligent Design in Light of Church Teaching

Take action now: Contact United Methodist officials and urge them to overturn their ban on Discovery Institute.

The refusal of my church, the United Methodist Church (UMC), to permit Discovery Institute a place as an exhibitor at its upcoming General Conference in Portland was based upon a resolution passed in 2008. The resolution states the church's position on education in relationship to "Creationism or Intelligent Design."

But the denial has two more sources (also passed in 2008), one r...

Living Waters Will Have Its Houston Area Premiere, February 5, with Paul Nelson and Lee Strobel

Join us on Friday, February 5, for the greater Houston premiere of the new intelligent design film, Living Waters: Intelligent Design in the Oceans of Earth. The event will feature a special welcome by Lee Strobel, author of several best-selling books including The Case for a Creator. The screening will be followed by Q&A with one of the film's featured scholars, philosopher of biology Paul Nelson.

The event starts at 7 pm, with doors opening at 6 pm.

The location is Faith Bible Church, 55...

Calcium Carbonate: How Life Rocks

A revolution in materials science will begin as soon as engineers "make like an oyster." Calcium carbonate (CaCO3) is a very abundant mineral on the earth, but its consistency is often weak, like chalk, or brittle, like calcite. Chemical engineers could gain "pearls of wisdom" from a lowly oyster, says the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory. From "How Seashells Get Their Strength":

Seashells and lobster claws are hard to break, but chalk is soft enough to draw on sidewalks. Though all thr...

Our Church Shut the Doors to Discovery Institute: Thoughts from Two United Methodists

Take action now: Contact United Methodist officials and urge them to overturn their ban on Discovery Institute.

"Open Minds, Open Hearts, Open Doors" -- so says the motto of the United Methodist Church (UMC), to which we both belong. Given that, the UMC should be the most welcoming of churches. You would expect them to welcome, for example, a fresh perspective on the relationship of faith and science, including the scientific evidence for intelligent design observed in the natural world. If...

You Don't Have to Be Methodist (to Protest the United Methodist Church's Ban on Intelligent Design)

Take action now: Contact United Methodist officials and urge them to overturn their ban on Discovery Institute.

Decades ago, an iconic New York subway ad series featured a variety of people of diverse ethnicities (Asian, Native American, African-American, etc.) smiling as they enjoyed a sandwich on rye bread. The caption: "You Don't Have to Be Jewish to Love Levy's -- Real Jewish Rye Bread."

I am not a Methodist, nor a Christian, but I too protest the ban placed by the United Methodist Churc...

Canada Is on the Verge of Instituting the Most Radical Culture of Death in the World

That's right, if the nation's Supreme Court conjures a "right" to be dead, Canada will be more radical than the Netherlands, which allows psychiatrists to euthanize the mentally ill.

More radical than Belgium, in which euthanasia of the disabled and mentally ill have been conjoined with organ harvesting.

That's radical! Up until now, the so-called "right to die" has been a right to ask. The ultimate decision has been solely up to the doctor. It looks increasingly like that won't be the case...

More Background about the United Methodist Church's Ban on Discovery Institute at Its General Conference

Take action now: Contact United Methodist officials and urge them to overturn their ban on Discovery Institute.

As previously reported, United Methodist Church (UMC) officials have banned Discovery Institute from sponsoring an information table at its upcoming General Conference in May 2016 in Portland, Oregon. The decision appears to have been made solely because Discovery Institute supports intelligent design, the idea that nature displays evidence it was produced by a purposeful process r...

United Methodist Church Displays Intolerance by Banning Intelligent Design from General Conference

Take action now: Contact United Methodist officials and urge them to overturn their ban on Discovery Institute.

The slogan of the United Methodist Church (UMC) is "Open Hearts, Open Minds, Open Doors." But UMC officials are now under fire for being closed-minded and intolerant after they banned Discovery Institute, from sponsoring an information table at the denomination's upcoming General Conference in May. Intelligent design is the idea that life and the universe show evidence of being the...