ANN ARBOR, Mich., April 21 /U.S. Newswire/ -- A simmering yearlong dispute over the Gull Lake Community School District superintendent's order that seventh grade science teachers teach Darwin's theory of evolution and his confiscation of thirty copies of the book Of Pandas and People, which the teachers had been using for the past two years as a supplemental text supporting the theory of intelligent design, may soon end up in a federal court.
For the past two years, science teachers, Dawn Wendzel and Julie Olson, have been spending part of their classroom instruction teaching the theory of Intelligent Design alongside the theory of evolution. However, this past Fall they were told that they could no longer teach intelligent design, they could not teach the controversy between the theory of evolution and intelligent design and that they could only teach the scientific evidence for evolution.
The Theory of Intelligent Design, accepted by a growing number of credible scientists, holds that "intelligent causes" are necessary to explain the complex information- rich structures of biology and that these causes are empirically detectable.
The Thomas More Law Center, a national public interest law firm based in Ann Arbor, Michigan, on April 14, 2004, sent a six-page letter ( http://www.usnewswire.com/attach/gull_lake.pdf ) to the school board asking that the books be returned to the classrooms and that the teachers be allowed to teach the theory of intelligent design as they had been. The school board has been given fourteen days to respond.
Richard Thompson, president and chief counsel of the Law Center commented, "This may turn into the Scopes Monkey trial in reverse. Now that Darwinism has achieved dominance, it is being forced on all teachers regardless of gaps in the theory or the scientific evidence to the contrary. The actions of the Gull Lake superintendent not only violates the academic freedom of teachers to teach their subject, but also the freedom of their students to receive important information on the growing controversy surrounding the theory of evolution. Confiscation of the books the superintendent doesn't like smacks of "book burning."
Continued Thompson, "This is not a case of science versus religion, but science versus science."
Since the late 1950s advances in biochemistry and microbiology, information that Darwin was not privy to in the 1850's, have revealed that the machine like complexity of living cells - the fundamental unit of life- possess the ability to store, edit, transmit and use information so as to regulate biological systems. This suggests that the theory of intelligent design offers the best explanation for the origin of life and living cells.
The Thomas More Law Center is already defending a Dover, PA school district, which adopted a policy to make students aware of Intelligent Design, against an ACLU lawsuit.
U.S. Newswire : Releases : "Lawsuit Threatened Over Confiscation of Science Books...": "Lawsuit Threatened Over Confiscation of Science Books on Intelligent Design, Order That Teachers Teach Evolution as A Fact
4/21/2005 12:09:00 PM"
Thursday, April 21, 2005
Schools Still Violating Students' Religious Freedom
Plano Schools Still Violating Students' Religious Freedom
By Jim Brown
April 20, 2005
(AgapePress) - A Christian attorney says even though it recently modified its policy on the distribution of non-school literature, the Plano (Texas) Independent School District is still trampling the free-speech rights of students.
Last December, Liberty Legal Institute (LLI) filed a lawsuit against the Texas school system over its censorship of certain Christmastime activities and religious expressions. A federal judge ordered the district to allow students to distribute gifts with religious messages at their school Christmas parties, activities the school district had previously prohibited. (See related stories from December 16, 2004 and December 20, 2004)
Recently, Plano school officials announced that they will begin allowing students to pass out religious material at certain times during the school day. But Liberty Legal Institute chief counsel Kelly Shackelford feels the move by Plano Independent School District (PISD) was merely "window dressing" for the press.
"This is a school district that has refused to let the kids, for instance, hand out candy canes or hand out their religious messages," Shackelford says. "We have kids being told they could not write 'God bless you' to soldiers when they write a letter. And after refusing to budge for 17 months and fighting the parents at every instance -- they never called the parents to offer settlement -- [the district officials] decide they're going to change their policy, and they announce that in the press."
But despite the district officials' contention that PISD has amended its literature-distribution policy, the large Texas school district is still being accused of violating its students' freedom of religious expression. Shackelford maintains that even though the school officials apparently "think they've made some great improvement," the censorship in the schools is ongoing.
"They violated the Constitution a year and a half ago, and they're still violating the Constitution," the Liberty Legal attorney says. "And we're certainly not going to back down, and these kids are not going to back down, and their parents are not going to back down until this school district stops this stubborn refusal to follow the law and the Constitution."
Shackelford says LLI intends to proceed with its lawsuit. The legal organization, which specializes in defense of religious freedom, is seeking a preliminary injunction in the hope of completely putting an end to the Plano Independent School District's religious censorship and viewpoint discrimination.
News from Agape Press: "Attorney: Plano Schools Still Violating Students' Religious Freedom"
By Jim Brown
April 20, 2005
(AgapePress) - A Christian attorney says even though it recently modified its policy on the distribution of non-school literature, the Plano (Texas) Independent School District is still trampling the free-speech rights of students.
Last December, Liberty Legal Institute (LLI) filed a lawsuit against the Texas school system over its censorship of certain Christmastime activities and religious expressions. A federal judge ordered the district to allow students to distribute gifts with religious messages at their school Christmas parties, activities the school district had previously prohibited. (See related stories from December 16, 2004 and December 20, 2004)
Recently, Plano school officials announced that they will begin allowing students to pass out religious material at certain times during the school day. But Liberty Legal Institute chief counsel Kelly Shackelford feels the move by Plano Independent School District (PISD) was merely "window dressing" for the press.
"This is a school district that has refused to let the kids, for instance, hand out candy canes or hand out their religious messages," Shackelford says. "We have kids being told they could not write 'God bless you' to soldiers when they write a letter. And after refusing to budge for 17 months and fighting the parents at every instance -- they never called the parents to offer settlement -- [the district officials] decide they're going to change their policy, and they announce that in the press."
But despite the district officials' contention that PISD has amended its literature-distribution policy, the large Texas school district is still being accused of violating its students' freedom of religious expression. Shackelford maintains that even though the school officials apparently "think they've made some great improvement," the censorship in the schools is ongoing.
"They violated the Constitution a year and a half ago, and they're still violating the Constitution," the Liberty Legal attorney says. "And we're certainly not going to back down, and these kids are not going to back down, and their parents are not going to back down until this school district stops this stubborn refusal to follow the law and the Constitution."
Shackelford says LLI intends to proceed with its lawsuit. The legal organization, which specializes in defense of religious freedom, is seeking a preliminary injunction in the hope of completely putting an end to the Plano Independent School District's religious censorship and viewpoint discrimination.
News from Agape Press: "Attorney: Plano Schools Still Violating Students' Religious Freedom"
DePauw Religious Discrimination Case
No More Options for Educator in DePauw Religious Discrimination Case
By Jim Brown
April 20, 2005
(AgapePress) - A Christian educator has run out of legal options in her religious discrimination case against United Methodist-affiliated DePauw University.
Earlier this month, the Indiana Supreme Court refused to hear an appeal filed by Janis Price, education program coordinator at DePauw, who claims the university violated her First Amendment rights and created a hostile work environment. The university had cut her pay, stripped her of all her titles, suspended her teaching duties, and placed her on probation for making Christian magazines available in her classroom. (See article from November 2002)
Price believes she is the victim of a miscarriage of justice. "In every instance where there has been a judge or a lawyer involved, other than my own lawyer, I have felt mistreated," the educator says, "and I have felt that they were not interested in the truth -- but rather they were interested in covering up what DePauw had done."
The DePauw instructor maintains that the punishment doled out to her by the school's vice president for academic affairs, Neil Abrams, was because of her Christian beliefs. She clearly recalls Abrams telling her that he "could not tolerate the intolerable."
"And when I asked him specifically what he meant by that," she explains, "it was that he could not tolerate my Christian faith in general and specifically, he could not tolerate my position on homosexuality -- which, of course, is the biblical position that homosexuality is a sin."
In January, a three-judge panel of the Indiana Court of Appeals overturned a jury verdict in favor of Price. One of the panel members, Judge Terry Crone, is a DePauw alumnus -- a fact price feels should have forced the judge to recuse himself from the case. Price says although she has lost her faith in the court system throughout her ordeal, she has not lost her faith in Jesus Christ.
News from Agape Press
By Jim Brown
April 20, 2005
(AgapePress) - A Christian educator has run out of legal options in her religious discrimination case against United Methodist-affiliated DePauw University.
Earlier this month, the Indiana Supreme Court refused to hear an appeal filed by Janis Price, education program coordinator at DePauw, who claims the university violated her First Amendment rights and created a hostile work environment. The university had cut her pay, stripped her of all her titles, suspended her teaching duties, and placed her on probation for making Christian magazines available in her classroom. (See article from November 2002)
Price believes she is the victim of a miscarriage of justice. "In every instance where there has been a judge or a lawyer involved, other than my own lawyer, I have felt mistreated," the educator says, "and I have felt that they were not interested in the truth -- but rather they were interested in covering up what DePauw had done."
The DePauw instructor maintains that the punishment doled out to her by the school's vice president for academic affairs, Neil Abrams, was because of her Christian beliefs. She clearly recalls Abrams telling her that he "could not tolerate the intolerable."
"And when I asked him specifically what he meant by that," she explains, "it was that he could not tolerate my Christian faith in general and specifically, he could not tolerate my position on homosexuality -- which, of course, is the biblical position that homosexuality is a sin."
In January, a three-judge panel of the Indiana Court of Appeals overturned a jury verdict in favor of Price. One of the panel members, Judge Terry Crone, is a DePauw alumnus -- a fact price feels should have forced the judge to recuse himself from the case. Price says although she has lost her faith in the court system throughout her ordeal, she has not lost her faith in Jesus Christ.
News from Agape Press
Wednesday, April 20, 2005
Pope Benedict XVI: Enemy of Jihad
By Robert Spencer
FrontPageMagazine.com | April 20, 2005
In choosing Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger to succeed Pope John Paul II as Pope Benedict XVI, the Catholic Church has cast a vote for the survival of Europe and the West. “Europe will be Islamic by the end of the century,” historian Bernard Lewis predicted not long ago; however, judging from the writings of the new Pope, he is not likely to be sanguine about this transition. For one thing, the new Pope seems to be aware of the grave danger Europeans face: he has called upon Europe to recover its Christian roots “if it truly wants to survive.”
For while his predecessor kissed the Qur’an and pursued a consistent line of conciliation toward the Islamic world, despite numerous provocations and attacks against Catholics in Muslim countries, the new Pope Benedict XVI, while no less charitable, has been a bit more forthcoming about the reality of how Islam challenges the Catholic Church, Christianity, and even the post-Christian West. He has spoken up for the rights of converts from Islam to Christianity, who live under a death sentence in Islamic countries and increasingly live in fear even in the West. He has even spoken approvingly of Christians proselytizing Muslims — a practice that enrages Muslims and is against the law in many Islamic countries.
The new Pope has criticized Europe’s reluctance to acknowledge its Christian roots for fear of offending Islam’s rapidly growing and increasingly influential presence in European countries — a presence which, as historian Bat Ye’or demonstrates in her book Eurabia, has been actively encouraged and facilitated by European leaders for over three decades. “What offends Islam,” said Cardinal Ratzinger, “is the lack of reference to God, the arrogance of reason, which provokes fundamentalism.” He has criticized multiculturalism, “which is so constantly and passionately encouraged and supported,” because it “sometimes amounts to an abandonment and disavowal of what is our own.”
He contrasts the modern-day resurgence of Islam with the enervation of Europe. In old Europe, he has said, “we are moving toward a dictatorship of relativism which does not recognize anything as definitive and has as its highest value one’s own ego and one's own desires.” Islam, on the other hand, is anything but relativistic: “The rebirth of Islam is due in part to the new material richness acquired by Muslim countries, but mainly to the knowledge that it is able to offer a valid spiritual foundation for the life of its people, a foundation that seems to have escaped from the hands of old Europe.”
In line with his call to Europeans to recover their own spiritual heritage, the new Pope opposes Turkey’s proposed entrance into the European Union: “Turkey,” he has declared, “has always represented a different continent, always in contrast with Europe.” But his objection is not simply geographical — in fact, he opposes the geographical oversimplifications that underlie Turkey’s EU bid: “Europe,” he has explained, “was founded not on a geography, but on a common faith. We have to redefine what Europe is, and we cannot stop at positivism.” A Europe newly defined as in some sense a Christian entity may outrage secularists, but a secular and relativist Europe has so far proved powerless against the Islamization of Europe — despite the fact that that Islamization threatens cherished Western notions of the equality of rights and dignity of all people.
Europe, the new Pope has written, “appears to be at the start of its decline and fall.”
It may be too late, as Bat Ye’or believes, to arrest that decline and fall. However, the first thing a physician does when he treats a disease is identify the problem. No healing can proceed from a misdiagnosis. It is heartening to see that Pope Benedict XVI has already, in various speeches and writings before his accession to the papacy, dared to speak more clearly about the threat that Islam poses to Western civilization than his predecessor — for all his many and remarkable gifts — ever quite managed to do.
Late in 2003 the semi-official Jesuit magazine La Civiltà Cattolica departed from John Paul II’s policy toward Islam and published a scathing criticism of the mistreatment that Christians suffer in Islamic societies. It represented the first indication that any Catholic officials recognized the dimensions of the religious conflict that jihadists are waging against Christians and others around the world. La Civiltà Cattolica pointed out that “for almost a thousand years Europe was under constant threat from Islam, which twice put its survival in serious danger.” Now, through jihad terrorism and demographics Islam is threatening Europe’s survival yet again — and it looks as if now there is a Pope who has noticed. Maybe in Europe the resistance is just beginning.
FrontPage magazine.com :: Pope Benedict XVI: Enemy of Jihad by Robert Spencer
FrontPageMagazine.com | April 20, 2005
In choosing Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger to succeed Pope John Paul II as Pope Benedict XVI, the Catholic Church has cast a vote for the survival of Europe and the West. “Europe will be Islamic by the end of the century,” historian Bernard Lewis predicted not long ago; however, judging from the writings of the new Pope, he is not likely to be sanguine about this transition. For one thing, the new Pope seems to be aware of the grave danger Europeans face: he has called upon Europe to recover its Christian roots “if it truly wants to survive.”
For while his predecessor kissed the Qur’an and pursued a consistent line of conciliation toward the Islamic world, despite numerous provocations and attacks against Catholics in Muslim countries, the new Pope Benedict XVI, while no less charitable, has been a bit more forthcoming about the reality of how Islam challenges the Catholic Church, Christianity, and even the post-Christian West. He has spoken up for the rights of converts from Islam to Christianity, who live under a death sentence in Islamic countries and increasingly live in fear even in the West. He has even spoken approvingly of Christians proselytizing Muslims — a practice that enrages Muslims and is against the law in many Islamic countries.
The new Pope has criticized Europe’s reluctance to acknowledge its Christian roots for fear of offending Islam’s rapidly growing and increasingly influential presence in European countries — a presence which, as historian Bat Ye’or demonstrates in her book Eurabia, has been actively encouraged and facilitated by European leaders for over three decades. “What offends Islam,” said Cardinal Ratzinger, “is the lack of reference to God, the arrogance of reason, which provokes fundamentalism.” He has criticized multiculturalism, “which is so constantly and passionately encouraged and supported,” because it “sometimes amounts to an abandonment and disavowal of what is our own.”
He contrasts the modern-day resurgence of Islam with the enervation of Europe. In old Europe, he has said, “we are moving toward a dictatorship of relativism which does not recognize anything as definitive and has as its highest value one’s own ego and one's own desires.” Islam, on the other hand, is anything but relativistic: “The rebirth of Islam is due in part to the new material richness acquired by Muslim countries, but mainly to the knowledge that it is able to offer a valid spiritual foundation for the life of its people, a foundation that seems to have escaped from the hands of old Europe.”
In line with his call to Europeans to recover their own spiritual heritage, the new Pope opposes Turkey’s proposed entrance into the European Union: “Turkey,” he has declared, “has always represented a different continent, always in contrast with Europe.” But his objection is not simply geographical — in fact, he opposes the geographical oversimplifications that underlie Turkey’s EU bid: “Europe,” he has explained, “was founded not on a geography, but on a common faith. We have to redefine what Europe is, and we cannot stop at positivism.” A Europe newly defined as in some sense a Christian entity may outrage secularists, but a secular and relativist Europe has so far proved powerless against the Islamization of Europe — despite the fact that that Islamization threatens cherished Western notions of the equality of rights and dignity of all people.
Europe, the new Pope has written, “appears to be at the start of its decline and fall.”
It may be too late, as Bat Ye’or believes, to arrest that decline and fall. However, the first thing a physician does when he treats a disease is identify the problem. No healing can proceed from a misdiagnosis. It is heartening to see that Pope Benedict XVI has already, in various speeches and writings before his accession to the papacy, dared to speak more clearly about the threat that Islam poses to Western civilization than his predecessor — for all his many and remarkable gifts — ever quite managed to do.
Late in 2003 the semi-official Jesuit magazine La Civiltà Cattolica departed from John Paul II’s policy toward Islam and published a scathing criticism of the mistreatment that Christians suffer in Islamic societies. It represented the first indication that any Catholic officials recognized the dimensions of the religious conflict that jihadists are waging against Christians and others around the world. La Civiltà Cattolica pointed out that “for almost a thousand years Europe was under constant threat from Islam, which twice put its survival in serious danger.” Now, through jihad terrorism and demographics Islam is threatening Europe’s survival yet again — and it looks as if now there is a Pope who has noticed. Maybe in Europe the resistance is just beginning.
FrontPage magazine.com :: Pope Benedict XVI: Enemy of Jihad by Robert Spencer
Tuesday, April 19, 2005
Intelligent-Design Addressed at Southern Baptist Seminary
Friday, Apr. 15, 2005 Posted: 5:45:06AM EST
'These issues of Intelligent Design and creation really cut to the heart of worldviews, what we are about'
...
Dembski contends that the first goal of ID is to "demonstrate the inadequacy of Darwinian evolution as an explanation of the origin of the universe."
He sugested that one of the chief methods disproving darwinism is to demonstrate the weakness of the scientific evidence that is presented in support of Darwinian evolution in many school classrooms.
"Evolutionary theory is in such a weak position that it shouldn't be taught at all … in this grand global sense," Dembski said. "If you want to say natural selection operates in accounting for antibiotic resistance in bacteria you can make a case there. But if you are going to try to say that's how you get bacteria, insects, all this in the first place, that's a huge extrapolation. The theory doesn't support that."
In addition to offering a critique of Darwinian evolution, Intelligent Design proposes alternative theories about the origin of the universe, according to Dembski. These alternative theories argue that a designer must have fashioned the complex biological and physical mechanisms humans observe in the world, he said.
Although much of the scientific community views Intelligent Design with disdain, according to Dembski, as many as 90 percent of Americans "are favorably disposed" to the idea.
He continued saying that because naturalism has influenced a variety of fields such as science, philosophy, business, and economics, Christians must be prepared to combat the naturalistic worldview in every arena of life.
One of the most effective ways to battle naturalism is to use Intelligent Design to challenge the basic assumptions of Darwinian evolution, he said.
"Intelligent Design is pressing that you can't get [the design of the universe] without intelligence."
Christian News - The Christian Post | Intelligent-Design Addressed at Southern Baptist Seminary
'These issues of Intelligent Design and creation really cut to the heart of worldviews, what we are about'
...
Dembski contends that the first goal of ID is to "demonstrate the inadequacy of Darwinian evolution as an explanation of the origin of the universe."
He sugested that one of the chief methods disproving darwinism is to demonstrate the weakness of the scientific evidence that is presented in support of Darwinian evolution in many school classrooms.
"Evolutionary theory is in such a weak position that it shouldn't be taught at all … in this grand global sense," Dembski said. "If you want to say natural selection operates in accounting for antibiotic resistance in bacteria you can make a case there. But if you are going to try to say that's how you get bacteria, insects, all this in the first place, that's a huge extrapolation. The theory doesn't support that."
In addition to offering a critique of Darwinian evolution, Intelligent Design proposes alternative theories about the origin of the universe, according to Dembski. These alternative theories argue that a designer must have fashioned the complex biological and physical mechanisms humans observe in the world, he said.
Although much of the scientific community views Intelligent Design with disdain, according to Dembski, as many as 90 percent of Americans "are favorably disposed" to the idea.
He continued saying that because naturalism has influenced a variety of fields such as science, philosophy, business, and economics, Christians must be prepared to combat the naturalistic worldview in every arena of life.
One of the most effective ways to battle naturalism is to use Intelligent Design to challenge the basic assumptions of Darwinian evolution, he said.
"Intelligent Design is pressing that you can't get [the design of the universe] without intelligence."
Christian News - The Christian Post | Intelligent-Design Addressed at Southern Baptist Seminary
An amazing tale of healing
Lusiana Speight (Tuesday, April 12, 2005)
HE makes his way home after a hectic day at school and is still in the hype of playing rugby with his school mates.
Unbeknown to the young, energetic third former, his life was not going to be the same again from that evening.
After dinner, Sekove Maqanatagane, 14 years old then, was restless and could not sleep.
His family did not know what was wrong with him and being the youngest, his parents were worried.
"I couldn't sleep and kept moving about," he said. At daybreak the once full of life teenager was paralysed from the neck down.
"My parents could not take it anymore and took me to hospital."
It is every parent's nightmare to wait at the hospital for the doctor's diagnosis while their child suffers in the small hospital room where the doctor is examining him.
The diagnosis was not good and the doctors explained to his parents that the virus which affected his movement was moving to his brain.
"The disease was spreading fast and they said they could do nothing.
"My parents took me home and started to look for medicine and other ways to cure me."
Herbal medicines did not work and his family started losing hope.
"It reached a stage when they told me it would be better if I died because nothing else could cure me," he said.
"I was hurt and frustrated but then I started to listen to gospel music from the Akafa Family gospel group and little by little I started my hopes lifted."
As a Form Three student of Savusavu Secondary School in 1997, Sekove's youth was cut short.
He was paralysed and bed-ridden for the next four years of his life, missing out on what boys his age group were enjoying, such as playing rugby.
"In those four years I never thought I would recover.
"Everytime I asked myself why this happened to me and where did the disease come from."
Sekove's parents took him to his village of Nabua in Cakaudrove in the hope that people in the village could find a cure.
After three years, people in the village gave up and started counting the days he had left to live.
With everyone around him giving up, Sekove turned to the only source of hope and peace he found the gospel sounds of the Akafa family singers.
"I found meaning in the words of their songs and became inspired," he said.
"I started to read the word of God and found peace in verses from the Bible which spoke of His healing power."
In September, 2001 at the age of 18, Sekove committed his life to the Lord .
"That Friday, I told everyone at home and relatives in the village that I would walk, by the power of God, on Monday.
"They were shocked but I had faith in God's healing power and knew what I was talking about."
Everyone in the village looked forward to the day.
"On Monday morning I got out of bed with my family watching.
"My brothers and sisters were concerned and told me to lie down after they heard my hip bones crackling," said Sekove.
"I let go the crutches which had supported me and never looked back. I knew the Lord healed me."
From that day, the Cakaudrove lad vowed he would spend each day giving thanks to his Saviour.
"It has been my routine since that morning to wake up before the sun rises and play my guitar and sing gospel songs to thank God for my life.
"Whatever I earn and work for I give back to him because I am eternally thankful for my life."
For the past three years Sekove has worked at his plantation in Vanua Levu planting dalo, tavioka other root crops.
"I never dreamt I would work my limbs again and it was only when God changed my life that I started to work hard."
Sekove, now 22, attends the South Pacific missionary training centre at Veisari. He started three weeks ago.
"Since I got better, I have shared my experience with people bedridden with sickness," he said.
While reading The Fiji Times last week, Sekove came across nine-year-old Jone Tukana who was suffering from an incurable tumour.
The story touched him and he was determined to approach the boy's parents and share with them his experience.
"I knew how Jone was feeling and understood the anguish of his parents.
"I wanted to tell them that their boy's life could be saved if they don't lose hope and let God take control."
According to Sekove, Jone can still be helped despite his condition.
"Jone's parents should seek divine intervention through God's healing power because it is Jone's only hope," he said.
"This is the same God who has healed thousands. If Jone's parents take this to heart, through them God can heal Jone."
Sekove has a similar message to people inflicted with incurable diseases give their troubles to God. He says he is a testimony of His healing power.
"Many people, when told by the doctor they cannot be healed, return home and lose hope," he said.
"We must change that way of thinking and start relying on God's power to heal us. He did it to me.
"It's about changing how we think and depending on God," he said.
Back to Top of Article
HE makes his way home after a hectic day at school and is still in the hype of playing rugby with his school mates.
Unbeknown to the young, energetic third former, his life was not going to be the same again from that evening.
After dinner, Sekove Maqanatagane, 14 years old then, was restless and could not sleep.
His family did not know what was wrong with him and being the youngest, his parents were worried.
"I couldn't sleep and kept moving about," he said. At daybreak the once full of life teenager was paralysed from the neck down.
"My parents could not take it anymore and took me to hospital."
It is every parent's nightmare to wait at the hospital for the doctor's diagnosis while their child suffers in the small hospital room where the doctor is examining him.
The diagnosis was not good and the doctors explained to his parents that the virus which affected his movement was moving to his brain.
"The disease was spreading fast and they said they could do nothing.
"My parents took me home and started to look for medicine and other ways to cure me."
Herbal medicines did not work and his family started losing hope.
"It reached a stage when they told me it would be better if I died because nothing else could cure me," he said.
"I was hurt and frustrated but then I started to listen to gospel music from the Akafa Family gospel group and little by little I started my hopes lifted."
As a Form Three student of Savusavu Secondary School in 1997, Sekove's youth was cut short.
He was paralysed and bed-ridden for the next four years of his life, missing out on what boys his age group were enjoying, such as playing rugby.
"In those four years I never thought I would recover.
"Everytime I asked myself why this happened to me and where did the disease come from."
Sekove's parents took him to his village of Nabua in Cakaudrove in the hope that people in the village could find a cure.
After three years, people in the village gave up and started counting the days he had left to live.
With everyone around him giving up, Sekove turned to the only source of hope and peace he found the gospel sounds of the Akafa family singers.
"I found meaning in the words of their songs and became inspired," he said.
"I started to read the word of God and found peace in verses from the Bible which spoke of His healing power."
In September, 2001 at the age of 18, Sekove committed his life to the Lord .
"That Friday, I told everyone at home and relatives in the village that I would walk, by the power of God, on Monday.
"They were shocked but I had faith in God's healing power and knew what I was talking about."
Everyone in the village looked forward to the day.
"On Monday morning I got out of bed with my family watching.
"My brothers and sisters were concerned and told me to lie down after they heard my hip bones crackling," said Sekove.
"I let go the crutches which had supported me and never looked back. I knew the Lord healed me."
From that day, the Cakaudrove lad vowed he would spend each day giving thanks to his Saviour.
"It has been my routine since that morning to wake up before the sun rises and play my guitar and sing gospel songs to thank God for my life.
"Whatever I earn and work for I give back to him because I am eternally thankful for my life."
For the past three years Sekove has worked at his plantation in Vanua Levu planting dalo, tavioka other root crops.
"I never dreamt I would work my limbs again and it was only when God changed my life that I started to work hard."
Sekove, now 22, attends the South Pacific missionary training centre at Veisari. He started three weeks ago.
"Since I got better, I have shared my experience with people bedridden with sickness," he said.
While reading The Fiji Times last week, Sekove came across nine-year-old Jone Tukana who was suffering from an incurable tumour.
The story touched him and he was determined to approach the boy's parents and share with them his experience.
"I knew how Jone was feeling and understood the anguish of his parents.
"I wanted to tell them that their boy's life could be saved if they don't lose hope and let God take control."
According to Sekove, Jone can still be helped despite his condition.
"Jone's parents should seek divine intervention through God's healing power because it is Jone's only hope," he said.
"This is the same God who has healed thousands. If Jone's parents take this to heart, through them God can heal Jone."
Sekove has a similar message to people inflicted with incurable diseases give their troubles to God. He says he is a testimony of His healing power.
"Many people, when told by the doctor they cannot be healed, return home and lose hope," he said.
"We must change that way of thinking and start relying on God's power to heal us. He did it to me.
"It's about changing how we think and depending on God," he said.
Back to Top of Article
HE makes his way home after a hectic day at school and is still in the hype of playing rugby with his school mates.
Unbeknown to the young, energetic third former, his life was not going to be the same again from that evening.
After dinner, Sekove Maqanatagane, 14 years old then, was restless and could not sleep.
His family did not know what was wrong with him and being the youngest, his parents were worried.
"I couldn't sleep and kept moving about," he said. At daybreak the once full of life teenager was paralysed from the neck down.
"My parents could not take it anymore and took me to hospital."
It is every parent's nightmare to wait at the hospital for the doctor's diagnosis while their child suffers in the small hospital room where the doctor is examining him.
The diagnosis was not good and the doctors explained to his parents that the virus which affected his movement was moving to his brain.
"The disease was spreading fast and they said they could do nothing.
"My parents took me home and started to look for medicine and other ways to cure me."
Herbal medicines did not work and his family started losing hope.
"It reached a stage when they told me it would be better if I died because nothing else could cure me," he said.
"I was hurt and frustrated but then I started to listen to gospel music from the Akafa Family gospel group and little by little I started my hopes lifted."
As a Form Three student of Savusavu Secondary School in 1997, Sekove's youth was cut short.
He was paralysed and bed-ridden for the next four years of his life, missing out on what boys his age group were enjoying, such as playing rugby.
"In those four years I never thought I would recover.
"Everytime I asked myself why this happened to me and where did the disease come from."
Sekove's parents took him to his village of Nabua in Cakaudrove in the hope that people in the village could find a cure.
After three years, people in the village gave up and started counting the days he had left to live.
With everyone around him giving up, Sekove turned to the only source of hope and peace he found the gospel sounds of the Akafa family singers.
"I found meaning in the words of their songs and became inspired," he said.
HE makes his way home after a hectic day at school and is still in the hype of playing rugby with his school mates.
Unbeknown to the young, energetic third former, his life was not going to be the same again from that evening.
After dinner, Sekove Maqanatagane, 14 years old then, was restless and could not sleep.
His family did not know what was wrong with him and being the youngest, his parents were worried.
"I couldn't sleep and kept moving about," he said. At daybreak the once full of life teenager was paralysed from the neck down.
"My parents could not take it anymore and took me to hospital."
It is every parent's nightmare to wait at the hospital for the doctor's diagnosis while their child suffers in the small hospital room where the doctor is examining him.
The diagnosis was not good and the doctors explained to his parents that the virus which affected his movement was moving to his brain.
"The disease was spreading fast and they said they could do nothing.
"My parents took me home and started to look for medicine and other ways to cure me."
Herbal medicines did not work and his family started losing hope.
"It reached a stage when they told me it would be better if I died because nothing else could cure me," he said.
"I was hurt and frustrated but then I started to listen to gospel music from the Akafa Family gospel group and little by little I started my hopes lifted."
As a Form Three student of Savusavu Secondary School in 1997, Sekove's youth was cut short.
He was paralysed and bed-ridden for the next four years of his life, missing out on what boys his age group were enjoying, such as playing rugby.
"In those four years I never thought I would recover.
"Everytime I asked myself why this happened to me and where did the disease come from."
Sekove's parents took him to his village of Nabua in Cakaudrove in the hope that people in the village could find a cure.
After three years, people in the village gave up and started counting the days he had left to live.
With everyone around him giving up, Sekove turned to the only source of hope and peace he found the gospel sounds of the Akafa family singers.
"I found meaning in the words of their songs and became inspired," he said.
"I started to read the word of God and found peace in verses from the Bible which spoke of His healing power."
In September, 2001 at the age of 18, Sekove committed his life to the Lord .
"That Friday, I told everyone at home and relatives in the village that I would walk, by the power of God, on Monday.
"They were shocked but I had faith in God's healing power and knew what I was talking about."
Everyone in the village looked forward to the day.
"On Monday morning I got out of bed with my family watching.
"My brothers and sisters were concerned and told me to lie down after they heard my hip bones crackling," said Sekove.
"I let go the crutches which had supported me and never looked back. I knew the Lord healed me."
From that day, the Cakaudrove lad vowed he would spend each day giving thanks to his Saviour.
"It has been my routine since that morning to wake up before the sun rises and play my guitar and sing gospel songs to thank God for my life.
"Whatever I earn and work for I give back to him because I am eternally thankful for my life."
For the past three years Sekove has worked at his plantation in Vanua Levu planting dalo, tavioka other root crops.
"I never dreamt I would work my limbs again and it was only when God changed my life that I started to work hard."
Sekove, now 22, attends the South Pacific missionary training centre at Veisari. He started three weeks ago.
"Since I got better, I have shared my experience with people bedridden with sickness," he said.
While reading The Fiji Times last week, Sekove came across nine-year-old Jone Tukana who was suffering from an incurable tumour.
The story touched him and he was determined to approach the boy's parents and share with them his experience.
"I knew how Jone was feeling and understood the anguish of his parents.
"I wanted to tell them that their boy's life could be saved if they don't lose hope and let God take control."
According to Sekove, Jone can still be helped despite his condition.
"Jone's parents should seek divine intervention through God's healing power because it is Jone's only hope," he said.
"This is the same God who has healed thousands. If Jone's parents take this to heart, through them God can heal Jone."
Sekove has a similar message to people inflicted with incurable diseases give their troubles to God. He says he is a testimony of His healing power.
"Many people, when told by the doctor they cannot be healed, return home and lose hope," he said.
"We must change that way of thinking and start relying on God's power to heal us. He did it to me.
"It's about changing how we think and depending on God," he said.
Back to Top of Article
HE makes his way home after a hectic day at school and is still in the hype of playing rugby with his school mates.
Unbeknown to the young, energetic third former, his life was not going to be the same again from that evening.
After dinner, Sekove Maqanatagane, 14 years old then, was restless and could not sleep.
His family did not know what was wrong with him and being the youngest, his parents were worried.
"I couldn't sleep and kept moving about," he said. At daybreak the once full of life teenager was paralysed from the neck down.
"My parents could not take it anymore and took me to hospital."
It is every parent's nightmare to wait at the hospital for the doctor's diagnosis while their child suffers in the small hospital room where the doctor is examining him.
The diagnosis was not good and the doctors explained to his parents that the virus which affected his movement was moving to his brain.
"The disease was spreading fast and they said they could do nothing.
"My parents took me home and started to look for medicine and other ways to cure me."
Herbal medicines did not work and his family started losing hope.
"It reached a stage when they told me it would be better if I died because nothing else could cure me," he said.
"I was hurt and frustrated but then I started to listen to gospel music from the Akafa Family gospel group and little by little I started my hopes lifted."
As a Form Three student of Savusavu Secondary School in 1997, Sekove's youth was cut short.
He was paralysed and bed-ridden for the next four years of his life, missing out on what boys his age group were enjoying, such as playing rugby.
"In those four years I never thought I would recover.
"Everytime I asked myself why this happened to me and where did the disease come from."
Sekove's parents took him to his village of Nabua in Cakaudrove in the hope that people in the village could find a cure.
After three years, people in the village gave up and started counting the days he had left to live.
With everyone around him giving up, Sekove turned to the only source of hope and peace he found the gospel sounds of the Akafa family singers.
"I found meaning in the words of their songs and became inspired," he said.
"I started to read the word of God and found peace in verses from the Bible which spoke of His healing power."
In September, 2001 at the age of 18, Sekove committed his life to the Lord .
"That Friday, I told everyone at home and relatives in the village that I would walk, by the power of God, on Monday.
"They were shocked but I had faith in God's healing power and knew what I was talking about."
Everyone in the village looked forward to the day.
"On Monday morning I got out of bed with my family watching.
"My brothers and sisters were concerned and told me to lie down after they heard my hip bones crackling," said Sekove.
