It’s all a bit too convoluted to make for snappy copy, but Dembski had been using Harvard/XVIVO’s animation in his lectures without permission…and now it’s clear from his Design of Life book that he did so in full awareness that he had no right to do so.
Hey, I thought these Christian folk were supposed to be the morally upstanding ones. That’s what they’ve always told me, anyway — have they been lying about that, too?
Yes. Next question.
Please, PZ, get it right. It’s not “lying.” It’s “faith.”
But he’s already accepted Jesus into his heart, so all is fair game.
To be fully correct, it is “Faith Based Reality.”
God bless (so to speak), ERV.
You know, it would go a long way to restoring a sense of honor among the better IDiots and creationists if finally one of their spokespeople would come out and condemn Dembski’s flagrant dishonesty. So far there’s nothing but mush-mouthed nonsense, and circling of the wagons.
I mean, I have never found Dembski to be honest, which I have on occasion thought of others such as Behe and Paul Nelson (Dover, hearing Behe speak and work Q & A sessions, plus encountering Nelson on PT, have put a rest to those fantasies). But I can see how naive, ignorant, and reactionary folk might honestly think otherwise, so I wouldn’t press them on the honesty issue over most of Dembski’s dissembling rhetoric.
But this is a matter not just of intellectual honesty (which IDiots and creationists fail almost to a person), rather it is a matter of personal honesty. The personally honest IDists and creationists will condemn Dembski for violating the 8th commandment, the rest will not.
I think that we’ll see that there’s a strong correlation between intellectual dishonesty and personal dishonesty when Dembski’s theft is largely ignored and/or excused.
Glen D
http://tinyurl.com/2kxyc7
Dishonesty at the Discovery Institute? I’m shocked! Shocked, I tell you!
It’s ok, god told him to do it.
It is possible that the Disco Dudes are serving a larger evolutionary purpose unbeknownst to us (and, obviously, themselves).
Dembski’s antics could be co-evolving with the adaptation of animal laughter. Pretty soon the whole planet will be laughing.
If his conduct offends you, please keep this in mind:
Your morals evolved, whereas his were designed.
‘The Inner Life of a Cell’ is perhaps a good example that some popular presentations of biochemical working at cellular level contain a “cibernetic” point of view, very attractive to IDers. The ideas of “order”, “chains of cause and effect”, “central and peripheral metabolism”, etc., were good tools to advance in the pionneer times of Cell Biology. However, perhaps we need a different focus on the workings of cells. Contemporaneous proteomics and metabonomics helps us to understand a non-centered complex system. And if we want to reach a useful “science-based therapeutics”, we must remember allways that cells are not designed machines, but historically evolved systems.
“Gasp” … no, wait … “Oh, no” … nope, not right … “OH MY GAWD!” … hmm, needs work …
Dembski’s holy book contains a character called “The Father of Lies”. However, if I remember correctly, he was one of the bad guys…
I hear Jesus has asked for a transfer.
Bob
More fart noises.
Sigh. Once again, I just can’t beat the Cuttlefish.
I have long maintained that the behavior of Dembski’s goes well beyond the desperate actions of someone trying to defend an indefensible position.
There is something truly delusional and narcissistic about his view of the world. I suspect that he truly believes that he is some great revolutionary figure. In his mind, his lies are justified because he has been cheated of his proper place in the world.
Remember that the godly can do as they like. As someone obeserved above it’s fine because their god told them to do it. And if he didn’t then it’s still OK as long as they go to confession and own up, sometime.
Actually these people are even less moral than the rest of us, at least IME. What does their morality teach them? To love all men and to be charitable and tolerant. And yet how do they view other sects who believe in the same god (vide, eg. Northern Ireland)? Let alone those who believe (or not) in some different god(s).
Once again, Dembski’s been thoroughly ERV’d.
Now, if only someone could explain to me why I have the crushing urge to buy ERV a bunny.
#9
LoL! Touche!
Not necessarily. ID takes no position on the identity of the designer. Dembski may have gotten his morals from slime creatures from the planet Weezle.
“May have?”
What does Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary say about this? Surely they have a policy against plagiarism.
I just called Homeland security.*
*Kidding.
Hey! Don’t slander the innocent (if drippy) Weezlians!
They’re not innocent if they designed Dembski.
It’s never shocking when creationists lie. It is eternally shocking when people believe them anyway.
If those secular-azis at the Discovery Institute had had the decency to display a copy of the Ten Commandments, none of this would have happened. ‘Thou shalt not steal’ may seem simple enough, but it’s clearly really easy to forget.
Oh, yawn. Been there, exposed that.
They need to add Dembski’s statements to the list:
http://www.fstdt.com/fundies/Default.aspx
You know what’s especially disappointing about this? Chances are, if Bill had asked Hah-vahd and given standard disclaimers, they probably would’ve allowed the clip’s usage within the context of a speech on a college campus. Like Barry Bonds, Bill probably didn’t need to cheat, but he did. Now, with his fingers caught in the cookie jar, he appears to be trying to lie his way out of it.
You know, it would go a long way to restoring a sense of honor among the better IDiots and creationists if finally one of their spokespeople would come out and condemn Dembski’s flagrant dishonesty.
Even if ID and creationism were views that one could come by honestly, no one could reach the position of spokesperson without a long history of lying and defending lies.
Yes, except when it does. Ineffability of the Designer, theological question and all that.
Yes, except when it does. Ineffability of the Designer, theological question and all that.
It is possible that the Disco Dudes are serving a larger evolutionary purpose unbeknownst to us (and, obviously, themselves).
So who would it be known to?
I know it’s a joke and all, but “evolutionary purpose” is a seriously wrongheaded meme, and every instance of it sows misunderstanding.
Now, with his fingers caught in the cookie jar, he appears to be trying to lie his way out of it.
Those weren’t lies, they were…
“street theatre”.
:P
Do I need a special set of tags for when I’m quoting tongue in cheek?
Well, intellectual property concepts and copyright are not in the Ten Commandments. Neither is there anything about highway speed limits.
I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again:
It’s a good thing he’s not an atheist.
Because if he were an atheist, he’d have no morality or decency, no reason to follow a code of ethics, and would act as if he could just do whatever he wanted.
And #35: The answer is “yes.” We need a sarcasm font, stat.