My last post took issue with the apparent commitment to naturalism among theistic evolutionists. Shortly thereafter I ran across a vivid example of what naturalistic bias looks like.
Cornelius Hunter blogs at Darwin's God. He quoted from a blurb at PBS regarding the Common Genetic Code. The blurb, still on the PBS website, is from 2001 and shows evidence of being outdated. The gist of Hunter's post is that how the evidence is presented shows a commitment to a viewpoint that completely colors the interpretation of the evidence. He quotes from the PBS article, but I'll add a longer part of the article for context.
In essence, the PBS article is about a strain of yeast with a defective gene. A human version of the gene was inserted into the yeast and the result was the repair of the defect. This is touted as clear evidence of common ancestry.
Credit where credit is due, since coming under the direction of Deborah Haarsma, the Biologos.org website has managed tone down the rhetoric against its opponents, even if little has changed in the views presented there. Steven Meyer was recently given space to respond to his critics, and all in all I think the exchange was healthy.
Meyer’s main point in his response was that the folks at Biologos are committed to methodological naturalism and that is the primary thing that separates them from other theistic viewpoints. Evidence of both Biologos more conciliatory tone and commitment to naturalism are apparent in the statement quoted below. (More)
First, there is a general statement of belief in God as Creator, but coupled with a statement of belief in evolutionary science.