"I let go the crutches which had supported me and never looked back. I knew the Lord healed me."
From that day, the Cakaudrove lad vowed he would spend each day giving thanks to his Saviour.
"It has been my routine since that morning to wake up before the sun rises and play my guitar and sing gospel songs to thank God for my life.
"Whatever I earn and work for I give back to him because I am eternally thankful for my life."
For the past three years Sekove has worked at his plantation in Vanua Levu planting dalo, tavioka other root crops.
"I never dreamt I would work my limbs again and it was only when God changed my life that I started to work hard."
Sekove, now 22, attends the South Pacific missionary training centre at Veisari. He started three weeks ago.
"Since I got better, I have shared my experience with people bedridden with sickness," he said.
While reading The Fiji Times last week, Sekove came across nine-year-old Jone Tukana who was suffering from an incurable tumour.
The story touched him and he was determined to approach the boy's parents and share with them his experience.
"I knew how Jone was feeling and understood the anguish of his parents.
"I wanted to tell them that their boy's life could be saved if they don't lose hope and let God take control."
According to Sekove, Jone can still be helped despite his condition.
"Jone's parents should seek divine intervention through God's healing power because it is Jone's only hope," he said.
"This is the same God who has healed thousands. If Jone's parents take this to heart, through them God can heal Jone."
Sekove has a similar message to people inflicted with incurable diseases give their troubles to God. He says he is a testimony of His healing power.
"Many people, when told by the doctor they cannot be healed, return home and lose hope," he said.
"We must change that way of thinking and start relying on God's power to heal us. He did it to me.
"It's about changing how we think and depending on God," he said.
Back to Top of Article
HE makes his way home after a hectic day at school and is still in the hype of playing rugby with his school mates.
Unbeknown to the young, energetic third former, his life was not going to be the same again from that evening.
After dinner, Sekove Maqanatagane, 14 years old then, was restless and could not sleep.
His family did not know what was wrong with him and being the youngest, his parents were worried.
"I couldn't sleep and kept moving about," he said. At daybreak the once full of life teenager was paralysed from the neck down.
"My parents could not take it anymore and took me to hospital."
It is every parent's nightmare to wait at the hospital for the doctor's diagnosis while their child suffers in the small hospital room where the doctor is examining him.
The diagnosis was not good and the doctors explained to his parents that the virus which affected his movement was moving to his brain.
"The disease was spreading fast and they said they could do nothing.
"My parents took me home and started to look for medicine and other ways to cure me."
Herbal medicines did not work and his family started losing hope.
"It reached a stage when they told me it would be better if I died because nothing else could cure me," he said.
"I was hurt and frustrated but then I started to listen to gospel music from the Akafa Family gospel group and little by little I started my hopes lifted."
As a Form Three student of Savusavu Secondary School in 1997, Sekove's youth was cut short.
He was paralysed and bed-ridden for the next four years of his life, missing out on what boys his age group were enjoying, such as playing rugby.
"In those four years I never thought I would recover.
"Everytime I asked myself why this happened to me and where did the disease come from."
Sekove's parents took him to his village of Nabua in Cakaudrove in the hope that people in the village could find a cure.
After three years, people in the village gave up and started counting the days he had left to live.
With everyone around him giving up, Sekove turned to the only source of hope and peace he found the gospel sounds of the Akafa family singers.
"I found meaning in the words of their songs and became inspired," he said.
"I started to read the word of God and found peace in verses from the Bible which spoke of His healing power."
In September, 2001 at the age of 18, Sekove committed his life to the Lord .
"That Friday, I told everyone at home and relatives in the village that I would walk, by the power of God, on Monday.
"They were shocked but I had faith in God's healing power and knew what I was talking about."
Everyone in the village looked forward to the day.
"On Monday morning I got out of bed with my family watching.
"My brothers and sisters were concerned and told me to lie down after they heard my hip bones crackling," said Sekove.
"I let go the crutches which had supported me and never looked back. I knew the Lord healed me."
From that day, the Cakaudrove lad vowed he would spend each day giving thanks to his Saviour.
"It has been my routine since that morning to wake up before the sun rises and play my guitar and sing gospel songs to thank God for my life.
"Whatever I earn and work for I give back to him because I am eternally thankful for my life."
For the past three years Sekove has worked at his plantation in Vanua Levu planting dalo, tavioka other root crops.
"I never dreamt I would work my limbs again and it was only when God changed my life that I started to work hard."
Sekove, now 22, attends the South Pacific missionary training centre at Veisari. He started three weeks ago.
"Since I got better, I have shared my experience with people bedridden with sickness," he said.
While reading The Fiji Times last week, Sekove came across nine-year-old Jone Tukana who was suffering from an incurable tumour.
The story touched him and he was determined to approach the boy's parents and share with them his experience.
"I knew how Jone was feeling and understood the anguish of his parents.
"I wanted to tell them that their boy's life could be saved if they don't lose hope and let God take control."
According to Sekove, Jone can still be helped despite his condition.
"Jone's parents should seek divine intervention through God's healing power because it is Jone's only hope," he said.
"This is the same God who has healed thousands. If Jone's parents take this to heart, through them God can heal Jone."
Sekove has a similar message to people inflicted with incurable diseases give their troubles to God. He says he is a testimony of His healing power.
"Many people, when told by the doctor they cannot be healed, return home and lose hope," he said.
"We must change that way of thinking and start relying on God's power to heal us. He did it to me.
"It's about changing how we think and depending on God," he said.
HE makes his way home after a hectic day at school and is still in the hype of playing rugby with his school mates.
Unbeknown to the young, energetic third former, his life was not going to be the same again from that evening.
After dinner, Sekove Maqanatagane, 14 years old then, was restless and could not sleep.
His family did not know what was wrong with him and being the youngest, his parents were worried.
"I couldn't sleep and kept moving about," he said. At daybreak the once full of life teenager was paralysed from the neck down.
"My parents could not take it anymore and took me to hospital."
It is every parent's nightmare to wait at the hospital for the doctor's diagnosis while their child suffers in the small hospital room where the doctor is examining him.
The diagnosis was not good and the doctors explained to his parents that the virus which affected his movement was moving to his brain.
"The disease was spreading fast and they said they could do nothing.
"My parents took me home and started to look for medicine and other ways to cure me."
Herbal medicines did not work and his family started losing hope.
"It reached a stage when they told me it would be better if I died because nothing else could cure me," he said.
"I was hurt and frustrated but then I started to listen to gospel music from the Akafa Family gospel group and little by little I started my hopes lifted."
As a Form Three student of Savusavu Secondary School in 1997, Sekove's youth was cut short.
He was paralysed and bed-ridden for the next four years of his life, missing out on what boys his age group were enjoying, such as playing rugby.
"In those four years I never thought I would recover.
"Everytime I asked myself why this happened to me and where did the disease come from."
Sekove's parents took him to his village of Nabua in Cakaudrove in the hope that people in the village could find a cure.
After three years, people in the village gave up and started counting the days he had left to live.
With everyone around him giving up, Sekove turned to the only source of hope and peace he found the gospel sounds of the Akafa family singers.
"I found meaning in the words of their songs and became inspired," he said.
"I started to read the word of God and found peace in verses from the Bible which spoke of His healing power."
In September, 2001 at the age of 18, Sekove committed his life to the Lord .
"That Friday, I told everyone at home and relatives in the village that I would walk, by the power of God, on Monday.
"They were shocked but I had faith in God's healing power and knew what I was talking about."
Everyone in the village looked forward to the day.
"On Monday morning I got out of bed with my family watching.
"My brothers and sisters were concerned and told me to lie down after they heard my hip bones crackling," said Sekove.
"I let go the crutches which had supported me and never looked back. I knew the Lord healed me."
From that day, the Cakaudrove lad vowed he would spend each day giving thanks to his Saviour.
"It has been my routine since that morning to wake up before the sun rises and play my guitar and sing gospel songs to thank God for my life.
"Whatever I earn and work for I give back to him because I am eternally thankful for my life."
For the past three years Sekove has worked at his plantation in Vanua Levu planting dalo, tavioka other root crops.
"I never dreamt I would work my limbs again and it was only when God changed my life that I started to work hard."
Sekove, now 22, attends the South Pacific missionary training centre at Veisari. He started three weeks ago.
"Since I got better, I have shared my experience with people bedridden with sickness," he said.
While reading The Fiji Times last week, Sekove came across nine-year-old Jone Tukana who was suffering from an incurable tumour.
The story touched him and he was determined to approach the boy's parents and share with them his experience.
"I knew how Jone was feeling and understood the anguish of his parents.
"I wanted to tell them that their boy's life could be saved if they don't lose hope and let God take control."
According to Sekove, Jone can still be helped despite his condition.
"Jone's parents should seek divine intervention through God's healing power because it is Jone's only hope," he said.
"This is the same God who has healed thousands. If Jone's parents take this to heart, through them God can heal Jone."
Sekove has a similar message to people inflicted with incurable diseases give their troubles to God. He says he is a testimony of His healing power.
"Many people, when told by the doctor they cannot be healed, return home and lose hope," he said.
"We must change that way of thinking and start relying on God's power to heal us. He did it to me.
"It's about changing how we think and depending on God," he said.
An amazing tale of healing - Fiji Times Online
HE makes his way home after a hectic day at school and is still in the hype of playing rugby with his school mates.
Unbeknown to the young, energetic third former, his life was not going to be the same again from that evening.
After dinner, Sekove Maqanatagane, 14 years old then, was restless and could not sleep.
His family did not know what was wrong with him and being the youngest, his parents were worried.
"I couldn't sleep and kept moving about," he said. At daybreak the once full of life teenager was paralysed from the neck down.
"My parents could not take it anymore and took me to hospital."
It is every parent's nightmare to wait at the hospital for the doctor's diagnosis while their child suffers in the small hospital room where the doctor is examining him.
The diagnosis was not good and the doctors explained to his parents that the virus which affected his movement was moving to his brain.
"The disease was spreading fast and they said they could do nothing.
"My parents took me home and started to look for medicine and other ways to cure me."
Herbal medicines did not work and his family started losing hope.
"It reached a stage when they told me it would be better if I died because nothing else could cure me," he said.
"I was hurt and frustrated but then I started to listen to gospel music from the Akafa Family gospel group and little by little I started my hopes lifted."
As a Form Three student of Savusavu Secondary School in 1997, Sekove's youth was cut short.
He was paralysed and bed-ridden for the next four years of his life, missing out on what boys his age group were enjoying, such as playing rugby.
"In those four years I never thought I would recover.
"Everytime I asked myself why this happened to me and where did the disease come from."
Sekove's parents took him to his village of Nabua in Cakaudrove in the hope that people in the village could find a cure.
After three years, people in the village gave up and started counting the days he had left to live.
With everyone around him giving up, Sekove turned to the only source of hope and peace he found the gospel sounds of the Akafa family singers.
"I found meaning in the words of their songs and became inspired," he said.
"I started to read the word of God and found peace in verses from the Bible which spoke of His healing power."
In September, 2001 at the age of 18, Sekove committed his life to the Lord .
"That Friday, I told everyone at home and relatives in the village that I would walk, by the power of God, on Monday.
"They were shocked but I had faith in God's healing power and knew what I was talking about."
Everyone in the village looked forward to the day.
"On Monday morning I got out of bed with my family watching.
"My brothers and sisters were concerned and told me to lie down after they heard my hip bones crackling," said Sekove.
"I let go the crutches which had supported me and never looked back. I knew the Lord healed me."
From that day, the Cakaudrove lad vowed he would spend each day giving thanks to his Saviour.
"It has been my routine since that morning to wake up before the sun rises and play my guitar and sing gospel songs to thank God for my life.
"Whatever I earn and work for I give back to him because I am eternally thankful for my life."
For the past three years Sekove has worked at his plantation in Vanua Levu planting dalo, tavioka other root crops.
"I never dreamt I would work my limbs again and it was only when God changed my life that I started to work hard."
Sekove, now 22, attends the South Pacific missionary training centre at Veisari. He started three weeks ago.
"Since I got better, I have shared my experience with people bedridden with sickness," he said.
While reading The Fiji Times last week, Sekove came across nine-year-old Jone Tukana who was suffering from an incurable tumour.
The story touched him and he was determined to approach the boy's parents and share with them his experience.
"I knew how Jone was feeling and understood the anguish of his parents.
"I wanted to tell them that their boy's life could be saved if they don't lose hope and let God take control."
According to Sekove, Jone can still be helped despite his condition.
"Jone's parents should seek divine intervention through God's healing power because it is Jone's only hope," he said.
"This is the same God who has healed thousands. If Jone's parents take this to heart, through them God can heal Jone."
Sekove has a similar message to people inflicted with incurable diseases give their troubles to God. He says he is a testimony of His healing power.
"Many people, when told by the doctor they cannot be healed, return home and lose hope," he said.
"We must change that way of thinking and start relying on God's power to heal us. He did it to me.
"It's about changing how we think and depending on God," he said.
Back to Top of Article
HE makes his way home after a hectic day at school and is still in the hype of playing rugby with his school mates.
Unbeknown to the young, energetic third former, his life was not going to be the same again from that evening.
After dinner, Sekove Maqanatagane, 14 years old then, was restless and could not sleep.
His family did not know what was wrong with him and being the youngest, his parents were worried.
"I couldn't sleep and kept moving about," he said. At daybreak the once full of life teenager was paralysed from the neck down.
"My parents could not take it anymore and took me to hospital."
It is every parent's nightmare to wait at the hospital for the doctor's diagnosis while their child suffers in the small hospital room where the doctor is examining him.
The diagnosis was not good and the doctors explained to his parents that the virus which affected his movement was moving to his brain.
"The disease was spreading fast and they said they could do nothing.
"My parents took me home and started to look for medicine and other ways to cure me."
Herbal medicines did not work and his family started losing hope.
"It reached a stage when they told me it would be better if I died because nothing else could cure me," he said.
"I was hurt and frustrated but then I started to listen to gospel music from the Akafa Family gospel group and little by little I started my hopes lifted."
As a Form Three student of Savusavu Secondary School in 1997, Sekove's youth was cut short.
He was paralysed and bed-ridden for the next four years of his life, missing out on what boys his age group were enjoying, such as playing rugby.
"In those four years I never thought I would recover.
"Everytime I asked myself why this happened to me and where did the disease come from."
Sekove's parents took him to his village of Nabua in Cakaudrove in the hope that people in the village could find a cure.
After three years, people in the village gave up and started counting the days he had left to live.
With everyone around him giving up, Sekove turned to the only source of hope and peace he found the gospel sounds of the Akafa family singers.
"I found meaning in the words of their songs and became inspired," he said.
"I started to read the word of God and found peace in verses from the Bible which spoke of His healing power."
In September, 2001 at the age of 18, Sekove committed his life to the Lord .
"That Friday, I told everyone at home and relatives in the village that I would walk, by the power of God, on Monday.
"They were shocked but I had faith in God's healing power and knew what I was talking about."
Everyone in the village looked forward to the day.
"On Monday morning I got out of bed with my family watching.
"My brothers and sisters were concerned and told me to lie down after they heard my hip bones crackling," said Sekove.
"I let go the crutches which had supported me and never looked back. I knew the Lord healed me."
From that day, the Cakaudrove lad vowed he would spend each day giving thanks to his Saviour.
"It has been my routine since that morning to wake up before the sun rises and play my guitar and sing gospel songs to thank God for my life.
"Whatever I earn and work for I give back to him because I am eternally thankful for my life."
For the past three years Sekove has worked at his plantation in Vanua Levu planting dalo, tavioka other root crops.
"I never dreamt I would work my limbs again and it was only when God changed my life that I started to work hard."
Sekove, now 22, attends the South Pacific missionary training centre at Veisari. He started three weeks ago.
"Since I got better, I have shared my experience with people bedridden with sickness," he said.
While reading The Fiji Times last week, Sekove came across nine-year-old Jone Tukana who was suffering from an incurable tumour.
The story touched him and he was determined to approach the boy's parents and share with them his experience.
"I knew how Jone was feeling and understood the anguish of his parents.
"I wanted to tell them that their boy's life could be saved if they don't lose hope and let God take control."
According to Sekove, Jone can still be helped despite his condition.
"Jone's parents should seek divine intervention through God's healing power because it is Jone's only hope," he said.
"This is the same God who has healed thousands. If Jone's parents take this to heart, through them God can heal Jone."
Sekove has a similar message to people inflicted with incurable diseases give their troubles to God. He says he is a testimony of His healing power.
"Many people, when told by the doctor they cannot be healed, return home and lose hope," he said.
"We must change that way of thinking and start relying on God's power to heal us. He did it to me.
"It's about changing how we think and depending on God," he said.
Back to Top of Article
HE makes his way home after a hectic day at school and is still in the hype of playing rugby with his school mates.
Unbeknown to the young, energetic third former, his life was not going to be the same again from that evening.
After dinner, Sekove Maqanatagane, 14 years old then, was restless and could not sleep.
His family did not know what was wrong with him and being the youngest, his parents were worried.
"I couldn't sleep and kept moving about," he said. At daybreak the once full of life teenager was paralysed from the neck down.
"My parents could not take it anymore and took me to hospital."
It is every parent's nightmare to wait at the hospital for the doctor's diagnosis while their child suffers in the small hospital room where the doctor is examining him.
The diagnosis was not good and the doctors explained to his parents that the virus which affected his movement was moving to his brain.
"The disease was spreading fast and they said they could do nothing.
"My parents took me home and started to look for medicine and other ways to cure me."
Herbal medicines did not work and his family started losing hope.
"It reached a stage when they told me it would be better if I died because nothing else could cure me," he said.
"I was hurt and frustrated but then I started to listen to gospel music from the Akafa Family gospel group and little by little I started my hopes lifted."
As a Form Three student of Savusavu Secondary School in 1997, Sekove's youth was cut short.
He was paralysed and bed-ridden for the next four years of his life, missing out on what boys his age group were enjoying, such as playing rugby.
"In those four years I never thought I would recover.
