It's Everywhere
Published on February 23, 2008 By KFC Kickin For Christ In Pure Technology

We've been discussing quite a bit here on Evolution Science vs Creation Science and the differences in interpretation and free speech for those who have a diff take on this interpretation of evidence.  Recently I came across this article which gives a realistic view of what kind of politics a Creationist Scientist is up against in the Science field.  When you read this keep in mind that the journals Science and Nature are considered the two best journals in the world to publish in.
 
Dr. D. Russell Humphreys, a physicist working for the prestigious Sandia National Laboratories in Albuquerque, New Mexico (who is involved with the laboratory's particle beam fusion project, concerning thermonuclear fusion energy research) is a board member of the Creation Research Society. He has about 30 published articles in mainstream technical journals from 1968 to the present. In the last eight years a lot of his work has been classified, so there has been less of it in the open literature.
Russell Humphreys said in a 1993 interview: "I'm part of a fairly large scientific community in New Mexico, and a good number of these are Creationists. Many don't actively belong to any creationist organization. Based on those proportions and knowing the membership of the Creation Research Society, it's probably a conservative estimate that there are in the US alone around 10,000 practicing scientists who are biblical creationists." ("Creation in the Physics Lab", Creation Ex Nihilo Magazine, Vol. 15, No. 3, pages 20-23).


Creationists such as Humphreys have extensive publications in mainstream journals on non-creationist topics. Creationists who publish scientific research in mainstream journals have found that they can publish articles with data having creationist implications, but will not get articles with openly creationist conclusions published. When they attempt to do this, their articles are usually rejected. Those who are well-known to evolutionists as creationists have more difficulty even with articles which do not have obvious creationist implications.


In the summer of 1985 Humphreys wrote to the journal Science pointing out that openly creationist articles are suppressed by most journals. He asked if Science had "a hidden policy of suppressing creationist letters." Christine Gilbert, the letters editor, replied and admitted, "It is true that we are not likely to publish creationist letters." This admission is particularly significant since Science's official letters policy is that they represent "the range of opinions received." e.g., letters must be representative of part of the spectrum of opinions. Yet of all the opinions they receive, Science does not print the creationist ones.

Humphrey's letter and Ms. Gilbert's reply are reprinted in the book, Creation's Tiny Mystery, by physicist Robert V. Gentry (Earth Science Associates, Knoxville, Tennessee, 2nd edition, 1988.)


On May 19, 1992 Humphreys submitted his article * "Compton scattering and the cosmic microwave background bumps" to the Scientific Correspondence section of the British journal Nature. The editorial staff knew Humphreys was a creationist and didn't want to publish it (even though the article did not contain any glaring creationist implications). The editorial staff didn't even want to send it through official peer review.
 
Six months later Nature published an article by someone else on the same topic, having the same conclusions. Thus, most creationist researchers realize it is simply a waste of time to send journal editors openly creationist articles. To say that a "slight bias" exists on the part of journal editors would be an understatement.

* The Institute for Creation Research published a laymanized version of Humphrey's article in their Impact series [No. 233, "Bumps in the Big Bang", November 1992]. Reference 5 of that article contains information about the Nature submission.
 the full link with references can be read here:

http://www.rae.org/crepub.html.


Comments (Page 1)
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on Feb 23, 2008
He's a pretty lazy researcher. 30 publications in 40 years? Most universities in Oz would give you the sack for such a slack work ethic. Two or three a year in reputable journals seems to be the norm.

I'd be inclined to think creationism was just the excuse for some lazy research and possibly even poorly argued conclusions.
on Feb 23, 2008

 

He's a pretty lazy researcher. 30 publications in 40 years?

Well I'm not sure where you're getting 40 years?  I see it says 1968 but where does it say 2008?  I'm guessing this article is at least a few years old. 

Did you not read this part?

In the last eight years a lot of his work has been classified, so there has been less of it in the open literature.

 I understand that a more recent unclassified article will be published in the near future.

I'd be inclined to think creationism was just the excuse for some lazy research and possibly even poorly argued conclusions.

can you elaborate a bit more on this for me?  What lazy research and what poorly argued conclusions are you speaking of? 

 

on Feb 23, 2008
Well I'm not sure where you're getting 40 years? I see it says 1968 but where does it say 2008? I'm guessing this article is at least a few years old.


My apologies. Upon checking the article you linked it was last updated in 1999, meaning he published 30 articles in about 23 years, if we include those 8 years of top secret work. Still not a very productive man, although perhaps that's because he's a scientist rather than in the social sciences - someone else will have to verify whether that's a good publishing rate or not.

can you elaborate a bit more on this for me? What lazy research and what poorly argued conclusions are you speaking of?


Whatever is making his research unpublishable. As you say, it's only recently that his creationist tendencies have become known. But he hasn't been published much at all, despite mainly writing on non-creationist stuff.

Of course, there might be a big conspiracy, but then again the simplest answer is often the right one.
on Feb 24, 2008

Do we REALLY need yet another endless discussion about creationism vs evolution?

Wheee...it's psychology time.

If the purpose of all these articles was to prove creation science correct or evolution science wrong, then it would be foolhardy indeed to keep posting them.  One way to describe insanity is 'the quality described by doing the same thing over and over expecting to suddenly, and for no apparent reason, get a different result than you got before.'

So is KFC insane?

I think the solution is far simpler - that these articles weren't ever intended to prove something one way or another.  Evolution has withstood over 100 years of furious bombardment from ALL kinds of scientists.  For one non-scientist to believe that she could singly-handedly disprove it in a blog article is Quixotic to the nth degree.

There must be some other purpose - some other reason for continuing like this.

Anyone have any ideas?

 

on Feb 24, 2008

someone else will have to verify whether that's a good publishing rate or not.

Well I can look into it.  I'm not sure how much is expected as being good when it comes to being published.  Research has to be done inbetween so I imagine it differs according to the field of research.  I don't think it's cut and dry.  I don't think if one does alot of publishing it makes him better than someone who only publishes a few things.  I would think content is most important. 

There must be some other purpose - some other reason for continuing like this.

What are you talking about?  Is it what LW said? Do you believe everything she says Ock? Ha!  That's probably why she likes you.   Well let me tell you this (easy to verify) Lw shows up to divert discussions all the time.    We can have some really good discussion going and then she pops up to say something nasty (usually about me but not limited to me) and causes a rukus to get us off topic.   Usually it has nothing to do with the content of the article just an attack to try and turn, twist or take us away from it.  It's all about her. 

Now, how much have I written lately on this? Look at the facts Ock.   Not much actually at all.  

 I've written this one and one other just to clarify terms for future reference.  That's it.  The other one that might be included was nothing more than a movie trailer with no commentary from me.  That's writing alot? 

Looking back over my list of articles in the last month or so, I've covered quite a few topics, current events, sports,blogging, religion, philosophy, politics etc.  I've written only three articles on Science....this one, the movie trailer and the one that just lists beliefs and non-beliefs of a creationists.  Go look yourself. 

Ya, can see what you mean.  I must stop.  Or is that silenced? 

The problem with LW is that she wants me to listen to her.  That's it in a nutshell.  That's why she offered to give me topics here.  She's constantly telling me if I toe the line with her and just listen to her, all will be well on JU with me.  I'm sorry.  I'm not that type. 

I happen to like this topic.  That's why I wrote about it. 

Give me a break.

 

on Feb 24, 2008

I may be going out on a limb here but I believe LW likes Ock because he thinks. Not only does Ock think, he considers all information, approaches the topic from different perspectives, and never accepts something just because someone says so...that includes just because someone wrote it.

This is easy to test.  But I'm not going to go there. 

Well then why did he jump on board with what she said without first checking to see if the facts were true? 

I'm going out on a limb again, but I don't believe LW WANTS you to listen to her

yes, you are out on a limb from my perspective. And she does and she's even told me so...many times.   Unless you've read every encounter over the last two years between LW and myself you can't really make an assessment.  If you want, go back and start looking at articles and how they were going pretty well sticking to topic and then she pops up and causes a diversion.  You can see it right on Sodaiho's article about the Two Messiahs.  We were discussing back and forth until LW showed up.  Look how the discussion digressed after her appearace.  Be objective.  Go check it out.  Happens all the time and I'm just tired of it. 

Anyway, why are you always so defensive? If you don't like what LW writes, use the scroll bar.

I've let all of her comments stand over the last two years but two or three. Most of the time I ignore them.  In those few cases they were so nasty I deleted them.  I can't seem to do that now.  I have no delete button that I can see.  Not that I would have deleted her last comment here.  It doesn't fit my criteria for delete but I'm just tired of her causing diversions...I mean look at what we are speaking of right now.  Not the topic.  See how it's changed to be all about her?  That's what she does and most of you haven't even noticed this although I have gotten some private emails from a few here that have noticed this and can't believe I haven't lashed back. 

I don't really want to argue or fight.  I like a good debate, but let's stick to the subject matter.

 

 

 

on Feb 24, 2008

What I said has nothing to do with Little Whip, and in fact, it's about something I've been thinking - all by my little lonesome - for awhile now.

I don't think you post these threads for the purpose of proving your hypotheses.  If you do, then you're insane by the definition I gave - someone who repeats, over and over, an action which failed and thinking that somehow this time it will succeed.

So given the generous hypothesis that you aren't insane, logic dictates there must be some other reason you post them.  What might it be?

on Feb 24, 2008

How can you say "for awhile now" when I've only just started writing about this?  It hasn't been long enough to make "awhile" feasible.  It's not like I've been going on and on and on here. 

So given the generous hypothesis that you aren't insane, logic dictates there must be some other reason you post them. What might it be?

I happen to like this topic. That's why I wrote about it.

hmmmmmm maybe I'll do another.....I got another angle.  Who really was for and against Darwin when he first came out with his theory? 

