Intelligent Design: More Than a Bandwagon
A Review of Michael J. Behe’s Darwin’s Black Box
I thoroughly enjoyed Behe’s well-crafted and easy-to-understand argument against Darwinian “science.” I found Biology fascinating when I was in school, and this has sparked some of that forgotten love for studying things under the microscope. I would like more Darwinist groups to actually give this book the time it deserves rather than casting it aside because they think its a soap-box for Creationists. Behe clearly states that he is NOT a Creationist at the beginning of the book – put your pride aside and see what he has to say about his research before you judge his viewpoint.
Anakalian Whims 
noreligion said,
February 3, 2010 at 11:09 pm
Behe is a creationist cloaked under the disguise of Intelligent Design, in other words he is an IDiot. Let me ask you one question, how intelligent is it that humans have an eppiglotis?
anakalianwhims said,
February 4, 2010 at 4:15 am
Behe’s argument for things like the epiglottis and other “well, an intelligent designer wouldn’t put that there” is that just because YOU wouldn’t put something a certain way does not mean that another designer wouldn’t. The point he makes is not the level of intelligence in the design, but the fact that life was designed and couldn’t just happen on accident. He claims not to be a creationist, but does say in his book that he is Roman Catholic. To me, that means that he believes in God and that God designed, but doesn’t necessarily take the book of Genesis literally (which is the definition of Creationist – they believe strictly in the Creation story). There’s a lot of hype behind Behe and a lot of people talk about him and what he has said in his book – but I don’t stumble across many people who actually sat down and read the book cover to cover. Have you? If you have and you disagree that’s one thing, I just would like to know if you had read it or were commenting on your idea of him? And by the way, I wouldn’t have spelled epiglottis right either? In fact, I must admit that I had to google it to make sure it was indeed what I thought it was! Thanks for stopping by my blog. I appreciate the comments and discussion a lot. Also feel free to stop by my book club discussion site: http://www.shelfari.com/groups/32350/discussions/170529/Darwin-Study Post your beliefs and thoughts as you believe them, but remember that we try to have intellectual discussions so be kind in anything you do say (hopefully there will be varying viewpoints, otherwise discussion is dull!)
noreligion said,
February 4, 2010 at 4:37 am
I have read some of his stuff and that was only because he was a professor of biochemistry at a local school (well local from a while back). To put it simply, as a biochemist he should know better. His major argument is about irreducible complexity and that has been disproven first by a simple example of an arch and then by Richard Lenski in his 21 year long experiment with E. Coli. To put it another way, an ID proponent is nothing more than a creationist wearing a lab coat.
anakalianwhims said,
February 4, 2010 at 6:25 am
Yes, he addresses the argument to his irreducible complexity ideas in the afterward of the ten year anniversary edition of the book I just read. I’m not a biochemist, but his arguments made sense to me. Of course that doesn’t mean my studies will end there! I would like to read more of Behe’s stuff, but I would also like to read the full length versions of the books and essays he has excerpts of throughout the book. Next on my list is Huxley’s Evolution and Ethics. (I’m still plugging through Darwin’s Origins of Species.) Want to join me?
noreligion said,
February 4, 2010 at 4:27 pm
Yet I am a chemist and his arguments make no sense to me nor do they make sense to my old colleagues. I have read most of Darwin’s Origin Of Species. But to be honest, I think you would be much better off reading Jerry Coyne’s Why Evolution Is True, Dawkin’s The Ancestors Tale and Shubin’s Your Inner Fish: A Journey into the 3.5-Billion-Year History of the Human Body. I did check your shelfari site and I do appreciate the plug for my blog. I might comment there someday 🙂
anakalianwhims said,
February 4, 2010 at 6:24 pm
I’ll look into the books you recommended. I work at a used bookstore, we come across everything eventually! I planned on reading something by Dawkins eventually anyway. The God Delusion is waiting on my shelf, but I’d rather read something that directly pertains to the topics I am already studying. Thanks for your comments!
anakalianwhims said,
February 7, 2010 at 4:52 am
Acquired a copy of The Ancestor’s Tale today – will read it as soon as I finish Origin of Species.
noreligion said,
February 3, 2010 at 11:16 pm
And how stupid is it that I can’t spell epiglottis 🙂
Jorg said,
February 4, 2010 at 8:10 am
Behe did not do his homweork. During the Dover trial, he was forced to admit that he had no clue about the research in, e.g., blood clotting. Yet he claimed that no plausible mechanisms for it have ever been proposed! His claims on the irreducibility of the flagellum, and his attempts to invoilve HIV in his fantasy were debunked repeatedly. I had some respect for him at the time of Darwin’s Black Box; ten years later, he trotted out the same arguments in The Edge of Evolution, despite the fact that they were soundly disproven. That smacks of a serious case of intellectual dishonesty to me.
anakalianwhims said,
February 4, 2010 at 6:27 pm
Thanks for stopping by my blog and for your insight. Is the Dover trial documented extensively in a book? I’m sure I could find the information online, but I prefer the book on hand and was wondering if you had titles you could share with me. I did not realize I would get so much interesting discussion out of this post. This is exciting!
noreligion said,
February 4, 2010 at 6:41 pm
I have read a quite good description in a book that is very much on the topic you are looking at called From Genesis to Genetics: The Case of Evolution and Creationism by John Moore. The book is from 2002 so you might find used copies. If not, feel free to contact me and I will see what I can do. You can view some of my book collection from the link on my blog (under Miscellaneous).
anakalianwhims said,
February 4, 2010 at 6:52 pm
Thank you so much! You have been most helpful. I’ll definitely take a look at your book collection and keep an eye out for that title.
noreligion said,
February 4, 2010 at 7:02 pm
Dumb mistake on my part. The link is under Books on my righthand sidebar.
anakalianwhims said,
February 4, 2010 at 7:37 pm
I found it and did some browsing 🙂
Interested said,
February 5, 2010 at 2:15 pm
Okay I’m inn. Going to the bookstore right now.