"Everytime I asked myself why this happened to me and where did the disease come from."
Sekove's parents took him to his village of Nabua in Cakaudrove in the hope that people in the village could find a cure.
After three years, people in the village gave up and started counting the days he had left to live.
With everyone around him giving up, Sekove turned to the only source of hope and peace he found the gospel sounds of the Akafa family singers.
"I found meaning in the words of their songs and became inspired," he said.
HE makes his way home after a hectic day at school and is still in the hype of playing rugby with his school mates.
Unbeknown to the young, energetic third former, his life was not going to be the same again from that evening.
After dinner, Sekove Maqanatagane, 14 years old then, was restless and could not sleep.
His family did not know what was wrong with him and being the youngest, his parents were worried.
"I couldn't sleep and kept moving about," he said. At daybreak the once full of life teenager was paralysed from the neck down.
"My parents could not take it anymore and took me to hospital."
It is every parent's nightmare to wait at the hospital for the doctor's diagnosis while their child suffers in the small hospital room where the doctor is examining him.
The diagnosis was not good and the doctors explained to his parents that the virus which affected his movement was moving to his brain.
"The disease was spreading fast and they said they could do nothing.
"My parents took me home and started to look for medicine and other ways to cure me."
Herbal medicines did not work and his family started losing hope.
"It reached a stage when they told me it would be better if I died because nothing else could cure me," he said.
"I was hurt and frustrated but then I started to listen to gospel music from the Akafa Family gospel group and little by little I started my hopes lifted."
As a Form Three student of Savusavu Secondary School in 1997, Sekove's youth was cut short.
He was paralysed and bed-ridden for the next four years of his life, missing out on what boys his age group were enjoying, such as playing rugby.
"In those four years I never thought I would recover.
"Everytime I asked myself why this happened to me and where did the disease come from."
Sekove's parents took him to his village of Nabua in Cakaudrove in the hope that people in the village could find a cure.
After three years, people in the village gave up and started counting the days he had left to live.
With everyone around him giving up, Sekove turned to the only source of hope and peace he found the gospel sounds of the Akafa family singers.
"I found meaning in the words of their songs and became inspired," he said.
"I started to read the word of God and found peace in verses from the Bible which spoke of His healing power."
In September, 2001 at the age of 18, Sekove committed his life to the Lord .
"That Friday, I told everyone at home and relatives in the village that I would walk, by the power of God, on Monday.
"They were shocked but I had faith in God's healing power and knew what I was talking about."
Everyone in the village looked forward to the day.
"On Monday morning I got out of bed with my family watching.
"My brothers and sisters were concerned and told me to lie down after they heard my hip bones crackling," said Sekove.
"I let go the crutches which had supported me and never looked back. I knew the Lord healed me."
From that day, the Cakaudrove lad vowed he would spend each day giving thanks to his Saviour.
"It has been my routine since that morning to wake up before the sun rises and play my guitar and sing gospel songs to thank God for my life.
"Whatever I earn and work for I give back to him because I am eternally thankful for my life."
For the past three years Sekove has worked at his plantation in Vanua Levu planting dalo, tavioka other root crops.
"I never dreamt I would work my limbs again and it was only when God changed my life that I started to work hard."
Sekove, now 22, attends the South Pacific missionary training centre at Veisari. He started three weeks ago.
"Since I got better, I have shared my experience with people bedridden with sickness," he said.
While reading The Fiji Times last week, Sekove came across nine-year-old Jone Tukana who was suffering from an incurable tumour.
The story touched him and he was determined to approach the boy's parents and share with them his experience.
"I knew how Jone was feeling and understood the anguish of his parents.
"I wanted to tell them that their boy's life could be saved if they don't lose hope and let God take control."
According to Sekove, Jone can still be helped despite his condition.
"Jone's parents should seek divine intervention through God's healing power because it is Jone's only hope," he said.
"This is the same God who has healed thousands. If Jone's parents take this to heart, through them God can heal Jone."
Sekove has a similar message to people inflicted with incurable diseases give their troubles to God. He says he is a testimony of His healing power.
"Many people, when told by the doctor they cannot be healed, return home and lose hope," he said.
"We must change that way of thinking and start relying on God's power to heal us. He did it to me.
"It's about changing how we think and depending on God," he said.
Back to Top of Article
HE makes his way home after a hectic day at school and is still in the hype of playing rugby with his school mates.
Unbeknown to the young, energetic third former, his life was not going to be the same again from that evening.
After dinner, Sekove Maqanatagane, 14 years old then, was restless and could not sleep.
His family did not know what was wrong with him and being the youngest, his parents were worried.
"I couldn't sleep and kept moving about," he said. At daybreak the once full of life teenager was paralysed from the neck down.
"My parents could not take it anymore and took me to hospital."
It is every parent's nightmare to wait at the hospital for the doctor's diagnosis while their child suffers in the small hospital room where the doctor is examining him.
The diagnosis was not good and the doctors explained to his parents that the virus which affected his movement was moving to his brain.
"The disease was spreading fast and they said they could do nothing.
"My parents took me home and started to look for medicine and other ways to cure me."
Herbal medicines did not work and his family started losing hope.
"It reached a stage when they told me it would be better if I died because nothing else could cure me," he said.
"I was hurt and frustrated but then I started to listen to gospel music from the Akafa Family gospel group and little by little I started my hopes lifted."
As a Form Three student of Savusavu Secondary School in 1997, Sekove's youth was cut short.
He was paralysed and bed-ridden for the next four years of his life, missing out on what boys his age group were enjoying, such as playing rugby.
"In those four years I never thought I would recover.
"Everytime I asked myself why this happened to me and where did the disease come from."
Sekove's parents took him to his village of Nabua in Cakaudrove in the hope that people in the village could find a cure.
After three years, people in the village gave up and started counting the days he had left to live.
With everyone around him giving up, Sekove turned to the only source of hope and peace he found the gospel sounds of the Akafa family singers.
"I found meaning in the words of their songs and became inspired," he said.
"I started to read the word of God and found peace in verses from the Bible which spoke of His healing power."
In September, 2001 at the age of 18, Sekove committed his life to the Lord .
"That Friday, I told everyone at home and relatives in the village that I would walk, by the power of God, on Monday.
"They were shocked but I had faith in God's healing power and knew what I was talking about."
Everyone in the village looked forward to the day.
"On Monday morning I got out of bed with my family watching.
"My brothers and sisters were concerned and told me to lie down after they heard my hip bones crackling," said Sekove.
"I let go the crutches which had supported me and never looked back. I knew the Lord healed me."
From that day, the Cakaudrove lad vowed he would spend each day giving thanks to his Saviour.
"It has been my routine since that morning to wake up before the sun rises and play my guitar and sing gospel songs to thank God for my life.
"Whatever I earn and work for I give back to him because I am eternally thankful for my life."
For the past three years Sekove has worked at his plantation in Vanua Levu planting dalo, tavioka other root crops.
"I never dreamt I would work my limbs again and it was only when God changed my life that I started to work hard."
Sekove, now 22, attends the South Pacific missionary training centre at Veisari. He started three weeks ago.
"Since I got better, I have shared my experience with people bedridden with sickness," he said.
While reading The Fiji Times last week, Sekove came across nine-year-old Jone Tukana who was suffering from an incurable tumour.
The story touched him and he was determined to approach the boy's parents and share with them his experience.
"I knew how Jone was feeling and understood the anguish of his parents.
"I wanted to tell them that their boy's life could be saved if they don't lose hope and let God take control."
According to Sekove, Jone can still be helped despite his condition.
"Jone's parents should seek divine intervention through God's healing power because it is Jone's only hope," he said.
"This is the same God who has healed thousands. If Jone's parents take this to heart, through them God can heal Jone."
Sekove has a similar message to people inflicted with incurable diseases give their troubles to God. He says he is a testimony of His healing power.
"Many people, when told by the doctor they cannot be healed, return home and lose hope," he said.
"We must change that way of thinking and start relying on God's power to heal us. He did it to me.
"It's about changing how we think and depending on God," he said.
Back to Top of Article
HE makes his way home after a hectic day at school and is still in the hype of playing rugby with his school mates.
Unbeknown to the young, energetic third former, his life was not going to be the same again from that evening.
After dinner, Sekove Maqanatagane, 14 years old then, was restless and could not sleep.
His family did not know what was wrong with him and being the youngest, his parents were worried.
"I couldn't sleep and kept moving about," he said. At daybreak the once full of life teenager was paralysed from the neck down.
"My parents could not take it anymore and took me to hospital."
It is every parent's nightmare to wait at the hospital for the doctor's diagnosis while their child suffers in the small hospital room where the doctor is examining him.
The diagnosis was not good and the doctors explained to his parents that the virus which affected his movement was moving to his brain.
"The disease was spreading fast and they said they could do nothing.
"My parents took me home and started to look for medicine and other ways to cure me."
Herbal medicines did not work and his family started losing hope.
"It reached a stage when they told me it would be better if I died because nothing else could cure me," he said.
"I was hurt and frustrated but then I started to listen to gospel music from the Akafa Family gospel group and little by little I started my hopes lifted."
As a Form Three student of Savusavu Secondary School in 1997, Sekove's youth was cut short.
He was paralysed and bed-ridden for the next four years of his life, missing out on what boys his age group were enjoying, such as playing rugby.
"In those four years I never thought I would recover.
"Everytime I asked myself why this happened to me and where did the disease come from."
Sekove's parents took him to his village of Nabua in Cakaudrove in the hope that people in the village could find a cure.
After three years, people in the village gave up and started counting the days he had left to live.
With everyone around him giving up, Sekove turned to the only source of hope and peace he found the gospel sounds of the Akafa family singers.
"I found meaning in the words of their songs and became inspired," he said.
"I started to read the word of God and found peace in verses from the Bible which spoke of His healing power."
In September, 2001 at the age of 18, Sekove committed his life to the Lord .
"That Friday, I told everyone at home and relatives in the village that I would walk, by the power of God, on Monday.
"They were shocked but I had faith in God's healing power and knew what I was talking about."
Everyone in the village looked forward to the day.
"On Monday morning I got out of bed with my family watching.
"My brothers and sisters were concerned and told me to lie down after they heard my hip bones crackling," said Sekove.
"I let go the crutches which had supported me and never looked back. I knew the Lord healed me."
From that day, the Cakaudrove lad vowed he would spend each day giving thanks to his Saviour.
"It has been my routine since that morning to wake up before the sun rises and play my guitar and sing gospel songs to thank God for my life.
"Whatever I earn and work for I give back to him because I am eternally thankful for my life."
For the past three years Sekove has worked at his plantation in Vanua Levu planting dalo, tavioka other root crops.
"I never dreamt I would work my limbs again and it was only when God changed my life that I started to work hard."
Sekove, now 22, attends the South Pacific missionary training centre at Veisari. He started three weeks ago.
"Since I got better, I have shared my experience with people bedridden with sickness," he said.
While reading The Fiji Times last week, Sekove came across nine-year-old Jone Tukana who was suffering from an incurable tumour.
The story touched him and he was determined to approach the boy's parents and share with them his experience.
"I knew how Jone was feeling and understood the anguish of his parents.
"I wanted to tell them that their boy's life could be saved if they don't lose hope and let God take control."
According to Sekove, Jone can still be helped despite his condition.
"Jone's parents should seek divine intervention through God's healing power because it is Jone's only hope," he said.
"This is the same God who has healed thousands. If Jone's parents take this to heart, through them God can heal Jone."
Sekove has a similar message to people inflicted with incurable diseases give their troubles to God. He says he is a testimony of His healing power.
"Many people, when told by the doctor they cannot be healed, return home and lose hope," he said.
"We must change that way of thinking and start relying on God's power to heal us. He did it to me.
"It's about changing how we think and depending on God," he said.
HE makes his way home after a hectic day at school and is still in the hype of playing rugby with his school mates.
Unbeknown to the young, energetic third former, his life was not going to be the same again from that evening.
After dinner, Sekove Maqanatagane, 14 years old then, was restless and could not sleep.
His family did not know what was wrong with him and being the youngest, his parents were worried.
"I couldn't sleep and kept moving about," he said. At daybreak the once full of life teenager was paralysed from the neck down.
"My parents could not take it anymore and took me to hospital."
It is every parent's nightmare to wait at the hospital for the doctor's diagnosis while their child suffers in the small hospital room where the doctor is examining him.
The diagnosis was not good and the doctors explained to his parents that the virus which affected his movement was moving to his brain.
"The disease was spreading fast and they said they could do nothing.
"My parents took me home and started to look for medicine and other ways to cure me."
Herbal medicines did not work and his family started losing hope.
"It reached a stage when they told me it would be better if I died because nothing else could cure me," he said.
"I was hurt and frustrated but then I started to listen to gospel music from the Akafa Family gospel group and little by little I started my hopes lifted."
As a Form Three student of Savusavu Secondary School in 1997, Sekove's youth was cut short.
He was paralysed and bed-ridden for the next four years of his life, missing out on what boys his age group were enjoying, such as playing rugby.
"In those four years I never thought I would recover.
"Everytime I asked myself why this happened to me and where did the disease come from."
Sekove's parents took him to his village of Nabua in Cakaudrove in the hope that people in the village could find a cure.
After three years, people in the village gave up and started counting the days he had left to live.
With everyone around him giving up, Sekove turned to the only source of hope and peace he found the gospel sounds of the Akafa family singers.
"I found meaning in the words of their songs and became inspired," he said.
"I started to read the word of God and found peace in verses from the Bible which spoke of His healing power."
In September, 2001 at the age of 18, Sekove committed his life to the Lord .
"That Friday, I told everyone at home and relatives in the village that I would walk, by the power of God, on Monday.
"They were shocked but I had faith in God's healing power and knew what I was talking about."
Everyone in the village looked forward to the day.
"On Monday morning I got out of bed with my family watching.
"My brothers and sisters were concerned and told me to lie down after they heard my hip bones crackling," said Sekove.
"I let go the crutches which had supported me and never looked back. I knew the Lord healed me."
From that day, the Cakaudrove lad vowed he would spend each day giving thanks to his Saviour.
"It has been my routine since that morning to wake up before the sun rises and play my guitar and sing gospel songs to thank God for my life.
"Whatever I earn and work for I give back to him because I am eternally thankful for my life."
For the past three years Sekove has worked at his plantation in Vanua Levu planting dalo, tavioka other root crops.
"I never dreamt I would work my limbs again and it was only when God changed my life that I started to work hard."
Sekove, now 22, attends the South Pacific missionary training centre at Veisari. He started three weeks ago.
"Since I got better, I have shared my experience with people bedridden with sickness," he said.
While reading The Fiji Times last week, Sekove came across nine-year-old Jone Tukana who was suffering from an incurable tumour.
The story touched him and he was determined to approach the boy's parents and share with them his experience.
"I knew how Jone was feeling and understood the anguish of his parents.
"I wanted to tell them that their boy's life could be saved if they don't lose hope and let God take control."
According to Sekove, Jone can still be helped despite his condition.
"Jone's parents should seek divine intervention through God's healing power because it is Jone's only hope," he said.
"This is the same God who has healed thousands. If Jone's parents take this to heart, through them God can heal Jone."
Sekove has a similar message to people inflicted with incurable diseases give their troubles to God. He says he is a testimony of His healing power.
"Many people, when told by the doctor they cannot be healed, return home and lose hope," he said.
"We must change that way of thinking and start relying on God's power to heal us. He did it to me.
"It's about changing how we think and depending on God," he said.
An amazing tale of healing - Fiji Times Online
A case for intelligent design
Monday, April 11, 2005
By Clifford W. Randall
When I read the "Evolution vs. creationism" headline in the March 27 Horizon section, I expected to read a comparison presentation of intelligent design principles versus evolutionary principles. Instead, I read a misrepresentative article about ID that made no pertinent points about it, and three articles written by fervent evolutionists who were neither forthcoming enough nor astute enough to deal with the troublesome issues of evolutionism.
For example, Steve Olson goes to great length to explain the difference between "hypothesis" and "theory" ("An argument's mutating term"), but doesn't seem to realize there is a term beyond theory, i.e. "law." Apparently he has not noticed, but physical scientists do not refer to the "theory of gravitation," they refer to the "law of gravity (or gravitation)."
When it was first proposed by Sir Isaac Newton, it was the theory of gravity. Since that time, the scientific community has developed a mathematical model that accurately describes the forces of gravity and is able to use the model combined with centrifugal force and other models to very accurately predict the escape velocities for rockets, the movement of spacecraft among planets, the presence of dwarf star companions of larger, more visible stars, and the presence of planets circling stars by the wobble of the stars.
That is why the theory has become a law. You can mathematically express it and you can use the relationship to accurately predict what will occur because of the existence of the gravitation and other forces.
None of the preceding is true for the theory of evolution. There is no mathematical model for it. Those who purport to understand it cannot study it conclusively in controlled experiments, cannot use it as a predictive tool, and it plays no important role in biochemistry. Even the remarkable finches of the Galapagos Islands, if removed to a mainland environment, do not continue to evolve to new genera or beyond, but, instead, revert back to ordinary finches. That is why evolution is still a theory and not a law.
As long as it is a theory, it is in the best interest of science to debate its veracity and other options for explaining what is being observed. It has become almost impossible to do that in academic settings because so many academicians uncritically accept all of the proposed principles of evolution and the teachings of the popular evolutionists, many of whom have a poor understanding of what the evolutionary principles are, and then they dismiss those who challenge the status quo rather than truly listen to what they say.
This approach discourages scientific breakthrough rather than encouraging it. This is similar to what happened with geophysical theory early in the 20th century. Geophysical scientists were so committed to the concept of stationary continents that they refused to accept the obviousness that the West African and Eastern South American coasts used to be joined together to form a larger land mass. Also, the "stationary continents" adherents actively belittled and ostracized those who insisted that drifting had occurred. Today, continental drift and plate tectonics are known to be geophysical laws.
It is time to expand the evolutionary debates, given the minimal progress that has been made in defining and explaining the fundamental mechanisms of evolution since the time of Darwin. This is the objective of the intelligent design scientists and why they should at least be given the opportunity to present their concepts and ideas within scientific forums.
