Voluntary Human Extinction

Posted on October 24, 2008 by rbirkey

Yesterday at lunch in the midst of our discussion, a guest mentioned an organization called “The Voluntary Human Extinction Movement. Their byline is “May we live long and die out.” You can visit their website at http://www.vhemt.org

Here is what the group explains and says about themselves:

VHEMT (pronounced vehement) is a movement not an organization. It’s a movement advanced by people who care about life on planet Earth. We’re not just a bunch of misanthropes and anti-social, Malthusian misfits, taking morbid delight whenever disaster strikes humans. Nothing could be farther from the truth. Voluntary human extinction is the humanitarian alternative to human disasters.

We don’t carry on about how the human race has shown itself to be a greedy, amoral parasite on the once-healthy face of this planet. That type of negativity offers no solution to the inexorable horrors which human activity is causing.

Rather, The Movement presents an encouraging alternative to the callous exploitation and wholesale destruction of Earth’s ecology.

As VHEMT Volunteers know, the hopeful alternative to the extinction of millions of species of plants and animals is the voluntary extinction of one species: Homo sapiens… us.

Each time another one of us decides to not add another one of us to the burgeoning billions already squatting on this ravaged planet, another ray of hope shines through the gloom.

When every human chooses to stop breeding, Earth’s biosphere will be allowed to return to its former glory, and all remaining creatures will be free to live, die, evolve (if they believe in evolution), and will perhaps pass away, as so many of Nature’s “experiments” have done throughout the eons.

It’s going to take all of us going.

Visualize Voluntary Human Extinction

Wow! What could be a clearer example of the logical extension and consequences of a mechanistic, Darwinian evolutionary worldview. At least VHEMT is being consistent with their presuppositions. I just can’t figure out on what grounds they think we should do this voluntarily and gradually. I mean, why not just devise a plan by which to wipe out all humans in one fell swoop? Why waste the time to do it gradually? Won’t it be better for the earth to get rid of us humans more quickly?

Garden Variety Evolution Wilts

Posted on April 26, 2008 by rbirkey

Fazale Rana writes in the March/April 2008 edition of the Reasons to Believe Newsletter that evolutionists and creationists agree that the earth’s “garden” (plant life) has changed dramatically over time. The questions is on the “how.” Darwinists propose that it happened slowly in spontaneous response to external and internal environment changes via natural selection and mutations. But this theory doesn’t seem to fit with what we now know from the fossil record.

Scientists like Stephen J. Gould have modified the theory to propose a “punctuated equilibrium” theory to better fit the fossil record. This view states that life changed in sudden spurts, followed by long periods of little or no change. These proponents say that small groups of species became isolated and that change occurred rapidly as they responded to their new environments and conditions.

The University of Oregon challenged this notion by doing theoretical work that showed the isolation and adaptation process at the core of “punctuated equilibrium” leads to extinction, not evolution. Field workers from Washington University have more recently confirmed this conclusion by studying collared lizards in the Missouri Ozarks. They found that an isolated group is more likely to die off than adapt and survive.

In conclusion, the evolutionary view faces two major problems. It lacks corroboration from the fossil record, and the punctuated equilibrium version lacks a legitimate mechanism. In light of the absence of naturalistic explanations, it seems only reasonable that science should consider all options, including the possibility of an “intelligent designer.” The “scientific method” is by definition based on gathering evidence subject to specific principles of reasoning. It pursues the “truth” without bias, no matter where it leads.

Go See “Expelled” – The Movie

Posted on April 20, 2008 by rbirkey

Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed

$Ben Stein\'s \$ My wife and I went and saw the newly released movie “Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed” last night, and I’ve got to say it is one of the best movies I’ve seen in a long time. We had not heard about it before yesterday, and we knew very little about what it was about. It just sounded more interesting than anything else playing. It turned out to be not only interesting, but also entertaining, thought-provoking, and it actually draws you in like a good drama with a compelling plot and interesting characters. Yet, it’s a documentary!

Ben Stein is a well-known actor, comedian, speech writer, syndicated columnist, economist, lawyer, professor and TV game show host, author, commentator and financial adviser – to name just a few of his accomplishments.

In recent years Ben has taken on “Big Science” and what he calls the Darwinian Evolutionists establishment, charging them with suppressing free and open scientific inquiry, and persecuting those who do not toe the line in the politically correct academic environment.

As Ben writes on his blog: “America is not America without freedom. In every turning point in our history, freedom has been the key goal we are seeking: the Mayflower coming here, the Revolution, the Civil War, World War II, the Cold War. Tens of millions came here from foreign oppression and made a life here. Why? For freedom. Human beings are supposed to live in a state of freedom. Freedom is not conferred by the state: as our founders said, and as Martin Luther King repeated, freedom is God-given.”

Of course there are critics in the media and in the scientific community who claim the movie is propaganda, or just a sleazy cover for creationism. This will no doubt continue as the film gains more viewers in the coming weeks and months.

I particularly enjoyed the interviews with Richard Dawkins, John Lennox and Alister McGrath because of my personal connection with Oxford, England having studied there with the Zacharias Trust in the summer of 2006. I heard lectures from both Alister and John, and heard other lectures in a lecture room down the hall from Richard Dawkin’s office.

My hunch on this film is that most people who have thought about these issues before will either love the film or hate it depending on their pre-existing worldview. However, I think there is a large number of people in the middle, who are not aware of there being a growing “issue” with Darwinian Evolution, nor the growing Intelligent Design movement within the scientific community. This movie will be the first exposure to the issue for most people. For this reason alone, I personally think it is fantastic… even if all it does is get people aware and thinking about it, and asking questions.

The scientific method is based upon free, open and honest inquiry. I don’t see how anyone who understands this should have a problem with an open debate between Darwin’s theory of Evolution, and the proponents of Intelligent Design. Let’s have an open, fair fight and may the best theory win!

Watch the official movie trailer: