David Warren gets it exactly backwards

Writing for the Ottawa Citizen, David Warren explores what he calls “the limits of atheism.” After maundering on about how he must be onto something significant because so many people write to him when he mentions “evolutionism,” he gets down to the point of his screed:

Much of the “star chamber” atmosphere, that has accompanied the public invigilation of microbiologists such as Michael J. Behe, and other very qualified scientists working on questions of design in natural systems, can only be explained in this way. The establishment wants such research to be stopped, because it challenges the received religious order, of atheist materialism.

No, David, that’s backwards. The criticisms of the scientific community are about Behe’s manifest failure to start any actual research.

Faith-based prison: belief, not results

What happens when you try and run a “faith based” prison in the absence of any real involvement by God? According to a former inmate, you get glowing reports from inmates–as long as they’re in the system’s control:

As an exemplary participant in the prison’s faith-based dormitory program, I was selected to be interviewed by the Capitol press corps. As a former newspaper reporter, I longed to expose the corruption of the faith-based program by many inmates, as well as the abuses of some corrections officers…

But my desire to get out of prison alive and on time overruled my inner crusading journalist. So rather than an exposé, I gave the reporters a testimony.