Robert Boyd ("Science is neither good nor evil, just logical") emphasizes that science is based on logic. Yet he, and most evolutionists, verbalize that evolutionary forces were responsible for the development of life on planet Earth, even though the basic principle of evolution is "survival of the fittest." Note, however, that survival of the fittest is impossible unless you already have both life and death. Therefore, evolutionary forces could not have been responsible for the existence of life on Earth.
To overcome this obvious problem, evolutionists expand Darwin's theory to include chemical and biochemical evolution, without any logical support for this leap of faith. Darwin himself did this in later life.
However, there is no supporting evidence for it on planet Earth. All efforts to accomplish generation-of-life-requirement chemicals (amino acids, proteins, DNA, RNA) in the laboratory have been recognized as failures, even by most of those who performed the experiments. Even the few amino acids formed were the wrong kind. In fact, most of the experiments were performed using very reduced environments, and it is now accepted that the early Earth environment was oxidized, not reduced.
Boyd refers to Pasteur to support his argument, yet Pasteur disproved spontaneous generation, the very force that evolutionists are relying on to explain life on this planet. Where is the logic? Based on existing published evidence, the evolutionist's belief that life on this planet was spontaneously generated is the equivalent of the creationist's belief that a supernatural force was involved. Why should one leap of faith be allowed into the classroom but another one excluded?
The evolutionists who wrote the articles you published appear to be confused about where the disagreement lies. No ID scientist disagrees with the adaptation of species, or that new species can be formed because of it. They do not dispute that so-called evolutionary forces can be used to explain the modification of whales from land to aquatic animals, or bats from nonflying mammals. They agree with Darwin's theories as long as they are consistent with the title of his book, "The Origin of the Species."
They do dispute that these same forces can be responsible for the development of conscious life, or for the development of complex mammals from single-celled organisms, within the time limits of suitable conditions on planet Earth. They dispute the random development of a flagella for a bacterium, or the random development of an eye for a vertebrate creature. For that matter, they dispute the spontaneous generation of DNA and RNA from random chemicals and environmental conditions based on the logic of statistical probability.
Boyd is correct in noting that the "Big Bang" theory, which states that the universe had a discrete beginning and will have an eventual end, i.e., will run out of usable energy, leaves us with only one logical conclusion. The universe was established by a force outside of it, and that force, whatever its form, is God. However, Professor Suchitra Samanta ("Why the argument?") would be wise to read the first chapter of Genesis in the Bible with careful attention to the use of the words translated as "created" and "made." Note that only three creation events occur, as recorded by the writer. The creation of the entire universe (heavens and earth, a phrase meant to mean the entire universe) and, logically, all of the physical, chemical, biological and biochemical laws that operate within it; the creation of conscious life; and the creation of the spirit of humans, because God is spirit. Everything else is made.
roanoke.com - Commentary Stories -A case for intelligent design
By Clifford W. Randall
When I read the "Evolution vs. creationism" headline in the March 27 Horizon section, I expected to read a comparison presentation of intelligent design principles versus evolutionary principles. Instead, I read a misrepresentative article about ID that made no pertinent points about it, and three articles written by fervent evolutionists who were neither forthcoming enough nor astute enough to deal with the troublesome issues of evolutionism.
For example, Steve Olson goes to great length to explain the difference between "hypothesis" and "theory" ("An argument's mutating term"), but doesn't seem to realize there is a term beyond theory, i.e. "law." Apparently he has not noticed, but physical scientists do not refer to the "theory of gravitation," they refer to the "law of gravity (or gravitation)."
When it was first proposed by Sir Isaac Newton, it was the theory of gravity. Since that time, the scientific community has developed a mathematical model that accurately describes the forces of gravity and is able to use the model combined with centrifugal force and other models to very accurately predict the escape velocities for rockets, the movement of spacecraft among planets, the presence of dwarf star companions of larger, more visible stars, and the presence of planets circling stars by the wobble of the stars.
That is why the theory has become a law. You can mathematically express it and you can use the relationship to accurately predict what will occur because of the existence of the gravitation and other forces.
None of the preceding is true for the theory of evolution. There is no mathematical model for it. Those who purport to understand it cannot study it conclusively in controlled experiments, cannot use it as a predictive tool, and it plays no important role in biochemistry. Even the remarkable finches of the Galapagos Islands, if removed to a mainland environment, do not continue to evolve to new genera or beyond, but, instead, revert back to ordinary finches. That is why evolution is still a theory and not a law.
As long as it is a theory, it is in the best interest of science to debate its veracity and other options for explaining what is being observed. It has become almost impossible to do that in academic settings because so many academicians uncritically accept all of the proposed principles of evolution and the teachings of the popular evolutionists, many of whom have a poor understanding of what the evolutionary principles are, and then they dismiss those who challenge the status quo rather than truly listen to what they say.
This approach discourages scientific breakthrough rather than encouraging it. This is similar to what happened with geophysical theory early in the 20th century. Geophysical scientists were so committed to the concept of stationary continents that they refused to accept the obviousness that the West African and Eastern South American coasts used to be joined together to form a larger land mass. Also, the "stationary continents" adherents actively belittled and ostracized those who insisted that drifting had occurred. Today, continental drift and plate tectonics are known to be geophysical laws.
It is time to expand the evolutionary debates, given the minimal progress that has been made in defining and explaining the fundamental mechanisms of evolution since the time of Darwin. This is the objective of the intelligent design scientists and why they should at least be given the opportunity to present their concepts and ideas within scientific forums.
Robert Boyd ("Science is neither good nor evil, just logical") emphasizes that science is based on logic. Yet he, and most evolutionists, verbalize that evolutionary forces were responsible for the development of life on planet Earth, even though the basic principle of evolution is "survival of the fittest." Note, however, that survival of the fittest is impossible unless you already have both life and death. Therefore, evolutionary forces could not have been responsible for the existence of life on Earth.
To overcome this obvious problem, evolutionists expand Darwin's theory to include chemical and biochemical evolution, without any logical support for this leap of faith. Darwin himself did this in later life.
However, there is no supporting evidence for it on planet Earth. All efforts to accomplish generation-of-life-requirement chemicals (amino acids, proteins, DNA, RNA) in the laboratory have been recognized as failures, even by most of those who performed the experiments. Even the few amino acids formed were the wrong kind. In fact, most of the experiments were performed using very reduced environments, and it is now accepted that the early Earth environment was oxidized, not reduced.
Boyd refers to Pasteur to support his argument, yet Pasteur disproved spontaneous generation, the very force that evolutionists are relying on to explain life on this planet. Where is the logic? Based on existing published evidence, the evolutionist's belief that life on this planet was spontaneously generated is the equivalent of the creationist's belief that a supernatural force was involved. Why should one leap of faith be allowed into the classroom but another one excluded?
The evolutionists who wrote the articles you published appear to be confused about where the disagreement lies. No ID scientist disagrees with the adaptation of species, or that new species can be formed because of it. They do not dispute that so-called evolutionary forces can be used to explain the modification of whales from land to aquatic animals, or bats from nonflying mammals. They agree with Darwin's theories as long as they are consistent with the title of his book, "The Origin of the Species."
They do dispute that these same forces can be responsible for the development of conscious life, or for the development of complex mammals from single-celled organisms, within the time limits of suitable conditions on planet Earth. They dispute the random development of a flagella for a bacterium, or the random development of an eye for a vertebrate creature. For that matter, they dispute the spontaneous generation of DNA and RNA from random chemicals and environmental conditions based on the logic of statistical probability.
Boyd is correct in noting that the "Big Bang" theory, which states that the universe had a discrete beginning and will have an eventual end, i.e., will run out of usable energy, leaves us with only one logical conclusion. The universe was established by a force outside of it, and that force, whatever its form, is God. However, Professor Suchitra Samanta ("Why the argument?") would be wise to read the first chapter of Genesis in the Bible with careful attention to the use of the words translated as "created" and "made." Note that only three creation events occur, as recorded by the writer. The creation of the entire universe (heavens and earth, a phrase meant to mean the entire universe) and, logically, all of the physical, chemical, biological and biochemical laws that operate within it; the creation of conscious life; and the creation of the spirit of humans, because God is spirit. Everything else is made.
roanoke.com - Commentary Stories -A case for intelligent design
Science, creation discussed
Panel: Ideas need not conflict
By Kevin Eigelbach
Post staff reporter
Science answers the 'what' and 'how' questions, not the 'who' and 'why' questions.
David Kime, an adviser in the honors program at Northern Kentucky University in Highland Heights, heard the science/religion debate put that way once, and he agrees.
He doesn't see a conflict between evolution and belief in God. But some people do.
Kime and a lecture room full of professors listened Friday afternoon to a presentation about some of those people.
Alan Gishlick, a visiting professor with the National Center for Science Education, talked about two alternatives to Darwinian evolution - creation science and intelligent design.
The Oakland, Calif.-based non-profit exists to keep evolution in the classroom and creationism out of it.
Gishlick spoke as part of a weekend conference on science and math education sponsored by the leaders of NKU, the University of Cincinnati and Xavier University.
It's an important issue for educators who want to present the claims of science without undermining a student's faith.
Gishlick said something similar happened to him when he told a Christian friend that the creation stories in Genesis 1 and Genesis 2-3 contradict one another.
In the first chapter, God creates men and women on the sixth day, his last act of creation before resting. In the second chapter, he creates Adam, then the animals, then Eve.
Gishlick's friend eventually came to agree with him, lost her faith and became an atheist. It made him feel terrible, he said.
But his belief in evolution has had the opposite effect on him, he said.
"The more I learn about the natural world, the more I believe in God," he said.
All the same, he has little patience for those who hold to the literal word of Genesis, such as the Hebron-based Answers In Genesis, one of creation science's most influential voices.
For creationists, the Bible as literally interpreted is the prime source of truth, but they try to find scientific justification for its claims.
As Gishlick contended, they tend to blame all of society's ills on acceptance of evolution.
He faults them, among other things, for saying one can't call himself a Christian if he believes in evolution - in effect, forcing a choice between the two.
That criticism hit home with Tom Rambo, an NKU biology teacher who's also a lay minister.
The literal interpretation is only one way to read Genesis, he said, but some ministers have children believing that their entire faith rests on it.
"My faith is in Jesus Christ, not in some scientific thing that's going to convince me," he said.
One could call intelligent design "creationism in a cheap suit," Gishlick said.
Simply put, it's the belief that life is too complex to have evolved by chance.
Many intelligent design advocates accept evolution and also an Earth billions of years old, not thousands. But they see God putting together the building blocks for the simplest forms of life.
Rambo said Gishlick's tendency to poke fun at his opponents didn't sit well with him. But on the other hand, creationists do the same thing to evolutionists, he said.
He asked Gishlick what he thought of scientists who maintain that evolution has disproved God's existence.
They are being just as unscientific as creationists, Gishlick replied.
Rambo's wife, Elinor, an NKU biology lecturer, wondered if the uncertainty and insecurity of the times have prompted people toward fundamentalism.
"There's got to be an inner need for simple answers," she said.
One reason these ideas have caught on is that people lack the basic scientific knowledge to refute them, Gishlick said.
That's why it's so important to start teaching evolution when children are young, just as creationists are doing, he said.
He urged professors to get into their communities and talk with children about evolution, to run for school boards and talk to reporters doing science stories.
The public needs to know that scientists aren't scary, he said. "They're not atheists. They're not out to destroy Christianity."
The Cincinnati Post - Science, creation discussed
By Kevin Eigelbach
Post staff reporter
Science answers the 'what' and 'how' questions, not the 'who' and 'why' questions.
David Kime, an adviser in the honors program at Northern Kentucky University in Highland Heights, heard the science/religion debate put that way once, and he agrees.
He doesn't see a conflict between evolution and belief in God. But some people do.
Kime and a lecture room full of professors listened Friday afternoon to a presentation about some of those people.
Alan Gishlick, a visiting professor with the National Center for Science Education, talked about two alternatives to Darwinian evolution - creation science and intelligent design.
The Oakland, Calif.-based non-profit exists to keep evolution in the classroom and creationism out of it.
Gishlick spoke as part of a weekend conference on science and math education sponsored by the leaders of NKU, the University of Cincinnati and Xavier University.
It's an important issue for educators who want to present the claims of science without undermining a student's faith.
Gishlick said something similar happened to him when he told a Christian friend that the creation stories in Genesis 1 and Genesis 2-3 contradict one another.
In the first chapter, God creates men and women on the sixth day, his last act of creation before resting. In the second chapter, he creates Adam, then the animals, then Eve.
Gishlick's friend eventually came to agree with him, lost her faith and became an atheist. It made him feel terrible, he said.
But his belief in evolution has had the opposite effect on him, he said.
"The more I learn about the natural world, the more I believe in God," he said.
All the same, he has little patience for those who hold to the literal word of Genesis, such as the Hebron-based Answers In Genesis, one of creation science's most influential voices.
For creationists, the Bible as literally interpreted is the prime source of truth, but they try to find scientific justification for its claims.
As Gishlick contended, they tend to blame all of society's ills on acceptance of evolution.
He faults them, among other things, for saying one can't call himself a Christian if he believes in evolution - in effect, forcing a choice between the two.
That criticism hit home with Tom Rambo, an NKU biology teacher who's also a lay minister.
The literal interpretation is only one way to read Genesis, he said, but some ministers have children believing that their entire faith rests on it.
"My faith is in Jesus Christ, not in some scientific thing that's going to convince me," he said.
One could call intelligent design "creationism in a cheap suit," Gishlick said.
Simply put, it's the belief that life is too complex to have evolved by chance.
Many intelligent design advocates accept evolution and also an Earth billions of years old, not thousands. But they see God putting together the building blocks for the simplest forms of life.
Rambo said Gishlick's tendency to poke fun at his opponents didn't sit well with him. But on the other hand, creationists do the same thing to evolutionists, he said.
He asked Gishlick what he thought of scientists who maintain that evolution has disproved God's existence.
They are being just as unscientific as creationists, Gishlick replied.
Rambo's wife, Elinor, an NKU biology lecturer, wondered if the uncertainty and insecurity of the times have prompted people toward fundamentalism.
"There's got to be an inner need for simple answers," she said.
One reason these ideas have caught on is that people lack the basic scientific knowledge to refute them, Gishlick said.
That's why it's so important to start teaching evolution when children are young, just as creationists are doing, he said.
He urged professors to get into their communities and talk with children about evolution, to run for school boards and talk to reporters doing science stories.
The public needs to know that scientists aren't scary, he said. "They're not atheists. They're not out to destroy Christianity."
The Cincinnati Post - Science, creation discussed
CRASH MIRACLE
April 8, 2005 -- A born-again Christian in an SUV — whose license plate read "I M SAVED" — miraculously survived a fiery collision yesterday that killed a retired firefighter who was going the wrong way on the Belt Parkway.
Curtis Plunkett, 30, of Elmont, L.I., was in stable but critical condition at Brookdale Hospital after the 4 a.m. crash.
Retired FDNY Lt. Walter Knobloch, 59, of Massapequa, L.I., was killed after his 1999 Ford Crown Victoria crashed into Plunkett's 2003 Mercedes SUV.
Cops said Knobloch's car overturned and burst into flames.
They said the 34-year veteran was driving west on the parkway's eastbound lane near 81st Street when the crash took place.
Plunkett's mother, who declined to give her name, said her son was alive only because of his strong religious beliefs.
"We're all born-again Christians," she told The Post as she wept for her unconscious son in one of the hospital's waiting rooms.
"God is always on our side," she said. "We pray to him . . . and that's why he's keeping us."
The woman said she was stunned to hear that a former firefighter was driving the other car.
"I just can't imagine it," she said. "Right now, I'm here to see that my son's OK. Everything else, I will deal with later."
Plunkett's relatives said he was awaiting surgery and had been unconscious ever since the crash.
They said the car belonged to another relative.
Plunkett's mom said Curtis had ordered the plates himself in order to underline his belief in Jesus Christ as his savior.
"The Lord is helping him through this," she told The Post. "That's why he's alive."
FDNY officials said Knobloch, of Massapequa, had worked mostly in Queens.
He retired in 2002 — just shy of 34 years with the department.
New York Post Online Edition:
Curtis Plunkett, 30, of Elmont, L.I., was in stable but critical condition at Brookdale Hospital after the 4 a.m. crash.
Retired FDNY Lt. Walter Knobloch, 59, of Massapequa, L.I., was killed after his 1999 Ford Crown Victoria crashed into Plunkett's 2003 Mercedes SUV.
Cops said Knobloch's car overturned and burst into flames.
They said the 34-year veteran was driving west on the parkway's eastbound lane near 81st Street when the crash took place.
Plunkett's mother, who declined to give her name, said her son was alive only because of his strong religious beliefs.
"We're all born-again Christians," she told The Post as she wept for her unconscious son in one of the hospital's waiting rooms.
"God is always on our side," she said. "We pray to him . . . and that's why he's keeping us."
The woman said she was stunned to hear that a former firefighter was driving the other car.
"I just can't imagine it," she said. "Right now, I'm here to see that my son's OK. Everything else, I will deal with later."
Plunkett's relatives said he was awaiting surgery and had been unconscious ever since the crash.
They said the car belonged to another relative.
Plunkett's mom said Curtis had ordered the plates himself in order to underline his belief in Jesus Christ as his savior.
"The Lord is helping him through this," she told The Post. "That's why he's alive."
FDNY officials said Knobloch, of Massapequa, had worked mostly in Queens.
He retired in 2002 — just shy of 34 years with the department.
New York Post Online Edition:
Thursday, April 07, 2005
What Happens if the Earth Suddenly Stopped Rotating?
What Happens if the Earth Suddenly Stopped Rotating?
Everything not attached would get displaced to the east, parallel to the surface of the Earth. The speed would depend upon your latitude. Only the people at the poles would be safe. You wouldn't go flying off into space because the 1000 mph maximum (at the equator) isn't enough to overcome gravity, which would still be present (Gravity is dependent on mass of objects in close proximity). If you survived, the resulting six month day and six month night would probably take care of you pretty quick.
