It has come to my attention that some matters that come up frequently on this blogsite require definition, for the sake of clarity. In no particular order, I offer the following:
Appealing to a Higher Power: [1] Most common usage: Atheists tend to accuse me of appealing to a Higher Power as an explanation. I’ve noted their tendency to link other people’s work, especially guys they consider to be authorities or celebrities within their circles, and turned the accusation on its head. I’m afraid you have to do your own argument on this blogsite. [2] Analog variant: Simply telling me to read your favorite biased author like a good Darbot or, as one pundit actually attempted, telling me to read a textbook [as if there would be no macroevolutionary bias in a textbook!]
Baramin: Literally, Created kinds. From the Hebrew words ‘bara’ [created] and ‘min’ [kind], ‘baramin’ has been suggested by Frank Marsh to replace the generic term ‘kind’ amongst Creationists. The most common illustration given to define a baramin is that a dog is a dog, whether a wolf, German Shepherd or teacup poodle. Baraminology is the study and classification of created kinds.
Biblical Creationism: Creationism which is derived from the Bible as the ultimate authority. Young Earth Creationism.
Bunk: Hubris, nonsense, rubbish. It’s actually in your dictionary.
Darbot: An advocate of Darwinism or neo-Darwinism who simply and robotically repeats the hubris of their favorite evolution apologist without any consideration for what anyone is saying. While it’s not necessarily nice, this term was coined to answer the old atheist/evolutionist accusation that Bible-believing Christians are all just “Godbots.” Darbotting would be engaging in the aforementioned parroting of evolutionary dogma.
Darwin’s Dike : A reference to the ever-increasing cracks in Darwin’s [and neoDarwinism’s] theory. They keep putting their fingers in the cracks [largely through speculation and revision], but the cracks are forming faster than they can keep up with.
Dawkins’ Dodge: While acknowledging that the universe seems fine tuned to extreme probability, he insists that the intelligent design we see is only “apparent design.” Dawkins, if it looks like a duck, walks like a duck and quacks like a duck, it’s a duck.
Entropy: 3/4ths of the time, if I bring up entropy, someone tries to use the reductionist straw man that insists that entropy only applies to thermodynamics. They ignore the rest of the dictionary definitions, particularly, the one being used here. By entropy, we are here refering [unless otherwise stated] to the natural world’s demonstrable tendency from order to disorder.
Evolution: see Macro-evolution
ExtraBiblical Creation: Creationist positions which impose extrabiblical authorities onto the natural reading of the Bible. Such positions include Old Earth Creationism, Day-Age Creationism, Gap Creationism, Progressive Creationism, Framework Hypothesis, and Theistic Evolution. Compare with Biblical Creation.
Hurd’s Turd – Gary Hurd once testified that the macroevolution/microevulution distinction was a Creationist invention. Nevermind that one of the architects of the Modern Synthesis, Theodosius Dobzhansky, had used the terms as had others.
Macroevolution or mac-evo: The unobserved vertical (phyletic) microbes to man evolution that Darwin speculated occurred, whereby all organisms allegedly share a common ancestor. Darbots often assume that microevolutionary processes are sufficient to account for macroevolution, but mac-evo actually requires an increase in existing information as opposed to a change within existing information to change one kind [baramin] of animal into another.
Microevolution or mic-evo: Contrasted with mac-evo, it is the observable speciation within an established kind or baramin of animal. No Creationist actually doubts that mic-evo occurs. In fact, we believe rapid speciation within the genetic restrictions of the animal kinds occured post-Flood. This POST explains why I don’t use the terms microevolution or macroevolution on this site as of 4/14/2009. Generally, more applicable terms like Natural selection or speciation are used for this term.
Mockstar: Someone who mocks but doesn’t actually address any points of the proffered argument.
Paint it Black: a tendency of some critics, including Dawkins, Hitchens and a few blogger I know, to see only darkness in religion or Christianity specifically. The analogy is that there is a stained-glass window which offers both light and color, but critics paint their side of the window black and then try to claim that the original [true] window offered neither light nor color.
Post-Darwinism My term for the Extended Evolutionary Synthesis [EES] that is slated to replace Neo-Darwinism aka the Modern Synthesis [MS]. Also refered to as the Post-Modern Synthesis [PMS]
Wackaloon: in homage to PZ “Whackaloon” Myers’ insult to Mr. Ken Ham, this term here refers to someone who makes comments which are arguably outside of their area of expertise. Originally, Dawkins won this prize [though I had not yet formulated a term for it] for his fish-out-of-water ill-informed rant against theism and religion in general in The God Delusion. But PZ rather takes the cake. He rants about how teaching religion to children in child abuse, yet he is only a pop biologist, not a pscychologist. If he were a psychologist, he’d have to eat his words as it has been demonstrated through numerous studies that being raised in a religious home is highly advantageous for the children in question. Go figure.
Weak Kung Fu: I am a kung fu afficianado, so this is my nod. There are those who make pretenses that they have mastered the art of argument [or at least mastered the arguments] but quickly betray the fact that they have only cheaply mimicked the masters they parrot. For example, they’ll try to call you on a logical fallacy they read about on Wikipedia, but totally misapplies it. Or they’ll break out with a standard argument the stole off someone else, but can’t defend the statement because,well, they really only borrowed the argument; they didn’t think it out for themselves. I call this weak kung fu.
*** I will update this list as I see the need.
–Sirius Knott
P.S. To those trolls who submitted comments regarding these terms [or who suggested more personally insulting ones] and actually hoped I might approve them, what the Technicolor blazes did you think you were doing? These terms are not subject to debate; they are posted simply for clariifcation of MY views and opinions. Get a grip, Darbots.
I’ve said it before, anyone who comes out of an argument with me and is still convinced of their own opinion simply wasn’t listening.
To keep you trolls from making the same mistake again, all comments on this site are moderated. Email me if you don’t like it. I need a good laugh.
-Sirius Knott
Defending Genesis 