@Professor Kent: All Adventist school boards, and I’m sure there …

Comment on La Sierra Univeristy Fires Dr. Lee Greer; Signs anti-Creation Bond by Sean Pitman.

@Professor Kent:

All Adventist school boards, and I’m sure there are many, who have taken out state bonds with such restrictive language are not wise. They have placed another one of our schools at the mercy of the civil government to tolerate that which the bond language itself does not allow…

How long will the State continue to turn a blind eye is anyone’s guess, but it will not be forever. Eventually the State will enforce the bond-agreement language which gives the state power over all those who have accepted such bonds in perpetuity for the entire life of the bonded buildings.

Sean Pitman
www.DetectingDesign.com

Sean Pitman Also Commented

La Sierra Univeristy Fires Dr. Lee Greer; Signs anti-Creation Bond
@David Read:

Forget about the promotion of “sectarian” ideas, according to the government not even the presentation of empirical arguments favoring general non-sectarian theories of intelligent design behind the origin or diversity of life on this planet, or any feature of the universe for that matter, would be considered a promotion of “religion”, not “science” and would therefore be considered a violation of the terms of this bond agreement…

I’m not sure what business any president of any Adventist university has signing such a bond agreement? – an agreement that basically says that we promise not to teach our own primary goals and ideas to our own students at all places/buildings within our own schools. What then is the point of having the name Seventh-day Adventist on such a school? Talk about selling out our own young people for financial gain…

Sean Pitman
www.DetectingDesign.com


La Sierra Univeristy Fires Dr. Lee Greer; Signs anti-Creation Bond
@Phillip Brantley:

However, the presentation of the Adventist position on origins in science classrooms as a viable empirically-rational alternative to neo-Darwinism, or even theories of intelligent design behind various features of the universe or living things, would be prohibited by the language bond agreement – according to the way the government defines “science”.

So, again, what we have here is an effective blockade against the Church using its own schools to present its own perspective on origins within the boundaries of its own institution…

How is this a “good” situation from the perspective of the SDA Church?

Sean Pitman
www.DetectingDesign.com


La Sierra Univeristy Fires Dr. Lee Greer; Signs anti-Creation Bond
@Karla:

Know of anyone with a spare $25,000,000 willing to donate to the cause? If not, looks like the SDA Church organization may have to step up the plate if it doesn’t want such restrictions placed on what is taught within the science buildings at LSU…

Sean Pitman
www.DetectingDesign.com


Recent Comments by Sean Pitman

Science and Methodological Naturalism
Very interesting passage. After all, if scientists are honest with themselves, scientific methodologies are well-able to detect the existence of intelligent design behind various artifacts found in nature. It’s just the personal philosophy of scientists that makes them put living things and the origin of the fine-tuned universe “out of bounds” when it comes to the detection of intelligent design. This conclusion simply isn’t dictated by science itself, but by a philosophical position, a type of religion actually, that strives to block the Divine Foot from getting into the door…


Revisiting God, Sky & Land by Fritz Guy and Brian Bull
@Ron:

Why is it that creationists are afraid to acknowledge the validity of Darwinism in these settings? I don’t see that these threaten a belief in God in any way whatsoever.

The threat is when you see no limitations to natural mindless mechanisms – where you attribute everything to the creative power of nature instead of to the God of nature.

God has created natural laws that can do some pretty amazing things. However, these natural laws are not infinite in creative potential. Their abilities are finite while only God is truly infinite.

The detection of these limitations allows us to recognize the need for the input of higher-level intelligence and creative power that goes well beyond what nature alone can achieve. It is here that the Signature of God is detectable.

For those who only hold a naturalistic view of the universe, everything is attributed to the mindless laws of nature… so that the Signature of God is obscured. Nothing is left that tells them, “Only God or some God-like intelligent mind could have done this.”

That’s the problem when you do not recognize any specific limitations to the tools that God has created – when you do not recognize the limits of nature and what natural laws can achieve all by themselves.

Sean Pitman
www.DetectingDesign.com


Revisiting God, Sky & Land by Fritz Guy and Brian Bull
@Bill Sorensen:

Since the fall of Adam, Sean, all babies are born in sin and they are sinners. God created them. Even if it was by way of cooperation of natural law as human beings also participated in the creation process.

God did not create the broken condition of any human baby – neither the physical or moral brokenness of any human being. God is responsible for every good thing, to include the spark or breath of life within each one of us. However, He did not and does not create those things within us that are broken or bad.

“The owner’s servants came to him and said, ‘Sir, didn’t you sow good seed in your field? Where then did the weeds come from?’ ‘An enemy did this,’ he replied. “The servants asked him, ‘Do you want us to go and pull them up?'” Matthew 13:27-28

Of course, all humans are indeed born broken and are in a natural state of rebellion against God. However, God is not the one who created this condition nor is God responsible for any baby being born with any kind of defect in character, personality, moral tendency, or physical or genetic abnormality. God did not create anyone with such brokenness. Such were the natural result of rebellion against God and heading the temptations of the “enemy”… the natural result of a separation from God with the inevitable decay in physical, mental, and moral strength.

Of course, the ones who are born broken are not responsible for their broken condition either. However, all of us are morally responsible for choosing to reject the gift of Divine Grace once it is appreciated… and for choosing to go against what we all have been given to know, internally, of moral truth. In other words, we are responsible for rebelling against the Royal Law written on the hearts of all mankind.

This is because God has maintained in us the power to be truly free moral agents in that we maintain the Power to choose, as a gift of God (Genesis 3:15). We can choose to accept or reject the call of the Royal Law, as the Holy Spirit speaks to all of our hearts…

Remember the statement by Mrs. White that God is in no wise responsible for sin in anyone at any time. God is working to fix our broken condition. He did not and does not create our broken condition. Just as He does not cause Babies to be born with painful and lethal genetic defects, such as those that result in childhood leukemia, He does not cause Babies to be born with defects of moral character either. God is only directly responsible for the good, never the evil, of this life.

Sean Pitman
www.DetectingDesign.com


Revisiting God, Sky & Land by Fritz Guy and Brian Bull
@Ron:

Again, your all-or-nothing approach to the claims of scientists isn’t very scientific. Even the best and most famous of scientists has had numerous hair-brained ideas that were completely off base. This fact does not undermine the good discoveries and inventions that were produced.

Scientific credibility isn’t based on the person making the argument, but upon the merits of the argument itself – the ability of the hypothesis to gain predictive value when tested. That’s it.

Sean Pitman
www.DetectingDesign.com


Gary Gilbert, Spectrum, and Pseudogenes
Don’t be so obtuse here. We’re not talking about publishing just anything in mainstream journals. I’ve published several articles myself. We’re talking about publishing the conclusion that intelligent design was clearly involved with the origin of various artifactual features of living things on this planet. Try getting a paper that mentions such a conclusion published…

Sean Pitman
www.DetectingDesign.com