1. Centrifugal force: force that makes things fly away from the center.
2. Centripetal force: force that makes things move towards the center.
Ok, here's how centrifugal force works: Inertia means that any object going in a particular velocity will tend to stay like that. Centrifugal force is inertia trying to overcome the constant shifts in velocity associated with spinning and stop turning.
On the matter of Earth stopping spinning: Since the centrifugal force of a human is irrelevant, due to the fact that it is much smaller than the gravitational pull of the Eath, and is counteracted by centripetal force, no gravitational changes would happen if the Earth stopped spinning. The mass of the Earth would be the same, and so its gravitational constant would be unchanged. One half of the Earth would be subjected to freezing temperatures, and the other half would bake. The lack of spin would remove wind, and the atmosphere would dissipate. All in all, the effect on your "weight" would be negligible.
Everything not attached would get displaced to the east, parallel to the surface of the Earth. The speed would depend upon your latitude. Only the people at the poles would be safe. You wouldn't go flying off into space because the 1000 mph maximum (at the equator) isn't enough to overcome gravity, which would still be present (Gravity is dependent on mass of objects in close proximity). If you survived, the resulting six month day and six month night would probably take care of you pretty quick.
1. Centrifugal force: force that makes things fly away from the center.
2. Centripetal force: force that makes things move towards the center.
Ok, here's how centrifugal force works: Inertia means that any object going in a particular velocity will tend to stay like that. Centrifugal force is inertia trying to overcome the constant shifts in velocity associated with spinning and stop turning.
On the matter of Earth stopping spinning: Since the centrifugal force of a human is irrelevant, due to the fact that it is much smaller than the gravitational pull of the Eath, and is counteracted by centripetal force, no gravitational changes would happen if the Earth stopped spinning. The mass of the Earth would be the same, and so its gravitational constant would be unchanged. One half of the Earth would be subjected to freezing temperatures, and the other half would bake. The lack of spin would remove wind, and the atmosphere would dissipate. All in all, the effect on your "weight" would be negligible.
Study Reveals Media Bias ... Again
By AFA Journal
April 6, 2005
(AgapePress) - It's certainly beginning to look like the liberal media has no place left to hide its bias.
In "A Measure of Media Bias," political science professor Tim Groseclose of the University of California at Los Angeles and Jeff Milyo of the Harris School of Public Policy at the University of Chicago ranked major media outlets to determine whether they had an observable political bias.
Groseclose and Milyo used an objective standard by which members of Congress are regularly ranked according to their political views.
The report stated: "Our results show a very significant liberal bias. All of the news outlets except Fox News' Special Report received a score to the left of the average member of Congress." (See list below.)
Groseclose and Milyo said, "Although we expected to find that most media lean left, we were astounded by the degree."
In the report, media outlets were given scores according to the objective standards designed for the study. On a scale of 0-100, the higher the score, the more liberal the outlet. Also included were the average scores for members of Congress.
Wall Street Journal - 85.1
New York Times - 73.7
CBS Evening News - 73.7
Los Angeles Times - 70.0
CBS The Early Show - 66.6
Washington Post - 66.6
Newsweek - 66.3
NPR Morning Edition - 66.3
U.S. News & World Report - 65.8
Time Magazine - 65.4
NBC Today Show - 64.0
USA Today - 63.4
NBC Nightly News - 61.6
ABC World News Tonight - 61.0
ABC Good Morning America - 56.1
CNN Newslight with Aaron Brown - 56.0
PBS Newshour with Jim Lehrer - 55.8
Fox News Special Report with Brit Hume - 39.7
U.S. Representative Average - 44.5
U.S. Senator Average - 40.0
In another look at the media, analysts for Fox News' The O'Reilly Factor examined the nation's ten major newspapers in terms of circulation, and focused on their op-ed columnists.
With one exception, all the newspapers carried more liberal columnists than conservative. The New York Times, for example, has four liberal columnists but only one conservative. Liberals at the Washington Post outnumber conservatives 11-4; and at the Chicago Tribune, there are six liberals to one conservative.
Only the New York Post had a conservative dominance, with 10 conservative and no liberal op-ed columnists.
News from Agape Press
April 6, 2005
(AgapePress) - It's certainly beginning to look like the liberal media has no place left to hide its bias.
In "A Measure of Media Bias," political science professor Tim Groseclose of the University of California at Los Angeles and Jeff Milyo of the Harris School of Public Policy at the University of Chicago ranked major media outlets to determine whether they had an observable political bias.
Groseclose and Milyo used an objective standard by which members of Congress are regularly ranked according to their political views.
The report stated: "Our results show a very significant liberal bias. All of the news outlets except Fox News' Special Report received a score to the left of the average member of Congress." (See list below.)
Groseclose and Milyo said, "Although we expected to find that most media lean left, we were astounded by the degree."
In the report, media outlets were given scores according to the objective standards designed for the study. On a scale of 0-100, the higher the score, the more liberal the outlet. Also included were the average scores for members of Congress.
Wall Street Journal - 85.1
New York Times - 73.7
CBS Evening News - 73.7
Los Angeles Times - 70.0
CBS The Early Show - 66.6
Washington Post - 66.6
Newsweek - 66.3
NPR Morning Edition - 66.3
U.S. News & World Report - 65.8
Time Magazine - 65.4
NBC Today Show - 64.0
USA Today - 63.4
NBC Nightly News - 61.6
ABC World News Tonight - 61.0
ABC Good Morning America - 56.1
CNN Newslight with Aaron Brown - 56.0
PBS Newshour with Jim Lehrer - 55.8
Fox News Special Report with Brit Hume - 39.7
U.S. Representative Average - 44.5
U.S. Senator Average - 40.0
In another look at the media, analysts for Fox News' The O'Reilly Factor examined the nation's ten major newspapers in terms of circulation, and focused on their op-ed columnists.
With one exception, all the newspapers carried more liberal columnists than conservative. The New York Times, for example, has four liberal columnists but only one conservative. Liberals at the Washington Post outnumber conservatives 11-4; and at the Chicago Tribune, there are six liberals to one conservative.
Only the New York Post had a conservative dominance, with 10 conservative and no liberal op-ed columnists.
News from Agape Press
Young Earth Creationist Has New Bone to Pick With Evolutionists
By Allie Martin
April 6, 2005
(AgapePress) - The president of Answers in Genesis says the recent discovery of a dinosaur bone in Montana supports the biblical creationist theory of a young Earth.
According to an article published in last month's Science magazine, in 2003 scientists found a Tyrannosaurus Rex thigh bone during an archaeological dig. The research team had to break the bone in pieces in order to fit it into a helicopter, and when they did so, they discovered the fossil contained well-preserved soft tissues, including blood vessels.
Ken Ham, president of the creationist group Answers in Genesis (AiG), says this important find supports the biblical view of the Earth's timeline. "The reason this is such startling news is because you just wouldn't expect soft tissue and cells like this in a bone supposedly 70 million years old," he says.
The general consensus among scientists prior to the find was that such soft tissue could not survive for tens of millions of years. Now, the dinosaur remains have many evolutionists scrambling to accommodate their evolutionist ideas about origins.
But what AiG scientists would say about the find, Ham observes, "is that it's totally consistent with the fact that these bones aren't that old and probably date back to the time of the flood just a few thousand years ago." However, he doubts evolutionists will give consideration to the possibility that the T-Rex bones are only thousands rather than millions of years old.
"Nothing has been found, nothing in observational science, that contradicts what the Bible says," the AIG spokesman contends, "but over and over, it does contradict the ideas of evolutionists."
Still, because evolutionists' beliefs about the past are so entrenched, he predicts they will just look for ways to explain away the contradictory evidence.
"Instead of questioning their beliefs they just come up with secondary and tertiary explanations," Ham says. "'Well, given enough time ...' or 'Well, we think there is a process somewhere' or 'Well, even though we don't know why' -- In other words they'll do anything but question their beliefs."
Ham is convinced proponents of the theory of evolution will not allow the Montana find to change their minds. Even though, he contends, the recent discovery supports the young Earth theory of origins, he believes evolutionists will say anything rather than admit that the biblical account of creation is true.
News from Agape Press
April 6, 2005
(AgapePress) - The president of Answers in Genesis says the recent discovery of a dinosaur bone in Montana supports the biblical creationist theory of a young Earth.
According to an article published in last month's Science magazine, in 2003 scientists found a Tyrannosaurus Rex thigh bone during an archaeological dig. The research team had to break the bone in pieces in order to fit it into a helicopter, and when they did so, they discovered the fossil contained well-preserved soft tissues, including blood vessels.
Ken Ham, president of the creationist group Answers in Genesis (AiG), says this important find supports the biblical view of the Earth's timeline. "The reason this is such startling news is because you just wouldn't expect soft tissue and cells like this in a bone supposedly 70 million years old," he says.
The general consensus among scientists prior to the find was that such soft tissue could not survive for tens of millions of years. Now, the dinosaur remains have many evolutionists scrambling to accommodate their evolutionist ideas about origins.
But what AiG scientists would say about the find, Ham observes, "is that it's totally consistent with the fact that these bones aren't that old and probably date back to the time of the flood just a few thousand years ago." However, he doubts evolutionists will give consideration to the possibility that the T-Rex bones are only thousands rather than millions of years old.
"Nothing has been found, nothing in observational science, that contradicts what the Bible says," the AIG spokesman contends, "but over and over, it does contradict the ideas of evolutionists."
Still, because evolutionists' beliefs about the past are so entrenched, he predicts they will just look for ways to explain away the contradictory evidence.
"Instead of questioning their beliefs they just come up with secondary and tertiary explanations," Ham says. "'Well, given enough time ...' or 'Well, we think there is a process somewhere' or 'Well, even though we don't know why' -- In other words they'll do anything but question their beliefs."
Ham is convinced proponents of the theory of evolution will not allow the Montana find to change their minds. Even though, he contends, the recent discovery supports the young Earth theory of origins, he believes evolutionists will say anything rather than admit that the biblical account of creation is true.
News from Agape Press
The Science of Design
by Mark Hartwig
'Intelligent design.' It's been in the news a lot lately. Lawsuits over textbook stickers, the presentation of evolution and the legality of presenting alternatives, have thrust the term into public awareness.
But just what is intelligent design? To hear some folks talk, you'd think it's a scam to sneak Genesis into science classrooms. Yet intelligent design has nothing to do with the six days of creation and everything to do with hard evidence and logic.
Intelligent design (ID) is grounded on the ancient observation that the world looks very much as if it had an intelligent source. Indeed, as early as the fifth century BC, the Greek philosopher and astronomer Anaxagoras concluded, "Mind set in order … all that ever was … and all that is now or ever will be."
After 2400 years, the appearance of design is as powerful as ever. That is especially true of the living world. Advances in biology have revealed that world to be one staggering complexity.
For example, consider the cell. Even the simplest cells bristle with high-tech machinery. On the outside, their surfaces are studded with sensors, gates, pumps and identification markers. Some bacteria even sport rotary outboard motors that they use to navigate their environment.
Inside, cells are jam-packed with power plants, assembly lines, recycling units and more. Miniature monorails whisk materials from one part of the cell to another.
Such sophistication has led even the most hard-bitten atheists to remark on the apparent design in living organisms. The late Nobel laureate Francis Crick, co-discoverer of DNA's structure and an outspoken critic of religion, has nonetheless remarked, "Biologists must constantly keep in mind that what they see was not designed but rather evolved."
Clearly, Crick (and others like him) considers the appearance of design to be strictly an illusion, created by naturalistic evolution. Yet it's also clear that this impression is so compelling that an atheistic biologist must warn his colleagues against it.
In contrast, ID theorists contend that living organisms appear designed because they are designed. And unlike the design thinkers whom Darwin deposed, they've developed rigorous new concepts to test their idea.
In the past, detecting design was hampered by vague and subjective criteria, such as discerning an object's purpose. Moreover, design was entangled with natural theology--which seeks, in part, to infer God's character by studying nature rather than revelation. Natural theologians often painted such a rosy view of nature that they became an easy mark for Darwin when he proposed his theory of evolution. Where they saw a finely-balanced world attesting to a kind and just God, Darwin pointed to nature’s imperfections and brutishness.
Since the 1980s, however, developments in several fields have made it possible to rigorously distinguish between things that "just happen" and those that happen "on purpose." This has helped design theory emerge as a distinct enterprise, aimed at detecting intelligence rather than speculating about God's character.
Dubbed "intelligent design" to distinguish it from old-school thinking, this new view is detailed in The Design Inference (Cambridge University Press, 1998), a peer-reviewed work by mathematician and philosopher William Dembski.
In contrast to what is called creation science, which parallels Biblical theology, ID rests on two basic assumptions: namely, that intelligent agents exist and that their effects are empirically detectable.
Its chief tool is specified complexity. That's a mouthful, and the math behind it is forbidding, but the basic idea is simple: An object displays specified complexity when it has lots of parts (is complex) arranged in a recognizable, delimited pattern (is specified).
For example, the article you're now reading has thousands of characters, which could have been arranged in zillions of ways. Yet it fits a recognizable pattern: It's not just a jumble of letters (which is also complex), but a magazine article written in English. Any rational person would conclude that it was designed.
The effectiveness of such thinking is confirmed by massive experience. As Dembski points out, "In every instance where we find specified complexity, and where [its] history is known, it turns out that design actually is present."
Thus, if we could trace the creation of a book, our investigation would lead us to the author. You could say, then, that specified complexity is a signature of design.
To see how this applies to biology, consider the little consider the outboard motor that bacteria such as E. coli use to navigate their environment. This water-cooled contraption, called a flagellum, comes equipped with a reversible engine, drive shaft, U-joint and a long whip-like propeller. It hums along at a cool 17,000 rpm.
Decades of research indicate that its complexity is enormous. It takes about 50 genes to create a working flagellum. Each of those genes is as complex as a sentence with hundreds of letters.
Moreover, the pattern--a working flagellum--is highly specified. Deviate from that pattern, knock out a single gene, and our bug is dead in the water (or whatever).
Such highly specified complexity, which demands the presence of every part, indicates an intelligent origin. It's also defies any explanation, such as contemporary Darwinism, that relies on the stepwise accumulation of random genetic change.
In fact, if you want to run the numbers, as Dembski does in his book No Free Lunch, it boils down to the following: If every elementary particle in the observed universe (about 1080) were cranking out mutation events at the cosmic speed limit (about 1045 times per second) for a billion times the estimated age of the universe, they still could not produce the genes for a working flagellum.
And that's just one system within multiple layers of systems. Thus the flagellum is integrated into a sensory/guidance system that maneuvers the bacterium toward nutrients and away from noxious chemicals--a system so complex that computer simulation is required to understand it in its entirety. That system is meshed with other systems. And so on.
Of course, what's important here is not what we conclude about the flagellum or the cell, but how we study it. Design theorists don't derive their conclusions from revelation, but by looking for reliable, rigorously defined indicators of design and by ruling out alternative explanations, such as Darwinism.
Calling their work religious is just a cheap way to dodge the issues. The public--and our students--deserve better than that.
TheRealityCheck.Org Guest Writer
'Intelligent design.' It's been in the news a lot lately. Lawsuits over textbook stickers, the presentation of evolution and the legality of presenting alternatives, have thrust the term into public awareness.
But just what is intelligent design? To hear some folks talk, you'd think it's a scam to sneak Genesis into science classrooms. Yet intelligent design has nothing to do with the six days of creation and everything to do with hard evidence and logic.
Intelligent design (ID) is grounded on the ancient observation that the world looks very much as if it had an intelligent source. Indeed, as early as the fifth century BC, the Greek philosopher and astronomer Anaxagoras concluded, "Mind set in order … all that ever was … and all that is now or ever will be."
After 2400 years, the appearance of design is as powerful as ever. That is especially true of the living world. Advances in biology have revealed that world to be one staggering complexity.
For example, consider the cell. Even the simplest cells bristle with high-tech machinery. On the outside, their surfaces are studded with sensors, gates, pumps and identification markers. Some bacteria even sport rotary outboard motors that they use to navigate their environment.
Inside, cells are jam-packed with power plants, assembly lines, recycling units and more. Miniature monorails whisk materials from one part of the cell to another.
Such sophistication has led even the most hard-bitten atheists to remark on the apparent design in living organisms. The late Nobel laureate Francis Crick, co-discoverer of DNA's structure and an outspoken critic of religion, has nonetheless remarked, "Biologists must constantly keep in mind that what they see was not designed but rather evolved."
Clearly, Crick (and others like him) considers the appearance of design to be strictly an illusion, created by naturalistic evolution. Yet it's also clear that this impression is so compelling that an atheistic biologist must warn his colleagues against it.
In contrast, ID theorists contend that living organisms appear designed because they are designed. And unlike the design thinkers whom Darwin deposed, they've developed rigorous new concepts to test their idea.
In the past, detecting design was hampered by vague and subjective criteria, such as discerning an object's purpose. Moreover, design was entangled with natural theology--which seeks, in part, to infer God's character by studying nature rather than revelation. Natural theologians often painted such a rosy view of nature that they became an easy mark for Darwin when he proposed his theory of evolution. Where they saw a finely-balanced world attesting to a kind and just God, Darwin pointed to nature’s imperfections and brutishness.
Since the 1980s, however, developments in several fields have made it possible to rigorously distinguish between things that "just happen" and those that happen "on purpose." This has helped design theory emerge as a distinct enterprise, aimed at detecting intelligence rather than speculating about God's character.
Dubbed "intelligent design" to distinguish it from old-school thinking, this new view is detailed in The Design Inference (Cambridge University Press, 1998), a peer-reviewed work by mathematician and philosopher William Dembski.
In contrast to what is called creation science, which parallels Biblical theology, ID rests on two basic assumptions: namely, that intelligent agents exist and that their effects are empirically detectable.