 

on Feb 24, 2008

ok, for those so interested in facts.  THese are the facts.  Article topics posted by KFC since January 1.

Religion-10

Blogging-6

Entertainment-1

Pets-1

Misc-3

Philosophy-1

Sports-2

Current Events-4

Personal Relationships-1

Politics-4

Humor-2

Writing-1

Home & Family-1

SCIENCE-2

Now that's settled....let's get back on topic.

 

on Feb 25, 2008

How can you say "for awhile now" when I've only just started writing about this?  It hasn't been long enough to make "awhile" feasible.  It's not like I've been going on and on and on here.

There's another big book you might delve into some time.

a·while - adverb

for a short time or period

This particular short time or period is at least as long as "since before Little Whip posted in this thread."

Good game.

on Feb 25, 2008

Semantics!  n. study of words

Good Game!

on Feb 25, 2008
Maybe she posts them because the debate interests her, and she wants to inform you of every single creationist that ever lived? Maybe each article has a different angle, purpose, etc.? Maybe they're interesting to other people as well?

KFC's overarching purpose, as far as I can tell, is to tell people about Jesus. Whether it's through creation articles, religious articles, or any other type of article, that's the purpose. It's not the purpose to convince anyone of anything. We would like you to be convinced, but that is beyond us to do. Just like you can never convince me that evolution is true, something bigger than us would have to convince us... such as a time machine...

It's God's job to convince, our job to tell. When we get caught up in debates with you, it's really just us distracted from the original purpose. So while I was typing this, instead of trying to tell someone else about Jesus, I was distracted. Oh no! I could just delete all this, but hey, I like commenting.
on Feb 26, 2008

 

Semantics!  n. study of words

I thought that was the whole basis of all your biblical points, KFC.  The study of the literal word(s), no?  Do you just study the ones you like and discount the rest, or something?  I think if you're going to convince anyone that literal interpretations are correct, you're going to have to hold yourself accountable to the literal meanings of words.  And even from a practical side - if we can't agree that words have specific meanings, how are we to discuss anything?

KFC's overarching purpose, as far as I can tell, is to tell people about Jesus.

Maybe it is, J, but I don't see it.  If "telling" was her purpose, then when someone disagreed she'd just say "Well, I told you what I had to tell you.  If you don't believe it, it's no skin off my nose.  Good luck."

That isn't how it goes, though.

on Feb 26, 2008
Maybe it is, J, but I don't see it. If "telling" was her purpose, then when someone disagreed she'd just say "Well, I told you what I had to tell you. If you don't believe it, it's no skin off my nose. Good luck."
That isn't how it goes, though.


Nobody's perfect.

When I try to convince people myself, it's about ME. I want to be so smart and wise that I convinced someone. So it never works, because I'm not that smart. And I'm not that wise. Now if I pray to God to open their eyes and convince them, I have been wise. Because God is the only one who can do that. You say it all the time, Ock. If God Himself came and convinced you, you'd be convinced, but nothing any of us say will do it. I think I'm paraphrasing but that's the general idea I get from you. And that's why we're just wasting time here, again.
on Feb 26, 2008
And I thought this was going to be an article about sewing!

Not.

I believe every one has lines in the sand they draw when it comes to science. For instance, I don't have to know about molecules to accept they exist. Why? Because I find reading about them, and studying them, boring beyond belief. Yeah, I am def good on believing they are there without further study.

However, it takes all sorts to make the world go round. I am more interested in studying say, the cultural effects on morality, than science. Which, may be (and if my husband is any indicator, is absolutely) one of the most boring subjects on the planet.

I appreciate getting both sides of the creation/evolution debate. I usually skim them to see if there is new info...but ultimately it is one area I can accept on faith without a lot of nitty gritty, down-to-the-atom, research.

Which means of course, I can't debate it in depth. Which really doesn't matter since the one thing I do know about creation/evolution is this....no matter how good the facts (on either side) I've never EVER seen debate change someone's mind.

I am not saying debate isn't important. I've learned a lot from it, in a lot of subjects.

I know KFC writes about these things because she is PASSIONATE about them, she wants to share her knowledge with people, all with the one command laid on her heart..."Go forth and make disciples of all nations."

She is using her gifts (research and skepticism) to discuss God. It's exactly what Christians are supposed to do. (And honestly if you think about it, that's what humans do. When you are really in love with someone, don't you often find yourself discussing them? Their likes? Their dislikes? Who they are? Your experience with them? Why the world should think they are as wonderful as you do? And don't you find it odd when you come across someone who doesn't think the love of your life is wonderful? Don't you get offended when anyone talks bad about them?)

People may not like KFC's delivery, but at least she is authentic and doesn't sugar coat her faith. Even if you consider her a zealot, a Jesus freak, whatever, you know where she stands. She is consistent and reliable. When anyone wants to talk about God, in any area, science, relationships, etc...she has probably studied the area and will at the very least have some good conversation about it whether, in the end, you agree or disagree.

I know its been said a thousand times on JU...but its her blog, her choice of subject matter.  

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