SCIENCE SHAMS & BIBLE BLOOPERS [1481-MILL] SCIENCE SHAMS & BIBLE BLOOPERS How You're Being Hoodwinked by Know-Nothing "Experts" and Gassy "Authorities" David Mills [1481-MILL] Copyright © 2000 by David Mills. ISBN #: Softcover 0-7388-2281-7 All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner. To order additional copies of this book, contact: Xlibris Corporation 1-888-7-XLIBRIS www.Xlibris.com
[email protected] CONTENTS INTRODUCTION ...................................................... 9 PART I Pseudoscience and the Professions 1. Chiropractic Health Care: Science or Religion? .....19 2. Overcoming Self-Esteem and Psychotherapy .........34 3. Cesspool of Pseudoscience: Your Local Police .........50 PART II Pseudoscience Affecting Children and the Family 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. Public “Education” vs. Homeschooling............... Early Learning vs. “Age-Appropriate” Learning .. Early Learning and the Myth of Pressure ............ Myths of Parental Convenience .......................... Children and the “Danger” of Internet Pornography .................................... 111 131 143 163 204 PART III Pseudoscience and Religion 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. [1481-MILL] Origin of the Universe: Natural or Supernatural? God of the Gaps ................................................ The “Miracle” of Heavenly Clockwork............... The “Miracle” of Life on Earth .......................... Answering Creationist Objections to Evolution... 221 235 240 259 272 14. Can Genesis be Reconciled with Modern Science?........................................ 15. “Miracles” of Personal Experience ....................... 16. The Myth of Hell ............................................... 17. Interview with an Atheist .................................... 289 308 321 341 EMAIL THE AUTHOR ......................................... 378 BIBLIOGRAPHY .................................................... 379 For Sophia My Daughter May you forever ignore the counsel of those whose fundamental doctrine is that mankind “sinned” by partaking of the fruit of the tree of knowledge. [1481-MILL] INTRODUCTION Whenever you finish school, you usually forget immediately everything you ever learned about math and science. But when it comes to the more esoteric subjects—like psychology, philosophy or theology—you tend to remember just enough to screw you up forever. Pseudoscience—or false science—borrows the wackiest elements of psychology, philosophy and theology and bundles them into a new belief system which is often appealing and engaging, but which is nonetheless rooted in superstition, rather than science. Today, the most commonly cited example of pseudoscience is astrology, which proposes a causal relationship between celestial bodies and events in your personal life. If Jupiter is here, and Saturn is there, then you’ll meet a handsome stranger down on Earth. The purpose of this book is to convince you that pseudoscience in 21st-century America is far more pervasive and