Its chief tool is specified complexity. That's a mouthful, and the math behind it is forbidding, but the basic idea is simple: An object displays specified complexity when it has lots of parts (is complex) arranged in a recognizable, delimited pattern (is specified).
For example, the article you're now reading has thousands of characters, which could have been arranged in zillions of ways. Yet it fits a recognizable pattern: It's not just a jumble of letters (which is also complex), but a magazine article written in English. Any rational person would conclude that it was designed.
The effectiveness of such thinking is confirmed by massive experience. As Dembski points out, "In every instance where we find specified complexity, and where [its] history is known, it turns out that design actually is present."
Thus, if we could trace the creation of a book, our investigation would lead us to the author. You could say, then, that specified complexity is a signature of design.
To see how this applies to biology, consider the little consider the outboard motor that bacteria such as E. coli use to navigate their environment. This water-cooled contraption, called a flagellum, comes equipped with a reversible engine, drive shaft, U-joint and a long whip-like propeller. It hums along at a cool 17,000 rpm.
Decades of research indicate that its complexity is enormous. It takes about 50 genes to create a working flagellum. Each of those genes is as complex as a sentence with hundreds of letters.
Moreover, the pattern--a working flagellum--is highly specified. Deviate from that pattern, knock out a single gene, and our bug is dead in the water (or whatever).
Such highly specified complexity, which demands the presence of every part, indicates an intelligent origin. It's also defies any explanation, such as contemporary Darwinism, that relies on the stepwise accumulation of random genetic change.
In fact, if you want to run the numbers, as Dembski does in his book No Free Lunch, it boils down to the following: If every elementary particle in the observed universe (about 1080) were cranking out mutation events at the cosmic speed limit (about 1045 times per second) for a billion times the estimated age of the universe, they still could not produce the genes for a working flagellum.
And that's just one system within multiple layers of systems. Thus the flagellum is integrated into a sensory/guidance system that maneuvers the bacterium toward nutrients and away from noxious chemicals--a system so complex that computer simulation is required to understand it in its entirety. That system is meshed with other systems. And so on.
Of course, what's important here is not what we conclude about the flagellum or the cell, but how we study it. Design theorists don't derive their conclusions from revelation, but by looking for reliable, rigorously defined indicators of design and by ruling out alternative explanations, such as Darwinism.
Calling their work religious is just a cheap way to dodge the issues. The public--and our students--deserve better than that.
TheRealityCheck.Org Guest Writer
Believers Worldwide Gear Up for Public Bible-Reading Events
By Allie Martin and Jenni Parker
April 7, 2005
(AgapePress) - Officials with a Tennessee-based ministry say an upcoming scripture-reading marathon that will be taking place all across America and in other nations around the free world is more than just a symbolic gesture. It is also a celebration and a chance to spread the knowledge of the Word of God.
Back in 1990, Christians gathered on the steps of the U.S. Capitol Building in Washington, DC, for a continuous public reading from the Holy Bible, leading up to the National Day of Prayer. The approximately 80-hour Bible Reading Marathon events have been held several times over the years since.
Barbara Bivens of Bible Pathway Ministries says similar planned scripture-reading marathons will be going on early next month at public places throughout the United States and Canada. Commenting on her excitement over the project on a recent Mission Network News broadcast, she observed, "I think we can just be so grateful that we can participate in these events -- the prayer and the reading of God's Word. This nation was based on biblical fundamentals, and I think it's so important as a sign of this country's strength that we can do this."
Bivens notes that Bible Reading Marathons have been held not only in North America but in nations around the world, including England, Germany, India, New Zealand, Nigeria, Peru, Russia and Sweden. And although it may seem to many believers in America that society is increasingly hostile to Christian expressions, she points out that public scripture readings are protected by the Constitution of the United States, so those involved in the event should not put up with being harassed by authorities.
"The big thing is to tell them that it's being done at our nation's Capitol," Bivens adds. "How are you going to say, in a little town, 'You can't do it' if it can be done on the nation's Capitol? That's the strong point of the one in Washington, DC -- it's a focal point for the whole country."
The Bible Pathway spokeswoman says the sponsors of the scripture-reading event have always encouraged coordinators to stand up for their rights and to remind city, county, or other municipal officials that if their government "allows any kind of public gathering, then they have to allow the Bible Reading Marathon." However, she notes, "Other than a few hecklers here and there, we've not had any serious problems."
The nationwide Bible Reading Marathons, scheduled for next month on dates leading up to the May 5 National Day of Prayer, will take place in cities across the U.S. at such venues as county courthouses, town squares, at State Capitol buildings. Also, since the 2005 Bible Reading Marathon takes place on Cinco de Mayo this year, Bible Pathway is putting a special emphasis on reaching out to the Hispanic community.
Bivens says the 2005 Marathon effort hopes to capitalize on the coinciding cultural celebration by urging Hispanic people in particular to celebrate their freedoms -- including the freedom to read God's Word and to pray in public venues. The ministry spokeswoman feels those freedoms are something to celebrate, and she herself is grateful for them.
News from Agape Press
April 7, 2005
(AgapePress) - Officials with a Tennessee-based ministry say an upcoming scripture-reading marathon that will be taking place all across America and in other nations around the free world is more than just a symbolic gesture. It is also a celebration and a chance to spread the knowledge of the Word of God.
Back in 1990, Christians gathered on the steps of the U.S. Capitol Building in Washington, DC, for a continuous public reading from the Holy Bible, leading up to the National Day of Prayer. The approximately 80-hour Bible Reading Marathon events have been held several times over the years since.
Barbara Bivens of Bible Pathway Ministries says similar planned scripture-reading marathons will be going on early next month at public places throughout the United States and Canada. Commenting on her excitement over the project on a recent Mission Network News broadcast, she observed, "I think we can just be so grateful that we can participate in these events -- the prayer and the reading of God's Word. This nation was based on biblical fundamentals, and I think it's so important as a sign of this country's strength that we can do this."
Bivens notes that Bible Reading Marathons have been held not only in North America but in nations around the world, including England, Germany, India, New Zealand, Nigeria, Peru, Russia and Sweden. And although it may seem to many believers in America that society is increasingly hostile to Christian expressions, she points out that public scripture readings are protected by the Constitution of the United States, so those involved in the event should not put up with being harassed by authorities.
"The big thing is to tell them that it's being done at our nation's Capitol," Bivens adds. "How are you going to say, in a little town, 'You can't do it' if it can be done on the nation's Capitol? That's the strong point of the one in Washington, DC -- it's a focal point for the whole country."
The Bible Pathway spokeswoman says the sponsors of the scripture-reading event have always encouraged coordinators to stand up for their rights and to remind city, county, or other municipal officials that if their government "allows any kind of public gathering, then they have to allow the Bible Reading Marathon." However, she notes, "Other than a few hecklers here and there, we've not had any serious problems."
The nationwide Bible Reading Marathons, scheduled for next month on dates leading up to the May 5 National Day of Prayer, will take place in cities across the U.S. at such venues as county courthouses, town squares, at State Capitol buildings. Also, since the 2005 Bible Reading Marathon takes place on Cinco de Mayo this year, Bible Pathway is putting a special emphasis on reaching out to the Hispanic community.
Bivens says the 2005 Marathon effort hopes to capitalize on the coinciding cultural celebration by urging Hispanic people in particular to celebrate their freedoms -- including the freedom to read God's Word and to pray in public venues. The ministry spokeswoman feels those freedoms are something to celebrate, and she herself is grateful for them.
News from Agape Press
Tuesday, April 05, 2005
Survey Shows Religious Polarization in U.S.
By AFA Journal
April 4, 2005
(AgapePress) - The nation appears to be split along religious lines -- even among faith traditions -- according to a recent poll sponsored by the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life.
The polling data came from the Fourth National Survey of Religion and Politics, in November and December 2004 by the Bliss Institute of Applied Politics at the University of Akron.
"Both President Bush and Sen. Kerry benefited from strong support among key religious constituencies," said Dr. John Green, director of the Bliss Institute, in analyzing Election 2004. "Yet there was strong polarization not only between different religions as was common in the past, but also within the major religious traditions, a relatively new phenomenon."
In fact, the survey showed a stark ideological split between conservative and liberal Christians -- or traditionalist and modernist, as the Pew Forum called them. For example, while traditionalist evangelical Protestants were solidly for Bush by an 88 percent to12 percent margin, modernist evangelical Protestants went for Kerry, although by a narrower 52 percent to 48 percent gap. The same was true among Catholics: traditionalists went strongly for Bush (72%-28%), while modernist Catholics were solidly in Kerry’s corner (69%-31%).
Not only was Bush support among these traditionalists extremely strong in 2004, but according to the study, more of them went to the polls in the most recent election. Seven percent more traditionalist evangelical Protestants voted in 2004 than in 2000, and traditionalist Catholic turnout was larger too -- 12 percent more in 2004.
News from Agape Press
April 4, 2005
(AgapePress) - The nation appears to be split along religious lines -- even among faith traditions -- according to a recent poll sponsored by the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life.
The polling data came from the Fourth National Survey of Religion and Politics, in November and December 2004 by the Bliss Institute of Applied Politics at the University of Akron.
"Both President Bush and Sen. Kerry benefited from strong support among key religious constituencies," said Dr. John Green, director of the Bliss Institute, in analyzing Election 2004. "Yet there was strong polarization not only between different religions as was common in the past, but also within the major religious traditions, a relatively new phenomenon."
In fact, the survey showed a stark ideological split between conservative and liberal Christians -- or traditionalist and modernist, as the Pew Forum called them. For example, while traditionalist evangelical Protestants were solidly for Bush by an 88 percent to12 percent margin, modernist evangelical Protestants went for Kerry, although by a narrower 52 percent to 48 percent gap. The same was true among Catholics: traditionalists went strongly for Bush (72%-28%), while modernist Catholics were solidly in Kerry’s corner (69%-31%).
Not only was Bush support among these traditionalists extremely strong in 2004, but according to the study, more of them went to the polls in the most recent election. Seven percent more traditionalist evangelical Protestants voted in 2004 than in 2000, and traditionalist Catholic turnout was larger too -- 12 percent more in 2004.
News from Agape Press
Group Hopes Rally Will Deter Bush and Sharon from Giving Up Israeli Territory to Arabs
By Chad Groening
April 4, 2005
(AgapePress) - A group of Baptist churches from Oklahoma, Colorado, and Texas are planning to descend on Crawford, Texas, next week to try to convince President George W. Bush and Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon not to give away any covenant land to Israel's enemies.
Bob Ross is an associate pastor at Windsor Hills Baptist Church in Oklahoma City. He says he and the other pastors hope to see at least 5,000 believers on hand for an Anti-Disengagement Rally in Crawford on April 11, the day President Bush is scheduled to meet with Prime Minister Sharon there.
Ross says Israel's disengagement plan has biblical ramifications. He explains, "Genesis Chapter 12: 3 says simply, 'And I will bless them that bless thee and curse him that curseth thee, and in thee shall all the families of the Earth be blessed.' We're not Muslim haters or anything like that. We do not try to give that image at all. But we do love Israel, and we love God's people."
And because this coalition of churches loves the Israeli people, Ross says, "We want them to know that we are on their side in this battle, and we oppose the giveaway of a single inch of Israel."
The Bible-believing coalition members feel it is their duty to support God's "chosen people" in their claim to the promised land, and so those Christians converging on Crawford will be urging the U.S. and Israeli leader to understand that Israel must not give up any ground, literally, to its enemies.
"We believe this is going to have definite ramifications on what God is going to do to Israel and what God is going to do to the United States of America," Ross says. "That land was given to the Jewish people by Jehovah-God, and it's not man's right to tamper with it or give an inch of it away."
Ross's church is spearheading the effort to organize the thousands of believers participating in the Anti-Disengagement Protest Rally next Monday. The protestors hope their rally will help to convince Bush and Sharon of the importance of following scripture's guide in this policy decision.
News from Agape Press
April 4, 2005
(AgapePress) - A group of Baptist churches from Oklahoma, Colorado, and Texas are planning to descend on Crawford, Texas, next week to try to convince President George W. Bush and Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon not to give away any covenant land to Israel's enemies.
Bob Ross is an associate pastor at Windsor Hills Baptist Church in Oklahoma City. He says he and the other pastors hope to see at least 5,000 believers on hand for an Anti-Disengagement Rally in Crawford on April 11, the day President Bush is scheduled to meet with Prime Minister Sharon there.
Ross says Israel's disengagement plan has biblical ramifications. He explains, "Genesis Chapter 12: 3 says simply, 'And I will bless them that bless thee and curse him that curseth thee, and in thee shall all the families of the Earth be blessed.' We're not Muslim haters or anything like that. We do not try to give that image at all. But we do love Israel, and we love God's people."
And because this coalition of churches loves the Israeli people, Ross says, "We want them to know that we are on their side in this battle, and we oppose the giveaway of a single inch of Israel."
The Bible-believing coalition members feel it is their duty to support God's "chosen people" in their claim to the promised land, and so those Christians converging on Crawford will be urging the U.S. and Israeli leader to understand that Israel must not give up any ground, literally, to its enemies.
"We believe this is going to have definite ramifications on what God is going to do to Israel and what God is going to do to the United States of America," Ross says. "That land was given to the Jewish people by Jehovah-God, and it's not man's right to tamper with it or give an inch of it away."
Ross's church is spearheading the effort to organize the thousands of believers participating in the Anti-Disengagement Protest Rally next Monday. The protestors hope their rally will help to convince Bush and Sharon of the importance of following scripture's guide in this policy decision.
News from Agape Press
Lay Pastor Beheaded in Bangladesh
Widow fears reprisals from murderers as she struggles to support her family.
by Sarah Page
DUBLIN, April 4 (Compass) -- Sources have confirmed the murder by beheading on March 8 of Dulal Sarkar, a lay pastor and evangelist in Bangladesh.
Sarkar, 35, worked with a local branch of the Bangladesh Free Baptist Church in Jalalpur village, in the southwest division of Khulna. He had planted several churches in the area and also worked as a guard and general caretaker for the church.
The week before he was murdered, he shared his faith with several Muslim villagers who became Christians. He then brought them to the church for counseling with the senior pastor.
On March 8, Sarkar once again talked about his faith with a number of villagers. On his way home, he was attacked by a group of armed men who, as one source said, “separated his head from his body.” The assailants were later identified as a group of 10 local Muslim extremists.
Sarkar’s wife immediately filed a police report and officers arrested three of the accused. However, local Christians say the remaining seven, who have connections with the Jamaat-e-Islami political party, have tried to bribe the police to get the suspects out of jail.
The pastor leaves behind his wife, Aruna, and five children; Daniel, Joseph, Parboti, Moses and Tutol. His mother has also lived with the family since his father passed away some years ago.
Aruna, struggling financially since her husband’s death, has now asked a Christian orphanage to take care of three of her children while she works in the fields. The church itself is poor and cannot afford to fully support the family.
The extremists also threatened Aruna after she filed the police report, forcing her to move from house to house in an effort to protect herself and her children.
Local Christians have done everything possible to ensure that justice is done. However, the legal system in Bangladesh is notoriously corrupt, and the political influence of Jamaat-e-Islami may prevent the case from going to court.
The incident was the second beheading in the space of a year. On September 18, 2004, Dr. Abdul Gani, a prominent Christian, was decapitated by a gang of assailants as he returned home from work around 9:30 p.m.
A source close to the doctor reported, “The moment he came under a banyan tree, these terrorist people attacked him and slaughtered him with sharp knives. We Christians are all very sad about this event.”
Dr. Abdul Gani and his family converted to Christianity in 1995. He was a respected Christian leader and medical practitioner in his home district of Jamalpur, 140 kilometers north of the capital, Dhaka.
Abdul Gani -- also known by his Christian name, Joseph Gomez -- was a counsel member of the Bangladesh Baptist Fellowship and frequently worked with members of the Catholic church.
According to an Asia News report, he once mortgaged his own home to raise funds for flood victims. Neighbors described him as a very compassionate man.
Christian evangelist Hridoy Roy was also murdered in April 2003. A group of eight men attacked him just after midnight as he returned home from showing the “JESUS Film” in a rural village. Entering his house, the assailants tied Hridoy Roy to his bed in “crucifixion style” and repeatedly stabbed him until he died.
Muslim neighbors had warned him several times to stop showing the “JESUS Film” and other films on the life of Christ.
Bangladesh has suffered from religious disharmony since 1971, when the nation was partitioned from Pakistan. The country is approximately 83 percent Muslim and 16 percent Hindu. Buddhists and Christians make up the remaining one percent.
Islam was declared the official state religion in 1998.
The current government is a coalition of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party and three other Islamic parties. The third largest party, Jamaat-e-Islami, wants to turn Bangladesh into an entirely Islamic nation.
In February, a source who prefers to remain anonymous told Compass, “Our country is passing through a very tough time. Last year two evangelists were killed. Another was badly injured and is now undergoing treatment in India. This killing of Protestant ministers is happening for the first time in many years.”
Lay Pastor Beheaded in Bangladesh
by Sarah Page
DUBLIN, April 4 (Compass) -- Sources have confirmed the murder by beheading on March 8 of Dulal Sarkar, a lay pastor and evangelist in Bangladesh.
Sarkar, 35, worked with a local branch of the Bangladesh Free Baptist Church in Jalalpur village, in the southwest division of Khulna. He had planted several churches in the area and also worked as a guard and general caretaker for the church.
The week before he was murdered, he shared his faith with several Muslim villagers who became Christians. He then brought them to the church for counseling with the senior pastor.
On March 8, Sarkar once again talked about his faith with a number of villagers. On his way home, he was attacked by a group of armed men who, as one source said, “separated his head from his body.” The assailants were later identified as a group of 10 local Muslim extremists.
Sarkar’s wife immediately filed a police report and officers arrested three of the accused. However, local Christians say the remaining seven, who have connections with the Jamaat-e-Islami political party, have tried to bribe the police to get the suspects out of jail.
The pastor leaves behind his wife, Aruna, and five children; Daniel, Joseph, Parboti, Moses and Tutol. His mother has also lived with the family since his father passed away some years ago.
Aruna, struggling financially since her husband’s death, has now asked a Christian orphanage to take care of three of her children while she works in the fields. The church itself is poor and cannot afford to fully support the family.
The extremists also threatened Aruna after she filed the police report, forcing her to move from house to house in an effort to protect herself and her children.
Local Christians have done everything possible to ensure that justice is done. However, the legal system in Bangladesh is notoriously corrupt, and the political influence of Jamaat-e-Islami may prevent the case from going to court.
The incident was the second beheading in the space of a year. On September 18, 2004, Dr. Abdul Gani, a prominent Christian, was decapitated by a gang of assailants as he returned home from work around 9:30 p.m.
A source close to the doctor reported, “The moment he came under a banyan tree, these terrorist people attacked him and slaughtered him with sharp knives. We Christians are all very sad about this event.”
Dr. Abdul Gani and his family converted to Christianity in 1995. He was a respected Christian leader and medical practitioner in his home district of Jamalpur, 140 kilometers north of the capital, Dhaka.
Abdul Gani -- also known by his Christian name, Joseph Gomez -- was a counsel member of the Bangladesh Baptist Fellowship and frequently worked with members of the Catholic church.
According to an Asia News report, he once mortgaged his own home to raise funds for flood victims. Neighbors described him as a very compassionate man.
Christian evangelist Hridoy Roy was also murdered in April 2003. A group of eight men attacked him just after midnight as he returned home from showing the “JESUS Film” in a rural village. Entering his house, the assailants tied Hridoy Roy to his bed in “crucifixion style” and repeatedly stabbed him until he died.
Muslim neighbors had warned him several times to stop showing the “JESUS Film” and other films on the life of Christ.
Bangladesh has suffered from religious disharmony since 1971, when the nation was partitioned from Pakistan. The country is approximately 83 percent Muslim and 16 percent Hindu. Buddhists and Christians make up the remaining one percent.
Islam was declared the official state religion in 1998.
The current government is a coalition of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party and three other Islamic parties. The third largest party, Jamaat-e-Islami, wants to turn Bangladesh into an entirely Islamic nation.
In February, a source who prefers to remain anonymous told Compass, “Our country is passing through a very tough time. Last year two evangelists were killed. Another was badly injured and is now undergoing treatment in India. This killing of Protestant ministers is happening for the first time in many years.”
Lay Pastor Beheaded in Bangladesh
It all depends on what you're listening to
John 10:27 My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me:
An Indian was walking in downtown New York City alongside a resident friend. As they approached a busy street corner in the center of Manhattan, the Indian seized his friend's arm and whispered, "Wait. I hear a cricket." "Come on!", the city boy sneered, "This is downtown New York -- how could you possibly hear a cricket?" His friend persisted however, "No - seriously, I do!"
As cars were roaring, horns honking, people shouting, brakes screeching, cash registers clanging, subway clamoring and people bustling about, the Indian began leading his friend along slowly, every now and again stopping and turning his ear toward the seemingly noiseless sound. At last, the Indian insisted they were near and proceeded to follow the sound across the street and toward a small dark corner next to a graffiti covered wall. There, he bent down to a miniscule tuft of grass and pulled out the cricket. "I told, you", he said, "I heard a cricket."
Astounded, the New Yorker marveled "How could you have heard that cricket in the middle of all this noise?" "Well", said his foreign friend, "My ears are different from yours. It simply depends on what you're listening to. Here, let me show you what I mean." He reached into his pocket and pulled out a handful of change --a couple of quarters, three or four nickels, and a dime and a few pennies. "Now," he said, "watch this." He held the coins waist high and dropped them to the sidewalk. At once, every head within nearly a block turned around and looked in the direction of the Indian.
"You see, It all depends on what you're listening to."
To what sounds are our ears trained to listen? Are they trained to hear the sound of money, of gossip, of complaining, of worldly things or are they trained to hear the still small voice of the Most High, directing and advising us in the way we should go? Let's ask the Lord to train our ears to hear the things of God today. We need to be listening for His direction in the hustle and bustle of this noisy and influential world or we will surely go astray!
An Indian was walking in downtown New York City alongside a resident friend. As they approached a busy street corner in the center of Manhattan, the Indian seized his friend's arm and whispered, "Wait. I hear a cricket." "Come on!", the city boy sneered, "This is downtown New York -- how could you possibly hear a cricket?" His friend persisted however, "No - seriously, I do!"
As cars were roaring, horns honking, people shouting, brakes screeching, cash registers clanging, subway clamoring and people bustling about, the Indian began leading his friend along slowly, every now and again stopping and turning his ear toward the seemingly noiseless sound. At last, the Indian insisted they were near and proceeded to follow the sound across the street and toward a small dark corner next to a graffiti covered wall. There, he bent down to a miniscule tuft of grass and pulled out the cricket. "I told, you", he said, "I heard a cricket."
Astounded, the New Yorker marveled "How could you have heard that cricket in the middle of all this noise?" "Well", said his foreign friend, "My ears are different from yours. It simply depends on what you're listening to. Here, let me show you what I mean." He reached into his pocket and pulled out a handful of change --a couple of quarters, three or four nickels, and a dime and a few pennies. "Now," he said, "watch this." He held the coins waist high and dropped them to the sidewalk. At once, every head within nearly a block turned around and looked in the direction of the Indian.
"You see, It all depends on what you're listening to."
To what sounds are our ears trained to listen? Are they trained to hear the sound of money, of gossip, of complaining, of worldly things or are they trained to hear the still small voice of the Most High, directing and advising us in the way we should go? Let's ask the Lord to train our ears to hear the things of God today. We need to be listening for His direction in the hustle and bustle of this noisy and influential world or we will surely go astray!
Debunking the Links between Sexual Orientation and Genetics
New Study Undermines Theory of 'Gay' Gene
By AFA Journal
April 5, 2005
(AgapePress) - While new research claims to have found proof of a genetic cause for homosexuality, some scientists say the actual words of the study undermine that conclusion.
The study was conducted by a team of researchers led by University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC) psychologist Brian Mustanski and published in the March 2005 issue of the biomedical journal Human Genetics.
"In the first-ever study combing the entire human genome for genetic determinants of male sexual orientation," said a UIC press release, Mustanski "has identified several areas that appear to influence whether a man is heterosexual or 'gay.'"
Conservative critics were quick to respond. Dr. Warren Throckmorton, associate professor of psychology at Grove City College in Pennsylvania, said the study itself actually undermines Mustanski's claims. In a press statement of his own, Throckmorton cites admissions by the researchers that their evidence of genetic differences between heterosexual and homosexual men falls short of being statistically significant.
Three members of the scientific advisory committee for the National Association for Research and Therapy of Homosexuality (NARTH) also reviewed Mustanski's study and found it lacking.
NARTH's Dr. A. Dean Byrd, for example, said sexual orientation involves complex behaviors which involve multiple factors. Homosexuality, he added, might involve certain predispositions that are "strongly influenced by cultural and environmental factors."
LINKS:
New Study Undermines Theory of 'Gay' Gene
"Born that way" theory
March 2005 Human Genetics study concerning sexual orientation in men
By AFA Journal
April 5, 2005
(AgapePress) - While new research claims to have found proof of a genetic cause for homosexuality, some scientists say the actual words of the study undermine that conclusion.
The study was conducted by a team of researchers led by University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC) psychologist Brian Mustanski and published in the March 2005 issue of the biomedical journal Human Genetics.
"In the first-ever study combing the entire human genome for genetic determinants of male sexual orientation," said a UIC press release, Mustanski "has identified several areas that appear to influence whether a man is heterosexual or 'gay.'"
Conservative critics were quick to respond. Dr. Warren Throckmorton, associate professor of psychology at Grove City College in Pennsylvania, said the study itself actually undermines Mustanski's claims. In a press statement of his own, Throckmorton cites admissions by the researchers that their evidence of genetic differences between heterosexual and homosexual men falls short of being statistically significant.
Three members of the scientific advisory committee for the National Association for Research and Therapy of Homosexuality (NARTH) also reviewed Mustanski's study and found it lacking.
NARTH's Dr. A. Dean Byrd, for example, said sexual orientation involves complex behaviors which involve multiple factors. Homosexuality, he added, might involve certain predispositions that are "strongly influenced by cultural and environmental factors."
LINKS:
New Study Undermines Theory of 'Gay' Gene
"Born that way" theory
March 2005 Human Genetics study concerning sexual orientation in men
Monday, April 04, 2005
A theory of everything
Nelly Villafuerte
HAVE you heard about the so-called "theory of everything" (TOE)? Simply, TOE claims that the laws of science are sufficient to explain the universe. But the flaw of this theory is that it has not resolved or answered one final question, namely: Who made the universe? Referring us back to a basic question on the existence of God.
* * *
This question on the existence of God has divided the thinking of peoples of different races, including Filipinos. There are three kinds of thinking on this question of the existence of God. One, there are those who do not believe in the existence of God (atheists); two, there are those who doubt the existence of God (skeptics); and three, there are those who believe in the existence of God. Biblebelieving Christians fall under the third category. In the first verse of the first book of the Holy Bible, we find the following: "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth." (Genesis 1:1) The Holy Bible presupposes the existence of God.
* * *
From the Biblical point of view, we cannot disassociate God from science. Because the God of the Bible is also the God of Science. Not many know that there are many scientific statements found in the Holy Bible which at different stages of history have been tested and verified by scientists to be true.
* * *
Let me share some Biblical accounts that jibe accurately with scientific findings. Hopefully, these Biblical statements will increase your faith in our living God and make us realize that the theory of the supremacy of science in the universe is a fallacy. Everything bows down to our Lord God. No ifs, no buts.
* In the Holy Bible we find the following verse: "He (God) sits enthroned above the circle of the earth." (Isaiah 40:22) Before the introduction of the compass and the fifteenth century voyages of Columbus and Magellan, people thought that the earth was flat. Centuries before man found out that the earth was round, the Holy Bible already said in simple, clear, and brief terms that the earth is round.
* Long before our scientists and medical doctors found out that the perfect day to perform a circumcision is the eighth day of a newborn male, the Holy Bible already said so. In the Book of Genesis, God said to Abraham: "For the generations to come, every male among you who is eight days old must be circumcised… (Genesis 17:12). One may ask: Why is the eighth day of a newborn male the safest time to perform circumcision? Modernday doctors and scientists found out that a newborn infant has a peculiar susceptibility to bleeding between the second and the fifth days of life. Because the important blood-clotting element Vitamin K is not formed until the fifth to the seventh day of a newborn baby. Also, a second element which is also necessary for the normal clotting of blood (prothrombin) is most abundant in the entire life of a male on the eighth day of his life. Findings of scientists and medical doctors on this matter merely confirmed why the Holy Bible chose the eighth day of a newborn male as the best time to circumcise him.
* The medical wisdom of the Hebrews is incredible. Considering that their neighbors in almost all ancient cultures – the Babylonians, the Egyptians, the Greeks, and other peoples – were dabbling in spiritism of various kinds to solve the mysteries of disease, injuries, and other human ailments. In the Book of Leviticus of the Old Testament, we see the medical knowledge of the Hebrews on health, sanitation, and quarantine comparable to the modern practices nowadays. For example, God taught Moses about the value of handwashing and changing of clothes after contact with infectious diseases. The Holy Bible does not mention only washing in a basin, but repeated washings in running water, with time intervals allowed for drying and exposure to sun to kill bacteria not washed off. Likewise, doctors today wash their hands in the operating rooms to avoid infection of their patients.
* Long before ocean scientists discovered that there are mountains, valleys, springs, fountains, and volcanoes in the floor of the sea, the Holy Bible already said so. (See 2 Samuel 22:16; Jonah 2:6; Genesis 7:11; Genesis 8:2; and Proverbs 8:28).
* There are scientific principles accurately described in the Holy Bible some of them centuries before man discovered them. Like the Law of Heredity demonstrated by the monk Johann Mendel (that all living things are reproduced after their own kind:; and the fist and second laws of thermodynamics. The first law of thermodynamics states that although energy can change form, it cannot be neither created or destroyed and therefore the sum total remains constant. The second law of thermodynamics states that when energy is transformed from one state to another, some of it is turned into heat energy forms.
* * *
To me the most awesome and astounding scientific procedure described in the Holy Bible is the creation of the first woman. This set a precedent in surgical procedure – a masterwork in technique and, using a Latin phrase to describe the procedure, magnum opus. The Biblical passage on the creation says: "So the Lord God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep; and while he was sleeping, he took one of the man’s ribs and closed up the place with flesh." (Genesis 2:21) To compare with the modern medical procedure: Pre-operative sedation (anaesthesia) vs. "to fall into a deep sleep;" surgical rib resection vs. "he took one of the man’s ribs;" closure of surgical incision vs. "closed up the place with flesh." Is this coincidence? No, because nothing happens by coincidence. The creation of the first woman was actually the world’s first medical operation. But more than that. The dramatic impact of the creation can never be duplicated by science. Never!
* * *
Let us not waiver in our faith in our Lord God. The intellect of the created (including the most learned scientists, researchers, and doctors) cannot compare with the wisdom of our Creator. As the Holy Bible says, "For the foolishness of God is wiser than man’s wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than man’s strength." (1Corinthians 1:25)
A theory of everything
HAVE you heard about the so-called "theory of everything" (TOE)? Simply, TOE claims that the laws of science are sufficient to explain the universe. But the flaw of this theory is that it has not resolved or answered one final question, namely: Who made the universe? Referring us back to a basic question on the existence of God.
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This question on the existence of God has divided the thinking of peoples of different races, including Filipinos. There are three kinds of thinking on this question of the existence of God. One, there are those who do not believe in the existence of God (atheists); two, there are those who doubt the existence of God (skeptics); and three, there are those who believe in the existence of God. Biblebelieving Christians fall under the third category. In the first verse of the first book of the Holy Bible, we find the following: "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth." (Genesis 1:1) The Holy Bible presupposes the existence of God.
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From the Biblical point of view, we cannot disassociate God from science. Because the God of the Bible is also the God of Science. Not many know that there are many scientific statements found in the Holy Bible which at different stages of history have been tested and verified by scientists to be true.
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Let me share some Biblical accounts that jibe accurately with scientific findings. Hopefully, these Biblical statements will increase your faith in our living God and make us realize that the theory of the supremacy of science in the universe is a fallacy. Everything bows down to our Lord God. No ifs, no buts.
* In the Holy Bible we find the following verse: "He (God) sits enthroned above the circle of the earth." (Isaiah 40:22) Before the introduction of the compass and the fifteenth century voyages of Columbus and Magellan, people thought that the earth was flat. Centuries before man found out that the earth was round, the Holy Bible already said in simple, clear, and brief terms that the earth is round.
* Long before our scientists and medical doctors found out that the perfect day to perform a circumcision is the eighth day of a newborn male, the Holy Bible already said so. In the Book of Genesis, God said to Abraham: "For the generations to come, every male among you who is eight days old must be circumcised… (Genesis 17:12). One may ask: Why is the eighth day of a newborn male the safest time to perform circumcision? Modernday doctors and scientists found out that a newborn infant has a peculiar susceptibility to bleeding between the second and the fifth days of life. Because the important blood-clotting element Vitamin K is not formed until the fifth to the seventh day of a newborn baby. Also, a second element which is also necessary for the normal clotting of blood (prothrombin) is most abundant in the entire life of a male on the eighth day of his life. Findings of scientists and medical doctors on this matter merely confirmed why the Holy Bible chose the eighth day of a newborn male as the best time to circumcise him.
* The medical wisdom of the Hebrews is incredible. Considering that their neighbors in almost all ancient cultures – the Babylonians, the Egyptians, the Greeks, and other peoples – were dabbling in spiritism of various kinds to solve the mysteries of disease, injuries, and other human ailments. In the Book of Leviticus of the Old Testament, we see the medical knowledge of the Hebrews on health, sanitation, and quarantine comparable to the modern practices nowadays. For example, God taught Moses about the value of handwashing and changing of clothes after contact with infectious diseases. The Holy Bible does not mention only washing in a basin, but repeated washings in running water, with time intervals allowed for drying and exposure to sun to kill bacteria not washed off. Likewise, doctors today wash their hands in the operating rooms to avoid infection of their patients.
* Long before ocean scientists discovered that there are mountains, valleys, springs, fountains, and volcanoes in the floor of the sea, the Holy Bible already said so. (See 2 Samuel 22:16; Jonah 2:6; Genesis 7:11; Genesis 8:2; and Proverbs 8:28).
* There are scientific principles accurately described in the Holy Bible some of them centuries before man discovered them. Like the Law of Heredity demonstrated by the monk Johann Mendel (that all living things are reproduced after their own kind:; and the fist and second laws of thermodynamics. The first law of thermodynamics states that although energy can change form, it cannot be neither created or destroyed and therefore the sum total remains constant. The second law of thermodynamics states that when energy is transformed from one state to another, some of it is turned into heat energy forms.
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To me the most awesome and astounding scientific procedure described in the Holy Bible is the creation of the first woman. This set a precedent in surgical procedure – a masterwork in technique and, using a Latin phrase to describe the procedure, magnum opus. The Biblical passage on the creation says: "So the Lord God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep; and while he was sleeping, he took one of the man’s ribs and closed up the place with flesh." (Genesis 2:21) To compare with the modern medical procedure: Pre-operative sedation (anaesthesia) vs. "to fall into a deep sleep;" surgical rib resection vs. "he took one of the man’s ribs;" closure of surgical incision vs. "closed up the place with flesh." Is this coincidence? No, because nothing happens by coincidence. The creation of the first woman was actually the world’s first medical operation. But more than that. The dramatic impact of the creation can never be duplicated by science. Never!
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Let us not waiver in our faith in our Lord God. The intellect of the created (including the most learned scientists, researchers, and doctors) cannot compare with the wisdom of our Creator. As the Holy Bible says, "For the foolishness of God is wiser than man’s wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than man’s strength." (1Corinthians 1:25)
A theory of everything
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